Cory Doctorow's linkblog @pluralistic@mamot.fr

Today's threads (a thread).

Inside: Massive Predpol leak confirms that it drives racist policing; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/02/empirical-facewash/

#Pluralistic

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Today's top sources: Julia Angwin (https://twitter.com/JuliaAngwin/).

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If you prefer a newsletter, subscribe to the plura-list, which is also ad- and tracker-free, and is utterly unadorned save a single daily emoji. Today's is "🪵". Suggestions solicited for future emojis!

Subscribe here: https://pluralistic.net/plura-list

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If you're a Medium subscriber, you can read these - as well as previews of upcoming magazine columns and early exclusives on doctorow.medium.com.

My latest Medium column is "Give Me Slack":

https://medium.com/@doctorow/give-me-slack-b4e88a007dbf

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You can also follow these posts as a daily blog at pluralistic.net: no ads, trackers, or data-collection!

Here's today's edition: https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/02/empirical-facewash/

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My first picture book is out! It's called Poesy the Monster Slayer and it's an epic tale of bedtime-refusal, toy-hacking and monster-hunting, illustrated by Matt Rockefeller. It's the monster book I dreamt of reading to my own daughter.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/14/poesy-the-monster-slayer/#poesy

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Recent appearances:

* Redistribute the Internet (NGI Summit)
https://vimeo.com/651018259

* NFTs (Upstream)
https://soundcloud.com/upstreampodcast/nfts

* Policy, Profit, Privacy, and Privilege: The Post-Pandemic Future of Remote Testing Technology (ACM-USTPC):
https://www.acm.org/public-policy/ustpc/hottopics/remote-testing

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Upcoming appearances:

* Internet Governance Forum (Warsaw), Dec 10
https://www.intgovforum.org/en/schedule/20211210

* Competition and Regulation in Disrupted Times, Dec 16
https://www.cra-brusselsconference.com/

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My ebooks and audiobooks (from Tor Books, Head of Zeus, McSweeneys, 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."

https://craphound.com/shop/

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My book "How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism" is a critique of Big Tech connecting conspiratorial thinking to the rise of tech monopolies (proposing a way to deal with both) is now out in paperback:

https://onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59

Signed copies here:
https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2024/Available_Now%3A__How_to_Destroy_Surveillance_Capitalism.html

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My latest book is Attack Surface, a sequel to my bestselling Little Brother books, now in paperback, wherever books are sold.

Signed copies at Dark Delicacies:

https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1840/Cory_Doctorow_-__Attack_Surface_HB_%26_TPB.html#/

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Yesterday's threads: Fintech is a scam, a listicle in eight parts; Teaching thread management with puzzle games; and more!

https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/107373156182763517

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#20yrsago What is Dean Kamen's "IT"? https://web.archive.org/web/20011203090912/https://time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,186660,00.html

#5yrsago British politicians exempt themselves from warrantless spying under the Snoopers Charter https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/investigatory-powers-bill-a7447781.html

#5yrsago Bernie Sanders: Trump just used your taxes to reward Carrier for offshoring American jobs https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/12/01/bernie-sanders-carrier-just-showed-corporations-how-to-beat-donald-trump/

#1yrago Nalo Hopkinson, Science Fiction Grand Master https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/02/in-the-ring/#go-nalo-go

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Massive Predpol leak confirms that it drives racist policing: As with McKinsey consultants, buying Predpol is a way to buy outside validation for the indefensible.

https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/107378596233713104

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I'm going overseas for work on Dec 7, which means time to order signed/personalized copies of my books from @darkdel is running out!

Attack Surface:
https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1840/Cory_Doctorow_-__Attack_Surface_HB_%26_TPB.html#/

Little Brother/Homeland:
https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1750/Cory_Doctorow_-_Little_Brother_%26_Homeland.html#/

How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism:
https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2024/Cory_Doctorow_-_How_to_Destroy_Surveillance_Capitalism.html#/

Poesy the Monster Slayer:
https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1562/_Poesy_the_Monster_Slayer.html

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Today's threads (a thread).

Inside: Massive Predpol leak confirms that it drives racist policing; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/02/empirical-facewash/

#Pluralistic

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Image:
Science Museum London (modified)
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/fjbypqcr/items

CC BY 4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Cryteria (modified)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

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There's a limited pool of mathematicians who can produce the kind of convincing confirmation bias as a service that Predpol sells, and it's shrinking. 1,400 mathematicians have signed an open letter "begging their colleagues not to collaborate on research with law enforcement, specifically singling out Predpol."

https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/202009/rnoti-p1293.pdf

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All this secrecy helps hide the fact that Predpol is a) expensive and b) it doesn't work. But many police departments are wising up. LAPD was Predpol's first big reference customer - and they stopped using it in 2020, citing financial constraints and a damning Inspector General report.

It's not just LA. Santa Cruz - the birthplace of Predpol - also fired the company last year:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/06/27/belated-oppenheimers/#banana-slugs

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