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Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
@doctorow
Jul 29, 2021 • 31 tweets • 29 min read • Read on X
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Today's Twitter threads (a Twitter thread).

Inside: Bankruptcy and elite impunity; Stories from Black women's customer service hell; Tracking you with accelerometer signatures; Unauthorized cups; and more!

Archived at: pluralistic.net/2021/07/29/imp…

#Pluralistic

1/
Bankruptcy and elite impunity: The Sacklers offer billions of reasons to overthrow the system.



2/
Stories from Black women's customer service hell: The women who answer the phone when you call Disney, Airbnb, Carnival and others.



3/
Tracking you with accelerometer signatures: Yet another latent unique identifier with horrifying consequences.



4/
Unauthorized cups: RFID-equipped disposable cups deny water to homeless people.



5/
#20yrsago How to help someone use a computer pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/agre/h…

#20yrsago Declines in advertising in major magazines in the first six months of 2001 web.archive.org/web/2001071410…

#15yrsago Cingular threatens Consumerist over “how to discriminate” docs consumerist.com/consumer/cd/ci…

6/
#10yrsago Batman logo in equation form reddit.com/r/pics/comment…

#10yrsago Bill Nye explains to Fox News why lunar volcanoes don’t disprove anthropogenic global warming web.archive.org/web/2011092418…

7/
#10yrsago House Committee passes bill requiring your ISP to spy on every click and keystroke you make online and retain for 12 months eff.org/deeplinks/2011…

8/
#10yrsago Vindictive WalMart erroneously accuses couple of shoplifting, has husband deported, wife fired, costs them house and car web.archive.org/web/2011100210…

9/
#10yrsago Man with camera in park who fled angry parent sought by police (turns out he was taking pix of his grandson) web.archive.org/web/2011082905…

#10yrsago Copyright extortionist ripped off his competitor’s threatening material torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-la…

10/
#10yrsago US ISP/copyright deal: a one-sided private law for corporations, without public interest eff.org/deeplinks/2011…

#10yrsago Why they call the Tories “the nasty party” theguardian.com/uk/2011/jul/28…

12/
#5yrsago The Ice Bucket Challenge did not fund a breakthrough in ALS treatment healthnewsreview.org/2016/07/ice-bu…

#5yrsago Silicon Valley banks offer tech giants’ new hires 100% mortgages on 24 hours’ notice bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

13/
#5yrsago RIP, MAD Magazines’s Jack Davis bbc.com/news/entertain…

#5yrsago Laurie Penny at the DNC: “Dissent will not be tolerated. Protest will not be permitted.” medium.com/welcome-to-the…

14/
#5yrsago North Carolina’s voter suppression law struck down as “racist” cnn.com/2016/07/29/pol…

#5yrsago Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz calls Apple’s tax strategy a “fraud” bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

15/
#5yrsago Trump campaign frisks, then blocks ticketed Washington Post reporter at Pence rally washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/w…

#5yrsago Pregnancy-tracking app was riddled with vulnerabilities, exposing extremely sensitive personal information consumerreports.org/mobile-securit…

16/
#1yrago Bitcoin is not a socialist's ally pluralistic.net/2020/07/29/bre…

#1yrago No consequences for police violence at BLM actions pluralistic.net/2020/07/29/bre…

#1yrago Let's force Big Tech to interoperate pluralistic.net/2020/07/29/bre…

#1yrago Break 'Em Up pluralistic.net/2020/07/29/bre…

17/
#1yrago Police "unions" are not unions pluralistic.net/2020/07/28/aft…

#1yrago Snowden's Little Brother intro pluralistic.net/2020/07/28/aft…

#1yrago Audible Exclusives pluralistic.net/2020/07/28/aft…

#1yrago Mexican copyright crushes free speech pluralistic.net/2020/07/28/aft…

18/
#1yrago Afterland pluralistic.net/2020/07/28/aft…

19/
Tuesday's threads: What would a live concert album sound like with all the songs taken out?; The infosec apocalypse is nigh; and more!



20/
My latest novel is Attack Surface, a sequel to my bestselling Little Brother books. @washingtonpost called it "a political cyberthriller, vigorous, bold and savvy about the limits of revolution and resistance."

Get signed books from @darkdel: darkdel.com/store/p1840/Av…

21/
My book "How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism" is a critique of Big Tech connecting conspiratorial thinking to the rise of tech monopolies (proposing a way to deal with both) is now out in paperback:

onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy…

Signed copies here:
darkdel.com/store/p2024/Av…

22/
My ebooks and audiobooks (from @torbooks, @HoZ_Books, @mcsweeneys, 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."

craphound.com/shop/

23/
Upcoming appearances:

* Privacy Without Monopoly, @Defcon 29, Aug 7
defcon.org/html/defcon-29…

* Keynote speaker, The Quills Conference, Aug 12-15
quillsconference.com

* From Wayback to Way Forward: The @InternetArchive turns 25, Oct 21
eventbrite.com/e/from-wayback…

24/
Recent appearances:

Reset the Internet? (Project Syndicate)
project-syndicate.org/podcasts/reset…

* Trustbusting (@NicoleSandler)


* Launch for @UnshavedMouse's When the Sparrow Falls (@MystGalaxyBooks):
crowdcast.io/e/virtual-even…

25/
My first picture book is out! It's called Poesy the Monster Slayer and it's an epic tale of bedtime-refusal, toy-hacking and monster-hunting, illustrated by Matt @MCRockefeller. It's the monster book I dreamt of reading to my own daughter.

pluralistic.net/2020/07/14/poe…

26/
You can also follow these posts as a daily blog at pluralistic.net: no ads, trackers, or data-collection!

Here's today's edition: pluralistic.net/2021/07/29/imp…

27/
If you're a @Medium subscriber, you can read these - as well as previews of upcoming magazine columns and early exclusives on doctorow.medium.com.

28/
My latest @Medium column is "Now you’ve got two problems," part three of a series on themepark design, queing theory, immersive entertainment, and load-balancing.

doctorow.medium.com/now-youve-got-…

29/
If you prefer a newsletter, subscribe to the plura-list, which is also ad- and tracker-free, and is utterly unadorned save a single daily emoji. Today's is "💇🏿‍♂️". Suggestions solicited for future emojis!

Subscribe here: pluralistic.net/plura-list

30/
Are you trying to wean yourself off Big Tech? Follow these threads on the #fediverse at @pluralistic@mamot.fr.

Here's today's edition: mamot.fr/@pluralistic/1…

31/
Today's top sources: @NakedCapitalism (nakedcapitalism.com), @GlennF, @Sophpsych, @TheBekku, @SeamusBellamy, @hipsterelectron and @aggrowill.

eof/

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More from @doctorow

Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Oct 11
I am an environmentalist, but I'm not a climate activist. I used to be - I even used to ring strangers' doorbells on behalf of Greenpeace.

1/ A field of utility scale solar. Behind the mountains on the horizon line loom two logos: the original EFF 'clenched fist and lightning bolt' logo and the first Earth Day logo. They are reflected in the solar panels. Behind them roils hellish red-shot smoke.
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

pluralistic.net/2025/10/11/cyb…

2/
But a quarter of a century ago, I fell in with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and became a lifelong digital rights activist, and switched to cheering on environmental activists from the sidelines of their fight:



3/eff.org
Read 53 tweets
Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Sep 27
Like you, I'm sick to the back teeth of talking about AI. Like you, I keep getting dragged into AI discussions. Unlike you‡, I spent the summer writing a book on why I'm sick of AI⹋, which @fsgbooks will publish in 2026.

‡probably

⹋"The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI"

1/ A Zimbabwean one hundred trillion dollar bill; the bill's iconography have been replaced with the glaring red eye of HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' and a stylized, engraving-style portrait of Sam Altman. Image: TechCrunch https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sam_Altman_-_TechCrunch_Disrupt_SF_2017_(36522988343).jpg CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en -- Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

pluralistic.net/2025/09/27/eco…

2/
A week ago, I turned that book into a speech, which I delivered as the annual Nordlander Memorial Lecture at Cornell, where I'm an AD White Professor-at-Large.

3/
Read 52 tweets
Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Sep 24
Billionaires don't think we're real. How could they? How could you inflict the vast misery that generates billions while still feeling even a twinge of empathy for the sufferer in your extractive enterprise. No wonder Elon Musk calls us "NPCs":



1/ pluralistic.net/2025/08/18/see… An oil painting of a French king atop a throne, draped in sumptuous robes. His head has been replaced with a screaming, toothless man wearing a top-hat. Over his shoulder looms the hostile red eye of HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.' Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

pluralistic.net/2025/09/24/rob…

2/
Ever notice how people get palpably stupider as they gain riches and power? Musk went from a cringe doofus to a world-class credulous dolt, and it seems like he loses five IQ points for every $10b that's added to his net worth.

3/
Read 26 tweets
Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Sep 23
I'm only a few chapters into Bill McKibben's stupendous new book *Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization* and I already know it's going to change my outlook forever:



1/ billmckibben.com/books/here-com…A rooftop solar installation. Behind the roof rages a blazing forest fire. Reflected in the solar panels is the poop emoji from the cover of my book 'Enshittification,' which has angry eyebrows and a black, grawlix-filled bar across its mouth." Image: Bastique (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_Panels_on_Church_Roof_full.jpg CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

pluralistic.net/2025/09/23/our…

2/
McKibben is one of our preeminent climate writers and activists, noteworthy for his informed and brilliant explanations of the technical limits - and possibilities - of various climate interventions, and for his lifelong organizing work.

3/
Read 80 tweets
Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Sep 22
One of the dumbest, shrewdest tricks corporate America ever pulled was teaching us all to reflexively say, "If a corporation blocks your speech, that doesn't violate the First Amendment and therefore it's not censorship":



1/ pluralistic.net/2022/12/04/yes…Two figures in royal robes seated back to back atop a pile of gold bars. One wears a tophat, the other, a crown in the form of a gilded crown. A forest of angled broadcast towers sits behind them. The sky is overshadowed by thunderheads.
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

pluralistic.net/2025/09/22/one…

2/
Censorship isn't limited to government action: it's the act of preventing a message from a willing speaker from reaching a willing listener. The fact that it's censorship doesn't (necessarily) mean that it's illegitimate or bad.

3/
Read 62 tweets
Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Sep 17
Conspiratorialism is downstream of the trauma of institutional failures.

Insitutional failures are downstream of regulatory capture.

Regulatory capture is downstream of monopolization.

Monopolization is downstream of the failure to enforce antitrust law.

1/ A four-doll matrioshke, unpacked and arranged 2x2. In order, the dolls' faces have been replaced with: the Qanon logo; an Oxycontin pill, the face of Robert Bork, and Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse avatar. Image: Vicent Ibáñez (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nina_Rusa._Mu%C3%B1eca_Rusa.JPG CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en -- RootOfAllLight (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:QAnon.png CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

pluralistic.net/2025/09/17/cau…

2/
Start with conspiratorialism and trauma. I am staunchly pro-vaccine. I have had so many covid jabs that I glow in the dark and can get impeccable 5g reception at the bottom of a coal-mine.

Nevertheless.

3/
Read 57 tweets

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