Pluralistic: 21 Apr 2020


infosec,phishing,contact tracing,john scalzi,science fiction,podcasts,audio,mp3s,private equity,surprise billing,ads, media theory,supercuts,d&d;,rpgs,makers,old school,trash future,masque of the red death,plutewatch,bunkers,luxury bunkers,labor,guillotine watch,late stage capitalism,whole foods,unionization,class war,automation,amazon,texas, voter suppression,1a,ken paxton,christ what an asshole,australia,competition,right to repair,john deere,big ag,parenting,gadgets,iot,internet of shit,infosec,snoo smart bassinet,conspiracies,china,truthers

Phishers deploy fake contact-tracing warnings; Podcasting John Scalzi's The Last Emperox; Private equity blew millions on pro-surprise-billing ads while cutting doctor pay; Every Covid-19 Commerical is Exactly the Same; Multi-level dungeon built into the drawers of an old dresser; Talking bunker-busting with Trashfuture; Whole Foods has a union-busting "heatmap" app; Amazon workers plan nationwide walkout; Texas AG: We'll imprison people who warn about getting covid while voting; Australian regulator takes up Right to Repair for tractors; Smart bassinet can be remotely hacked; Covid did not escape from a Chinese lab

Pluralistic: 21 Apr 2020 all-in-it-together



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Today's links

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Pluralistic: 14 Apr 2020

Today's links

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Pluralistic: 06 Apr 2020

Today's links

  1. The Jubilee: Fill Your Boots: My latest podcast, on a redefined form of abundance and luxury.
  2. Illinois reinstates physical restraints for special ed kids: Revenge of the "quiet room."
  3. Youtube vs 5G arsonists: There's plenty of things wrong with 5G, but coronavirus isn't one of them.
  4. Hamilton original cast reunites on Zoom: A ray of sunshine at a dark time.
  5. This day in history: 2015, 2019
  6. Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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Pluralistic: 31 Mar 2020

Today's links

  1. 100 Ideas for Dungeon Masters: Based on the Pathfinder Bestiary, readily adaptable for other systems.
  2. Attack Surface author's note: My latest podcast is the afterword from the third Little Brother book.
  3. Trump admits voter suppression: Proving intent was never easier.
  4. Reality endorses Sanders: Pandemics have an obvious leftist bias.
  5. Amazon fires walkout organizer: Low waged workers, doing the most important work in America, exposed to lethal risk.
  6. Monopolists stole your respirator: Dying a gasping death is pareto-optimal.
  7. Corporate welfare vs food stamps: A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money.
  8. How viruses experience social distancing: XKCD mixes atavistic satisfaction with science communications.
  9. Scarfolk pandemics: This isn't the worst timeline after all.
  10. This day in history: 2005, 2019
  11. Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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Pluralistic: 24 Mar 2020

Today's links

  1. This year's Nebula Awards will be held online: It's $150, and raising funds to bail out corona-shattered writers.
  2. Make America Well Again stamps: from the artist who brought you the Trump Zero Cents stamp.
  3. Data is the new toxic waste: It never was the "new oil" (my latest podcast).
  4. Stock Jump: A ski-game that lets you play the stock charts of cratered businesses.
  5. 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.
  6. Join me on the Quarantine Book Club: April 1, 3PM Pacific.
  7. The Party of Death: It's a good time to buy exterminism futures.
  8. Financial stability vs economic stability: Debts that can't be paid, won't be paid.
  9. Quarantine reveals the falsity of the automation crisis: Augmentation isn't replacement.
  10. Bailouts and moral hazard: If we never teach big business, it won't ever learn.
  11. MIT's ingenious manual/automatic open source ventilator: Now in FDA testing.
  12. This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
  13. Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

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Pluralistic: 17 Mar 2020

Today's links

  1. The Masque of the Red Death and Punch Brothers Punch: My latest podcast is Poe/Twain bathos crossover.
  2. Fill in your census online: Otherwise you and people you care about literally won't count.
  3. Naomi Klein: this disaster has no room for disaster capitalism: It's our moment to seize.
  4. Scalzi's canceled bookstore: Support your local indie bookseller, especially now.
  5. My Twitter account was suspended: I got in trouble for putting trolls on a list called "Colossal Assholes."
  6. Talking digital writing careers with the Writing Excuses podcast: Covering a lot of ground in 15 minutes.
  7. A new anxiety podcast from Nightvale's Joseph Fink: Proud to be in the debut episode.
  8. Patent trolls try to shut down covid testing: Monkey-selfies, Theranos, Softbank – it's a garbage matrioshke!
  9. How to live with your kids: "Working and Learning from Home with Young Children."
  10. Brave files GDPR complaint against Google: Sharing data between Google services is a no-no.
  11. This day in history: 2005, 2015, 2019
  12. Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 17 Mar 2020"

Pluralistic: 14 Mar 2020

Today's links

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

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Pluralistic: 12 Mar 2020

Today's links

  1. TSA boss doubles down on taking away health care from part-time screeners: They're touching your junk with diseased hands.
  2. Akil Augustine on Radicalized: My book's Canada Reads champion lays out the case for Radicalized.
  3. A former top Cigna exec rebuts Joe Biden's healthcare FUD: Wendell Potter is the prodigal corporate villain.
  4. Ars Technica's Covid-19 explainer is the best resource on the pandemic: Beth Mole has outdone herself.
  5. Boeing is even worse at financial engineering than they are at aircraft engineering: The $43B they incinerated through stock buybacks would sure come in handy about now.
  6. Senate Republicans kill emergency sick leave during pandemic: Sick leave is cheaper than pandemics, but pandemics generate cost-plus contracts for the donor class.
  7. The EU's new Right to Repair rules finally come for electronics: Snoods cocked at Apple and other US Big Tech monopolists.
  8. How to run a virtual classroom: Masterclass from the 14-year-old Stanford Online High School.
  9. This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
  10. Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 12 Mar 2020"

Pluralistic: 02 Mar 2020

Today's links

  1. My new podcast, "Disasters Don’t Have to End in Dystopia": Tired: Look for the helpers. Wired: Be the helper.
  2. The next frontier for school censorware is spying on kids all the time: It's how we'll stop ISIS, apparently.
  3. I'm coming to Kelowna on March 5: It's my first-ever trip to the BC interior and more than half the (free) tickets are gone. RSVP now!
  4. Cool Mules, an investigative series on a Vice editor's cocaine-smuggling ring: From the people who brought you the stunning "Thunder Bay."
  5. Soviet Space Graphics: Cosmic Visions from the USSR.
  6. Apple, Nike and Dell's supply chain includes enslaved Uyghurs: Xinjiang Phase II.
  7. Drugs Without the Hot Air: The best book I've ever read on drugs and drug policy, in an expanded new edition.
  8. This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
  9. Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 02 Mar 2020"