Author: Cory Doctorow

Pluralistic: 10 Apr 2020

Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 10 Apr 2020"

Pluralistic: 09 Apr 2020

Today's links

  1. Neighbors treated to socially isolated buildingside screening: Scott Duggan treated his terrace to "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."
  2. Philips quadruples ventilator costs: They reneged on their HHS deal and will get $646.7m for their trouble.
  3. Kansas GOP nukes ban on large Easter gatherings: What's wrong with Kansas?
  4. Kickpunch's Disney comics/horror movie mashups: Daniel Björk's terrifying poster children for fair use.
  5. Plastic-eating enzyme: Leaf-branch compost cutinase to the rescue.
  6. Cold brew coffee chemistry: Making the black stuff reproducible.
  7. Tails adds Secureboot support: Evil chambermaids, beware!
  8. Crisis makes heroes of IT workers: When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth.
  9. Automating fake PDF signatures: Make it look like you printed, signed and scanned.
  10. Pocket Art Director: Your high-handed boss in D20 form.
  11. This day in history: 2019
  12. Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 09 Apr 2020"

Pluralistic: 08 Apr 2020

Today's links

  1. Solnit on the revelations of crisis: Pandemic speeds up processes that were too slow to notice.
  2. Nurse suspended for distributing crowdfunded PPE: Shame on Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.
  3. Cleveland Plain Dealer executed by union-busting owners: Firing health reporters during a pandemic.
  4. Monster-themed covid pinup PSAs: By Alejandra Oviedo.
  5. The Onion on Wisconsin's election: We need strategic Onion reserves for all our calamities.
  6. NSO Group says Facebook tried to buy its malware: NSO is worse than Facebook, but it's a close-run thing.
  7. How to pay for covid: Unearthing Keynes's "How to Pay for the War."
  8. Smart lock hemorrhages user data: And it broadcasts its unlock code over Bluetooth.
  9. TSA wanted to inspect 16 year old trans girl's genitals: Jon Corbett is on the case.
  10. Roger Fuckebythenavele vs Bannatyne Manuscript: Black Plague-era f-bomb eclipsed by 14th century frottage artist.
  11. Rube Goldberg feeding device: Now that's physical comedy.
  12. Public domain Zoom backgrounds: Fantastic backdrops for an absurd moment.
  13. This day in history: 2010, 2019
  14. Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 08 Apr 2020"

Pluralistic: 07 Apr 2020

Today's links

  1. Pickled 2001 computer store: Deadstock ahoy!
  2. A farewell to APIs: Greed, spam and entropy killed mashups.
  3. Machine learning model performs butthole recognition: Peak Internet of Shit.
  4. Covid loteria cards: Cabronavirus.
  5. California's fiber for all bill: Tell your senator to support SB1130.
  6. 1978 Doonesbury stereotype: Come for the Indochina political humor, stay for the printer's lore.
  7. LA crime plummets: Down 23% (domestic violence is down 11%).
  8. US stimulus is one week's cash: Deflation ahoy.
  9. Private equity blinks on cuts to health workers' wages: Speeding up slow destruction makes it impossible to ignore.
  10. Virtual greenscreen: Incredible computer science paper from the 2020 IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition.
  11. Landlord changes church's locks: The pastor of Cross Culture Christian Center in Lodi, CA refused to stop holding services.
  12. This day in history: 2010, 2019
  13. Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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Pluralistic: 06 Apr 2020

Today's links

  1. The Jubilee: Fill Your Boots: My latest podcast, on a redefined form of abundance and luxury.
  2. Illinois reinstates physical restraints for special ed kids: Revenge of the "quiet room."
  3. Youtube vs 5G arsonists: There's plenty of things wrong with 5G, but coronavirus isn't one of them.
  4. Hamilton original cast reunites on Zoom: A ray of sunshine at a dark time.
  5. This day in history: 2015, 2019
  6. Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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Pluralistic: 05 Apr 2020

Today's links

  1. Socioeconomics of coronavirus: Everything bad is now worse.
  2. How to drain your lungs: Knowledge is power.
  3. Bookshop: a local, indie alternative to Amazon: What could booksellers find to buy one-half so precious as the stuff they sell.
  4. This day in history: 2010, 2019
  5. Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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Pluralistic: 04 Apr 2020

Today's links

  1. Private equity looting public health in a pandemic: The math is part of the con.
  2. MacGuyver mask tutorial: Crafter/filmmaker marriages for the win.
  3. Prescient Reagan-era text-adventures: What we can learn from the 1985 Infocom game "A Mind Forever Voyaging."
  4. Landlord accidentally organizes rent strike: When you're threatening 300 tenants, don't CC them all on on the email.
  5. The Pandumbic: Fox News is a suicide cult.
  6. This day in history: 2005, 2019
  7. Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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Pluralistic: 03 Apr 2020

Today's links

  1. The Public Domain Review Coloring Book: Hokusai, Albrecht Dürer, Harry Clarke, Virginia Frances Sterrett, etc.
  2. Amazon's leaked anti-worker smear plan: They put it in writing.
  3. Wikipedia vs patent troll: No, you didn't invent autocomplete.
  4. Bug bounty programs as catch-and-kills: Companies are not good stewards of their own bad news.
  5. The Tea Party killed pandemic preparedness: "No one warned us" -Congressman who was warned repeatedly.
  6. This day in history: 2019
  7. Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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Pluralistic: 02 Apr 2020

Today's links

  1. Private equity titan squats on empty hospital: But he'll get a massive stimulus bailout anyway.
  2. A promising, plausible plan for "privacy-preserving" surveillance: A thoughtfully designed, opt-in based way to do contact tracing.
  3. UK public health official endorses official reagents for covid tests: Chemicals is chemicals.
  4. An AI's prank suggestions: I have provisionally uncancelled April Fool's Day, but only for these.
  5. How David Got His Scar: A free story in the universe of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies books.
  6. Bird's "Black Mirror" mass layoffs: Revenge of the Kwak.
  7. At Home with EFF: An online discussion of covid-19 and digital rights.
  8. Ted Chiang on pandemics as idiot plots: We can't afford a return to the status quo.
  9. How you are subsidizing the otherwise unprofitable Fox News: Fox cheats.
  10. Ghostcrash: Car crashes with all but one of the cars removed.
  11. The paintings of Rod Serling's Night Gallery: Now streaming on Hulu!
  12. Borderlands is shipping books: Shop a science fiction institution, not Amazon.
  13. Coronavirus travel posters: Stay the fuck home.
  14. Turn on wifi sharing: Save a kid's future.
  15. This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
  16. Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 02 Apr 2020"

Pluralistic: 01 Apr 2020

Today's links

  1. Wood-metal worry beads: Chris Bathgate's latest, "The Woody."
  2. Overly descriptive color palettes: Handpicked from the Colorschemez bot.
  3. American Prospect high-school essay contest: An antidote to the Ayn Rand Institute contest.
  4. Snowden's Box: The logistics of leaking are a mix of tradecraft and philosophy.
  5. Alteon cuts covid-fighters' pay: $20k paycuts for docs fighting covid-19.
  6. Tiktok Kremlinology: Systematically exploring Tiktok's algorithm.
  7. American employment exceptionalism: Why the US is losing jobs much faster than other countries.
  8. Solar as a beneficial fad: How good ideas spread.
  9. This day in history: 2015, 2010, 2019
  10. Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 01 Apr 2020"