WTF is a Colophon?

Oxford defines:

col·o·phon

/ˈkäləfən,ˈkäləˌfän/ /noun/

1. a publisher’s emblem or imprint, especially one on the title page or spine of a book.

* HISTORICAL

2. a statement at the end of a book, typically with a printer’s emblem, giving information about its authorship and printing.

The website specifically uses dark backgrounds in order to conserve power (especially on OLED mobile devices which account for 50%+ of my traffic). #climatereparations #usedarkmode

According to the International Energy Agency, “Global internet traffic surged by almost 40% between February and mid-April 2020 during the height of the Covid-19 containment measures, driven by growth in video streaming, video conferencing, online gaming, and social networking.

The International Energy Agency reports that data centers consume

approximately 200 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, or nearly 1% of global electricity demand, contributing to 0.3% of all global CO2 emissions.”

Insaf Ali writes on Medium

, “According to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, data centers in the United States alone used up 91 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2013. It would take 34 relatively large coal-fired powered plants to generate that much energy.”

White backgrounds use significantly more energy on our device screens which also age faster when displaying bright pixels. Reducing power and device-aging saves money, people and ecosystems by buying devices less often.

More energy use means more colonization. If we consume less energy and buy electronics less we will borrow less from our future and cause less harm now — less outsourcing of entropy (h/t #tysonyunkaporta).

Remember entropy is a universal non-negotiable. Entropy happens. The result of entropy on Earth is the irreversible change of matter (energy) from order to disorder.

Natural systems hold Deep Time in stasis to protect energy from entropy through regeneration.

Physicists like to think that entropy increases over Time. But actually, available Earth Time is decreasing when entropy occurs. This is what Indigenous ways of knowing teach us. Regenerative traditions protect natural systems.

We are outsourcing entropy through the creation of resource-heavy electronics. Our technology is borrowing from our future generations’ resources. While we haven’t discovered how to live tech-free in this age of information, we can stop stealing life from our grandchildren by using tech responsibly. Let’s not pretend these devices or the resources they consume just happen magically.

White backgrounds = colonization.