@ernie@writing.exchange
@ernie@writing.exchange avatar

ernie

@ernie@writing.exchange

Editor of Tedium, an offbeat newsletter that’s been rocking since 2015. I complain on the internet a lot, and I accidentally made a search engine.

Interests: #writing #news #history #technology #retrotech #weird #geoworks #freelance

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ernie, to random
@ernie@writing.exchange avatar

I want to see more small sites on the internet. Let’s make it a better place without giant monolithic tools that eventually screw us over.

https://tedium.co/2024/06/07/small-website-tools-importance/

new @tedium

ernie, to random
@ernie@writing.exchange avatar

I am now in the Dumb Domain business. Buy a Dumb Domain from my store.

It will generate new domains every time you reload the page. See what you get. And tell a friend.

https://dumbdomain.store

glennf, to random
@glennf@twit.social avatar

Adobe did the thing companies that host and sync data keep doing: they updated their terms in what is a reasonable way without a) giving advance warning and a thorough explanation and b) realizing that the legal niceties sound horrifying to an average person. Adobe can’t legally safely host your content without a license. This updates mostly adds compliance issues that are govt focused—and should be examined. https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2024/06/06/clarification-adobe-terms-of-use

harrymccracken, to random
@harrymccracken@mastodon.social avatar

I’d like to see Humane remain independent and succeed, and probably don’t have to tell you what the possibility of them being acquired by HP brought to mind. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/06/technology/humane-ai-pin.html

anildash, to random
@anildash@me.dm avatar

Two years ago, I joined Fastly with the acquisition of Glitch. Next week, our whole team is going to show you why, and what we've been up to, with an amazing lineup of announcements. I'm incredibly excited about the event we're hosting in NYC next week, and hope you'll watch the live stream — I promise you have never seen a tech keynote like this one. Check out https://fastly.com/instant to add it to your calendar, and go to https://youtube.com/live/pgNjS1_kOW8 to add a reminder to watch on YouTube.

dangillmor, to random
@dangillmor@mastodon.social avatar

  1. Washington Post CEO came from the Murdoch empire.

  2. He has been implicated in the (still not fully unraveled) UK "phone hacking" scandal that exemplified the sleaziness of the Murdoch empire.

  3. He told Post editor not to publish a story containing references to his alleged involvement.

  4. She published the story.

  5. She's gone.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/05/business/media/washington-post-buzbee-lewis.html

davew, to random
@davew@mastodon.social avatar

Mastodon feels more international than the other Twitter-alikes.

PCMag, to random
@PCMag@mastodon.social avatar

Adobe is facing backlash after the company's updated terms of use allow its machine learning tools to view and use customers' content to develop future Adobe products. https://www.pcmag.com/news/adobe-sparks-backlash-over-ai-terms-that-let-it-access-view-your-content

ernie, to random
@ernie@writing.exchange avatar

How to get attention:

  • Say something stupid and controverisal
  • Double down
  • Profit

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Living/mom-sparks-debate-returning-shopping-cart-grocery-store/story?id=110840621

paulrickards,
@paulrickards@mastodon.social avatar

@ernie A conflict entrepreneur, a term I learned from this article: https://buttondown.email/natebowling/archive/red-pilled/

e_urq, to trans
@e_urq@journa.host avatar

The Epoch Times is under investigation for money laundering, but the site's role in spreading anti-trans misinformation has gone unmentioned in mainstream coverage of the case.

An Epoch Times link that showed up in a story for the Atlantic is a particularly clear example of the laundering process on trans stories that goes fringe right -> far right -> mainstream.

https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/epoch-times-falun-gong-money-laundering-trans-misinfo

ernie, to random
@ernie@writing.exchange avatar

Here’s what is happening: We are witnessing executives and managers make technology that sounds appealing to them.

Here’s the problem: Most people are not executives or managers. By nature of management, workers are trying to work.

