Connecting Europe by train: 10 EU pilot services to boost cross-border rail
Europe knows what's up. I wish we could do this in the US - but there are so many obstacles. #Society [Link]
Ben Werdmuller
Ben Werdmuller helps leaders at newsrooms, non-profits, and mission-driven organizations to navigate their biggest technology challenges.
Hannah
Four decades ago, I was introduced to my sister. She remains the person I most look up to; although she’s technically younger than me, she’s who I want to be when I grow up. A remarkable human being who is a real point of light, not just in
This women-led philanthropy is redirecting climate funding
Directing funding from self-interested billionaire philanthropy to grassroots environmental justice organizations is wonderful to see. They're so much more likely to actually have an impact that will matter. And they need so much more support. #Climate [Link]
Making it easier to build on the fediverse
I’ve been thinking about how to make it easier to build on the fediverse. Here’s a pitch for an idea I’ve been thinking a lot about: This API service allows anyone to spin up a fediverse back-end with its own custom domain, accessible via a RESTful
Threads Adopting ActivityPub Makes Sense, but Won't Be Easy
I agree that ActivityPub is the right choice for Meta and any company wanting to follow a similar strategy, for the reasons laid out here. I’ve been thinking about tools that might make adoption easier for startups and hobbyists. #Technology [Link]
AP strikes deal with OpenAI
This caught my eye: an example of OpenAI licensing content from a publisher in order to make its models better. Other publishers should now know that they can make similar deals rather than letting their work be scraped up for free. #AI [Link]
Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right
Exactly this. What this piece calls People Theory, I call motivation over metrics. It's the same idea: there are no cheat codes for people. You've actually got to use empathy with each other and build a community made of three dimensional human beings. #Labor [Link]
How I think about technology leadership
I’ve been a technical leader since we started conceiving of the Elgg project back in 2003, twenty years ago. Back then, I didn’t know much — about leading teams, about running startups, about building projects — and I had to pick it all up from scratch, sometimes inventing processes and
Hollywood Studios Anticipate Writers Strike Lasting Until October
This feels like a good opportunity for a studio to become pro-union and scoop up every amazing writer in the business. #Labor [Link]
Meta-provided Facebook chats led a woman to plead guilty to abortion-related charges
One of my nightmares is that something I helped to build would be used in this kind of prosecution. There’s an expectation of privacy built into the design of direct messaging apps, and designers have a responsibility to protect their users. They failed here. #Technology [Link]
How to Identify “Truthy” Tech Trends
I love Amber Case's framing of "truthy" tech: hype-driven technologies that promise too much too soon, are driven by FOMO, and are intriguing because of their depictions in popular culture. There are plenty of examples to choose from right now, and this is a great
Events I'll be at this year
Ever so tentatively, I’m beginning to show my head at in-person events this year. I haven’t been to any kind of industry conference or regular event since at least 2019. The small matter of a global, deadly pandemic kept me away, but I’ve decided that I’