Ben Werdmuller - Nostr Hypermedia

Ben Werdmuller

benwerd@nos.social

npub183ng...4n09

I lead technology at ProPublica and write speculative fiction. This is a personal account. Every day, I write about tech, democracy, and society at https://werd.io. More about me: https://about.werd.io

benwerd 3 months ago

Workers who love ‘synergizing paradigms’ might be bad at their jobs

Workers who love ‘synergizing paradigms’ might be bad at their jobs

Employees who are impressed with corporate jargon are less good at their jobs. News at 11.

benwerd 3 months ago

Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous ‘Stop Cop City’ Protester

Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous ‘Stop Cop City’ Protester

"A court record reviewed by 404 Media shows privacy-focused email provider Proton Mail handed over payment data related to a Stop Cop City email ac...

benwerd 3 months ago

Can we build the dog?

Evaluating feasibility: can we build the dog?

What resource-constrained teams need to ask before writing a line of code

benwerd 3 months ago

Good vibes, bad vendors

Good vibes, bad vendors

AI coding works now. Here's how to think about it.

benwerd 3 months ago

Notable links: February 20, 2026

Notable links: February 20, 2026

Why aren't newsrooms sharing and innovating? And more.

benwerd 3 months ago

Stop calling optimization "innovation."

Stop calling optimization "innovation."

"The problem is, if you’re optimizing a product that fundamentally isn’t working for how people get news in 2026, all you’re really doing is ...

benwerd 3 months ago

The political effects of X’s feed algorithm

The political effects of X’s feed algorithm

"Feed algorithms are widely suspected to influence political attitudes." This study shows that some do - to significant effect.

benwerd 3 months ago

In Graphic Detail: Subscriptions are rising at big news publishers – even as traffic shrinks

In Graphic Detail: Subscriptions are rising at big news publishers – even as traffic shrinks

In a world where traffic is decreasing, publishers are moving more heavily into subscriptions - with very good results.

benwerd 3 months ago

An increasingly dangerous world

An increasingly dangerous world

My underlying model for everything that's happening

benwerd 3 months ago

Building trust in the open

Building trust in the open

How Protocols for Publishers points to the future of journalism – and the web

benwerd 3 months ago

Growing the open social web

Growing the open social web

A position statement for FediForum's unworkshop

benwerd 3 months ago

Palantir vs. the "Republik": US analytics firm takes magazine to court

Palantir vs. the "Republik": US analytics firm takes magazine to court

Switzerland rejected Palantir on security grounds after independent journalism shed light on fundamental issues. Now the company is suing to tell i...

benwerd 3 months ago

Most Americans don’t pay for news and don’t think they need to

Most Americans don’t pay for news and don’t think they need to

Only 8% of respondents believe individual Americans have a responsibility to pay for news. "I don't think that information should be a privilege," ...

benwerd 3 months ago

Everyone is stealing TV

Everyone is stealing TV

"Fed up with increasing subscription prices, viewers embrace rogue streaming boxes." The question is: what's on them?

benwerd 3 months ago

A note about personal security

A note about personal security

I made a mistake last month that hopefully others can learn from. There are rumors that ICE is turning its attention to the Philadelphia area, whe...

benwerd 4 months ago

Journalism lost its culture of sharing

Journalism lost its culture of sharing

"The data are clear: The open-source culture that defined an earlier era of online journalism has collapsed."

benwerd 4 months ago

Hiring in an era of fake candidates, real scams and AI slop

Hiring in an era of fake candidates, real scams and AI slop

"Red flags that both job seekers and employers should watch for, in an era of AI slop and application scams."

benwerd 4 months ago

Notable links: Jan 24, 2026

Notable links: Jan 24, 2026

What does the future of engineering look like? And more.

benwerd 4 months ago

On ICE, Verification, and Presence As Harm

On ICE, Verification, and Presence As Harm

"Bluesky built a verification system designed to distribute trust, and then didn't use it when it mattered."

benwerd 4 months ago

The Five Levels: from Spicy Autocomplete to the Software Factory

The Five Levels: from Spicy Autocomplete to the Software Factory

"I’ve now seen dozens of companies struggling to put AI to work writing code, and each one has moved through five clear tiers of automation. That...

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