While I respect that some people find ...
While I respect that some people find comfort in tradition and institutions, I can’t agree. Those things are how we maintain the status quo - and there’s so much work to do.
View ArticleFour things about threads.net
"We're selling ourselves out by letting Facebook own a new social network and not putting that energy into building something that preserves our choice." I am worried that this might turn out to be...
View ArticleRight-wing comments on Microsoft Start
My posts are syndicated to Microsoft Start as part of the Creator Program. It’s been interesting to see which ones find an audience there and which ones don’t: politics seems to be more interesting to...
View ArticleThe weird world of altruistic YouTube
This is such an interesting trend: "It seems like a pretty well-worn path at this point. Start a YouTube channel with some compelling videos, and when you amass enough views/revenue, use that money to...
View Article“I've Rediscovered A Mode Of Expression That Was Important To Me As A Kid”: A...
A lovely interview with the creator of Karateka and Prince of Persia. (Karateka in particular was a formative game for me.) "If you'd asked me at age 12, I’d probably have said that my dream job would...
View ArticleThe edges are more interesting
If AI makes it easier to create generic, middle-of-the-road content, the way forward for human beings is to create content that is out there on the edges, blazing ground that probabilistic algorithms...
View ArticleASCII art elicits harmful responses from 5 major AI chatbots
"Researchers have discovered a new way to hack AI assistants that uses a surprisingly old-school method: ASCII art." So many LLM exploits come down to finding ways to convince an engine to disregard...
View ArticleBuilding vs using the web
One thing that becomes clear when you move outside of open web groups and a certain kind of tech company is the difference between trying to build the web as a platform and trying to use the web as a...
View ArticleAI Is Threatening My Tech and Lifestyle Content Mill
"Sure, our articles maintain a rigid SEO template that creatively resembles the kitchen at a poorly run Quiznos, and granted, all our story ideas are gleaned from better-written magazine articles from...
View ArticleThe Intercept charts a new legal strategy for digital publishers suing OpenAI
A detail I hadn't noticed: while the New York Times OpenAI lawsuit rested on copyright infringement, the Intercept, Raw Story, and AlterNet are claiming a DMCA violation. "A study released this month...
View ArticleBig Journalism’s hopeless myopia
"One way you know that it’s business as usual for journalists is that so many have remained on Twitter, a platform whose owner has taken right-wing trollery to extremes lately. He loudly supports...
View ArticleThreads has entered the fediverse
"We’re taking a phased approach to Threads’ fediverse integration to ensure we can continue to build responsibly and get valuable feedback from our users and the fediverse community." It's really...
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Building engineering
I’ve spent most of my career — now well over two decades of it — building things on the web. I’ve worked as a software developer, I’ve founded a couple of my own companies, and I’ve often found myself...
View ArticleBlog aspirationally, not opportunistically
When you find yourself writing a 3000 word essay about engineering management on your personal website, you might want to take a step back and take another look at your goals.And if you find that this...
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Gawking at Thom Yorke
Walking around Oxford, my hometown, I used to see Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke from time to time. He always looked miserable.At Boots the Chemist? Miserable.At the Ashmolean Museum? Miserable.Having...
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What if everyone knew how much we all made?
Proposal: every product vendor must disclose the wages of the people who made it.If you buy a box of chocolate, you get to know how much the people who picked the raw ingredients made, as well as the...
View ArticleElon Musk, X Fought Surveillance While Profiting Off Surveillance
"While it was unclear whether, under Musk, X would continue leasing access to its users to Dataminr — and by extension, the government — the emails from the Secret Service confirm that, as of last...
View ArticlePedal coast-to-coast without using a road? New program helps connect trails...
This is completely lovely and the kind of thing America absolutely should be doing. "O’Neil hopes the trail born from eastern Indiana’s old railroad tracks will eventually become a central cog in the...
View ArticleLawsuit filed by Elon Musk's X against CCDH thrown out by judge
"A federal judge in California dismissed a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s X against the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate, writing in a judgement Monday that the “case is about punishing the...
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How I use screens
Nathan Schneider writes about how he uses screens:The underlying idea for me is that I like to keep a clear desk. In my office, for instance, I keep the desk where I meet with students empty, except...
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