Pluralistic: 06 May 2021

Today's links

Scammers recycled covid nose-swabs: Indonesia had 1.6m infections and these supervillains helped export them.
Ed-tech apps spy on kids: Disciplinary Technology, SDKs, censorware, and education.
NY AG attributes Net Neutrality fraud to telcos: 18 million fraudulent comments filed in the FCC docket.
This day in history: 2011, 2016, 2020
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Aaron Epstein got fiber: All it took was an ad in the WSJ.
Ajit Pai, plague villain: Killing rural broadband just before a plague.
This day in history: 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Fighting fiber was the right's dumbest self-own: "We don't have to care. We're the [phone company|social media monopolist]."
This day in history: 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2020
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Indie booksellers during the pandemic: Better news that you might expect.
Podcasting Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town: "A glorious book unlike any book you've ever read."
Billionaires thriving on our pandemic losses: Plutocracy is comorbid with pandemic.
Pandemic proves ISP data-caps were always a pretense: Rent-seeking vs capex.
Hospital cuts healthcare workers' pay, pays six-figure exec bonuses: Denver Health Medical Center shows us who really matters.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Save Forbidden Planet NYC: Keep NYC weird.
Which guillotine is right for you: Current Affairs's guide for the perplexed.
A labradoodle breeder is in charge of America's vaccines: An actual labradoodle could do a better job.
"Inject disinfectant" vs both sides-ism: We report, you decide.
US healthcare fails insured people too: A laundry list of gaps and errors.
Masks work: Lasers reveal your revolting, spittle-flecked utterances.
US telcoms sector isn't doing better than Europe's: Net Neutrality's murderers want you to believe they saved the American internet.
Amazon uses its sellers' data to figure out which products to clone: And they lied to Congress about it.
Facebook let advertisers target "pseudoscience" and "conspiracy": Son of "jew-haters."
Security expert conned out of $10,000: If you think you're too smart to get phished…
California Adventure, Minecraft edition: New maps for the Imagineering Fun server.
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Plutocrats firehose money on primary challenger to AOC: Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, a former Reagan Republican who wants to dismantle Social Security and Medicare
FCC will spend $9B to improve broadband…without an accurate broadband map: Reality's left-wing bias makes accurate data the enemy of conservativism.
Buddhist monk covers western pop songs: He's like a male, solo version of Shonen Knife.
Apple hunters recover ten "lost" varieties from forgotten farms: The Lost Apple Society needs help.
Finding the Money: A fabulous new documentary on Modern Monetary Theory
Evangelical pastor denied quarantine, now he wants your stimulus check: Tony Spell's death-cult has a business-model.
Zombie movies teach us all the wrong lessons for pandemic: Not only would a zombie plague be easy to contain, but people don't turn into monsters during crises.
Building a "web of books": What would a federated alternative to Goodreads look like?
The Facebook Political Ad Collector: Exposing targeted advertising's fraud and conspiracy
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Brave autolinks 404s to the Wayback Machine: The internet's time-traveling, privacy respecting, ad-busting browser.
Clarence Thomas admits he blew it on Brand X: A very safe mea culpa from the man who helped kill Net Neutrality.
Medicare for All would be the biggest take-home pay increase in a generation: Even if my taxes went up by six figures (!), I'd still save money.
The Smithsonian publishes 2.8m hi-rez images into the public domain: Tired: "It belongs in a museum!" Wired: "It belongs to the world!"
McMansion Hell visits 1971: Before "lawyer foyers" there were "paralegal foyers."
This day in history: 2005, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading