So many US based Apple pundits and developers so deeply upset about Apple’s recent App Store developments. Lots of hot takes on that.
And yet none of them offer any comment about #genocide being carried out against Palestinians.
Tech bros are good at compartmentalizing to protect their “brand”.
Continuing my exploration of Octavia Butler and the scholarship and activism that have grown up around her work. In particular, tapping into Afrofuturism especially as it relates to Black women writers and activists. As I’m exploring I’m finding another thread that seems to intertwine with this: tech and decolonialism. I’m writing another post on that which is now likely to include some of this thread of thought.
For now, more links:
It’s the 75th anniversary of Octavia Butler’s birth and we share a discussion among Karen Hunter, Lurie Daniel Favors (Executive Director at the Center for Law and Social Justice) and Tananarive Due , award-winning author and educator and Octavia Butler disciple to discuss her prophetic writing and how it may impact us today
Shaper of God: American Artist in conversation with Ayana Jamieson…
In celebration of the opening of American Artist: Shaper of God at REDCAT, LACMA Art + Technology Lab grant recipient American Artist joins Octavia E. Butler scholar Ayana Jamieson to discuss Butler’s continued resonance in contemporary life and the author’s intersections with American Artist’s upbringing in Altadena, CA.
We examine the work and legacy of Octavia E. Butler, an exceptional science fiction writer who wrote about gender and sexuality in bold new ways. Henry and Colin welcome Shelley Streeby, Professor of Literature and Ethnic Studies at UC – San Diego, Director of Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Workshop, and author of The Future of Climate Change: World Making Through Science Fiction and Activism, John Jennings, Professor of Media and Cultural Studies and a Collaborating Faculty Member in the Department of Creative Writing at UC – Riverside, and Damian E. Duffy, a Cartoonist, Scholar, Lecturer, Writer, Curator, Teacher, #1 New York Times Bestseller Graphic Novelist. Jennings and Duffy are collaborating on a project to adapt Butler’s Kindred and Parable of the Sower to graphic novels. They discuss their decision to choose Parable of the Sower as their next graphic novel after the election of Donald Trump and their process of translating the novel into graphic images (Spoiler: Jennings does the art and Duffy crafts the story points). Each of our guests tells us about their first encounter with Butler’s work and how they found her to be a buried treasure and became lifelong fans of her work. They dive deep into the Parable of the Sower as a cautionary tale if we as a society do not change our behavior. They talk about Butler as a writer who focuses on what connects us rather than what makes us different. Listen in as Streeby, Duffy, Jennings, Henry and Colin discuss the ways Parable of the Sower can make us think of our current moment involving the coronavirus. They also discuss in great detail Butler’s legacy and the influence she has had on the next crop of African-American science fiction writers. Also, looking for something to read while stuck inside? Check out the notes section for a list of Octavia E. Butler’s work, along with other great African-American writers!
Hey Macintosh, happy 40th!
My Color Classic and iPad Pro as imaged by an iPhone 7+ in June 2017.
It's been a long, fun ride. I bought #MyFirstMac, a Color Classic, in 1993 to write my masters thesis. I used it for 4 years to create a community newsletter using ClarisWorks and a variety of flyers for our community organizing efforts in Memphis. It was the beginning of a long, fun ride.
At some point a few years later I bought my second Mac so that I could get on the internet and begin creating websites. It was with the second Mac that I started to fall into the Mac and computing as a bit of a larger obsession. I had no idea what I'd fallen into.
Good times.
I'll add a few links here during the day.
Back in June 2017 I'd shared this post and photo about Apple computing. The photo is the same as the one shared today, my iPad at the time and my original Color Classic. Jonathan Zufi, creator of the coffee table book ICONIC - A Photographic Tribute To Apple Innovation saw that post and contacted so that he could send me a copy of his book. It's a beautiful documentary of decades of Apple's devices.
Today Jonathan is marking the celebration with his website, mac40th.com. He's also releasing an update to his book: He writes:
Over the past 40 years Apple developed and launched hundreds of products in and supporting the Macintosh line - culminating in 2024 with the latest range of M3 powered desktops and laptops which are technological marvels of speed, power management and design.
