Pluralistic: 12 Oct 2020

Today's links

Attack Surface in Wired: Toolsmith-user solidarity.
The herd immunity conspiracy: Follow the money.
How to cheat at Clock Simulator: I got rhythm.
Someone Comes to Town, part 18: This week's podcast comes with a content warning.
Facebook vs The Big Lebowski: The Zuck abides.
Papercraft Haunted Mansion Hallowe'en: Print, color, decorate!
This day in history: None
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Doc resigns after his employer charges $11k for a $8 covid test: But he still opposes medicare for all.
This day in history: 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Kickstarting mailbox hearts: A way to show your support for the beleaguered USPS.
The Mail: A print zine about the USPS, delivered by the USPS.
College Covid app is a security dumpster-fire: Albion College obliterates the qualitative and hopes the quantitative residue will suffice.
Boeing fixes the 737 Max problem: By renaming the 737 Max.
Crowdfunding Skycircles: The Advisory Circular network tells you about the surveillance far overhead.
This day in history: 2005, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Grace is going home: Appeals court orders release of Black, learning-disabled teen jailed for failing to do homework during the lockdown.
A deep dive into Mexico's new copyright law: Revealing the hidden tripwires that undermine Mexicans' human rights.
The Tree Who Set Healthy Boundaries: In which fair use rescues us from Shel Silverstein's terrible brilliance.
Populism is good for your health: Blame America's mass deaths on its health-care system, not (just) Trump.
Congrats to the 2020 Hugo winners: Martine, El-Mohtar, Gladstone, Caroline, Huang et al.
This day in history: 2005, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Afterland: Lauren Beukes's regrettably brilliantly timed plague novel.
Mexican copyright crushes free speech: Trump's trade deal takes away Mexicans' fundamental rights.
Audible Exclusives: Monopolists gonna monopolize.
Snowden's Little Brother intro: The Age of Mass Surveillance Will Not Last Forever.
Police "unions" are not unions: They're protection rackets.
Quick, inaccurate, cheap covid tests: Frequency vs accuracy.
Swarov.se: Once you see it…
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Hank Green's "A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor": Catch us live on July 10!
Near-ultrasound links: Chirpy IoT configuration for <$1.
Disneyland's Tower of Terror in Minecraft: Brilliant attention to detail!
Who got PPP and how much did they get?: Propublica has a whole database of receipts.
EY helped 'Ndrangheta sell mafia bonds: "Consulting services."
The rotten culture of the rich: Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.
The awful stupidity of measuring engineers' productivity: Any measurement becomes a target.
Unions say Disney World isn't testing employees: The Florida Man of themeparks.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Hackers on Planet Earth, in the cloud: HOPE will not be cancelled.
Climate and machine learning: Machine learning is roasting the planet.
Seeking Fitbit owners' stories: Help EFF explain why the Google takeover is wrong.
Software secrecy: Code is (bad) law.
Grocer won't show employees results from mandatory temp-checks: Coronavirus theater, class war edition.
Bill Clinton sings "Baby Got Back": Speech synthesis is just sublimely weird.
Webinar on Controlled Digital Lending and the pandemic: Talking about the Internet Archive, this Friday.
Google vows no custom AI for oil and gas: Reversing its 2018 position, which was garbage.
Re-positive coronavirus cases are not infectious: Finally, we catch a break.
Ifixit's medtech repair manual trove is full to bursting: Right to Repair, pandemic edition.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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

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

This year's Nebula Awards will be held online: It's $150, and raising funds to bail out corona-shattered writers.
Make America Well Again stamps: from the artist who brought you the Trump Zero Cents stamp.
Data is the new toxic waste: It never was the "new oil" (my latest podcast).
Stock Jump: A ski-game that lets you play the stock charts of cratered businesses.
Murdering 20% of elderly Americans is bad strategy for the GOP: Terrified old people are the turkeys who vote for plutes' Christmas every four years.
Join me on the Quarantine Book Club: April 1, 3PM Pacific.
The Party of Death: It's a good time to buy exterminism futures.
Financial stability vs economic stability: Debts that can't be paid, won't be paid.
Quarantine reveals the falsity of the automation crisis: Augmentation isn't replacement.
Bailouts and moral hazard: If we never teach big business, it won't ever learn.
MIT's ingenious manual/automatic open source ventilator: Now in FDA testing.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading