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Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

Indieweb

Own what’s yours

[PJ Onori] I can't disagree with anything here: "Web 2.0 seemed like such a great idea in a more innocent time. We’re at a point where it’s only prudent to view third-parties as guilty until proven innocent. Not as some abstract, principled stance, but

18 Feb 2025

askacto

Ask a CTO: security vs. productivity; when to adopt technology trends

Ask a CTO is an irregular column where I answer anonymous questions from a technical leadership perspective. You can ask questions using this form. I have two answers to two questions this time around: Security vs. productivity Where do you draw the line between security and productivity? What are the

17 Feb 2025

Technology

Elon Musk’s X blocks links to Signal, the encrypted messaging service

[Matt Binder at disruptionist] Just in case you thought he was still all about free speech: "Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, is currently banning links to “Signal.me,” a URL used by the encrypted messaging service Signal. The “Signal.me” domain is specifically used by the service

17 Feb 2025

Fediverse

Bringing Quote Posts to Mastodon

[Mastodon] Mastodon doesn't have quote posts, but is finally adding them after years of pressure. It's a harder decision than you might think - which is made clear by this excellent post by the team. In order to help mitigate potential abuse, the team has imposed

16 Feb 2025

Technology

Silicon Valley Software Engineers Horrified as They Can't Easily Find Jobs Anymore

[Joe Wilkins in Futurism] The job market in the tech industry has been brutal for a little while now, and doesn't show signs of getting easier. "Of all the workers devastated by the carnage, former tech workers in Silicon Valley are having a particularly rough go of

16 Feb 2025

Life in Weeks

Inspired by Gina Trapani, Buster Benson, and others, I started to build my own Life in Weeks page from scratch. It looks pretty cool, and it’s interesting to see my life milestones presented on this scale. But I’m not going to share it with you. As I was

16 Feb 2025

An update on searching for trans-friendly employers who sponsor visas

Last month I asked to hear from trans-friendly employers who sponsor visas, and provided a simple form for interested employers to reach out. In the process, I heard from many individuals: people who were hoping to find new employment in another country, and people who worked for companies that were

16 Feb 2025

Fediverse

Organizing on decentralized social networks

[Jon Pincus at The Nexus of Privacy] There's an argument that one reason Elon Musk bought Twitter was to reduce its effectiveness as a platform for progressive organizing. Whether you buy that or not, it's clear that the new set of social networks are fertile ground

16 Feb 2025

Technology

Tech continues to be political

[Miriam Eric Suzanne] Every single word of this piece resonated for me, from the underlying discomfort to the realization that AI as it currently manifests reflects a kind of fascist mindset in itself: an enclosure movement of culture and diversity that concentrates power into a handful of vendors. This is

16 Feb 2025

A streak, at last

It’s a small thing, but I broke my Apple Fitness longest streak this week. That means my consecutive number of days that I’ve hit my fitness goals on my Apple Watch has been longer than it’s ever been. Here’s why that’s meaningful: my previous longest

13 Feb 2025

Parenting

Marshmallow Test and Parenting

[Sergey Bogdanov] This is a story about parenting, but also about the importance of considering context inclusively. We've all heard about the Stanford marshmallow experiment, but: "Kids from wealthier families waited longer than kids from low-income families. Not because they had more self-control, but because their environment

13 Feb 2025

Notable Links

What Elon Musk's son in Trump's Oval Office tells us about politics and family

[Jennifer Gerson at The 19th] Musk has been seen with his child, X Æ A-Xii (or "Lil X" for short), at press conferences. But, as Jennifer Gerson notes here, it's not just a photo op. "Musk, a father of 12, is an avowed pronatalist, or

13 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.