@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

williamgunn

@williamgunn@mastodon.social

Ex-Head of #communications @ Quora
Formerly Mendeley & Elsevier
Catalyst, not reagent. Caring more about fewer things.
Profile searchable via tootfinder

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sjvn, to random
@sjvn@mastodon.social avatar

Tesla Lays Off Entire Team Behind Brakes https://theonion.com/tesla-lays-off-entire-team-behind-brakes-1851449223

For just the briefest moment, I thought this might be real.

williamgunn,
@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

@sjvn It's not coming from nowhere: https://www.kob.com/news/business-money/elimination-of-teslas-charging-department-raises-worries-as-evs-from-other-automakers-join-network/

williamgunn, to random
@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

@juancommander It's been a while! How are things with you?

williamgunn,
@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

@juancommander I will be reading that paper on OpenAlex with interest, so congrats on that. I've been doing some consulting and taking a little time off, myself. Definitely enjoying spring finally getting here. Things are blooming about a month later than last year!

paul, to random
@paul@tapbots.social avatar

“It should’ve been an app”. Yeah sure, but it’s a ton easier to sell a $200 cool looking gadget vs trying to get people to pay $100+ for an app. Also you don’t have to deal with the gate keepers that’ll do everything in their overwhelming power to Sherlock you into the ground in a few months.

williamgunn,
@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

@paul shipping beta freemium apps of way different than shipping beta hardware that people have paid hundreds or thousands for (and still don't really own because the platform isn't open/hackable).

Gargron, to random
@Gargron@mastodon.social avatar

Me, feeding 2 people and 2 cats on a 60k EUR salary without benefits (because technically self-employed), reading those comments that claim a 501(c)(3) is some kind of nefarious scheme to hide money 😐

williamgunn,
@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

@Gargron Reading this thread with people calling you out for imaginary things about people on your board. 🤪

Mastodon, to mastodon
@Mastodon@mastodon.social avatar

forms new 501(c)(3) non-profit entity with new board of directors in the United States to facilitate tax-deductible donations and in-kind support:

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2024/04/mastodon-forms-new-u.s.-non-profit/

williamgunn,
@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

@chema @Mastodon Why stop there? Maybe every employee should be put to a vote, as well? Literally no company in the world has a user-elected board of directors. Why do you think that is? Is it possible that using a platform and running a platform are different skillsets? I've worked for a platform where I was also a user & I now think so. 🤔

Don't get me wrong, representation is a great thing! Users should have representation in the roadmap and features and content moderation, for example.

williamgunn,
@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

@chema @Mastodon As I said, I think representation is great, but my questions remain. Why do you think most orgs do it the way they do?

williamgunn,
@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

@chema @Mastodon I see. And how many boards have you served on?

williamgunn,
@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

@chema @Mastodon That's surprising and good to hear. I think I understand better where you're coming from now. So your experience is all advocacy-related? Would it be correct to say your concerns are, at a high-level, about the corrupting influence of money or is it more about capitalism as a structural factor?

williamgunn,
@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

@chema @Mastodon That's fair. I suppose I was biased by seeing so many arguments in the thread that basically boil down to "capitalism bad" that I mistook where you're coming from. My time on the inside of a content platform certainly exposed me to a lot of user input that was terrible because there's so much they don't know on the outside, but I can see the value of representation in some form.

williamgunn,
@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

@chema @Mastodon That all checks out, including the bit about capitalism (though I'd argue it's not as bad as various other things that have been tried), but I think a content platform presents unique challenges due to the heterogeneity of the user base. It would be interesting to see who would seek to be elected, what their platform would be, etc. It seems inevitable there would be pressure to have multiple seats and then you're basically creating the Fediverse Congress.

williamgunn,
@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

@chema @Mastodon Thanks for the recommendation, too.

scottsantens, to random
@scottsantens@hachyderm.io avatar

Myth: Universal Basic Income is a magnet for the idle. In reality, it's the catalyst for unleashed potential. Visualize a world where your next meal isn't your next worry. That world is one giant leap closer to solving the puzzles of poverty and unleashing collective brilliance.

