p̵i̷x̸e̶l̶ ̵o̶c̶c̸u̴l̷t̴ @PixelOccult@witches.town

lets all go back to simply blogging and I will install a feedreader again and I will get your stuff in chronological order and independent from platforms.
#instagram #instagramdesaster

My Grandad's advice for safe driving was: "Always remember you're controlling a potentially lethal weapon". I think it helped me to take driving even more seriously.

Perhaps it's good advice for us technologists too...

"Always remember you're programming a potential platform for bullying and harassment".

"Always remember you're designing a potential system for mass surveillance".

"Always remember you're deploying a potential tool for mass social unrest".

To fight Centralization:
- Own your data.
- Archive your data online and off.
- Use decentralized services like Mastodon and Matrix and whatever whenever possible.
- publish to places that aren't facebook or medium (and if you must, only use central services for syndication.)

To fight user hostility:
- Use ad blockers and privacy badger
- If you can get away with it, use no-script or similar when possible.
- Stop using, or reduce your use of, platforms that profit from treating you poorly.

I can't tell you the number of times I'd see an interview with a band I respect the hell out of talking about how they took the majority of their inspiration from this other group.

And then I'd go dig for information on this other group and find 1) rave reviews 2) nothing else.

We owe it to ourselves, and to the future, to keep a physical record of the things that we do and to help one another in recording and archiving and documenting as much of each of our respective movements as possible.

DIY Media//Archive your shit//It's not just entertainment, it's a movement.

For a few months in 2015, I spent a lot of time trolling through scans of old punk zines and the noise-arch archive and various other sources talking about underground/independent music from the mid 70s up through the mid 90s.

You know what I found? Lots of really great music, and also many empty space.

- The modern web is a clusterfuck of bad choices. The modern internet is less safe with each passing day.

- Modern computing in general is kind of shitty, compared to even 10 years ago.

- DIY Media. We all gotta make stuff and support one another in making stuff. We gotta archive the stuff we make so that our movement, our history doesn't disappear.

I'm going to talk about DIY Media first, and then work my way backwards, and maybe pull some projects out of the aether.