David Pennington

Free software” means software that respects users' freedom and community. Roughly, it means that the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software . Thus, “free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer.” We... See more

“We do not thrive as parts of a machine. We are intended by nature to be diverse, to do diverse things, to have many skills.” John Seymour

Addressing those who are critical of using the technology in this way, Zuckerberg said, “If you think that something someone is doing is bad, and they think it’s really valuable, most of the time, in my experience, they’re right and you’re wrong, and you just haven’t come up with a framework yet for understanding why the thing that [they’re] doing... See more

You Don’t Have To Make Art

The early chorus of generative AI tools:
“Now everyone can make art regardless of their skills or tools.”

• Could you not make art before? Even elephants can paint. Our ancestors created well known art by etching with a stone into the walls of the caves they called home. A kid with a box of discount crayons has no problem

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In a world that glorifies individual success, we easily forget that our greatest power lies in our ability to come together.

Boredom has a purpose. To understand and harness it, we need to give our minds more opportunities to experience it. In the rest of this post, I will explore the many ways our efforts to conquer boredom through technology have produced unintended consequences, including the near-total capture of our attention, the death of daydreaming, and the end... See more

When I had the flip phone, I had to put in effort to get to places, to talk to people. Everything was a task. Now it’s easy to do things. I guess I still don’t like needing the crutch of a smartphone, though I couldn’t figure out how to go on without one.”

This is all, unfortunately, a microcosm of the problems we face. We’re up against a system that views and treats hyper short-term profits as more important than our collective future. We’re up against corporations and ways of doing business that would ignite the planet before letting their profits fall – and that’s exactly what they’re doing. We,... See more