By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 05/06/2026Getting a human official to turn the paper over and write something that didn't fit in the blank is a *personal* challenge. It requires that a subject convince the person who controls the form to make an exception. 43/ 1101
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 05/06/2026This isn't always easy, but officials on the front lines necessarily deal with reality, and they can't get their jobs done unless they're capable of interpreting the necessarily incomplete procedures they operate under to fit things as they really *are*. 44/ 182
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 05/06/2026But a computer doesn't have any agency or context or flexibility. If the computer says your name isn't valid, you can't argue the computer into accepting it. The *only* way to get a digital world to acknowledge your existence is to campaign for *systemic* change. 45/ 1131
