If you’re just waking up, here’s a summary. No, the geopolitical situation is not OK.

I love your website 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 and just added the feed to my RSS reader

Comments on #substack show massive #subscriptionfatigue

Social media will be hard to switch

France announced today it’s phasing out Teams, Zoom, etc. to be replaced with a French/European solution called Visio. The data is hosted on Outscale. Transcripts and subtitles are also handled by French providers. The target is set on 2027 for government agencies.

On a testé Visio : le Google Meet de l'État français est une vraie alternative aux géants américains — Frandroid L'État français propose, avec La Suite Numérique, des alternatives à nos outils professionnels du quotidien comme Zoom, Google Meet ou encore Google Docs.

French alternative tech stack

www.frandroid.com/culture-tech...

In happier news, you can listen to this, by Fred Deakin

www.mixcloud.com/freddeakin/f...

How to quit Spotify This Black Friday, here's a guide to finding the best Spotify alternative

On Spotify

www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/a-complete...

“Get it all on record now — get the films — get the witnesses — because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower, after visiting liberated concentration camps in April 1945

ICE Asks Companies About ‘Ad Tech and Big Data’ Tools It Could Use in Investigations A new federal filing from ICE demonstrates how commercial tools are increasingly being considered by the government for law enforcement and surveillance.

“Why should I worry about data, I haven’t done anuthing wrong” - we all said.
Here’s why.

www.wired.com/story/ice-as...

‘No one can trust him’: Trump’s torched allies confront the world without America In a week when the U.S. president wrecked the Western order, a wobbly new era is beginning to emerge.

“The worst thing? Leaking private messages”

www.politico.eu/article/dona...

Thank you!

Screenshot incl: Line drawing of a standing man pointing and moving towards another man, sitting behind a desk and wearing a tie, who looks startled. Heading: “you can stick it up your jumper”.

“You can stick it up your jumper.”

A generalised, heartfelt representation of – something.

flintoff.org/stick-it-up-...

Inspired by @genmon.fyi

We’ve collectively reached the point, I think, at which the words “digital” and “new” typically convey “cheap, unpredictable, frustrating slop.”

blog.ayjay.org/analog-elites/

"I think of blogs like a green “available” light... I’m here, alive, and ready to chat!" — Matt Webb

flintoff.org/blogging-again

bringing more of my work back to my website. That includes reposting stuff I put on LinkedIn and Instagram, and even painstakingly reposting comments, with links to the people who commented.

flintoff.org/can-european...

Does it make sense to leave a congenial American platform for a European alternative +just because it’s European*?

flintoff.org/can-european...

Fella who avoided Vietnam draft with a "heel spur" accuses Nato troops in Afghanistan - thousands dead and injured - of "staying back ... off the front lines".

With the US president saying Nato/British troops stayed "off the front line" in Afghanistan, Nigel Farage won't want British voters being reminded that he called Donald Trump "the bravest man I have ever met."

Bewildered that this idea hasn't taken off, after latest tariff threats.

I guess the terminology ("anti-circumvention") puts people off.

It's simple:
change laws to remove the threat of prison for fixing your own US-made phones, tractors etc.

result = lower prices, less profit for tech bros

Screenshot of a page on the Brevo marketing platform, with added note saying "One of Europe's leading Newsletter / Marketing platforms" and another note pointing to all Brevo's social icons: "Entirely US-based social links"

Where are the European social networks?

“turning yourself into a highly organized adversary can overcome the time-based economics our enemies rely on to keep their garbage systems intact.”

pluralistic.net/2026/01/22/o...

Jim Munroe's "Time Management for Anarchists" ("once I learned how to make my own structure, I was able to kick my expensive boss habit and work on my own")

pluralistic.net/2026/01/22/o...

Authors Guild Raises Concerns About Kindle’s New “Ask This Book” AI Feature - The Authors Guild The Authors Guild has significant concerns with Amazon’s new “Ask this Book” feature, which has been available since December 11, 2025, on certain Kindle devices and the Kinde iOS app. It is the most ...

Tech comes for authors - latest

#amazon #kindle @authorsguild.org @societyofauthors.bsky.social

authorsguild.org/news/stateme...

A thread to enjoy

European Alternatives We help you find European alternatives for digital service and products, like cloud services and SaaS products.

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See also: European Alternatives (for digital products)
european-alternatives.eu

"Thanks Donald, Europe will take it from here."
www.ft.com/content/fe36...

Important and motivating story by @johnthornhill.bsky.social in @financialtimes.com
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Jar of Somerset brandy butter

What do we think about brandy butter on toast?
#after #xmas #improvising

Better / faster response to tariffs:

- repeal anti-circumvention laws to cut the profits of rapacious US tech companies, liberate ourselves from defective tech, and forge a durable, powerful anti-Trump alliance with American firms (who are preyed upon too)

pluralistic.net/2026/01/12/d...

And?