williamgunn,
@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

@scottsantens Like most things, it's a bit of both.

kfury, to random
@kfury@mstdn.social avatar

Before trusting an AI to tell you about stuff you don’t know, ask it to tell you about things you’re an expert in.

williamgunn,
@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

@josh @kfury How about this: Ask it questions where learning is asymmetrical. Where it's hard to learn but easy to validate. Questions about tax regulations, for example, or historical facts, or about any complex subject where there's a lot written, it's hard to know where to look to find the answer, but you know it when you see it

williamgunn, to random
@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

The eternal election year refrain is voiced by Ben Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/08/10/authoritarians-are-on-the-march

williamgunn, to random
@williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

Belated

dansup, to random
@dansup@mastodon.social avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    williamgunn,
    @williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

    @dansup I'm not convinced anti-Threads sentiment isn't just anti-capitalist sentiment dressed up in fediverse language.

    williamgunn, to llm
    @williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

    Wiley licenses content for training an . The company was not named, but I would suspect it's the one which has been signing a lot of licensing deals lately. Access to STM content could be a big differentiator, though I wouldn't expect it to be exclusive. Also, $23M sounds small. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/q3-2024-john-wiley-sons-043941097.html?guccounter=1

    kevincollier, to random
    @kevincollier@mastodon.social avatar

    Snowden was board president of the Freedom of the Press Foundation from 2016 til 2022, something I can't see ever making sense.

    williamgunn,
    @williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

    @kevincollier maybe not, but in the thread you screenshotted, he's making a lot of sense. It's hard to make Musk a sympathetic figure, but that's the way to do it.

    selzero, to random
    @selzero@syzito.xyz avatar

    You think the perfect job doesn't exist.

    But Samuel L. Jackson has made over $300,000,000 from his 150+ movies.

    He says around 2000 words per movie, that comes to about $1000 per word.

    "Motherfucker" was 1116 of those words.

    Therefore Samuel L. Jackson has made over 1 million dollars for saying "Motherfucker".

    That's the kind of job we would all aspire to.

    Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction having some tasty beverage to wash down his big kahuna burger.

    williamgunn,
    @williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

    @selzero Do you have this analysis written up anywhere?

    williamgunn, to random
    @williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

    image/jpeg

    williamgunn, to random
    @williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

    One of the real ones I thought was fake and one of the fake ones I thought was real, but overall I'm pretty impressed with myself. https://detectfakes.kellogg.northwestern.edu/ I like that they ask you how confident you are in your guess, but I wish they'd tell me how well calibrated my confidence is.

    williamgunn, to random
    @williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

    Move over GenAI hands challenge, here's lots of detailed text:
    https://mastodon.social/

    caseynewton, to random
    @caseynewton@mastodon.social avatar

    When Meta's Oversight Board data can't get the data it requests from the company it often relies on CrowdTangle. Interesting finding here from @zoeschiffer https://www.platformer.news/meta-oversight-board-data-regulation/

    williamgunn,
    @williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

    @caseynewton @zoeschiffer interesting post! I wonder about something tangential. It seems like journalists call Twitter X and everyone else still just calls it Twitter. Was this a principled decision or have there been efforts from the company to encourage using the new name?

    hrheingold, to random
    @hrheingold@mastodon.social avatar

    Understanding Knowledge as a Commons: From Theory to Practice

    Edited by Charlotte Hess,
    Elinor Ostrom 2006 (!)

    "Looking at knowledge as a shared resource: experts discuss how to define, protect, and build the knowledge commons in the digital age."

    https://direct.mit.edu/books/edited-volume/3807/Understanding-Knowledge-as-a-CommonsFrom-Theory-to

    williamgunn,
    @williamgunn@mastodon.social avatar

    @hrheingold Somehow I suspect "pour the Internet into a large language model with no definition of quality" isn't part of building a knowledge commons.

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