Pluralistic: The online community trilemma (16 Feb 2026)

Today's links

The online community trilemma: Reach, community and information, pick two.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Bruces x Sony DRM; Eniac tell-all; HBO v PVRs; Fucking damselflies; Gil Scout Cookie wine-pairings; Big Pharma's opioid fines are tax-deductible; Haunted Mansion ops manual; RIAA v CD ripping; Flying boat; Morbid Valentines; Veg skulls; Billionaires x VR v guillotines; "Lovecraft Country"; Claude Shannon on AI; Comics Code Authority horror comic; Scratch-built clock; Stolen hospital.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Trump antitrust is dead: The "populist right" was doomed to fail.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Premature internet activists; Privacy Without Monopoly; "Broad Band"; Yazidi supersoldiers; I was a Jeopardy! clue.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Doctors' union may yet save the NHS from Palantir: There is power in the union.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Premature internet activists; Privacy Without Monopoly; "Broad Band"; Yazidi supersoldiers; I was a Jeopardy! clue.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Europe takes a big step towards a post-dollar world: Recapturing $24t worth of transactions from Visa/Mastercard.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: API for Congress; Steampunk fetish mask; Hillary x AOL login screen; Suffragist Valentines; Musk x Intuit vs the American people.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

The Nuremberg Caucus: What do Democrats have to lose?
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Bradbury x LA monorails; Red Cross vs first aid kits; Wyden on CIA Senate spying; Coates x Sanders; Nerdy Valentines; Duke U, trademark troll; "The Murder Next Door."
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

The Epstein class and collapse porn: Buy the dip!
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Web 1.0 logos; Legality of printing Catan tiles; Hamster strandbeest; Pactuator; Michican bans oral; Blooks; Yours is a very bad hotel; Yippie Disneyland invasion model; Floppy toccata; Happy Birthday trolls owe $14m; Jughead is ace; Snowden for teens.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

End of the line for video essays: America's worst copyright law keeps getting even worse.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Payphone phaseout; Nvidia sock-puppets; Love picking; Fake locksmiths.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Luxury Kafka: US Immigration on the easiest setting.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Whisky PC; Anitfeatures; Silicon Roundabout; Steampunk Etch-A-Sketch; MLMs as mirror-world organizers.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

All laws are local: And no law knows how evitable it is.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Whisky PC; Anitfeatures; Silicon Roundabout; Steampunk Etch-A-Sketch; MLMs as mirror-world organizers.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Justin Key's "The Hospital at the End Of the World": A biopunk medical thriller from a major new talent.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Coconut volunteers; Astro Noise; Rich old men behind "Millennials Rising"; Stop the "Stop the Steal" steal; "Chasing Shadows."
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.