Below are posts associated with the “link” type.
🔗 linkblog: Why none of my books are available on Audible | Cory Doctorow's craphound.com'
Doctorow convinced me years ago that Audible was terrible, but here, he showed me just how bad they are.
🔗 linkblog: How Mormons are addressing sex abuse: Too little, too late'
Appreciate Jana’s perspective on this horrible story.
🔗 linkblog: No cap, Sen. Mike Lee’s personal Twitter account is called ‘BasedMikeLee’ - The Verge'
Lots of directions to go with this one, but “based” is the red pill red flag for me. Lee is (unsurprisingly) borrowing the language of the far right.
🔗 linkblog: This Is the Data Facebook Gave Police to Prosecute a Teenager for Abortion'
Compelling example of the need for digital privacy in a post-Row world.
🔗 linkblog: Republicans Are Suddenly Very Eager to Defund the Police'
I’ve been thinking this since yesterday. It’s telling how so many “law and order” conservatives who make a big deal about being pro-police reverse on those positions as soon as law enforcement is inconvenient for them.
🔗 linkblog: Even Before the FBI Search, MAGA World Was Saying It's at War'
A worrying look at CPAC. What is happening to the Republican Party?
🔗 linkblog: Trump Supporters Are Calling for Civil War After FBI Search of Mar-a-Lago'
McCarthy isn’t saying the same thing as these Telegram channels, but he’s making it easier for them to say what they’re saying.
🔗 linkblog: Kentucky candidates struggle when describing 2020 election | Lexington Herald Leader'
Disappointing but unsurprising.
🔗 linkblog: A Few Minor, and Hopefully Helpful Editing Suggestions on the LDS Church’s Recent Statement about Abuse | By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog'
I’ve long lacked confidence in my own opinions (as a general rule—I can also be an opinionated jerk), so even the simplest disagreement with a position I’ve taken can take some wind out of my sails. When I read the official Latter-day Saint response to the recent AP story, I didn’t agree with it, but it still slowed me down some. “Maybe I should consider things from another point of view,” I thought. I do think it’s important to consider things from all angles, and I don’t think I have the full story, but Michael Austin’s response is the right one gere. When we’re talking about an instance where church inaction allowed for horrific child abuse to continue unchecked for SEVEN YEARS, complaining about unfair treatment in the press is not the right way to respond. Furthermore, if the church is upset by implications that it cares more about its public reputation than about victims of child abuse, responding the way it did only adds fuel to that fire. Again, Austin’s response here is spot on.
🔗 linkblog: Pluralistic: 07 Aug 2022 – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow'
Why do we let inkjet printers get away with this nonsense?
🔗 linkblog: The Teen Who Helped Expose the Boy Scouts’ Pedophilia Epidemic, and the Mormon Church’s Cover-Up'
This reporting is from a couple of years ago, but I wasn’t paying enough attention at the time, and recent events make me regret that.
🔗 linkblog: Elon Musk challenges Twitter CEO to a ‘public debate’ about bots - The Verge'
Musk continues his trolling. This is a dumb proposal, and Twitter shouldn’t accept it.
🔗 linkblog: Amazon Buys Roomba Company, Will Now Map Inside of Your House'
Some good points about how Amazon owning Roomba is scarier than just Roomba existing on its own—even if I didn’t realize that Roomba was creepily mapping houses.
🔗 linkblog: Absolutely Terrible Textbook Publishing Giant Pearson Wants To Make Everything Even Worse With NFTs | Techdirt'
Masnick’s critiques of Pearson here are better than anything I could have written.
🔗 linkblog: Kids Are Back in Classrooms and Laptops Are Still Spying on Them'
Some really worrying privacy implications in this kind of edtech—and edtech as a discipline doesn’t care nearly enough about this kind of thing. Makes me worried as a scholar and a parent.
🔗 linkblog: Amazon Buying Roomba Maker iRobot for $1.7 Billion - WSJ'
Amazon keeps getting bigger, and I don’t think that’s for the better.
🔗 linkblog: Mormon church sex abuse: AP investigation | AP News'
This is a horrifying, sickening story. When it’s marriage equality, the Church is eager to say that being legal doesn’t make something right (a bad take, for the record), so to hear “it was fine because it was legal” as a defense for bishops’ failure to report child sexual abuse (at Salt Lake’s encouragement) is sickening.
🔗 linkblog: Study Says Trump’s Truth Social Is Much More Aggressive, And Much More Arbitrary, In Moderating Content | Techdirt'
Unsurprising, but still a valuable read.
🔗 linkblog: Pearson says NFT textbooks will let it profit off secondhand sales - The Verge'
Ugh, Pearson. Why do we keep thinking about ways to make digital textbooks worse than physical ones?
🔗 linkblog: Hiroshima and Nagasaki Are Not Just History: The Horrors of Nuclear Weapons Live On | Friends Committee On National Legislation'
I don’t believe nuclear disarmament will be easy, but I’m increasingly convinced that it must be done. Just a single mistake or miscommunication could doom our entire planet.
🔗 linkblog: Voters in Kansas decide to keep abortion legal in the state, rejecting an amendment – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville'
There’s a similar amendment on the ballot in Kentucky in November; here’s hoping for similar results.
🔗 linkblog: At least 25 people have died in Kentucky's floods, governor says : NPR'
We’ve had a rough year of natural disasters.
🔗 linkblog: The Tech We Won’t Build — The Internet Health Report 2022'
Compelling podcast episode from Mozilla highlighting morally dubious uses of AI. It’s really important that we be more reflective about this instead of trying things and seeing where they lead.
🔗 linkblog: Gun-makers made millions marketing AR-15-style guns as a sign of manhood : NPR'
So much of modern right-wing politics boils down to concerns about masculinity.
🔗 linkblog: Doug Mastriano Faces Criticism Over His Backing From Antisemitic Ally - The New York Times'
I knew that Gab was supporting Mastriano, but I didn’t realize ties ran this deep. Gab is a toxic hellhole, and if Mastriano is sending them money, that should rule him out as a candidate.