Post AwcuHgXZ2U2UPWrwI4 by cstross@wandering.shop
(DIR) More posts by cstross@wandering.shop
(DIR) Post #AwcuHeGTV3BHLwrGNM by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:12:54Z
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Today's threads (a thread)Inside: How twiddling enshittifies your brain; and more!Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2025/07/28/twiddlehazard/#Pluralistic1/
(DIR) Post #AwcuHfPjE8B2uwCARE by rory@matcha.pub
2025-07-28T22:36:56Z
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@pluralistic "But Google Search was so goddamned magic – before they cynically destroyed it [...] The collapse of Google into a giant pile of shit is like giving every web user a traumatic brain injury."I sometimes wonder if the reason many people are so amazed by AI is because they forgot how drop-dead good Google search used to be. And it's only been a few years since it was well and truly enshittified.
(DIR) Post #AwcuHgXZ2U2UPWrwI4 by cstross@wandering.shop
2025-07-29T08:59:46Z
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@rory @pluralistic With age comes perspective and the perspective 60 years has given me—of which 35 years on the internet—says that the average internet user has rolling amnesia on a 6-9 month time scale.Remember the COVID19 pandemic? Gosh, that sure was a long time ag—IT'S STILL ONGOING!Remember how vicious Trump's first term was? No? IS THAT WHY YOU VOTED HIM IN AGAIN?Remember when web search wasn't actively trying to gaslight you?And so on.
(DIR) Post #AwcuHlolPxlgmJxFIG by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:13:51Z
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Hey, German-speakers! Through a very weird set of circumstances, I ended up owning the rights to the German audiobook of my bestselling 2022 cryptocurrency heist technothriller *Red Team Blues* and now I'm selling DRM-free audio and ebooks, along with the paperback (all in German and English) on a Kickstarter that runs until August 11:https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/red-team-blues-auf-deutsche-drm-freie2/
(DIR) Post #AwcuHtdiKvgP2MqXBI by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:14:11Z
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How twiddling enshittifies your brain: They preferentially mess with the stuff you rely on the most.https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/1149325628182080273/
(DIR) Post #AwcuI17OWyaGERmpuq by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:14:24Z
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Hey look at this* There’s a Far Cheaper Way to Do Rooftop Solar https://prospect.org/environment/2025-07-28-far-cheaper-way-to-do-rooftop-solar/* The South Park thing https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/07/the-south-park-thing/* A billion people would be plenty to sustain civilisation https://crookedtimber.org/2025/07/27/a-billion-people-would-be-plenty-to-sustain-civilisation/* VHS tape with a built-in digital mp4 video player https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYrY3nFrsho (h/t Yanko Design)* BVH 522232323434 https://chrisbathgate.blogspot.com/2025/07/bvh-522232323434.html4/
(DIR) Post #AwcuI8pFsIpM8VMSki by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:14:56Z
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#20yrsago Canada bans copying CDs to iPods https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2005/07/crias-higher-risk-strategy/#20yrsago No taking pix of San Fran building from the sidewalk? https://thomashawk.com/2005/07/one-bush.html#20yrsago Microsoft “Genuine Advantage” cracked in 24h: window.g_sDisableWGACheck=’all’ https://web.archive.org/web/20050810083151/http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=24961#20yrsago Costikyan’s jeremiad against the video game industry https://web.archive.org/web/20050730021700/http://www.costik.com/weblog/2005_07_01_blogchive.html#112254986073206098#20yrsago Economics of used books https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/28/technology/reading-between-the-lines-of-used-book-sales.html5/
(DIR) Post #AwcuIGylYpBlQJsAgi by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:15:16Z
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#20yrsago My Adbusters sf story https://craphound.com/stories/2000/08/06/the-rebranding-of-billy-bailey/#20yrsago Richard Branson claims to own all uses of “virgin” https://web.archive.org/web/20051030080223/http://www.chillingeffects.org/weather.cgi?WeatherID=507#20yrsago Security researcher quits job and blows whistle on Cisco’s fatal flaws https://web.archive.org/web/20060426162432/http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11259#20yrsago File-sharers buy more music than non-swappers http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4718249.stm#15yrsago Bisson’s Fire on the Mountain: alternate history in which John Brown wins at Harper’s Ferry https://memex.craphound.com/2010/07/27/bissons-fire-on-the-mountain-alternate-history-in-which-john-brown-wins-at-harpers-ferry/6/
(DIR) Post #AwcuIRRqdYORtPYXPE by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:15:40Z
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#15yrsago Inception‘s musical secret https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVkQ0C4qDvM#15yrsago Shark Knife will terrify your enemies with macho impracticality https://web.archive.org/web/20100724002534/https://www.sadanduseless.com/image.php?n=293#10yrsago Satanic Temple required protesters to pledge their souls to Satan as condition of entry https://web.archive.org/web/20150728003106/http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/07/26/to-weed-out-protesters-at-last-nights-event-the-satanic-temple-had-attendees-transfer-their-souls-to-satan/#5yrsago Quick, inaccurate, cheap covid tests https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/28/afterland/#pick-one#5yrsago Swarov.se https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/28/afterland/#goatse#5yrsago Police "unions" are not unions https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/28/afterland/#selective-solidarity7/
(DIR) Post #AwcuIZdqAqjvIvEED2 by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:15:57Z
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#5yrsago Snowden's Little Brother intro https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/28/afterland/#snowden#5yrsago Audible Exclusives https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/28/afterland/#acx#5yrsago Mexican copyright crushes free speechhttps://pluralistic.net/2020/07/28/afterland/#mexico-copyright#5yrsago Afterland https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/28/afterland/#XY#5yrsago NYPD disciplinary records https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/27/ip/#nypd-who#5yrsago Replace the police https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/27/ip/#defund-the-police#5yrsago My HOPE 2020 talk https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/27/ip/#digital-human-rights8/
(DIR) Post #AwcuIgbyGCP4v9PKlc by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:16:11Z
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#5yrsago Constitution Illustrated https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/27/ip/#r-sikoryak9/
(DIR) Post #AwcuInbWGHCYbmFZXE by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:16:31Z
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Saturday's threads: Iranian brickwork, arbitrated pillows, smothered comics, and aerogel desalination; and more!https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/11492096851258983410/
(DIR) Post #AwcuIxbB6Os1bcAROK by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:16:47Z
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My latest novel is "Picks and Shovels," a historical technothriller set in the Weird Era of the PC, about Ponzi schemes, techbros, and the dawn of enshittification:https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels--My next nonfiction book is "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," out from MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux on October 7:https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/11/
(DIR) Post #AwcuJ4mmNfJFtceIwi by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:17:15Z
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My ebooks and audiobooks (from Tor Books, Head of Zeus, McSweeneys, Beacon, Verso 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."https://craphound.com/shop/12/
(DIR) Post #AwcuJCPg1RaDYHty2y by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:17:33Z
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Upcoming appearances:* #SanDiego: ACM Collective Intelligence keynote, Aug 5https://ci.acm.org/2025/speakers/cory-doctorow/* #DC: Enshittification at Politics and Prose, Oct 8https://politics-prose.com/cory-doctorow-10825* #SanFrancisco: Enshittification at Public Works (The Booksmith), Oct 20https://app.gopassage.com/events/doctorow25* #NewOrleans: DeepSouthCon63, Oct 10-12, 2025http://www.contraflowscifi.org/* #SanFrancisco: Enshittification at Public Works (The Booksmith), Oct 20https://app.gopassage.com/events/doctorow2513/
(DIR) Post #AwcuJKIAjEKjzKS5Sa by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:17:42Z
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Upcoming appearances (cont'd):* #Miami: Enshittification at Books & Books, Nov 5https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-evening-with-cory-doctorow-tickets-150464726346914/
(DIR) Post #AwcuJRf7KJqYqWF0hE by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:17:55Z
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Recent appearances:* ORG at 20: In conversation with Maria Farrellhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9H2An_D6io* Why aren't we controlling our own tech? (Co-Op Congress)https://www.youtube.com/live/GLrDwHgeCy4?si=NUWxPphk0FS_3g9J&t=4409* If We Had a Choice, Would We Invent Social Media Again? (The Agenda/TVO)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJw38uIcmEw15/
(DIR) Post #AwcuJZAZPmAK860jC4 by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:18:10Z
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You can follow these posts as a daily blog at pluralistic.net: no ads, trackers, or data-collection! Here's today's edition: https://pluralistic.net/2025/07/28/twiddlehazard/--If you prefer a newsletter, subscribe to the plura-list, which is ad-/tracker-free, and is utterly unadorned save a single daily emoji. Today's is "🥨". Suggestions solicited for future emojis!--You can also get a fulltext RSS feed, licensed CC BY 4.0:https://pluralistic.net/feed/16/
(DIR) Post #AwcuJggjSb3FRs70nQ by pluralistic@mamot.fr
2025-07-28T22:18:21Z
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Support me this summer in the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop! This summer, I'm writing "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book for Farrar, Straus and Giroux that explains how to be an effective AI critic:https://clarionwriteathon.com/members/profile.php?writerid=293388eof/
(DIR) Post #Awe6aZdqE3grlpdHI8 by Uair@autistics.life
2025-07-29T13:17:48Z
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@cstross The United States of AmnesiaNot my line.
(DIR) Post #AwfOCOuAUA4br1qtbU by bkahn@beige.party
2025-07-30T17:13:29Z
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@rory @pluralistic Not a day goes by when I don't complain about how useless search has become. It's as if all links to anything potentially helpful have been diligently erased and replaced with pig manure. But less wholesome.