Favoriting Techtonic with Mark Hurst: Playlist from November 20, 2023 Favoriting

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Conversations with creators and thinkers who are charting the way forward in a tech-saturated society. In our shift to a digital future, we need alternatives to Big Tech. Homepage: techtonic.fm

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Favoriting November 20, 2023: Kris De Decker, founder, Low-Tech Magazine

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Playlist image Favoriting

Today: Kris De Decker, founder, Low-tech Magazine

Low-tech Magazine, a solar-powered website

krisdedecker.org, Kris De Decker’s site

Human Power Plant

What If We Replace Guns and Bullets with Bows and Arrows? (Low-tech Magazine, Nov 23, 2022)

How to Build a Practical Household Bike Generator (Low-Tech Magazine, March 6, 2022): “We built a pedal-powered generator and controller, which is practical to use as an energy source and exercise machine in a household – and which you can integrate into a solar PV system.”

Pigeons are still (sometimes) faster than your internet (Washington Post, Nov 10, 2023): “Even in areas with high-speed internet, pigeons can — and have — beat the internet with large-enough data. Earlier this year, YouTuber and software developer Jeff Geerling strapped 3 terabytes’ worth of flash drives onto a pigeon. The pigeon won against his super-fast gigabit fiber internet.”



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Artist Track Images Approx. start time
  Kris De Decker, founder, Low-tech Magazine
Tomaš Dvořák  Game Boy Tune   Favoriting
Favoriting
 
  Mark's intro  
Favoriting
 
  Interview with Kris de Decker  
Favoriting
0:07:05 (MP3 | Pop-up)
  Mark's comments  
Favoriting
0:47:48 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Linus Akesson  Vivaldi Summer Presto   Favoriting
Favoriting
0:56:55 (MP3 | Pop-up)


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Listener comments!

Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:00pm
chresti:

Hi mark and techtonicians!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:00pm
ultradamno:

Mark! Techtolar Panelists!
  6:00pm
David (in London):

Evening Mark and all Technoids.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:02pm
Wendy del Formaggio:

Hey Mark and friends! I'm lurking... and totally psyched for this interview.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:02pm
Bas NL:

Hi Mark! BigTech up, techtonicians!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:03pm
ultradamno:

↳ Song: "Game Boy Tune" by "Tomaš Dvořák"
That is a solid joke.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:03pm
DjLorraine:

Hi
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:04pm
Will thee Sound Guy:

Hello Mark Hurst and all!!!
  6:06pm
yippie:

My last name in japanese is Pawaazu. (I know I once asked how to say mark hurst in japanese but I think you told me Marco). I went to japan and I paid for my trains with Amex and an iPhone app, did you actually use cash and buy a paper ticket for every train in Japan?
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:06pm
Jim the Poet:

Tech Mark likes????
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:07pm
Jeff Golick:

Does it creatitity?
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:09pm
Bas NL:

How green!
  6:09pm
Tom from Stirling:

Marku-sama
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:09pm
dale:

wasn't wjff in jeffersonville ny hydro=powered for a while? don't know if it still is.....
  6:10pm
Androu B.:

Good Evening, Mark & Techtonians!

Mark, I have a question:
I'm currently shopping for a new phone and I've got my eye on a particular model by Motorola. Are there any issues with this maker concerning surveillance tech that I may need to know about?
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:10pm
chresti:

If he’s in Arizona or California there’s more sun
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:11pm
Mark Hurst:

↳ ultradamno @6:03
Glad you appreciated that
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:12pm
Mark Hurst:

Hi chresti, ultra, DiL, Wendy, Bas, DjLorraine, WtSG, yippie, Jim, Jeff, Tom, dale, Androu - thank you all for joining!
  6:12pm
yippie:

I thought maruko= Marco and Maaku= Mark
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:13pm
Mark Hurst:

↳ Androu B. @6:10
I'd be primarily concerned with the software. If it's running Android, that's a Google mobile operating system that's full of surveillance hooks.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:15pm
Mark Hurst:

↳ Jim the Poet @6:06
It does exist!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:15pm
Mark Hurst:

↳ Jeff Golick @6:07
Well, human in in cenex.
  6:16pm
Androu B.:

↳ Mark Hurst @6:13
Thanks, Mark! Consider me forewarned!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:18pm
Folsom:

I'm wondering how well the bike generator works. I saw a pro biker with 32" thighs trying to power a toaster to make toast, he was crying on the floor since he about killed himself for 2 slices of toast.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:20pm
dale:

↳ Folsom @6:18
that's a lot of wattage required.
Avatar 6:20pm
joe_rosevear:

I'm sorry, but I'm not impressed by the extreme choice to let the website go down for lack of sun. The simple solution is to use power from the grid when needed. What is gained by "black and white", "all or nothing" thinking?
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:20pm
Ken From Hyde Park:

Hook up a turbine to the bathtub water faucet and generate electricity via water power when backup is needed.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:26pm
tim from washington:

↳ joe_rosevear @6:20
I see it more so as using what’s available when it’s available. Also, I like this idea for slowing the hell down. Almost all websites have no need to be active all the times. Think of it like a print newspaper.
  6:26pm
ohme:

This is great Mark! A battery engineer once told me that “everyone wants 100% on their phone but what they don’t realize is that peak battery performance is between 20-80% and to get from 80 to 100 is the same amount of energy and time to get from 10-80%!”
  6:26pm
Sam:

I miss the grainy black and white photos in the newspaper.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:28pm
tim from washington:

↳ joe_rosevear @6:20
FYI - I’m not discounting your opinion, it’s good to hear.
  6:28pm
carrots:

its a waste to look at photographs on a telephone
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:29pm
Mark Hurst:

↳ ohme @6:26
Really interesting - had never heard that about peak battery performance.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:29pm
Wendy del Formaggio:

↳ joe_rosevear @6:20
I don't think the choice is extreme. I also don't think it's indicative of "black and white" thinking. I think it's taking a different perspective toward what is necessary, and then choosing to tread more lightly when something isn't necessary.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:30pm
DjLorraine:

Do they charge extra for smaller cars bc the ins company considers it a sports vehicle? (Instead of economy)
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:31pm
Webhamster Henry:

I'm from the olde skool days of webserving, and my websites look very 90s ish - even a bit like old 80s era BBSes.
I'm an ASCII artist, for instance.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:31pm
Jim the Poet:

I want to make an online mimeo machine
  6:31pm
carrots:

i keep daydreaming about a day when everyone becomes cross-eyed from looking at our phones all day and poof just like that it all goes away and everyone throws their phones out! , like Steve Martins invention in The Jerk.
  6:31pm
?:

Really appreciate the topic, Mark. I've wondered how much energy gifs take. Wonder if they couldn't be designed with a specific lifetime
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:32pm
Webhamster Henry:

The website I run on my NAS, well, it's energy is sourced from green sources, but I can't help the evil Central Hudson delivery charges.
  6:32pm
Marie in Chicago:

I AM ? !
  6:33pm
Sam:

High resolution is unsustainable. Sooner or later we will run out of electrons!
Avatar 🤖 6:33pm
MarciB:

Back in September I watched a panel discussion of from my fellow photo managers called "To Cloud or not to Cloud". Several of the panelists were located in Europe where they are much more aware of this issue. Most of the US viewers were suprised to learn about the cost of cloud storage - they assume it's free and cheap. Which it is not!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:34pm
Ken From Hyde Park:

I have solar panels on my house. I'd like to install a battery backup, but the cost is thousands and I can't afford it at the moment.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:35pm
tim:

↳ carrots @6:31
I agree completely. But it would be a sad day for Cup -o- Pizza.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:35pm
Webhamster Henry:

I want to point out that new style lossy image compression like webp and avif are pretty darn good.

But I'll tell you what's coming: the "image" will be a low quality , low res image with a machine learning prompt that turns it into a high res image. Every user will probably get a different result, but you know what? It doesn't really matter most of the time.
  6:35pm
Sam:

↳ carrots @6:31
Everyone became stupid and paranoid from looking at their phones. But it wasn’t enough to abandon them, it seems. As Stereolab said “Is it enough to show How the nightmare works, So everyone can Wake Up, Is it enough?”
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:36pm
Will thee Sound Guy:

The servers that my website is hosted on claims to be wind powered 🌬️🍃 ⚡
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:37pm
Wendy del Formaggio:

What Kris is saying about longevity and compatibility is true. One of my jobs is as an archivist / file clerk for a small town in Massachusetts. In going through old reports and records, anything I find from 10 or 20 years ago on a 3.5" disk or even a CD is useless at this point. But, every piece of paper I archive -- including records going back to the 1970s and earlier -- is still accessible and legible 50+ years later.
Avatar 6:37pm
joe_rosevear:

↳ Wendy del Formaggio @6:29
I think low tech is great. I'm a big fan of low tech, in fact I have a website of my own that is low tech and uses very little php and no javascript at all. It thus does what de Decker said--it doesn't "generate" pages. My site is JoesLife.org.

