🔗 linkblog: just read 'Texas' governor wants 'pornographic' school library books removed : NPR'

- kudos:

To paraphrase George Smiley, you can learn a lot about how those in power will treat people by the way they treat books. link to ‘Texas’ governor wants ‘pornographic’ school library books removed : NPR’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Public transportation can save the world — if we let it'

- kudos:

Public transit forever. Lexington is considering BRT, and I’m really hoping it comes through. Would give me some more commuting options. link to ‘Public transportation can save the world — if we let it’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Florida Bars State Professors From Testifying in Voting Rights Case - The New York Times'

- kudos:

So gross. link to ‘Florida Bars State Professors From Testifying in Voting Rights Case - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Facebook Changes Corporate Name to Meta - The New York Times'

- kudos:

The weirdest part of this article to me is how you have Frances Haugen talking to the UK Parliament in one paragraph and then Nick Clegg—former deputy PM—defending “Meta” as their employee not long after. link to ‘Facebook Changes Corporate Name to Meta - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Inequitable Access: An Anti-Competitive Scheme by Textbook Publishers | Electronic Frontier Foundation'

- kudos:

OER forever. This article makes me sad. link to ‘Inequitable Access: An Anti-Competitive Scheme by Textbook Publishers | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

🔗 linkblog: just read '#181 Absolutely Devious Lick | Reply All'

- kudos:

What a great episode. link to ‘#181 Absolutely Devious Lick | Reply All’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Google and Facebook’s Ad Empires - The New York Times'

- kudos:

Tech companies are often ad companies, and it behooves us to remember that. link to ‘Google and Facebook’s Ad Empires - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'How hospitals inflate bills for healthy births by labeling them 'emergencies' : Shots - Health News : NPR'

- kudos:

So much ugh. link to ‘How hospitals inflate bills for healthy births by labeling them ’emergencies’ : Shots - Health News : NPR’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Viewing website HTML code is not illegal or “hacking,” prof. tells Missouri gov. | Ars Technica'

- kudos:

This story just gets more and more ridiculous. link to ‘Viewing website HTML code is not illegal or “hacking,” prof. tells Missouri gov. | Ars Technica’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Employees pleaded with Facebook to stop letting politicians bend rules | Ars Technica'

- kudos:

Facebook might need more moderators, but they shouldn’t be company executives… link to ‘Employees pleaded with Facebook to stop letting politicians bend rules | Ars Technica’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Bugs Bunny's Official D&D Character Sheet Is A 15th-level Illusionist | Boing Boing'

- kudos:

A fun article that reminds me of my plans to create a Cleric of Trickery based on George Smiley for an upcoming 5e campaign. link to ‘Bugs Bunny’s Official D&D Character Sheet Is A 15th-level Illusionist | Boing Boing’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'She Is Breaking Glass Ceilings in Space, but Facing Sexism on Earth - The New York Times'

- kudos:

Sobering read. link to ‘She Is Breaking Glass Ceilings in Space, but Facing Sexism on Earth - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Trump’s site Truth Social broke software rules, says copyleft group - The Verge'

- kudos:

Do not mess with open licensing. link to ‘Trump’s site Truth Social broke software rules, says copyleft group - The Verge’

🔗 linkblog: just read '42 years later, how 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' has endured : NPR'

- kudos:

Posting this for hoopy froods to read. link to ‘42 years later, how ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ has endured : NPR’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Texas Removed an L.G.B.T.Q. Resource Page After a Candidate Complained - The New York Times'

- kudos:

This is frustrating and sad. link to ‘Texas Removed an L.G.B.T.Q. Resource Page After a Candidate Complained - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Missouri governor threatens reporter who discovered state site spilling private info - The Verge'

- kudos:

If viewing the source code of a web page is hacking, my black hat skills just went up a thousandfold. link to ‘Missouri governor threatens reporter who discovered state site spilling private info - The Verge’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'A squeaky glove compartment accidentally sounds like light jazz | Boing Boing'

- kudos:

This delights me to no end. link to ‘A squeaky glove compartment accidentally sounds like light jazz | Boing Boing’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'U.S. Antigovernment Groups Are Influencing the French Far Right - The New York Times'

- kudos:

This is worrying. There’s a long tradition of open far right movements in France, and if the U.S has something to teach them, it should make us think twice about what’s happening here. link to ‘U.S. Antigovernment Groups Are Influencing the French Far Right - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Facebook whistleblower hearing: France Haugen finally got Republicans to stop yapping about anti-conservative bias.'

