Sy Taffel

Digital Ecologies, Infrastructures and Degrowth | Automation and Creativity | Postcapitalism and Political Ecology | Postgrowth computing.

Senior Lecturer in media studies and co-director of the Political Ecology Research Centre at Massey University, Aotearoa.

my website: https://sytaffel.com/
PERC: https://perc.ac.nz

Last Notes

2026-03-16 08:04:34 UTC

'Meta, Google and Microsoft have all baked [generative AI] deep into their systems,” Joshi says. “I see this all as very much part of the tactic of trying to embed these systems into society and instil dependency in a fashion similar to the growth of single-use plastics in the 1970s.”
Opting out can be a “meaningful act of resistance”, Joshi says. “It’s partly about not creating that energy demand but mostly about being part of broad collective action against [a] corrosive, harmful industry.”'
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/mar/13/ai-datacentres-environmental-impacts

2026-02-24 00:10:51 UTC

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Hypothetically it should be possible for 8 billion people to have a reasonable standard of living while remaining within planetary boundaries...
But as you mention, this would require a far greater degree of equity than we currently have within and across nations. And the billionaire class aren't going to give up their wealth and power without a fight, and currently it feels like they're winning 😥

2025-12-08 06:12:51 UTC

In news that should surprise absolutely no one, it turns out that deep sea mining is really, really bad for life on the seabed.
And this is just driving the vehicle, not extracting material, let alone something going wrong.
#ocean #mining
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cedx2p8gnx9o

2025-11-19 00:30:07 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.world/@andrewdessler/115571534249942613
'The average resident of the United States benefits from an energy-rich standard of living that requires 100 energy slaves equal to 10 kilowatts of continuous power per person.
Without cheap energy, very few of us could afford to live the lifestyle we do.
This is why I believe we should tip our caps to what fossil fuels have enabled. They are a remarkable energy source that built the modern world, lifted billions from poverty, and provided the foundation for nearly every comfort and technology we now take for granted.
But the energy conversation is not about the past but about the future. Acknowledging the pivotal role of fossil fuels in the past is not an argument for their indefinite future use. Rather, it challenges us to preserve the incredible benefits we’ve received from fossil fuels while eliminating the side effects that come with them: climate change, air pollution, and geopolitical instability.
The challenge is starker when you consider that the global average rate of energy consumption is around 2 kW per person. Many countries in Africa and South Asia rely on less than 1 kW. These differences shape quality of life, affecting everything from health care and transportation to education and economic opportunity.
These people deserve access to more energy to spur development. But if the world follows the same fossil-fuel path that powered industrial growth in wealthy nations, global emissions will soar and the climate crisis will deepen.'
#note1jxf…446u

2025-10-14 00:52:41 UTC

Happy International E- waste day.
...Also happy Microsoft end-of-life for Windows 10 day.
It's estimated that 400-600 million computers still run Windows 10, and many of those don't meet the higher specs required for Win 11, which in addition to more RAM and a faster CPU includes having UEFI bios.
For those with some level of tech literacy upgrading to Linux is an obvious workaround, but the sad truth is that enormous volumes of ewaste will be generated by this unnecessary act of corporate greed.
#windows #ewaste #microsoft #linux

2025-07-16 02:19:58 UTC

I find it oddly comforting that tech corporations are now straight up advertising their vision of dystopian individualism where all your friends have been replaced by their chatbot.
#AI #dystopia
https://o.mastodon.nz/media_attachments/files/114/860/496/354/479/360/original/8be4fdd0bf9500de.png

2025-07-03 21:41:34 UTC

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Equally, given the success of the Greens as a party that's solidly to the left of Labour and which has had some success in local and (to a very limited degree) national elections, is there room for another party occupying that space?

