Today's threads (a thread)
Inside: Trump and the unmighty dollar; and more!
Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/26/i-dont-want/
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Discussion
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@pluralistic It's amazing that when I click your articles the site loads almost instantly and I can use reader mode on the browser for a no distraction dark mode reading experience. And then I get sad that virtually no other websites give me that super useful and snappy experience because they've all been so thoroughly enshittified. The internet could be so fast and useful and we've just chosen not to do that.
@MichaelOpal @pluralistic The crazy thing is it doesn't take great technical knowledge or effort to make a website fast and accessible. Companies invest a lot of money in things that make their websites slower, harder to use, and more buggy. I benefit financially from their proclivity for complexity, but I would change it in a heartbeat if I could.
@spontaneouslydeliberate @MichaelOpal @pluralistic I am perpetually infuriated that we have so much more CPU, RAM, and bandwidth than 10-15 years ago and the user experience is no better, arguably worse. It's bloated frameworks and spyware all the way down ...
@MichaelOpal @pluralistic also, his newsletter is one of the very few that show the links as they are, without cloaking them like almost all other newsletters do. I know where I will end, even before clicking
@sabrinaweb71 @MichaelOpal @pluralistic I don’t even mind running the links through a redirect for attribution or whatever — but at least put the real destination URL in a rollover or something so I know what I’m getting into. The newsletter platforms should do this automatically; it’s infinitesimally easy to build.
@sabrinaweb71 @MichaelOpal @pluralistic I noticed that too today. I just joined the fediverse today, subscribed to some hashtags, and already the quality of discussion + the content that's shared here truly remind me of better days on the Internet. Should have made the move earlier :)
@pluralistic wait, what? SWIFT is US controlled?
I thought it was a consortium of banks, and from what I read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWIFT that's what it is.
What have I missed?..
@brnrd Practically speaking (as has been repeatedly demonstrated), SWIFT does not act against the wishes of the US.
Is remarkable as well that the people who benefit the most from dollar dominance, which are the US billionaires are blowing up the system that’s responsible largely for their power. They fantasize that they can exit the world and solidify totalitarian control in the process.
I think the world is a little bit larger than what they think it is
I'll be in #Ottawa on WEDNESDAY (Jan 28) at Perfect Books:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DS2nGiHiNUh/
And in #Toronto with Tim Wu on FRIDAY (Jan 30):
https://nowtoronto.com/event/cory-doctorow-and-tim-wu-enshittification-and-extraction/
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Trump and the unmighty dollar: "Flipping the table over in a poker game rigged in your favor because you resent having to pretend to play the game at all."
https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/115961934493687173
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Hey look at this
* Kyle Crutcher pottery http://www.brandbeorn.com/Sci-Fi.html
* Avi Lewis endorsed by authors Maté, Doctorow, Martel, Taylor, Aguirre, and Douglas https://bsky.app/profile/avilewis.ca/post/3mcxh2jmd622x
* AI hasn't delivered the profits it was hyped for, says Deloitte https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/21/deloitte_enterprises_adopting_ai_revenue_lift/
* Zack Polanski to hand in NHS contract termination notice to Palantir https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2026/01/22/zack-polanski-to-hand-in-nhs-contract-termination-notice-to-palantir/
* MPLS church has delivered more than 12K boxes of groceries to families in hiding https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2026/01/15/minneapolis-church-has-delivered-more-than-12000-boxes-of-groceries-to-families-in-hiding
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#20yrsago Universal DRM dystopia https://tarmle.livejournal.com/80182.html
#20yrsago Library’s one-year anniversary of lending video-games https://www.gamingtarget.com/article.php?artid=4941
#20yrsago UK music industry execs can’t talk straight about DRM https://web.archive.org/web/20060203090643/http://rock.thepodcastnetwork.com/2006/01/25/digital-music-the-industry-answers/
#20yrsago BBC report on UK gamers from 6-65 https://web.archive.org/web/20060207060943/http://crystaltips.typepad.com/wonderland/files/bbc_uk_games_research_2005.pdf
#20yrsago Norwegian ombudsman to review iTunes terms of service https://web.archive.org/web/20070208163427/http://forbrukerportalen.no/Artikler/2006/1138119849.71
#20yrsago Google Cache is legal https://web.archive.org/web/20060130212935/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004344.php
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#20yrsago NSA’s licensable patent portfolio https://web.archive.org/web/20060116103440/https://www.nsa.gov/techtrans/techt00002.cfm
#20yrsago Senators figure out the Broadcast Flag, curse it as an abomination! https://web.archive.org/web/20060130212403/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004343.php
#20yrsago HOWTO turn a disposable camera into an RFID-killer https://events.ccc.de/congress/2005/wiki/RFID-Zapper(EN)
#20yrsago World of Warcraft: Don’t tell anyone you’re queer https://web.archive.org/web/20060131191638/http://www.innewsweekly.com/innews/?class_code=Ga&article_code=1172
#15yrsago PirateBox: anonymous, stand-alone wireless filesharing node https://web.archive.org/web/20110129205033/http://wiki.daviddarts.com/PirateBox
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#15yrsago Where antibiotic resistant superbugs come from: biology explained at a “3d grade reading level” https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/development-of-resistant-staphylococcus-aureus-over-time-v8-web/6712973
#15yrsago Provocative metaphor for the Irish bailout https://memex.naughtons.org/how-a-bail-out-works/12877/
#15yrsago Douglas Adams’ online encylopedia tries to buy itself back from the BBC https://web.archive.org/web/20110127104628/https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A80173361
#15yrsago Ebert: 3D movies suck https://web.archive.org/web/20110131232913/http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2011/01/post_4.html
#15yrsago Anti-capitalist rumba rave in a Spanish bank https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv5dh8v7mDs
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1+ more replies (not shown)
#20yrsago NSA’s licensable patent portfolio https://web.archive.org/web/20060116103440/https://www.nsa.gov/techtrans/techt00002.cfm
#20yrsago Senators figure out the Broadcast Flag, curse it as an abomination! https://web.archive.org/web/20060130212403/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004343.php
#20yrsago HOWTO turn a disposable camera into an RFID-killer https://events.ccc.de/congress/2005/wiki/RFID-Zapper(EN)
#20yrsago World of Warcraft: Don’t tell anyone you’re queer https://web.archive.org/web/20060131191638/http://www.innewsweekly.com/innews/?class_code=Ga&article_code=1172
#15yrsago PirateBox: anonymous, stand-alone wireless filesharing node https://web.archive.org/web/20110129205033/http://wiki.daviddarts.com/PirateBox
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