From @doctorow - Piketty’s insight: social arrangements that last a generation feel eternal, yet vanish fast. From primogeniture to politics, tech, and energy, history shows everything changes. https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/05/contingency/#this-too-shall-pass

@_the_cloud On point! Other things I realize:

- The old hardware and software spec isn't going to suddenly change
- The AppleTalk protocols I'm writing for isn't going to change
- Having other people to bounce questions and ideas off of without using AI
- I can write the code how I want, even if it's not the best way
- It's fun again.

Sitting here, writing software on an emulated Mac II on a laptop that's at least a thousand times faster, I am realizing:

- There's no need to lock in a feature set and specify all milestone sub-tasks first
- Not required to add any AI features
- Not required to gather detailed usage metrics
- Not required to use (or not use) a particular language
- If it has a bug, I can just fix the bug without having to write up a RCA and schedule meetings
- Get to choose my own tools
- It's fun again.

@mattblaze Are you concerned that he will simply "make it happen," as he has with other illegal orders he's made over the last year? Apparently the Constitution and the law have no force against his will.

Ken MacLeod joins the Plutopia News Network to discuss his work’s political themes: failed modern systems, rising nationalism, and the struggle to find common interest in a fragmented world. He also reflects candidly on the craft of writing as he nears completion of his 21st novel, which he says still hinges on the hardest part: plotting and bringing a story to a satisfying, coherent conclusion. https://plutopia.io/ken-macleod-imagined-futures/

AI strategy for 2026: manton.org

Reflecting on how Micro.blog uses AI today and outlining a path forward. When nearly anything is possible, restraint is a product decision, so I’m documenting that here as a guide.

Plutopia News Network Sci-Fi Saturday: For a break from authoritarian apocalypso, see the full-length "Creature from Galaxy 27,” a 1958 potboiler, a fun terrible film. Alien invasion would feel quaint right now. https://youtu.be/b36ZW8xOSII?si=uHPBGhbLwub7WAny

What I’m seeing here is that Epstein is a nexus point for the “intellectual” cabal that shores up the race science justifying our current immigration and anti-DEI policies (Huberman), as well the tone policing moderates (Brooks) that hamstrings oppositions. Oh and their billionaire benefactors.

@Doomscroll Resilience is also with the courts, that seem to be standing up for Constitutional and democratic norms - except for the Supreme Court, unfortunately. But the courts are providing leadership right now. #DigitalCulture

@Doomscroll I think there are pockets of activity nationwide, and they're growing. And some who supported the current administration initially are defecting. Resilience is in the people, and the Internet has a clear role in supporting those networks - not just of activists, but of citizens who are alarmed at what they're seeing. I had assumed that the American people, if they realized what they were actually losing, could resist, and that seems to be happening. #DigitalCulture

@Doomscroll Incidentally I've just seen that a journalist has been indicted for the crime of journalism in the USA. That democratic intention I mentioned is taking a huge beating right now, as is the concept of truth. #DigitalCulture

@Doomscroll The checks and balances that have been essential for democratic governance in the USA have also proved more fragile than we ever would have imagined. The source of resilience I see right now is in the people of Minnesota and elsewhere, beginning to stand against a corrupt authoritarian regime. #DigitalCulture

@Doomscroll The democratic intention that has been essential to the evolution of the USA over two and a half centuries is more fragile than we realized, obviously. The concept of an well-informed citizenry that's essential to democracy has been undermined by powerful traditional and social media sources spreading misinformation and disinformation intentionally and unintentionally, and the Internet has facilitated that in a big way. #DigitalCulture

@Doomscroll I wouldn't say "less by persuasion" - part of the persuasion or influence is in the participation and repetition, also contextual prompts and activators/signals. I had given it less thought in recent years until looking at Shira's work, though I was aware of it when I was part of FringeWare - we were deeply immersed in the occult and semiotic frameworks - but my attitude was ironic and skeptical, I might have missed the efficacy of the "magic" in those frameworks. #DigitalCulture

@Doomscroll Yeah, you have a point re. "under-governed." Part of the problem was that the technology ran well ahead of the policy - policymakers didn't understand well enough to create the right kind of regulatory infrastructure. And those who were focused on cyber liberties weren't savvy enough to envision the opportunities for exploitation and how they would be leveraged. I think I was too focused on the potential for social media to bring people together to see the dangers.. #DigitalCulture

@Doomscroll I'm not clear those last two posts exactly answer your question, but that's the thinking you triggered. One thing I definitely wouldn't bring back is 300 baud modem access...! #DigitalCulture

@Doomscroll I'm reading Shira Chess's "The Unseen Internet" right now, and thinking about the evolution of memes, which she related to magical thinking and which has had an impact on politics. I'm wishing I'd had a better understanding of the power of memetics. Cory Doctorow says there is no internet mind control ray, but that might be wrong. Maybe we should have taken more seriously the persuasive power of certain images and phrases and systems like Q Anon. #DigitalCulture

@Doomscroll I can think of downsides of early Internet culture, like streaks of misogyny and extreme libertarianism. But I think those still exist. I would certainly like to mitigate the capitalist capture of the Internet as a platform for profit-seeking, if I could go back and steer it differently. I don't know how possible that would have been. But that's not the same as "parts of internet culture." #DigitalCulture

@davew @scripting You're probably right, Dave. You've caught me concerned about mainstreaming the Fediverse. For years I thought I wanted to see broad access to social applications, but lately I'm concerned with the implications of scaling and popularizing apps.