It’s impossibly hard to watch coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. Thousands of people on both sides of the border have been killed (1,300 in Israel, 2,000 in Gaza at the time of writing); the stories that have emerged are brutal. What is known to be true
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"This is the kick-off post in a series in which I'm going to explore things that we could change about the Web." I trust Robin - and his impressive list of feedback-givers - to do this justice, and I'm very much looking forward to
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"As a society we need to start treating computational resources as finite and precious, to be utilised only when necessary, and as effectively as possible. We need frugal computing: achieving our aims with less energy and material." #Climate [Link]
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One organization I know audited their social media use and learned that Twitter had their worst effort:reward ratio. This seems to support that finding. #Media [Link]
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"Prosecutions for public corruption are more likely in U.S. communities served by a nonprofit news outlet, a relatively new business model that often aims to fill the void left by shuttered traditional local newspapers." Journalism in the public interest works. #Media [Link]
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Every hosted WordPress site - millions and millions of sites - can now be first-class members of the fediverse. This is a huge deal that has the potential to change the whole web. #Technology [Link]
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Pretty much the worst thing that could happen as an outcome of using a service like this. #Technology [Link]
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"Advances in AI are amplifying a crisis for human rights online. While AI technology offers exciting and beneficial uses for science, education, and society at large, its uptake has also increased the scale, speed, and efficiency of digital repression. Automated systems have enabled governments to conduct more precise and
This blog has had kind of a weird relationship with comments since I started it ten years ago. My previous blogs, in contrast, have always intentionally been spaces that can be homes for conversations. Over the years lots of people have asked me to fix this situation. So, okay! Here’
I have a lot of admiration for Eliot Peper, who has spun a career in tech into a career in writing science fiction novels rooted in the intersection of technology and society. They’re fun reads, first and foremost, but there’s always an insight into how technology is made,
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White supremacist rhetoric is endemic in AI research. An interesting (and complex) point is also made here about preprint journal sites and how they allow companies to whitewash embarrassing mistakes. #AI [Link]
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This is still a widely-held sentiment. What do we need to build for this not to be true? #Media [Link]