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Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

In Europe, a regulatory vise tightens around big tech

Good overview. I think European tech regulations have been broadly good, establishing the anti-competitive and pro-privacy rules that US legislators have failed to enact. If we could only all be so protected.  #Technology [Link]

31 Aug 2023

If we define it as technology-assisted one-to-many ...

If we define it as technology-assisted one-to-many bi-directional communication (therefore ruling out the telephone, letters, and so on), I think there's an argument to be made that it was the newspaper. In the old days, particularly pre-television, local papers in particular would have a lot of mini-stories just

31 Aug 2023

Is Big Oil Turning on Big Auto?

It makes sense that oil companies would try to frame driving a gas car as freedom. As an EV driver, I can tell you that it is not. I would prefer if we all had great, integrated public transit - but for the moment, at least, it has been an

31 Aug 2023

Noah

We lost my beloved cousin Noah this week. I don’t have the words yet. But Noah, you were wonderful, and we all loved you so much. Ma used to say that she liked to think of everyone who was gone having a picnic on the beach and looking down

31 Aug 2023

Educational Sensational Inspirational Foundational

A really great list of foundational and/or influential writing about how to build the web, starting with Tim Berners-Lee's Cool URIs Don't Change post from 1998.  #Technology [Link]

30 Aug 2023

Police departments pull school officers due to Minnesota restraint law

It says a lot that in areas where officers aren’t allowed to put schoolchildren in holds that restrict breathing or their ability to speak, departments take officers out of schools in protest. These laws should be in place everywhere, and police officers should not be in schools. #Society [Link]

30 Aug 2023

US Copyright Office wants to hear what people think about AI and copyright

I certainly have some thoughts that I will share. Imagine if you could allow an AI agent to create copyrighted works at scale with no human involvement. It would allow for an incredible intellectual property land grab.  #AI [Link]

30 Aug 2023

The Online Journalism Awards and why non-profit news is awesome

I was pleased to attend the Online Journalism Awards on Saturday night. Some winning highlights included: The 19th won a Breaking News award for its coverage of the Dobbs decision, including some really great data journalism. I’m proud of, and very happy for, my friends there. By the way,

28 Aug 2023

The true cost of climate pollution? 44% of corporate profits.

I’m surprised that mandatory disclosure of carbon emissions isn’t widespread - it does seem like the prerequisite to making any change. And yeah, these companies should pay. And be forced to reduce their emissions. And be fined heavily, and prosecuted, when they don’t.  #Climate [Link]

28 Aug 2023

Remote workers' connection to companies' missions hits record low

Remote workers feel less connected to company missions, but the big message here is that nobody really feels all that connected. There are no superficial answers here: the real differentiators are better company cultures where people feel truly valued, much stronger communication, and better missions.  #Labor [Link]

27 Aug 2023

Web Scraping for Me, But Not for Thee

Good commentary on the dissonance between vendors like Microsoft banning scraping of their platforms while simultaneously releasing products that depend on scraping other peoples' data. Some sort of commons agreement would go a long way here, but it won't happen while platforms can get away with this

27 Aug 2023

NLRB Says Companies That Union-Bust Must Recognize Busted Union

A neat rule: union-busters must recognize the unions they're trying to undermine. The union rebound continues.  #Labor [Link]

26 Aug 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.