Pluralistic: Thwarted (09 Oct 2026)

Today's links

Thwarted: Behold the awesome destructive power of a fully operational billionaire.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Anthrax v National Inquirer; Grey goo v Second Life; Predictive policing v actual crime; Spooky cookies; California v algorithmic price-fixing; Tivo self-destructs; Disney exec endorses piracy; TSA v geologists; Handheld printer; Mandatory DRM for all Canadian music sales; Iceweasel; "Snuff"; "Shade the Changing Girl"; Latam surveillance; Scotland Yard brands encryption terrorism; RBS slaughtered 10k small businesses to seize and sell their assets; Dead Letters.
Upcoming appearances: Calgary, Winnipeg, Paris, Vancouver, Victoria, Ottawa, Kilkenny, Sheffield, Oxford, Montreal.
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.

AI solipsists and AI cynics: You don't have to believe that AI "works" to believe that it's a good investment.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Malware v stolen computer; Industrial material made from old coffee and melted cups; Austro-Germany's weird tunnels; Health data v Silicon Valley; Amusement parks v load-balancing.
Upcoming appearances: Edinburgh, Sydney, Melbourne, Brighton, London, South Bend.
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.

"Rights for robots" and the AI slavery fantasy: When we were robots in Egypt…
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Awkward questions for the entertainment industry; ISP v record label death penalty; Coming out on Splash Mountain; Negative Swiss bond yields; Are We Having Fun Yet?
Upcoming appearances: London, Edinburgh, Sydney, Melbourne, Brighton, London, South Bend.
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.

Billionaires are a danger to themselves and (especially) us: A billionaire is a machine for producing policy failures at scale.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Librarians Against DRM; Copyright maximalist MP is a pirate; "The Monster"; The perversity of self-destructing ebooks; Space opera cliches; Social software politics; Game in a browser's location bar; Map of sf/f; Group chat sucks; Jeep hack; Gandersauce.
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.

Social media without socializing: For Zuck, your friends are a problem to be solved.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: "Among Others"; Vagina tea-balls; MLK was a socialist; Planet Money's free Gatsby audiobook; Bounty for wiretapping lefty profs; Poe's graveside ritual; Sleep Mafia; Whence came tarps; GM's Dieslgate; NRO's octopus; Amazon solidarity; Billionaire-proofing the internet.
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.

A world without people: AI is a promise to wire the boss's toy steering wheel directly into the company's drive-train.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Adding exclusive rights make economies weaker; Bloggers after the collapse; Why the media can't figure out Wikipedia; Who are these sf legends?; Anne Frank is in the public domain; Hollywood's MP in Canada; Piketty on Piketty; Vanilla ISIS; India throws out Facebook's astroturf emails; Google unionizes; "The Data Detective"; Breaking Apple ][+ DRM.
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.

Friction cannot be reduced, it can only be redistributed: The better things are for your boss, the worse they are for you.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Dr Bruce Sterling; Buddy Holly's overnight bag; Zombie postcapitalism.
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.

Become unoptimizable: Twiddle or be twiddled.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Penguins v Microsoft in the EU; Chastity belts are a joke; Austerity breeds Nazis, Yale says, "Prepare for death."
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.