Today's links

• VW wouldn't help find kidnapped child because his mother wasn't paying for find-my-car subscription: All the harms of surveillance, none of the benefits.
• Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
• This day in history: 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018
• Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: VW wouldn't locate kidnapped child because his mother didn't pay for find-my-car subscription (28 Feb 2023)"

Today's links

• Podcasting "Twiddler": What makes digital platforms so enshittification prone?
• Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
• This day in history: 2008, 2013, 2018, 2022
• Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: Podcasting "Twiddler" (27 Feb 2023)"

Today's links

• Dow promised to turn sneakers into playground surfaces, then dumped them in Indonesia: Corporate "recycling" programs are just obfuscated landfills.
• Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
• This day in history: 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018
• Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: Dow promised to turn sneakers into playground surfaces, then dumped them in Indonesia (26 Feb 2023)"

Creation is collective -- and so is bargaining.

For the second half of the 20th century, artists of all stripes were fed a Big Lie: namely, that when we created, we did so all on our lonesome. Our creative works were solely and wholly ours, sprung from our imagination, like Athena springing from the head of Zeus.

Continue reading "United We Stand"

Today's links

• This is your brain on fraud apologetics: The curious comfort of victim-blaming.
• Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
• This day in history: 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018, 2022
• Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: This is your brain on fraud apologetics (24 Feb 2023)"

Today's links

• Fighting the privacy wars, state by state: Treating Congress as damage and routing around it.
• Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
• This day in history: 2008, 2013, 2018, 2022
• Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: Fighting the privacy wars, state by state (23 Feb 2023)"

Today's links

• Matt Ruff's "Destroyer of Worlds": A return to "Lovecraft Country."
• This day in history: 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018, 2022
• Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: Matt Ruff's "Destroyer of Worlds" (21 Feb 2023)"

Today's links

• Turbotax is blitzing Congress for the right to tax YOU: Why do Americans have to pay Intuit to tell the IRS things it already knows?
• Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
• This day in history: 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018
• Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: Turbotax is blitzing Congress for the right to tax YOU (20 Feb 2023)"

Today's links

• Pluralistic is three: Time flies when you're writing blogs.
• Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
• This day in history: 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018, 2022
• Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: Pluralistic is three (19 Feb 2023)"

Configurability for Me, But Not For Thee.

Tracking Exposed is a scrappy European nonprofit that attempts to understand how online recommendation algorithms work. They comine data from volunteers who install a plugin with data acquired through "headless browsers," to attempt to reverse-engineer the principles that determine what you see when you visit or search Tiktok, Amazon, YouTube, Facebook or Pornhub.

Continue reading "Twiddler"