2025-07-02 02:45:10 UTC

Woking through Google's 2025 Environmental Report, here's my summary...
(all figures are changes from 2023-2024)
Scope 2 location-based GHG emissions up from 9,252,900 - 11,283,200 tCO2e
Scope 3 GHG emissions up from 10,794,000 - 12,053,000 tCO2e
Total Energy Consumption up from 25,910,500 - 32,727,800 MWh
Total waste generated up from 52,000 - 58,500 metric tons
Water consumption up from 6,352 - 8135 million gallons.
So given that they're significantly worse on every major indicator, you might be wondering how Google spins this as 'driving sustainable innovation' (p4) and a 12% reduction in datacentre emissions (p4)...
The answer is that they're buying more electricity under Power Purchase Agreements - meaning that increasing amounts of renewable energy isn't used for decarbonisation, instead they're used to power the growth in AI and datacentre capacity.
This, alongside the focus on efficiency metrics that obfuscate the growing energy and resource demands of Big Tech needs to be recognised as corporate greenwash that is driving climate change, not fixing it
#Google #AI #DataCenters #sustainability #Tech #ClimateChange
https://sustainability.google/google-2025-environmental-report/

2025-06-27 07:54:03 UTC

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Those numbers seem pretty dubious though?
Since the last election Reform and Tory support has risen from 38% to 47%. While Labour has gone from 34% down to 23%.
Some of those votersintend to switch from Labour to the Lib Dems and Greens (and could move back in the future), but the size of that swing would very strongly suggest there's been more than 1% movement from Labour to Reform.
https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/united-kingdom/

2025-06-07 22:52:48 UTC

'The tax giveaway to landlords is estimated to cost the country $2.9 billion. To put this in perspective, that is more than the amount paid in Treaty settlements since 1985, which is about $2.7b. In other words, in one year, the current Government awarded landlords more money than has been paid out to Māori in 40 years as compensation for historical wrongs.'
https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/06/08/lets-call-taxing-the-rich-what-it-really-is/

2025-06-04 23:51:28 UTC

'An app is just a website that we've wrapped in the correct DRM that makes it a felony to protect your privacy while you use it'
@npub1fdr…lvhs keynote speech at PyCon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydVmzg_SJLw

2025-02-04 21:39:08 UTC

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https://www.techpolicy.press/the-whiteness-of-mastodon/
Is probably worth a read

2025-02-04 21:35:41 UTC

'Temperatures at the north pole soared more than 20C above average on Sunday, crossing the threshold for ice to melt.
Temperatures north of Svalbard in Norway had already risen to 18C hotter than the 1991–2020 average on Saturday, according to models from weather agencies in Europe and the US, with actual temperatures close to ice’s melting point of 0C. By Sunday, the temperature anomaly had risen to more than 20C.'
#ClimateChange #Arctic
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/04/temperatures-at-north-pole-20c-above-average-and-beyond-ice-melting-point

2025-01-29 00:35:54 UTC

Croaking Southern Bell Frog. This was astonishingly loud.
Seen at Bushy Park, Wanganui. Aoteaora-New Zealand.
Canon R5 & EF100-400 mkii
The southern bell frog, also known as the growling grass frog in Australia, Ranoidea raniformis (previously Litoria raniformis), is the largest introduced frog in New Zealand.
https://nzfrogs.org/southern-bell-frog/
#frog #photography #wildlifephotography
https://mastodon.nz/system/media_attachments/files/113/908/823/920/847/798/original/1c6fc2ba2af80e8a.jpg

2024-12-09 04:01:14 UTC

2024 will be hottest year on record, with the 1st eleven months averaging 1.6C over pre-industrial levels...
But the article wants to emphasize this hasn't broken the #Paris treaty, we just need a 45% global reduction in emissions by 2030.
Yet year on year emissions continue to rise (with the exceptions of the GFC and Covid) rather than fall.
The scale of #climate action is spectacularly inadequate, but the mainstream just pretends we're doing okay.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/09/climate-crisis-deepens-with-2024-certain-to-be-hottest-year-on-record

2024-09-19 03:54:19 UTC

Tieke | North Island Saddleback
Seen at Bushy Park, Whanganui
'Tieke are conspicuous and easily observed in regenerating scrub, forests and coastal forests. They call frequently and are very active, noisy foragers. They are about the size of a European blackbird. Tieke were widespread at European contact, but rapidly declined on the mainland following the introduction of predatory mammals, especially ship rats and stoats.'
#birds #birdphotography #aotearoa #wildlife
https://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/north-island-saddleback
https://mastodon.nz/system/media_attachments/files/113/162/181/281/705/778/original/7d17eaf276a2ded2.jpg

2024-07-30 21:33:58 UTC

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Am I missing sarcasm here? Why would the Vietnamese, Nicaraguans, Iraqis, Iranians, Chileans, Indonesians, Cubans, Venezuelans etc. who've been on the sharp end of US imperialism since WW2 think it was a good example of democracy?