To celebrate this milestone, mac40th.com showcases every Macintosh desktop and portable Apple has ever made with hundreds of the photos taken as part of the work creating the coffee table book ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation (3rd edition now available up to date as of the end of 2023). The site also includes photos taken by Kevin Taylor, Forest McMullin and others (including video) that I’ve collected over the past 14 years.
The Computer History Museum celebrates with INSANELY GREAT: The Apple Mac at 40:
In January 1984, Steve Jobs unveiled the Apple Macintosh, an “insanely great” computer “for the rest of us” that changed the world—and Apple itself. Exemplifying a (counter) culture of changemakers, the Mac brought the graphical user interface to the masses and launched new connections for computing and creativity. It became the foundation upon which Apple built an empire and grew into the world’s largest company.
Join CHM on the 40th anniversary of the Mac’s launch to celebrate one of the most iconic and impactful products ever created, and don’t forget to wear your favorite Apple swag!*
Watch the program on YouTube here!
On Mastodon, Michael Steeber:
MyFirstMac was an iMac G3, in 2008. It was next in line for the dumpster where my dad was working, and he got clearance to let me take it home. I remember finding it on the floor in a pile of dusty boxes in a warehouse, and crouching down on the ground to see if it booted. At that point I’d never touched a Mac OS computer before, and it was so bizarre — but so fascinating. And well, it’s still fascinating today.
Jared White, The Mac Turns 40, and My Love Affair Turns 23:
The trajectory of Apple’s core hardware and software technologies from that time have continued into the present day as I type this out on my iPad’s multitouch display using a Pencil and my fingers—an incredible achievement. Even the iPhone in my pocket is, in many ways, a tiny mobile Mac. And while even in 2001 Apple’s products had changed substantially from the original Macintosh of 1984—thanks mainly to the monumental
takeover byacquisition of NeXT—that brand DNA of creativity, whimsy, user-friendliness, and consistency has remained the hallmark of the Apple computer experience for 40 years and counting.
The Mac turns 40: How Apple’s rebel PC almost failed again and again | ZDNet…
After a misfire with the expensive Apple Lisa – Jobs was removed from the project – Jobs devoted all his time and energy to the Mac. With his flair for the dramatic, Jobs had a young director, Ridley Scott, create what would become an iconic Mac Super Bowl 1984 commercial, portraying the Mac as a symbol of individuality and freedom. That vision of the Mac and Apple products as rebel products remains with us to this day.
The Mac turns 40 — and keeps on moving | The Verge…
Mac users — and I’ve been one of them for 34 of those 40 years — have been on the defensive for most of the platform’s existence. The original Mac cost $2,495 (equivalent to more than $7,300 today), and it had to compete with Apple’s own Apple II series, which was more affordable and wildly successful. The Mac was far from a sure thing, even at Apple: in the years after the Mac was first introduced, Apple released multiple new Apple II models. (One even had a mouse and ran a version of the Mac’s Finder file manager.) It took a long time for the Mac to emerge from the Apple II’s shadow.
40 years of the Mac: 40 classic apps that made Apple computers great | Stuff.tv:
The Mac is 40. But it wouldn’t have lasted 40 months had no apps been there to support it. So as Apple’s mighty creation starts convincing itselflife beginsthis year, we have, fittingly, compiled a list of 40 classic apps that made the Mac.
Instead of solely listing the usual suspects, we’ve covered the range from giants to much-loved indie fare, given that smaller developers were for years the lifeblood of the system. If we’ve missed your favourites, let us know by adding them to a TeachText document, printing them on a LaserWriter, turning them into a paper airplane, and aiming for the letterbox at Stuff HQ.
The Mac Turns 40: Read Apple’s Announcement From 1984 - MacRumors…
The original Macintosh popularized the computer mouse, allowing users to control an on-screen pointer. This point-and-click method of computer navigation was still a novel concept to most people at the time, as personal computers in this era typically had text-based command-line interfaces controlled with a keyboard.
