#20yrago 5.25″ floppies make great CD sleeves https://web.archive.org/web/20050924144644/http://www.readymademag.com/feature_18_monkey.php

#20yrsago Hollywood can break down any door in Delhi https://web.archive.org/web/20050903065949/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/003943.php

#20yrsago Side-band attack tips virtual Blackjack dealer’s hand https://web.archive.org/web/20051119111417/https://haacked.com/archive/2005/08/29/9748.aspx

#20yrsago Judge to RIAA: Keep your “conference center” out of my court https://web.archive.org/web/20051001031307/http://www.godwinslaw.org/weblog/archive/2005/08/29/runaround-suits

#15yrsago Which ebook sellers will allow publishers and writers to opt out of DRM? https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/columns-and-blogs/cory-doctorow/article/44012-doctorow-s-first-law.html

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A weekend's worth of links: Short hits for a long weekend.

https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/115118376525001318

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#20yrsago Court: DMCA can’t prohibit third-party repairs https://web.archive.org/web/20050912004536/https://www.corante.com/copyfight/archives/2005/08/24/fed_circuit_smacks_down_bad_dmca_decision_re_independent_repair_techs.php

#20yrsago Chinese government mandating 3-hour caps on MMO playing https://www.gamespot.com/articles/china-govt-steps-up-limits-on-online-gaming/1100-6131845/

#20yrsago ItPlaysQuake: reviews of Quake-ports on odd hardware https://web.archive.org/web/20051122053035/http://www.itplaysquake.com/

#20yrsago DRM != SSL https://memex.craphound.com/2005/08/24/drm-ssl/

#20yrsago FBI stages fake wedding, invites mobsters, arrests gift-bearing guests https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-aug-23-na-gang23-story.html

4/

Hey look at this

* The Alternative https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/the-alternative (h/t Naked Capitalism)

* Is Price Fixing Protected by the 1st Amendment? https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2025/08/is-price-fixing-protected-by-the-first-amendment.html

* FT Business Book of the Year https://www.ft.com/content/b64257f1-2949-42e9-85a1-a115bdfc7d11

* Google is killing the open web https://wok.oblomov.eu/tecnologia/google-killing-open-web/ (h/t Mastodon Explore)

* How the Government Built the American Dream House https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/how-the-government-built-the-american-dream-house (h/t Naked Capitalism)

* Antitrust Liability Obligates Structural Change https://www.thesling.org/antitrust-liability-obligates-structural-change/

3/

Hey look at this

* How The Internet Died https://whatwelost.substack.com/p/how-the-internet-died

4/

Hey look at this

* The Culture War is Completely Exhausted https://www.lukewsavage.com/p/the-culture-war-is-completely-exhausted

* Why “Spend Before Tax” Is the Key to Unlocking a Future for Young People https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2025/08/why-spend-before-tax-is-the-key-to-unlocking-a-future-for-young-people.html

* Back-to-School Inflation Stories Crop Up on TikTok https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/monopoly-round-up-back-to-school

* Fragile Movements Crumble https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/fragile-movements-crumble

* AI: great expectations https://rodneybrooks.com/ai-great-expectations/

3/

Hey look at this

* Cybertruck Leads Tesla’s Used-Car Collapse https://gizmodo.com/cybertruck-leads-teslas-used-car-collapse-2000641133

* Hackers Went Looking for a Backdoor in High-Security Safes—and Now Can Open Them in Seconds https://www.wired.com/story/securam-prologic-safe-lock-backdoor-exploits/

* I clustered four Framework Mainboards to test huge LLMs https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2025/i-clustered-four-framework-mainboards-test-huge-llms

* The Framework Desktop is a beast https://world.hey.com/dhh/the-framework-desktop-is-a-beast-636fb4ff

* Leaving MAGA https://leavingmaga.org/they-left-maga/steve-vilchez/

3/

Hey look at this

* Free 3D models of every D&D monster https://www.patreon.com/cw/mz4250 (h/t Maxiemumdamage)

* Enough is enough—I dumped Google’s worsening search for Kagi https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/08/enough-is-enough-i-dumped-googles-worsening-search-for-kagi/ (h/t Stef)

* AI disagreements https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/ai-disagreements

* An Abundance of Sleaze: How a Beltway Brain Trust Sells Oligarchy to Liberals https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/an-abundance-of-sleaze-how-a-beltway

* Fintech Dystopia: Won’t somebody please think of the innovation? https://fintechdystopia.com/chapters/chapter6.html

4/

Hey look at this

* Xiaomi users stole their phones from the service center to unlock the bootloader https://xiaomitime.com/xiaomi-users-stole-their-phones-from-the-service-center-to-unlock-the-bootloader-58781/ (h/t Ishan)

* AI Agents have, so far, mostly been a dud https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/ai-agents-have-so-far-mostly-been (h/t Naked Capitalism)

* USAID Shield Shirts https://usaid-shirts.netlify.app/

* The Mothership Vortex: An Investigation Into the Firm at the Heart of the Democratic Spam Machine https://data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-mothership-vortex-an-investigation

* FULL HOPE SCHEDULE IS LIVE https://www.2600.com/content/full-hope-schedule-live

4/

Hey look at this

* A business model for hyperactive smoke alarms https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1945959030851035223.html (h/t Gregory Cherlin)

