Friday Keynote: „Mapping for Investigations“ — Al Shaw from FOSS4G on Vimeo.

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Yes, we can. But should we? The unintended consequences of the Maker movement: Ein kritischer Blick auf die Maker-Community, in der es (wenn man sich die typischen Kickstarter-Projekte ansieht) vielfach nur noch um schoene, glitzernde Spielzeuge fuer reiche Kinder zu gehen scheint – ohne Ruecksicht auf Nachhaltigkeit.

I won’t point the finger at one company or one discipline but I am struck by the absence of sustainable discourse in the maker movement. Daily, we read swooning odes to the 3-D printer, the CNC router and other cutting edge manufacturing technologies but read almost nothing that approaches these developments through a much-needed critical lens. Every tchotchke is celebrated as if it were as significant as the wheel or the printing press.

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A 3D printer consumes about 50 to 100 times more electrical energy than injection molding to make an item of the same weight. On top of that, the emissions from desktop 3D printers are similar to burning a cigarette or cooking on a gas or electric stove. And the material of choice for all this new stuff we’re clamoring to make is overwhelmingly plastic. In a sense, it’s a reverse environmental offset, counteracting recent legislation to reduce plastic use through grocery bag bans and packaging redesigns. While more people tote reuasable cloth bags to the supermarket, plastic is piling up in other domains, from TechShop to Target.

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Stefan Mandel: Wie man im Lotto gewinnt, am Beispiel eines rumaenischen Wirtschaftswissenschaftlers aus Zeiten des kalten Kriegs. Wenn man Mathematik benutzt. Achja, und schon am Anfang ein paar Millionen auf der Seite hat. (via)

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Why I am not praising Emma Watson’s speech: Gegenrede zu Antje Schrupp gestern, mit besonderem Blick auf die Probleme weissen Mainstream-Feminismus.

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Video oben: Keynote “Mapping for Investigations” von der FOSS4G Portland 2014. Alle Videos hier – nein, ich habe noch nicht alle durch, aber ich bin dran 😀 (via)