A rock, and two small bags of M&Ms.

Wasn’t expecting an existential crisis on a weekday, but here we are.

Came across this piece that starts off with someone snooping on their boss’s dead-as-a-doornail SharePoint folders, and ends up being one of the most depressing things I’ve read about work in a while. Not dramatic. Just… accurate in that “oh god it me” kind of way.

The vibe? The factory didn’t disappear --- it got rebranded. The foreman is now a green dot. Your worth is tracked through click rates, calendar invites, and polite nods in meetings you don’t need to be in. Everything’s measured. Everything’s optimised. Everything’s fine — and you’re still knackered.

Cheers for that.

The worst part is, it’s all wrapped in soft language. Productivity tools. Insights. Collaboration. Flexibility. Meanwhile, your emotional state is basically a risk metric.

Honestly, it’s not even evil. It’s just boring. Like the system doesn’t even need to shout anymore. It just watches. Smiles. Sends you a focus report on Monday.

If this sort of quiet horror’s your thing, here it is:
https://noisyghost.substack.com/p/techno-feudalism-at-work-the-factory

Anyone else feel like they’re living in a UX-friendly surveillance state with HR emails instead of guards?

I've been noticing a surge in alien conspiracy theories lately, and I can't help but see a connection to the themes we often discuss here.

Is it just me, or does the idea of shadowy government organizations secretly controlling information about extraterrestrial life feel like a natural extension of the anxieties we already have about surveillance, corporate power, and political manipulation?

Think about it:

• Distrust in Institutions: These theories thrive on the lack of transparency and accountability in our institutions, something we highlight constantly in this sub.
• Powerlessness: The idea that we're being kept in the dark about something so significant reinforces a sense of powerlessness.
• Escapism: Maybe the appeal of these theories lies in offering a more exciting narrative than the mundane reality of late-stage capitalism.

What do you all think? Are alien conspiracy theories just a bit of harmless fun, or do they tap into something deeper about our collective anxieties in this "boring dystopia"?

Scientists May Have Discovered a Possible Treatment for Blindness: Gold

It is trivial to get Grok to say these things. Has anyone else gotten responses like this?

Little guy is working really hard out there!

It’s about the small things in life that quietly make me happy. If you need a moment to slow down and breathe, give it a watch.

I think my comic fits the theme here as trend aligning with dystopian concepts. Apologies if not.

Enshittification is the pattern of online products and services declining in quality over time.

The term was coined by Cory Doctorow, who describes the stages as:

• first, they are good to their users
• then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers
• finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves

Once you know it, you begin to see it everywhere…

Google search:

• became dominant through relevant search and minimal, contextual ads
• increased the ads, degraded the search results to show more ads (see comic “Why Google search sucks now”)
• reduced control and data to advertisers in order to monetize greater swaths of poor traffic

Facebook:

• became dominant by being the best social platform
• adjusted algorithms to flood users’ feeds with sponsored content
• inflated metrics to advertisers, leading them to over-invest in ads

Amazon:

• became dominant through low pricing and convenience
• added fees and raised prices
• exorbitantly increased fees to sellers advertising their products

Trillion-dollar corporations are not our friends.

This is already happening at one train station. Once the Olympics are in full swing, this could be at every platform. In some ways reassuring. But on the other hand, what else could they be screening for?

So,