Notices by Ben Werdmuller (ben@werd.social)

@kims Ooh. The Dutch House is set in my adoptive neighborhood and I've been meaning to read it for a while.

Thanks for all these recommendations!

I listen to audiobooks while I work out at the gym or on my rowing machine at home. And I'm between books. What's something you've enjoyed listening to lately? I prefer fiction to non-fiction.

I will say this: that an airplane could crash and *land upside down* and everyone could walk away and be accounted for says a lot about the actual safety of air travel. Definitely better to land the correct way up - but most important to be able to walk away.

In my inaugural Ask a CTO column I ask questions about security vs productivity, and when to adopt new technology trends: https://werd.io/2025/ask-a-cto-security-vs-productivity-when-to-adopt-technology

"We want to share our thinking process in implementing Quote Posts in Mastodon, and explain why it has taken us some time to do so." This is thoughtful and smart (and I appreciate the transparency). #Fediverse https://werd.io/2025/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon

@evan Trustworthy access permissions are a big deal. Particularly given our current context.

Almost every meaningful free software and encrypted tool is European-based or heavily leverages European developers. I think that's probably because there's a strong grant ecosystem there, as well as a stronger social safety net for people who want to earn less to do more. I wish we had that here.

@evan I would! Friends and family would be neat. I don't have a great way to do that on my website though.

"The Nexus of Privacy is planning a series of online discussions and video/phone calls focusing on organizing on decentralized social networks." There's a form to express interest; this is good stuff. #Fediverse https://werd.io/2025/organizing-on-decentralized-social-networks

Life in Weeks is a cool idea, but here's why I'm not going to share mine with you. https://werd.io/2025/life-in-weeks

"Being “in tech” in 2025 is depressing, and if I’m going to stick around, I need to remember why I’m here." Every word of this resonated for me. #Technology https://werd.io/2025/tech-continues-to-be-political

Pretty neat that the best TV show ever made is available for free on YouTube now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtPuJzBBiuo

"So, here’s where the marshmallow test gets it wrong: it’s not just about the kid’s ability to wait; it’s about the adult’s ability to create an environment worth waiting in." #Parenting https://werd.io/2025/marshmallow-test-and-parenting

A continued reminder that blocking referrers on Mastodon means that nobody can measure how many visits they're getting from the platform, so publishers don't know how much to invest in it (and therefore don't). It's such an own goal for the platform.

"The Social Web Foundation has joined the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to advance open standards for the social web." #Fediverse https://werd.io/2025/the-social-web-foundation-announces-its-membership-in-the-world

"Automattic confirmed to TechCrunch that when the migration is complete, every Tumblr user will be able to federate their blog via ActivityPub." I didn't realize this was still happening! #Fediverse https://werd.io/2025/tumblr-to-join-the-fediverse-after-wordpress-migration-completes

Do you personally have an EV that (1) isn't a Tesla (2) has great range (3) is the same price or cheaper than a Model 3? What is it and do you recommend it?

Facebook is such a fascinating network in this moment. Everything breaks elsewhere (here, Bluesky, maybe X but I'm not looking), and then like a week later people share posts about it on Facebook, maybe once they've gone through the network news cycle first. It's like life before the invention of the telegraph.

"With little information from the White House, ProPublica is attempting to document who is involved and what they are doing." My colleagues have published the largest list yet of who is involved in DOGE. #Democracy https://werd.io/2025/the-key-figures-working-alongside-elon-musk-at-doge-and

"Authoritarians and tech CEOs now share the same goal: to keep us locked in an eternal doomscroll instead of organizing against them." Posting is not activism. #Democracy https://werd.io/2025/you-cant-post-your-way-out-of-fascism