Ben Werdmuller

Incoming John S. Knight fellow. Ex: ProPublica (npub1qmg…s6k5), [@19thnews](https://flipboard.com/@19thnews ), Matter, Elgg.

Every day, I write about tech, democracy, and society at https://werd.io. 

More about me: https://werd.io/about/ 

Tags: #indieweb #opensource #journalism #writing #fiction #blogs #blogging #startups #openweb #web #fediverse #socialweb #ethics #product #writingcommunity #philadelphia #sanfrancisco

Blog / Newsletter: https://werd.io
Pronouns: he/him
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Signal: https://signal.me/#eu/_ehMeopT5JeELrkt2lSk-R0V6d1AsGt_3Q98UOJhgBMTal5EGTdNIbZHB9H9CqBn

Public Key

npub1lrqq7g0mzygss3gcuudug79snpd5gku6u24fghfj3u8kqtp573rqtjpn8w

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ben_at_werd.social@momostr.pink

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npub1lrqq7g0mzygss3gcuudug79snpd5gku6u24fghfj3u8kqtp573rqtjpn8w

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Published at

2026-08-07T18:54:25Z

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Last Notes

2026-07-07 13:49:19 UTC

One year I'll make it to #dwebcamp. This is not the year - I'm busily packing up my house to move out. But I hope everyone has wonderful, actionable conversations and a great time. And maybe I'll finally get there next year?

2026-06-02 11:48:36 UTC

Help me settle a debate. Is Paw Patrol publicly funded or are they a private vigilante force? Are they a symbol of Canadian public services or corporate overreach?

2026-05-29 15:42:26 UTC

It's not enough to be free. We also need to be in community #Technology https://werd.io/the-protocol-world-has-been-trying-to-solve-the-problem-of-how-to-leave-and-the-next-step-is-working-on-how-we-can-stay-together/

2026-05-28 12:44:30 UTC

If projects are going to convince people to try alternatives to Big Tech, they need to do a much better job of explaining why they're better for people who don't care about technical details like protocols and decentralization. #Technology https://werd.io/the-fediverse-is-not-a-product-its-time-to-get-real-about-marketing/

2026-05-25 13:12:02 UTC

"When such power is concentrated in the hands of a few, it tends to become opaque and evade public oversight, [giving] rise to new dependencies, exclusions, manipulations and inequalities." #AI https://werd.io/the-pope-used-his-first-encyclical-to-warn-about-tech-centralization/

2026-05-23 13:34:18 UTC

I don't know who needs to hear this, but being prosecuted for staging an insurrection in the Capitol building that included militia leaders from the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers is not "persecution for political purposes".

2026-05-21 14:29:52 UTC

Software developers often like to imagine that micropayments will solve publisher revenue problems. They won't. https://werd.io/why-micropayments-cant-save-news/

2026-05-11 22:29:52 UTC

"When you all give us your hard-earned money, we feel a deep responsibility to use it as well, and as efficiently, as possible." A responsibility A New Social lives up to in spades. #Technology https://werd.io/bridging-feels-seamless-behind-the-scenes-its-a-technical-marvel/

2026-05-11 14:31:52 UTC

"If there were a dictator of the internet who intentionally set out to destroy your ability to get accurate information, the result would look a lot like what’s already on your screen. But why?" #Media https://werd.io/asking-platforms-to-do-better-wont-work-we-need-to-force-their-hands/

2026-05-11 13:31:55 UTC

WordPress is the most popular publishing platform in the world. It wants you to publish and be heard - and that means supporting conversation. #Technology https://werd.io/wordpress-powers-47-of-the-web-now-its-more-social-too/

2026-05-04 01:48:43 UTC

"Here are some of the key things you should know about the Trump administration’s efforts to, as the president said, “take over” the midterms." https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-midterm-elections-takeover-takeaways

2026-05-03 03:15:12 UTC

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People keep saying "the cruelty is the point". The cruelty is not the point. They don't give a damn one way or the other about anyone to even think about cruelty. The extraction, the hierarchy, the entrenched power is the point. The privilege is the point. The segregation is the point.

2026-05-03 03:15:11 UTC

The gutting of the VRA is completely disturbing. Everything feels like a full-speed careen to the worst of Jim Crow and McCarthyism, like an upside-down nightmare inverse of what America's promise could actually be.

2026-05-01 14:17:15 UTC

In a conversation with my therapist, she asked what I'd been reading lately.
I have two books on the go: an apocalyptic horror novel and one about the Gwangju Uprising in South Korea.
She quietly suggested that maybe I find some joy from time to time.
Heard.

2026-04-30 13:22:21 UTC

Nobody cares about decentralization. Nobody cares about the journalistic process. They care about making their world better. https://werd.io/product-shaped-or-movement-shaped/

2026-04-17 13:11:05 UTC

However you feel about Mamdani - and to be clear, I love him - what he’s managed to do across policy, messaging, and execution should be a blueprint. Making real change while making jokes about Mario Kart. Just really good - and it’s sad that it’s so different to everyone else.

2026-04-05 15:21:45 UTC

Embracing alternative tech is an act of resistance. You can use the same old platforms that enrich the same old people - or you can choose something new that seeks to empower everyone instead of concentrating wealth and influence in a few billionaires. It’s time to make the switch.

2026-04-05 12:36:04 UTC

Three year old has asked that we put a rainbow flag on our house because he's seen them and he likes them. I sat him down and explained what it means, and now he wants one even more. I love him.

2026-04-03 01:11:12 UTC

LinkedIn is using invasive techniques to fingerprint your browser. Together with its understanding of your identity and professional history, it has the ingredients for an incredibly detailed profile. #Technology https://werd.io/linkedin-is-illegally-searching-your-computer/

2026-04-01 13:42:26 UTC

"Groups that challenge books have begun using Gemini, ChatGPT, xAI, and other AI tools to try to get books banned." The point is to create a chilling effect. #AI https://werd.io/the-right-is-using-ai-content-scanners-to-try-to-supercharge-book-banning/

2026-03-30 14:05:57 UTC

Bluesky's new service isn't about AI; it's about accessibility. #Technology https://werd.io/bluesky-leans-into-ai-with-attie-an-app-for-building-custom-feeds/

2026-03-27 13:06:21 UTC

Newsrooms have been slow to care about the open social web - but one of their most important support organizations is paying attention. #Media https://werd.io/why-knight-foundation-invested-in-bluesky/

2026-03-24 13:21:30 UTC

What ICE is doing in US airports today, it will be doing at US polling places in November. These photos aren’t funny or incongruous; they should be giving us nightmares. This has to end now.

2026-03-23 10:57:02 UTC

John O'Nolan built a CLI for his own product - and found himself using it in an entirely new way. The underlying trend here is really exciting. #AI https://werd.io/i-built-a-cli-for-ghost/

2026-03-22 15:44:18 UTC

"The materialist response isn't to reject the new technology. It's to evolve our licenses to encompass it." #AI https://werd.io/histomat-of-f-oss-we-should-reclaim-llms-not-reject-them/

2026-03-20 20:23:47 UTC

RE: https://social.vivaldi.net/@jon/116263362797333017
This was the feature I needed to make the switch. Looking forward to trying it!
#note14du…y39l

2026-03-16 14:23:35 UTC

Happy birthday, Mastodon. Thank you, @npub1vl7…f6g0, team, and everyone in this community who made Mastodon successful. It's a gargantuan achievement.

2026-03-12 12:46:46 UTC

Amused to see that iA Writer now turns smart em-dash substitution off by default. (New laptop, new setup.) I switched it back on. I like em-dashes, AI be damned. I write all my own words, for what it's worth.

2026-03-05 14:23:19 UTC

The BBC is dying. It needs to be preserved - but doing so will require a radical reinvention. #Media https://werd.io/bbc-says-irreversible-trends-mean-it-will-not-survive-without-major-overhaul/

2026-02-28 16:12:45 UTC

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I just had to upgrade my Mastodon hosting to $49/mo. So, yeah, looking for alternatives, while ideally not maintaining my own server. I may just accelerate Idno development and switch there.

2026-02-28 15:59:42 UTC

Running my own single instance is kind of expensive. I wish I could use my own domain on my handle while using a shared instance.

2026-02-26 21:25:54 UTC

Feeling a bit discouraged and self-critical this evening. What's something that's made you feel happy and confident lately?

