Pluralistic: 28 Jul 2020

Today's links

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

Constitution Illustrated: R Sikoryak's amazing chameleon take on the US Constitution.
My HOPE 2020 talk: Trying out my "grand unified theory."
Replace the police: 10 steps to improve safety by reducing dependence on police.
NYPD disciplinary records: Propublica has the receipts.
New podcast episode: Part 11 of "Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town."
Finger-mounted crossbows: For your cuke-slaying needs.
This day in history: 2010, 2015
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Green Growth: TANSTAAFL is the spectre haunting the world.
Lovely video review for Poesy the Monster Slayer: Thanks, Kend!
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Judge won't release Black learning-disabled kid jailed for missing homework: Mary Ellen Brennan is up for re-election in 2020.
Podcast: Part 10 of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town: "A glorious book unlike any book you’ve ever read" -Gene Wolfe.
Christopher Brown's Failed State: I'm helping him launch an outstanding and timely novel on Aug 12.
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist: Comparison is the thief of joy.
Luxury homes to be washed away: Australian plutes voted for climate deniers and now they're about to literally fall off a cliff.
As We May Think: Danny O'Brien on the past future of news.
Trump's spent a billion on re-election: Biden spent $165m.
This day in history: 2015, 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

New Little Brother/Homeland edition is out today!: With an intro by Edward Snowden.
There is no automation employment crisis: But there is a climate emergency.
Cyberpunk Culture: An online conference, Jul 9/10.
Or What You Will: Jo Walton's new, brilliant meta-meta-novel.
#BlackOutDay2020: Pledge not to spend a dime in a store or online, except in Black-owned businesses.
Right wing press duped by state-sponsored influence campaign: Deepfakes and avatars manipulated to defeat reverse image searches.
Coronavirus tests are a taxable benefit: HMRC creates a perverse incentive.
Big 4 accounting firms headed for breakup: When the referee cheats.
Home security cameras are really insecure: Even encrypted video streams can give away sensitive info.
Why covid cases are spiking but deaths aren't: Lead-time bias.
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Impossible Music: Sean Williams's superb novel of Deafness and music theory.
Yanis Varoufakis on capitalism's self-destruction: And what to do about it.
India bans Chinese apps: Chekhov's Law, China-India cyberspace sovereignty edition.
Post-Trump trumpism: What will the right do after Trump's defeat?
Gilead's $3k covid med should sell for $10: And the research was funded by the US public.
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Female Furies: Cecil Castellucci finds the story that Jack Kirby missed.
How to break up Google: A making things company, not a buying things company.
Facebook and Trump collaborate on rule-rigging: You can't break the rules if you make the rules.
NYC housing lottery favors the least-needy: The private sector cannot and will not solve the housing crisis.
Podcast: Part 8 of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town: Families are weird.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

The Case for a Job Guarantee: Pavlina Tcherneva's urgent pamphlet, in the midst of the employment crisis of the century.
The real cyberwar is Goliath, slaughtering an army of Davids: It's asymmetric, but the asymmetry goes the other way
Coders as RPG classes: Product managers are bards.
Podcast: Someone Comes to Town Pt 7: The Father's Day episode.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Mayor of Las Vegas says the "free market" will decide what's safe: Reality has a leftist bias.
Powell's botanically correct flower guy is in trouble: Arnold Drake World is about to lose his home.
Library of Last Resort: Interactive fiction, meet metafiction
Manyland: An open-ended virtual world you visit in your browser
Riot Baby: An incandescent Afrofuturist novella.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading