• 34 Posts
  • 319 Comments
Joined 10 months ago
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Cake day: September 21st, 2023

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  • Imagine I send my friend a password for something. If I put the password in a text message, it will probably still be sitting in their text messages for the next several years. A copy of the password will be on their phone, their text provider’s servers, and maybe various middlemen servers, I don’t know. That information could be accessed by a hacker, rogue employee, or third person who is using the friends device (or a court!) not just when it’s sent, but years in the future.

    If I send a link like this proton one, the link itself will have the same problems as a plaintext password would. The difference is that I, the user, retain control over whether that link leads to anything. I can turn off the link so even though some adversary has it, it’s useless to them.

    What this does not protect against is if the intended recipient misuses the sensitive information, but that’s a different problem.












  • You’re right, we’ve got to get rid of fossil fuel. As one example, the article talks about how energy storage has reduced the need for gas peaker plants. In California in April the power required from those plants was half what it’s been in April the prior three years.

    Still plenty of progress that needs to be made, but what’s notable is that it’s now cheaper for a business to turn to green energy and storage to solve a problem. There’s not an incentive to build new polluting tech. So while the impact of climate change is going to get worse (because those emissions and warming are already baked in) the business argument for fossil fuel is no longer viable.



  • With respect, I think you’re projecting a discussion with a different person onto this article.

    You’re right, the climate is going to get worse before it gets better. You’re right, the impacts of climate change will disproportionately affect poor and underdeveloped areas. We can’t make that go away with positive thinking, and it’s not enough for humans as a species to survive, we need to focus on reducing suffering while we’re turning the ship.

    What I took away from this article is that the market forces for cheap renewable power and the means to store it are now stronger than the forces for CO2 emitting power. And those forces are moving faster than predicted. That’s good, and it’s ok to talk about something good when it’s true!

    People who have been paying attention and care about others have good reason to be wary about the narrative “oh, everything is going to be fine” because that’s what industry and politicians have been saying for a long time instead of taking needed action.

    We’re at a point where most people recognize climate change is real, and they can see it’s effects. We’re also at a point where many people don’t have hope for the situation. It’s dangerous to tell people “shit’s fucked and there’s nothing you can do about it” because they might believe you and do nothing.