Pluralistic: 11 Jun 2020

Today's links

Torcon schedule is live: Catch me and Nnedi Okarafor this Sunday at 7PM Eastern.
Interoperability and privacy: Monopolists can't be trusted to do the right thing.
The true US police body-count: A third of all US killings at the hands of strangers are committed by cops.
Tesla modder selling discounted upgrades: For $1,100, Ingenext of Quebec will sell you code that unlocks the same functionality as Tesla's $2,000 upgrade.
Amazon won't sell facial recognition to cops (for a year): Belated Oppenheimers, taking half-measures.
This day in history: 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

How cops spy on Black journalists: Wendi C Thomas is on Memphis PD's enemies list.
Teen Vogue on surviving rubber bullets: Less lethals are still lethal.
How Do We Change America?: GW Bush is not our friend.
Time to retheme Splash Mountain: "Problematic" doesn't begin to cover it.
Appeals court rejects judge who wanted $65m for lost pants: Roy Pearson, Jr has been at this for fifteen years.
Compton's Black cowboys ride out: 100+ Black cowboys mass to support Black Lives Matter.
Wargame based on the 1968 Chicago police riots: Strategy and Tactics Magazine #21 (1970).
LRAD shields: Audio engineers develop sound cannon defense.
MMT in the NYT: Happy book-birthday, Stephanie Kelton!
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

John Oliver's comprehensive explanation of the rot in US policing: It's in every bone and organ.
Cox violates the Geneva Conventions: The throttling will continue until morale improves.
Paramount's Unproduced Screenplays: A core sample of 1,000 ideas from the vault.
Police budgets are out of control: "More than the city spends on health, homelessness, youth development and workforce development combined."
Auditing Omniballot, a terrible e-voting system: Paper ballots, marked with pencils, accept no imitations.
Who are Dark Basin?: Outing the cybermercenaries who attacked Net Neutrality and anti-Exxon activists.
NYPD's structural racism: Bulk of NYPD human rights complaints come from Black and Latinx youth.
IBM kills facial recognition program: But the problem with facial recognition isn't just "bias."
Nutrition labels for IoT: Only works if there's competition.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Podcast: part 5 of "Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town": The lair of the crustypunk.
Cops are legally entitled to reject "high IQ" candidates: You must be this stupid to ride.
How the CARES Act bails out the super-rich: $1200 for thee, not me.
Private equity's coming for your pension: In a pinch, apex predators eat anything.
Big mail providers block indie mailing lists: The enclosure of email.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

White House street renamed "Black Lives Matter Plaza": But when will Mayor Bowser rein in the violent white supremacists in Metro PD?
Little Green Men: Who are the secretive, armed men patrolling DC?
Kim Stanley Robinson on the Jobs Guarantee: Forced labor or dignified labor?
There's a bright side: Massive waves of voter registration, support for defunding the police.
Toxic familial surveillance: Tech supercharges intimate surveillance.
Consumer Reports joins the revolution: Which side are you on?
This day in history: 2005, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

EFF offering legal referrals to protesters: If your phone was seized or you were targeted with electronic surveillance, they've got a list of lawyers.
The unsatisfying history of obscenity: "I know it when I see it" was always a cop-out.
A ride through of Elitch Gardens' Kaleidoscope: Meow Wolf's ride for Denver's centuries-old theme park.
Big Tech is good at being big: But that shouldn't get them a pass on anti-monopoly law.
Personalized, signed copies of Little Brother/Homeland: With an intro by Ed Snowden!
No fix for Chrome's Incognito Mode: What matters more: user privacy or paywalls?
DoJ seizes pro-BLM coronavirus masks: The Flu Klux Klan wants protests to be death sentences.
Science Fiction Writers of America on Black Lives Matter: Free dues, travel and memberships for the Nebulas, and a reading list.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Minneapolis racists threaten arson over BLM signs: A modern cross-burning.
White House recants "antifa bricks" conspiracy: American Surkovs.
Rave for "Poesy the Monster Slayer": "Some children fear monsters at bedtime, but Poesy welcomes them."
Autodetecting autogenerated text: The answer to the machine is the machine.
AMC's bankruptcy is the first domino in monopolist collapse: When monopolism bites Disney in the ass.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Dems can and MUST fight police violence: The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil…
Save Uncle Hugo's: Crowdfunding for Minneapolis's beloved, torched science fiction bookstore.
Ella Jones is Ferguson's new mayor: The city's first Black mayor.
Why protests become violent: Cops keep mashing the "be violent" button.
PPE vs riot gear: Revealed preference, revealed.
Zoom wants to help the FBI spy on you: Encryption is a luxury good.
Trivial-to-spoof UK contact tracing: A gift to identity thieves and fraudsters.
AT&T; will punish Disney+ viewers: Can you hear me now?
K-pop fandom pivots to human rights hacktivism: Flooding the zone with fancams.
This day in history: 2005, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Image Scrubber: An in-browser image sanitizer that doesn't require you to trust a random website.
Trump's bailout guy is making millions for his family: Justin Muzinich isn't a flamboyant villain like Mnuchin. He's a quiet villain.
Fix the police: What evidence says about police reform.
After Jim Crow, broken windows: Kelling and Zimbardo have a lot to answer for.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Podcast: How Big Tech distorts our discourse: No mind-control required.
EFF statement on Black Lives Matter: Black lives matter on the Internet.
Why quarantine is getting harder: Sustained vigilance is impossible without perceptible feedback.
Writing while Black: Tochi Onyebuchi unpacks the impossible contradictions of being a Black writer in this moment (and all the moments like this).
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading