Ben Werdmuller helps leaders at newsrooms, non-profits, and mission-driven organizations to navigate their biggest technology challenges.
We live in a world where right-wing nationalism is on the rise and many governments, including the incoming Trump administration, are promising mass deportations. Trump in particular has discussed building camps as part of mass deportations. This question used to feel more hypothetical than it does today. Faced with
Technology
[Mike Masnick in TechDirt] Mark Zuckerberg is very obviously running scared from the incoming Trump administration: "Since the election, Zuckerberg has done everything he can possibly think of to kiss the Trump ring. He even flew all the way from his compound in Hawaii to have dinner at Mar-
Technology
[Rae Morey at The Repository] The bananas activity continues over at Automattic / Matt Mullenweg's house: "Members of the fledgling WordPress Sustainability Team have been left reeling after WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg abruptly dissolved the team this week. [...] The disbandment happened after team rep Thijs Buijs announced
Notable links
[Natasya Salim, Najma Sambul, and Bill Birtles at ABC News] This is something that every nation should provide. It's really impressive that Indonesia is putting it into action: "Indonesia has launched a transformative free meal program designed to combat malnutrition and support underprivileged communities. Championed by President
Technology
[Jason Kottke] Jason nails what the supposed focus on free speech by Meta and others is really about: "What Zuckerberg and Meta have realized is the value, demonstrated by Trump, Musk, and MAGA antagonists, of saying that you’re “protecting free speech” and using it as cover for almost
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[Arno Rosenfeld at the Forward] The Heritage Foundation is out to "identify and target" Wikipedia editors, using antisemitism as a cover: "Employees of Heritage, the conservative think tank that produced the Project 2025 policy blueprint for the second Trump administration, said they plan to use facial recognition
Previous birthday posts: 45 wishes, 44 thoughts about the future, 43 things, 42 / 42 admissions, 41 things. One. I lie in bed as Ma read Dodie Smith’s The Hundred and One Dalmatians to me. It was the fifth, and last, straight time; after this, she would finally put her
Technology
[Alex Weprin at The Hollywood Reporter] I don't think this is a great thing at all: "Meta will also move its trust and safety and content moderation teams out of California, with content review to be based in Texas. “As we work to promote free expression, I
When did you last look up? What’s the best thing you’ve seen lately? Who did you want to show it to? Why?
Notable links
[A.R. Moxon at The Reframe] An interesting election mortem and post-mortem, from an arguably refreshing perspective: "Here's what I think is going on: Our system is foundationally built to devour human beings in order to enrich the already wealthy, and it's moved so
AI
[Things we learned about LLMs in 2024] Simon's overview of what happened in the LLM space during 2024 is genuinely excellent. For example, on the environmental impact: "Companies like Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon are all spending billions of dollars rolling out new datacenters, with a very
Notable links
[Joshua Kaplan at ProPublica] This ought to be a movie: "Posing as an ideological compatriot, Williams had penetrated the top ranks of two of the most prominent right-wing militias in the country. He’d slept in the home of the man who claims to be the new head