Ben Werdmuller
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Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

Notable links

AP to launch sister organization to fundraise for state, local news

"Governed by an independent board of directors, the 501(c)3 charitable organization will help AP sustain, augment and grow journalism and services for the industry, as well as help fund other entities that share a commitment to state and local news." Fascinating! And much needed. I'

25 Jun 2024

Some polite words regarding the British General Election on July 4

On July 4th I’ll be on the beautiful Oregon coast, and I plan to have a bottle of champagne handy. Not so much because of the American Independence Day — although there’s nothing wrong with celebrating that, and I’m sure I will — but because of the British election

25 Jun 2024

Notable links

Law enforcement is spying on thousands of Americans’ mail, records show

[Drew Harwell at the Washington Post] "Postal inspectors say they fulfill [requests from law enforcement to share information from letters and packages] only when mail monitoring can help find a fugitive or investigate a crime. But a decade’s worth of records, provided exclusively to The Washington Post in

24 Jun 2024

AI

The Future of Fashion Commerce Is a Designer's AI Bot Saying You Look Great and Your Personal AI Bot Sifting Through the Bullshit

[Hunter Walk] "The best commerce platforms will be constantly grooming you, priming you, shaping you to buy. The combination of short-term and long-term value that leads to the optimal financial outcome for the business." I think this is inevitably correct: the web will devolve into a battle between

24 Jun 2024

Society

Why does moral progress feel preachy and annoying?

[Daniel Kelly and Evan Westra in Aeon] "Many genuinely good arguments for moral change will be initially experienced as annoying. Moreover, the emotional responses that people feel in these situations are not typically produced by psychological processes that are closely tracking argument structure or responding directly to moral reasons.

24 Jun 2024

Business

Systems: What does a board of directors do?

[Anil Dash] "I realize that most people who've never been in the boardroom have a lot of questions (and often, anxieties) about what happens on a board, so I wanted to share a very subjective view of what I've seen and learned over the years.

22 Jun 2024

Don't let them tell you what to think

Last year I wrote a little about how I hope AI will be used, using the GPS navigation in my car as an analogy: I like my GPS. I use it pretty much every time I drive. But it’s not going to make the final decision about which way

22 Jun 2024

AI

I Will Piledrive You If You Mention AI Again

[Nikhil Suresh at Ludicity] "This entire class of person is, to put it simply, abhorrent to right-thinking people. They're an embarrassment to people that are actually making advances in the field, a disgrace to people that know how to sensibly use technology to improve the world, and

20 Jun 2024

Privacy

New ALPR Vulnerabilities Prove Mass Surveillance Is a Public Safety Threat

[Dave Maass and Cooper Quintin at EFF] "When law enforcement uses ALPRs to document the comings and goings of every driver on the road, regardless of a nexus to a crime, it results in gargantuan databases of sensitive information, and few agencies are equipped, staffed, or trained to harden

19 Jun 2024

Culture

Social-Media Influencers Aren’t Getting Rich—They’re Barely Getting By

[Sarah E. Needleman and Ann-Marie Alcántara at the Wall Street Journal] "Earning a decent, reliable income as a social-media creator is a slog—and it’s getting harder. Platforms are doling out less money for popular posts and brands are being pickier about what they want out of sponsorship

18 Jun 2024

Technology

Sharing Openly About ShareOpenly

[Alan Levine at CogDogBlog] "ShareOpenly breaks the door even wider than sharing to Mastodon, and I intend to be using it to update some of my examples listed above. Thanks Ben for demonstrative and elegant means of sharing." Thank you, Alan, for sharing! There's more to

17 Jun 2024

Progress on the book

A sound shook Frances fully awake. Her dreams faded quickly into the cold air, her sleeping memories of San Francisco collapsing into the smell of stone and moss and rot. There was someone in the house. And so begins The Source, at least as the draft stands today. What follows

16 Jun 2024
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Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

Writing at the intersection of technology, journalism, and community.

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Ben Werdmuller explores the intersection of technology, democracy, and society. Always independently published, reader-supported, and free to read.