But I ask again--why let the website go down for lack of sun? Do you know the expression, "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face?"
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:37pm
Webhamster Henry:

And about that 3Tb carrying pigeon: we used to talk about the bandwidth of a truckfull of floppy disks.
Avatar 🤖 6:38pm
MarciB:

↳ Wendy del Formaggio @6:37
That's great! And why I shifted my business focus to 100% analog organizing and preservation!
  6:38pm
Marie in Chicago:

I read that meta is now offering ad-free subscriptions in the EU (to try to deal with privacy laws)--maybe we will be able to reduce ads online overall eventually. (I'm sure they take up a lot of energy)
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:39pm
Webhamster Henry:

↳ Wendy del Formaggio @6:37
I'm friends with the archives here in Kingston, and they trotted out for Ulster County's 340th anniversary, the original British patent for this and the other counties that were established then in NY, and some other 17th century documents.
  6:40pm
Marie in Chicago:

I just got a great hand-me down Schwinn--will start biking again--psyched
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:40pm
tim:

I’m out! Ant bow and arrow conceal and carry is a step too far, Hurst!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:40pm
Wendy del Formaggio:

↳ joe_rosevear @6:37
Let's go back to my question, Joe: What is necessary? If Kris doesn't think his website *needs* to be up 24/7, and keeping it up 24/7 violates his ethics and values, then there is no reason to keep it up. His website is not a crucial part of the public works / infrastructure. Nobody will be harmed from the site going down, but some harm is done by using the grid to keep it up.
Avatar 🤖 6:40pm
MarciB:

↳ Webhamster Henry @6:39
That must've been such a thrill to see in person!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:41pm
Wendy del Formaggio:

↳ Webhamster Henry @6:39
O M G jealous! I'd love to see those.
  6:41pm
Marie in Chicago:

↳ Webhamster Henry @6:39
interesting
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:42pm
Franco Twinkie:

I graduated from high school in 1973, and I kid you not, archery was a mandatory part of physical education.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:42pm
Mark Hurst:

↳ Webhamster Henry @6:39
Cool... similarly I'd recommend taking a look at the New York Public Library's permanent exhibit called "Treasures" - they rotate in various original artifacts at the 42nd & 5th main branch. Worth seeing. I saw a Declaration of Independence last time I visited.
  6:42pm
Sam:

Why bows and arrows, why not no weapons at all?
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:42pm
Wendy del Formaggio:

↳ Webhamster Henry @6:39
At my job, I got to archive the 1930s blueprints of when the state (well, commonwealth) established the highway system that ran through the town. And they're really blue!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:43pm
ultradamno:

↳ Franco Twinkie @6:42
I did very poorly at that, but I remember it. Preferred it to square dancing anyhow.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:43pm
Wendy del Formaggio:

↳ Wendy del Formaggio @6:42
Sorry. The highway *still* runs through town. Mind you, this "interstate" is one lane on each side. But it does come from NH and go into MA, so it's an interstate.
  6:44pm
Androu B.:

↳ Marie in Chicago @6:40
Good for you! Just so happens I bought a used one over the summer.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:44pm
Wendy del Formaggio:

↳ Mark Hurst @6:42
Shout-out to public libraries!
Avatar 6:44pm
mespr:

I would suggest that Kris clone and sell his server. I would run one in Arizona. Each server could host multiple static websites. We could share the sun. It would be possible to implement a very simplistic load balancer that would chase the sun around the earth.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:44pm
Ken From Hyde Park:

↳ Franco Twinkie @6:42
Neat! We had archery in 4-H camp.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:44pm
ultradamno:

↳ Sam @6:42
If doomsday weapons are outlawed only outlaws will have doomsday weapons!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:45pm
Franco Twinkie:

I sharpen pencils with an ax.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:45pm
tim:

↳ Wendy del Formaggio @6:42
I work at an art and architecture library. I was astounded when I saw that early 20th century blue prints are blue! And blue paper is still chemically active. It can fade out pretty quickly.
  6:45pm
Marie in Chicago:

↳ Androu B. @6:44
Yeah, I used to ride almost everywhere for like 19 years. Loved it. How is your Schwinn working out?
  6:47pm
Sam:

