A note from 02022 on the #Monome: “Scarcity and Precarity in Small Manufacturing”: “To lead with an actual case: we have not been able to get the STM32 microcontroller used in the Crow (and Grid) for well over two years now, and all estimates are “unknown” (the words from various sales reps I’ve spoken to, ie those at Mouser). Since we’ve sold out and also exhausted our backup-repair-stock, if someone contacts us with a hardware-related break-- for example, somehow the STM32 is fried-- there’s basically nothing we can do (that was previously standard procedure). (...) previously the parts would just go to e-waste since new components were widely available and irrationally cheap.
We are no longer in that era. So I’d like to instill this message, as strongly as possible: your machines are not easily repairable. They may be incredibly difficult (interpret: expensive) or impossible to repair. Please let this inform your treatment and expectations of the machines in your life.” #small-is-beautiful #collapse #hardware #manufacturing #shortages #WWIII #uxn
on 02024-02-06more on #Trump attack on #Syria. #USA #politics #WWIII
on 02017-04-07#USA launched 59 Tomahawk missiles at #Trump’s order and destroyed the military airfield in Ash Sha’irat, #Syria, in response to a chemical-weapons attack in Idlib on Tuesday, even though OPCW certified Syria’s armed forces free of chemical weapons; “President [Vladimir] Putin regards the US attacks on Syria as an aggression against a sovereign state in violation of the norms of international law, and under a trumped-up pretext at that.” #WWIII #poltiics
on 02017-04-07#USA sent a bunch of troops to Northern Europe in late 2016 to defend against #Russia. #WWIII #politics
on 02016-11-21#Iran (and #Russia) offer military support to #Turkey against #USA, substantially increasing risk of #WWIII spreading [in Turkish]
on 02016-08-08“Today #Russia firewalled off a lot of US service companies ( Twitter, etc ) and I am no longer able to VPN into a machine I generally can reach in Moscow. I get disconnected within 30 seconds. Something is Going On(TM) / Please link to more information here; was not able to substantiate claims that Russia has blocked Twitter.” #WWIII
on 02015-11-25