CARE Standard for Cybersecurity

 

CIO Resolutions for 2025

 

Ecosia Controversy

1. Transparency and Verification:

• Concerns: Some critics argue that Ecosia's tree-planting claims are difficult to independently verify. While Ecosia publishes monthly financial reports, these are self-audited, raising questions about their accuracy and the true impact of their initiatives.
• Ecosia's Response: Ecosia maintains transparency by publishing detailed financial reports and project updates on their website.¹ They also collaborate with local organizations and use satellite monitoring to track the progress of their tree-planting projects.²

2. Dependence on Bing:

• Concerns: Ecosia relies on Microsoft Bing for its search results and ad delivery.³ Critics argue that this dependence undermines Ecosia's claim of being an independent and environmentally friendly search engine, as Bing's own environmental practices and ethical record have been questioned.
• Ecosia's Response: Ecosia acknowledges its reliance on Bing but emphasizes that it uses Bing's technology to minimize infrastructure costs and maximize its resources for tree planting. They also highlight that they have their own solar plant and use 100% renewable energy for their servers.⁴

3. Effectiveness of Tree Planting:

• Concerns: Some critics question whether the trees planted by Ecosia actually survive and contribute to long-term reforestation efforts. Factors like climate conditions, land management, and community involvement can significantly impact the success of tree-planting projects.⁵
• Ecosia's Response: Ecosia collaborates with local organizations and employs various strategies to ensure the survival of the trees, including selecting appropriate species, providing maintenance, and engaging local communities.⁶ They also monitor the progress of their projects and adapt their approach as needed.⁷

4. "Greenwashing" Allegations:

• Concerns: Some critics accuse Ecosia of "greenwashing," suggesting that they exaggerate their environmental impact for marketing purposes.⁸ They argue that Ecosia's primary goal is to generate profit from search ads, and their commitment to tree planting is merely a way to attract environmentally conscious users.
• Ecosia's Response: Ecosia maintains that its core mission is to combat climate change through tree planting.⁹ They emphasize that they are a social business, meaning that profits are reinvested into the company's mission rather than distributed to shareholders.¹⁰ They also highlight their B Corp certification, which verifies their commitment to social and environmental responsibility.

Ecosia Comparison table

 

Dawn of time feeling

 

What is Lobbying

 

DeepSeek is exciting - The series - Technology fallacies

 

cable-news show

 "The absurdity of it all dawned upon me with the force of a sledgehammer. This grotesque spectacle called a 'cable-news show,' a marionette dancing for the amusement of the masses, was not fueled by some grand internal will, some engine of truth. No, its lifeblood was attention, the fickle gaze of the multitude. I, the puppeteer, could weave my narratives, my grand pronouncements, night after night, but if the audience, those fickle gods, turned away, the show would cease to exist, a discarded puppet collapsing into dust. This is the abyss I nearly stared into."

"Through a series of agonizing trials, like a Sisyphus pushing his boulder up an endless incline, I began to understand. This 'audience attention,' this capricious wind, was a force of nature, indifferent to the desires of the individual. One cannot simply command the wind to bend to their will, nor can one passively drift at its mercy. No, one must become a master of the art of sailing, a Nietzschean Übermensch navigating the treacherous seas of public opinion. One must determine one's destination, the truth one seeks to illuminate, and then, with cunning and skill, harness the very winds of attention, tacking and maneuvering to reach that distant shore, even if it means betraying one's own convictions along the way."

Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think

 The Subtle Art of Challenge Regulation It’s easy to assume that a challenger is always within his rights to issue bare challenges. In fact, countless philosophers have assumed just this. This is understandable, given that interesting and controversial claims—the sort that need backing—occupy the foreground, while uncontroversial claims keep a lower profile. But philosophers who make the incautious generalization invariably find that reason regresses. Remember Agrippa and Sextus Empiricus? Entire schools of ancient philosophy managed to convince themselves that iterated bare challenges undermine all claims to knowledge. They became indiscriminate critics and lost the support of more pragmatic thinkers. It’s hard to imagine, but these profoundly corrosive skepticisms persisted for centuries. In fact, they gave philosophy a reputation as thoroughly impractical and set the stage for a crushing anti-intellectual backlash. Ignorance, superstition, and moral disorientation then ruled Europe for a thousand years. Even the estimable David Hume convinced himself that bare challenges may be iterated almost indefinitely. You’ll recall his words: “If I ask why you believe any . . . matter of fact, which you relate, you must tell me some reason; and this reason will be some other fact, connected with it.

Norman, Andy. Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think (p. 311). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition. 

Twenty-Five Doors to Meditation

 In normal activities, most people never realize they are breathing. If their breath and thought can combine, however, not only will individuals become clear about their breath, but they will also become extremely mindful of their other body sensations. Since mindfulness is a cultivation method in itself, the principle of keeping the mind in tune with the breath while remaining relaxed, detached, and aware is found in many cultivation schools and techniques. But in this technique you must not fall into sleepiness or torpor, and your thoughts mustn't remain scattered as in everyday activities. Normally we're always in either one of these two states—torpor or drowsiness, or the excitedness and restlessness of mental involvement. However, you try to abandon these two states when you're practicing observing the breath. At the beginning of genuine anapana breathing exercises, one just watches the breath. After a very short while, the breath will calm down to become long and soft. As this external breathing dies down to a point of near cessation, the chi of the inner body will start to become more activated. That's because the extreme of yin (stillness) will give birth to yang (movement), which in this case is chi. However, this internal chi is not the same as the external wind used in respiration. Rather, it's the real chi of the body which has tremendous power because it can transform the physical nature and is connected with consciousness. When the expiration finally ceases and the mind quiets down, we then arrive at shamatha. This is the state of stopping or halting found in cessation and contemplation practices.

Bodri, William; Shu-Mei, Lee. Twenty-Five Doors to Meditation: A Handbook for Entering Samadhi (p. 26). Red Wheel/Weiser. Kindle Edition. 

Suburbs - The series - on why not to live in the US

 

Entrepreneurship