Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow  ·  2 days ago

Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: Boss politics antitrust; and more!

Archived at: pluralistic.net/2024/11/12/the

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An altered version of a Gilded Age editorial cartoon titled 'Who controls the Senate?' which depicts the Senate as populated by tiny, ineffectual politicians ringed by massive, bloated, brooding monopolists. A door labeled 'people's entrance.' is firmly locked. A sign reads, 'This is a senate of the monopolists, by the monopolists and for the monopolists.' The image has been altered: an editorial cartoon of Boss Tweed, portrayed as a portly man in a business suit with a money-bag for a head, stands in the foreground. He is wearing a MAGA hat. On his shoulder perches a tiny, 'big stick' swinging FDR from another editorial cartoon. The logos of the monopolists in the background have been replaced with logos for Chevron, Coinbase, Google, Microsoft, WB, PGA, Apple, Comcast, Realpage and KKR.
An altered version of a Gilded Age editorial cartoon titled 'Who controls the Senate?' which depicts the Senate as populated by tiny, ineffectual politicians ringed by massive, bloated, brooding monopolists. A door labeled 'people's entrance.' is firmly locked. A sign reads, 'This is a senate of the monopolists, by the monopolists and for the monopolists.' The image has been altered: an editorial cartoon of Boss Tweed, portrayed as a portly man in a business suit with a money-bag for a head, stands in the foreground. He is wearing a MAGA hat. On his shoulder perches a tiny, 'big stick' swinging FDR from another editorial cartoon. The logos of the monopolists in the background have been replaced with logos for Chevron, Coinbase, Google, Microsoft, WB, PGA, Apple, Comcast, Realpage and KKR.
An altered version of a Gilded Age editorial cartoon titled 'Who controls the Senate?' which depicts the Senate as populated by tiny, ineffectual politicians ringed by massive, bloated, brooding monopolists. A door labeled 'people's entrance.' is firmly locked. A sign reads, 'This is a senate of the monopolists, by the monopolists and for the monopolists.' The image has been altered: an editorial cartoon of Boss Tweed, portrayed as a portly man in a business suit with a money-bag for a head, stands in the foreground. He is wearing a MAGA hat. On his shoulder perches a tiny, 'big stick' swinging FDR from another editorial cartoon. The logos of the monopolists in the background have been replaced with logos for Chevron, Coinbase, Google, Microsoft, WB, PGA, Apple, Comcast, Realpage and KKR.
Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow  ·  last week
Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: Antiusurpation and the road to disenshittification; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/07/usurpers-helpmeets/

#Pluralistic

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A diptych. On the left side, a dragon is biting the head off a man, posed on the 'Hell' background from Bosch's 'Garden of Earthly Delights.' The serpent has the glaring red eye of HAL 9000 from Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.' On the right, a saluting, smiling gas-jockey stands beside a vintage gas-pump, against a background cropped from the 'Heaven' third in 'Earthly Delights.' The pump's logo has been replaced with an oval of 'code waterfall' effect as seen in the credit sequences of the Wachowskis' 'Matrix' movies. The other panels and signage on the pump have been replaced with Right to Repair logos: a fist holding an adjustable wrench and a crossed wrench and hammer icon. Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
A diptych. On the left side, a dragon is biting the head off a man, posed on the 'Hell' background from Bosch's 'Garden of Earthly Delights.' The serpent has the glaring red eye of HAL 9000 from Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.' On the right, a saluting, smiling gas-jockey stands beside a vintage gas-pump, against a background cropped from the 'Heaven' third in 'Earthly Delights.' The pump's logo has been replaced with an oval of 'code waterfall' effect as seen in the credit sequences of the Wachowskis' 'Matrix' movies. The other panels and signage on the pump have been replaced with Right to Repair logos: a fist holding an adjustable wrench and a crossed wrench and hammer icon. Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
A diptych. On the left side, a dragon is biting the head off a man, posed on the 'Hell' background from Bosch's 'Garden of Earthly Delights.' The serpent has the glaring red eye of HAL 9000 from Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.' On the right, a saluting, smiling gas-jockey stands beside a vintage gas-pump, against a background cropped from the 'Heaven' third in 'Earthly Delights.' The pump's logo has been replaced with an oval of 'code waterfall' effect as seen in the credit sequences of the Wachowskis' 'Matrix' movies. The other panels and signage on the pump have been replaced with Right to Repair logos: a fist holding an adjustable wrench and a crossed wrench and hammer icon. Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow  ·  2 weeks ago
Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: Conspiratorialism as a material phenomenon; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/29/hobbesian-slop/

