Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Jul 5, 2022 31 tweets 31 min read Read on X
Today's Twitter threads (a Twitter thread).

Inside: "The Swerve"; and more!

Archived at: pluralistic.net/2022/07/05/gra…

#Pluralistic 1/ A broken bridge over a mysterious chasm.
Sponsor me for the @ClarionUCSD Write-A-Thon! I'm writing 10,000 words on my prison-tech thriller "Some Men Rob You With a Fountain Pen" and raising scholarship money for the Clarion SF/F workshop, which I graduated from in 1992.

clarionwriteathon.com/members/profil… 2/
"The Swerve": My Locus column on hope in the dark.

3/
Hey look at this

* How to save lives and avoid privacy apocalypse ft.com/content/fa2683… (h/t @TimHarford)

* Craft beer uses recycled sewage theguardian.com/world/2022/jul… (h/t my mom)

* Valedictorian Rips Into Erosion Of Public Education popularresistance.org/lausd-high-sch… (h/t my dad) 4/
#20yrsago Themepark queues and traffic-shaping web.archive.org/web/2002071313…

#20yrsago Parasitic computing proof uses JavaScript to compel computation web.archive.org/web/2003120303…

#20yrsago Shredding Hollywood’s digital television FUD web.archive.org/web/2002070814… 5/
#20yrsago What is Palladium? What is the area of a Moebius Strip? web.archive.org/web/2002090315…

#20yrsago @therealjanisian vs the RIAA web.archive.org/web/2002080208…

#15yrsago RIP, Fred Saberhagen locusmag.com/2007/2007NewsA… 6/
#15yrsago @lewisshiner’s short fiction online for free lewisshiner.com/liberation/man…

#15yrsago Me on CBC, talking Universal v. iTunes web.archive.org/web/2007072911… 7/
#10yrsago Meet the legions of wingnuts who think Andy Griffith was a communist and want him to burn in hell theblaze.com/tag/report-and…

#10yrsago Team Human: a high-school vampire novel doesn’t suck (it rocks) memex.craphound.com/2012/07/03/tea… 8/
#10yrsago Karl Marx on a MasterCard npr.org/sections/money…

#10yrsago Fretting about Facebook, 17th century style tomstandage.wordpress.com/2012/06/12/the…

#10yrsago @TheWELL users pledge more than $100K to community buyout nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2012/07/wi… 9/
#10yrsago @MrChuckD’s rules for the music business craphound.com/images/ChuckDs…

#10yrsago @EFF weighs in on Charles Carreon’s latest dumb stunt eff.org/deeplinks/2012…

#10yrsago Charles Carreon: “Mission accomplished” arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20… 10/
#10yrsago Chinese-built ghost town in Angola – the first of many to come? bbc.com/news/world-afr…

#10yrsago #ACTA IS DEAD (ish) (for now) web.archive.org/web/2012070703…

#10yrsago Why we still fight about music and copyright on the Internet locusmag.com/2012/07/cory-d… 11/
#5yrsago AT&T: it’s not “forced arbitration” because no one forced you to have broadband arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20…

#5yrsago California has so much solar power it has to pay Arizona to use its excess energy latimes.com/projects/la-fi… 12/
#5yrsago Now any Floridian can ask to have public schools’ science and literary curriculum censored web.archive.org/web/2017050100…

#5yrsago A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: DNA, individuals, and species memex.craphound.com/2017/07/03/a-b… 13/
#5yrsago Celebrate Independence Day with @mc_frontalot’s nerdcore rap about free software vs open source

#5yrsago Dominic Cummings thought up the Brexit Bus and its NHS lie, now says referendum was a “dumb idea” independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi… 14/
#5yrsago Vidangel is a stupid censorship service and we should welcome it anyway wired.com/story/vidangel…

#5yrsago For sale: any Australian’s full health record for a mere $22 theguardian.com/australia-news… 15/
#5yrsago Bloomberg: Middle-class Americans were “fleeced” by neoliberalism bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

#5yrsago In the 1990s, a Serbian biology textbook used a still from Raising Arizona for its cover art avclub.com/nicolas-cage-w… 16/
#5yrsago Mom feared being beaten by United crew, so she didn’t complain when her son’s seat was given away hawaiinewsnow.com/story/35811846…

#5yrsago Debullshitifying the free speech debate about CNN and Trump’s alt-right wrestling GIF popehat.com/2017/07/05/cnn… 17/
#1yrago Podcasting "Self Publishing": My column on monopolism, publishing, and the fortunes of authors pluralistic.net/2021/07/05/ide…

#1yrago Conspiracy fantasy: The political significance and personal appeal of conspiratorialism pluralistic.net/2021/07/05/ide… 18/
#1yrago The future is symmetrical: Broadband netizens vs asymmetrical mouse-potatoes pluralistic.net/2021/07/03/bea…

#1yrago Biden admin orders an end to surprise ER billing pluralistic.net/2021/07/02/spo… 19/
Friday's threads: After inflation, the whip-crack; and more!

20/ Image: Lars Frantzen (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.or
My latest book is Attack Surface, a sequel to my bestselling Little Brother books, now in paperback, wherever books are sold.

Signed copies at @darkdel:

darkdel.com/store/p1840/Co… 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:

* A New @HOPEconf (NYC), Jul 24
hope.net

* @DEFCON 30 (Las Vegas), Aug 13
defcon.org/html/defcon-30… 24/
Recent appearances:

* @CMAgovUK Data, Technology and Analytics Conference:


* Supp-Lie Demand (Bad Faith with @briebriejoy):
patreon.com/posts/67550669

* The Sci-Fi Feedback Loop: Mapping Fiction’s Influence on Real-World Tech
csi.asu.edu/calendar/event… 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/2022/07/05/gra… 27/
If you're a @Medium subscriber, you can read these essays - as well as previews of upcoming magazine columns and early exclusives on doctorow.medium.com. 28/
My latest Medium column is "Shovel-Ready: A half-to-three-quarters-baked idea to fix capitalism"

doctorow.medium.com/shovel-ready-3…

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…

eof/

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More from @doctorow

Apr 18
It's damned hard to prove an antitrust case: so often, the prosecution has to prove that the company *intended* to crush competition, and/or that they raised prices or reduced quality because they knew they didn't have to fear competitors.

1/ A naked, sexless pull-string talking doll with a speaker grille set into its chest. It has the head of Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse avatar, and a pull string extending from its back. A hand - again, from a Zuckerberg metaverse avatar - is pulling back the string. The doll towers over a courtroom.
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/2025/04/18/cha…

2/
It's a lot easier to prove *what* a corporation did than it is to prove *why* they did it. What am I, a mind-reader? But imagine for a second that the corporation in the dock is a global multinational.

3/
Read 64 tweets
Apr 15
A lawsuit filed in February accuses Tesla of remotely altering odometer values on failure-prone cars, in a bid to push these lemons beyond the 50,000 mile warranty limit:



1/ thestreet.com/automotive/tes…A scene out of an 11th century tome on demon-summoning called 'Compendium rarissimum totius Artis Magicae sistematisatae per celeberrimos Artis hujus Magistros. Anno 1057. Noli me tangere.' It depicts a demon tormenting two unlucky would-be demon-summoners who have dug up a grave in a graveyard. One summoner is held aloft by his hair, screaming; the other screams from inside the grave he is digging up. The scene has been altered to remove the demon's prominent, urinating penis, to add in a Tesla supercharger, and a red Tesla Model S nosing into the scene.   Image: Steve Jurvetson (modified)...
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/2025/04/15/mus…

2/
The suit was filed by a California driver who bought a used Tesla with 36,772 miles on it. The car's suspension kept failing, necessitating multiple servicings.

3/
Read 62 tweets
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
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
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
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

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