* Britain’s New Left-Wing Party May Be Devastating for Labour https://jacobin.com/2025/08/britain-new-left-wing-party/

* Making America Epstein Again https://prospect.org/power/2025-08-01-making-america-epstein-again/

* Thirty-Two Short Stories About Death in Prison https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/08/thirty-two-stories-jeffrey-epstein-prison-death/596029/ (h/t Gregory Cherlin)

* LIDER MIT PALESTINE https://lidermitpalestine.bandcamp.com/album/lider-mit-palestine-new-yiddish-songs-of-grief-fury-and-love (h/t Roz Doctorow)

4/

#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/

#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.html

5/

#20yrsago TSA Secure Flight: criminal disaster https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/07/secure_flight.html

#20yrsago Promise TV — PVR records a month’s worth of shows from all channels https://web.archive.org/web/20050811011823/http://promise.tv/

#15yrsago Federal judge says you can break DRM if you’re not doing so to infringe copyright https://web.archive.org/web/20100728090500/https://www.courthousenews.com/2010/07/23/29099.htm

6/

#5yrsago Lovely video review for Poesy the Monster Slayer https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/26/fierce-slayer/#fierce-poesy

#5yrsago Green Growth https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/26/fierce-slayer/#green-growth

#1yrago Fintech bullies stole your kid's lunch money https://pluralistic.net/2024/07/26/taanstafl/#stay-hungry

#20yrsago How Craigslist changed NYC https://web.archive.org/web/20050727011010/http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/12348/

#20yrsago Game-modder rips into anti-modder US politicos https://web.archive.org/web/20050728003228/https://illspirit.com/press_release.html

5/

#20yrsago Damning Sony payola memos: “I’m a whore this week” https://somafm.com/payola/payola2.pdf

#15yrsago What “curated computing” can and can’t deliver https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/jul/27/curated-computing-environment-apps-choice

#15yrsago UK govt proposes volunteer “police reserve” https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jul/26/cameron-budget-cuts-diy-policing

#15yrsago Street-Fighting Math: down and dirty guide to approximation and problem-solving https://web.archive.org/web/20100605090020/https://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=12156

4/

Iranian brickwork, arbitrated pillows, smothered comics, and aerogel desalination: Also: bricked exercise gear, Air Canada luggage mystery, and praise for Enshittification.

https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/114920825608042357

3/

Hey look at this

* Home Insurance Executives Are Raking It In—at Your Expense https://prospect.org/power/2025-07-23-home-insurance-executives-raking-it-in/

* Conspiracy theorists don’t realize they’re on the fringe https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/07/conspiracy-theorists-think-their-views-are-mainstream/

* New York City: The Extraction Engine, the Extreme Center, and the Hollowing of Oklahoma City or Dasha Nekrasova vs. Woody Guthrie https://superbowlstevehunt.substack.com/p/new-york-city-the-extraction-engine (h/t Organized Money)

* How big tech is force-feeding us AI https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/how-big-tech-is-force-feeding-us

* Tesla Diner SoCal Protest https://actionnetwork.org/events/tesla-diner-socal-protest-teslatakedown-all-hands-on-deck/

4/

#15yrsago HOWTO make spider-silk thread https://www.instructables.com/How-to-make-Spider-Silk-Thread/

#15yrsago Australian government blocks out 90% of document on web-spying plans https://www.theage.com.au/technology/no-minister-90-of-web-snoop-document-censored-to-stop--premature-unnecessary-debate-20100722-10mxo.html

#15yrsago Can you audit the software that goes in your body? https://softwarefreedom.org/resources/2010/transparent-medical-devices.html

#15yrsago New Disney Haunted Mansion movie to be produced by Guillermo del Toro https://web.archive.org/web/20100723183543/http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/07/haunted-mansion-inspires-new-movie-by-the-walt-disney-studios-and-guillermo-del-toro/
5/

Hey look at this

* Tesla skepticism continues to grow, robotaxi demo fails to impress Austin https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/07/tesla-is-the-least-trusted-car-brand-in-america-survey-finds/

* The Selling Of AI https://blog.dshr.org/2025/07/the-selling-of-ai.html

* Democrats Act Like Elections Are Complicated. They’re Not https://jacobin.com/2025/07/democrats-working-class-cwcp-report/

* We're Publishing Our ICE Reporting In Spanish https://www.404media.co/were-publishing-our-ice-reporting-in-spanish/

* Why Are We Pretending AI Is Going to Take All the Jobs? https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/why-are-we-pretending-ai-is-going

4/

Hey look at this

* Will The Truman Brewery Become Homes Or Offices? https://spitalfieldslife.com/2025/07/22/will-the-truman-brewery-become-homes-or-offices/

* A Startup is Selling Data Hacked from Peoples’ Computers to Debt Collectors https://www.404media.co/a-startup-is-selling-data-hacked-from-peoples-computers-to-debt-collectors/

* The Hater's Guide To The AI Bubble https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-haters-gui/

* Ryanair mulls bigger bonus for spotting oversized bags https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c75rp3w77kpo

* Pre-Ordering Books Makes You More of a Citizen of Literature https://buttondown.com/charliejane/archive/pre-ordering-books-makes-you-more-of-a-citizen-of/

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