#Pluralistic

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A man lying in a hospital bed, wearing a sinister mind-control helmet. His hands are clenched into fists and he is grimacing. Through a hole in the wall we see a prancing vaudevallian, whose head has been replaced with the head of Mark Zuckerberg's Metaverse avatar. Behind this figure is the giant red eye of HAL9000 from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.' At the end of the bed stand a trio - Mom, Dad and daughter - in Sunday best clothes, their backs to us, staring at the mind-controlled man's face. Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
A man lying in a hospital bed, wearing a sinister mind-control helmet. His hands are clenched into fists and he is grimacing. Through a hole in the wall we see a prancing vaudevallian, whose head has been replaced with the head of Mark Zuckerberg's Metaverse avatar. Behind this figure is the giant red eye of HAL9000 from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.' At the end of the bed stand a trio - Mom, Dad and daughter - in Sunday best clothes, their backs to us, staring at the mind-controlled man's face. Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
A man lying in a hospital bed, wearing a sinister mind-control helmet. His hands are clenched into fists and he is grimacing. Through a hole in the wall we see a prancing vaudevallian, whose head has been replaced with the head of Mark Zuckerberg's Metaverse avatar. Behind this figure is the giant red eye of HAL9000 from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.' At the end of the bed stand a trio - Mom, Dad and daughter - in Sunday best clothes, their backs to us, staring at the mind-controlled man's face. Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow  ·  4 weeks ago
Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: Penguin Random House, AI, and writers' rights; Hey look at this; Upcoming appearances; Recent appearances; Latest books; Upcoming books; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/19/gander-sauce/

#Pluralistic

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A 1930s adult learning classroom at which adults sit in rows at desks, reading. Their heads have all been replaced with the glaring red eye of HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.' HAL also stares through the overhead windows. Behind the glass stand two sinister boss figures in smart suits, overseeing the reading people. A vintage Penguin paperbacks logo peeks out of one corner. The two photos on the walls have been replaced; the left one shows a medieval reeve figure taken from a tapestry, gesturing imperiously with his stick. The right one shows a stoop-backed peasant, harvesting a sheaf of wheat with a scythe. Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
A 1930s adult learning classroom at which adults sit in rows at desks, reading. Their heads have all been replaced with the glaring red eye of HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.' HAL also stares through the overhead windows. Behind the glass stand two sinister boss figures in smart suits, overseeing the reading people. A vintage Penguin paperbacks logo peeks out of one corner. The two photos on the walls have been replaced; the left one shows a medieval reeve figure taken from a tapestry, gesturing imperiously with his stick. The right one shows a stoop-backed peasant, harvesting a sheaf of wheat with a scythe. Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
A 1930s adult learning classroom at which adults sit in rows at desks, reading. Their heads have all been replaced with the glaring red eye of HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.' HAL also stares through the overhead windows. Behind the glass stand two sinister boss figures in smart suits, overseeing the reading people. A vintage Penguin paperbacks logo peeks out of one corner. The two photos on the walls have been replaced; the left one shows a medieval reeve figure taken from a tapestry, gesturing imperiously with his stick. The right one shows a stoop-backed peasant, harvesting a sheaf of wheat with a scythe. Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en