Pluralistic: Better failure for social media (19 Dec 2022)


Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: Better failure for social media (19 Dec 2022)"

ā€œMetaverseā€ means ā€œpivot to videoā€

Fool me twice, we donā€™t get fooledĀ again.

ā€œOh come, now, you donā€™t mean to let on that you like it?ā€

The brush continued to move.

ā€œLike it? Well, I donā€™t see why I oughtnā€™t to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?ā€

That put the thing in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. Tom swept his brush daintily back and forthā€Šā€”ā€Šstepped back to note the effectā€Šā€”ā€Šadded a touch here and thereā€Šā€”ā€Šcriticised the effect againā€Šā€”ā€ŠBen watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed. Presently he said:

ā€œSay, Tom, let me whitewash a little.ā€

– Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

In 2003, a 19-year-old Harvard undergrad named Mark Zuckerberg had an idea: heā€™d create a website for Harvard students to nonconsensually rate the fuckability of their classmates. He called it Facemash.

Later that year, Zuckerberg changed the name of the site to The Facebook, and, in 2005, the site was renamed, simply, ā€œFacebook.ā€

Continue reading "ā€œMetaverseā€ means ā€œpivot to videoā€"

Pluralistic: The antitrust Twilight Zone (16 Dec 2022)


Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: The antitrust Twilight Zone (16 Dec 2022)"

Pluralistic: How cable monopolists tricked conservatives into shooting themselves in the face (15 Dec 2022)


Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: How cable monopolists tricked conservatives into shooting themselves in the face (15 Dec 2022)"

Pluralistic: This "inflation" is different (14 Dec 2022)


Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: This "inflation" is different (14 Dec 2022)"

Pluralistic: Web apps could de-monopolize mobile devices (13 Dec 2022)


Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: Web apps could de-monopolize mobile devices (13 Dec 2022)"

Pluralistic: Orphaned neurological implants (12 Dec 2022)


Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: Orphaned neurological implants (12 Dec 2022)"

Plato Would Ban Ad-Blockers

He was aĀ dick.

A statue of Plato with a Greek temple behind him. Plato has been tinted blue and out of his eyes glare the hostile red eyes of HAL9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The temple behind him has been tinted dark red. Part of the templeā€™s facade has been replaced with the Matrix ā€˜Code Waterfallā€™ graphic.
Cryteria/CC BY 3.0 (modified)

In The Reactionary Mind, political scientist Corey Robin articulates a common thread that runs through all right-wing ideology. Robin starts from the observation that ā€œconservativesā€ are a coalition of people who believe irreconcilable things:

Continue reading "Plato Would Ban Ad-Blockers"

Pluralistic: Freedom of reach IS freedom of speech (10 Dec 2022)


Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: Freedom of reach IS freedom of speech (10 Dec 2022)"

Pluralistic: One weird trick to make monopolies self-destruct (08 Dec 2022)


Today's links

Continue reading "Pluralistic: One weird trick to make monopolies self-destruct (08 Dec 2022)"