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Geopolitics

Damascus Shaken By Powerful Bomb Blast

SANA, AL IKHBARIYA (Syria), BBC (UK), AP (USA)

Worldcrunch

A bomb attached to a fuel truck shook the Syrian capital Damascus, injuring three people, Syrian state-television reports Wednesday morning.

The bomb exploded in the car park of the Dama Rose Hotel, which is popular among UN observers -- however, none of the injured parties is thought to be a UN staff member.

Massive blast hits a major building in Damascus, Syria. This is happening NOW - twitter.com/Nora0315/statu…

— Nora Basha (@Nora0315) August 15, 2012

The target was not immediately clear, however, Associated Press reported that the blast took place close to a military compound.

Heavy shelling on Al-Tall suburb of #Damascus. Sounds can be heard in the capital, rate of one shell every 10 seconds. #Syria

— Ameer (@7__r) August 9, 2012

The BBC reported that Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, who visited the scene told reporters: "I confirm that we are with the UN and we will do all we can to guarantee their protection so that they carry out their role."

He said the incident was "a criminal act aimed at distorting Syria's image."

Published on the Telegraph's website, this video footage from pro-government television agency Al-Ikhbariya shows the aftermath of the bomb today.

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Ideas

Look At This Crap! The "Enshittification" Theory Of Why The Internet Is Broken

The term was coined by journalist Cory Doctorow to explain the fatal drift of major Internet platforms: if they were ever useful and user-friendly, they will inevitably end up being odious.

A photo of hands holding onto a smartphone

A person holding their smartphone

Gilles Lambert/ZUMA
Manuel Ligero

-Analysis-

The universe tends toward chaos. Ultimately, everything degenerates. These immutable laws are even more true of the Internet.

In the case of media platforms, everything you once thought was a good service will, sooner or later, disgust you. This trend has been given a name: enshittification. The term was coined by Canadian blogger and journalist Cory Doctorow to explain the inevitable drift of technological giants toward... well.

The explanation is in line with the most basic tenets of Marxism. All digital companies have investors (essentially the bourgeoisie, people who don't perform any work and take the lion's share of the profits), and these investors want to see the percentage of their gains grow year after year. This pushes companies to make decisions that affect the service they provide to their customers. Although they don't do it unwillingly, quite the opposite.

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Annoying customers is just another part of the business plan. Look at Netflix, for example. The streaming giant has long been riddling how to monetize shared Netflix accounts. Option 1: adding a premium option to its regular price. Next, it asked for verification through text messages. After that, it considered raising the total subscription price. It also mulled adding advertising to the mix, and so on. These endless maneuvers irritated its audience, even as the company has been unable to decide which way it wants to go. So, slowly but surely, we see it drifting toward enshittification.

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