By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 05/06/2026The librarian explained this principle to us in a matter of minutes, as part of a longer set of instructions, and still, it stuck with me forever. 18/ 1100
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 05/06/2026But here we are, 48 years later, and we still haven't standardized a way to get computers to grasp this foundational principle of alphabetization. 19/ 1122
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 05/06/2026Many different databases handle this, to be sure, but it's so inconsistent across so many platforms that someone at the head-end of the video distribution system that feeds American Airlines' VOD system decided, "Fuck it, I'm just gonna put the 'The' at the end of these titles." 20/ 1111
