Today's threads (a thread)
Inside: Michael Swanwick's "The Universe Box"; and more!
Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/23/the-last-days-of-old-night/
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Michael Swanwick's "The Universe Box": Short stories from a science fiction master at the top of his form.
https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/116007128622030247
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Hey look at this
* To Avoid a Tax Hike, Billionaires Decide to Take Over California https://prospect.org/2026/02/02/billionaires-california-tax-hike/
* Mentioned in Hell’s Dispatches https://ftrain.com/mentioned-in-satans-dispatches
* U.S. Envoys Refused to Report "Apocalyptic" Conditions in Gaza. Exclusive Photos Show the Reality They Suppressed https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/northern-gaza-apocalyptic-wasteland-jack-lew-israeli-war-supressed
* MAGA's "People's Capitalism" https://www.unpopularfront.news/p/magas-peoples-capitalism
* The Onion’s Exclusive Interview With Pete Hegseth https://theonion.com/the-onions-exclusive-interview-with-pete-hegseth/
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#20yrsago Sony CD spyware vendor caves to EFF demands https://web.archive.org/web/20060208033113/https://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_02.php#004378
#20yrsago British Library: DRM lobotomizes “human memory” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4675280.stm
#15yrsago Hex values for Crayola colors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Crayola_crayon_colors
#15yrsago Michael Lewis explains the Irish econopocalypse https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/03/michael-lewis-ireland-201103?currentPage=all
#15yrsago Canada’s Internet rescued from weak and pathetic regulator https://web.archive.org/web/20110203054651/http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/932571--ottawa-threatens-to-reverse-crtc-decision-on-internet-billing
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#10yrsago Tattoo artist asserts copyright over customers’ bodies https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/nba-2k-videogame-maker-sued-861131/
#10yrsago EU plans to class volunteers who rescue drowning Syrian refugees as “traffickers” https://www.statewatch.org/news/2016/january/refugee-crisis-council-proposals-on-migrant-smuggling-would-criminalise-humanitarian-assistance-by-civil-society-local-people-and-volunteers-greece-ngos-and-volunteers-have-to-register-with-the-police-and-be-vetted/
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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
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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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My ebooks and audiobooks (from FSGxMCD, Tor Books, Head of Zeus, McSweeneys, Beacon, Verso and others) are for sale all over the net, but I sell 'em too, and when you buy 'em from me, I earn twice as much and you get books with no DRM and no license "agreements."
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#20yrsago Sony CD spyware vendor caves to EFF demands https://web.archive.org/web/20060208033113/https://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_02.php#004378
#20yrsago British Library: DRM lobotomizes “human memory” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4675280.stm
#15yrsago Hex values for Crayola colors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Crayola_crayon_colors
#15yrsago Michael Lewis explains the Irish econopocalypse https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/03/michael-lewis-ireland-201103?currentPage=all
#15yrsago Canada’s Internet rescued from weak and pathetic regulator https://web.archive.org/web/20110203054651/http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/932571--ottawa-threatens-to-reverse-crtc-decision-on-internet-billing
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