Here's the pitch:

> Whether it’s water turning dirt to mud or forests growing back after a devastating fire, every action leaves a mark. This isn’t a static world built by developers - it’s a living, breathing galaxy shaped by you. Resculpt landscapes, build entire cities, and yeah, ruin more planets just like humanity ruined their original eight homeworlds. That’s okay – there are always more worlds in our endless galaxy.

3/

I've seen demos of this coming together for *years* and it is *mind-boggling*. You can play it like a galactic trade-empire builder, a shoot 'em up, a first person shooter, a resource management game, a MUD, and more. There are thousands of procedurally generated planets with realistic geology, geography and ecosystems. It's like something out of a Neal Stephenson novel.

4/

They're mostly done and just raising money to finish and launch. I gave 'em $100. They're projecting delivery in January. I can't wait!

It's pretty wonderful to see accomplished creators like Koster, who have gone from strength to strength, making a series of ever-cooler things as technological advancements let him realize the vision he'd been chasing since the 8-bit days.

5/

It's quite a contrast with HP, a company that was once world-renowned for making the highest quality, most reliable instruments and machines, and is now synonymous with the scuzzy inkjet rip-off.

I love a good dig at HP. This week, *The Register*'s Paul Kunert scored a direct hit with a short news squib about the executive compensation package announced for HP CEO Enrique Lores: "261,658 toner cartridges" (that is, $19.36m):

theregister.com/2025/02/26/hp_…

6/

HP CEO pay for 2024 = 261,658 toner cartridges

That's down on last year in terms of financial compensation and – given ink price hike – the number of supplies he is valued at

^{Paul Kunert (The Register)}

I would like to live in a world in which all unreasonable expenses were denominated in HP printer cartridges (much as the BBC compares ever extremely large or massy thing to a London double-decker bus). Anything to make it easier to grasp the vast forces that shape our world and bring them into focus so we can understand them - and destroy or change them.

7/

One economic school that does this extraordinarily well is "Capital as Power," which concerns itself with the "social power of capital" - that is, how capital shapes our behavior and outcomes. It's a complicated but extraordinarily clear and useful framework for making sense of the world.

8/

This week, *Naked Capitalism* published a long colloquoy on Capital as Power, featuring Michael Hudson (a great economist and historian of debt), political economist Tim Di Muzio, and two of CasP's top proponents, Jonathan Nitzan and Blair Fix (whose work I have featured in this newsletter many times). It's a long, fascinating discussion - just the thing to relax with over a weekend:

nakedcapitalism.com/2025/02/ca…

9/

Capital as Power grapples with *power*, the force that neoclassical economists could never figure out how to fit into a neat mathematical model and thus decided to discard. Refusing to think about power gets you into all kinds of trouble, from deciding that markets for human kidneys are "voluntary" to the denaturing of political parties into institutionalist weaklings like the Democrats, who are completely overwhelmed by the power-focused MAGA GOP as it dismantles the nation.

10/

Writing for *The American Prospect*, Nick Tagliaferro rounds up "Ten Democrats Who Need to Be Primaried":

prospect.org/politics/2025-02-…

11/

These Ten Democrats Need to Be Primaried

The party needs fighters to stop Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

^{Nick Tagliaferro (The American Prospect)}

For years, Tagliaferro was the loudest voice on the Primary School newsletter, which covered primary races. In this guillotine-inspiring listicle, he presents such swamp creatures as Levi Strauss failson Dan Goldman (NY-10), who spent $5m of his inherited wealth to win his seat, from which perch he has done everything he can to undermine his more militant anti-Trump colleagues in the House.

12/

More familiar names like Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05) - whom Tagliaferro calls "single most needlessly antagonistic centrist in Congress" - and the ardent homophobe Stephen Lynch (MA-08).

OK, I've got to get into my rental car now and make the 3h drive from State College, PA, where I just did a talk at Penn State, to Doylestown, PA, where I'm speaking this afternoon:

eventbrite.com/e/cory-doctorow…

13/

Cory Doctorow // PICKS AND SHOVELS: A MARTIN HENCH NOVEL

Cory Doctorow will be at the Doylestown Bookshop to sign and discuss Picks and Shovels: A Martin Hench Novel.

^Eventbrite

From there, I'm going to Baltimore (tomorrow):

redemmas.org/events/

and then I'll be in DC on Tuesday:

loyaltybookstores.com/picksnsh…

You can catch the whole tour schedule here:

martinhench.com

New dates that I'll be adding soon include Pittsburgh:

us.pycon.org/2025/about/keynot…

As well as Wellington and Auckland, NZ; and Manchester and London, UK.

14/

Before I go, one last wonderful link to be getting on with. Framework - who make the repairable, modifiable laptop that I love more than any hardware I've ever owned - just announced a bunch of *fantastic* new machines, including a rugged new, 12" touchscreen laptop with a 180' hinge:

frame.work/laptop12

and a desktop PC (!) that has insanely high specs and a fully customizable chassis:

frame.work/fi/en/blog/introduc…

15/

The Framework Laptop 12 is coming soon for pre-order.

Join the Framework Newsletter to get notified when Framework Laptop 12 pre-orders begin.

^Framework

I spend so much time on the road, I have no conceivable use for a desktop PC, but man, this is tempting. What a sweet rig!

16/

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel *Picks and Shovels*.

Catch me in DOYLESTOWN, PA TODAY (Mar 1):

eventbrite.com/e/cory-doctorow…

and in BALTIMORE TOMORROW (Mar 2):

redemmas.org/events/cory-docto…

More tour dates here:

martinhench.com

Mail-order signed copies from LA's Diesel Books:

dieselbookstore.com/picks-and-…

eof/