Notices by Strypey (strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz), page 121

This might explain a thing or two about the increasingly partisan nature of politics in the digital age ...
https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/12/people-adopt-made-up-social-rules-to-be-part-of-a-group/

@switchingsocial Cool, thanks. FWIW I'd argue Wire is already a more user-respecting solution than Signal (due to not requiring users to give the provider their phone number), and more ethical than Signal for the reasons described here:
https://drewdevault.com/2018/08/08/Signal.html

@xj9 #Wire is ready for use by non-geeks *now*, on all major platforms (desktop, mobile, and web). Name a single federated chat system that has clients with the #UX polish of Wire across the same range of platforms, clients that can reliably support voice/video chat and file transfer. Clients you could realistically recommend to your Grandpa who lives in a cabin in the woods as a #Skype replacement. The hard truth is neither #XMPP nor #Matrix clients are ready for primetime.

@xj9 being federated isn't a requirement for being listed on switching.social. They list #Signal, which isn't federated and definitely never will be, and #JitsiMeet, which isn't federated either (because it's a group chat not an inter-personal messenger).
https://switching.social/ethical-alternatives-to-whatsapp-and-skype/
@switchingsocial

This reminds me a lot of #PreCrime in #MinorityReport (the movie version), just with algorithms deciding who is going to get arrested in advance of actually committing crimes, instead of #PreCogs. The idea of this kind of Cardassian Tribunal being accepted and used in a "democratic" country is deeply, *deeply* disturbing.

@aran #Riot is a powerful client, and more user-friendly than most #IRC clients, but only just. I still find it confusing and overwhelming myself, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to a "non-technical user", which is the target audience for @switchingsocial

@jackyan "personal cloud" usually refers to a server (or storage device) that you control, and can access remotely (eg a computer you control running a private NextCloud instance). But I wouldn't put it past tech companies to use that phrase as AdSpeak to describe private use of services like #DropBox. As always, the devil is in the details ...

@jackyan the word "cloud" has no universally agreed meaning in the context of internet services. In a nutshell, a "cloud computer" is just fancy marketing speak for a server, ie someone else's computer.
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.en.html

Come on #NZLabour, we're already behind #Canada, and the #USA is now well on the way towards legalizing recreational cannabis at the federal level:
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/marijuana-weed-2018-changed-pot-772473/

Let's prove that #Aotearoa can still be a principled, global leader of brave political changes, rather than a craven follower of fashion. #Referendum2020 #MakeItLegal

I'm aware of the argument that even 2 axes (left/right and liberal/conservative) are not enough to represent the full range of positions, but the #PoliticalCompass definitely allows for a more nuanced way of thinking about political space. Trying to map reduce all political-economic thought to a left/right binary is one huge black/white fallacy.
@lynnesbian @djsumdog

@djsumdog see:
https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/@strypey/101323107470650823

"A constant prelude to fascism is an enfeebled opposition."
https://www.politicalcompass.org/counterpoint-20181222-brexit

@lynnesbian here's a fun thought experiment; where does #Identitarian politics of the "anyone who uses unwelcome pronouns is a fascist" variety fit on the #PoliticalCompass?
https://www.politicalcompass.org/

@lynnesbian what's really frustrating is that none of this cultural leninism has anything to do with the the left tradition in politics. We are concerned with the political-economic effects of discrimination (of any kind), but there's nothing inherently "leftist" about the micro-policing of language, boundaries of acceptable debate etc. Witness the fact that the neo-liberal right (management of Google etc) are just as obsessed with it as certain factions of ultra-leftists currently are.

@stevenroose maybe it's a question of origins? My understanding is that Wire began as a proprietary, centralized service. It's only more recently that their management came around to the benefits of publishing their code under free licenses, and allowing federation between servers. At this stage, I'm not sure what federation protocols they intend to use.

@switchingsocial I usually just give folks the download link. From memory, the first time the app runs it walks the user through signing up for a gratis personal use account:
https://wire.com/en/download/

'The Welfare State Is Committing Suicide by Artificial Intelligence' by Jacob Mchangama and Hin-Yan Liu:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/25/the-welfare-state-is-committing-suicide-by-artificial-intelligence/

@switchingsocial I know you've addressed this in your FAQ but I really want to challenge not listing #Wire on your list of messenger apps. It's much easier for non-technical people to understand and use than #Jami / #Ring (I've got my family using Wire with me). Also, unlike Signal, Wire can be used without supplying a phone number, and they have plans to implement server>server federation:
https://github.com/wireapp/wire/issues/160#issuecomment-446551908

@kensanata what about a policy that UBI is calculated every year based on average rent, and that every time rent and and UBI increase, the top tax rates increase proportionally ...
@rick_777

@z428 gratis doesn't automatically mean unethical. It can mean a service is provided by volunteers (eg #RiseUp.net or #Disroot.org), which removes the single largest cost most internet service providers have (paying staff). It can also mean costs are being covered by users paying for premium features most users don't need, as with #Loomio, #Wire, or the new #FlickR (post acquisition by #SmugMug).
@jomo @switchingsocial