2026-02-25 12:25:13 UTC

Here’s how I’ve been thinking about AI-assisted engineering / vibe coding: its pros and cons, the underlying power dynamics, and its implications. Please enjoy. Or please enjoy flaming me. One of the two. https://werd.io/good-vibes-bad-vendors/

2026-02-21 16:48:59 UTC

If you're a daily coffee drinker at home, what are your go-to everyday beans? Not the fancy stuff you treat yourself to sometimes, but the stuff you always make sure you have in the house.

2026-02-21 15:35:24 UTC

It’s all well and good to be worried about centralized social media when it’s owned by fascists and there are troops on the streets and peaceful protesters are being kidnapped and killed and we’re about to strike Iran, but next time, can we listen to the people sounding the alarm a little earlier?

2026-02-21 03:09:31 UTC

The detail here about archive dot is and its other domains altering webpages because of a grudge is worth knowing. Not to mention running a DDoS attack, obviously. Yikes. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/02/wikipedia-bans-archive-today-after-site-executed-ddos-and-altered-web-captures/

2026-02-17 14:05:50 UTC

Earlier this month I had the privilege of MCing the [@team](https://protocolsforpublishers.com/ ) #protocolsforpublishers event in London, bringing together people from publishers and the open protocols that might help them secure their futures. I wrote up my experiences: https://werd.io/building-trust-in-the-open/

2026-02-14 22:22:22 UTC

At this point when I get a white supremacist reply on the fediverse - which is often - I just block the whole instance domain. If they allow a user like that, the whole thing's corrupt.

2026-02-14 20:46:26 UTC

Where do you think the US will be in 5 years?

2026-02-09 18:26:19 UTC

"Hundreds of children are currently being held with their parents at an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas. In letters and drawings, eight kids convey the pain of feeling trapped with no end in sight." https://www.propublica.org/article/ice-dilley-children-letters

2026-02-07 17:07:15 UTC

This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters

2026-02-04 16:36:36 UTC

Very excited for Protocols for Publishers at Newspeak House later tonight. Lots of publishers and protocol builders showing up to discuss how we might help each other and build an open, protocol-driven web that supports journalism, publishers, and an informed society.

2026-01-25 14:27:50 UTC

Two things I don’t think serve the current moment:
1. Downplaying what is happening. If it looks like a goose and steps like a goose, it’s a goose.
2. Assuming that assumed American norms and values will prevail.
If you didn’t assume that everything would go back to normal, or that we’ll have free and fair elections, or that the courts will stop the killing of observers on the streets, what would you do differently?

2026-01-25 14:00:50 UTC

Probably an unpopular take: I don't believe the EU can create an alternative tech stack. It needs to foster an independent ecosystem; anything less will just benefit all the people who already know how to get EU grants. What's needed is the conditions for real innovation, which are a culture and mindset change, as well as money.

2026-01-24 19:39:28 UTC

Seeing lots of variations of we should abolish “Trump’s ICE” or “this kind of ICE” from elected representatives. No, the whole concept is bogus. It was always based on propaganda about immigration. It’s an authoritarian dream based on a fiction. Abolish ICE and fix our foreign policy.

2026-01-24 16:42:04 UTC

Spending the morning at our local library. It’s just a small branch, but it’s fully alive: people browsing and reading, reading to their kids, researching things that are important to them and being in community in a warm space away from the cold. How it should be. Libraries are magic.

2026-01-24 15:40:03 UTC

Unfortunately Zen Browser has been really slowing down for me to the point of not loading any pages unless I restart it very regularly. Has anyone else experienced this? Wondering if it's an extension, but I don't have many of those, and I'm not sure what's going on.

2026-01-21 15:21:37 UTC

Unpopular opinion: building and using technology ethically is not the same thing as going back to a previous era of technology or staying frozen in time. Instead, it's really important to keep moving forward and building the future - new techniques, new platforms, new ideas - in a pro-social way.

