“The fact that copyrighted works aren’t eligible unless they’ve formally registered feels like a lawyerly dodge: a legal maneuver to help Anthropic reduce the size of its payout pool …” — @ethanmarcotte.com ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/a-righ...

🦊 IN WHICH ONE AUTHOR tried to file a claim in the Anthropic copyright case, failed, got frustrated, then blogged about it while still pretty hot under the collar. (it’s me; i’m author) ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/a-righ...

hey I run my own invite-only mastodon server and it's a little decrepit and in need of some sysadmin love from its somewhat neglectful landlord (me), and lord knows fedi has its own multitude of Problems™ and is not a solution, but if you want a backup space and we're mutuals dm me for an invite

This was a quick one — I think video creators are under a big risk right now, bigger actually than before Kimmel was pulled off the air. One part of the reason why is a behind-the-scenes consolidation that almost nobody is paying attention to. youtube.com/shorts/3cK51...

“But that's how it's always been, when change has to happen. There's nobody to do it but us.” As always, but especially right now, @dansinker.com’s words are worth your time:

This is the essential value of a union contract. Without one, the boss always has the right to change terms and conditions. With one, both sides are legally bound to the agreement and changes have to be negotiated. If management wants a change, they have to make it worthwhile to employees.

Really enjoyed this piece by @jjlee.bsky.social on the @kickstarterunited.org strike: what the union is fighting for, and why it matters to all of us. medium.com/labor-new-yo...

The workers of Kickstarter United, one of the tech industry’s first unions, are on STRIKE. They‘re not calling for a boycott yet; if you want to support them, they’ve got specific asks outlined below.

🗓️ On October 16 at 6pm ET, I’ll be giving a (virtual!) talk on tech unions, and why I think you deserve one! It’ll be a grand old time — I hope you can join us. RSVP here: luma.com/8mwd4ang

Some stories you may not be aware of if you’re not inside the circles where tech industry workers talk to each other: the groups at Microsoft that have been organizing for years to stop providing tech to enable genocide scored their first massive victory last week. www.theverge.com/news/785733/...

CWA just shared their research into the lives of the US-based data workers responsible for training and maintaining modern “AI” platforms. The findings are, in a word, grim: cwa-union.org/ghost-worker...

He buried the lede — you have a chance to work with @ethanmarcotte.com! As someone who's had that very privilege on multiple occasions I'll just say you won't regret it. ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/a-car...

an old friend and colleague sent me a very, very nice email, and i just discovered it in my JUNK FOLDER where it has been sitting for LITERALLY TWELVE MONTHS I FEEL JUST GREAT ABOUT THIS

I'm skimming, but this paragraph stood out:

🦊 I revamped my portfolio a few weeks ago. In a STUNNING display of marketing savvy, I’ve *only just now* written up a little post about how stressful the revamp was, and how I worked through it: ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/a-carr...

I just called mine on my lunch break. Call yours! Trans rights are human rights and we can't bargain away their freedom, no matter what the cost.

my brain this morning: bleh, everything sucks, let’s go for a walk the universe, twenty minutes later: have you perhaps considered……DOG IN BACKPACK??

so damned proud to be a @coyotemedia.org supporter, they came out of the gate SWINGING

Help us tell Kickstarter leadership we can avoid a strike! actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...

🦊 Brain got a QUITE CRISPY after my last couple blog posts, so I thought I’d take a beat to write about a few well-made things I’ve enjoyed lately. ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/some-w...

Wired has been telling the stories of DOGE's destruction and abuse since the early days. Grateful to see voices from TTS and GSA here especially – miss y'all.

Wired doing exemplary work on DOGE www.wired.com/story/oral-h...

happy rapture* to meeeeeee * hades 2 release day

the starbucks workers united merch is. very good unioncoffeegear.com

NEW MERCH!! “Never cross a picket line” shirts. Proceeds go to the Starbucks workers strike fund!

Tech bros say "AI is here to stay" but that doesn't mean anything! Bronze spears are here to stay! Asbestos is here to stay! Ethan makes a great distinction: AI as a technology *has already failed*. AI lives on as a social purity test that will fade away as soon as those enforcing it blink.

> i think the main use of scaling tech outside actual manufacturing is establishing mutually-held imaginaries I have been haunted by this line of Alex’s ALL WEEKEND (complimentary) (extremely complimentary)

SECONDED! "The technology doesn’t deliver consistent results, much less desirable ones; what’s more, it extracts terrible costs to not reliably produce anything of value. It is fundamentally a failure. And yet, private companies and public institutions alike keep adopting it. Why is that?"

I’d like to congratulate everyone in this grocery store for emerging from the underground bunker they’ve all been living in for the last several decades, you’re being SO brave

It would be fucking amazing if folks gave their cancelled Disney+, WaPo, etc money to worker owned media! Those couple of dollars would make a genuinely huge difference to us. www.coyotemedia.org

One of the things that makes @unbreaking.org such a wildly different project is that we update our pages continuously. Our goal is to help you maintain a current handle on where things stand. Here's this week's 🧵 on the food safety front:

We are well past the point at which talking uncritically about AI should be seen as deeply embarrassing. https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/against-stocking-frames/

🦊 I’ve decided it’s past time I start describing “artificial intelligence” as a failed technology, and I’d like you to join me. ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/agains...

to be exceedingly clear I DO NOT RECOMMEND OR ENJOY THIS PROCESS

sometimes you have to write two thousand words to figure out which 1,500 words you need to cut

We so desperately need bold, clever, PRINCIPLED journalism right now. I’m so excited to see what this team does (and full disclosure, I am a super fan of more than one of these humans).

Starbucks workers are threatening to strike nationwide if management doesn't grant them a fair contract Everybody opposed to oligarchy & authoritarianism should be ready to go all-in to support their big fight this fall inthesetimes.com/article/star...

Introducing COYOTE: A worker-owned Bay Area media collective. Our stories will be public for the first two weeks. Read ‘em and subscribe! www.coyotemedia.org

me: hey Video Call Software, could you please remember the audio settings i use literally every time i use you? software: no :) me: why not software: do u like my ai button :))))))) me: what software: :))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

This is a winnable campaign. A winnable first contract. And Starbucks workers are going to bring it home.

Just heard about a tech+labor event that sounds interesting: > CHIPS Communities United is excited to invite you to a conference on the “Dark Side of the Chip” — exploring the impacts on workers and communities of the semiconductor boom — in Phoenix on Oct. 8th. www.eventbrite.com/e/the-semico...

Wages go down; work becomes more precarious. The system’s a horror, but it’s working as intended.

www.404media.co/the-software... Lots of “AI” schadenfreude flying around about this article, and rightfully so. But also, this is quite literally what deskilling looks like: use automation to displace experienced workers, then underpay others to perform the same labor.

this is so important tbh

I should note this site is also: PRETTY AS HELL. The layout! The typography! The colors! The site architecture! Rob’s been working on this redesign for literal years, and it really, really shows. yay websites yay friends just: yay

Oh my goodness: my old friend Rob Weychert’s just redesigned his website, and turned it into a *tremendous* personal archive for (nearly) everything he’s ever written. Go go, check it out, also fire up that RSS reader: v7.robweychert.com/blog/2025/09...

RETURN OF THE KING

A great look at how design is being weaponized by the current administration — and how it's fascistic both in product and practice. Excellent analysis of a relatively minor dumpster fire amidst everything going on right now, but one that's nonetheless important to fight back against.

person with their hand on the ”POUR MICROPLASTICS DIRECTLY INTO THE RESERVOIR“ lever is shocked, SHOCKED at what’s happened to all the drinking water

IT'S ME!!!!