Promotora de los beneficios de leer desde su organización benéfica The Queen’s Reading Room, la esposa de Carlos III hace un cameo literario en la última investigación de Roy Grace, el detective creado por Peter James

An analysis of research papers and citing patents indicates the extensive ties between computer-vision research and surveillance.

Silicon Valley may value imperfect virtual PhDs more than universities pay real ones.

The tech company makes a U-turn in its privacy promises.

Today's links Trumpism's healthcare fracture-lines: How public health can win the Battle of the Cranks. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. This day in history: 2009, 2014, 2019, 2023 Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em. Colophon: All the rest. Trumpism's healthcare fracture-lines (permalink) There was never any question as to whether Trump would implement Project 2025, the 900-page brick of terrifying and unhinged policy prescriptions edited by the Heritage Foundation. He would not implement it, because he could not implement it. No one could. It's impossible. This isn't a statement about constitutional limits on executive authority or the realpolitik of getting bizarre and stupid policies past judges or through a hair-thin Congressional majority. This is a statement about the incoherence of Project 2025 itself. You probably haven't read it. Few have. Realistically, few people are going to read a 900-page group work of neofeudalist fanfic shit out by the most esoteric Fedsoc weirdos the world has ever seen. But one person who did read Project 2025 was the leftist historian Rick Perlstein, who was the first person to really dig into what a fucking mess that thing is: https://pluralistic.net/2024/07/14/fracture-lines/#disassembly-manual Perlstein's excellent analysis doesn't claim that Project 2025's authors aren't sincere in their intentions to wreak great harm upon the nation and its people; rather, his point is that Project 2025 is filled with contradictory, mutually exclusive proposals written by people who fundamentally disagree with one another, and who each have enough power within the Trump coalition that all of their proposals have to be included in a document like this: https://prospect.org/politics/2024-07-10-project-2025-republican-presidencies-tradition/ Project 2025 isn't just a guide to the masturbatory fantasies of the worst people in American politics – far more importantly, it is a detailed map of the fracture lines in the GOP coalition, the places where it is liable to split and shatter. This is an important point if you want to do more about Trumpism than run around feeling miserable and scared. If you want to fight, Project 2025 is a guide to the weak spots where an attack will do the most damage. Perlstein's insight continues to be borne out as the Trump regime makes ready to take power. In a new story for KFF News, Stephanie Armour and Julie Rovner describe the irreconcilable differences among Trump's picks for the country's top public health authorities: https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/trump-rfk-kennedy-health-hhs-fda-cdc-vaccines-covid-weldon/ The brain-worm-infected-elephant in the room is, of course, RFK Jr, who has been announced as Trump's head of Health and Human Services. RFK Jr is a notorious antivaxer, chairman of Children’s Health Defense, a notorious anti-vaccine group. Kennedy's view is shared by Trump's chosen CDC boss, Dave Weldon, a physician who has repeated the dangerous lie that vaccinations cause autism. Mehmet "Dr Oz" Oz, the TV "physician" Trump wants to put in charge of Medicare/Medicaid, calls vaccines "oversold" and advocates for treating covid with hydroxychloroquine, another thoroughly debunked hoax: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2024/12/17/hydroxychloroquine-study-covid-19-retracted-trump/77051671007/ However, other top Trump public health picks emphatically support vaccines. Marty Makary is Trump's choice for FDA commissioner; he's a Johns Hopkins trained surgeon who says vaccines "save lives" (but he peddles the lethal, unscientific hoax that childhood vaccines should be "spread out"). Jay Bhattacharya, the economist/MD whom Trump wants to put in charge of the NIH, supports vaccines (he is also one of the country's leading proponents of the eugenicist idea of accepting the mass death of elderly, sick and disabled people rather than imposing quarantines during epidemics). Then there's Janette Nesheiwat, whom Trump has asked to serve as the nation's surgeon general; she calls vaccines "a gift from God." Like "Bidenism," Trumpism is a fragile coalition of people who thoroughly and irreconcilably disagree with one another. During the Biden administration, this resulted in self-inflicted injuries