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Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

Technology

Introducing Sill

[Tyler Fisher] Tyler Fisher has built a Nuzzel-like service for Bluesky: "Sill connects to your Bluesky and Mastodon accounts and aggregates the most popular links in your network. (Yes, a little like Nuzzel.)" It's a personal project for now but there's more to come:

26 Nov 2024

Notable Links

Immigrants’ Resentment Over New Arrivals Helped Boost Trump’s Popularity With Latino Voters

[Melissa Sanchez and Mica Rosenberg at ProPublica] Important resentments coming to the surface here: "Her anger is largely directed at President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party for failing to produce meaningful reforms to the immigration system that could benefit people like her. In our reporting on the new

26 Nov 2024

Media

Elon Musk floats buying MSNBC, but he’s not the only billionaire who may be interested

[Brian Stelter at CNN] CNN's Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter reports that multiple very wealthy individuals, including Elon Musk, have enquired about buying MSNBC: "I spent Sunday on the phone with sources to gauge what might be going on. I learned that more than one benevolent billionaire

25 Nov 2024

Technology

Bluesky is breaking the rules in the EU

[Wes Davis at The Verge] Interesting announcement from the European Commission: "The European Union says Twitter alternative Bluesky violates the EU Digital Services Act rules around information disclosure, reports Reuters. But since Bluesky isn’t yet big enough to be considered a “very large online platform” under the DSA,

25 Nov 2024

Notable Links

With Trump alliance, Elon Musk became exactly what he vowed to expose

[Mike Masnick at MSNBC] As Mike Masnick points out here, the hypocrisy from Elon Musk about collusion between tech and government is staggering: "Before, we were told that White House officials’ merely reaching out to social media companies about election misinformation was a democracy-ending threat. Now, the world’s

23 Nov 2024

Fediverse

How decentralized is Bluesky really?

[Christine Lemmer-Webber] Christine Lemmer-Webber has written a superb post that sets out to ask how decentralized Bluesky is but goes far deeper into the different models at play in decentralized social networking. It's required reading for anyone who cares about the space. "What many users fleeing X-Twitter

23 Nov 2024

Culture

An Interview with Boots Riley

[Annalee Newitz at The Believer] Boots Riley is a national treasure. I loved this interview with him in The Believer: "BLVR: Do you think that all expression is propaganda? BR: The word propaganda got popularized in different ways at different times. But our generation knows it as a derogatory

22 Nov 2024

ProPublica is a big part of the future of news

In the Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin discusses my workplace, the journalism it undertakes, and why it's important (gift link). I lead technology, and while I sit on the business side of the operation, it's an absolute privilege to support these journalists. This is on point: “The

21 Nov 2024

Fediverse

Decentralised social media ‘increases citizen empowerment’, says Oxford study

[Oxford Martin School] The Oxford Martin School is a multidisciplinary research institution at the University of Oxford focused on tackling global challenges and shaping a sustainable future through innovation and collaboration. It ran a study on the societal implications of decentralized social media and found that "such platforms offer

21 Nov 2024

Technology

Google must sell Chrome to end search monopoly, says US justice department

[Dan Milmo at The Guardian] The Department of Justice has filed its proposed remedies to Google's illegal monopoly over search services: "The proposals filed to a Washington federal court include the forced sale of the Chrome browser and a five-year ban from entering the browser market; a

21 Nov 2024

Education

Undergraduates with family income below $200,000 can expect to attend MIT tuition-free starting in 2025

[Massachusetts Institute of Technology] Changes to financial aid at MIT: "Undergraduates with family income below $200,000 can expect to attend MIT tuition-free starting next fall, thanks to newly expanded financial aid. Eighty percent of American households meet this income threshold." If your family makes less than $100,

20 Nov 2024

Fediverse

The Right Triumphed Over Social Media and Helped Elect Trump

[Julia Angwin at The New York Times] In an op-ed for The New York Times, Julia Angwin makes a strong argument for the open social web: "If we want a quality information environment, we have to build a new one beyond the walls of the existing Big Tech social

20 Nov 2024
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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.