Pluralistic: Linkrot (21 May 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

Society
Generative AI Is Totally Shameless. I Want to Be It
What I love, more than anything, is the quality that makes AI such a disaster: If it sees a space, it will fill it—with nonsense, with imagined fact, with links to fake websites. It is simply put: shameless.
Can shame make you a better person?
Confucius and other ancient Chinese philosophers believed the feeling isn’t all bad – and can lead you toward your best self
Hi, I’m An Idiot Who’s Mad About Everything In Video Games Except The Layoffs
Who cares about people losing their livelihoods when Assassin's Creed has a black protagonist?
Sam Altman Is Full Of Shit
Note: In my last newsletter, I said that my next post would be the second part of my Facebook autopsy. Don’t worry, that’s still coming, but given the recent drama between Sam Altman, OpenAI, and Scarlett Johansson, I felt the need to write something. Don’t worry, I
Pluralistic: Utah’s getting some of America’s best broadband (16 May 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
Pluralistic: Even if you think AI search could be good, it won’t be good (15 May 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
The People Deliberately Killing Facebook
Over the last decade, few platforms have declined quite as rapidly and visibly as Facebook and Instagram. What used to be apps for catching up with your friends and family are now algorithmic nightmares that constantly interrupt you with suggested content and advertisements that consistently outweigh the content of people
I Went To China And Drove A Dozen Electric Cars. Western Automakers Are Cooked
A trip to the Beijing Auto Show reveals just how advanced China's EVs are. So what are the so-called "foreign" automakers doing about it?
Nearly all major car companies are sabotaging EV transition, and Japan is worst, study finds
Damning new report finds nearly all major car companies are actively sabotaging world's efforts to avoid catastrophic global warming, and Japan companies are the worst.
2. Partisanship by race, ethnicity and education
The Republican Party now holds a 15-point advantage among White registered voters and a 6-point edge for voters without a college degree.
The Old-Fashioned Library at the Heart of the A.I. Boom
OpenAI may be changing how the world interacts with language. But inside headquarters, there is a homage to the written word: a library.
enron :: discover the power of WHY
Is It Time Travelers Begin Referring to New Zealand as Aotearoa?
The Māori Party has launched a petition to revert to the country's original name. Māori authors Stacey and Scotty Morrison say travelers don't need to wait to start using it.
It’s an exploiter economy. Not a creator economy. — Joan Westenberg
The creator economy is a shiny veneer hiding an ugly truth: it has nothing to do with empowering creators. It's exploiting them for maximum profit. Tech has sold us a fairy tale that dedicating yourself to your creative passion can be a viable career path in the modern world. But they conveniently
Exclusive | Flood of Fake Science Forces Multiple Journal Closures
Wiley will announce that it will shutter 19 more journals, some tainted by fraud.
Dispelling five myths and misconceptions about data monetization
Data is still not recognized as a formal asset but your business must understand its value.
These states found ways to pay for daycare costs
States have expanded free preschool and early education and helped more families pay for childcare, making it low-cost or even free for many.
There is no ladder
As bad as you think things are, they can, and will, always somehow be worse
The Last Word On Nothing | Rescued
Pluralistic: AI “art” and uncanniness (13 May 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
The Unaccountability Machine, by Dan Davies – Eric Nehrlich, Unrepentant Generalist
Solar Storm Knocks Out Farmers' Tractor GPS Systems During Peak Planting Season
The accuracy of some critical GPS navigation systems used in modern farming have been "extremely compromised," a John Deere dealership told customers Saturday.
Ordered back to the office, top tech talent left instead, study finds
In the months following return-to-office mandates, an increased number of senior employees departed Apple, Microsoft and SpaceX, often to work for competitors.
Pluralistic: The disenshittified internet starts with loyal “user agents” (07 May 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
The kids are figuring it out
Justin Ling writing for Bug-eyed and Shameless: Leave Those Kids Alone
I’ve had a rule for a long time. It’s a simple rule and it goes like this: What students do on-campus is none of my business. Campus politics is a weird and insular business, and it should
Pluralistic: Algorithmic feeds are a twiddler’s playground (11 May 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
Waltersobchakeit: A German Word That Isn't German
The word Waltersobchakeit looks and sounds German, but it's entirely made up. Read more here about where it came from, and why it sounds so German!
We Have to Save Online Entertainment*
Hastily doodled artwork by me
A Russia-linked network uses AI to rewrite real news stories
CopyCop churned out 19,000 deceptive posts in a month