like appointing the brilliant trustbuster Lina Khan to run the FTC, but also appointing the pro-monopoly corporate lawyer Jacqueline Scott Corley to a lifetime seat as a federal judge, from which perch she ruled against Khan's no-brainer suit to block the Microsoft-Activision merger: https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/judge-rules-for-microsoft-mergers The Trump coalition is even broader than the Biden coalition. That's how he won the 2024 election. But that also means that Trumpism is more fractious and off-balance, and hence will be easier to disrupt, because it is riven by people in senior positions who hate one another and are actively working for each others' political demise. The Trump coalition is a coalition of cranks. I'm using "crank" here in a technical, non-pejorative sense. I am a crank, after all. A crank is someone who is overwhelmingly passionate about a single issue, whose uncrossable bright lines are not broadly shared. Cranks can be right or they can be wrong, but we're hard to be in coalition with, because we are uncompromisingly passionate about things that other people largely don't even notice, let alone care about. You can be a crank whose single issue is eliminating water fluoridation, even though this is very, very stupid and dangerous: https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/the-fluoride-debate Or you can be a crank about digital rights, a subject that, for decades, was viewed as by turns either unserious or as a sneaky way of shilling for Big Tech (thankfully, that's changing): https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/18/greetings-fellow-pirates/#arrrrrrrrrr Cranks make hard coalition partners. Trump's cranks are cranked up about different things – vaccines, culture war trans panics, eugenics – and are total normies about other things. The eugenicist MD/economist who wants to "let 'er rip" rather than engage in nonpharmaceutical pandemic interventions is gonna be horrified by total abortion bans and antivax. These cranks are on a collision course with one another. This is on prominent display in these public health appointments, and we're very likely about to get a test of the cohesiveness and capability of the second Trump administration, thanks to bird flu. Now that bird flu has infected humans in multiple US states, there is every chance that we will have to confront a public health emergency in the coming weeks. If that happens, the Trump public health divisions over masking, quarantine and (especially) vaccines (Kennedy called the covid vaccine the "deadliest" ever made, without any evidence) will become the most important issue in the country, under constant and pitiless scrutiny, and criticism. Trump's public health shambles is by no means unique. The lesson of Project 2025 is that the entire Trump project is one factional squabble away from collapse at all times. Hey look at this (permalink) Can We Solve Canada's Monopoly Problem? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VjpA36sxVM (h/t Regs to Riches) Copyright Abuse Is Getting Luigi Mangione Merch Removed From the Internet https://www.404media.co/copyright-abuse-is-getting-luigi-mangione-merch-removed-from-the-internet/ SiCKO | A Film by Michael Moore | 2007 | Full Movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbEQ7acb0IE (h/t Ian Forrester) This day in history (permalink) #15yrsago Pope passes special Vatican copyright giving him exclusive right to use his name, title, image https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/18122/holy-see-declares-unique-copyright-on-papal-figure #15yrsago Norwegian public broadcaster torrents 7-hour, hi-def trainride https://nrkbeta.no/2009/12/18/bergensbanen-eng/ #15yrsago Xmaspunk raygun https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew_colunga/4201119099/ #15yrsago America can’t make things because managers all learn finance instead of production https://newrepublic.com/article/72035/wagoner-henderson #10yrsago EFF’s copyfighter’s crossword https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/12/crossword-puzzle-year-copyright-news #10yrsago TX SWAT team beats, deafens nude man in his own home, lies about arrest; judge declines to punish cops or DA https://web.archive.org/web/20141224170549/http://www.myfoxhouston.com/story/27645689/ft-bend-police-prosecutors-accused-of-abuse-in-swat-incident #10yrsago Outfit a game-designer’s toolkit for < $20 https://web.archive.org/web/20141222165215/http://iq212.com/iQ212Blog/2014/12/16/the-20-dollar-game-designers-tool-kit/ #10yrsago Telcos’ anti-Net Neutrality argument may let the MPAA destroy DNS https://www.techdirt.com/2014/12/18/mpaas-secret-war-net-neutrality-is-key-part-its-plan-to-block-sites/ #10yrsago Musical time-machine to Walt Disney World in the late 1970s https://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2014/12/another-musical-souvenir-of-walt-disney.html #10yrsago LISTEN: Wil Wheaton reads “Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free” https://ia600908.us.archive.org/24/items/idwtbf/Cory_Doctorow_-_Information_Doesnt_Want_to_Be_Free_Chapter_1_read_by_Wil_Wheaton.mp3 #10yrsago Kenya’s Parliament erupts into chaos as government rams through brutal “anti-terrorism” law https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000145159/chaos-disrupt-parliament-special-sitting-on-security-bill #10yrsago Gingerbread Enterprise https://imgur.com/a/gingerbread-uss-enterprise-pvtYQ #10yrsago NY DA gives unlicensed driver who killed senior in crosswalk a $400 fine https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2014/12/18/vance-deal-400-fine-for-unlicensed-driver-who-killed-senior-in-crosswalk #10yrsago FCC seems to have lost hundreds of thousands of net neutrality comments https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/2psxh9/the_fcc_ignored_hundreds_of_thousands_of_net/ #5yrsago Mass convictions of local warlords for 2009 massacre revive faith in Philippines’ justice system https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50770644.amp #5yrsago A vast network of shadowy news sites promote conservative talking points mixed with floods of algorithmically generated “news” https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/hundreds-of-pink-slime-local-news-outlets-are-distributing-algorithmic-stories-conservative-talking-points.php #5yrsago Volunteer “stick library” is a hit with neighborhood dogs https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/13/dad-creates-stick-library-dogs-11902209/?ito=article.tablet.share.top.messenger #5yrsago Students at elite Shanghai university protest the removal of “freedom of thought” from the school charter https://asiatimes.com/2019/12/students-protest-at-shanghais-fudan-university/ #5yrsago NIST confirms that facial recognition is a racist, sexist dumpster-fire https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2019/12/nist-study-evaluates-effects-race-age-sex-face-recognition-software #5yrsago Betsy DeVos quietly spends millions to promote the unpopular policies she hopes to enact as a federal official https://www.salon.com/2019/12/19/exclusive-betsy-devos-family-foundation-funnels-money-to-right-wing-groups-that-boost-her-agenda/ #5yrsago Bernie Sanders got the GAO to study the life chances of millennials, and the report concludes that debt is “crushing their dreams” https://www.teenvogue.com/story/bernie-sanders-report-millennial-living-standards #5yrsago Doctors who take pharma industry freebies prescribe more of their benefactors’ drugs https://www.propublica.org/article/doctors-prescribe-more-of-a-drug-if-they-receive-money-from-a-pharma-company-tied-to-it#173787 #5yrsago New York Times analyzes a leaked set of location data from a private broker, sounds the alarm https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/location-tracking-cell-phone.html #5yrsago Americans should definitely be worried about the EU’s new copyright rules https://medium.com/berkman-klein-center/why-americans-should-worry-about-the-new-eu-copyright-rules-97800be3f8fc #5yrsago Illinois schools don’t just lock special ed kids in solitary, they also restrain them https://www.propublica.org/article/illinois-school-restraints#173374> #5yrsago Medicare for All would cut most Americans’ taxes, creating the biggest American take-home pay raise in a generation https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/25/medicare-for-all-taxes-saez-zucman #5yrsago Codifying “Boomerspeak” and debating the ethics of poking fun at it https://www.wired.com/story/boomerspeak-enregisterment/ #5yrsago Alberta’s tax-funded climate denial “war room” ripped off its logo from a US tech company https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/alberta-s-oil-and-gas-war-room-changing-logo-following-complaints-it-copied-u-s-data-company-1.4737423 #5yrsago My annual Daddy-Daughter Xmas Podcast: interview with an 11-year-old https://ia802801.us.archive.org/18/items/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_320/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_320_-_Christmas_2019_with_Poesy.mp3 #1yrago 2024's public domain is a banger https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/20/em-oh-you-ess-ee/#sexytimes #1yrago What kind of bubble is AI? https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/19/bubblenomics/#pop Upcoming appearances (permalink) Picks and Shovels with Ken Liu (Boston), Feb 14 https://brooklinebooksmith.com/event/2025-02-14/cory-doctorow-ken-liu-picks-and-shovels Picks and Shovels with Charlie Jane