Notices by Ben Werdmuller (ben@werd.social), page 4

Some collected thoughts on that proposed new image for the fediverse: https://werd.io/2024/thoughts-on-a-new-image-for-the-fediverse

#fediverse

Who is investing (or interested in investing) in fediverse apps, open source or otherwise?

"The $13 billion that Elon Musk borrowed to buy Twitter has turned into the worst merger-finance deal for banks since the 2008-09 financial crisis." Who could have predicted?! #Technology https://werd.io/2024/elon-musks-twitter-takeover-is-now-the-worst-buyout-for

"Starting today, Flipboard will let users search for and follow accounts from across the Fediverse from the comfort of their own dashboards." #Fediverse https://werd.io/2024/flipboard-users-can-now-follow-anyone-in-the-fediverse

"Surveillance Watch is an interactive map revealing the intricate connections between surveillance companies, their funding sources and affiliations." Nice. #Privacy https://werd.io/2024/surveillance-watch-they-know-who-you-are

"Project 2025’s plan to train an army of political appointees who could battle against the so-called deep state government bureaucracy on behalf of a future Trump administration remains on track." My colleagues at ProPublica have the details. #Democracy https://werd.io/2024/inside-project-2025s-secret-training-videos

Commenting on the bad orange place in support of journalism in the public interest. I'm sure that'll go well.

"Hours after the president made his announcement, Heidi Li Feldman, a law professor emeritus at Georgetown University, launched an ActBlue fundraiser comprising of Mastodon users." It's been wildly successful. #Fediverse https://werd.io/2024/mastodon-for-harris-is-a-success-story-for-fediverse-activism

This is a pretty amazing and clear-headed look at one of the blockchain-based decentralized social networking platforms. Which, uh, was also just a massive fraud. #Crypto https://werd.io/2024/bitclout-wasnt-so-decentralized

@evan That would be my actual dream. Barbara Lee is a hero.

Let's build.

What if the Harris campaign - or the White House - wanted to join the fediverse properly?

They'd have to admin their own Mastodon (or similar) instance.

I'm convinced there's a need for a VIP hosted instance for brands, government, professional organizations, and anyone who cares about branding, brand safety, analytics, tight links to other branded web properties, and professional moderation.

#fediverse

Jeff Bridges on mute on the Zoom just made me laugh.

And then:

"I'm white, I'm a dude, and I'm for Harris."

"Flipboard has worked with local papers and websites since its inception. Now, as part of the gradual federation of our platform, we’re bringing some of those publications to the fediverse." Oh hell yes. #Fediverse https://werd.io/2024/flipboard-brings-local-news-to-the-fediverse

A logo change is good; a name change would be much better. #Technology https://werd.io/2024/its-time-for-apache-to-change-its-name-not-just

I’d love to see a lot more people talking about JD Vance’s support for Curtis Yarvin, who believes in the reinstatement of slavery, in replacing the democratically elected government with a CEO king, and that Hitler was acting in self defense.

@vathpela @evan @mattl It's a PAC. Which is a system that really, truly has to be abolished.

@mattl @evan Right now in some industries (looking at you, journalism) the social media stats are so bad that dropping any source of referrals is job-threatening. It's going to be up to top management at the very least to make a decision to move. Likely a CEO / Publisher-level choice.

The news cycle has moved on, but just as a reminder, they’re still bombing the shit out of Gaza and killing civilians in enormous numbers.

I quite like this, I think. Literary Hub is a Rotten Tomatoes for books: https://lithub.com/