Cory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

In 1997, Jorn Barger coined the term "web-log" to describe his website "Robot Wisdom," where he logged his journeys around this exciting new digital space called "the web." Two years later, @peterme shortened "web-blog" to "#blog":

https://peterme.com/archives/00000205.html

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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:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/02/wunderkammer/#jubillee

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welcome to peterme.com

Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

Two years after that, I started blogging, when @frauenfelder made me a guest-editor on @boingbot:

https://boingboing.net/2001/01/13/hey-mark-made-me-a.html

I've now been blogging for 23 years, nearly half my life, a near-daily discipline that forms the spine of my writing practice. I take everything that seems important, and, in summarizing it for strangers, embed it in my own mind, and then find connections that turn into essays, speeches, stories and novels:

https://doctorow.medium.com/the-memex-method-238c71f2fb46

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Hey, Mark made me a | Boing Boing

Hey, Mark made me a guest editor! Those junk rockets were damned cool — how about a junk clock to accompany them? Link

Boing Boing
Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

For the past 3+ years, I've been blogging solo on my Pluralistic.net project. It started off as a "link-blog," in the Robot Wisdom vein - short hits summarizing interesting things:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/02/19/pluralist-19-feb-2020/

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Pluralist: 19 Feb 2020 – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

But over the months and years, it's turned into a place where I write long essays, sometimes six or seven per week, trying to pull on all those threads that I've cataloged over the decades, weaving them together into big, thoughtful pieces, often to great and gratifying notice and even a little fanfare:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

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Pluralistic: Tiktok’s enshittification (21 Jan 2023) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

But I miss the linkblogging! For the past 14 months, Pluralistic has featured a little section called "Hey look at this," where I post three short links, bare-bones pointers to interesting stuff online:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/01/reit-modernization-act/#linkdump

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Pluralistic: 01 Mar 2022 – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

Show threadCory Doctorow

These links pile up in my todo.txt file, ebbing and flowing. Some days, I've got nothing for the section. Some days, I've got a backlog. These days, I've got a *massive* backlog - enough links for many, many editions. I am drowning in linkblog debt, and the interest is compounding. It's time for a #jubilee:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/24/grandparents-optional-party/#jubilee

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Pluralistic: 24 Mar 2020 – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

May 2, 2023 at 4:05pmWeb
Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

Here, then, is the first-ever Pluralistic Jubilee Linkdump Backlog Bankruptcy!

First up:

"The Internet Isn't Mean To Be So Small," Kelsey McKinney's crie-de-coeur for *#Defector*:

https://defector.com/the-internet-isnt-meant-to-be-so-small

This is part of the #enshittification canon that includes @catvalente 's unmissable "Stop Talking to Each Other and Start Buying Things":

https://catvalente.substack.com/p/stop-talking-to-each-other-and-start

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The Internet Isn't Meant To Be So Small | Defector

Because my brain was infested with worms at a very early age, I value continuity of username across platforms more than my own sanity. I have used the same username since AIM, and god help me, I will not lose it. My username has served me well through Neopets and Xanga and Livejournal and LikeALittle […]

Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

McKinney's money-shot:

> It is worth remembering that the internet wasn't supposed to be like this. It wasn't supposed to be six boring men with too much money creating spaces that no one likes but everyone is forced to use because those men have driven every other form of online existence into the ground.

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Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

> The internet was supposed to have pockets, to have enchanting forests you could stumble into and dark ravines you knew better than to enter. The internet was supposed to be a place of opportunity, not just for profit but for surprise and connection and delight. Instead, like most everything American enterprise has promised held some new dream, it has turned out to be the same old thing—a dream for a few, and something much more confining for everyone else.

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Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

This doesn't just make me want to stand up and salute - it makes me want to build a barricade (or a #guillotine).

On to "Reddit Data API Update: Changes to Pushshift Access," a #Reddit thread where the volunteer mods are discussing another #enshittification move: Reddit's pre-IPO API shut-down that has broken all the mod tools that volunteers use to shovel out Reddit's Augean Stables, getting rid of spam and catfishing and fraud:

https://old.reddit.com/r/modnews/comments/134tjpe/reddit_data_api_update_changes_to_pushshift_access/

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Reddit Data API Update: Changes to Pushshift Access

Howdy Mods, In the interest of keeping you informed of the ongoing API updates, we’re sharing an update on Pushshift. TL;DR: Pushshift is in...

reddit
Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

This isn't just "stop talking to each other and start buying things" - this is "stop doing billions of dollars in volunteer labor keeping our users safe, and start paying us for the privilege." Good luck with that, Reddit.

Hey! The Hollywood writers are back on strike! The Guild is a shitkicking, take-no-prisoners, radical union with massive solidarity:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/2/23707813/wga-hollywood-writers-strike-2023-streaming-ai-wages-contract

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Hollywood writers to strike over low wages caused by streaming boom.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) voted unanimously to strike for the first time in 15 years on Tuesday after contract negotiations with the major Hollywood studios collapsed.

The Verge
Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

It's what let them *trounce* the talent agencies - hyper-concentrated to just four companies, two owned by #PrivateEquity ghouls - over a *22 month strike*:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/11/23/opsec-and-personal-security/#monopsony

The talent agencies had rigged the system so that instead of getting a 10% commission on the writers' earnings, they were taking as much as *90%* out of every dollar - and were about to make it worse, building their own studios, so they could negotiate with *themselves* on behalf of their clients.

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Pluralistic: 23 Nov 2020 – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

In the same week, 7,000 writers - even the ones who weren't getting screwed - fired their agents, and demanded a return to the 90/10 split and a ban on agencies owning studios. The agencies say nfw. The writers stayed on the picket line.

There's a whole chapter on this in #ChokepointCapitalism, #RebeccaGiblin's and my book on creative labor markets and monopoly. One of our sources was #DavidGoodman, who led the strike:

https://chokepointcapitalism.com/

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(no title)

a book about why creative labor markets are rigged - and how to unrig them Competition is supposed to be fundamental to capitalism. Over the last four decades though, greedy robber barons have worked out how to lock in customers and suppliers, eliminate competitors, and shake down everyone for more than their fair share. This…

Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

David hosted our LA launch, where he told us, "We thought the agencies had all the power. We learned that they only had as much power as we gave them. You can make a movie without an agent. You can't make one without a writer."

The new strike is about the same thing as the old strike: shifting money from labor to capital. The studios have figured out how to use streaming to avoid paying writers.

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Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

They're , using gimmicks like shorter seasons and running their own streaming services to dodge the wages the writers are owed. As the union says, the studios "created a gig economy inside a union workforce."

I live in Burbank, where many of these studios are located. I'll see you on the picket line.

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Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

Sticking with labor for a moment: the Biden administration is investigating the use of #bossware - the spyware your boss uses to monitor your driving, keystrokes, web usage, location, hand-movements, facial expressions, even your eyeballs:

https://gizmodo.com/remote-work-surveillance-software-workers-rights-1850392911

The #WhiteHouseOfficeForTechnologyAndSciencePolicy's Request for Information solicits your experiences with bossware:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/050123_OSTP_RFI_PREPUBLISH_.pdf

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Biden Administration to Investigate Worker Surveillance Software

In a May Day announcement, the White House said it's seeking public information on employers' growing use of tech to monitor workers' every move.

Gizmodo
Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

They want to know:

* Workers’ firsthand experiences with surveillance technologies;

* Details from employers, technology developers, and vendors on how they develop, sell, and use these technologies;

* Best practices for mitigating risks to workers;

* Relevant data and research; and

* Ideas for how the federal government should respond to any relevant risks and opportunities.

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Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

If you're living under bossware's yoke - say, if your boss has transformed "work from home" into "live at work," then you know what to do: melt the switchboard!

