I have been awfully silent the past months. While I drafted more than one post, none got published. Partly that was due to me finally finishing my long (loooooong) lasting studies of Business Adminstration, which required me to write a thesis while also remaining employed and was quite exhausting. Even though I handed the thesis in in late October, I don’t know whether I managed to finish my studies successfully – the feeling of relief has thus not kicked in yet (and won’t come this year).
In other matters I have been a little bit engaged with “Hackers Against Climate Change”, a group effort that formed on the last (35th) Chaos Communication Congress. I hope that this effort will grow on the 36C3, because there is a lot more to consider than just dealing with „how can we help other groups with digital infrastructure“.
To explain what I mean, let me point to a selection 36C3 talks:
- Wie klimafreundlich ist Software?
- Nutzung öffentlicher Klimadaten
- Energiespeicher von heute für die Energie von morgen
- Server Infrastructure for Global Rebellion
- Climate Modelling – The Science Behind Climate Reports
- Science for future? – What we can and need to change to keep climate change low
- Reducing Carbon in the Digital Realm
- Creating Resilient and Sustainable Mobile Phones
… and there are even more talks related to the subject of climate change and sustainability.
Reviewing this past year of 2019, I did not blog much and mainly about mobile phones. That was not just due to a lack in time, but also because it’s still easy for me to do so, and because it is not controversial. Let’s face it: Writing on the topic of climate change and climate policy just requires a lot more effort (including research) and is more controversial than to write about some stupid linux phones or other minor technology topics that essentially can be called consumerism.
While it matters to have alternatives to the smartphone duopoly in general, compared to the life extinguishing danger of climate change, it’s unimportant chicken shit. In fact, I would argue, everything is. Social issues, as they are, can in theory be changed at any time, because they just require forming a new consensus amongst humans (as hard as that is). But you can’t argue with the laws of physics and climate change. This is an issue that cannot be postponed.
For 2020, I hope to be able to be more engaged in this pressing issue. While I actually doubt that humankind will manage to choose survival instead of greed, I will try hard to proove myself wrong on that count.