An excerpt from Apple’s press release in 1984
Wild Apples: The 12 weirdest and rarest Macs ever made | Ars Technica…
Forty years ago today, Apple released the first Macintosh. Since that fateful day in 1984, Apple has released hundreds of Mac models that run the gamut from amazing to strange. In honor of this birthday, we thought it would be fun to comb through history and pull out the rarest and most unusual production Mac models ever made—including one from another company.
On 24 January 1984, the Apple Macintosh 128K personal computer was unveiled to the world, but 40 years later it still has a loyal following of fans – and users.
David Blatner still has practically every Macintosh computer he ever bought. But one in particular stands out – the first. He remembers the neat way the screen was laid out; the glossy manual; the cassette tape tutorials explaining how to use the machine. It was everything he felt a computer should be.
Apple Shares the Secret of Why the 40-Year-Old Mac Still Rules | Wired…
On January 24, Apple’s Macintosh computer turns 40. Normally that number is an inexorable milestone of middle age. Indeed, in the last reported sales year, Macintosh sales dipped below $30 billion, more than a 25 percent drop from the previous year’s $40 billion. But unlike an aging person, Macs now are slimmer, faster, and last much longer before having to recharge.
My own relationship with the computer dates back to its beginnings, when I got a prelaunch peek some weeks before its January 1984 launch. I even wrote a book about the Mac—Insanely Great—in which I described it as “the computer that changed everything.” Unlike every other nonfiction subtitle, the hyperbole was justified. The Mac introduced the way all computers would one day work, and the break from controlling a machine with typed commands ushered us into an era that extends to our mobile interactions. It also heralded a focus on design that transformed our devices.
Evolution of the Mac: 40 years of innovation | Cult of Mac…
The 40-year history of Macintosh computers is a roller coaster of ages golden and dark.
Anything that lasts so long in the forefront of technology has to change to stay relevant. This once-plucky computer that began as an antithesis to the IBM PC, which dominated the world in 1984, is now itself a dominating force, ever pushing the needle in the world of technology.
How did this all happen? Let’s walk through 40 years of Macintosh.
Mac at 40: The eras tour | Six Colors…
Before I started writing my piece on the Mac’s 40th anniversary for The Verge, I was thinking of different ways to plot out the arc of the Mac’s history. I ended up going with the fact that the Mac has been the underdog for most of its existence, but I also considered plotting the Mac’s history as defined by the Mac’s four distinct processor eras.
A lot shifted when the Apple Macintosh was introduced, and it wasn’t about the RAM, the chips or the processor speed. Our world changed forty years ago today. Marketing, technology, commerce, luxury brands, communities, communication and our expectations for how we might spend our future all shifted, and fairly quickly.
First Macintosh Press Release…
Apple Introduces Macintosh Advanced Personal Computer
CUPERTINO, Calif., January 24, 1984–Apple Computer today unveiled its much-anticipated Macintosh computer, a sophisticated, affordably priced personal computer designed for business people, professionals and students in a broad range of fields. Macintosh is available in all dealerships now. Based on the advanced, 32-bit architecture developed for Apple’s Lisa computer, Macintosh combines extraordinary computing power with exceptional ease of use–in a unit that is smaller and lighter than most transportable computers. The suggested retail price for Macintosh is $2,495, which during the introductory period also includes a word-processing program and graphics package.
As I’ve been spending the past couple weeks exploring Afrofuturism and the scholarship and activism around Octavia Butler, I’m increasingly aware of the blinding whiteness and maleness of tech culture.
This episode of The Long Time Academy podcast should be required listening for any white person in 2024, especially those in the US.
Full stop.
The last few years have highlighted the raw urgency of the struggle to ensure the future is not dominated by white-supremecy. But what do visions of an alternative future look like?
This episode explores how historically, inequalities in the present have been projected into the future, both in terms of how the future has been portrayed, and how it comes to be realised.
#ClimateJustice #ClimateEmergency
Nate Hagens on perspectives of wealth and poverty.
