Notices by Ben Werdmuller (ben@werd.social)

New_ Public announced its new community platform is being co-developed with five local US communities - and there's a lot more to come. #Technology https://werd.io/introducing-roundabout/

Every ten years I start a new open source social networking platform. I'm overdue

"The question isn’t whether the current AI investment cycle will face a reckoning. It’s what form that reckoning takes — and what comes after." #AI https://werd.io/what-happens-after-the-hype-lessons-from-mobile-internets-long-road-to-success/

"We have created a system where the only way to survive is to be destitute enough to qualify for aid, or rich enough to ignore the cost. Everyone in the middle is being cannibalized." https://werd.io/the-optical-illusion-of-prosperity/

What a parade of ridiculous, inflated characters whose platforms are kept moving with fossil fuels

And there’s also a Thanksgiving parade going on, amirite

The threats to digital civil liberties aren’t secret rooms in AT&T buildings anymore. They’re AI systems, data brokers, and privatized surveillance sold as products.

The EFF has spent 35 years fighting for rights and freedoms. Here’s my take on how it should evolve to fight back.

https://werd.io/the-eff-we-need-now/

There is no such thing as neutral technology.

Just got an email from Boardy Boardman asking me to join the seed round for a startup making an AI dog collar that translates from dog into English

The hell list did I make it onto this time

I actually like this a lot. Don’t hire jerks. (I’ll save you a click: she asks the receptionist whether the candidates treated them well. I agree that it speaks volumes.) https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/05/former-netflix-chief-talent-officer-used-this-test-to-weed-out-disastrous-hires.html

I wonder what it would look like to create one single donation point that sends money to a mix of Mastodon, SWF, Free Our Feeds, and other non-profit open social web projects.

Hey, remember that Chicago apartment building raid where children were zip-tied together? Guess what: https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-venezuela-immigration-ice-fbi-raids-no-criminal-charges

"Does the leadership at my company promote a xenophobic agenda and use the wealth I help them acquire to donate directly to bigoted causes and politicians I find despicable? Yeah, sure. Did I celebrate my last birthday at Drag Brunch? Also yes." https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-work-for-an-evil-company-but-outside-work-im-actually-a-really-good-person

"After reviewing coverage from the network and hours of social media videos that preceded Trump’s decision, ProPublica found that Fox’s portrayal of “Portland rioters” routinely instigating violence was misleading."

https://www.propublica.org/article/portland-protests-national-guard-fox-news-coverage?utm_source=ben&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=hi-its-ben

The most racist people imaginable have a cunning plan to undermine the most popularly-elected NYC mayor since 1969. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11/9/republicans-push-to-strip-zohran-mamdani-of-us-citizenship-is-it-possible

50 year mortgages seem insanely bad. Who doesn't want to pay a huge amount of additional interest and accumulate equity ridiculously slowly in exchange for a marginally lower monthly payment?

Caveat: I can see people doing this in high-growth markets like the SFBA - to flip houses. House prices: 📈

It's still so weird to me that the idea of universal healthcare is so political here. It's a given in so many other places, and I miss it. And people don't realize how good it is for innovation. You can take so many more risks when your health and well-being aren't tied to a salaried employer.

One of my underlying working models for non-profit news is that nobody is in competition with each other. We should all be co-operative. We should be open sourcing code, sharing wins and losses, and doing as much as possible to lift each other up - out in the open so newcomers can benefit too.

As well as being very sad, this is deeply worrying. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/conde-nast-teen-vogue-newsguild-1236417079/

"It’s no accident that US political operatives have been singling out Bluesky as a target for political control and retribution for months." But the result puts protocol developers and the users of their networks in opposition. #Technology https://werd.io/trump-administrations-arrival-on-bluesky-highlights-growing-pains-for-open-networks/

Hear me out, but maybe it's not superb that most of the internet is hosted on three very large providers?