One more labor story: a reminder that labor rights are a marathon, not a sprint. A group of #Amazon drivers won a $30/hour contract through their union, the #Teamsters. Even more importantly, the contract lets them refuse to work under unsafe conditions (it's never just about money):

https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/4/27/23667968/amazon-contractor-delivery-union-teamsters

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The Teamsters unionized Amazon delivery drivers, but the victory is complicated

What happens next depends on Amazon, the workers, and the interpretation of outdated US labor law. 

Vox
Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

But there's a catch: these are Amazon drivers, but they don't work for Amazon. They drive Amazon-branded vans, specced down to the last rivet by Amazon. They wear Amazon vests. They deliver Amazon packages. But they work for "Delivery Service Partners," a kind of pyramid scheme created by Amazon that tricks workers into thinking that paying Amazon for the privilege of working for a trillion-dollar company makes them "entrepreneurs."

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Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

Instead, they're #ChickenizedReverseCentaurs. "#Chickenized" because - like poultry farmers - they are totally controlled by a monopoly buyer that dictates every part of their business to them, dribbling out just enough money to roll over their loans and go deeper into debt.

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Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

"#ReverseCentaurs," because they're the inverse of the #AI theorists' idea of a "#centaur," that is, a computer-assisted human. Instead, they are *human-assisted computers*, with their every last move scripted to the finest degree by #bossware that they have to *pay for*:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/19/the-shakedown/#weird-flex

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Pluralistic: 19 Mar 2021 – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

Amazon now has the luxury of terminating its contract with the union's employer - the cutout that allows Amazon to maintain the #WorkerMisclassification pretext that these drivers in Amazon vans wearing Amazon uniforms delivering Amazon packages don't work for Amazon.

Amazon *hates* unions in ways that are hard for everyday people to grasp. One of the organizers of the union drive has been illegally terminated in retaliation for his labor activism:

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/amazon-delivery-owner-says-he-was-punished-for-supporting-union

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Amazon Delivery Owner Says He Was Punished for Supporting Union

The owner of an Amazon.com Inc. delivery contractor says the e-commerce giant is looking to sever his contract after his employees became the first Amazon drivers in the US to unionize.

Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

This fuckery doesn't mean that unions are dead. As #JaneMcAlevy writes in "A Collective Bargain," her superb memoir of her organizing career, unions started winning the class war when labor organizing was illegal, fighting in the teeth of a rigged legal system. We won then, we'll win again:

https://doctorow.medium.com/a-collective-bargain-a48925f944fe

Seeing defeat (seemingly) snatched from the jaws of victory is a major bummer, but a better world *is* possible. It's not even complicated - it's just *hard*.

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A Collective Bargain - Cory Doctorow - Medium

I’m at the LA Times Festival of Books this weekend! Today (Apr 24) at 11AM, I’m signing for California Book Club at booth 111. At 12:30, I’m doing a panel called “The Accidental Detective” with Alex…

Medium
Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

If you are in precarious housing, or homeless, or if you experience the moral injury of living in a city where your neighbors lack the foundational human right to a home, it's easy to feel despondent.

But solving homelessness isn't complicated, it's just hard. In #Finland, they solved homelessness through the simple expedient of *giving everyone a home*.

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Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

This didn't just address the problem of not having a home - it also made incredible progress on the comorbidities of homelessness, like mental health problems and addiction. Turns out, getting sober or getting treatment is a lot easier when you're not freezing to death on a sidewalk. Whoathunk?

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/how-finland-solved-homelessness

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How Finland Virtually Ended Homelessness—and We Can Too

It turns out the very best thing to do is give people who don't have a place to live... a place to live.

Common Dreams
Show threadCory DoctorowMay 2, 2023

There are many ways to improve our cities. You can (and should) fight for better local government, but there's always the tantalizing option of taking matters into your own hands. That's what the #CrosswalkVigilantes do. They research the intersections where cars are killing their neighbors, then they put on hi-viz vests, set out traffic-cones, and install crosswalks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x33yLuJ5slI

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Crosswalk Vigilantes

YouTube