I really want a button on my email that hides everything that wasn't written directly to me by a human. The "important" tab doesn't cut it. I'm drowning here.
Ben Werdmuller
Ben Werdmuller
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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
#indieweb #opensource #journalism #writing #fiction #blogs #blogging #startups #openweb #web #fediverse #socialweb #ethics #product #writingcommunity #philadelphia #sanfrancisco
Blog / Newsletter: https://werd.io
Pronouns: he/him
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Signal: https://signal.me/#eu/_ehMeopT5JeELrkt2lSk-R0V6d1AsGt_3Q98UOJhgBMTal5EGTdNIbZHB9H9CqBn
Astonishing documentary movie about what power is capable of and what journalism can do to liberate. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes; free to stream on Netflix. More than worth your time. Please watch. 
Watch Cover-Up | Netflix Official Site
He's devoted his career to uncovering stories the powerful want buried. From My Lai to Abu Ghraib, dig into the life's work of journalist Seymour H...
I don't think it's a coincidence that all of this (worldwide) is happening when most of the people who lived through WWII have just died. We need to do a better job of keeping their memories and ideals alive.
"A social media and phone surveillance system ICE bought access to is designed to monitor a city neighborhood or block for mobile phones, track the movements of those devices and their owners over time, and follow them from their places of work to home or other locations." 
404 Media
Inside ICE’s Tool to Monitor Phones in Entire Neighborhoods
404 Media has obtained material that explains how Tangles and Webloc, two surveillance systems ICE recently purchased, work. Webloc can track phone...
Each year, on my birthday, I gather my thoughts. This year: 47 things I’ve learned - about work, about life, and about the intersections between the two. 
Ben Werdmuller
47 lessons
Things I've learned.
I wrote up how I hire engineers: building a team means building a community, which means looking beyond live coding tests to find empathetic collaborators who care about a mission. (PS: I'm hiring!) 
Ben Werdmuller
How I hire engineers
Building a community means looking beyond coding tests.
Following this has meaningfully improved my first few days of the year. So far, so good. 
Ben Werdmuller
A 2026 checklist
A way to build a habit out of what's important.
Rather than new year's resolutions, I'm experimenting with a checklist for 2026: things I want to try and do every day. This is my list, and I'd love to read yours.
Ben Werdmuller
A 2026 checklist
A way to build a habit out of what's important.
Meanwhile, in my hometown. Here in the US, police / ICE are using facial recognition when they stop someone, but I’m not aware of them just setting up and scanning crowds. 
Arrests made in Oxford as facial recognition vans introduced
Thames Valley Police released the figures on its website after using the cameras on Monday.
We don't need to educate our audiences to fit our needs. We need to educate ourselves to fit our audiences. #Media 
Ben Werdmuller
Lies we tell ourselves
We don't need to educate our audiences to fit our needs. We need to educate ourselves to fit our audiences.