Today's threads (a thread)
Inside: AI is how bosses wage war on "professions"; and more!
Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/20/i-would-prefer-not-to/
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Today's threads (a thread)
Inside: AI is how bosses wage war on "professions"; and more!
Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/20/i-would-prefer-not-to/
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I'm coming to Colorado! Catch me in #Denver on Thu (Jan 22) at The Tattered Cover:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cory-doctorow-live-at-tattered-cover-colfax-tickets-1976644174937
And in #ColoradoSprings this weekend (Jan 23-25), where I'm the Guest of Honor at COSine:
https://www.firstfridayfandom.org/cosine/
Then I'll be in #Ottawa on Jan 28 at Perfect Books:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DS2nGiHiNUh/
And in #Toronto with Tim Wu on Jan 30:
https://nowtoronto.com/event/cory-doctorow-and-tim-wu-enshittification-and-extraction/
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AI is how bosses wage war on "professions": The only people *required* to tell their bosses to fuck off.
https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/115927725631000705
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Hey look at this
* Giving University Exams in the Age of Chatbots https://ploum.net/2026-01-19-exam-with-chatbots.html
* Vein Finder Demonstration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS68ePykav0
* Author of ‘Don’t Say Abolish ICE’ Memo Is a Corporate Consultant
* Experiment suggests AI chatbot would save insurance agents a whopping 3 minutes a day https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/16/axlerod_ai_saves_insurance_agents_time/ (h/t Naked Capitalism)
* IMF Warns Global Economic Resilience at Risk if AI Falters https://slashdot.org/story/26/01/19/1423221/imf-warns-global-economic-resilience-at-risk-if-ai-falters
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#20yrsago Broadcast Flag is back, this time it covers iPods and PSPs, too https://memex.craphound.com/2006/01/20/broadcast-flag-is-back-this-time-it-covers-ipods-and-psps-too/
#20yrsago Nonprofit alternative to CDDB gets its first deal https://web.archive.org/web/20060128114433/http://blog.musicbrainz.org/archives/2006/01/introducing_lin_1.html
#20yrsago David Byrne: boycott DRM https://web.archive.org/web/20060117084842/http://journal.davidbyrne.com/
#20yrsago Cozy blanket with sleeves: the Slanket https://web.archive.org/web/20060203040004/https://www.theslanket.com/
#15yrsago Safe-cracking robot autodials combinations to brute-force a high-security safe https://web.archive.org/web/20110709082726/http://www.kvogt.com/autodialer/
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#15yrsago Forger never takes money, only wants to see his works hanging in galleries https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/arts/design/12fraud.html
#15yrsago Hotel made of beach trash in Madrid https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/travel-news/new-hotel-is-complete-rubbish-20110120-19xjl.html
#15yrsago Enfield, CT cancels screening of Moore’s Sicko after pressure from local gov’t https://web.archive.org/web/20110123033350/http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/63420
#15yrsago Best mafiosi nicknames from today’s historic bust https://web.archive.org/web/20110126120419/https://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/01/the_20_best_nic.php
#10yrsago Very sad news about science fiction titan David G Hartwell https://memex.craphound.com/2016/01/20/very-sad-news-about-science-fiction-titan-david-g-hartwell/
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#10yrsago Solving the “Longbow Puzzle”: why did France and Scotland keep their inferior crossbows? https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/684231
#10yrsago Netflix demands Net Neutrality, but makes an exception for T-Mobile https://www.theverge.com/2016/1/19/10794288/netflix-t-mobile-binge-on-net-neutrality-zero-rating
#10yrsago Research: increased resident participation in city planning produces extreme wealth segregation https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/01/data-analysis-reveals-that-us-cities-are-segregating-the-wealthy/
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#10yrsago Independent economists: TPP will kill 450,000 US jobs; 75,000 Japanese jobs, 58,000 Canadian jobs https://www.techdirt.com/2016/01/19/more-realistic-modelling-tpps-effects-predicts-450000-us-jobs-lost-gdp-contraction/
#10yrsago Howto: make your own fantastically detailed Star Trek: TOS bridge playset https://www.instructables.com/Star-Trek-Enterprise-Bridge-Playset/
#10yrsago Strategic butt coverings in video games https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujTufg1GvR4
#10yrsago Company that pampers rich people at Burning Man won’t give up https://memex.craphound.com/2016/01/20/company-that-pampers-rich-people-at-burning-man-wont-give-up/
#5yrsago No one should be on the No-Fly List https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/20/damn-the-shrub/#no-nofly
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#5yrsago My letter to the FBI https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/20/damn-the-shrub/#foia
#1yrago Enshittification isn't caused by venture capital https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/20/capitalist-unrealism/#praxis
#1yrago Keir Starmer appoints Jeff Bezos as his "first buddy" https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/22/autocrats-of-trade/#dingo-babysitter
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Yesterday's threads: Social media without socializing; and more!
https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/115922479756289145
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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 latest nonfiction book is the internationally bestselling "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," from MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux:
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/
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