More from @doctorow

Cory Doctorow #BLM

@doctorow

25 Feb

A year ago, covid was a mystery. We didn't know how it spread, we didn't know who it infected, we didn't know how to treat it. All we knew was that it was spreading fast and the early epicenters were slaughterhouses.

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It's been a year, and now we know a lot more. One thing we know, for example, is that even though virus particles can linger for a long time on surfaces, you're not likely to catch the virus from these "fomites."

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Simple handwashing of the sort we should have all practised all along will do the trick. You don't need to sterilize your groceries or leave your parcels to sit on your doorstep for three days. Just wash your hands!

popsci.com/story/health/c…

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Cory Doctorow #BLM

@doctorow

24 Feb

Today's threads (a thread).

Inside: Bossware and shitty tech adoption; EVs as distributed storage; The Mauritanian; Court rejects TSA qualified immunity; Why Brits can no longer order signed copies of my books; and more!

Archived at: pluralistic.net/2021/02/24/gwb…

#Pluralistic

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This afternoon, Zeynep Tufekci and I are delivering the Mellon Sawyer Seminar on Contemporary Political Struggle: Social Movements, Social Surveillance, Social Media: ucdavis.zoom.us/webinar/regist…

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https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1364613365327302659

Bossware and the shitty tech adoption curve: White collar workers, your blue collar comrades tried to warn you.

https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1364613365327302659

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Cory Doctorow #BLM

@doctorow

24 Feb

2020 was a big year for me as a writer: I had four new books come out! It was also a weird year for me as a writer: I couldn't tour with any of them. It was a big, weird year for me as a writer.

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@DarkDel

But I have a secret weapon: @DarkDel, a great specialist indie bookstore just a few minutes' walk from my front door, where they are only too glad to get orders for signed copies of my books - I drop by and personalize 'em and they ship 'em out.

darkdel.com/store/c3/BOOKS…

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They got a shipment of 25 copies of the new paperback edition of HOW TO DESTROY SURVEILLANCE CAPITALISM in last week and they sold like crazy; yesterday I dropped by to sign the last in-stock copies (don't worry, more are on the way).

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Cory Doctorow #BLM

@doctorow

24 Feb

Qualified immunity is a bizarre American legal doctrine that says that government officials (especially cops) that break the law aren't personally liable for their lawlessness unless the law they violate is "clearly established."

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Practically speaking, it means that if a law enforcement officer breaks the law, they face no legal consequences - unless they break the law in PRECISELY the way that some other cop was convicted for - "Your honor, that other cop broke a suspect's KNEE - I broke his ELBOW."

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@_JonCorbett

"Professional troublemaker" @_JonCorbett is a lawyer who specializes in suing the TSA for civil rights violations, mostly due to the compulsory government genital massages they administer at airport checkpoints. He's just scored a major victory in a qualified immunity case.

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Cory Doctorow #BLM

@doctorow

24 Feb

@TheMauritanian

Last night, I attended a (virtual) press-screening of @TheMauritanian, a film adaptation of Mohamedou Ould Salahi's 2015 memoir "Guantánamo Diary," the true story of Salahi's 14 years of Gitmo detention and torture.

themauritanian.movie

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It was a harrowing and moving experience. It wasn't just the big names (Jodie Foster, Benedict Cumberbatch): Tahar Rahim's performance as Salahi was stunning, especially combined with the direction and camerawork that brought the abuse and torture of Gitmo to vivid life.

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Salahi was kidnapped from Mauritania at the order of Donald Rumsfeld, who was acting on coerced testimony that falsely identified him as the recruiter behind the 9/11 attacks. He was then repeatedly brutalized, sexually assaulted, tortured and nearly murdered by Gitmo guards.

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