RE: https://mastodon.social/@markhurst/116443904029279313

New paper came out today by atmospheric chemists looking at what changes are already happening in the atmosphere due to billionaires using the atmosphere as a satellite crematorium […]

I spoke with astronomer Samantha Lawler - @sundogplanets.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy - about how Elon Musk has proposed to burn up in the sky one truck-sized satellite *per hour*. Unclear what that will do to the atmosphere, but it's not good.

Full episode:
techtonic.fm/episodes/202...

here's the episode page with links & embedded player
techtonic.fm/episodes/202...

Nothing says "innovation" like "betting the company on a technology that no one asked for and has already failed multiple times"

Kinda tired of coked-up Silicon Valley losers who haven't read a book in seven years telling me my job is stupid

Order the paperback of 'Customers Included.' Product teams should read this book to create better tech.

I have long been recommending @markhurst.bsky.social's wonderful book Customers Included to entrepreneurs. In the age of AI coding knowing what to build has become more important than ever! customersincluded.com

CSotD: It’s Always Something This is a really good cartoon. Bennett has excellent artistic skills and a keen eye for depicting frustrated despair, which he make a recurring motif in his work. He’s even color-coded his firefighter...

When everything's a crisis, nothing gets solved. Come join Anne Derenne, Bill Bramhall, Cathy Wilcox, Clay Bennett, Dennis Goris, Fiona Katauskas, Joe Heller, Joel Pett, Martyn Turner, Mike Luckovich, Nick Anderson, Paul Duginski, Rod Emmerson & Steve Sack
www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/20...

Goop rhymes with soup. There's nothing else that goop rhymes with.

Unethical surveillance monopolist feeds users' private photos into its AI shredding machine, for more surveillance.

Get off Google.

To celebrate World Amateur Radio Day, I'd recommend my interview with Thomas Witherspoon (K4SWL) -@qrper.bsky.social - about why amateur radio is a superpower:
techtonic.fm/episodes/202...

In its tech and in its eugenics, Silicon Valley has such a sad mechanical notion of what intelligence is, one bereft of moral beauty, emotional intelligence, intuition, etc. But in a more meaningful definition of intelligence the titans of industry would discover their own bereftness and dimness.

AI ruins so much.

Wait until you learn about “vegetative electron microscopy.”

And they want more orifices than that.

gonna use this on every AI chat session now. (inspired by @rusty.todayintabs.com)

"an air conditioner written in python" somehow works -

I thought that Sam Altman's eyeball-scanning global surveillance platform would wither away. Ha ha ha ha! I am so naive sometimes.

Now it's being integrated into Zoom, *of course*

In praise of moving slow "Move Slow and Upgrade," by Evan Selinger and Albert Fox Cahn, offers a corrective to tech mania

My review of "Move Slow and Upgrade" by @evanselinger.bsky.social and @foxcahn.bsky.social - a welcome corrective to Silicon Valley's hype.

buttondown.com/creativegood...

DoorDash’s PR goes off online after White House delivery stunt The DoorDash public affairs chief responded after online backlash over a staged McDonald’s delivery at the White House.

Door Dash setting up a staged moment with Trump means I'm not using Door Dash going forward. It's pretty simple: Help promote Donald Trump and you're dead to me.

www.newsweek.com/doordashs-pr...

Techtonic with Mark Hurst on WFMU Techtonic with Mark Hurst is a weekly radio show from WFMU about technology, how it's affecting us, and what we can do about it.

congrats on the upcoming launch. would be happy to feature on techtonic.fm , if you're interested!

Cindy Cohn, author, "Privacy's Defender" | Techtonic with Mark Hurst on WFMU Cindy Cohn has led the Electronic Frontier Foundation for over a decade, fighting against government and Big Tech surveillance. She discusses her memoir “Privacy’s Defender” and why we should celebrate every small victory.

Hey, greater NYC - EFF’s Cindy Cohn joined @wfmu.bsky.social @markhurst.bsky.social’s Techtonic to discuss her new memoir, “Privacy’s Defender: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance” from @mitpress.bsky.social and where the fights for privacy are headed. techtonic.fm/episodes/20...

the actual sound of the Torment Nexus

I am looking forward to listening! Will queue up the archive

Janet Vertesi, founder of the Opt Out Project | Techtonic with Mark Hurst on WFMU Techtonic’s signoff tells you to “get off Google,” and Janet Vertesi shows how it’s done. Janet founded the Opt Out Project to show people how to switch from Big Tech surveillance platforms to better,...

I loved this track! I played it as the outtro on the March 23, 2026 Techtonic (starting in minute 55 here)
techtonic.fm/episodes/202...

asking "where is the search feature" and getting back "i'm here to assist with news, sports, advice..." etc.

I've been relegated to chatbot hell

I interviewed Cindy Cohn from @eff.org on Techtonic about her memoir "Privacy's Defender."

Full episode:
techtonic.fm/episodes/202...

Cindy gave a great quote about the surveillance monopolists:

Friendly reminder that we can just…ban these.

Just like we can ban abusive AI, data centers and mass surveillance.

This stuff isn’t inevitable, we can decide we simply don’t want things that are antisocial as part of civil society.

Opinion | We Are Witnessing the Rise of a New Aristocracy

"Over the past two years, 19 households have added $1.8 trillion" to their fortunes.

Hyperscale inequality, thanks to AI.

Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/o...

Whoa! I've only made a tenth of that amount

i regularly hear ads for ai investment agents and they all also say "for entertainment purposes only" right alongside talking about how you should let them manage all your money.

something very disturbing about how we're supposed to let these run our lives but also...

• compute
• not too much
• mostly deterministic