Purism (previously) is a company that crowdfunds free/open laptops and phones whose design goal is to have no proprietary software, even at the lowest levels. The company is best known for its Purism laptops, and I'm very fond of mine (it didn't end up replacing my Thinkpad, only because I'm addicted to the trackpoint for mousing, and trackpads give me raging RSI) (that said, getting any GNU/Linux to run on a current-model Thinkpad is so hard and results in such a rotten experience that I'm reconsidering whether to switch back).
A distinctive feature of English (and the English) is that it, and they, grōwan their glamour through appropriation and assimilation. Even successful invaders end up feeling thoroughly shaken down. But what if it had been left to its own devices, a language bereft of foreign influence? — Read the rest
In this interview on Port, acclaimed sci-fi author, Jeff VanderMeer (Annihilation, Borne, Hummingbird Salamander) talks with legendary "non-musician" Brian Eno about the climate crisis, environmental activism, and ClientEarth, the environmental law charity that he's involved with.
Why do you stress the importance of biodiversity and interconnectivity with regards to the climate crisis?
— Read the rest
The year is 2031, and I'm going to see Avengers 7 in 8K-vision. I hop in my Goober self-driving car and notice something strange – my location is displayed on the Goober Dashboard, even though I opted out of Google AlwaysTrack™! There's a complete disconnect between what the user interface is telling me and what actually happens without my knowledge or consent.
One of the holy grails of free and open computing is a really great free/open phone; it's been tried many times before without much success, but a new crowdfunder from Purism (who make a pretty great free/open laptop) has just crossed the $1,000,000 mark and is on track to hit its target of $1.5M in the next 18 days.
Wired's Klint Finley tried turning off Javascript and discovered a better Web, one without interruptors asking you to sign up for mailing list, without infinitely scrolling pages, without ads and without malvertising.
After years of pixel art purism, an artist concludes that modern gaming preferences have rendered it obsolete.
Remember Anton Purisma's lawsuit for 2 undecillion dollars? Randall "XKCD" Munroe has devoted this week's What If? to calculating exactly what $2,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000 looks like. He points out that this is a sum larger than the present value of every manufactured good in the world, as well as all the potassium and calcium in the Earth — more, even than the present value of a planet-sized lump of solid gold.
Anton Purisma has launched a civil rights suit against an airport Au Bon Pain restaurant; he's asking for $2,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. That would be two undecillion dollars.
• The wonderful Steve Wozniak autographed a hackintosh.
• Lego's business cards aren't like anyone else's.
• There was a Super-Secret Spy Lens for DSLRs from Photojojo.
• 15 Vintage Household ads in which women are not entirely condescended to were uncovered. — Read the rest
