Post · Bonfire

Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr · 4 months ago

Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: Leveraged buyouts are not like mortgages; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/05/rugged-individuals/

#Pluralistic

A 19th century Puck illustration of a banker gathering the skyscrapers of Manhattan into his arms. It has been altered. The banker's skin has been tinted brick red, his eyes tinted yellow, and he's been given horns. The sky has been replaced with a halftone scene of storm-clouds, and the ground has been replaced with a washed-out wasteland. His gold cufflink has been made to glitter.

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Cavyherd @cavyherd@wandering.shop · 4 months ago

@pluralistic

Cory, I'm curious about your process generating these (very fascinating) articles/threads. I think I've seen you state previously that one function they serve is "notes to yourself", bc fleshing out the thinking so others can follow is more likely to generate notes that you yourself can follow when you come back to it in the future. >

Cavyherd @cavyherd@wandering.shop · 4 months ago

@pluralistic

(Which makes all kinds of sense, speaking as someone who's encountered more than a reasonable number of "wtf did I mean by THAT??" instances in my own notebooks.)

My question is: these read like pretty thoroughly thought-through discussions. But you generate a LOT of them. How much refinement do they go through from the moment you think, "hm, I want to discuss this topic," to hitting SEND on your thread? Do you just free-hand them? Or do they get a lot of editing?

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Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr · 4 months ago

I'm coming to @defcon!

Friday (8/9):

12h: Emceeing @eff Poker Tournament (Horseshoe Poker Room)

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/06/betting-your-digital-rights-eff-benefit-poker-tournament-def-con-32

17h: Bricked and Abandoned panel (track 1).

https://info.defcon.org/event/?id=54844

Saturday (8/10):

12h: Disenshittify or die! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet, hardened against our bosses' horniness for enshittification (track 1).

https://info.defcon.org/event/?id=54861

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Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr · 4 months ago

Long thread/3

Leveraged buyouts are not like mortgages: Corporate raiders and investment banks conspiring to steal companies.

https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/112910306748942305

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Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr · 4 months ago

Long thread/4

Hey look at this

* How to Survive a Digital D&D Future https://slyflourish.com/survive_a_digital_dnd.html

* Five tech companies are the undead monsters ruling our days. Let’s knock them over and take back what’s ours https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/five-tech-companies-are-the-undead-monsters-ruling-our-days-lets-knock-them-over-and/article_edde07dc-4dc5-11ef-8f09-03f2d8a30083.html

* How dumpster diving went from taboo to trendy: ‘It’s a treasure hunt’ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/04/dumpster-diving-cost-of-living-waste (h/t Roz Doctorow)

Maddad ☑️ @maddad@mastodon.world · 4 months ago

Long thread/4

@pluralistic

I used to drive my mom nuts when I was a kid begging her to buy me one of these items...
I really wanted the throw your voice kit, I already had massive plans for pranks to pull on everyone..
We did get the sea monkeys but it turned out they were just water bugs 😂

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Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr · 4 months ago

Long thread/5

#20yrsago Arlo Guthrie on “This Land” parody https://corante.com/importance/arlo-guthrie-on-jibjab-parody-an-incredibly-wonderful-bit-of-hilarity/

#20yrsago Stupid judge breaks porn, Internet https://web.archive.org/web/20040903175845/http://www.avnonline.com/index.php?Primary_Navigation=Web_Exclusive_Features&Action=View_Article&Content_ID=185024

#20yrsago @eff reply comments to RIAA’s digital radio proposal at the FCC https://web.archive.org/web/20041027065736/https://www.eff.org/IP/Video/HDTV/EFF-BC_DAB_reply.pdf

#20yrsago Jack Valenti says stupid things — really, really stupid things https://web.archive.org/web/20040805024304/http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/002065.shtml#002065

#15yrsago David Byrne’s live show: the highlight of the year https://memex.craphound.com/2009/08/03/david-byrnes-live-show-the-highlight-of-the-year/

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Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr · 4 months ago

