Pluralistic: Charlie Jane Anders' "Lessons in Magic and Disaster." (19 Aug 2025)

Today's links

Charlie Jane Anders' "Lessons in Magic and Disaster.": Families, they fuck you up (magically).
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: HST in space; It Plays Doom; Deserted Chinese themeparks; Banksy's Dismaland; Dollars are better than warrants; "Fuck the algorithm."
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.

Zuckermuskian solipsism: They just don't think other people are real.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Heinlein bio; Amazon bans Amazon-critical podcasts; How to Argue With a Racist; Disenshittify or Die; Food arrangement copyrights, Stingrays on steroids.
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.

LLMs are slot-machines: You only remember the jackpots.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Heinlein bio; Amazon bans Amazon-critical podcasts; How to Argue With a Racist.
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.

Bluesky creates the world's weirdest, hardest-to-understand binding arbitration clause: What, and I cannot stress this enough, the FUCK does this mean?!
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: No-fly babies; Stephen Harper's Red Dawn; DHS pre-crime.
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.

"Privacy preserving age verification" is bullshit: Take it from the guy who invented it.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Vampire sf; Trickle-down Sesame Street; Transgenic mouse bribery; WPA StreetView; Walmart's policy origins.
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.

Maga's boss class think they are immune to American carnage: They're in for a surprise.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Paradox of choice (screens); Perpetual Lenovo crapware; Trump's Solicitor General: "bribery is legal"; Marvel's 10¢ comics; Snatched postal sorting-machines; Failed State; Kenk; Glass Houses; Caveman SF; My origin story; FBI vs George Carlin.
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.

Goodhart's Law (of AI): When a metric becomes a target, AI can hit it every time.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Bill Ayers graphic novel; Foxconn in India; Uber loses $4B; Warren Buffet, monopolist.
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.

Which jobs can be replaced with AI?: Jobs that have already be degraded to the point of uselessness.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Circular batteries; Prison for file-sharing, Satanic abortions.
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.