@Techmeme@techhub.social2026-03-05 16:25:43
Sage, whose AI tools scan for distress and alert caregivers in nursing homes, raised a $65M Series C, bringing its total funding to $124M (Reuters)
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/st…
@lpryszcz@genomic.social2026-04-03 20:40:28
A capitalists will find a way of benefiting from everything...
'Standard donor forms, like those provided by donor registries such as Donate Life America, make no specific mention of “fat” or “adipose tissue”, they fall under the category of “bone and associated tissue”.
One wonders: would a prospective donor tick that little box while renewing their driver’s license if, say, they knew their adipose tissue was reaped and redeployed for a Brazilian butt lift?'
@aredridel@kolektiva.social2026-04-03 00:23:07
My moment of clarity in the last few weeks was coming back to “Oh right, copyright is a hack, and one that is not serving us, particularly us on the margins”
The moral rights of authorship and the way we situate our legal process of ownership are, actually, kinda at odds. And it entirely misses the idea of a commons, both as community and as a cultural base to draw from.
I've long believed that we, collectively, should own our culture — to have modern myths be Copyright 1972 LucasFilm, the traditional songs we sing Copyright 1922, now owned by Warner/Chappell Music is one of the things I find repugnant about the situation we find ourselves in.
That said, reconciling that with the behavior of the AI companies, _particularly_ the American ones? It's hard. Google abuses its monopoly position; Microsoft has forced harmful and terrible tooling on people at every turn; OpenAI is run by someone who actively despises art and does not understand it; and Anthropic is run by a guy who is trying to make sure the apocalypse has a pleasant demeanor and doesn't offend any corporations on the way. All of the above have scraped the web with no active consent — and that's largely fine, that's what putting things in common _is_, that's the beauty of the open information world we have the remnants of — but also actively evading measures people put in place to stop it and with absolutely no willingness to engage with the process. Extracting from the commons _is_ the tragedy of the commons.
It does not mean that enlarging the commons with the resulting tools is bad. The doctrine of original sin is a Christian concept I do not subscribe to. The concept of 'fruit of the poisonous tree' is a legal tool to fix power relations not a moral stance. They're worth understanding, but they are not absolute moral stances that are self-evident.
These are not harmless tools, but so too putting hard regulation and corporate, legalistic scrutiny on everything has a vastly negative impact: it is a yoke on human creativity and community to the reins of capital.
And, so too, disruption has huge costs. We are, apparently, committed to doing things the worst possible way. One can just hope that we capture the good too, because the ride has started and it's rather late to get off.
@davidaugust@mastodon.online2026-03-05 01:49:09
The state of Montana sent violence to Washington DC in the form of wanna-be-Capitol-policeman Senator Sheehy.
As an American, I am ashamed of Montana, the Senator and (for once again bringing violence to the US Capitol) the GOP.
The country, Montana and our veterans deserve better.
No Senator should try to do the job of the US Capitol police. Breaking a USMC vet's arm is a vile act by Sheehy.
Sheehy denigrates the Senate and debases himself with violence.
#USpol
@chris@mstdn.chrisalemany.ca2026-03-05 18:51:45
It's wild how far behind North American, European, Japanese and Korean automakers are in the EV space. I submit it is *primarily* because fossil fuel interests are holding them back.
The new tech in China is stunning.
"The EVs were plugged in at 9% state of charge with 93 kilometers of range (57 miles). In 9 minutes and 51 seconds, they charged up to 97% with the range prediction in their gauge cluster displaying 1,008 kilometers (626 miles).
"The Commies” also seem to do capitalism better than "us”:
"The world’s largest EV maker saw its steepest sales plunge since the pandemic, with February sales falling 41% amid cut-throat competition in China's EV market. BYD is now hoping for a comeback by democratizing its cutting-edge new technology.”
#ClimateAction #EndFossilFuels #Electric #Electrification #EV #Cars #Driving
@markhburton@mstdn.social2026-02-24 09:15:28
"The aim of the Ukraine government, the EU, the US government, the multilateral agencies and the American financial institutions now in charge of raising funds and allocating them for reconstruction is to restore the Ukrainian economy as a form of special economic zone, with public money to cover any potential losses for private capital."
Ukraine- Russia four years on – Michael Roberts Blog
@memeorandum@universeodon.com2026-03-20 13:06:07
Capitol agenda: Senate heads into a weekend grind (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/03/20/congress/senate-weekend-session-save-america-act-dhs-00837277
http://www.memeorandum.com/260320/p24#a260320p24
@cdarwin@c.im2026-03-21 21:13:35
US Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Saturday that he is set to headline two major rallies next weekend
“as part of a growing national movement challenging oligarchy and economic inequality,”
including the flagship “No Kings” rally at the Minnesota State Capitol.
The Vermont Independent plans to join other progressive elected officials, labor leaders, and organizers in Minneapolis on the afternoon of Saturday, March 28,
as Americans hold more than 3,000 related No Kings e…
@memeorandum@universeodon.com2026-03-17 12:40:45
Capitol agenda: House hard-liner headaches ahead (Mia McCarthy/Politico)
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/03/17/congress/house-conservatives-fisa-housing-save-america-act-elections-00831120
http://www.memeorandum.com/260317/p31#a260317p31