How I turned $15,000 into $1.2m during the pandemic – then lost it all
““It’s about detachment,” my parents said in the end. “All the things in your life … you have to also be prepared to live without them.”” #Society [Link]
Signal Stories are now available on iOS and Android
“Stories are now available to everyone on Signal, allowing users of the encrypted instant messaging service to create and share images, videos, and texts that automatically expire after 24 hours.” But why? #Technology [Link]
Subscribing to news with a different lens
I’m the CTO for The 19th, a women-led newsroom reporting on politics and policy with a gender lens. I’m super-proud to be here: it’s the most empathetic team I’ve ever worked on, and the journalism it produces is vital in the current moment. There are a
Why is everyone leaving Twitter for Mastodon?
“Mastodon feels like 2007. It’s rough around the edges, but does the job. It doesn’t work the same as Twitter. There’s no algorithm and no slick social media marketing teams targeting you. It’s a little harder to find your friends and nothing quite does what you
Hope for a post-Musk net
“What institutions need we create now, in this new reality? Note that I did not say what new technologies. We have lots of technologies; more than enough, thank you. What we need are human standards, norms, and means to discover and support quality and credibility, talent and utility.” #Technology [Link]
Mastodon's Founder Has a Vision to Democratize Social Media
“The recent influx from Twitter, Rochko says, has been a vindication. “It is a very positive thing to find that your work is finally being appreciated and respected and more widely known,” he says. “I have been working very, very hard to push the idea that there is a better
Twitter Now Asks Some Fired Workers to Please Come Back
“Some of those who are being asked to return were laid off by mistake, according to two people familiar with the moves. Others were let go before management realized that their work and experience may be necessary to build the new features Musk envisions, the people said, asking not to
What to blog
A while back I wrote a single-page site, Get Blogging, that’s designed to be a guide to which blogging platform to pick. It doesn’t actually tell you how to blog - and perhaps inevitably, I’ve started receiving lots of emails asking how to do just that. There
Elsewhere
The first draft flare
On reclaiming the childhood joy writing and drawing gave me in order to find a new creative life as an adult. #Elsewhere [Link]
Homeland Security Cops to Manufacturing Terrorists for Trump
“The Department of Homeland Security launched a failed operation that ensnared hundreds, if not thousands, of U.S. protesters in what new documents show was as a sweeping, power-hungry effort before the 2020 election to bolster President Donald Trump’s spurious claims about a “terrorist organization” he accused his Democratic
A Mastodon introduction
Here’s what I wrote on my Mastodon profile to (re-)introduce myself to the fediverse: Hi! I'm Ben Werdmuller. I've been a blogger since 1998. These days I post regularly at werd.io. Writing is my first love, and I'm working on a
Voting on the indieweb
If you’re an American citizen, you should vote in next week’s election. Maybe you already have: I sent in my mail-in ballot, which is by far the easiest and most convenient way to do your democratic duty, as well as the best way to vote while researching your