2026-01-20 14:31:10 UTC

A Supreme Court case about a bank robbery could redefine digital rights in the US. I wrote about it and its implications. https://werd.io/who-owns-your-data/

2026-01-15 14:52:22 UTC

"Internal ICE material and testimony from an official obtained by 404 Media provides the clearest link yet between the technological infrastructure Palantir is building for ICE and the agency’s activities on the ground." #Democracy https://werd.io/elite-the-palantir-app-ice-uses-to-find-neighborhoods-to-raid/

2026-01-14 23:06:59 UTC

I published this fictional scenario planning piece about mitigating a hypothetical newsroom raid yesterday. It feels a lot more relevant today. https://werd.io/the-zurich-protocol/

2026-01-14 14:30:20 UTC

I really want a button on my email that hides everything that wasn't written directly to me by a human. The "important" tab doesn't cut it. I'm drowning here.

2026-01-12 02:27:27 UTC

Astonishing documentary movie about what power is capable of and what journalism can do to liberate. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes; free to stream on Netflix. More than worth your time. Please watch. https://www.netflix.com/title/82145211

2026-01-10 22:29:55 UTC

I don't think it's a coincidence that all of this (worldwide) is happening when most of the people who lived through WWII have just died. We need to do a better job of keeping their memories and ideals alive.

2026-01-08 14:42:10 UTC

"A social media and phone surveillance system ICE bought access to is designed to monitor a city neighborhood or block for mobile phones, track the movements of those devices and their owners over time, and follow them from their places of work to home or other locations." https://www.404media.co/inside-ices-tool-to-monitor-phones-in-entire-neighborhoods/

2026-01-07 12:14:46 UTC

Each year, on my birthday, I gather my thoughts. This year: 47 things I’ve learned - about work, about life, and about the intersections between the two. https://werd.io/47-lessons/

2026-01-06 14:12:29 UTC

I wrote up how I hire engineers: building a team means building a community, which means looking beyond live coding tests to find empathetic collaborators who care about a mission. (PS: I'm hiring!) https://werd.io/how-i-hire-engineers/

2026-01-04 13:50:36 UTC

Following this has meaningfully improved my first few days of the year. So far, so good. https://werd.io/a-2026-checklist/

2025-12-31 14:47:07 UTC

Rather than new year's resolutions, I'm experimenting with a checklist for 2026: things I want to try and do every day. This is my list, and I'd love to read yours. https://werd.io/a-2026-checklist/

2025-12-27 21:45:46 UTC

Meanwhile, in my hometown. Here in the US, police / ICE are using facial recognition when they stop someone, but I’m not aware of them just setting up and scanning crowds. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqxqnp27ddno

2025-12-19 18:42:11 UTC

We don't need to educate our audiences to fit our needs. We need to educate ourselves to fit our audiences. #Media https://werd.io/lies-we-tell-ourselves/

2025-12-18 14:21:32 UTC

Observation: some folks appear to be in news to speak truth *from* power and use institutions to defend the status quo and the agency of centralized power. Others speak truth *to* power and use journalism to challenge unequal power dynamics. Only one of those is desirable, imo.

2025-12-12 14:41:57 UTC

We're looking for a mission-driven director of product engineering for our product team at @npub1qmg…s6k5. Our journalists investigate abuses of trust and power in the public interest. This is a way to make a difference. (Must be US-based.) https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/propublica/jobs/4623874006?gh_src=0eh7t3h36us

2025-12-11 15:18:15 UTC

I'm hiring a Director of Product Engineering for our product team at @npub1qmg…s6k5. If you're an engineering leader in the US who wants to truly make a difference, we're a nonprofit newsroom investigating abuses of trust in the public interest. Please consider joining us. #amhiring #getfedihired https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/propublica/jobs/4623874006?gh_src=0eh7t3h36us

2025-12-10 01:44:52 UTC

Let's Encrypt is ten years old. It's changed the web for the better. #Technology https://werd.io/10-years-of-lets-encrypt-certificates/

2025-12-09 13:48:04 UTC

For decades, RSS has been a workhorse that connects systems on the timely web and ensures that publishers can syndicate and grow their reach. Here's why it matters more than ever. https://werd.io/why-rss-matters/

2025-12-02 13:59:06 UTC

This year, @npub1qmg…s6k5 reported on ICE splitting up families, the people behind DOGE and their impact, the backroom dealings of Trump and others in his administration, and more. I'm proud to work with these journalists - and they need your support.
As always, I want to prove that the #fediverse is an important source of support for nonprofits like ours. We're here, we're engaged, and we care.
If you have the means, please consider a donation:
https://give.propublica.org/campaign/748664/donate?c_src=ben
#journalism #democracy

2025-12-02 05:11:50 UTC

Donating to @npub1qmg…s6k5 supports a newsroom full of investigative journalists intent on bringing about real change through reporting on abuses of power in the public interest. They've done incredible work this year. And if you donate on #GivingNewsDay your donation is matched dollar for dollar. https://give.propublica.org/campaign/748664/donate?c_src=ben #givingtuesday #journalism #democracy

2025-12-02 01:11:17 UTC

New_ Public announced its new community platform is being co-developed with five local US communities - and there's a lot more to come. #Technology https://werd.io/introducing-roundabout/

2025-11-30 14:22:25 UTC

I've never been a great notetaker. Winnie Lim suggests I might be overthinking it: it's not a second brain but a second subconscious mind. #Technology https://werd.io/imperfect-notes-my-second-subconscious/

2025-11-29 15:01:06 UTC

"We have created a system where the only way to survive is to be destitute enough to qualify for aid, or rich enough to ignore the cost. Everyone in the middle is being cannibalized." https://werd.io/the-optical-illusion-of-prosperity/

2025-11-21 16:47:18 UTC

Seeing a lot of criticism of this. I won't comment on that for now, but I think it would be a valuable exercise to create a version of the linked document for the hypothetical organization people would like to see. https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/rewiring-mozilla-ai-and-web/

2025-11-19 14:58:37 UTC

Podcast pitch: Last Week Tonight but about the Internet. Same pointed humor, same sense of outrage, same scripted writing, but specifically about the web, the tech industry, underlying power dynamics and egos.

2025-11-13 16:44:21 UTC

Hey, remember that Chicago apartment building raid where children were zip-tied together? Guess what: https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-venezuela-immigration-ice-fbi-raids-no-criminal-charges

2025-11-09 14:34:02 UTC

The most racist people imaginable have a cunning plan to undermine the most popularly-elected NYC mayor since 1969. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11/9/republicans-push-to-strip-zohran-mamdani-of-us-citizenship-is-it-possible

2025-11-07 21:08:26 UTC

It's still so weird to me that the idea of universal healthcare is so political here. It's a given in so many other places, and I miss it. And people don't realize how good it is for innovation. You can take so many more risks when your health and well-being aren't tied to a salaried employer.

2025-11-07 20:00:30 UTC

I came back to this talk today - and I've got to admit, I think it's a banger. Lots to say about how mission-driven technology can be successful. https://werd.io/why-the-open-social-web-matters-now/

2025-10-31 14:30:21 UTC

There’s no such thing as neutral technology.
Every tool encodes the values of the people who made it — their goals, their blind spots, their priorities.
When organizations adopt tools without asking whose values they’re importing, they take on risk they can’t see.
https://werd.io/theres-no-such-thing-as-neutral-technology/

2025-10-28 15:52:51 UTC

"This bubble is going to pop. Investors will stop setting their money on fire once they realize these models can't replace our labor in the ways they have promised." https://brooklyn.bearblog.dev/ai-futures/

2025-10-20 18:57:42 UTC

AI at scale isn't scaling. #AI https://werd.io/this-is-how-much-anthropic-and-cursor-spend-on-amazon-web-services/

2025-10-20 13:08:04 UTC

Hear me out, but maybe it's not superb that most of the internet is hosted on three very large providers?

2025-10-16 13:50:03 UTC

We have never in human history had access to a shared reality. Ask Galileo. Or anyone from a marginalized group. It's like nostalgia for white picket fence Americana: it hides a lot of harm. What we should fear isn't disagreement, but regression and subjugation.

2025-10-13 16:23:28 UTC

I don't know what happens next, but on the face of it, the ceasefire and the return of captives from both sides feels really good. May there be peace, may the rebuilding be equitable, and may everyone get to live and co-exist in dignity and prosperity.

2025-10-11 22:57:31 UTC

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Amazing. Thank you.

2025-10-11 20:43:18 UTC

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Actually I’d love that. Generally because the work is fascinating and important, but specifically because there’s another set of artifacts in the collection that aren’t online.

2025-10-11 20:03:41 UTC

Today I learned that an interview with my great uncle is in the collection of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:
"Reinald Leidelmeyer describes his experience as a member of the Dutch Resistance in the Hague; details of his arrest; his time in a slave labor camp; and actions that led to his release."
https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn85997

2025-10-10 14:18:12 UTC

I'm skeptical of using AI for alt text generation. The tech is not bad at all about describing what's in a picture, but I'm unconvinced that it can tell you what's *important* in a picture. Maybe if you fed in the context around it? But also, a human can write an alt text sentence in a minute or two, so is it really worth it?

2025-10-01 14:02:31 UTC

Think your data is safe because it's stored privately or because you're in the EU? Think again.
I wrote a guide to how subpoenas, the third-party doctrine, data brokers, and the CLOUD Act let government and private parties access your information without your knowledge.
https://werd.io/your-private-data-isnt-as-private-as-you-think/

2025-09-29 01:02:42 UTC

Switzerland just voted to create a new electronic ID card (the Swiss introduced physical ones in 1955). It's stored locally on your device, you personally approve requests for your data, and is designed to prevent profiling. Contrast to, for example, Britain's centralized proposal. https://www.eid.admin.ch/en/e-id-e

2025-09-28 17:33:37 UTC

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Oh, horribly. He left with his mother yesterday and I went to bed to find his pacifier nearly on his pillow. Made me very sad.

2025-09-28 16:42:59 UTC

My little buddy is off visiting his grandparents and it's honestly very weird. I miss him very much, obviously. But also, I've been so productive this morning: I tidied up, renewed my vehicle registration, got vaccinated, bought groceries. And it's barely lunchtime. I guess I might go to the gym later and make progress on some personal projects. Weird. (Also, did I mention I miss him very much?)

2025-09-27 20:58:50 UTC

Depressing that anyone wants this: https://19thnews.org/2025/09/poll-traditional-family-gender-roles/

2025-09-27 16:45:27 UTC

War ravaged Portland
https://cdn.masto.host/werdsocial/media_attachments/files/115/277/268/389/492/284/original/2bc6ce22a72d01c4.jpeg

2025-09-24 15:59:42 UTC

Violence is not the answer. It will be used to tighten the screws, and as a pretext for more authoritarianism. If you think guns are the solution, you are an idiot.

2025-09-17 21:12:53 UTC

The investigative newsroom I work for, @npub1qmg…s6k5, is raising money right now. This is the last few days of our pledge drive.
We report on abuses of power in the public interest. We reported on who works for DOGE and revealed Clarence Thomas’s conflicts of interest.
It was the first outlet to win a Pulitzer for web-first journalism. And if you donate through this link, you'll let our team know the fediverse is an audience to pay attention to: https://give.propublica.org/give/346528/#!/donation/checkout?c_src=ben_mstdn #journalism #fediverse

2025-09-17 20:22:42 UTC

Over the last week I’ve become aware that lots of infrastructure depends on local government, school board, etc, meetings being posted on YouTube. That’s quite a scary dependency & a potential vector for harm. We need to get to a world where these meetings are stored & shared in a more aligned way.

2025-09-14 01:25:45 UTC

Not superb. https://www.commondreams.org/news/rubio-thought-policing-bill

2025-09-13 15:00:45 UTC

Consistently confused about the rage people seem to have for atheists. I don’t believe in a deity. That doesn’t make me evil. Nor am I going to try to convince you to shift your own beliefs.

2025-09-12 17:27:32 UTC

I love how thoughtful the Mastodon blog post about introducing quote posting is. A really interesting way the team could be even more impactful on the open social web would be to share their research findings and the thinking that went into these sorts of features - that's the sort of body of knowledge everyone could learn from. https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/09/introducing-quote-posts/
#mastodon #fediverse

2025-09-10 20:35:36 UTC

Charlie Kirk was a truly terrible human being, beloved by the sickest, dumbest people imaginable, but everybody should be able to live without the fear of gun violence. This is a troubled country for many reasons, but guns are a cancer. I wish we could come to our senses and ban them.
Kirk famously said, “It’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment.” No. One is too many. Even his.