Pluralistic: 06 Dec 2020

Today's links

Ad-tech as a bubble overdue for a bursting: Upton Sinclair was an optimist.
The largest strike in human history: The Shock Doctrine's breaking-point.
Soviet computing graveyard: Recovering a Saratov-2 from presumed extinction.
This day in history: 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Hong Kong's ghost protest posters: "I Can Still Hear You."
Basic income works: Some thoughts on whether it should be "universal."
Sign thief turns newspaper thief: Hiassenish caper with Iowa characteristics.
Attack Surface in The Observer: "This will all be so great if we don't screw it up."
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Podcasting "How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism": Monopolies are more probable than mind-control.
Set My Heart to Five: Sf satire in a Vonnegut mold.
Mediactive: Three week masterclass in digital media literacy from Dan Gillmor and ASU's News Co/Lab.
America's economy is cooked: Debts that can't be paid won't be paid.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Surveillance Capitalism is just capitalism, plus surveillance: Mind-control rays remain implausible.
It's blursday: Today is Weds, Mar 179, 2020.
Optimizing banana-geometry with machine learning: Just look at it.
This day in history: 2005, 2015
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

New podcast: Part nine of my reading of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town.
Europe's interop coalition: DSA + Interop = Competition.
Scarfolk beermats: Ministers' Stout Hubris and more.
Miami cop owns illegal mansion nightclub: For some reason, the cops didn't prevent the nightly Lamborghini races.
Video and transcript of my OII talk: If you missed last week's "What Big Tech does to discourse, and the forgotten tech tool that can make tech less big."
Shower temperature vs handle position: You're not imagining it.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Working as intended: My upcoming free lecture on the role monopoly plays in distorting our discourse and creating conspiracies.
Buying (not licensing) my ebooks: The best way to get my ebooks and audiobooks.
Scihub boosts cites: Public sphere vs Elsevier.
Topple monuments…with science: Popular Mechanics is here for you.
Privacy Analyzer: What does the web know about you?
Frederick Douglass's descendants read his July 4 speech: "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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

Russian Multiplication: turning hard multiplication into easy addition with binary.
Cops' qualified immunity: so long as it's not identical to an established atrocity, it's fine.
Bloomberg's Plan B: buying the DNC: I don't care who does the voting, so long as I get to do the nominating.
Private equity looters underperform the S&P 500: Believing that you are accomplishing extraordinary things merely because you are paid extraordinary amounts is top-grade self-delusion.
New podcast about the history of Gopher and adversarial interoperability: It's judo for network effects.
This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading