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Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

The baby stack at 20 months

When our son reached nine months old, I published this UsesThis-style list of products and services we were using; I had previously published one before he was born. He’s twenty months old now: walking around and using words. He straddles the worlds between being a baby and a little

05 May 2024

The kids are alright

The biggest thing to be concerned about in all these student protests is not the students, but the severity and strength with which the police are entering the fray. A police officer fired a gun on the Columbia campus. Tear gas is being used on multiple campuses. In multiple cases

04 May 2024

A quiet week

I’ve been pretty sick for over a week now. Daycare is a Petri dish of germs and viruses, but most have them have passed me by; this one, in contrast, hit me like a ton of bricks. I’ve been the sickest I’ve felt in years: a really

03 May 2024

NotableLinks

Mastodon forms new U.S. non-profit

Mastodon has established itself as a US 501(c)(3) with a really exciting new board. I'm a long-term fan of Esra’a Al Shafei in particular - but the whole group is quite something. This coincides with Germany stripping Mastodon of non-profit status for unknown reasons. Hopefully

27 Apr 2024

NotableLinks

I Am a Jewish Student at Columbia. Don’t Believe What You’re Being Told About ‘Campus Antisemitism’

"Here’s what you’re not being told: The most pressing threats to our safety as Jewish students do not come from tents on campus. Instead, they come from the Columbia administration inviting police onto campus, certain faculty members, and third-party organizations that dox undergraduates." A useful first-hand

27 Apr 2024

NotableLinks

Struggling with a Moral Panic Once Again

"I have to admit that it's breaking my heart to watch a new generation of anxious parents think that they can address the struggles their kids are facing by eliminating technology from kids' lives." I've got so much more to say about this,

27 Apr 2024

NotableLinks

‘In the US they think we’re communists!’ The 70,000 workers showing the world another way to earn a living

"Mondragón has become a beacon for the co-operative model, as a more humane and egalitarian way of doing business that puts “people over capital”. Every worker has a stake in the company’s fortunes and a say in how it is run, and receives a share of the profits.

27 Apr 2024

Where I'm coming from

I’m paralyzed by the world. We seem to be at a kind of crossroads. There’s so much to be appalled by, so much to be worried about, and I worry that not saying something might be considered to be acquiescence or approval. So, in this moment, I thought

26 Apr 2024

NotableLinks

A Message from the Chancellor on the Recent Student Protest

"The University administration respects all student protests, just not this one. Students have fought for many important causes over the years, and their right to protest is sacrosanct. In this case, however, we must arrest and slander them." Just completely spot on.  #Democracy [Link]

25 Apr 2024

The three operating system models of government

Evan Prodromou asks if we agree with Aristotle that there are three kinds of government: monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. (As Evan points out, he actually defined six, with Polity — government by political organizations — ranked first. Which is what we have. Lucky us.) I’m a qualified yes on this — I

25 Apr 2024

The xenophobic, un-American TikTok ban

The requirement for TikTok to relinquish Chinese ownership or face a nationwide ban was signed into law today, as an add-on to a foreign aid bill: But even as ridiculous as it is to tack on a TikTok ban to foreign spending support, Biden had made it clear he supported

24 Apr 2024

NotableLinks

My Dinner With Andreessen

Marc Andreessen on poor people: “I’m glad there’s OxyContin and video games to keep those people quiet.” This also resonated with me: "One participant was a British former journalist become computer tycoon who had been awarded a lordship. He proclaimed that the Chinese middle class doesn’t

24 Apr 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.