nostr:npub1x2u8xx4ksq3ym5cmnmtlava9qvpsxa02dpxclcn0dc9nhxn4xydqnqlnzq the communities are worse off. I guess I want clear there!
to the surprise of absolutely no one who's been paying attention -- but nonetheless good to know that the data prove it -- the hedge fund and private equity looters are much worse for local news coverage than "regular" capitalists. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3939405
Again, I hope the Reddit IPO crashes and burns. A company that has demonstrated such contempt for the people who've done so much to make it valuable should not be rewarded. https://www.theverge.com/24097069/reddit-ipo-public-investment-ai-training-data-google
nostr:npub1hyp0snlqyw66uwuep7tnkwqhgpg7qspvf928v0mm8d9penuwee0srvaehm Can you post an example query?
Roku has become just another arrogant tech company, but this stunt -- locking up people's "smart" TVs until they agree to regressive new terms of service -- is disgusting even for this crowd.
How can it even be legal?
https://www.wired.com/story/roku-terms-of-service-update-locks-tv/
Fine analysis of how Musk is using the deadbird site for information warfare -- against decency, truth, and democracy: https://www.theframelab.org/p/algorithm-warfare-how-elon-musk-uses
Journalists who continue to actively post there are Musk's collaborators. They think they have no choice. But in their hearts, they know better.
I hope they'll stop supporting his evil business. I'm certain they'll feel better about themselves when they do.
America's love for giant vehicles -- is killing pedestrians. https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/01/higher-vehicle-hoods-significantly-increase-pedestrian-deaths-study-finds/
Ken White (aka nostr:npub15qwuf8njm934yju6pcxns9g9gjsmjlu94dkt3w54wpjjgz9zmjds3n3p2z) has a terrific essay on the pure hypocrisy of Substack's managers.
It comes down, in key ways, to this: They are choosing to publish Nazis while not allowing other kinds of (legal if repugnant in some cases) speech. They have a right to decide these things, as they should. It's their choices that are disgusting.
I hope Ken leaves for a service that is less hypocritical and mercenary -- and I promise to subscribe to his paid edition if he does.
https://popehat.substack.com/p/substack-has-a-nazi-opportunity
A bunch of people who use Substack for publishing their newsletters asked the company why it's making money from fascists who also use the site.
They were told, albeit politely, to get lost.
It's their move -- and if I may suggest, "move" is the correct word.
The copyright cartel will be glad to know that archive.is now demands endless captchas -- thereby causing me to give up on seeing the article I'm trying to see.
Apple's support of universal messaging is, just as you might expect, deliberately less secure than it could have been. https://www.macrumors.com/guide/rcs/
They want to pretend they're doing the right thing, but the subtext is that they're keeping their own messaging as the -- needlessly -- better choice.
It's hard to overstate the influence the president of the Knight Foundation wields in the journalism world. Meet the new holder of this post:
https://knightfoundation.org/press/releases/maribel-perez-wadsworth-to-lead-knight/
Every big media company -- even the ones that built large customer bases on providing advertising-free entertainment/information -- sees advertising as the way to grow.
Such contempt for the customers...
More Supreme Court corruption: "John Roberts and Samuel Alito own shares of companies that could score billions in tax relief from the outcome of Moore v. United States."
From The Lever (which, sigh, doesn't have a Mastodon presence): https://www.levernews.com/justices-have-financial-interest-in-major-tax-case/
(I doubt there are any writers who would have turned down the opportunity that Isaacson was given in doing the Jobs and Musk biographies.)
Dear journalists: By remaining on the deadbird site you are actively supporting a business whose owner in in league with people who want to end our democracy. He's further eviscerated what was left of the team that was trying to keep election information honest (for typically inane Muskish reasons).
Please admit, at least to yourselves, that you're not merely using a handy platform. You are collaborating with him. https://www.techdirt.com/2023/09/28/elon-fires-half-of-extwitters-election-integrity-team-because-a-manager-liked-a-tweet-calling-him-a-fucking-dipshit/
This absurd "Fact Check" headline in the NY Times is a perfect example of Big Journalism's constant failure to provide context. Trump lies all the time, yet this is presented as if it was some kind of new thing.
It's also an example of the Times' ingrained -- and cowardly -- reluctance to say that an inveterate liar has, as usual, lied.
nostr:npub1hyp0snlqyw66uwuep7tnkwqhgpg7qspvf928v0mm8d9penuwee0srvaehm Oh I see what you're asking. Their (not my) rationale amounts to inertia combined with the belief that they're getting free PR for their articles. To some extent the latter is true, but it comes at the cost of being part of a vile enterprise that wants, ultimately, to put them out of business.
But journalists rarely attempt to look much beyond right now (in either direction).
It's completely clear now that the New York Times has learned something from its relentless amplification of the Clinton emails story in 2016 -- a journalistic decision that helped put Trump in the White House.
The Times has learned that its role is to do the same thing this time with Biden. Latest example:
USENET, one of the original -- and always decentralized -- social networks, never completely went away. Now it may be on the verge of a comeback. https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/30/usenet_revival/