This whole AI-clones-in-meetings subcategory exists because of this misunderstanding.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/3/24168733/zoom-ceo-ai-clones-digital-twins-videoconferencing-decoder-interview

turgon,
@turgon@dosgame.club avatar

@ernie agree with most other responses but here's a take from a manager:

p much this entire interview is the ceo telling us how terrible information flow and decision making is at his company. thing is, most companies run like this. I don't want ai pretending to be me or summarizing others to me. I do need help with extremely complex scheduling, getting the right people together, using the right kind of communication, building agendas, documenting decisions, and crucially, not overloading folks

jon, to ai
@jon@henshaw.social avatar

Joanna Maciejewska (@AuthorJMac) with the best take.

The quote was from Edge magazine and you can learn more about Joanna on her website: https://authorjm.com

foone, to random
@foone@digipres.club avatar

The only cyborg I've seen get it right is Inspector Gadget.

Because I can probably name ten people right now who would go for the "motorized screwdriver in the finger" surgery, yet it so rarely shows up in fiction.

But that's the transhumanist future I'm waiting for

james, to random
@james@bne.social avatar

Why do people block ads, @ernie ?

Let me show you the BBC’s website, when viewed in Florida without an adblocker. The actual BBC has allowed a company called MediaGo to make crappy ads that are deliberately made to look as if they are BBC News stories.

This kind of enshittification would never have been allowed when I worked at the BBC, but apparently losing the trust of its readers is just fine these days. I am astonished at this (and I think it’s actually borderline illegal)

willoremus, to random
@willoremus@mastodon.social avatar

Today is the day Donald Trump became precedent.

arstechnica, to random
@arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar

Google’s AI Overview is flawed by design, and a new company blog post hints at why

Google: "There are bound to be some oddities and errors" in system that told people to eat rocks.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/05/googles-ai-overview-is-flawed-by-design-and-a-new-company-blog-post-hints-at-why/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

ernie, to random
@ernie@writing.exchange avatar

Over on @tedium, I discuss how ad-blocking discussions have too often devolved into a devaluing of creator works.

If we put even a quarter of the energy we put into ad blockers into things that improve the creator economy, imagine where we’d be.

https://tedium.co/2024/05/31/small-creators-ad-blocking-impact/

ernie, to random
@ernie@writing.exchange avatar

I really don't get how people will put so much energy into removing ads on products willingly knowing that by doing so they're hurting small creators.

Not even on things like aggressive ad tracking. Like, podcasts.

janisf,
@janisf@mstdn.social avatar

@ernie This is what I already do:
0. use the product

  1. Subscribe
  2. (cross-) Post, with comment
  3. Pay (lately, not much)
  4. Join supportive groups (like, Obsidian has a Discord thread)
  5. Check/hit the website, or generally participate in external-to-the-product venues
  6. Tag the developer with resources they've shown interest/need in
mathowie,
@mathowie@xoxo.zone avatar

@ernie my Patreon bill is about $100/mo, mostly podcasts and YouTubers

alcinnz,
@alcinnz@floss.social avatar

@ernie I make an effort to throw money at several creators I regularly enjoy (hard to chip in to everyone), & I advocate (so far with no luck) for a UBI to make this easier.

Until then I'll reluctantly accept ads. As long as it doesn't do the aggressive tracking that is!

janisf,
@janisf@mstdn.social avatar

@ernie What kills me is the folks who claim to be communists or socialists while blocking ads and doing everything they can to scam free software/services. It's like the concept they have of mutual support only flows inward. (It feels like trying to drive with two cylinders, you know, with your head banging on the steering wheel with every jolt.)

turgon,
@turgon@dosgame.club avatar

@ernie big fan of subscription based revenue sharing model, and small dollar patronage

james,
@james@bne.social avatar

@ernie Sadly, many of the people who make adtech do not respect the consumer - which results in a dreadful experience avoiding ad overlays and privacy intrusions, the same ad in every break in a streaming video service, seven ads in a row in a podcast. And that motivates people to build ad blockers to remove this kind of bad behaviour, rather than the responsible ones.

Smaller creators are the ones who are caught in the fallout, since the ad blockers don’t discriminate.

pbump, to random
@pbump@journa.host avatar

Just to get ahead of this: if someone indicates that they can confidently predict how the verdict affects the election, they are full of it. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/30/trump-verdict-voters-election/

mathowie, to random
@mathowie@xoxo.zone avatar

hell yes

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