Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Aug 13, 2021 25 tweets 22 min read Read on X
Today's Twitter threads (a Twitter thread).

Inside: Smart cities are neither, 2021 edition; End of the line for Reaganomics; and more!

Archived at: pluralistic.net/2021/08/13/pos…

#Pluralistic

1/
I'm a guest of honor and keynote speaker at Salt Lake City's Quills Conference on writing, Aug 12-15:

quillsconference.com

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Smart cities are neither, 2021 edition: "Whose Streets? Our Streets! (Tech Edition)."

hhttps://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1426195851056058370

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End of the line for Reaganomics: The OG antitrust is back, baby!



4/
#20yrsago "State-of-the-industry" letter from the year 2021 web.archive.org/web/2001082201…

#20yrsago Our faulty intuition about open systems ft.com/content/641671…

#15yrsago NBC: Hair-gel terrorists posed no risk last week web.archive.org/web/2006081319…

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#15yrsago Defending against the last plot won’t save us from the next one schneier.com/blog/archives/…

#15yrsago RIAA to grieving family: We depose your children in 60 days recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2006/08/riaa-w…

6/
#10yrsago AT&T merger leak: it’s all about raising prices and reducing competition dslreports.com/shownews/Leake…

#10yrsago Doctor tried to "cure" homosexuality by tasping gay man while he had sex with female sex worker web.archive.org/web/2011100408…

7/
#10yrsago My panel with Tim Berners-Lee, Vint Cerf and Al Gore at Mexico City’s Campus Party

#10yrsago 1968: when Britain’s Daily Mirror tried to overthrow Parliament bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurt…

8/
#10yrsago Stasi spywear: the inept art of commie disguise web.archive.org/web/2011080210…

#5yrsago How removing headphone jacks opens the door to DRM (and how to close the door) fastcompany.com/3062741/the-ip…

10/
#5yrsago Cash grants to people with unexpected bills successfully prevents homelessness science.sciencemag.org/content/353/63…

#5yrsago Forget Skynet: AI is already making things terrible for people who aren’t rich white dudes nytimes.com/2016/06/26/opi…

11/
#1yrago Trump's Solicitor General says bribery is legal pluralistic.net/2020/08/12/fai…

#1yrago Payday lenders are CFPB's pandemic aid pluralistic.net/2020/08/12/fai…

#1yrago Sorting machines snatched from post offices pluralistic.net/2020/08/12/fai…

#1yrago Failed State pluralistic.net/2020/08/12/fai…

12/
#1yrago Mexico's terrible copyright is in trouble pluralistic.net/2020/08/12/fai…

#1yrsago Florida sheriff bans masks pluralistic.net/2020/08/13/bet…

#1yrago My origin story pluralistic.net/2020/08/13/bet…

13/
Wednesday's threads: Canada's got the world's worst internet ideas; IRS leaks reveal billions reaped through ultra-wealthy lobbying on the tax bill; and more!



14/
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…

15/
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…

16/
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/

17/
Upcoming appearances:

* Launch for @Ben_Rosenbaum's The Unraveling, Aug 23 (@Booksoup)
booksoup.com/event/benjamin…

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

18/
Recent appearances:

* Privacy Without Monopoly (@Defcon)


* Building the Digital Commons (@moneyontheleft)
moneyontheleft.org/2021/08/01/bui…

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

19/
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…

20/
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/2021/08/13/pos…

21/
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.

22/
My latest @Medium column is "Expectations management," part five of a series on themepark design, queing theory, immersive entertainment, and load-balancing.

doctorow.medium.com/expectations-m…

23/
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

24/
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…

25/
Today's top sources: Bruce Schneier (schneier.com).

eof/

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More from @doctorow

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
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
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
Mar 22
I have an excellent excuse for this week's linkdump: I'm in Germany, but I'm supposed to be in LA, and I'm not, because London Heathrow shut down due to a power-station fire.



1/ mystgalaxy.com/32425DoctorowA bloody mary stacked high with many absurd, over-the-top garnishes.   Image: TDelCoro https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomasdelcoro/48116604516/  CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
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/2025/03/22/omn…

2/
Which meant I spent all day yesterday running around like a headless chicken, trying to get home in time for my gig in San Diego on Monday (don't worry, I sorted it):

3/
Read 50 tweets
Mar 19
Paula Le Dieu is one of the smartest, most committed archivists I know. Many years ago, she shared a neat analogy with me about the paywalling of public archives.

1/ The Columbia University library, a stately, columnated building, color-shifted to highlight reds and oranges. The sky behind it has been filled with flames. In the foreground, a figure in a firefighter's helmet and yellow coat uses a flamethrower to shoot a jet of orange fire.   Image: Ajay Suresh https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajay_suresh/52009406881/  CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
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/2025/03/19/sel…

2/
This phenomenon has become rampant as public institutions have been pushed to seek private funding to close the gaps left by swingeing cuts.

3/
Read 26 tweets
Mar 18
AI can't do your job, but an AI salesman (Elon Musk) can convince your boss (the USA) to fire you and replace you (a federal worker) with a chatbot that can't do your job:



1/ pcmag.com/news/amid-job-…The capital building, crossed by a yellow hazmat tape emblazoned 'DANGER ASBESTOS.' Behind the tape stands a figure in an old-fashioned hazmat suit. In the background are the blown-up faces of a group of grubby, miserable child miners. The capital dome has been replaced with the glaring red eye of HAL 9000 from Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.'     Image: Krd (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DASA_01.jpg  CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en  --  Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg  CC BY 3.0 https://creati...
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/2025/03/18/asb…

2/
If you pay attention to the hype, you'd think that all the action on "AI" (an incoherent grab-bag of only marginally related technologies) was in generating text and images. Man, is that ever wrong.

3/
Read 26 tweets

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