Pluralistic: 22 Apr 2020

Today's links

Web-wide copyright filters would be a disaster: No filternet. Not before, and especially not now.
Apartment buildings didn't cause the pandemic: The problem with slums is slumlords, not buildings.
Unmasking the registrants of the "reopen" websites: Koch Network, grifters, GOP orgs and musketfuckers.
Covid burns through Charter Cable employees: The company forced its workers to go to the office, denied PPE to field techs.
Disney heiress slams top execs' compensation: Abigail Disney wants the C-suite to zero out their bonuses
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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Pluralistic: 15 Apr 2020

Today's links

Jailbreak for CPAP machine reveals hidden ventilator functionality: A $700 CPAP becomes a limited BIPAP through a software patch.
State treasurers demand ventilator manufacturers publish manuals: Colorado, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Delaware, and Rhode Island want the Right to Repair.
Ten graphic novels for kids, teens and adults in lockdown: My picks for True North Comics.
One person is in charge of oversight for $2.2T in stimulus: Bharat Ramamurti is the sole member of the Congressional Oversight Commission.
Universities want to infect students’ laptops with undetectable rootkits: Invigilation tools + shared laptops + overstretched IT departments = Bad, bad news.
I Void Warranties for a Living: Name-your-price stickers.
2600 Magazine hit hard by pandemic: Bail 'em out by buying the current ish as a download.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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Pluralistic: 12 Apr 2020

Today's links

LA begins randomized covid testing: Is distancing working?
Trump and the Rapture Right: The end of the world is a feature, not a bug.
Foxconn's potemkin "Innovation Centers": Empty promises and empty buildings.
The power of collaborative note-taking: From WIPO meetings to videoconferences.
AMC is going bankrupt: Maybe allowing them to buy all their competitors was a bad idea?
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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Pluralistic: 08 Apr 2020

Today's links

Solnit on the revelations of crisis: Pandemic speeds up processes that were too slow to notice.
Nurse suspended for distributing crowdfunded PPE: Shame on Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.
Cleveland Plain Dealer executed by union-busting owners: Firing health reporters during a pandemic.
Monster-themed covid pinup PSAs: By Alejandra Oviedo.
The Onion on Wisconsin's election: We need strategic Onion reserves for all our calamities.
NSO Group says Facebook tried to buy its malware: NSO is worse than Facebook, but it's a close-run thing.
How to pay for covid: Unearthing Keynes's "How to Pay for the War."
Smart lock hemorrhages user data: And it broadcasts its unlock code over Bluetooth.
TSA wanted to inspect 16 year old trans girl's genitals: Jon Corbett is on the case.
Roger Fuckebythenavele vs Bannatyne Manuscript: Black Plague-era f-bomb eclipsed by 14th century frottage artist.
Rube Goldberg feeding device: Now that's physical comedy.
Public domain Zoom backgrounds: Fantastic backdrops for an absurd moment.
This day in history: 2010, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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Pluralistic: 04 Apr 2020

Today's links

Private equity looting public health in a pandemic: The math is part of the con.
MacGuyver mask tutorial: Crafter/filmmaker marriages for the win.
Prescient Reagan-era text-adventures: What we can learn from the 1985 Infocom game "A Mind Forever Voyaging."
Landlord accidentally organizes rent strike: When you're threatening 300 tenants, don't CC them all on on the email.
The Pandumbic: Fox News is a suicide cult.
This day in history: 2005, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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Pluralistic: 28 Mar 2020

Today's links

Charter techs get $25 gift cards instead of hazard pay: No hand-san or PPE, either.
The Pandemic Playbook: Trump won't rtfm.
Boardgame Remix Kit: Make 26 new games out of Monopoly, Clue, Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble sets.
McMansion Hell visits 1972: "Architecture store? I'd like one of everything."
Free Cheapass Games print-and-plays: KILL DOCTOR LUCKY, GIVE ME THE BRAIN, LORD OF THE FRIES, UNEXPLODED COW and so many more!
Trump officials killed Walmart opioid prosecutions: With help from Jones Day.
United gets $25B stimulus and announces layoffs: The biggest corporate giveaway in history.
FLICC vs denialism: A taxonomy of scientific denial, just in time.
This Waifu Does Not Exist: Autogenned anime characters, with backstories.
Fever cameras are garbage: It's the pivot-to-covid for grifty police enablers.
Employers scramble to buy remote-worker spyware: Even if you're paying for the product, you're the product.
Canada Reads Q&A on Apr 23: Unfortunately, it's on Facebook.
Cowboy Economist on covid stimulus: Congress doesn't spend taxes, it spends and then taxes.
88 Names podcast: Talking VR, AR and gold farming with Matt Ruff.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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Pluralistic: 18 Mar 2020

Today's links

Ethiopian factory sports Jack Ma quotes: Global trade currents are shifting fast.
Charter orders all workers to keep showing up: Even the 15% of its workforce who could work from home.
MAGA firefighters dismiss coronavirus as Democrat hoax: And/or a Chinese bioweapon.
Flatter Me, a compliments card game: Kickstarting now.
American Airlines blew billions, now it wants a bailout: Socializing losses, privatizing gains.
John Green's mutual aid manifesto: The only way through is together.
How to split a single ventilator for four patients: Peer-reviewed simulations.
Bigoted Republican Congressjerk votes against coronavirus relief because it might cover same-sex partnerships: Rep Andy Biggs wants to send us all to meet Jesus.
Epidemiology and public health in 14 minutes: An epidemiologist and an sf writer make an outstanding science communications team.
3D printed ventilator hero got a patent threat: Human rights vs property rights.
If nothing is for sale, how will covid stimulus work? Can you fix a supply shock with stimulus?
How to make your own toilet paper: A craft for your isolated kiddos.
Plague precautions from 1665: No feasting, but you can tipple in a bar until 9PM.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

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Pluralistic: 14 Mar 2020

Today's links

Masque of the Red Death: Macmillan Audio gave me permission to share the audiobook of my end-of-the-world novella.
When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth: A new podcast audiobook of my 2005 end-of-the-world story.
Ada Palmer on historical and modern censorship: Part of EFF's Speaking Freely project.
Glitch workers unionize: First-ever tech union formed without management opposition.
Women of Imagineering: A 384-page illustrated chronicle of the role women play in Disney theme-park design.
Tachyon celebrates 30 years of sff publishing with a Humble Bundle: DRM-free and benefits EFF.
Honest Government Ads, Covid-19 edition: Political satire is really hard, but The Juice makes it look easy.
TSA lifts liquid bans, telcos lift data caps: Almost as though there was no reason for them in the first place.
CBC postpones Canada Reads debates: But you can read a ton of the nominated books online for free.
Star Wars firepits: 750lbs of flaming backyard steel.
This day in history: 2005, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading