@pluralistic@mamot.fr
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pluralistic

@pluralistic@mamot.fr

By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)
@doctorow.

Archived at pluralistic.net

I post long threads. If you don't like these in your timeline but want to read them, I suggest unfollowing me here and subscribing to my RSS, or my newsletter, or any of my various long-form feeds. Links at https://pluralistic.net.

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pluralistic, to random
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Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: The tax sharks are back and they're coming for your home; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/27/for-the-little-people/

1/

pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in TODAY (Apr 27) in MARIN COUNTY, then in Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/16/narrative-capitalism/#bezzle-tour

2/

pluralistic, to random
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

One of my weirder and more rewarding hobbies is collecting definitions of "conservativism," and one of the jewels of that collection comes from Corey Robin's must-read book The Reactionary Mind:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reactionary_Mind

--

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/2024/04/27/for-the-little-people/#alden-capital

1/

mathowie, to random
@mathowie@xoxo.zone avatar

Enshittification comes for us all, even Descript which I already pay $20/mo for because it's the best podcast editing platform on earth. Last year they added a Robot AI feature that could take your voice and create new audio from your own scripts to let you insert missing words. I went to test it out again today but got this message on a single sentence.

pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

@fnohe @knowprose @mathowie @peterme https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/30/go-nuts-meine-kerle/#ich-bin-ein-bratapfel

pluralistic, to random
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Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: Antitrust is a labor issue; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/25/capri-v-tapestry/

1/

pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in THIS SATURDAY (Apr 27) in MARIN COUNTY, Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/16/narrative-capitalism/#bezzle-tour

2/

pluralistic, to random
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

This is huge: yesterday, the FTC finalized a rule banning noncompete agreements for every American worker. That means that the person working the register at a Wendy's can switch to the fry-trap at McD's for an extra $0.25/hour, without their boss suing them:

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/04/ftc-announces-rule-banning-noncompetes

--

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/2024/04/25/capri-v-tapestry/#aiming-at-dollars-not-men

1/

pluralistic,
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@elronxenu If noncompetes are illegal, the lawsuit doesn't survive initial motions - and the boss's attorney can be sanctioned by the bar.

bajabanjo, to random
@bajabanjo@mamot.fr avatar

Hey @pluralistic I don't suppose you keep a list of podcasts you've appeared on. I lost my phone data and can't remember the name of this one podcast.

The host is some professor and/or researcher at a NE USA school, podcasts about democratizing platforms, privacy, interop

Does that ring a bell?

pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

@bajabanjo sorry, no

tjeerdhans, to random
@tjeerdhans@hachyderm.io avatar

@pluralistic hey there's a typo in the slug for https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/22/kargo-kult-kaptialism/ -> kapitalism. Unless it was intentional and I missed the gist

pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

@tjeerdhans it's intentional (think of the initialism formed by those three words)

pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

@tjeerdhans you're right, that's a typo! Alas too late to fix now

pluralistic, to random
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: The specific process by which Google enshittified its search; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/24/naming-names/

1/

pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in THIS SATURDAY (Apr 27) in MARIN COUNTY, Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/16/narrative-capitalism/#bezzle-tour

2/

pluralistic, to random
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

All digital businesses have the technical capacity to enshittify: the ability to change the underlying functions of the business from moment to moment and user to user, allowing for the rapid transfer of value between business customers, end users and shareholders:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/19/twiddler/

--

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/2024/04/24/naming-names/#prabhakar-raghavan

1/

pluralistic, to random
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: "Humans in the loop" must detect the hardest-to-spot errors, at superhuman speedInside: "Humans in the loop" must detect the hardest-to-spot errors, at superhuman speed; and more!; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/23/maximal-plausibility/

1/

pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in THIS SATURDAY (Apr 27) in MARIN COUNTY, Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/16/narrative-capitalism/#bezzle-tour

2/

pluralistic, to random
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

If AI has a future (a big if), it will have to be economically viable. An industry can't spend 1,700% more on Nvidia chips than it earns indefinitely - not even with Nvidia being a principle investor in its largest customers:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39883571

--

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/2024/04/23/maximal-plausibility/#reverse-centaurs

1/

davidcampey, to random
@davidcampey@mastodon.online avatar

@pluralistic small typo in https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/22/kargo-kult-kaptialism/#dont-buy-it
"... but boy, are you a sap if you but it."

pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

@davidcampey Weird, I fixed that yesterday but it somehow reverted to an older version. Hazards of working on the road in another country, tethered to a roaming phone's data-plan. Fixed again - thanks!

pluralistic, to random
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: Paying for it doesn't make it a market; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/22/kargo-kult-kaptialism/

1/

pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in THIS SATURDAY (Apr 27) in MARIN COUNTY, Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/16/narrative-capitalism/#bezzle-tour

2/

pluralistic, to random
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Anyone who says "If you're not paying for the product, you're the product" has been suckered in by Big Tech, whose cargo-cult version of markets and the discipline they impose on companies.

--

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/2024/04/22/kargo-kult-kaptialism/#dont-buy-it

1/

pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

@osaka_animator I literally explained that in enormous detail. I can't tell if you didn't read it, or didn't understand it. Either way, the only advice I have for you is to try re-reading what I wrote, more slowly.

pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

@erlend "Aligned incentives" doesn't mean "I pay you."

"Aligned incentives" means "If you piss me off, bad things happen to you."

"I stop paying you" is a bad thing.

So is:

  • Your employees quit and you can't replace them (tech worker scarcity)

  • Your employees say no, and you can't fire them (tech worker unions)

  • Your regulator fines you more than you make by screwing me (ending regulatory capture)

  • You lose my business to a rival (reinstating competition law, banning mergers, etc)

pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

@erlend

Also:

  • I install an ad-blocker, switch to an alternative client, jailbreak my device, or start using third-party consumables, parts or service (and never come back) (restoring interoperability)

The only way paying "aligns incentives" is if "not paying" is an option. But monopolies/oligopolies don't have to worry about that. Paying the airline doesn't make them treat you well.

pluralistic, to aitools
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

It was all downhill after 2018.

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