Mark Hurst

Host of Techtonic on WFMU: https://techtonic.fm .. Projects and bio at https://creativegood.com .. anti-Big Tech, pro-everyone who's trying to make tech better.

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markhurst@mastodon-social.mostr.pub

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nprofile1qqswfwhee6sh7njc68mgrltyv679klephntg6aumygy4z3d6s7cd9sgpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduq3qamnwvaz7tmwdaehgu3wwa5kuegssfmr3

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Last Notes

2026-05-02 12:11:51 UTC

"The clam chowder in a New England diner and the clam chowder in a Florida diner come out of the same Sysco can."
On regional collapse in restaurants - h/t @nprofile…ugpy
https://www.worseonpurpose.com/p/your-dinner-got-worse-on-purpose

2026-04-22 13:30:40 UTC

From "What I Learned About Billionaires at Jeff Bezos’s Private Retreat" by Noah Hawley:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/05/billionaire-consequence-free-reality/686588/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/448/600/339/906/254/original/9a152fbe6a52a4a2.png

2026-04-07 19:20:07 UTC

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@nprofile…awd8 see also https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/good-news-in-the-fight-against-big-tech/

2026-03-27 19:07:23 UTC

"Every step we take towards deGoogling, no matter how small, is a step in the right direction."
New from me: The first step toward getting off Google, feat. @nprofile…0egl
https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/the-first-step-toward-getting-off-google/

2026-03-24 17:44:07 UTC

Excited to share my Techtonic interview with @nprofile…0egl - aka Janet Vertesi - founder of the #optout project and #techreclaimers .
Janet explains WHY and HOW to get off of Big Tech, and onto community-minded alternatives.
Full episode:
https://techtonic.fm/episodes/2026-03-23-janet-vertesi-founder-of-the-opt-out-project/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/285/388/350/338/019/original/46dc68679027f978.mp4

2026-03-23 13:25:20 UTC

"77% of air traffic control is understaffed, with NYC ATC staffed at 54% of the correct level."
This data point from @nprofile…ugpy today, on the dangers of understaffing, makes me think of the LaGuardia crash.
https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/22/nobodys-home/

2026-03-04 16:38:59 UTC

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@nprofile…47jv @nprofile…erjy This one is great
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/171/885/772/349/858/original/0f58a0c7700143d4.png

2026-02-21 21:17:51 UTC

Now THAT's a headline.
"The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents"
#edtech #education
https://fortune.com/2026/02/21/laptops-tablets-schools-gen-z-less-cognitively-capable-parents-first-time-cellphone-bans-standardized-test-scores/

2026-02-19 20:24:18 UTC

I spoke with Chris Gilliard - aka @nprofile…pxgx - about the Ring commercial, and the problems of spreading big tech surveillance & AI, on Techtonic this week.
https://techtonic.fm/episodes/2026-02-16-chris-gilliard-on-amazons-admission-that-ring-spies-on-us/
Make note of that image below with the blue circles, as it will come up in the next post.
3/

2026-02-19 20:22:50 UTC

New from me: It's time to get rid of networked cameras.
https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/its-time-to-get-rid-of-networked-cameras/
I feel strongly about this piece, so here's a thread -
1/

2025-10-22 15:52:25 UTC

Insane image. "Model of the distribution of space debris around Earth." Read the key: 2,000 billion objects under 0.1 mm.
(from the European Space Agency, in this report: https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Space_Debris/Sounding_the_alarm_ESA_introduces_space_environment_health_index )
(via @nprofile…sep3 )
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/418/609/396/734/028/original/9b5a2a28141310b9.jpg

2025-04-01 13:43:36 UTC

I'm outraged that my government is disappearing people for political dissent. On the new Techtonic, I speak about the Tufts PhD student – Rumeysa Ozturk – who was kidnapped, and the growing use of Big Tech AI & surveillance for authoritarianism.
LISTEN: https://wfmu.org/archiveplayer/?show=150627&archive=268232
Episode page: https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/150627
More: https://techtonic.fm

2025-03-26 14:22:32 UTC

Excited to share my interview with Liz Pelly about Spotify - a company that exploits musicians, spies on users, and pollutes the internet with muzak slop. Liz's book "Mood Machine" is fantastic. I also quote @nprofile…724p .
To listen, click "Pop-up player" on this page:
https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/150392

2025-03-07 20:08:40 UTC

New from me: I read all of Plato. Here's what I learned.
https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/i-read-all-of-plato-heres-what-i-learned/

2025-02-10 19:17:49 UTC

‪But do the users actually *want* AI?
Maybe they do, in some cases. But did anyone actually find out what users actually *want* before spending a trillion dollars to build it out?

2023-11-08 00:51:05 UTC

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@npub17nv…96rn what?? that is not a good precedent. (ads for laundry)

2023-09-22 18:48:39 UTC

I like how @npub1typ…c8hh describes what's changed in search UX:
"For their first 25 years of existence, Internet search engines functioned as librarians. Their goal was to point us to a resource that we could ourselves ingest and learn from.
"But now, Ellandorff observes, search is becoming more like a doctor [meaning, it just gives an answer without pointers to further context]."
Read the whole piece in section 7 of Clive's recent linkfest:
https://buttondown.email/clivethompson/archive/linkfest-11/

2023-09-01 21:37:41 UTC

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@npub17nv…96rn safe travels, break a leg, etc. etc.!

2023-09-01 20:48:32 UTC

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@npub1typ…c8hh Great piece. I'm working on an Auden poem

2023-04-14 01:10:16 UTC

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#[0] another recommendation for Fastmail, *or* any of the other Gmail alternatives I list here - https://goodreports.com/post/email.html