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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
Apr 12
A jury has ordered Blue Cross of Louisiana to pay $421m to a hospital specializing in a much sought-after type of breast reconstruction, primarily for cancer survivors.

1/ A 19th century medical illustration of a topless woman whose left breast has been consumed by a tumor. She is being menaced by an engraved illustration of a looming skeleton, who raises one hand as if to strike her. Behind them is a faded and distressed Blue Cross logo.
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/2025/04/12/pre…

2/
The insurer "preapproved" surgeries for thousands of patients, but then held back 92% of the payments it owed, with CEO Steven Udvarhelyi insisting that "authorization never says we’re going to pay you":



3/documentcloud.org/documents/2588…
Read 34 tweets
Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Apr 11
It's been more than a decade in the making, but Facebook - or, if you prefer, Meta - is going on trial for antitrust violations, with the highest possible stakes and the worst possible evidence (for Facebook).

1/ A Gilded Age courtroom scene depicting a judge high atop the bench wagging a disapproving finger at an expensively dressed figure in the foreground. The foreground character has lost his top hat, which sits on the floor, as he roots through a breifcase on the defendant's table. The foreground figure's head has been replaced with the head of Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse avatar. The figure's right hand has been replaced with a Facebook 'thumbs up' icon. Hanging from the judge's bench like an unfurled scroll is a sheet of paper; the contents of this sheet have been replaced with the first page ...
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/2025/04/11/it-…

2/
The Big Tech On Trial blog was started to follow the Google antitrust case, the biggest antitrust case of the century, which was barely noticed by most of the press.

3/
Read 80 tweets
Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Apr 10
It's hard to remember now, but for more than three years under Biden, it was possible to read the headlines and feel your government was taking big, decisive action to tame the corporate behemoths that rip you off, maim you on the job, and undermine our democracy.

1/ A massive Earth Day demonstration in 1970, with a speaker in the foreground, his back to the camera, standing at a podium. The image has been modified: the speaker has been tinted green, the audience has been tinted red. Between the speaker and the audience marches a gleeful skeleton, pounding on a snare drum with drumsticks made of human femur-bones. The skeleton wears a top-hat. It is haloed in flaring light. Image: umseas (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/snre/34605145761/ CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/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/2025/04/10/sol…

2/
Antitrust surge under Biden was remarkable: a sustained, organized, effective policy to support the interests of the majority of people against the interests of a cohort of ultra-wealthy wreckers and looters. According to political science, that surge is impossible.

3/
Read 66 tweets
Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Apr 2
It's not that the Republicans and the Democrats are the same...obviously. But for decades - since Clinton - the Dems have sided with neoliberal economics, just like their Republican counterparts.

1/ The ruins of the Temple of Jupiter, taken in the late 18th century, overlooking a stretch Lebanon. It has been emblazoned with the 1970s-era logo for the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Before it stands a figure taken from an early 1900s illustrated bible, depicting a Hebrew priest making an offering to the golden calf at the foot of Mt Sinai. The priest's head has been replaced with the head of Milton Friedman. The calf has been adorned with a golden top-hat and a radiating halo of white light.
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/2025/04/02/me-…

2/
So the major differences between the two related to overt discrimination, to the exclusion of the economic policies that immiserated working people, with the worst effects landing on racial minorities, women, and gender minorities.

3/
Read 78 tweets
Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Mar 31
Trumpism is a mixture of grievance, surveillance, and pettiness: "I will never forgive your mockery, I have records of you doing it, and I will punish you and everyone who associates with you for it."

1/ The Las Vegas Sphere as seen by night, with the lights of Vegas behind it. The Sphere itself has been replaced with the glaring red eye of HAL 9000 from Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey,' and centered on it is a Madison Square Garden logo. The Sphere has been topped with Trump's hair. 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/2025/03/31/mad…

2/
Think of how he's going after the (cowardly) BigLaw firms:



3/abovethelaw.com/2025/03/skadde…
Read 66 tweets
Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Mar 25
A law professor friend tells me that LLMs have completely transformed the way she relates to grad students and postdocs - for the worse. And no, it's not that they're cheating on their homework or using LLMs to write briefs full of hallucinated cases.

1/ Norman Rockwell’s ‘self portrait.’ All the Rockwell faces have been replaced with HAL 9000 from Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’ His signature has been modified with a series of rotations and extra symbols. He has ten fingers on his one visible hand. 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/2025/03/25/com…

2/
The thing that LLMs have changed in my friend's law school is *letters of reference*. Historically, students would only ask a prof for a letter of reference if they knew the prof really rated them.

3/
Read 36 tweets

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