Can Americans really make a free choice about dying?
A characteristically nuanced, in-depth piece about the debate around assisted suicide. #Health [Link]
Ben Werdmuller
Ben Werdmuller helps leaders at newsrooms, non-profits, and mission-driven organizations to navigate their biggest technology challenges.
Block Party anti-harassment service leaves Twitter amid API changes
“Announced in a blog post last night, Block Party’s anti-harassment tools for Twitter are being placed on an immediate, indefinite hiatus, with the developers claiming that changes to Twitter’s API pricing (which starts from $100 per month) have “made it impossible for Block Party’s Twitter product
Outrage as Brazil law threatening Indigenous lands advances in congress
“Lawmakers had sent “a clear message to the country and the world: Bolsonaro is gone but the extermination [of Indigenous communities and the environment] continues,” the Climate Observatory added.” #Climate [Link]
Of Course We Should All be Working Less
“In 1940, the Fair Labor Standards Act reduced the workweek to 40 hours. Today, as a result of huge advances in technology and productivity, now is the time to lower the workweek to 32 hours—with no loss in pay. Workers must benefit from advanced technology, not just the 1%
Fediverse
Extinguishing the fediverse
I’m soliciting prompts for discussion. This piece is a part of that series. Erlend Sogge Heggen asks: There’s legitimate reason to be worried about Meta’s P92 project being part of a EEE play against the fediverse. How might the fediverse community counteract this, perhaps with its own
How Picnic, an Emerging Social Network, Found its Niche
“By putting a degree of financial incentive in the hands of moderators by offering them fractional ownership of the community they built through a system of “seeds,” they ultimately are able to control their community’s destiny.” #Technology [Link]
Adding a sustainability lens to design thinking
Via Jeremy Keith, Future-First Design Thinking: Incorporating non-human personas into the design thinking process would allow us to embody the essential elements that constitute our environment, such as air, trees, water, and land. These personas can serve as tangible reminders of the interconnectedness between our design decisions and
Twitter Fails to Remove Hate Speech by Blue-Check Users, Center for Countering Digital Hate Says
“Twitter is failing to remove 99 percent of hate speech posted by Twitter Blue users, new research has found, and instead may be boosting paid accounts that spew racism and homophobia.” Who would have predicted? #Technology [Link]
‘This robot causes harm’: National Eating Disorders Association’s new chatbot advises people with disordering eating to lose weight
““Every single thing Tessa suggested were things that led to the development of my eating disorder,” Maxwell wrote in her Instagram post. “This robot causes harm.”” #AI [Link]
Documents reveal how fossil fuel industry created, pushed anti-ESG campaign
“ESG’s path to its current culture war status began with an attempt by West Virginia coal companies to push back against the financial industry’s rising unease around investing in coal — which as the dirtiest-burning fuel has the most powerful and disrupting impacts on the climate.” #Climate [Link]
Stooping to the tactics of the bad guys
I’m soliciting prompts for discussion. This piece is a part of that series. An anonymous reader asks: Do the good guys need to stoop to the tactics of the bad guys in order to avoid losing, or is there still value in holding oneself to certain standards? First: who
Jesse Armstrong on the roots of Succession: ‘Would it have landed the same way without the mad bum-rush of Trump’s presidency?’
“I guess the simple things at the heart of Succession ended up being Brexit and Trump. The way the UK press had primed the EU debate for decades. The way the US media’s conservative outriders prepared the way for Trump, hovered at the brink of support and then dived