Mommy I’m cold!
Stop complaining and get on the bike!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:49pm
ultradamno:

Party line!
  6:49pm
Androu B.:

↳ Marie in Chicago @6:45
Haven't had a chance to take it out for a spin yet. Rear wheel needs air & I need to get a pump.
  6:51pm
Marie in Chicago:

↳ Androu B. @6:49
oh, ok. where do you live again?
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:51pm
Franco Twinkie:

This was a top show. Thank you Mark and Kris.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:51pm
Will thee Sound Guy:

↳ tim @6:45
My full time job is being a landsurveyor... Prints are degrading in every county... Some have scanned them. Some of the scans are crappy... They need to capture with more DPI at most of the counties. Once it's gone it's lost...
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:52pm
ultradamno:

I hope the stream doesn't rebel against the prog again this week.
  6:52pm
Sam:

You can always listen to the archive - as long as it’s sunny.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:52pm
chris in the redwoods:

that was really great, Mark. thanks!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:52pm
DjLorraine:

↳ Marie in Chicago @6:40
I just got a bontrager light and it's bright and helpful.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:52pm
tim:

Great interview Mark and Kris!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:52pm
Webhamster Henry:

This part of NY has a large number of 17th and 18th century buildings still. Kingston was burned by the British in 1777, but the stone didn't burn!
  6:53pm
Androu B.:

↳ Marie in Chicago @6:51
Central NJ. We have roads with bike access now.
  6:53pm
Marie in Chicago:

↳ Will thee Sound Guy @6:51
i suppose they/you could take pics?
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:54pm
Will thee Sound Guy:

↳ Marie in Chicago @6:53
You must pay for copies, photography is prohibited
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:54pm
tim:

↳ Will thee Sound Guy @6:51
Sure! That’s the truth. I’ve had surveyors and engineers come in to find records that no longer exist at the county level.
  6:54pm
Marie in Chicago:

I gotta say, wihotht any data, I think throwing tech/ai solutions out is a particularly male tendency
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:55pm
dale:

↳ Ken From Hyde Park @6:20
like how every cheap product had an "i" in front of it after ipod and ipad and imac became ubiquitous.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:56pm
tim:

↳ Will thee Sound Guy @6:54
Next time you run into this situation check with a librarian at your state land grant university. They probably can get you what you need.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:56pm
ultradamno:

Team Huffy!
  6:56pm
Marie in Chicago:

↳ Will thee Sound Guy @6:54
oh, but for preservation purposes, photos might be good?
Avatar 6:56pm
joe_rosevear:

What did you say, Mark? Did you dis AI in favor of spending more money (higher wages)?
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:56pm
dale:

↳ dale @6:55
not meant for ken in hyde park.....
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:57pm
Webhamster Henry:

I'm riding my father's 35+ year old Fuji Saratoga bike, but I upgraded the gear system this year.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:57pm
Will thee Sound Guy:

↳ tim @6:56
Good to know. Most of the people in the clerks office that are good with maps will rescan it... But the original must exist and be scannable
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:58pm
tim:

↳ Will thee Sound Guy @6:57
Right!
  6:58pm
Marie in Chicago:

I had a steel Peugeot from the 80s that was like a tank--my fave adult bike. Lasted forever (a friend gave it to me in the 00s)
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:58pm
tim:

Thanks, Mark!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:59pm
Wendy del Formaggio:

Thank you, Mark!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:59pm
Bas NL:

Thanks Mark! Have a nice break!
  6:59pm
Marie in Chicago:

Thanks, Mark and Kris!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:59pm
Will thee Sound Guy:

↳ Marie in Chicago @6:56
Probably 10 years ago they lost a bunch of railroad maps... Lucky, one of the local surveyors had the whole catalog
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:59pm
chresti:

Thanks Mark!
  7:00pm
Androu B.:

Thanks, Mark! Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 7:00pm
Ken From Hyde Park:

Thanks, Mark. The Simpsons last night showed a futuristic 3-D food printer spewing a Thanksgiving meal. Technology we can use!
  Swag For Life Member 7:00pm
SeaCreature:

Feel like I need to pump in a quarter for this tune;)
Avatar Swag For Life Member 7:01pm
Mark Hurst:

Thanks, everyone!
Avatar 7:19pm
joe_rosevear:

↳ Wendy del Formaggio @6:40
Well, OK. If that's how your personal ethics work, then go for it!
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