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Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

Business

Responding to work emails after hours contributes to burnout, hostility

[Myoung-Gi Chon in The Conversation] "We found a disturbing link between work-related communication outside of regular hours and increased employee burnout. Answering emails after hours was linked to worse productivity, employees badmouthing their employers and other negative behaviors." This is an important (if perhaps obvious) finding, but it&

18 Sep 2024

Technology

WordCamp US & Ecosystem Thinking

[Matt Mullenweg] "Those of us who are makers, who create the source, need to be wary of those who would take our creations and squeeze out the juice. They’re grifters who will hop onto the next fad, but we’re trying to build something big here, something long

18 Sep 2024

Notable Links

Candi Miller Died Afraid to Seek Care Amid Georgia’s Abortion Ban

[Kavitha Surana at ProPublica] "When the mother of three realized she had unintentionally gotten pregnant in the fall of 2022, Georgia’s new abortion ban gave her no choice. Although it made exceptions for acute, life-threatening emergencies, it didn’t account for chronic conditions, even those known to present

18 Sep 2024

Fediverse

Mozilla exits the fediverse and will shutter its Mastodon server in December

[Sarah Perez at TechCrunch] "Mozilla is exiting the fediverse. Though the concept of the open social web, also known as the fediverse, has been picking up momentum ever since Meta last year introduced its first-ever federated app, Instagram Threads, Firefox maker Mozilla on Tuesday announced it would be ending

17 Sep 2024

Media

HOW TO SUCCEED IN MRBEAST PRODUCTION (leaked PDF)

[Simon Willison] "Whether or not you enjoy MrBeast’s format of YouTube videos, this leaked onboarding document for new members of his production company is a compelling read." It really is fascinating. It's also really badly written, which says a lot about the priorities MrBeast instills

15 Sep 2024

Fediverse

Open Call: Join the Open Social Incubator | Media Economies Design Lab

[Media Economies Design Lab at University of Colorado Boulder] "The Media Economies Design Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder is launching a 5-month process of mentorship and peer-to-peer learning, empowering veteran community builders to adopt emerging open social networks." This seems like a wonderful initiative for the

14 Sep 2024

Technology

Apple Vision Pro’s Eye Tracking Exposed What People Type

[Matt Burgess at Wired] "Today, a group of six computer scientists are revealing a new attack against Apple’s Vision Pro mixed reality headset where exposed eye-tracking data allowed them to decipher what people entered on the device’s virtual keyboard. The attack, dubbed GAZEploit and shared exclusively with

12 Sep 2024

Reconsidering my car

I have an electric car. All in, between car payments and insurance, but exclusive of the money it costs to actually charge it, I spend around $800-850 a month. That’s a ton of money! For all that cash, I must do a lot of driving, right? Absolutely not. I

11 Sep 2024

Obviously I'm voting for Harris

It shouldn’t surprise anyone to learn that I plan to vote for Kamala Harris. Just consider the alternative: who he is, what he stands for, what the world might look like if he gains another four-year term. Last night’s debate performance may have sealed the deal for many

11 Sep 2024

Culture

How Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Harris and Walz is a masterpiece of persuasive prose: a songwriter’s practical lesson in written advocacy

[David Allen Green at The Law and Policy Blog] "In essence: this endorsement is a masterpiece of practical written advocacy, and many law schools would do well to put it before their students." This is a fascinating breakdown of Taylor Swift's endorsement of Kamala Harris: not

11 Sep 2024

Media

Big tech is painting itself as journalism’s savior. We should tread carefully.

[Mathias Felipe de Lima Santos at NiemanLab] "To survive, journalism must continue to embrace technology. But doing so should never cost newsrooms their independence. News organizations should prioritise building direct relationships with their audience to reduce reliance on third-party platforms. They should also stay informed about evolving regulations, and

10 Sep 2024

Technology

Going open-source as a VC-backed company

[Lucas da Costa at Briefer] "Some people call our strategy "open-core" and that's technically right. Still, I'd rather say that we have two pieces of software: one that is open-source and another that is not. I think that's more honest because

10 Sep 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.