Ben Werdmuller
  • About me
  • Let's build together
  • Notable links
Sign in Subscribe

Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

NotableLinks

FCC Makes AI-Generated Voices in Robocalls Illegal

"The FCC announced the unanimous adoption of a Declaratory Ruling that recognizes calls made with AI-generated voices are "artificial" under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)." A sign of the times that the FCC had to rule that making an artificial intelligence clone of a voice

08 Feb 2024

NotableLinks

What Medium's Tony Stubblebine has learned about tech and journalism

Tony is a smart, analytical person, which comes across strongly in this useful, transparent interview about the future of Medium. It's doing better than it ever has. Also, I like this, which is very close to how my career has worked to date: "The creator economy locked

07 Feb 2024

NotableLinks

Review: Chris Dixon's Read Write Own

A characteristically great review from Molly White of Chris Dixon's disclosure-free shilling of blockchains as a way to save the web. Read, written, owned. I do think there are some areas where blockchain is unfairly maligned: it introduced the idea of decentralization to a much wider audience, and

07 Feb 2024

NotableLinks

Boeing Max 9s start flying again after door panel blowout

"“I would tell my family to avoid the Max. I would tell everyone, really,” said Joe Jacobsen, a former engineer at Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration." And so I shall. This is going to be a textbook example of how moving to a sales-led rather than engineering-led

07 Feb 2024

NotableLinks

Poll Shows 74 Percent of Republicans Like Donald Trump’s Dictator Plan

"Only 44 percent of adults completely rebelled at the notion of giving the former president — who is currently facing 91 felony charges — dictatorial authority, calling it “definitely bad” for America." In case anyone was still wondering what the stakes are this election season.  #Democracy [Link]

07 Feb 2024

NotableLinks

Apple releases 'MGIE', a revolutionary AI model for instruction-based image editing

"Computer - enhance!" I like the approach in this release from Apple: an open source AI model that can edit images based on natural language instructions. In other words, a human can tell the engine what to do to an image, and it goes and does it. Rather

07 Feb 2024

NotableLinks

Want to sell a book or release an album? Better start a TikTok.

"You’ve got to offer your content to the hellish, overstuffed, harassment-laden, uber-competitive attention economy because otherwise no one will know who you are. [...] The commodification of the self is now seen as the only route to any kind of economic security." In the new economy, every artist

06 Feb 2024

NotableLinks

Over the Edge: The Use of Design Tactics to Undermine Browser Choice

"In order to be able to choose their own browser, people must be free to download it, easily set it to default and to continue using it – all without interference from the operating system. Windows users do not currently enjoy this freedom of choice." What's interesting

06 Feb 2024

NotableLinks

New study says the world blew past 1.5 degrees of warming four years ago

"Limiting average global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels has been the gold standard for climate action since at least the 2015 Paris Agreement. A new scientific study published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change, however, suggests that the world

05 Feb 2024

NotableLinks

Public Funding of Journalism Is the Only Way

"If your position is that public money will irrevocably taint journalism but the biggest companies in America buying ads will not, I submit that you have not thought about this issue very deeply." I don't know how I feel about a publicly-funded media, although I couldn&

05 Feb 2024

NotableLinks

Semafor reporters are going to curate the news with AI

"As social traffic collapses and Google makes ominous AI-powered sounds about search, publishers across the board have started to reemphasize their websites as destinations, and that means there are a lot of new ideas about what makes websites valuable again." A lot of which look like blogging. Semafor

05 Feb 2024

NotableLinks

Book: The Future, by Naomi Alderman

"The only way to predict the future is to control it." An interesting idea that powers a book that has a lot to say about 21st century oligarchy and our relationship to technology. There's one conclusion that hits home particularly hard; I can't describe

05 Feb 2024
See all
Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

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

Recommendations

  • Elena Rossini
    Elena Rossini
    news.elenarossini.com

    Elena Rossini is an Italian filmmaker, photographer and activist. Her work focuses on issues of media literacy, digital sovereignty, and harnessing the power of the internet for change.

  • Relay, By We Distribute
    Relay, By We Distribute
    newsletter.wedistribute.org

    A weekly newsletter about the open social web. We Distribute is the best website about the next generation of social networks - their newsletter is a regular dive into what's going on.

  • Internet Exchange
    Internet Exchange
    internet.exchangepoint.tech

    Feminist perspectives on digital justice and tech from some of the most important voices in ethical tech.

  • When The Going Gets Weird
    When The Going Gets Weird
    newsletter.mathewingram.com

    Mathew Ingram, a longtime journalist whose bylines have chronicled the intersection of journalism and the web, shares links that interest him.

  • Point C
    Point C
    pointc.co

    Corey Ford has been a mentor and friend for over a decade. His advice changed my professional life, and now it can change yours, too.

Ben Werdmuller
Mastodon
Bluesky
Threads

Subscribe to new posts

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