Werd I/O

"Users who disagree with having their content scraped by ChatGPT are particularly outraged by Stack Overflow's rapid flip-flop on its policy concerning generative AI. For years, the site had a standing policy that prevented the use of generative AI in writing or rewording any questions or answers posted. Moderators were allowed and encouraged to use AI-detection software when reviewing posts."

This is all about money: "partnering" with OpenAI clearly means a significant sum has changed hands. The same thing may have happened at Valve, which also unblocked AI-generated art from its marketplace.

This feels like short-term thinking to me: while Stack will clearly make some near-term revenue through the deal, it comes at a cost to the health of its community, which is ultimately what drives the company's value. If motivated contributors drop off, the only thing left will be the AI-generated content - and there's no way that this will be as valuable over time.

I'd love to have been a fly on the wall of the boardroom where this deal was undoubtedly decided. What are they measuring that made this seem like a good idea - and what are they not measuring that means they're blind to the community dynamics that drive their actual sustainability? It's all fascinating to me. #AI

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"We found the company's phony authors and their work everywhere from celebrity gossip outlets like Hollywood Life and Us Weekly to venerable newspapers like the Los Angeles Times, the latter of which also told us that it had broken off its relationship with AdVon after finding its work unsatisfactory."

Even if the LA Times broke off its relationship because the work was unsatisfactory, the fact that this was attempted in the first place is unsettling. What if the work hadn't been "unsatisfactory"? What if it had been "good enough"?

It's not so much the technology itself as the intention behind it: to produce content at scale without employing human journalists, largely to generate pageviews in order to sell ads. There's no public service mission here, or even a mission to provide something that people might really want to read. It's all about arbitrage. #AI

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"Here’s a small trick that worked for me over the dozen years I led remote teams: at the end of your working day, shut down every app on your machine. Yes, all of them. Stash your tabs somewhere if you must, but close them all down."

I do this, including closing all of my tabs. Who really needs to keep hundreds of tabs? You? Why? Let them go!

The note-taking aspect of this has been my actual use for Obsidian: I take daily notes that plug together my thoughts for the day and some ideas about what I might need to do next, as well as things I'm worried about (I'm always worried about a lot of things).

Not that long ago, I would have turned my computer off at the end of every day. This is kind of a modern version of that. Although, of course, there's something to just switching the computer off, too. #Productivity

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"There were times when Sinclair ZX Spectrum games were copied over the radio waves across Slovenia. Radio Študent broadcast screeching, beeping and whining, which we recorded on tape and played a game a few hours later."

I love this! I never had a ZX Spectrum, but I did have a ZX81, one of its precursors, and have fond memories of loading games from tape. The idea that you could broadcast a game over FM radio is delicious - just start recording via tape and then you're good to go. A great way to spread free software and free culture before the advent of the commercial internet.

And I love that they're going to do it again! I wonder who still has a ZX Spectrum ready to go? #Technology

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"Researchers have devised an attack against nearly all virtual private network applications that forces them to send and receive some or all traffic outside of the encrypted tunnel designed to protect it from snooping or tampering."

Except, oddly, on Android, which doesn't implement the DHCP setting that the attack depends on. The exploit has existed since 2002; we can probably assume that the bad actors that matter already know about it.

I assume we'll see operating system patches relatively quickly. This is not a reason to not use a VPN: in most cases they are still fit for purpose. The worst case scenario would be if users dropped VPNs out of lack of trust. They should not do that. #Technology

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"So, how do you distinguish between a psyop – a weaponized story – from other kinds of communication? Walk with me through these three simple steps."

This is a great introduction - I can't wait to read the full book.

It reminds me a little of some of the techniques described in The Century of the Self, the Adam Curtis documentary that explores the history of psychoanalysis, its influence on propaganda, and how it gave birth to the modern PR industry. If you've never seen it, the whole thing is on YouTube and is absolutely worth your time. #Democracy

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"A local authority has announced it will ban apostrophes on street signs to avoid problems with computer systems."

It's rare to see bad database security design advertised so openly! I can't wait to see what havoc the local residents will cause. #Technology

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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 that wont' be too disruptive; it looks like the organization continues to be in safe hands. #Technology

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"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 perspective on what the protests on campus are actually like. Seders and peaceful sit-ins don't scream antisemitism - but external actors, provocateurs, and police make them markedly less safe. Protest is a key democratic right, and this is fundamentally a movement about freeing an oppressed people. It's heartening to see so many people taking a stand for human rights. #Democracy

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"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, but if there's one person to listen to on this, it's danah boyd. #Technology

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"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. But the goal is more about creating “rich societies, not rich people”. That means looking after workers during not only the good times but the tough times, too."

I've always loved Mondragón. This is a lovely profile - and the fact that it has thrived sends such an important message.

I'm not sure about the claim about Americans thinking they're communists, by the way. Sure, some of the close-minded ones might. But I've seen it heralded as a good and important thing by lots of people here. #Business

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"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

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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 care about democracy or civil liberties. I was treated as a sentimental naïf for questioning his blanket confidence."

I've been in so many of those conversations, where very reductive assumptions about the rest of the world are presented as nuanced, learned fact, and that questioning them is idiotic. It's not at all universal in Silicon Valley, but it is common: a sort of received gospel truth that cannot be questioned because the person repeating it is really very smart. It's an odd way for anyone supposedly even tangentially involved in building the future to behave. #Technology

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Buried here: "Vox Media’s technology news publication The Verge says it also has plans to federate its own site to have more ownership over its content and audience, according to The Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel."

The fediverse is both the future of social media and the future of the web. It's something that every organization that regularly publishes to the web should be at least investigating. #Media

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This is genuinely wonderful:

“The FTC’s final rule to ban noncompetes will ensure Americans have the freedom to pursue a new job, start a new business, or bring a new idea to market.”

This was already true for California; banning it nationwide is an enormous step for innovation everywhere. Even new noncompetes for executives are banned, although ones that are currently in place can remain. #Business

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"This has long been the dream, and it seems like the platforms betting on it in various ways — Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, Flipboard, and others — are where all the energy is, while attempts to rebuild closed systems keep hitting the rocks."

Just an enormous deal: for the web, for independent media, for social media. #Technology

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"A recent MIT study indicated that “the cloud” now has a larger carbon footprint than the airline industry, and that “a single data center can consume the equivalent electricity of 50,000 homes.” The study also cites the enormous cooling costs, the huge volumes of water required, and the noise pollution affecting local communities."

A useful step back to look at the internet's relationship with climate change: how it helps as a conduit for scientific research and testing, as a contributor through emissions and vast electricity usage, and as a recipient through rising sea levels and other adverse climate effects.

I've personally had a very hard time finding hosting providers who are genuinely green - using direct renewable energy rather than offsets, and taking steps to mitigate their water use. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. The internet feels green, because we don't see everything that is involved in keeping us online, but it very much isn't. There's a lot of work to do in order to reduce our harmful impact on the planet. #Climate

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This is exactly what I'd hope to see from a standards organization like the W3C:

"W3C leads the community in defining a World Wide Web that puts users first, by developing technical standards and guidelines to empower an equitable, informed, and interconnected society.

The fundamental function of W3C today is to provide an open forum where diverse voices from around the world and from different organizations and industries work together to evolve the web by building consensus on voluntary global standards for Web technologies."

There's no shirking away from the importance of equity or diversity: it's right there in the first two paragraphs of the vision, and stated again further down in more detail:

"Diversity: We believe in diversity and inclusion of participants from different geographical locations, cultures, languages, disabilities, gender identities, industries, organizational sizes, and more. In order to ensure W3C serves the needs of the entire Web user base, we also strive to broaden diversity and inclusion for our own participants."

This is exactly as it should be, and it makes me really happy to see it. Of course, this is only a draft of sorts from the working group; it needs to now get consensus from the wider organization. I hope its pro-human focus remains front and center. #Technology

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"Too often, [...] we assume that the person who is the object of our feedback has something to learn and fail to notice the same thing about ourselves."

This is a really important observation. Without checking ourselves, our feedback can be a way to ensure our vision remains myopic, and can enforce a kind of conservatism that (like all conservatism, I believe) ultimately serves nobody.

Feedback is important, but curiosity, care, and respect are even more important. Starting off with an assumption that our colleague might know something we don't - and a need to get to the "why" of everything we notice, and consider what we might not be noticing - is more than healthy. #Business

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"I find my feelings about AI are actually pretty similar to my feelings about blockchains: they do a poor job of much of what people try to do with them, they can't do the things their creators claim they one day might, and many of the things they are well suited to do may not be altogether that beneficial."

This description of the uses and pitfalls of the current generation of AI tools is a characteristically sharp breakdown from Molly White.

I've found AI useful for similar sorts of things: proofreading in particular. But I agree with her conclusions - in fact, I agree with every single point she brings up in this piece. One to share with your colleagues who are thinking about deeply integrating LLMs based on the hype cycle alone. #Technology

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"Virtually every single part of the self-publishing grift world that can be automated or monetized has been automated and monetized."

This is a really depressing read: fascinating, for sure, but what's left unsaid is what happens to traditional publishing as these folks become more and more successful, and book marketplaces become more and more saturated.

Or perhaps it'll drive everyone to real-life bookstores? There, at least, I know I'm not going to run into the kind of trash sold by Big Luca or the Mikkelsen Twins. #Media

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"I am absolutely convinced that journalism’s most essential role at this critical moment goes far, far beyond what it’s doing. The status quo in political (and related) coverage consists of sporadically noting that gosh-maybe-there’s-a-problem, while sticking mostly to journalistic business as usual. The status quo is journalistic malpractice."

A strong implied call to action from Dan Gillmor, who has long argued for a more principled journalism industry (alongside a more principled software ecosystem that supports it). #Media

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This is completely lovely: a responsive, noir-inspired personal homepage in the form of a comic. I'm inspired. #Indieweb

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An interesting opinion piece about the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the aftermath thereof, and how it all relates to the election.

"But even if we had performed adequate maintenance, the bridge was probably doomed. Dali is the size and mass of a skyscraper (far larger than container ships used to be permitted to be, but larger ships lower prices in supply chains, and lower prices in supply chains help profits, and profits are important)."

And:

"DEI is just diversity, equity, and inclusion, by the way. That's all it is. It's become the new word that racists say when they want to say a slur but they realize they're in mixed company. It's a handy watchword for people who have decided that every problem is the result of the proximal existence of Black people and other marginalized people groups, because what they actually intend is to end the existence of such people, as soon as they can, with as much violence as possible."

And:

"Things are already very very bad for a great number of people in this country; institutional supremacy sees to that, and this supremacy is mostly accommodated by power—not only by openly fascist power like the cabal of creepy Christian weirdos who want to control everyone's bodies, but by run-of-the mill power, because run-of-the-mill power is interested in keeping things as they are, and mostly recognizes supremacy as what it is, which is the way things are." #Democracy

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This hadn't really been on my radar:

"Just one type of next generation geothermal — called superhot rock energy, where deep drilling reaches temperatures 400 degrees Celsius (752 degrees Fahrenheit) or hotter — is abundant enough to theoretically fulfill the world’s power requirements. In fact, just 1 percent of the world’s superhot rock potential could provide 63 terawatts of clean firm power, which would meet global electricity demand nearly eight times over."

What's absolutely fascinating to me is the idea that fracking techniques could be used to unlock geothermal energy. Is that good? Fracking has negative side effects that go beyond the carbon footprint from oil and gas. On the other hand, of course, moving away from fossil fuels is obviously great. #Climate

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