Introducing the "Neo-Luddite (sort of) Weekly"!

When I started writing The Neo-Luddite Handbook to Surviving the Digital World in the Age of Tech Billionaires, I wasn't sure if you would be interested in it. Well, it turns out that you are. It's my second most popular newsletter after Japan Art Islands!

All right, let's get back to today's topic. So, I was saying that I was surprised to see that the Neo-Luddite posts were the second most popular on the blog (they sometimes even take first place!) and that the newsletter was also the second most popular.

I have a lot to say about the issue of reclaiming our agency over the technology we use, and showing you that there are other ways to use the internet today besides the ways that tech bros want to impose on us.

However, I have two problems.

1. I am not a specialist myself, so when I want to post about a given subject, I need to read a lot about it in addition to drawing on my own experience with the issue. The goal is, of course, to be as accurate and factual as possible, especially because there is a lot of disinformation and misinformation on these subjects. It takes time. A lot of time. That's why, despite its popularity, digital technology may also be the topic I write about least in this blog.
2. Things are evolving and changing very quickly in the world of the internet and digital technology, and I just can't keep up (see point 1).

But I have a solution!

What I can do is share with you the blog posts, newsletters, and news articles on the topic that I read in a timely fashion. After all, many people write about digital technology nowadays, and most of them know more about it than I do. It is their specialty.

So, this "Neo-Luddite Weekly" won't be in the same format as my usual posts, but instead, it'll be a collection of links to interesting and educational articles on the subject we all care about here: taking back control of our digital lives and not being slaves to digital technology and "Big Tech".

Two more things:

• I'll try to make it a weekly thing, but I'm not making any promises.
• My latest post about social media was a "part one." Don't worry; I won't wait several decades to publish "part two," like Mel Brooks just did. I won't stop writing full articles, but they will focus more on my own experiences.

The Links

Here is our first batch of links:

Let's start with Paris Marx's newsletter Disconnect, as he's probably my main source, and the person who inspired me to start this Neo-Luddite thing.

He just wrote a book about data centers that is being released on Tuesday!

I'll read and tell you about it as soon as possible. In the meantime, here is his latest post:

Hyperscale is out in two weeks!

Preorder your copy to get the full story on the AI-fueled data center buildout

DisconnectParis Marx

The post is two weeks old because he's currently touring the world to promote his book.

AI, Robots and Japan

Nationalists in many countries (mostly in the West and in Japan itself) are convinced that Japan's shrinking population and everything that is linked to it (the economy, way of life, you name it) can be saved with more AI and robots and less immigration. In fact, there's a new political party in Japan that's growing and intends to fix the country with the help of AI (a lot of people in Japan still believe that technology can fix everything). This post explains why this is not going to happen.

AI Robots won’t save Japan

Every time Japan’s population crisis trends on X, a weirdly passionate genre of online coping goes viral.

KonichiValue JapanRei Saito

This isn't exactly our topic, but some people wonder why Takaichi is making life harder for immigrants (by raising visa renewal fees and making permanent residency incredibly expensive among other things) while allowing an increase of the number of immigrants in the country. This is not paradoxical. She wants more immigrants, but only rich ones to become permanent residents (luckily, I am already one). She wants other immigrants to be here temporarily. She's accepting more immigrants, but she wants a revolving door of immigrants.

AI: Meta's Muse

tl;dr: Stay away from it. Don't touch that thing, not even with a 10 foot pole.

Meta's Muse Is Spying on All Your Friends and Family

Meta's buzzy new AI agent comes with some major privacy risks — not just for users, but anybody on the periphery of its users' lives.

FuturismJoe Wilkins

Meta Rushed to Fix Muse ‘VM Escape' Vulnerability Soon Before Launch

The vulnerability could have let a Muse user access sensitive internal Meta databases.

404 MediaJason Koebler

Man Says Meta's Muse AI Gave His Home Address Out to Strangers

A man complains Muse gave out his address and sent a stranger to his home after letting the AI handle his Facebook Marketplace account.

FuturismFrank Landymore

AI & Gmail

Another mix that will give nothing good.

Worried about letting AI loose in your Gmail? You should be

Granting email access to AI can unlock powerful functionality, but it also raises privacy and security concerns. These settings can help minimize the dangers.

PCWorldBen Patterson

Keeping the Internet Human

Millions of Volunteers Are Keeping the Internet Human. For Now.

We’re never going back to the human internet we had. But we can hope for a better internet than the AI-dominated one that is emerging, writes Sarah Gilbert.

Tech Policy PressSarah Gilbert

Side note: While the web is getting more and more filled with AI Slop, some sites, even some big ones remain human. Don't forget that Wikipedia remains the best possible and most reliable source to find information on a huge variety of topics. (Meanwhile, chatbots remain the least reliable source for this)

Okay, I'll stop here for today. I don't want to swamp you with links.

As you see, there are a lot of links about AI. Well, it's a hotly debated topic as you may be aware, and one I won't be able to write in a satisfying way without spending hours and hours in research only to paraphrase other people, so it's better that you directly read them.

If you want the short version as to why you should never use AI and fight it every possible way you can, here is an amazing site (that can be read in seconds)

Why No AI?

Why no AI?

Dave Rahardja

So... What do you think about this format? Yea? Nay? Tell me in the comments, or if you're a subscriber, with the little thumbs up or thumbs down at the end of the email.

As always, if you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends and contacts on your preferred platforms. It would mean the world to me, as would your subscription to the newsletter (it's free, although you can also help me pay the bills if you can afford it).
In this day and age, when you can no longer rely on search engines to be discovered, and when the web is becoming increasingly full of AI slop, it's more important than ever to know that you are read and followed by real humans. This is what still motivates me to write online.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time.

Best,

David