Anders (Menlo Park), Feb 17 https://www.keplers.org/upcoming-events-internal/cory-doctorow Picks and Shovels with Wil Wheaton (Los Angeles), Feb 18 https://www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Cory-Doctorow-Wil-Wheaton-Author-signing Picks and Shovels with Dan Savage (Seattle), Feb 19 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cory-doctorow-with-dan-savage-picks-and-shovels-a-martin-hench-novel-tickets-1106741957989 Cloudfest (Europa Park), Mar 17-20 https://cloudfest.link/ Picks and Shovels at Imagine! Belfast (Remote), Mar 24 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cory-doctorow-in-conversation-with-alan-meban-tickets-1106421399189 DeepSouthCon63 (New Orleans), Oct 10-12, 2025 http://www.contraflowscifi.org/ Recent appearances (permalink) The Intersection of Storytelling and Technology (Grey Matter) https://www.greymatter.show/episodes/s1e109-cory-doctorow-the-intersection-of-storytelling-and-technology Can we avoid the enshittification of clean-energy tech? (Volts.wtf) https://www.volts.wtf/p/can-we-avoid-the-enshittification Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It (HOPE XV) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrciT_dc2sc&list=PLcajvRZA8E0_tLLEh1COeAv-TcaDna2k1&index=32 Latest books (permalink) The Bezzle: a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (the-bezzle.org). Signed, personalized copies at Dark Delicacies (https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3062/Available_Feb_20th%3A_The_Bezzle_HB.html#/). "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). Signed, personalized copies at Dark Delicacies (https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3007/Pre-Order_Signed_Copies%3A_The_Lost_Cause_HB.html#/) "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245). "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. Signed copies at Dark Delicacies (US): and Forbidden Planet (UK): https://forbiddenplanet.com/385004-red-team-blues-signed-edition-hardcover/. "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com "Attack Surface": The third Little Brother novel, a standalone technothriller for adults. The Washington Post called it "a political cyberthriller, vigorous, bold and savvy about the limits of revolution and resistance." Order signed, personalized copies from Dark Delicacies https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1840/Available_Now%3A_Attack_Surface.html "How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism": an anti-monopoly pamphlet analyzing the true harms of surveillance capitalism and proposing a solution. https://onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59?sk=f6cd10e54e20a07d4c6d0f3ac011af6b) (signed copies: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2024/Available_Now%3A__How_to_Destroy_Surveillance_Capitalism.html) "Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a new introduction by Edward Snowden: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250774583; personalized/signed copies here: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1750/July%3A__Little_Brother_%26_Homeland.html "Poesy the Monster Slayer" a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627. Get a personalized, signed copy here: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2682/Corey_Doctorow%3A_Poesy_the_Monster_Slayer_HB.html#/. Upcoming books (permalink) Picks and Shovels: a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books, February 2025 Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 2025 Unauthorized Bread: a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2025 Colophon (permalink) Today's top sources: Currently writing: Enshittification: a nonfiction book about platform decay for Farrar, Straus, Giroux. Status: second pass edit underway (readaloud) A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING Picks and Shovels, a Martin Hench noir thriller about the heroic era of the PC. FORTHCOMING TOR BOOKS FEB 2025 Latest podcast: Daddy-Daughter Podcast 2024 https://craphound.com/overclocked/2024/12/17/daddy-daughter-podcast-2024/ This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution. How to get Pluralistic: Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): Pluralistic.net Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://pluralistic.net/plura-list Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic Medium (no ads, paywalled): https://doctorow.medium.com/ Twitter (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising): https://twitter.com/doctorow Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising): https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic "When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla" -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla