Werd I/O

Ben Werdmuller

EVs are a climate solution with a pollution problem: Tire particles

Another reason why the really sustainable solution to pollution from cars is better mass transit. #Climate

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Ben Werdmuller

Intuit Pushing Claim That Free Tax-Filing Program Would Harm Black Taxpayers

Intuit has a stranglehold on how taxes are filed in America. For what? Many other countries just have an easy to use tax portal of their own. This is a business that shouldn't even need to exist. #Democracy

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Ben Werdmuller

Build Great Software By Repeatedly Encountering It

This is really important, and why we talk about "eating your own dogfood". If you don't use what you build, you can't build anything great. #Technology

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Ben Werdmuller

DALL·E 3

Once again, this looks completely like magic. Very high-fidelity images across a bunch of different styles. The implications are enormous. #AI

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Ben Werdmuller

EV charging infrastruture is a joke – Brad Barrish

Non-Tesla EV charging infrastructure is awful. It's good that Tesla has opened the standard, but it's not good that the only really viable charging infrastructure is owned by one company. It needs to be fixed. #Technology

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Ben Werdmuller

Notion web Clipper - Klippper

I'm a heavy Notion web clipper user, but this is far better for my needs. I was worried I'd need to build it myself. Luckily: no! #Technology

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Ben Werdmuller

Nature TTL Photographer of the Year 2023: Winners Gallery

Every image here is stunning. #Culture

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Ben Werdmuller

California governor vetoes bill banning robotrucks without safety drivers

The legislation passed with a heavy majority - this veto is a signal that Newsom favors the AI vendors over teamster concerns. Teamsters, on the other hand, claim the tech is unsafe and that jobs will be lost. #AI

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Ben Werdmuller

The #ViewSource Affordance

I strongly agree with this. "View source" has been an important part of the culture of the web since the beginning. Obfuscating that source or removing the option does damage to its underlying principles and makes the web a worse place. I like the comparison to the enclosure movement, which seems apt. #Technology

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Ben Werdmuller

ChatGPT Caught Giving Horrible Advice to Cancer Patients

LLMs are a magic trick; interesting and useful for superficial tasks, but very much not up to, for example, replacing a trained medical professional. The idea that someone would think it's okay to let one give medical advice is horrifying. #AI

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September 22, 2023 · Links · Share this post

Ben Werdmuller

AI data training companies like Scale AI are hiring poets

These poets are being hired to eliminate the possibility of being paid for their own work. But I am kind of tickled by the idea that OpenAI is scraping fan-fiction forums. Not because it’s bad work, but imagine the consequences. #AI

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September 22, 2023 · Links · Share this post

Ben Werdmuller

Mastodon 4.2

Lots of good new changes here - and in particular a much-needed search overhaul. My private instance is running the latest and I like it a lot. #Technology

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September 22, 2023 · Links · Share this post

Ben Werdmuller

John Grisham, other top US authors sue OpenAI over copyrights

"A trade group for U.S. authors has sued OpenAI in Manhattan federal court on behalf of prominent writers including John Grisham, Jonathan Franzen, George Saunders, Jodi Picoult and "Game of Thrones" novelist George R.R. Martin, accusing the company of unlawfully training its popular artificial-intelligence based chatbot ChatGPT on their work.” #AI

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September 21, 2023 · Links · Share this post

Ben Werdmuller

‘The scripts were the funniest things I’d ever read’: the stars of Peep Show look back, 20 years later

Before there was Succession, there was Peep Show. A brilliant piece of TV that launched a bunch of careers. If you haven't seen it, give yourself the gift of checking it out. #Culture

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September 20, 2023 · Links · Share this post

Ben Werdmuller

Revealed: top carbon offset projects may not cut planet-heating emissions

“The vast majority of the environmental projects most frequently used to offset greenhouse gas emissions appear to have fundamental failings suggesting they cannot be relied upon to cut planet-heating emissions, according to a new analysis.” #Climate

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September 20, 2023 · Links · Share this post

Ben Werdmuller

Online Safety Bill: Crackdown on harmful social media content agreed

This is a horrendous bill that is designed to encourage self-censorship, including around topics like "illegal immigration", as well as vastly deepen surveillance on internet users. And Britain passing it will likely embolden other nations to try the same. #Technology

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Ben Werdmuller

Remote work may help decrease sexual assault and harassment, poll finds

“About 5 percent of women who were working remotely reported instances in that time, compared with 12 percent of in-person women workers. Overall, only 5 percent of remote workers reported instances in the past three years, compared with 9 percent of those who work fully or mostly in person.” #Labor

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Ben Werdmuller

Migrants tracked with GPS tags say UK feels like ‘an outside prison’

I had no idea Britain was fitting migrants and asylum seekers with ankle bracelets and surveilling them to this level. It seems impossible that this is something people would think is right and just. The dystopian cruelty is mind-boggling. #Democracy

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Ben Werdmuller

A (more) Modern CSS Reset

I particularly valued the explanations here. I spend less time coding these days - I can go weeks without writing a line - and I’m determined to keep my skills up. #Technology

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