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Cory Doctorow

@[email protected] · 2 months ago

Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: Trump and the unmighty dollar; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/26/i-dont-want/

#Pluralistic

A detail from a US $100 bill. The bill has been tinted orange. Ben Franklin's face has been replaced with an indistinct blur surmounted by Trump's hair. The lettering in the scrollwork beneath the portrait reads 'TRUMP.' The '100's have been turned into '000's. The writing 'ONE HUNDRED' now reads 'NONE HUNDRED.' The series issue has been changed to '47.' The Secretary of the Treasury's signature has been replaced with Trump's.

https://pluralistic.net

Pluralistic: Trump and the unmighty dollar (26 Jan 2026)

#Pluralistic

Michael Opalinski

@[email protected] · 2 months ago

@pluralistic It's amazing that when I click your articles the site loads almost instantly and I can use reader mode on the browser for a no distraction dark mode reading experience. And then I get sad that virtually no other websites give me that super useful and snappy experience because they've all been so thoroughly enshittified. The internet could be so fast and useful and we've just chosen not to do that.

Spontaneously Deliberate

@[email protected] · 2 months ago

@MichaelOpal @pluralistic The crazy thing is it doesn't take great technical knowledge or effort to make a website fast and accessible. Companies invest a lot of money in things that make their websites slower, harder to use, and more buggy. I benefit financially from their proclivity for complexity, but I would change it in a heartbeat if I could.

spherulitic

@[email protected] · 2 months ago

@spontaneouslydeliberate @MichaelOpal @pluralistic I am perpetually infuriated that we have so much more CPU, RAM, and bandwidth than 10-15 years ago and the user experience is no better, arguably worse. It's bloated frameworks and spyware all the way down ...

Michael Newton

@mavnn · 2 months ago

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] I've recently finished building a website which is a full coding environment with a built in game runner. Because it exists for running coding courses I didn't try to optimise for size or loading speed, but according to resent stats I saw it is still barely a bigger download than the average size of most landing pages and because it has no ads it feels snappy even though it's served from a Raspberry Pi in my home office. There's really no excuse for the slowness of most websites.

Michael Newton

@mavnn · 2 months ago

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] This isn't a boast about my amazing skills, I'm not even primarily a front end developer. I just built a website and only added the features it needed to do its job.

Sabrina Web :privacypride: 📎

@[email protected] · 2 months ago

@MichaelOpal @pluralistic also, his newsletter is one of the very few that show the links as they are, without cloaking them like almost all other newsletters do. I know where I will end, even before clicking

*sigh*Ber nard

@[email protected] · 2 months ago

@pluralistic wait, what? SWIFT is US controlled?

I thought it was a consortium of banks, and from what I read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWIFT that's what it is.

What have I missed?..

SWIFT - Wikipedia

Cory Doctorow

@[email protected] · 2 months ago

@brnrd Practically speaking (as has been repeatedly demonstrated), SWIFT does not act against the wishes of the US.

GhostOnTheHalfShell

@[email protected] · 2 months ago

@pluralistic

Is remarkable as well that the people who benefit the most from dollar dominance, which are the US billionaires are blowing up the system that’s responsible largely for their power. They fantasize that they can exit the world and solidify totalitarian control in the process.

I think the world is a little bit larger than what they think it is

Cory Doctorow

@[email protected] · 2 months ago

I'll be in #Ottawa on WEDNESDAY (Jan 28) at Perfect Books:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DS2nGiHiNUh/

And in #Toronto with Tim Wu on FRIDAY (Jan 30):

https://nowtoronto.com/event/cory-doctorow-and-tim-wu-enshittification-and-extraction/

NOW Toronto

Cory Doctorow and Tim Wu: Enshittification and Extraction - NOW Toronto

Instagram

Perfect Books on Instagram: "❗BIG ANNOUNCEMENT TIME❗ We are SO excited to present author and activist Cory Doctorow as part of what we are now calling The Perfect Books Lecture Series. This event is presented in partnership with The Other Hill.

We hope you'll us on January 28th 2026 at allsaints as Toronto-born Cory Doctorow gives one of his truly iconic lectures on his most recent book, Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What To Do About It, followed by an audience Q&A session and book signing.

Until midnight on December 31st, you can get early bird ticket prices, only $10 — the link is on our bio and on our website 👀

🕝 January 28, 2026. Doors 7:00pm, Event 7:30-8:30pm
📍allsaints event space, 317 Chapel St, Ottawa
🎫 EARLY BIRD TICKETS: $10 — Available until midnight on December 31st!
🎫 General Tickets: $15

Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of dozens of books, most recently ENSHITTIFICATION: WHY EVERYTHING SUDDENLY GOT WORSE AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT (nonfiction); and the novels PICKS AND SHOVELS and THE BEZZLE (followups to RED TEAM BLUES). Other notable books include the solarpunk novels WALKAWAY and THE LOST CAUSE; the tech policy books THE INTERNET CON and CHOKEPOINT CAPITALISM; and the internationally bestselling YA LITTLE BROTHER series; and the picture book POESY THE MONSTER SLAYER. In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame."

Cory Doctorow, renowned science fiction author, activist, and journalist, will present his latest book, Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It, at The Perfect Books Lecture Series. This event is part of a series presented in partnership with The Other Hill. Attendees will have the chance to engage with Cory in a Q&A session and get their books signed. Secure your spot before January 31st to take advantage of early bird ticket prices.