Long thread/6

#15yrsago Senator’s campaign website suffers search-engine death penalty for embedding invisible homophobic slur against opponent https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/08/hidden-gay-slur-search-terms-get-campaign-site-blacklisted/

#15yrsago HOWTO Present a poster session at a science meeting https://colinpurrington.com/tips/poster-design/

#15yrsago Black-market stem-cell clinic raided https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17551-guerrilla-stem-cell-clinic-raided-by-police/

#5yrsago Cookie Monster performs Tom Waits’s “Hell Broke Luce” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbiioBFkD_Q

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Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr · 4 months ago

Long thread/7

#5yrsago Massachusetts says Purdue’s profits from a single opioid addict were $200,000 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-02/sacklers-are-massachusetts-ag-s-opioid-scapegoat-lawyer-says

#5yrsago Elsevier: “It’s illegal to Sci-Hub.” Also Elsevier: “We link to Sci-Hub all the time.” https://eve.gd/2019/08/03/elsevier-threatens-others-for-linking-to-sci-hub-but-does-it-itself/

#5yrsago Hong Kong’s General Strike on Monday will include workers from Hong Kong Disneyland https://twitter.com/maree_jun/status/1157671896751599621

#5yrsago Medieval people bathed https://going-medieval.com/2019/08/02/i-assure-you-medieval-people-bathed/

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Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr · 4 months ago

Long thread/8

#5yrsago Edelman PR drops GEO Group after employee revolt at the prospect of laundering the reputation of private US concentration camps https://memex.craphound.com/2019/08/04/edelman-pr-drops-geo-group-after-employee-revolt-at-the-prospect-of-laundering-the-reputation-of-private-us-concentration-camps/

#1yrago Fighting junk fees is "woke" https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/04/owning-the-libs/#swiper-no-swiping

#1yrago Cloudburst https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/03/there-is-no-cloud/#only-other-peoples-computers

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Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr · 4 months ago

Long thread/9

Saturday's threads: Rsync corrump linkdump; and more!

https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/112899037684497272

Image:
Anne Lindblom (cropped)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kajsawarg/3600415175

CC BY 2.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ — Image: Anne Lindblom (cropped) https://www.flickr.com/photos/kajsawarg/3600415175 CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

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Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr · 4 months ago

Long thread/10

My latest nationally bestselling novel is "The Bezzle," an ice-cold revenge story of high-tech finance crime starring the forensic accountant Martin Hench:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865878/thebezzle

Signed copies from Chevalier's Books:

https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/product-page/the-bezzle

My latest nonfiction book is "The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation" from Verso Books:

http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org

Signed copies available from Book Soup:

https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245

Both are national bestsellers!

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Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr · 4 months ago

Long thread/11

My ebooks and audiobooks (from Tor Books, Head of Zeus, McSweeneys, Beacon, Verso and others) are for sale all over the net, but I sell 'em too, and when you buy 'em from me, I earn twice as much and you get books with no DRM and no license "agreements."

https://craphound.com/shop/

11/

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Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr · 4 months ago

Long thread/12

Upcoming appearances:

* @eff Charity Poker Tournament ( @defcon, Las Vegas, Horseshoe Poker Room), Aug 9 12h
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/06/betting-your-digital-rights-eff-benefit-poker-tournament-def-con-32

* Bricked & Abandoned: How To Keep The IoT From Becoming An Internet of Trash ( @defcon, Las Vegas, Track 1), Aug 9 17h
https://info.defcon.org/event/?id=54844

12/

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Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr · 4 months ago

Long thread/13

Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

* Disenshittify or die! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet that is hardened against our asshole bosses' insatiable horniness for enshittification ( @defcon, Las Vegas, Track 1), Aug 10 12h
https://info.defcon.org/event/?id=54861

* Launch for Madeline Ashby's *Glass Houses* at Chevalier's Books (LA), Aug 16
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-talk-madeline-ashbys-glass-houses-tickets-965286486867

* Disenshittify or die! (Burning Man, Palenque Norte, 7&E), Aug 27, 13h

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