The right to bear sandwiches has been upheld

The scope of Big Tech’s surveillance, and its harms, is kept secret. That’s why I appreciate “The Secret Life of Data” by @aramsinn.bsky.social & @jesgilbert.bsky.social - and why in my own work I’m trying to raise awareness. New from me – What data does in secret: buttondown.com/creativegood...

10% of Meta's 2024 ad revenue came from outright frauds and scams; the platform shows consumers 15 billion ads for fraud and scams every single day. This doesn't even include agitprop and AI slop. the existential collapse of this monumental pile of shit company simply can't come quickly enough

lol

Topical to my interview with @greenwell.bsky.social - see also my essay "Feudal America": buttondown.com/creativegood...

whispering into my ring like a fucking Nazgûl

From my interview with @aramsinn.bsky.social - a bit of good news in the techno-surveillance state. Full episode: techtonic.fm/episodes/202...

🔈 New interview with @markhurst.bsky.social on @wfmu.bsky.social's “Techtonic.” We discuss my book “The Secret Life of Data” (written w/ @jesgilbert.bsky.social), and talk privacy, democracy, and cultcha. It was a wonderful conversation. techtonic.fm/episodes/202... #podcast #radio

Whether it’s Disney World, or a hospital system gobbled up by private equity, or the Big Tech monopoly that controls the surveillance devices in your home, the story is the same: tech-fueled extraction is creating feudal America. New from me: buttondown.com/creativegood...

Back in my day, AI used to stand for Adobe Illustrator! And we hated that, too!

oh, MIT

I'm excited to announce the launch of the new Techtonic website: techtonic.fm Each episode page has an embedded audio player followed by links & resources. RSS of episodes: techtonic.fm/index.xml You can also get the show as a podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

I've built a socioeconomic system that depends on everyone to do useful work and act ethically except the people at the top, who get unimaginable rewards for being antisocial frauds and criminals. And I think it will stand the test of time

NEW Techtonic episode: widening inequality, due in part to the use of Big Tech surveillance (and pricing). We discuss how Disney World designs for inequality. Also mention @greenwell.bsky.social's book. Full ep: techtonic.fm/episodes/202... As a podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

I can see them wanting to do this to "monitor drivers", but ultimately this is about SURVEILLANCE! Imagine the kind of footage they're getting of the streets, people at their homes, and in their homes, given what the average driver sees in a day! SMH

At this point I just avoid Ray-Bans in general. I don't have time to check whether the little camera dots are in the corner (and anyway the future versions will be even harder to detect)

The tech media is largely failing to tell this story, so I’ll mark the moment: fall 2025 is when the new Luddite movement really began to accelerate. For the first time in a long time, there is palpable energy – *positive* energy – in tech. New from me: buttondown.com/creativegood...

company that surveils people without their knowledge or consent makes glasses you're not gonna believe this, but the glasses surveil people without their knowledge or consent

Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft all paid to destroy the East Wing of the White House.

Insane image. "Model of the distribution of space debris around Earth." Read the key: 2,000 billion objects under 0.1 mm. (from the @esa.int report: www.esa.int/Space_Safety... )

Soviet space mirrors were "intended to beam solar power to Earth by reflecting sunlight." Never knew that.

Mark's podcast/radio show is a gem. He's a top shelf interviewer and always selects great guests to talk about all the good stuff.

The bad ideas, they just keep coming. "California-based start-up Reflect Orbital has applied for a government license to launch a giant mirror to space next year." The company promises "light on demand" for "paying customers on Earth." www.space.com/space-explor...

New Techtonic: Amanda Hanna-McLeer is making a film about the Luddite Club. Conversation included admiring mentions of @bcmerchant.bsky.social & @jennitaur.bsky.social . Full episode as a podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... Ep page: www.wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

What a civics lesson for the elementary school kids I saw in the No Kings march through Times Square on Saturday. They were so proud, holding up their homemade signs. The response from the president to these children, practicing democracy: "I poop on you."

As I wrote below, Big Tech data centers target vulnerable communities, drawing down water & electricity. Now @paulmozur.bsky.social @satariano.bsky.social & Emiliano Rodriguez Meta cover what's happening in Mexico & Ireland. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/t...

A few months ago I warned that falling space junk could collide with an airliner in flight. Now @arstechnica.com reports that a plane just got hit. buttondown.com/creativegood...

“At toilet time, you sign in via a fingerprint sensor so that the device knows who's using the facilities. (Please wash your hands before signing out or tracking your progress.) Then, check in with the app for the day's analysis and trends over time.”

How to visit friends in a surveillance state: 1. Shield your face from their Amazon Ring surveillance doorbell 2. Lower your voice to evade audio surveillance from the Alexa spy device 3. Even if your bladder is full, "hold it" until you get home - so your business isn't surveilled by Kohler.

Why isn’t every large account warning about the “network state” movement? In August, “network state” leader Balaji Srinivassan—a close ally of Peter Thiel & Marc Andreessen—wrote that, “When Bitcoin wins,” it “ends the Fed,” the “battle begins,” & “it's time to build”. 1/

❗❗❗❗❗❗🔻🔻🔻🔻

Here's what I just saw at No Kings New York, walking through Times Square.

A gentle reminder that Smart Ring batteries can heat and blow out ON your finger. Think carefully about wearing them.

This is functionally a robbery of New York City and New York State taxpayers, who contribute billions more to the federal government annually than we get back. Stealing our money, blocking our bus lanes.

Low-cost, locally running AI agent - not connected to the internet, so it doesn't leak your data. (via Cory Doctorow's newsletter today) petewarden.com/2025/10/16/w...

When I wrote "Don't let the data center come to town" (buttondown.com/creativegood...) I should have mentioned another downside of AI data centers: ROLLING BLACKOUTS

Big Tech is targeting vulnerable communities for its data centers. Residents incur a huge cost in water & power and airborne toxic chemicals. Town officials sign NDAs so citizens have no awareness of the threat. New from me: data centers and their effects. buttondown.com/creativegood...

Today in luxury surveillance. “They’ll [ai wearables] be embedded in what we already wear: glasses, jewellery, clothing. Fashion will play a critical role in normalizing them.”

Excited to share this field recording of the "SHITPHONE" protest in Manhattan, which I aired on Techtonic. Full episode: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... Thanks to @bcmerchant.bsky.social for tipping me off to the event.

Yes, it's weird that Peter Thiel can't stop talking up the Antichrist. But look on the bright side—he's also the guy who: -Gave @jd-vance-1.bsky.social his first VC job -Funded Vance's firm -Bought his Senate seat -Got him the VP slot Have a nice day!

portland

I'll see your creepy robot-hugging pillow and raise you a surveillance tribble.

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

twice a year the entire U.S. press becomes a marketing extension of a single billionaire-owned retailer, and nobody in any position of editorial power thinks it's weird or gross

Here's my live Techtonic interview with Luddite Club members - including Lucy Jackson, featured in the WSJ story: www.wfmu.org/playlists/sh... (click "pop-up player")

New techtonic.fm episode: AI and surveillance infrastructure keeps spreading. Stories about data centers, chatbots having dumb conversations, and the "Friend" surveillance device. Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... Excerpt below:

the engineer tried to warn us. so did @hypervisible.blacksky.app