rigo
@chicanocyborg.bsky.social
Exploring the geopolitics of planetary-scale computation |
Senior Producer @datasociety.bsky.social 🛰️
Senior Producer @datasociety.bsky.social 🛰️
Pinned
Enjoy it now before it gets enshitified.
January 28, 2026 at 10:40 PM
Enjoy it now before it gets enshitified.
This artwork by Denilson Baniwa (Brasil), is a skillful play on the aerial motif depicting clear cut deforestation from above. A nod to the recent COP30 in Belem.
Natureza morta 1 [Naturaleza muerta 1, Dead nature 1], 2016.
Natureza morta 1 [Naturaleza muerta 1, Dead nature 1], 2016.
November 26, 2025 at 6:14 PM
This artwork by Denilson Baniwa (Brasil), is a skillful play on the aerial motif depicting clear cut deforestation from above. A nod to the recent COP30 in Belem.
Natureza morta 1 [Naturaleza muerta 1, Dead nature 1], 2016.
Natureza morta 1 [Naturaleza muerta 1, Dead nature 1], 2016.
Old news now, but Thiel and Softbank sold off their entire stake in Nvidia (NVDA.O) according to third quarter filings. Not a great sign.
November 26, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Old news now, but Thiel and Softbank sold off their entire stake in Nvidia (NVDA.O) according to third quarter filings. Not a great sign.
Every year, city agencies make over 100 changes or additions to the city rules. See what is being proposed. rules.cityofnewyork.us
NYC Rules
Every year, City agencies make over 100 changes or additions to the City rules that are an important part of how government interacts with the public. New Yorkers can review proposed rules and voice t...
rules.cityofnewyork.us
November 25, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Every year, city agencies make over 100 changes or additions to the city rules. See what is being proposed. rules.cityofnewyork.us
Affordability in 1963 looked pretty good (minus Jim Crow, which wasn't de-jure abolished until CRA 1964 and VRA 1965).
In 2025, everyone is poor.
Source: www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-...
In 2025, everyone is poor.
Source: www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-...
November 24, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Affordability in 1963 looked pretty good (minus Jim Crow, which wasn't de-jure abolished until CRA 1964 and VRA 1965).
In 2025, everyone is poor.
Source: www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-...
In 2025, everyone is poor.
Source: www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-...
Wealth inequality is what generates financial bubbles. Here's how: elites have a low propensity to spend. Instead, they seek ways to invest their money. How? Assets. All of them. No more assets? Gut the public sector or invent new ones then underplay the risk until the tower falls.
November 17, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Wealth inequality is what generates financial bubbles. Here's how: elites have a low propensity to spend. Instead, they seek ways to invest their money. How? Assets. All of them. No more assets? Gut the public sector or invent new ones then underplay the risk until the tower falls.
Planetary computation is essentially a spatial matter – how much x fits in y {transistors in chips, chips in servers, servers in data centers, and so on}. It all comes back to land.
www.tni.org/en/article/t...
www.tni.org/en/article/t...
The politics of land | Transnational Institute
Land is central to contemporary debates about politics. Land sustains the livelihoods of millions through farming, livestock keeping, hunting and collecting. Such livelihoods are intimately bound up w...
www.tni.org
November 11, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Planetary computation is essentially a spatial matter – how much x fits in y {transistors in chips, chips in servers, servers in data centers, and so on}. It all comes back to land.
www.tni.org/en/article/t...
www.tni.org/en/article/t...
This is how Hu Anyan, author of "I Deliver Parcels in Beijing", started his literary journey. (via @restofworld.org )
November 6, 2025 at 6:59 PM
This is how Hu Anyan, author of "I Deliver Parcels in Beijing", started his literary journey. (via @restofworld.org )
The basic takeaway from Wong and Warzel's Atlantic piece last week: big tech is financing data-centers at break neck speed by packaging securitized debt on hypothetical gains from super intelligence. Great. 🙃
Hundreds of billions spent on AI with little to show, a potential $1 trillion IPO without a path to profit, byzantine financial arrangements that, yes, can be sorted in tranches. @cwarzel.bsky.social and I on how the AI boom could come crashing down:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Here’s How the AI Crash Happens
The U.S. is becoming an Nvidia-state.
www.theatlantic.com
November 3, 2025 at 6:43 PM
The basic takeaway from Wong and Warzel's Atlantic piece last week: big tech is financing data-centers at break neck speed by packaging securitized debt on hypothetical gains from super intelligence. Great. 🙃
Reposted by rigo
Are there protests yet at the single, small road link from the Coast Guard island to the rest of the Bay?
This almost seems like inviting a long-term protest there.
This almost seems like inviting a long-term protest there.
October 23, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Are there protests yet at the single, small road link from the Coast Guard island to the rest of the Bay?
This almost seems like inviting a long-term protest there.
This almost seems like inviting a long-term protest there.
Attending the Circuit Breakers 2025 Conference organized by @twcnewsletter.bsky.social and Collective Action in Tech.
October 18, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Attending the Circuit Breakers 2025 Conference organized by @twcnewsletter.bsky.social and Collective Action in Tech.
As of May, 2024 the following 26 states have "righ-to-work" laws in place, aka laws that guarantee an employee's right to refrain joining a labor union.
October 18, 2025 at 7:02 PM
As of May, 2024 the following 26 states have "righ-to-work" laws in place, aka laws that guarantee an employee's right to refrain joining a labor union.
American cloud capital subjects Europe to infrastructure dependency despite a strong regulatory apparatus. This is the basis of the Varoufakis thesis in Technofeudalism.
October 8, 2025 at 4:43 PM
American cloud capital subjects Europe to infrastructure dependency despite a strong regulatory apparatus. This is the basis of the Varoufakis thesis in Technofeudalism.
One of the best pieces this year (March, 2025) on the drastic shift from CPU to GPU computing. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
October 3, 2025 at 10:27 PM
One of the best pieces this year (March, 2025) on the drastic shift from CPU to GPU computing. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Why is a whole fleet of destroyers, war ships, and nuclear submarines currently stationed outside Venezuela's Caribbean coast?
September 30, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Why is a whole fleet of destroyers, war ships, and nuclear submarines currently stationed outside Venezuela's Caribbean coast?
The Motorola Razr was my first mobile phone back in high school. www.mobilephonemuseum.com/phone-detail...
September 18, 2025 at 6:46 PM
The Motorola Razr was my first mobile phone back in high school. www.mobilephonemuseum.com/phone-detail...
Great investigative reporting on America's data center boom from @businessinsider.com. Some takeaways:
September 16, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Great investigative reporting on America's data center boom from @businessinsider.com. Some takeaways:
The landing site for 2020 Mars Rover "Perseverance" named after Octavia E. Butler. Coordinates: 18° 26′ 24″ N, 77° 27′ 0″ E (18.44°, 77.45°)
August 11, 2025 at 4:03 PM
The landing site for 2020 Mars Rover "Perseverance" named after Octavia E. Butler. Coordinates: 18° 26′ 24″ N, 77° 27′ 0″ E (18.44°, 77.45°)
At best, AI hype translates to massive infrastructure spending. Companies will keep buying things, but divest in people. Machine economies grow, enriching only a few. Not even the trickle remains.
August 6, 2025 at 3:28 PM
At best, AI hype translates to massive infrastructure spending. Companies will keep buying things, but divest in people. Machine economies grow, enriching only a few. Not even the trickle remains.
Chinese broadcasters already scanning and simulating news anchors. Yes, it's cost cutting, but live broadcasting has a sharp margin of error. AI models can deliver flawless scripts, but can they deliver affect, nuance, meaning enough to build lasting viewer trust? (Image via Sixth Tone)
July 10, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Chinese broadcasters already scanning and simulating news anchors. Yes, it's cost cutting, but live broadcasting has a sharp margin of error. AI models can deliver flawless scripts, but can they deliver affect, nuance, meaning enough to build lasting viewer trust? (Image via Sixth Tone)
Came across this great @archive.org talk on copyright.
AI dev has turned into geopolitical chess – why? The line between legal and pirated data is thin. Opportunity costs high.
State of play: open IP, creative commons, and fair use futures currently in litigation.
archive.org/details/copy...
AI dev has turned into geopolitical chess – why? The line between legal and pirated data is thin. Opportunity costs high.
State of play: open IP, creative commons, and fair use futures currently in litigation.
archive.org/details/copy...
Copyright, AI, and Great Power Competition : Internet Archive : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Join us for a book talk with JOSHUA LEVINE & TIM HWANG, discussing their paper, COPYRIGHT, AI, AND GREAT POWER COMPETITION, which examines how artificial...
archive.org
July 8, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Came across this great @archive.org talk on copyright.
AI dev has turned into geopolitical chess – why? The line between legal and pirated data is thin. Opportunity costs high.
State of play: open IP, creative commons, and fair use futures currently in litigation.
archive.org/details/copy...
AI dev has turned into geopolitical chess – why? The line between legal and pirated data is thin. Opportunity costs high.
State of play: open IP, creative commons, and fair use futures currently in litigation.
archive.org/details/copy...
Reposted by rigo
Without making any endorsements, it does seem like in a city of 8.5 million residents, it’s not too much to ask for the mayor to actually live in New York City.
June 21, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Without making any endorsements, it does seem like in a city of 8.5 million residents, it’s not too much to ask for the mayor to actually live in New York City.
I could not do remote work without a distributed system of library branches in every city I go to.
For National Library Week, we can't recommend enough @shannonmattern.bsky.social's 2014 essay "Library as Infrastructure."
A decade on, it remains a potent argument for libraries as social, technological & intellectual infrastructure — part of a critical network of institutions buoying public life.
A decade on, it remains a potent argument for libraries as social, technological & intellectual infrastructure — part of a critical network of institutions buoying public life.
Library as Infrastructure
Reading room, social service center, innovation lab. How far can we stretch the public library?
placesjournal.org
April 30, 2025 at 4:51 PM
I could not do remote work without a distributed system of library branches in every city I go to.