Werd I/O
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Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

NotableLinks

Flipboard on the fediverse: how the company is rebuilding with ActivityPub and Mastodon

Flipboard is making its entire platform fediverse-compatible, allowing anyone on any fediverse platform (eg Mastodon, Pixelfed, and eventually Threads) to follow content shared there. "By March Flipboard says it plans to allow anyone on the platform to open their account to the fediverse and allow any Flipboard user to

18 Dec 2023

X and the Digital Services Act

The EU has opened up an investigation into Elon Musk’s X: X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, may have broken the European Union’s tough new Digital Services Act rules, regulators said as they announced the opening of a formal investigation today. A key concern of the investigation

18 Dec 2023

Spider moments

When I was eleven years old, my family relocated to the outskirts of Durham, North Carolina for a little while while my dad taught at Duke. We home-swapped with an abortion doctor, and our temporary home was sometimes pelted with eggs. My parents asked us not to play in the

17 Dec 2023

A pre-Christmas novel update

I’d been doing pretty well on my manuscript until I realized I needed to make a major plot revision. That’s been a tough thing to go back and re-edit for. For a few months I was paralyzed between just rewriting the whole thing or diving into extensive re-edits.

17 Dec 2023

NotableLinks

Trump quotes Putin to call Biden ‘threat to democracy,’ reiterates anti-immigrant rhetoric at New Hampshire rally

"Immigrants are poisoning the blood of the country" is something a real Presidential candidate said in 2023. You know which one. Here's a clue: he's by far the frontrunner for Republican candidate, and has a fair chance of being elected for a second term

17 Dec 2023

NotableLinks

Marketing Company Claims That It Actually Is Listening to Your Phone and Smart Speakers to Target Ads

This story seems a little suspect, but still worrying: "A marketing team within media giant Cox Media Group (CMG) claims it has the capability to listen to ambient conversations of consumers through embedded microphones in smartphones, smart TVs, and other devices to gather data and use it to target

15 Dec 2023

What should I do with my Twitter

I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with my Twitter/X account. I don’t want to leave it dormant, because the current policy is to reclaim usernames from accounts that don’t post, which creates a risk that someone will come along and claim to be

15 Dec 2023

NotableLinks

How Police Have Undermined the Promise of Body Cameras

Police body cams have turned out to be a sort of trust whitewashing: a way to demonstrate openness without the accompanying requirement to be open at all. In practice, they're a sham. "Hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars have been spent on what was sold as a

14 Dec 2023

NotableLinks

Did scientists just discover the source of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy?

Big news for people who can get pregnant and the people who care about them (which should be everyone): "New research published by the journal Nature points to the discovery that a single hormone causes nausea and vomiting in pregnancy: GDF15. Researchers found that the amount of this hormone

14 Dec 2023

NotableLinks

Starting a test where posts from Threads accounts will be available on Mastodon

Threads is starting its initial real fediverse integration (as it launches into the EU). Exciting times.  #Technology [Link]

13 Dec 2023

Predictions for journalism 2024

I participated in this year’s NiemanLab Predictions for Journalism. My prediction is about AI flooding the web with spammy, bland content — and the techniques newsrooms will need to use to connect with their communities: Newsrooms that commit to AI-driven storytelling as a way to cut costs while increasing output

13 Dec 2023

NotableLinks

Rethinking levels, promotions and salaries

I've been thinking a lot about leveling engineers lately, and I like this system that Sarah Milstein implemented at Daily very much indeed. Sarah's just started a coaching practice for engineering leaders, which sounds wonderful to me.  #Technology [Link]

12 Dec 2023
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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.