benwerd 1 year ago

Tumblr to join the fediverse after WordPress migration completes

Ben Werdmuller

Tumblr to join the fediverse after WordPress migration completes

[Sarah Perez at TechCrunch] This was a very nice surprise to see: "Automattic confirmed to TechCrunch that when the migration is complete, every ...

benwerd 1 year ago

Releasing all my text under a Creative Commons license

Ben Werdmuller

Releasing all my text under a Creative Commons license

From time to time, people ask me if they can use the content of my posts in another venue or another format. To make that

benwerd 1 year ago

A Few Eggs of Advice in These Trying Times

Ben Werdmuller

A Few Eggs of Advice in These Trying Times

[Oneofthelibrarians at LibrarianShipwreck] Some advice about how to survive this era from LibrarianShipwreck, one of my most favorite blogs on the...

benwerd 1 year ago

The NSA's "Big Delete"

Ben Werdmuller

The NSA's "Big Delete"

[Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby in Popular Information] The removal of banned terms on both internal and external government websites is going more...

benwerd 1 year ago

If MSN comments reveal the soul of America, we're done

Ben Werdmuller

If MSN comments reveal the soul of America, we're done

Right-wing and incredibly stupid, this seems to be the state of normie discourse.

benwerd 1 year ago

Judith Butler, philosopher: ‘If you sacrifice a minority like trans people, you are operating within a fascist logic’

Ben Werdmuller

Judith Butler, philosopher: ‘If you sacrifice a minority like trans people, you are operating within a fascist logic’

[Iker Seisdedos interviewing Judith Butler in EL PAÍS English] Judith Butler is as on-point as ever: "Q. It wasn’t just Trumpism. Some Democra...

benwerd 1 year ago

USAID’s reproductive health spending has saved millions of lives. Now it’s gone.

Ben Werdmuller

USAID’s reproductive health spending has saved millions of lives. Now it’s gone.

[Jessica Kutz at The 19th] USAID's defunding will lead directly to women's deaths: "As of 2023, 67 percent of contraceptives supplied through USA...

benwerd 1 year ago

Donald Trump’s Immigration Executive Orders: Tracking the Most Impactful Changes

Ben Werdmuller

Donald Trump’s Immigration Executive Orders: Tracking the Most Impactful Changes

[Mica Rosenberg, Perla Trevizo, and Zisiga Mukulu in ProPublica, co-published with The Texas Tribune] This is a beautifully-designed co-production...

benwerd 1 year ago

Shattering the Overton Window

Ben Werdmuller

Shattering the Overton Window

[Natalia Antelava in Coda Story] This is a useful framework for thinking about ongoing harm. "It was 2014, and I was standing in the ruins of Don...

benwerd 1 year ago

From COBOL to chaos: Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Evil Housekeeper Problem

Ben Werdmuller

From COBOL to chaos: Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Evil Housekeeper Problem

[Dan Hon in MIT Technology Review] The always-brilliant Dan Hon on DOGE: "We’re seeing in real time that there are no practical technical measu...

benwerd 1 year ago

'Reboot' Revealed: Elon Musk's CEO-Dictator Playbook

Ben Werdmuller

'Reboot' Revealed: Elon Musk's CEO-Dictator Playbook

[Gil Duran in The Nerd Reich] Curtis Yarvin's influence is felt again: " In an essay on his paywalled Substack, he imagined a second Trump presid...

benwerd 1 year ago

The Key Figures Working Alongside Elon Musk at DOGE and in the Trump Administration

Ben Werdmuller

The Key Figures Working Alongside Elon Musk at DOGE and in the Trump Administration

[Avi Asher-Schapiro, Christopher Bing, Annie Waldman, Brett Murphy, Andy Kroll, Justin Elliott, Kirsten Berg, Sebastian Rotella, Alex Mierjeski, Pr...

benwerd 1 year ago

Update on the 2024/2025 End of Term Web Archive

Ben Werdmuller

Update on the 2024/2025 End of Term Web Archive

[Caralee Adams at the Internet Archive] The Internet Archive is always a gem, but it's been particularly important this year. "With two-thirds of...

benwerd 1 year ago

I wrote a post about how the current administration is using the same hype cycle playbook as high-growth tech companies. It's going to be the last big thing I write about this for a while; I'm going to change tack.

Ben Werdmuller

Move fast and break democracy

Trump's playbook is strangely familiar

benwerd 1 year ago

You Can’t Post Your Way Out of Fascism

Ben Werdmuller

You Can’t Post Your Way Out of Fascism

[Janus Rose at 404 Media] This is an important but hard pill to swallow: "“The reality is you are oxygenating the things these people are sayin...

benwerd 1 year ago

Move fast and break democracy

Ben Werdmuller

Move fast and break democracy

Trump's playbook is strangely familiar

benwerd 1 year ago

Google ends DEI hiring goals

Ben Werdmuller

Google ends DEI hiring goals

[Alex Heath at The Verge] And so begin the knock-on effects on companies across America: "In a Wednesday memo to employees that I obtained (and y...

benwerd 1 year ago

The Making of an Anti-Woke Zealot: How Elon Musk Was Infected with the MAGA Mind-Virus

Ben Werdmuller

The Making of an Anti-Woke Zealot: How Elon Musk Was Infected with the MAGA Mind-Virus

[Eoin Higgins, excerpted in Lit Hub] This is a neat encapsulation of Musk’s rightward turn, and everything that happened next: “By this point...

benwerd 1 year ago

If nothing else, this is going to make for some amazing TV in about ten to twenty years.

benwerd 1 year ago

Google removes pledge to not use AI for weapons from website

Ben Werdmuller

Google removes pledge to not use AI for weapons from website

[Maxwell Zeff at TechCrunch] I know "don't be evil" is from another era of Google, but still, this rankles: "Google removed a pledge to not build...