NEW TECHNNOLOGY / NEW FORMS OF LABOUR
With every step that we take in the cybernetic world, we leave traces, knowingly or not. These traces are data – of our identity, our tastes and interests, of our location and displacements, our habits and much more – which are the mana from heaven that feed the big business groups of the digital sector (not to speak of security agencies, criminal groups and others). alainet.org/
The company does take cities seriously. Its executives have floated the idea of taking some struggling city – Detroit? – and reinventing it around Alphabet services, with no annoying regulations blocking this march of progress. theguardian.com/
 Google, Twitter and Facebook workers who helped make technology so addictive are disconnecting themselves from the internet. A report on the Silicon Valley refuseniks alarmed by a race for human attention. theguardian.com/
President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos intend to prioritize science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education by investing in ‘K-12’ schools across the Unites States where coding and computer science will be taught. This will not be in the interests of the children caution developmental psychologists. sfchronicle.com/ |
“The government faces difficult choices”, Finance Minister Gigaba said in his Mid Term Budget Statement (MTBPS). But he made no choices. All decisions were postponed to later. On the one hand, the Minister and the MTBPS document provided a shocking account of the deep economic crisis facing South African society. On the other hand, what measures the government is going to take are shrouded in darkness. 
Those wishing to receive Hurricane Harvey relief funds in the US city of Dickinson, Texas, will have to sign an agreement that they will not boycott Israel. 
New Online Course on Fair Wage Strategies starts with Facebook Live Discussion on 24 October