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Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

Technology

A guide to using Signal for government workers

[Matt Haughey] I really like the way this guide to Signal lays it all out. As Matt Haughey explains: "A friend of mine works in the federal government and wrote a guide for their fellow federal workers on how to use Signal. There are lots of good reasons for

03 Feb 2025

I want you to do these four things right now

Okay, friends. Here’s what we’re going to do. It’s not going to take long. Let’s install Signal. Signal is an open-source, end-to-end encrypted instant messaging app. When you message someone with Signal, nobody can intercept your conversation to learn what you’re saying. It’s very

01 Feb 2025

Notable Links

Researchers rush to preserve federal health databases before they disappear from government websites

[Naseem S. Miller at the Journalist's Resource] A massive, last-minute data preservation effort was undertaken this week as important federal datasets were taken offline: "The new Trump administration has at least temporality halted most communications from the Department of Health and Human Services and has begun taking

01 Feb 2025

The Bitcoin ghouls

Imagine being so genuinely empty as a human being that you support a regime that conducts mass deportations and runs concentration camps because they support Bitcoin. Imagine watching the rights, freedoms, and safety of trans people being torn down over the course of 72 hours and thinking, man, I'

29 Jan 2025

On its birthday, The 19th announces a new model for funding media

The 19th celebrated its fifth birthday yesterday. CEO Emily Ramshaw’s reflective post is quite lovely, but also announces a very bold strategy: On our fifth anniversary, we’re launching our first-ever endowment campaign, with a goal of raising $20 million over the next three years to protect our financial

28 Jan 2025

Technology

The Bear Manifesto

[Herman Martinus] I recognize a lot of the sentiment here. Twenty years ago, I ran an open source social networking startup and tried to differentiate ourselves by saying many of these same things. "Bear won't sell. I'm not building this to flip it to the

27 Jan 2025

Culture

Experimental Playgrounds

[Adrian Hon] I was today years old when I learned the original meaning of an "adventure playground": "The post-war period saw “junk playgrounds” flourish as a kind of reparations for the trauma of war. They gave children the freedom to build, explore, experiment, and role play – and

26 Jan 2025

Technology

How Democrats Drove Silicon Valley Into Trump’s Arms

[Ross Douthat and Marc Andreessen in The New York Times] This podcast conversation with Marc Andreessen is very revealing. It's particularly fascinating to me that what I experienced as "America finally having a much-needed moral awakening" presented to people like Andreessen as "radical Marxism"

26 Jan 2025

Technology

TikTok’s “cute winter boots” meaning explained

[Taylor Lorenz at UserMag] This is like something from a cyberpunk novel: "The phrase “cute winter boots” is not about footwear. It's a code phrase being used to discuss resistance to Trump and how to fight back against the draconian immigration policies his administration is enacting. Users

25 Jan 2025

In the face of this, who do you want to be?

I was out buying eggs when I saw a video of Elon Musk giving a Hitler salute at the inauguration. In the movies, this stuff is highlighted and separated: punctuation in itself instead of an event that you see in the background of your everyday life. Hannah Arendt talked about

24 Jan 2025

Seeking trans-friendly employers who sponsor visas

Nobody should have to move to another country to be themselves. However, I’ve spoken to multiple people who feel they need to move away from the US in order to avoid harms caused by the new administration’s executive orders that target trans people. Exactly how to do this

20 Jan 2025

The next four years

The last time this man was in power we wound up with one of the largest civil rights movements ever conducted in the United States. There is so much light; so much bravery; so much fairness and equity and rebellion in so many. Those are the people I believe in.

20 Jan 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.