ben

ben, 3 months ago to technology

The BBC extends its Mastodon experiment for another six months: "We are also planning to start some technical work into investigating ways to publish BBC content more widely using ActivityPub." #Technology https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/blog/2024-02-extending-our-mastodon-social-media-trial?utm_source=werd.io&utm_campaign=mastodon&utm_channel=mastodon

ben, 9 months ago to random

I buy the take that a goal of buying Twitter was to stop progressive movements that were organizing there.

These movements were and are changing the world for the better.

The fediverse needs to be built to be their forever home: a place to join together across borders to make the world better for everyone, with equal opportunities for all.

I still, despite everything, after all this time, believe this is the promise of the internet.

ben, 2 months ago to journalism

The investigative newsroom I work for, @ProPublica, is raising money right now. We report on abuses of power in the public interest - stories like corruption on the Supreme Court. 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 that Mastodon is an audience to pay attention to. https://give.propublica.org/give/346528/#!/donation/checkout?c_src=mstdn #journalism #fediverse #mastodon

ben, 5 months ago to random

I've left Substack. Here's why, and how it's going to work: https://werd.io/2023/leaving-the-nazi-bar

ben, 6 months ago to random

You really want to get people back to the office? Forget free cocktails. Think free daycare, six month parental leave, 25 days vacation + holidays, extensive carer benefits for those who need them, the expectation that you’ll stay home and rest rather than work if you’re sick, flexible hours, further help with the enormous cost of living in the cities you operate in.

ben, 3 months ago to technology

"Paying people to work on open source is good, full stop, no exceptions. We need to stop criticizing maintainers getting paid, and start celebrating. Yes, all of the mechanisms are flawed in some way, but that’s because the world is flawed, and it’s not the fault of the people taking money. Yelling at maintainers who’ve found a way to make a living is wrong." #Technology https://jacobian.org/2024/feb/16/paying-maintainers-is-good/?utm_source=werd.io&utm_campaign=mastodon&utm_channel=mastodon

ben, 1 year ago to random

Quietly, non-profit newsrooms are making their content available under open licenses and creating a commons of free journalism that is informing America. I think it's incredibly exciting - and it's still only the beginning. https://werd.io/2023/how-open-content-is-transforming-american-journalism

ben, 3 months ago to climate

"Americans bought 21 percent more heat pumps in 2023 than the next-most popular heating appliance, fossil gas furnaces." Quietly, the way we heat our homes is changing - and it has the potential to make a big impact. #Climate https://grist.org/energy/heat-pumps-outsold-gas-furnaces-again-last-year-and-the-gap-is-growing/?utm_source=werd.io&utm_campaign=mastodon&utm_channel=mastodon

ben, 11 months ago to random

There should be a non-profit accelerator for end-user open source projects that have the potential to make the world more equal, inclusive, and democratic.

ben, 7 months ago to ai

"Microsoft's data centers in West Des Moines, Iowa guzzled massive amounts of water last year to keep cool while training OpenAI's ChatGPT-4. [...] This happened in the midst of a more than three-year drought, further taxing a stressed water system that's been so dry this summer that nature lovers couldn't even paddle canoes in local rivers." #AI https://futurism.com/critics-microsoft-water-train-ai-drought?utm_source=werd.io&utm_campaign=mastodon&utm_channel=mastodon

ben, 4 months ago to random

Should media organizations experiment with the fediverse? My answer is an emphatic "yes": https://werd.io/2024/the-fediverse-for-media-organizations

ben, 2 months ago to random

There is a word for automated content creation at scale: spam. Don't do it.

ben, 1 year ago to random

Every newsroom that publishes on the web should have an RSS feed. It's quick and cheap to support, and not doing it is reader-hostile. https://werd.io/2023/every-news-publisher-should-support-rss

ben, 5 months ago to random

"Immigrants are poisoning the blood of the country" is something a real Presidential candidate said in 2023. I don't think being silent or "not being political" is an option. This movement must not gain power. #Democracy https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/16/politics/new-hampshire-republican-primary-trump-immigration?utm_source=werd.io&utm_campaign=mastodon&utm_channel=mastodon

ben, 11 months ago to random

“Twitter’s filing is like a beat-by-beat debunking of the conspiracy theories pushed by the dude who owns Twitter. It’s really quite incredible.” #Technology https://www.techdirt.com/2023/06/05/twitter-admits-in-court-filing-elon-musk-is-simply-wrong-about-government-interference-at-twitter/?utm_source=werd.io&utm_campaign=mastodon&utm_channel=mastodon

ben, 6 months ago to hiring

You should apply for this senior web developer position at @ProPublica. https://werd.io/2023/senior-web-development-at-propublica #hiring #getfedihired #news #journalism

ben, 4 months ago to random

Assuming something catastrophic doesn't happen, it seems likely that the 2024 Presidential election will be a race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

I'd really, truly like the 2028 election to be about something more inspiring and forward-looking than fascism vs democracy. But in the meantime, let's please all make sure we're registered to vote - and then, when the time comes, go out and do it.

ben, 10 months ago to random

I hate flying. I love trains. Trains are wonderful. High-speed rail is one of those things that would make America so much better for literally everyone except airlines, oil companies, and car manufacturers. Can we build it, please?

ben, 1 month ago to random

This. Is. Awesome. https://activitypub.ghost.org/

ben, 6 months ago to random

There’s about $5000 of budget ready for someone to help me build ActivityPub deeply into Known such that it can interoperate with Mastodon users. Email me at ben@benwerd.com if you’re interested.

#activitypub #known #indieweb

ben, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago) to random

“It’s not surprising the WSJ is disinclined to entertain the real lesson of the story: that confident idiots who think regulation is for cowards can end up getting themselves killed, and taking innocent people with them.” #Society https://www.currentaffairs.org/2023/06/the-perils-of-innovator-mindset/?utm_source=werd.io&utm_campaign=mastodon&utm_channel=mastodon

ben, 1 year ago to ai

“Moreover, researchers have also discovered that it’s probably mathematically impossible to secure the training data for a large language model like GPT-4 or PaLM 2. This was outlined in a research paper that Google themselves tried to censor, an act that eventually led the Google-employed author, El Mahdi El Mhamdi, to leave the company. The paper has now been updated to say what the authors wanted it to say all along, and it’s a doozy.” #AI https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/google-bard-seo/?utm_source=werd.io&utm_campaign=mastodon&utm_channel=mastodon

ben, 11 months ago to random

“Twitter is failing to remove 99 percent of hate speech posted by Twitter Blue users, new research has found, and instead may be boosting paid accounts that spew racism and homophobia.” Who would have predicted? #Technology https://www.thedailybeast.com/twitter-fails-to-remove-hate-speech-by-blue-check-users-says-report-from-center-for-countering-digital-hate?utm_source=werd.io&utm_campaign=mastodon&utm_channel=mastodon

ben, 7 months ago to technology

Amazing work. Consider how much this team has been able to achieve with a tiny fraction of the budget of a VC-funded tech startup - and the impact of their work is phenomenal. #Technology https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2023/10/annual-report-2022/?utm_source=werd.io&utm_campaign=mastodon&utm_channel=mastodon

ben, 1 month ago to climate

This hadn't really been on my radar: "Just one type of next generation geothermal — called superhot rock energy, where deep drilling reaches temperatures 400 degrees Celsius (752 degrees Fahrenheit) or hotter — is abundant enough to theoretically fulfill the world’s power requirements." #Climate https://grist.org/energy/the-us-aims-to-crack-the-code-on-scaling-up-geothermal-energy-production/?utm_source=werd.io&utm_campaign=mastodon&utm_channel=mastodon