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Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

Notable Links

Okay, You Try Thinking of a Better Way to Protest President Nyarlathotep’s Terror Telecast

[Andrew Paul at McSweeney's] "I gotta be honest with you, though. I think the Outer God got the message loud and clear. Our tasteful combination of fashionably coordinated clothes, tiny paper fans with BAD! printed on them, and some of our sternest looks of disapproval to date

05 Mar 2025

Decentralizing the cloud: separating software from infrastructure

Much of the last decade or two of the tech industry has been dominated by the idea of the cloud: the simple, powerful idea that all of your applications and data can be accessed from any device with an internet connection. Enterprise businesses around the world have decommissioned server rooms

04 Mar 2025

Startups

Minimum Viable Startup Operations

[Jean Hsu and Jen Dennard] This is a good inaugural post from two people who really have lived the startup operations life many times over: "We think of the operations part of a startup like getting dinner on the table. Sure, some days, you might try a new and

03 Mar 2025

Please see Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat

It’s Oscars day! I haven’t seen very many of the nominees this year, but of the ones I have, I need to make this recommendation: Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, nominated for best documentary picture, is brilliant. It’s an under-told part of American history, still highly

02 Mar 2025

Notable Links

Warp factor 5, Mr. Sulu

[Ghost] Another really great update from the Ghost team about their progress implementing ActivityPub: "In our logs, that looks like our average request time dropping from 5+ seconds, to ~50ms: [...] There are still a few places where we're using the old database architecture that remain slow. We&

02 Mar 2025

The web was always about redistribution of power. Let's bring that back.

I’ve seen a lot of this sentiment lately, and can relate: I miss being excited by technology. I wish I could see a way out of the endless hype cycles that continue to elicit little more than cynicism from me. The version of technology that we’re mostly being

02 Mar 2025

Notable Links

GSA eliminates 18F

[Natalie Alms at Nextgov/FCW] I'd say this was an unbelievable own-goal. But, unfortunately, it's believable: "The General Services Administration deleted 18F, a government tech consultancy that helps other agencies with their technology, early Saturday morning. The office has been deemed “non-critical,” Thomas Shedd, director

01 Mar 2025

Notable Links

Groups helping LGBTQ+ victims of violence could face loss of federal funds

[Mel Leonor Barclay and Jasmine Mithani at The 19th] The impact of this will be severe: "Organizations that provide services to LGBTQ+ victims of domestic and intimate partner violence expect much of the federal funding they rely on to dry up as the Trump administration’s executive orders target

28 Feb 2025

Media

Ex-Washington Post editor Marty Baron rebukes Bezos: ‘betrayal of free expression’

[Anna Betts in The Guardian] He's not wrong: "Marty Baron, a highly regarded former editor of the Washington Post, has said that Jeff Bezos’s announcement that the newspaper’s opinion section would narrow its editorial focus was a “betrayal of the very idea of free expression”

28 Feb 2025

Technology

Mozilla’s New Terms of Service and Updated Privacy Policy

[Bill Fitzgerald] What a missed opportunity. As Bill Fitzgerald points out: "Mozilla has given a masterclass, yet again, in how to erode trust among people who have loved your work." Mozilla rolled out a new terms of service and privacy policy that rolled back a key promise never

28 Feb 2025

Technology

The future of the internet is likely smaller communities, with a focus on curated experiences

[Edwin Wong and Andrew Melnizek at The Verge] This is much-needed research: "The Verge partnered with Vox Media’s Insights and Research team, along with Two Cents Insights, to better understand how American consumers are embracing this shift. The goal of the work was to redefine what online communities

28 Feb 2025

Media

Washington Post opinion chief quits as Bezos makes new editorial demands

[Brad Reed at RawStory] This is incredibly disappointing to see: "David Shipley, who has spent the last two-and-a-half years running the Washington Post's editorial page, has stepped down from his position over new demands being made by Post owner Jeff Bezos. In a letter sent out to

26 Feb 2025
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Werd I/O explores the intersection of technology, democracy, and society. It's independently published by Ben Werdmuller, reader-supported, and always free to read.