- kudos:

Interesting article. I’m particularly interested in the idea of focusing on algorithms rather than content. link to ‘Facebook whistleblower hearing: France Haugen finally got Republicans to stop yapping about anti-conservative bias.’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Facebook’s outage likely cost the company over $60 million | Ars Technica'

- kudos:

A compelling reminder that social media companies make money from eyeballs pointed at screens. link to ‘Facebook’s outage likely cost the company over $60 million | Ars Technica’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Shang Chi Director: American Born Chinese Series for Disney+'

- kudos:

Tentatively excited! Such a great comic—they’d better do it justice. link to ‘Shang Chi Director: American Born Chinese Series for Disney+’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Opinion | Don’t Let Amazon Eat the Film Industry - The New York Times'

- kudos:

The more pies Amazon has its fingers in, the more concerning it becomes. link to ‘Opinion | Don’t Let Amazon Eat the Film Industry - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Amazon Astro Leaks Data All Over New Carpet'

- kudos:

Well played, The Onion. Well played. link to ‘Amazon Astro Leaks Data All Over New Carpet’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Fairphone’s latest sustainable smartphone comes with a five-year warranty - The Verge'

- kudos:

Really want to see Fairphone start selling in U.S. link to ‘Fairphone’s latest sustainable smartphone comes with a five-year warranty - The Verge’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Majority of Americans support national data privacy standards: poll | TheHill'

- kudos:

This means we’re going to get some soon, right? link to ‘Majority of Americans support national data privacy standards: poll | TheHill’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Despite Arrests And Setbacks, Far-Right Proud Boys Press New Ambitions : NPR'

- kudos:

Worrying read but important one. link to ‘Despite Arrests And Setbacks, Far-Right Proud Boys Press New Ambitions : NPR’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'The Melting Face Emoji Has Already Won Us Over - The New York Times'

- kudos:

I immediately connected with this emoji the first time I saw it. Also, I remember writing a paper in high school arguing that emoticons were legitimate “language.” The paper was horrible, but I still believe in that central thesis, and I think emojis are vindicating it. link to ‘The Melting Face Emoji Has Already Won Us Over - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'IRS Reports Your Taxes Specifically Were Spent To Drone-Strike Kids'

- kudos:

I get that this is The Onion and that this isn’t how taxes work, but this article still fees like a gut punch. link to ‘IRS Reports Your Taxes Specifically Were Spent To Drone-Strike Kids’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Lexington opens key pedestrian bridge over Man O’ War | Lexington Herald Leader'

- kudos:

This sounds like a great place for a family bike ride! link to ‘Lexington opens key pedestrian bridge over Man O’ War | Lexington Herald Leader’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'The train that shrunk France… and Europe | Ars Technica'

- kudos:

TGV forever link to ‘The train that shrunk France… and Europe | Ars Technica’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Kids who grew up with search engines could change STEM education forever - The Verge'

- kudos:

Very interesting to think about how mental models re: file storage may be changing. link to ‘Kids who grew up with search engines could change STEM education forever - The Verge’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Pfizer Says Vaccine Trials For Kids Show Its Shots Are Safe : Coronavirus Updates : NPR'

- kudos:

Crossing fingers! link to ‘Pfizer Says Vaccine Trials For Kids Show Its Shots Are Safe : Coronavirus Updates : NPR’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Pentagon Acknowledges Aug. 29 Drone Strike in Afghanistan Was Tragic Mistake - The New York Times'

- kudos:

What a heartbreaking story. We need to rethink our relationship with drones—and war. link to ‘Pentagon Acknowledges Aug. 29 Drone Strike in Afghanistan Was Tragic Mistake - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Y: The Last Man's Collapsing Infrastructure Scariest Part'

- kudos:

So far, I’ve only watched the pilot and am not sure how far I’ll make it in the series, but this article reinforces my belief that 2021 can do more with the premise of the series than 2002 did. link to ‘Y: The Last Man’s Collapsing Infrastructure Scariest Part’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Apple and Google Remove ‘Navalny’ Voting App in Russia - The New York Times'

- kudos:

This is maybe the best example I’ve seen of app stores being a problematic model. Is there an Android app that could be sideloaded? Definitely isn’t for Apple, and that’s shameful. link to ‘Apple and Google Remove ‘Navalny’ Voting App in Russia - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: just read 'Political parties complained Facebook’s algorithm promoted polarization - The Verge'

- kudos:

What a read. Platforms don’t just host content, they manipulate that content. link to ‘Political parties complained Facebook’s algorithm promoted polarization - The Verge’