Pluralistic: Big Telco’s fury over FCC plan to infuse telecoms policy with facts (10 Nov 2023) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
Society
A quote from Charles Stross
Did you ever wonder why the 21st century feels like we're living in a bad cyberpunk novel from the 1980s? It's because these guys read those cyberpunk novels and mistook …
The Last Word On Nothing | AI is a Terrifying Purveyor of Bullshit. Next Up: Fake Science
I’m South Asian. I’ve Already Met a Thousand Vivek Ramaswamys.
He’s playing a very particular model minority card.
Rhymes with 9/11
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes Mark Twain I could not have anticipated that what I wrote on the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks regarding how this country really trea…
How Will Journalists Survive Digital Media’s Decline? Forget Scale.
On a particularly bad day for digital media, a thought about where we should go next. Hint: Let’s stop talking about scale.
Here's the Real Reason Young People Can’t Afford a Home | Patrick Carroll
With housing prices on the rise, more and more young people are being priced out of the market. Unfortunately, most politicians are too afraid to tell them what’s really behind the affordability crisis.
Pluralistic: The enshittification of garage-door openers reveals a vast and deadly rot (09 Nov 2023) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
How banks' racist loan policies shape bird populations in Los Angeles | DPA
On a recent afternoon in LA’s Boyle Heights neighbourhood Christian Benitez and Eric M. Wood stood outside a corner liquor store searching for birds. The researchers spotted a house sparrow and pulled binoculars to their eyes. “They’re all over the shrubbery in Boyle Heights,” said Wood, an associate professor of ecology at Cal State Los Angeles. Among the most ubiquitous and abundant songbirds in the world, house sparrows are urban creatures that thrive where people do. They’re resilient, adaptable and aggressive, and are found around buildings and streets, scavenging food crumbs or nesting i...
Pluralistic: Biden wants to ban ripoff “financial advisors” (08 Nov 2023) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
Women, Electrified
Here's the second section of my paper on electrification that was published last week by the Alliance For Responsible Citizenship
Why Congress Keeps Failing to Protect Kids Online
Americans are broadly united in support of laws to make the internet safer for kids. So why doesn’t Congress act?
18 U.S. Code § 2385 - Advocating overthrow of Government
Is the West ready for World War 3?
Even as geopolitical tensions rise, Western elites are still sabotaging our industries and energy security.
Pluralistic: Amazon is a ripoff (06 Nov 2023) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
The Internet of ghosts
When an incoming freshman at Harvard enters her room in the Yard for the first time, she's greeted with a little scrap of history meant to k
Liberal Arts 2.5
Once, Kottke.org’s tagline was “Liberal Arts 2.0.” It’s a terrific description of everything the blog co
The Memex Method – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
23 reasons to write online
Write to dispel the curse of knowledge, to find your people, and to become.
The Meaning Behind The Song: Dreaming of Paris by Van Dyke Parks - Old Time Music
The Meaning Behind The Song: Dreaming of Paris by Van Dyke Parks The song “Dreaming of Paris” by Van Dyke Parks is a beautiful and haunting melody that captures the essence of longing and nostalgia. It takes the listener on a journey through the streets of Paris, evoking a sense of romance and wanderlust. The … The Meaning Behind The Song: Dreaming of Paris by Van Dyke Parks Read More »
SBF Saga & The Process Breakdown
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX and Alameda Research, has been found guilty and is likely going to spend time in jail. There is no shortage of hot takes and explainers about SBF and his crime…
The next frontier in IP parasites: codec royalties on content.
It is difficult to overstate just how much better everything would be for everyone except the parasites if software patents were abolished.
Pluralistic: A link-clump demands a linkdump (05 Nov 2023) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
Why H.I. Should Not Be Replaced By A.I. | Newgeography.com
Pluralistic: Big Tech’s “attention rents” (03 Nov 2023) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
The big idea: has the digital economy killed capitalism?
Rather than turbo-charging the free market, Amazon et al have brought back a kind of feudalism
Perhaps the Collapse of Society Would Not Be Such a Bad Thing
The tragedy that is industrial humanity.
Abandoned in Osage
Years of mismanagement and declining oil production have left Osage Nation with a higher concentration of abandoned wells than anywhere else in the country.
Post Covid Remote Work Doesn't Work As Well
What I learned about remote work after Covid and why it's so hard.
‘We’re sedating women with self-care’: how we became obsessed with wellness
The industry claims to offer answers for all our stress and symptoms – but we ‘still lack the fundamentals of wellbeing’. How did this happen?