reminder: you're not lazy

If the Pope is now considered part of the radical left, I think we need to look at just how far the overton window has moved.

I have been using email for 40 years. It used to work.

As an (independent) academic researcher, I need to contact new people, primarily in universities, to ask questions.

I refuse to use Google, Microsoft or the other American IT giants.

But they are increasingly preventing refuseniks from sending email at all.

I know what RFC, DNS, MX, SPF and DMARC mean. My email goes through small British companies with intelligent, friendly and helpful staff.

mxtoolbox.com says that I must have DMARC to send email to M$. So I set it up. I now get a dozen copies of the same report from G or M$ for each email that I send out.

They show that my email gets to G and M$ sites, but then it is marked as spam.

The stupid senior management of numerous universities has surrendered their staff email to M$.

Web searches and AIs preach about spam. I don't send spam - I want to contact my colleagues.

Rumour has it that previously unknown senders are treated with suspicion and their emails are sent to spam. In other words, it is impossible to **initiate** communication with someone.

Let's be blunt about this. They are a mafia that is enforcing an **oligopoly**. It's got nothing to do with reducing spam --- I have no doubt that they let through emails from "trusted partners", ie companies that bribe them enough to send their spam.

The result of this is that it will only be possible to send emails by paying M$ to do it, and then it will only be allowed to express "approved" opinions.

What can we do about this?

At the very least, those of you with senior positions in universities can tell your management to revert to competent standards-based email systems hosted on Linux systems.

To the people who think #wind #turbines and #solar #farms spoil the #natural #landscape; it's worth remembering that some of that landscape (the patchwork of rolling green fields, for example) is itself the visible outcome of #technological advance and they're anything but natural. What about the charming old watermills and windmills that are so symbolic of Olde #England and the #Netherlands? The vineyards of #France and #Italy, the olive groves of the #Mediterranean, or the magnificent hills and glens of #Scotland, that were once the ancient #Caledonian forests, subsequently cleared for sheep and cattle grazing. These too symbolise earlier technological advance. Canals, railways, castles, churches, lighthouses and hedgerows are the same. Once upon a time these too may have been considered a blight on the landscape and yet nowadays they are often viewed as part of our cultural heritage, to be preserved and managed for posterity. A sense of perspective is surely required? Take a closer look at the #rural landscape you think is being spoiled.

#energy #renewableenergy #renewables #renewable #fossilFuels #green #GreenEnergy #WindTurbines #SolarFarms

@JustaJason007 @alexpsmith

An anarchist bookshop and record store just off the Meadows in Edinburgh. Greenhouse Records runs a screenprinting studio, houses Pickle Community Radio, and hosts regular in-store events. Multiple projects sharing space and resources.

https://www.radical-guide.com/listing/greenhouse-records/

#AnarchistBookshop #CommunitySpaces #Edinburgh #RadicalSpaces

RT: @domdyer70 This horse broke his back on the last jump, jockey and animal abuser Paul Townend then forced and whipped the horse over the finish with a BROKEN BACK to finish 1st. The horse was killed

Now more than ever, we urgently need to switch to renewables.

This is about more than saving the planet; it's about peace and stability - renewables are cheaper and provide greater energy security.

I just noticed creative scotland put up a new job ad for a part time content creator position at the Scots language centre.
Thought some of my Scottish mutuals might be interested!

https://opportunities.creativescotland.com/opportunity/index/63016050-a405-4cc8-a90f-91be8fe25439/?Ref=%2F

#scots #scotland

Seems fair.

The Iranian children killed in the airstrike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school early on in the US/Israeli assault on Iran were not as the popular trope increasingly has it 'killed by AI' but rather were killed by years & years of lazy & inaccurate bureaucracy; hiding behind AI allows the real culprit(s) to enjoy impunity from an atrocity & likely war crime.

Kevin Baker's detailed exploration of what was behind the airstrike is a long read but worth it!

#iran
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/mar/26/ai-got-the-blame-for-the-iran-school-bombing-the-truth-is-far-more-worrying

MASSIVE turnout. Well done #Edinburgh. We are the people.

Oh shit. This slays. #microtonal #pitchbend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ssi-9wS1so

One of the ways LLMs are damaging society is by causing us to endlessly talk about LLMs when we could be doing something creative.

Yup

Also found this, which is very much on-theme re not letting the powers that be automate the joy out of your life:

#Glasgow City Council commercial arm seeks to evict galleries and cultural entities from the purpose-built spaces at 103 Trongate.

https://www.europesays.com/uk/799162/

#ScottishCulture

As a child, I thought the lesson of history was that the good guys always win. As an adult, I realized the actual lesson is that the winners declare themselves the good guys.

Three in four women unaware menopause can trigger new mental illness, poll finds https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/01/menopause-mental-illness-royal-college-of-psychiatrists-poll #Menopause #WomensHealth #MentalHealth #Psychiatry #Doctors #Health #Society #UkNews

Hoping to create the most controversial poll of all time.

Select the best berry: