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Alja Isakovic @iAlja

@ialja.bsky.social
159 followers 127 following 116 posts

Improving tech & education with imagination, innovation, and inclusivity. Rethinking the stories we tell in tech and elsewhere. 🏳️‍🌈 (She/they) ℹ️ ialja.com 💬 blog.ialja.com 🌳 ✨ 💻

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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
🌑 This New Moon, @m3metix.bsky.social and I wonder about the state and practice of rest in these end times: tethix.substack.com/p/rest-in-en...
tethix.substack.com
🌑 Rest in End Times
Wondering about the state and practice of rest in these end times.
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Shannon Vallor @shannonvallor.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
More great news for the AI brand
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Jonathan Edward Durham @thisone0verhere.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
“Why am I so sad today?” I ask myself after staring at my little handheld sadness machine and clicking all the sad little things that will definitely make me sad
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Thank you, dear Earthian brother @m3metix.bsky.social, for another beautifully meandering, messy, and wonderfully human yarn 💜 We invite you to tune in if you're just as tired of role-playing as a machine as we are. 🎧 tethix.substack.com/p/how-might-...
tethix.substack.com
How might we stop role-playing as machines?
Sceptical of the promises of AI salvation, we question our internalised industrial logic and explore how we might find our way back to human being and belonging.
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Jens Notroff @jensnotroff.com · 30/03/2025
When #SpaceJunk meets #folklore. 🚀🐉 (Paging @drspacejunk.bsky.social)
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
🌑 This New Moon, @m3metix.bsky.social and I share reflections on lives lost, mugs broken and repaired, and an invitation to give love one more chance before we collectively break under pressure beyond repair. tethix.substack.com/p/grieving-f...
tethix.substack.com
🌑 Grieving for End Times
Reflections on lives lost, mugs broken and repaired, and an invitation to give love one more chance before we collectively break under pressure beyond repair.
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tante @tante.cc · 28/03/2025
OpenAI's move to allow generating "Ghibly stlye" images isn't just a cute PR stunt. It is an expression of dominance and the will to reject and refuse democratic values. It is a vulgar display of power. tante.cc/2025/03/28/vulgar-display-…
tante.cc
Vulgar Display of Power
Hayao Miyasaki is the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation studio known worldwide for their stunning, emotional, beautiful stories and movies. At the core of Studio Ghibli’s work is a deep engagement with questions of humanity. About what it means to be a human, about how to care for one another and the world […]
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Brilliant reflection on the myths and prophesies of techno-theology by my dear Earthian brother @m3metix.bsky.social. And beautifully interwoven with personal reflections and emotions in a way that only a human can write 💜 m3metix.substack.com/p/worship-at...
m3metix.substack.com
Worship at the temple of infinite compute
A mythopoetic take on the GTC keynote with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
1. One of capitalism’s greatest successes is to shut down our imaginations. With the help of its favoured tools - neoliberalism and fascism - it persuades us that “there is no alternative”. Our first task is to re-ignite our moral imaginations and name our alternatives. 🧵
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Earlier this week I have evidence to the Sci Tech Select Cttee on the digital centre of govt inquiry. I wrote up my prep notes as 2 short listicles and a slightly longer blog post. No. 1: Let's make digital inclusion fun again! www.careful.industries/blog/2025-3-...
careful.industries
Making Digital Inclusion Fun Again — Careful Industries
5 ways the Digital Inclusion Action Plan could be a bit more exciting.
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Indeed, especially when compared to other life on the planet. I have heard many of these stats before, but seeing them stacked visually hits differently.
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Really cool (and sobering) visual story of the living and the built: biocubes.net
biocubes.net
Biocubes
visualization of everything on earth
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Welcome, added you to the Starter Pack! 👋
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Our latest @tethix.bsky.social Newmoonsletter brings you the 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 and an invitation to not just let it go (in the words of wise Elsa ❄️), but to make space for things that bring us joy & hope in these dark times 🌱 tethix.substack.com/p/empathy-fo...
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
If you need a break from existential dread, take a deep breath, shake off any anger or stress you might be feeling right now, and join @m3metix.bsky.social & I as we help each other co-regulate and explore collective futurecrafting. You're not alone 💜 🎧 tethix.substack.com/p/collective...
tethix.substack.com
What’s the role AI and digital tech could play in collective futurecrafting?
We dare you to dream, to imagine ways of coming together, both online and onland, and ways of taking the future into our caring, loving hands.
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Yep, it's hard, a lot of small businesses rely on it as well. reducing the amount of time & attention we give them is a good first step too.
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
A bit of humour and playfulness is often helpful to start challenging yet crucial conversations about the kind of world we want to live in. Do we want to save the AI or take a step back and image a better world for our children? Decisions, decisions … #SaveTheAI
Illustration of an adult speaking to children around a campfire with the caption: “Yes, the planet got destroyed. But for a beautiful moment in time we created a lot of value for shareholders.”
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
And from my own reflections on the possible death of the blank page due to AI writing assistants: “… remember the magic our slow bodies can still bring into this creative alliance as we conquer more blank pages together.” blog.ialja.com/2024/07/23/d...
blog.ialja.com
The death of the blank page
A eulogy for the blank page that reflects on how its imminent demise at the hands of magic AI buttons might affect our creative processes.
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
A good reminder: “AI needs the Web to remain a viable place where uncountable numbers of characters are transacted daily.” hedgehogreview.com/web-features...
hedgehogreview.com
The New Verbal Economy
Only through regular injections of human writing can the models improve and the machines stay up to date.
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Donovan Jones @donovanjones.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
Nobody can save the world on their own, but you don’t have to. Citizens across the world are stepping up, working across communities, countries and continents to make a difference. Will you join the collective in 2025? medium.com/citizen-coll... #citizencollective #peoplepower #CommunityAction
medium.com
Citizen Future: why we need a new story of self and society
Our societies need a new narrative, and it starts by ditching both authoritarianism and consumerism
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
“We don’t need any more irony-poisoned hot takes or cathartic, irreverent snark. We need to collectively decide what kind of world we actually do want, and what we’re willing to do to achieve it.” #WorldTok
404media.co
You Can’t Post Your Way Out of Fascism
Authoritarians and tech CEOs now share the same goal: to keep us locked in an eternal doomscroll instead of organizing against them, Janus Rose writes.
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
This one is for all EU citizens: we need 1 million signatures to make psychedelic-assisted therapies available & affordable in Europe. Sign, share & learn more at: www.psychedelicare.eu
psychedelicare.eu
PsychedeliCare Initiative - PsychedeliCare.EU
LET’S CARE TOGETHER To improve mental wellbeing and enable access to psychedelic-assisted therapies in Europe, we just need 1 million signatures. Are you a European citizen? THE REASONS Today, in the ...
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Shannon Vallor @shannonvallor.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
In Paris listening to the fifth talk in a row on global AI risks to humanity, and not one mention yet of runaway AI energy demand pushing us over the climate brink
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Hey, I volunteer to be the resident techie who can help you demystify all the apps, I always love helping people learn about technology 🥰 We’re never too old to learn new things, sometimes we just need a better explainer!
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Most people in the Starter Pack are still quiet, we have to get used to posting here as well 😅 My comments are currently not loading in the TikTok app, so I feel less lost with a backup 😬
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Welcome, and great to hear from you on BlueSky as well 🥰
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Look forward to reading it! 💚
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
“... we urge policymakers, industry leaders and all stakeholders to acknowledge the true environmental costs of AI, to phase out fossil fuels throughout the technology supply chain, to reject false solutions, and to dedicate all necessary means to bring AI systems in line with planetary boundaries.”
greenscreen.network
Within Bounds: Limiting AI's environmental impact
Joint statement from civil society for the AI Action Summit Signed by over 100 organizations. If you share our concerns and demands that AI systems be made compatible with our planetary boundaries, an...
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
For sure, but it does add up over time. Would be great if companies actually started publicly disclosing these numbers to set a good example. Btw, you might be interested in this: greenscreen.network/en/blog/with...
greenscreen.network
Within Bounds: Limiting AI's environmental impact
Joint statement from civil society for the AI Action Summit Signed by over 100 organizations. If you share our concerns and demands that AI systems be made compatible with our planetary boundaries, an...
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Trying out @bluescreen.blue short-form video client and reposting a video from #WorldTok to bring a bit of calm into your feeds.
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Loving this post, we need to still make space for goodness or else we'll be consumed by the darkness. Not ignoring facts and reality, just making sure we also have space for imagining different stories. quantumsocialchange.substack.com/p/oh-my-good...
quantumsocialchange.substack.com
Oh my goodness!
Teaching about climate change isn’t easy when the last drops of hope for limiting warming to 1.5C evaporate with every US presidential decree. In response, I'm making a quantum leap in how I teach.
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
And if you're a #WorldTok refugee, exploring BlueSky, check out this Starter Pack: go.bsky.app/MasFBbc – and let me know if you'd like to be added! Let's continue spreading calm and help each other co-regulate our emotions, so that we can figure out how to change the world together.
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Amidst the darkness, kindness still grows in between the cracks, even in enshittified places like TikTok. Here are some of my reflections of the kindness & calm witnessed on #WorldTok in the past couple of weeks: blog.ialja.com/2025/02/04/n... We can still imagine a better future together! 💜
blog.ialja.com
Nurturing conditions for kindness & learning in public online spaces
Reflecting on how the US TikTok ban accidentally revealed how we can have calmer and more meaningful conversations, despite the common belief that the internet is a hostile place inhabited by trolls a...
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
A good example of how it's worth exploring alternative providers that are making more responsible choices, such as using AI models with a lower carbon footprint. It would still be interesting to see additional data on inference costs (the footprint of actually using the model).
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Meredith Whittaker @meredithmeredith.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Thinking about this classic recently, which is available free here: monoskop.org/images/d/df/...
Cover of Electronic Civil Disobedience and Other Unpopular Ideas by Critical Art Ensemble.
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Heya, nice to see you on here, welcome! I've added you to the starter pack :)
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Accessibility Awareness @a11yawareness.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
Don't buy into the myth that "accessibility is only about adding alternative text to images." Alt text is important, of course. But there is so much more to accessibility, including headline structure, functional controls, color contrast, link text, plain language, and more.
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
Since hearing him talk about heating people instead of spaces I often think about this! Now is the time to start questioning assumptions we take for granted and imagine how we might do things differently. And history is often a great source of inspiration for how we might simplify our lives.
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
The brief shutdown of TikTok in the US allowed many of us to start connecting under the hashtag #WorldTok and having calmer conversations about our lives. We're now starting to explore BlueSky as an alternative platform. Here's a Starter Pack to help us find each other: go.bsky.app/MasFBbc
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
In the latest Newmoonsletter, @m3metix.bsky.social and I reflect on our journey so far, and explore how play can match the absurdity of current end times. It's precisely because sh*t is getting very real that we need to Play_ & fill in the blanks with our dreams and hopes, with our imagination. 🌱
tethix.substack.com
🌑 An invitation to Play_ for End Times
In this Newmoonsletter, we reflect on our journey so far, and explore how play might be what we need to match the absurdity of current end times.
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Eryk Salvaggio @eryk.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
AIxDesign is hosting a “Slow AI” festival in Amsterdam and May and they’re kickstarting the funds to live stream it! If you can spare some Euros you can get in on the livestream! www.kickstarter.com/projects/aix...
kickstarter.com
LIVESTREAMing the AIxDESIGN Festival
Help us livestream the AIxDESIGN Festival: On Slow AI around the world 🌍 🌏 🌎
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Taylor Lorenz @taylorlorenz.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
The reason “cute winter boots” is taking off isn’t because it’s some secret code (the code has already been revealed and all of MAGA tiktok has made videos on it) it’s bc using product-focused language allows users to circumvent algorithmic downranking. They’re hijacking TikTok’s e-commerce push.
usermag.co
TikTok's 'cute winter boots' trend explained
As the U.S. government seeks to enact stricter controls over online speech, TikTok users are adopting more coded 'algospeak' to criticize and resist the government
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cathy r @myqntm.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
GitHub Is Showing the Trump Administration Scrubbing Government Web Pages in Real Time buff.ly/4jpMP8p
buff.ly
GitHub Is Showing the Trump Administration Scrubbing Government Web Pages in Real Time
Watch the Trump administration play DEI whac-a-mole on this government agency's GitHub page.
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
“Follow people who are engaged in your community, follow people who are engaged in helping others, follow people who are posting pictures of their new puppy because puppies are awesome, follow artists making cool weird shit, follow people who are creating new stages.” buttondown.com/monteiro/arc...
buttondown.com
How to survive being online
Wee little union sign I painted in 2022, maybe? This week’s question comes to us anonymously: How do we survive being online? Erika and I bought a radio. For...
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LadySpeech @ladyspeech.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
They want us confused and lost. They want us alone and disconnected. So I will connect more. I will take care of myself better. I will ground myself. I will rest. I will pour into myself in my community. I will love and allow myself to be loved.
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Dani Kriatura @danikriatura.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Excited to announce this new article, a comprehensive review of recent research on post-growth — the science of wellbeing within planetary boundaries. Published in the Lancet Planetary Health with a brilliant team of authors. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
thelancet.com
Post-growth: the science of wellbeing within planetary boundaries
There are increasing concerns that continued economic growth in high-income countries might not be environmentally sustainable, socially beneficial, or economically achievable. In this Review, we expl...
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Spreading the word on TikTok. Cannot wait for the launch!
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Alja Isakovic @iAlja @ialja.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Also: “Elon is a genius.” yet “He got a bit excited.” Believe them when they tell you who they are and what they want to do…
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