At the same time that the power dynamic of the economic superorganism leads us to a hyperfocus on the pursuit of growth and monetary wealth, other forms of poverty increase: relationships, skills, health, and behavioral deficits….
How will the turmoil and decrease in total material wealth in the coming decades change what it means to be wealthy - and how does that influence the actions and investments we take on today?
Electric cars are not the future
For a city-dweller ditching a petrol car, the calculation then becomes: instead of an EV, can I buy a much cheaper, health-giving e-bike that I can charge in my flat, and supplement with the odd taxi ride? That is the trend. European and US car sales peaked in 2019. About 5.5 million e-bikes were sold in the EU in 2022, against just two million electric cars. Many car-owners now use bikes for short trips.
How degrowth and ecosocialism can work in tandem to stop consumerism and overconsumption and reduce emissions in order to transition to a zero-carbon, post-climate change world. Degrowth is a response to the rampant growth/profit capitalist paradigm that fuels consumerism and is causing climate change. Degrowth de-centers capitalism and consumerism and instead argues for a world wherein there’s a planned contraction of rich economies to allow for the well-being of everyone in the world.
To end the climate crisis we’ll have to uproot capitalism.
#ClimateEmergency
Abortion-rights coalition launches campaign to put amendment on Missouri ballot:
…a coalition of Missouri abortion-rights organizations plan to officially launch an effort Thursday to put a constitutional amendment on the 2024 ballot to legalize abortion up until the point of fetal viability.
Missouri has one of the most restrictive laws in the country, banning all abortions except in the case of medical emergencies… Missourians for Constitutional Freedom announced Thursday it would begin to gather signatures to put an initiative petition on the statewide ballot rolling back that ban.
With US support and complicity: A crisis of humanity, a living hell, a blood bath, a situation of utter deepening and unmatched horror
Madame President, members of the Court, there is an urgent need for provisional measures to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the irreparable prejudice caused by Israel’s violations of the genocide convention. The UN Secretary General and its Chiefs describe the situation in Gaza variously as a crisis of humanity, a living hell, a blood bath, a situation of utter deepening and unmatched horror, where an entire population is besieged…
#Gaza #Genocide
Thoughts on Octavia Butler's Parable series
Climate Emergency Link Roundup
Finished reading: Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler 📚
Dark and difficult subject matter but a solid story.
I’m enjoying reading books again. The Libby app is a very nice reading experience and given that the books are checked out with a return date is helpful in keeping me on track.
South African lawyer’s incredible speech accusing Israel of genocide at ICJ - YouTube
Tembeka Ngcukaitobi was giving evidence at the Hague against Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza in the case taken out by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
#Gaza #Genocide #Palestine
Irish lawyer’s stunning speech at The Hague accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza - YouTube
Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh stood in front of the International Court of Justice as part of South Africa’s legal team taking action against Israel for it’s conduct against Gaza.
#Gaza #Palestine #Genocide
South Africa Lays Out Genocide Case vs. Israel at World Court in The Hague…
South Africa began to make its case Thursday at the International Court of Justice that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. In their opening statements, South Africa’s lawyers argued that the sheer scale of Israel’s violence, which has so far killed more than 23,000 people since October 7, is part of a political and military strategy aimed at the destruction of Palestinian life, using statements from top Israeli leaders to show genocidal intent.
#Gaza #Genocide
South Africa Just Made Its Case Against Israel at the Hague…
South Africa’s genocide charges against Israel were formally brought to The Hague today, with the post-apartheid nation facing off against Israel for two days of emergency hearings. South Africa’s immediate aim is to win a ruling later this month – perhaps as early as next week – ordering Israel to cease and desist in its assault of Gaza.
An interesting patch of moss and lichen near the trail on my morning walk. The lichen appears to be taking over the moss.
The war on Palestine and Gaza: Link Roundup
Trying to sleep with two dogs and a cat. Last night was particularly fun. At 3:30 Cosmo (dog on left) decided to move closer. Annie in middle on her back. Cosmo's plan was to use Annie as a pillow. I was trying to take photos without waking.
Annie is now a pillow
Rosie on top of my arm.
