Today's threads (a thread)

[pluralistic@mamot.fr]

Hey look at this

* Historic England’s Vanishing Archive https://www.sarsen.org/2026/09/historic-englands-photos-didnt-vanish.html

* Trial of live facial recognition in London stations leads to a false positive and no arrests https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/sep/29/trial-live-facial-recognition-cameras-london-stations-false-positive

* Amazon Crime https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/amazon-crime

* By 30 points, voters oppose sending ICE agents to the polls https://www.gelliottmorris.com/p/2026-09-29-ice-and-troops-at-the-polls

* How to Beat Surveillance Pricing Before It Bleeds You Dry https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-beat-surveillance-pricing-before-it-bleeds-you-dry/

3/

[pluralistic@mamot.fr]

#25yrsago Doonesbury on 9/11 https://web.archive.org/web/20020309055239/http://www2.uclick.com/feature/01/10/01/db011001.gif

#20yrsago Suspicious Looking Device exists to incite unease https://web.archive.org/web/20061107112421/http://junkfunnel.com/sld/

#20yrsago HOWTO make elephant-shit paper https://web.archive.org/web/20061020105837/https://intensehumour.blogspot.com/2006/09/elephant-dung-paper.html

#20yrsago The Onion on TSA liquid restrictions https://web.archive.org/web/20061001102305/https://theonion.com/content/node/53536

#15yrsago Goodbye letter from Borders employee(s) (?) spills secrets of bookselling trade https://memex.craphound.com/2011/09/30/goodbye-letter-from-borders-employees-spills-secrets-of-bookselling-trade/

4/

[pluralistic@mamot.fr]

#10yrsago Electronic voting machines suck, the comprehensive 2016 election edition https://web.archive.org/web/20160930060538/https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-voting-technology/

#10yrsago Shadow Regulation: the secret laws that giant corporations cook up in back rooms https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/09/shadow-regulation-back-room-threat-digital-rights

#10yrsago EFF to court: don’t let US government prosecute professor over his book about securing computers https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-asks-court-block-us-prosecuting-security-researcher-detecting-and-publishing

5/

[pluralistic@mamot.fr]

#10yrsago Matt Furie on the experience of having his Pepe the Frog character hijacked by white supremacists https://riylcast.tumblr.com/post/151123916140/episode-187-matt-furie-bonus

#10yrsago Arkansas lawmaker who pushed law protecting right to video police is arrested for videoing an arrest https://web.archive.org/web/20160930151809/https://theintercept.com/2016/09/30/lawmaker-who-pushed-bill-to-protect-people-filming-police-arrested-for-filming-police/

#10yrsago Austerity kills the last steam-powered loom in the world https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lancashire-37512136

#5yrsago Facebook thrives on criticism of "disinformation" https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/30/dont-believe-the-criti-hype/#ordinary-mediocrities

6/

[pluralistic@mamot.fr]

Yesterdays's threads: Priceful; and more!

https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/117350382654966344

7/

[pluralistic@mamot.fr]

My latest nonfiction book is the internationally bestselling "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI," from MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374621568/thereversecentaursguidetolifeafterai/

--

My previous nonfiction book is the internationally bestselling "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It":

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/

8/

[pluralistic@mamot.fr]

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."

https://craphound.com/shop/

9/

[pluralistic@mamot.fr]

Upcoming appearances:

* #Boston: The Post-American Internet: Possibilities for a new internet created by an American Hermit Kingdom (MIT Media Lab), Sep 30
https://www.media.mit.edu/events/the-post-american-internet-possibilities-for-a-new-internet-created-by-an-american-hermit-kingdom/

* #Boston: Rethinking Our Relationship with AI, Sep 30 (Emtech)
https://event.technologyreview.com/emtech-future-2026/detailed-agenda

* #Boston: The Paradox of Enshittification and Reverse Centaurs (Harvard Berkman Klein), Sep 30
https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/running-harder-falling-faster-paradox-enshittification-and-reverse-centaurs

10/

[pluralistic@mamot.fr]

Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

* #Brighton: Digital Sovereignty and the Post-American Internet (Green Party Conference), Oct 3
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/events/digital-sovereignty-and-the-post-american-internet/

* Virtual: How to govern technology in a multipolar digital world (Connecting Current), Oct 6
https://connectingcurrent.tech/how-to-govern-technology-a-multipolar-digital-world/

* #SouthBend: An Evening With Cory Doctorow (Notre Dame), Oct 6
https://franco.nd.edu/events/2026/10/06/an-evening-with-cory-doctorow/

* #Hudson, OH: Hudson Library, Oct 7
https://engagedpatrons.org/EventsExtended.cfm?SiteID=3850&EventID=596952&PK=

11/

[pluralistic@mamot.fr]

Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

* #Calgary: Wordfest, Oct 8
https://wordfest.com/2026/show/wordfest-presents-cory-doctorow-l2026/

* #Winnipeg: McNally Robinson, Oct 9
https://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/event-18991/An-Evening-with-Cory-Doctorow

* #Paris: Slow Tech Summit, Oct 15
https://slowtechsummit.com/

* #Vancouver: Read, Resist, Repair, Rejoice (Vancouver Writers Festival), Oct 19
https://writersfest.bc.ca/festival-event-2026/01

12/

[pluralistic@mamot.fr]

Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

* #Victoria: Munro's Books, Oct 20
https://www.munrobooks.com/events/6113620261020

* #Vancouver: Life After AI (Vancouver Writers Festival), Oct 22
https://writersfest.bc.ca/festival-event-2026/46

* #Ottawa: Life After AI (Ottawa Writers Festival), Oct 24
https://writersfestival.org/event/life-after-ai

* #Kilkenny: Kilkenomics, Nov 6-8
https://kilkenomics.com/

13/

[pluralistic@mamot.fr]

Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

* #Vancouver: Enshittification (Sid Williams Theatre Society), Nov 10
https://www.sidwilliamstheatre.com/events/cory-doctorow-talks-enshittification/

* #Vancouver: BC Policy Solutions Gala, Nov 12
https://bcpolicy.ca/gala/

* #Montreal: World Science Fiction Convention, Sep 2-6
https://montreal2027.ca/en

14/

[pluralistic@mamot.fr]

Recent appearances:

* How to Think About AI—Before It’s Too Late (Daniel Solove)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0xR3uEgGcc

* Could Tech Bosses Destroy Life As We Know It? (Politics JOE)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL4VktU0SgY

* Are 'AI Apocalypse' Warnings Just Marketing? (What's Left)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXd9HwIE5bo

* The Real AI Threat Isn’t What You’ve Been Told (The Tea with Myriam François)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc8It00fRsA

* Fascists may come after the AI bubble bursts (You&AI)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2WN64aQeYQ

15/

[pluralistic@mamot.fr]

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

Here's today's edition: https://pluralistic.net/2026/09/29/algorithmic-wage-theft/

--

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

--

You can also get a fulltext RSS feed, licensed CC BY 4.0:

https://pluralistic.net/feed/

16/

[pluralistic@mamot.fr]

I'm also on Bluesky. Read today's thread there at:

https://bsky.app/profile/doctorow.pluralistic.net/post/3mwny6mczyk2q

eof/