Pluralistic: Ad-tech is a bezzle; Google's unionizing; The Data Detective; Damon Knight's Why Do Birds is back; Endorsing the Forward 43 slate (04 Jan 2021)

Today's links

Ad-tech is a bezzle: The subprime attention crisis is upon us.
Google's unionizing: Solidarity vs worker misclassification.
The Data Detective: How to truth with statistics.
Damon Knight's Why Do Birds is back: Reviving a grand master's comic masterpiece.
Endorsing the Forward 43 slate: For my California comrades.
This day in history: 2016
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Situation Normal: The long-overdue second Leonard Richardson novel
China's best investigative stories of 2020: A glimpse into some very brave and dedicated reporters' work.
Where money comes from: And what tax is for.
Raising money for Chelsea Manning: The whistleblower and torture survivor needs our help.
Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town part 26: My last podcast of 2020.
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Ford patents plutocratic lane-changes: That part of Walkaway wasn't a suggestion, seriously.
All the books I reviewed in 2020: A year in books.
Armed cops terrorize Florida covid whistleblower: They pointed a gun at a two-year-old.
Uber pays to get rid of its self-driving cars: Every Big Store has to close eventually.
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Boundless Realms: The definitive guide to the Haunted Mansion.
Student data breaches vastly underreported: When monopolism meets ed-tech.
UK corporate registrar bans code-injection: But you can still register +++ATH, Inc.
Someone Comes to Town Part 22: My latest podcast episode.
This day in history: 2005, 2010
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Ferris wheel fine dining: First the Budapest Eye, next, the world!
Monopolies Suck: There is nothing harder to kill than an idea whose time has come to pass.
The president's extraordinary powers: Congress handed the president emergency powers for centuries and never took them back (uh-oh).
Comcast v Comcast: Which is weird, because Universal owns Comcast.
Surveillance startup protected sexual harassers: Willingness to surveil is correlated with sociopathy.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Dystopia as clickbait: Chris Brown on uncozy apocalypses.
Trail of Mars: New, lyrically gifted science fictional music from John McDaid.
Bride of Frankenstein and the Monster: New, limited Brian Ewing prints for Hallowe'en 2020.
The Passenger Pigeon Manifesto: "Liberate and upload all digitised photographs and artworks."
Bricked Ferrari: DRM and the accommodation of corner-cases.
The Dennis Ball Show: Dad jokes and Haunted Mansion trivia with djBC's alter-ego.
This day in history: None
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Squeeze Me: Carl Hiaasen's Trump-as-Florida-man masterpiece.
The Internet is for End-Users: IETF on "user agents."
Ad-tech is a bubble: Subprime Attention Crisis.
Schools! Libraries! Classrooms! Get free Attack Surface hardcovers: An imperfect solution to a thorny problem.
Facebook's living will: Leaks reveal the company's idiotic plans to stave off breakup.
Part 17 of Someone Comes to Town Someone Leaves Town: This week on the podcast: a murder most foul.
Seeking home call-center workers: Propublica wants your story.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Witch: Kill Bill meets Thomas Hardy.
Attack Surface on the MMT Podcast: Imagining the first days of a better world.
Private equity's profitable murder: Leonard Green, Prospect Medical Holdings, and the vast fortunes built on the dead.
The Years of Repair: A Message From the Future (II).
Block Google-Fitbit: A merger made in hell.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

A New American Manifesto: "Adapted from the Declaration of Independence."
Adventures of a Dwergish Girl: Daniel Pinkwater scores a bullseye on the absurd-normalcy firing range.
Trudeau promises massive covid stimulus: Fool me twice, you're the Prime Minister.
This day in history: 2005, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Announcing the Attack Surface tour: Eight nights, 16 guests, and me, signing and mailing hundreds of books.
WV's deabeat governor now owes $140m: Billionaire Jim Justice made his money the old fashioned way: fraud.
Faulty TV behind daily, town-wide internet outages: The real story here is that Openreach actually fixed something.
Blogcritics on Attack Surface: "Doctorow has recreated our world in all its scary detail."
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading