The Internet and Climate Change
"A recent MIT study indicated that “the cloud” now has a larger carbon footprint than the airline industry, and that “a single data center can consume the equivalent electricity of 50,000 homes.” The...
View ArticleNewsletter platform Ghost adopts ActivityPub to ‘bring back the open web’
"This has long been the dream, and it seems like the platforms betting on it in various ways — Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, Flipboard, and others — are where all the energy is, while attempts to...
View ArticleFTC Announces Rule Banning Noncompetes
This is genuinely wonderful: “The FTC’s final rule to ban noncompetes will ensure Americans have the freedom to pursue a new job, start a new business, or bring a new idea to market.” This was already...
View ArticleAs TikTok ban threatens stability in social media ecosystem, some brands...
Buried here: "Vox Media’s technology news publication The Verge says it also has plans to federate its own site to have more ownership over its content and audience, according to The Verge...
View ArticleMy Dinner With Andreessen
Marc Andreessen on poor people: “I’m glad there’s OxyContin and video games to keep those people quiet.” This also resonated with me: "One participant was a British former journalist become computer...
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The xenophobic, un-American TikTok ban
The requirement for TikTok to relinquish Chinese ownership or face a nationwide ban was signed into law today, as an add-on to a foreign aid bill:But even as ridiculous as it is to tack on a TikTok...
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The three operating system models of government
Evan Prodromou asks if we agree with Aristotle that there are three kinds of government: monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. (As Evan points out, he actually defined six, with Polity — government by...
View ArticleA Message from the Chancellor on the Recent Student Protest
"The University administration respects all student protests, just not this one. Students have fought for many important causes over the years, and their right to protest is sacrosanct. In this case,...
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Where I'm coming from
I’m paralyzed by the world. We seem to be at a kind of crossroads.There’s so much to be appalled by, so much to be worried about, and I worry that not saying something might be considered to be...
View Article‘In the US they think we’re communists!’ The 70,000 workers showing the world...
"Mondragón has become a beacon for the co-operative model, as a more humane and egalitarian way of doing business that puts “people over capital”. Every worker has a stake in the company’s fortunes...
View ArticleStruggling with a Moral Panic Once Again
"I have to admit that it's breaking my heart to watch a new generation of anxious parents think that they can address the struggles their kids are facing by eliminating technology from kids' lives."...
View ArticleI Am a Jewish Student at Columbia. Don’t Believe What You’re Being Told About...
"Here’s what you’re not being told: The most pressing threats to our safety as Jewish students do not come from tents on campus. Instead, they come from the Columbia administration inviting police...
View ArticleMastodon forms new U.S. non-profit
Mastodon has established itself as a US 501(c)(3) with a really exciting new board. I'm a long-term fan of Esra’a Al Shafei in particular - but the whole group is quite something. This coincides with...
View ArticleHappy International Workers' Day to everyone who ...
Happy International Workers' Day to everyone who celebrates!
View ArticleA quiet week
I’ve been pretty sick for over a week now. Daycare is a Petri dish of germs and viruses, but most have them have passed me by; this one, in contrast, hit me like a ton of bricks. I’ve been the sickest...
View ArticleThe kids are alright
The biggest thing to be concerned about in all these student protests is not the students, but the severity and strength with which the police are entering the fray. A police officer fired a gun on...
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The baby stack at 20 months
When our son reached nine months old, I published this UsesThis-style list of products and services we were using; I had previously published one before he was born.He’s twenty months old now: walking...
View ArticleNorth Yorkshire Council to phase out apostrophe use on street signs
"A local authority has announced it will ban apostrophes on street signs to avoid problems with computer systems." It's rare to see bad database security design advertised so openly! I can't wait to...
View ArticleHow to recognize a psyop in three easy steps
"So, how do you distinguish between a psyop – a weaponized story – from other kinds of communication? Walk with me through these three simple steps." This is a great introduction - I can't wait to...
View ArticleThe best thing about blogging is the replies
By far the coolest thing about blogging is the replies. I’ve had a bunch of responses to my latest iteration of the baby stack across various platforms: universally other dads, none of which I’ve met...
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