Matt Mullenweg has reportedly committed to add ActivityPub to Tumblr. This is a huge deal. Exactly what I hoped to see: a growing federation of social platforms, all committing to work with each other. It’s happening.
I disabled syndication to Twitter. I won't be posting there regularly. I'm not closing my account, but I locked it down, and a lot would need to change for me to return.
I can’t imagine the horror of being in a situation with an active shooter. Nor the bravery of the person who subdued him. Nor the pain of losing a loved one to an act of hate just for being who they were. The act is sick; the existence and availability of these weapons is sick.
My career mission: to work on projects with the potential to make the world more equal and informed. Which should tell you a lot about where I will and won’t spend my energy.
Unpopular opinion: I'm not sure "unity" is something we should aspire to as such. We should aspire to be inclusive and free from hate. But within that, I aspire to a kaleidoscope of contexts, religions, and POVs with a representative democratic structure that serves us all.
Or to put it another way: the idea that there should be a prevailing patriotism or one dominant religion is undemocratic to the point of being regimented. Diversity will set us free.
I made two concrete life decisions this week. Keeping them to myself, but I'll probably reference this post in the future.
Twitter had 7500 staff to begin with. Then Musk fired a lot, dropping the total to 3700. Now 1200 have opted to take severance, leaving the total at 2500. Do I have that right? I wonder what that looks like across teams?
People are saying things like “let’s get back on AIM” and I’m just sitting in the corner pre-dating everything everyone comes up with and feeling as old as literal dust.
“Remember MySpace?” Why, yes I do. I was saving into a pension at the time.
The people pulling through for Musk and sleeping on office floors are selling out their colleagues - and particularly the ones who can’t do that because of their life circumstances. It’s not remotely admirable and I hope their names are remembered.
I don’t think this is going to be a good few years for tech. (The signs are subtle, I’m sure you’ll agree.) If you’re in the industry, plan accordingly. If you’re not but heavily depend on specific SaaS platforms, make contingency plans.
I've taken my Twitter link off my website. I'd much rather promote my profiles elsewhere: Mastodon, GitHub, LinkedIn.
Had a plotting idea that absolutely made me want to climb on the furniture in excitement. That's exactly what I've been hoping for. This is getting fun.
At this point it's worth asking how financially secure every crypto exchange is, including Coinbase.
New conspiracy theory: he's intentionally tanking the company to take it through bankruptcy, shed its debt, and emerge on the other side with its userbase largely intact, ready to form the basis of his "everything" startup.
Nothing that promises to make you rich quick is worth getting into.
If Twitter's looking for a new CEO any time soon, I'll do it
Obviously in addition to my current role, but I hear that's OK
Love having to send an emergency internal security advisory about the main social network I've used for the last fifteen years.
My targeted ads are all email newsletter-based news startups. But I don’t see how a single one of them is differentiated. News isn’t absolved from the hard product work of listening to its community, gathering unique insights, and solving a real need.
I have slept at the office before and done really long nights. But I wouldn't do it anymore except as a one-off for a really good non-profit cause, or if it was for a startup I personally had founded. Don't kill yourself for someone else's profit.
What if, in two years time:
1. There were no voting lines because there was adequate capacity everywhere.
2. Everyone could vote in a way that was accessible to them.
3. Voter registration was ubiquitous, everywhere, and as easy as clicking a button.
What would that take?
Finishing the night with a Lagavulin 16. A toast to everyone who voted, and to everyone who ran with the intent to empower.
If you're looking for something to take your mind off politics, and you haven't seen it yet, Abbott Elementary is lovely. Tucking into season two right now.
A live view of all the abortion initiatives on the ballot across the nation today: #electionday #democracy https://19thnews.org/2022/11/abortion-rights-ballot-initiatives-election-2022/
I'm really loving working for a newsroom on election day. I voted, and I feel like I've been helping (in a supporting role) get people the information they need to make sound democratic choices, from an underreported perspective. It's very fulfilling, can recommend.
Every single time I pick my baby off the changing pad, Siri on my Apple Watch thinks I'm trying to activate her. Today she helpfully gave me the address and opening hours of a deli in rural Vermont. I assume baby thinks a talking wrist is normal.
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