I’ve been absolutely laid out with a cold all this week. It feels pretty awful, not unlike how I felt when I had covid, but a million negative tests have let me know it’s not that. Getting sick happens so rarely now (maybe once a year) that it
Taking lean startup research techniques that were developed for basic social networks or, say, 3D avatars and transposing them to real-world domains with real consequences seems to be an ongoing trend. It's a misunderstanding of the startup playbook that causes real harm. This is obviously unethical; it is
I broadly agree with this piece, which is a kind of rallying cry against dogmatism in open source. I think dogmatism is harmful in all parts of tech; divisive and often a kind of gatekeeping. Let authors build and release according to their needs. #Technology [Link]
Return to Office mandates are counterproductive and destroy morale. They also make your team less productive. They’re worker-hostile and work-hostile. So why do them? #Labor [Link]
I've traveled across America four times: three by car and one by train. I've never done it by Greyhound, and I probably never will. This country's infrastructure is falling apart and being eaten by wolves. #Society [Link]
The broadband situation in America is surprisingly bad - so I love that there's a new version of the National Broadband Map. The Markup has done a public service by taking us through it. #Technology [Link]
Late as it is, it's good to see this to some kind of resolution. I hope the posthumous recognition Lacks receives includes the story of how it happened in the first place. #Equality [Link]
This is my monthly roundup of the links, books, and media I found interesting. Do you have suggestions? Let me know! Books Fiction Ripe, by Sarah Rose Etter. Fuck yes. A heartstoppingly relentless, bold, knife attack of a book that cuts to the heart of the emptiness of living in
31 straight days of 110°F / 43°C heat. And then only a short reprieve before more of it. Ocean surface temperatures at over 90°F / 32°C. And still there are people who deny we’re in a crisis. Spoiler alert: it gets worse from here. #Climate [Link]
The fediverse is how every major new social network will be built for the next decade, and every media company will need to have a presence. Welcome to the BBC. #Technology [Link]
The single biggest way large entities seem to be reducing their carbon emissions is through accounting. Not by taking action to diminish the impact of the climate crisis before it’s too late; by changing some numbers on a spreadsheet. We’ve crafted an imaginary cage for ourselves where the
An enormously useful piece of informal research. Some folks will disregard this for the same reason they disregard why some people use Macs instead of Linux, and whatever. But if Mastodon wants to be an accessible network, these are all problems to solve. #Technology [Link]