Save Our Streaming

Introduction

Most of what happens on the internet is out of sight, so therefore out of mind. Please spare a second thought for it on Internet Day on October 29th. There’s hope, but we must act now.

What is streaming?

The Internet, defined as a remote connection between two computers, was first achieved by Leonard Kleinrock, Charley Kline and Bill Duvall on October 29, 1969 as part of the project “ARPANET” (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network). The characters “L” and “O” were the first bits of data ever sent over a computer network before the connection crashed, and about an hour later, the complete “Login” message was sent. J.C.R. Licklider could be considered the “father of the internet”, which is probably considered the most important invention in human history after the wheel and Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press. It is not the same as The World Wide Web, which is often incorrectly used synonymously, became possible in 1989 and would not have existed without many other innovations. Nowadays it’s virtually unthinkable imaging a world without connectivity, even with some of the downsides it brings, including being at the whim of your boss 24/7/365. The upsides, of course, are now obvious with the free movement of data allowing us to pursue a million new pastimes or see our favourite series on demand or watch cat videos or simply pay the bills…

What is on the internet (and what should not)?

Whenever people think of the internet, many think of The Matrix film. So, would you like to take the red pill or the blue one? Anyway, I digress. Where did it all start to go wrong, or right, depending on your point of view? Establishing trillions of connections every second requires a vast network of phone lines, undersea cables, satellites, internet service providers (ISP), data storage centres and a whole lot of power to keep the thing alive. In 2010, it was reliably claimed that running it took 3% of the electricity produced (Nowadays, 200 billion kWh / year). According to Gartner Dataquest’s statistics, in April 2002, the billionth personal computer was made and the second billion was supposedly reached in 2007. Forrester Research claims there were over one billion PCs in use worldwide by the end of 2008, and over 2 billion by the year 2015. With the population now at 7.9 billion people, I began to wonder how many of them have access to the internet, and the answer is 4.6 billion, with half of them in Asia. Of those 4.6 billion users, 27% speak English, 25% Mandarin and 8 % Spanish as their first language. 55% of websites are in English, 6% Russian and 4% Mandarin. To satisfy 4.6 billion people, we need a lot of hardware and software, which is probably why Bill Gates from Microsoft is one of the richest men in the world. Computers come in all shapes, sizes and specifications to meet the desires of everyone. However, much of the obsolete electronic waste nowadays often ends up in junk sites in developing countries, usually in Africa and Asia. Just imagine all the peripheral objects as well, like keyboards, laptop coolers, speakers, headsets, mouse pads, mouse, etc. Many precious metals and elements go into the making of these components, so it’s becoming increasingly important to recycle them so as not to put further strain on the world’s finite resources, with Earth Overshoot Day in mind, which fell even earlier this year on July 29th. The 2019 outbreak of Coronavirus (Covid-19 or SARS Cov-2) has caused a massive shift in internet usage. More people than ever are using the internet for work and pleasure. So much so, that streaming services, like Netflix, have had to reduce their quality settings to allow more users access. This kind of strain makes it all the more obvious we need to maintain it and contribute wisely to it. However, the internet is under attack and it could soon come to an end if the likes of Ajit Pai, the former Federal Communications Commission Chairman and former Verizon General Council, has anything to do with it. If successful, this move would give unprecedented power to ISPs like Comcast, allowing them to limit your access to Netflix, Facebook, and any other service that refuses to pay them for preferential treatment. This would also allow your ISP to create tiered packages that limit or block your access to “premium” websites, as they have done in other countries like China. There is even a scary place called “The Dark Web” which has many black sites and where data often bypasses filters, or is so encrypted that it’s impossible to distinguish a cupcake recipe from a paedophile’s child pornography upload. Porn sites and many a mischievous soul inhabit this underworld. There are entire government departments like the National Security Agency (NSA) dedicated to trying to discern the difference between legitimate activities and criminal ventures.

Online Climate Activism

So you want to become a climate activist? Great! We need all the help we can get. You’ll soon realize when fighting for climate action that you’ll probably end up fighting your own corrupted governments, because the main reason we have so many environmental issues is because governments all over the world have been allowing these things to happen for many many years. Please allow me to help you on your way with a useful list to start from…

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/10/100-fossil-fuel-companies-investors-responsible-71-global-emissions-cdp-study-climate-change

You may want to consider creating secondary online accounts to operate from, similar to the bots the Fossil fuel industry use when infiltrating our Social media platforms and internet forums. When you make your new profiles, you can have some fun and confuse the algorithms. To the uninitiated, it is difficult to recognize bots, but you will soon, because their profiles tend to lack personal details, photos and friends/followers. Just like with online scammers, tie up the bad guy’s resources with questions (For example, FAQs is usually a good place to start from. Start easy with trivial enquiries and get more complicated by asking companies to explain their future plans, greenwashing strategies, etc). You may find you become one of the good Internet trolls and I wish you luck against those fossil fuel giants, agrochemical monsters, pharma bros, banking powerhouses, big polluters, etc. Bad trolls are prone to writing long rants and diatribes, but you should try to avoid their trap! They have nothing else better to do with their time than waste yours, so a hit and run strategy is advisable, but if you do get dragged into a war of words, remember that the truth is always your best defence/offence. Keep your calm, because cold hard logic, facts and truth are more infuriating than any insult to any troll. It can get fast-paced out there, so prepare a document list of reliable “go to websites” for quick “copy and paste” responses. If you choose to engage them, here’s a Top 10 list of fallacies to avoid that are commonly made in arguments of logic:

AD HOMINEM – Attack the argument, NOT a person’s character, which is the second lowest form of disagreement, according to Paul Graham’s Hierarchy. The first being name-calling, you fossil fool 😉

STRAW MAN FALLACY – Do not exaggerate or misinterpret a person’s argument by giving the impression of refuting it, but actually refuting an argument that was not presented.

HASTY GENERALISATIONS Avoid using small numbers to represent totality, and make sure you have studied the subject enough before you make conclusions.

BEGGING THE QUESTION Do not assume your entire argument is correct because one of your premises is true, and you should make all efforts to prove your point before using it to support your argument.

POST HOC / QUESTIONABLE CAUSE – Just because something happened before another event, does not mean that it was the cause. Other factors may have influenced the event.

FALSE DILEMMAArguments can rarely be resolved with two possibilities. Not everything is “Black & White”, and that world of grey in between can be vast.

AD IGNORANTUM – Don’t use a person’s ignorance of a claim to suggest that something is true or false, but suggest lack of contrary supporting evidence.

BURDEN OF PROOF REVERSAL – Don’t lay burden of proof on those who are questioning you, by trying to avoid having to do your own dirty work.

NON SEQUITUR – Don’t assume or make connections that don’t exist. Avoid conclusions or replies that don’t follow on logically from the previous statement.

BANDWAGON EFFECT / AD POPULUM – Don’t just assume something is true because it is popular myth and that most people believe it to be true.

How does humanity benefit from streaming?

We have access to knowledge the likes we have never known before and yet we prefer to watch videos of pets and people failing. There are also many hobby enthusiasts willing to record them enjoying their passions and encouraging us to enjoy it too. Not everything is wonderful obviously as there are those who would use it for dubious purposes like scamming old people or even worse, like distributing child pornography.

How to Save Our Streaming?

Individually: Try to do no harm, as even internet trolls have feelings, apparently 😉

Collectively, including Governments: We must defend the right to an open network without gatekeepers. We should be grateful we have access to so much information, even though it comes with a lot of disinformation. Try not to believe everything you see, read or hear unless the information can be verified by multiple sources.

Unpopular opinion: The internet, like Wikipedia, is a collective project and so we have a responsibility to take care of it and not to waste resources like viral challenges or bitcoin mining does.

 

Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to check the veracity of the information contained within, certain limitations could result in not all data being current or completely accurate. Please feel free to contact us if you feel particular data needs updating.

Save Our Streaming Test

Here are 10 questions...

How it started

How it's going

SOSquiz Glossary of Terms (with links to Wikipedia)

 

5G technology

6th mass extinction (Holocene Extinction)

Abyss

Active Denial System

Activism

Adolescence

Ad hominem

Ad Populum

AEEA (Asociación Española de Educación Ambiental)

Agent Orange

Agrochemical industry

Alcoholism

Algal bloom

Algorithm

Alzheimer’s disease

Animal testing

Anorexia nervosa

Anxiety

Arable land

ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network)

Artefact

Asbestos

Atmosphere

Atmosphere of Earth

Atmospheric methane

Bacteria

Bad faith

Bank

Battlefield

Begging the question

Bill Gates

Biological warfare

Bisphenol-A

Bitcoin

Black carbon

Black sites

Blue whale

Body piercing

Bot

Bottom trawling

Brain

Burden of proof

Burnout

Cancer

Carbon

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

Carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere

Carbon Footprint

Carbon Monoxide (CO)

Carcinogen

Carpet bombing

Casualty of war

Central Nervous System

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Cetaceans

Challenger Deep

Chemical weapon

Chemotherapy

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Civil war

Climate change

Clinical Psychology

Clothing

Clothing Industry

Coastal erosion

Coastline

Cockroach

Common sense

Communism

Computer network

Conservation

Conspiracy theory

Consumerism

Contamination

Controversy

Copy and paste

Coral bleaching

Coronavirus (Covid-19 or SARS Cov-2)

Corruption

Cosmetics

Cosmetic Industry

Covid-19

COVID-19 recession

Cyber attack

Cyber warfare

Dark Web

DDT

Dead zone

Deepwater Horizon

Deep sea mining

Deforestation

Dementia

Depleted Uranium

Depression

Developed countries

Developing country

Dietician

Doctor

Domestic violence

Drinking water

Drought

Drunk driving

E number

Earth

Earth Overshoot Day

Eating disorders

Education

Eco-anxiety

Eco-friendly

Ecology

Economic sanctions

Economy

Ecosystem

Electric motor

Electric vehicle

Electromagnetic radiation

Electronic Waste

Elon Musk

Energy industry

Engine Efficiency

Environment

Environmental Disaster

Environmental education

Environmental impact of war

Environmental Issues

Environmental Report

European Union

Experience

Extinction

Extreme weather

Factory

Fallacy

False Dilemma

FAQ

Farmer

Fascism

Fast fashion

Fast food

Fauna

Fertilizers

Fibre

Fight Club

Fight or flight response

Flood

Flora

Food additive

Food allergy

Food industry

Food wastage

Food-drying

Forbes

Formaldehyde

Fossil fuel

Fossil fuel industry

Fracking

Free content

Friends of the Earth

Fungicide

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Geneva Convention

Global dimming

Global warming

Glyphosate

Government

Great Barrier Reef

Greenhouse effect

Greenhouse gas

Greenpeace

Greenwashing

Greta Thunberg

Groundwater

Guided bombs

Habitat destruction

Hasty Generalizations

Healthy diet

Heavy metals

Herbicide

Holocene Extinction

Horsepower

Human digestive system

Human impact on the environment

Humanitarian disaster

Humanity

Hybrid vehicle

Hydrothermal vent

Infectious Diseases

Infertility

Insecticide

Intensive farming

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Internal combustion engine (ICE)

International waters

Internet

Internet forums

Internet service providers (ISP)

Internet Troll

IPCC’s 6th Report

Knot

Lady Elliot Island

Land mine

Landfill

Larvacides

Lead poisoning

Lead–acid battery

Leather

Leather tanning

Light pollution

List of fallacies

Livestock

Long Covid

Luxury goods

Magnetic nanoparticles

Malnutrition

Marine diesel oil

Marine pollution

Massacre

Meat Industry

Mesothelioma

Microbiome

Microplastics

Microsoft

Mid-ocean ridge

Migration

Military-Industrial complex

Mindfulness

Mining

Mood disorders

Mooring

Museum

Napalm

NASA

National Geographic

National Security Agency (NSA)

Nature

Nature (Journal)

Neonicotinoid

NOAA

Noise pollution

NOx

Nuclear power

Nuclear weapons

Ocean acidification

Oceanography

Organic farming

Overfishing

Ozone

Ozone layer

Palm oil

Parabens

Parkinson’s disease

Particulate Matter (PM 10, 2.5 & UFP)

Peripheral

Peripheral Nervous System

Pesticide

Petroleum Industry

Petroleum Jelly

Pharmaceutical industry

Photosynthesis

Phthalates

Phytoplankton

Plastic

Plastic pollution

Plate tectonics

Plogging

Pollution

Polypropylene

Pornography

Post hoc

Poultry

Poverty

Precipitation

Preservative

Pressure

Prestige

Psychological impact of climate change

Psychotic disorders

Quality of life (QOL)

Quiz

Radiation

Rechargeable electric battery

Recycling

Renewable energy

Retail therapy

Road traffic safety

Sailing Yacht A

Salinity

Saliva

Sea

Sea level rise

Seabed

Seawater

Seawise Giant

Sensitive skin

Shelf life

Shoemaker

Shrapnel

Skin

Sleep

Social media

Soil

Soil erosion

Solar power

Soviet submarine K-222

Speed

Stomach

Straw man

Stress

Suicide

Surfers Against Sewage

Surveillance

Sustainable Fashion

Synapse

Synthetic fibres

Taboo

Talc

Tang Ping

Tattoo

Tectonic plates

TED (conferences)

Territorial waters

Tesla, Inc

Textile Industry

The Lancet (Journal)

The Matrix

Tornado

Toxic waste

Transport

Trivia

Troposphere

Ultrafine particles (UFP)

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)

Unmanned drones

Urban Heat island

Urban sprawl

Vaquita

Vendetta

Victoria

Volcano

Wall Street

War

Wastewater

Water table

Water vapour

Weapon

Weapons of mass destruction

Weather

Western world

White phosphorus

Wildfire

Wildlife

Wireless radiation

World Health Organization (WHO)

World Oceans Day

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

World Wide Web (www)

“Year without a summer”

Zooplankton