After leaving the #MetaVerse (#Facebook, #WhatsApp & Co.) and #Twitter, moving from #Android to #GrapheneOS (#degoogle), and removing #toxictech from my stocks portfolio, today I took another extreme step: I canceled #Amazon. Follower of @cyberlyra
Speaking of travel, it's all about the backpack. This is my favourite one. Isn't it great?
It's famously easy to dunk on the Metaverse, and Ryan George does a great job of it in this video;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ru2Ddp9f_I
But he also makes an insightful point, worth repeating. Many technologies that are now part of everyday work and play began as digital toys, ruthlessly mocked by people who were adults when they came out.
(1/?)
Is Metaverse Dead? The State of Virtual Worlds in 2025
https://www.techopedia.com/is-metaverse-dead
The metaverse was once seen as the future of the Internet, offering virtual worlds where people could work, socialize, and have fun. Big tech companies, such as Meta and Microsoft, have invested heavily in the metaverse, generating much buzz.
But now, in 2025, the metaverse is losing steam. Interest has faded, funding has slowed down, and fewer people use it.
Today, I brought up another server to help people leave the #Metaverse and join the #Fediverse. I created a #Mobilizon server, https://my-group.events, which is a decentralized replacement for #Facebook Events.
You can use Mobilizon to create and organize your own events via a group page. Using it, you can publish out events to members, allow for discussions, collaborate, and share resources. I presume, just like you would with Facebook Events, which I never used.
You can also search for events that you can add to your own agenda.
You can have different profiles for different "you". Like a professional profile and one for your personal life.
Each server federates with other Mobilizon servers via an opt-in mechanism. I wish federating were automatic, though. I'm not a fan of opt-in federation. An Admin has to request a connection to another Mobilizon server, and it has to approve. Then public events become shared between them when approved.
People on Mastodon can follow Mobilizon groups and see published information. I don't know how well it works with other Fediverse applications.
I have not done a thing yet with the server. I have no groups and no events. But, if you would like to try using it and let me know how it works for you, it would be great. If there is another Mobilizon server you'd like me to federate with, I'll be happy to request it so you can see their public events.
There are still things I need to do on the server next week, like set up database backups and monitoring. But, the server appears useable.
You can create an account by going to https://my-group.events and you can start organizing events!
If anyone knows more about Mobilizon, please add to the discussion.
More information here: https://docs.joinmobilizon.org/use/ and https://joinmobilizon.org/en/
Jerry
Meta continues to burn billions in the metaverse
Facebook group Meta's apps are once again a money-making machine: sales up, 14 billion dollars in profit. The Metaverse remains a bottomless pit.
@jcb 
Mark's #Metaverse explained in just 4 sentences! ;)
De Gelderlander maakte een verslagje over de overwegingen van Nijmeegse politici om op X te blijven of het medium te verlaten. Ik sprak over de doorslag die het bij mij gaf om óók definitief te vertrekken van de Meta-socials. 
"Iedereen moet eigen keus maken, maar van een platform met zulke regels wil ik geen deel uitmaken." Over Palestina, shadowbans, nepnieuws en échte gesprekken. 
#eXit #Finstagram #FaceBookClosed #Shadowban #Metaverse #Nijmegen
(betaalmuurtje) https://www.gelderlander.nl/nijmegen/vertrekken-van-x-deze-politici-gaan-juist-door-product-gebruiken-is-niet-ook-de-eigenaar-steunen~adf21269/
Remember that #Facebook's new name #Meta doesn't really refer to the doomed-from-the-start #Metaverse whim, but its much more important reliance on #metadata as the core business model.
#Instagram, #WhatsApp, and the other "products" are primarily metadata collectors. Who communicates with whom, when, how often, how much, through which types of data; which groups are they members of, how do they interact with them; which posts/articles/products do they read, like, or buy? This metadata is sufficiently detailed that the actual content of "what" somebody sent is no longer important - and therefore it doesn't hurt the business model to provide end-to-end encryption in WhatsApp and (more hesitantly) Facebook Messenger. Or, as Gen. Michael Hayden (ex-NSA) infamously once admitted "We kill people based on metadata" (https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/05/ex-nsa-chief-we-kill-people-based-on-metadata). And #Meta's metadata collection is much more detailed than the mere phone call/message and email and IP packet records the NSA/CIA/etc. use(d).
That metadata is the basis for targeted advertisement and manipulation of individual and public opinion. That's where the money and the power is, not some silly 3D avatars. So the company name #Meta is, actually, interestingly descriptive and honest about the exploitative business model.
Protect yourselves. Use @torproject, @signalapp, @Mastodon, @pixelfed, and other federated services instead of feeding more into the metadata collection.
PlayerUnknown has aspirations of creating a metaverse over the course of three interlocked game releases
https://massivelyop.com/2025/01/06/playerunknown-has-aspirations-of-creating-a-metaverse-over-the-course-of-three-interlocked-game-releases
#Artemis #Metaverse
Second Life Mobile is here! https://second.life/mobilenews112124
*Just make up something else and pivot, if you've got enough billions it's not all that hard #metaverse
Did you know that AI systems are now capable of achieving human-level performance in certain tasks, like playing board games, identifying diseases in medical images, and even writing music? The future of AI is truly mind-blowing! #AI #ML #MindBlowingFacts #TechnologyAdvancements #FutureOfAI #huggingface #metaverse #web3 #voxels #perchance #googlelabs #gemini #llama3 #chatgpt #nft #nyc #michaelpaulino #michaelpaulinostudios #3dprinting #siliconvalley
Article I two in #2015
#github mastadon #microsoft #siliconvalley #foia #journalism #nyc #boston #nft #digitalart #google #llm #llama #meta #gemini #charity # #philanthropy #activism #election #electionday #huggingface #perchance #chatgpt #aiart #artbasel2024 #artforum #artnews #tribecafilm #netflix #mastadon #voxels #blockchain #spotify #writer #journalism #opensource #website #openai #python #michaelpaulino #programming #metaverse #nyc #art #artist #foto
https://github.com/mi6paulino/open-journalism-project/commit/a3416e9875bc145fdc62b8110cc7ca9e5e5ba626
Link to my latest article just posted #github mastadon #microsoft #siliconvalley #foia #journalism #nyc #boston #nft #digitalart #google #llm #llama #meta #gemini #charity # #philanthropy #activism #election #electionday #huggingface #perchance #chatgpt #aiart #artbasel2024 #artforum #artnews #tribecafilm #netflix #mastadon #voxels #blockchain #spotify #writer #journalism #opensource #website #openai #python #michaelpaulino #programming #metaverse #nyc #art #artist #foto
Remember when everyone (in VC) thought the #metaverse was going to be the next big thing that changes everything and poured money into it?
Remember when everyone (in VC) thought #NFTs were going to be the next big thing that changes everything and poured money into it?
Remember when everyone (in VC) thought #Web3/#blockchain was going to be the next big thing that changes everything and poured money into it?
Anyway, how are #LLMs going?
And remember y’all, though they aren’t mentioned, “revolutionary” tech like #Ai and Zuckerberg’s version of the #metaverse are expensive, resource intensive, and have yet to pay off.
Investors won’t continue to be patient forever.
We really do need to #DefundBillionaires
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/16/24272195/meta-layoffs-whatsapp-instagram-reality-labs
