I’m very pleased that the sixth volume of #AlmostReal is coming soon!
I’m also particularly exited that my work — an extended spread about a highly symbiotic, aquatic ecosystem that blurs the line between sex/predation/prey, and species/offapring, will be included in the anthology!
I’m really proud of that #speevo project.
RE: https://werd.social/@ben/116567213185225191
@ben digs into the new research!
> AI vendors are clearly the “new new gatekeepers”. Like the previous ones, they will dominate how we learn about the world even while some of us turn to open source and liberatory alternatives. But they may not dominate how we connect and share our experiences of the world, and that’s the core of the opportunity: how do we design pro-social frameworks and spaces that sit alongside an agentic information ecosystem?
"What comes next, after the algorithmic social feed that’s defined our digital social lives for the last decade?" I believe this very useful presentation will be referred back to for years to come. #Media https://werd.io/ai-may-be-the-new-gatekeepers-but-human-connection-is-more-needed-than-ever/
Do you know anyone, or know of something to read/watch, about successful cross-team collaboration in product-driven organizations?
I'm exceptional at nonhierarchical organizing. I did ok at Apple's component-based, hyper-specialized organizational structure. But now I'm in the midst of a new structure and trying to learn how to find who I need to be talking to, how ownership works, and how influence works. I'm eager to learn here -- please point me at resources and people you know about!
I just backed @pluralistic new book on Kickstarter. Got a couple stickers too!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/the-reverse-centaurs-guide-to-life-after-ai
Reminder that I made a nice thing last week or so.
Mention @message_in_a_bottle to leave a nice note for a random stranger, and the bot will give you a note that was left by someone else.
I curate the messages by hand, and they're all written by real people who want to say something nice to you.
If you just need to hear something kind, that's fine too -- just say "hi" or "." or whatever and the bot will do its thing.
Take care of yourselves and each other. 💕
I wrote my semi-regular emails to politicians. And I'm writing about it here to maybe inspire a few of you to write another email to your politicians about any of the many things that need fighting right now. It's one of those things that is important in aggregate, so keep doing it, even though it sucks.
A good friend of mine was affected by the layoffs at Cisco. If anyone needs a fantastic graphic designer with deep UX, security industry, and startup experience, ping me. Austin based.
1. History isn’t there to be liked or disliked.
2. History is there to be learned from.
3. History offends you? Even better. Then you’re less likely to repeat it.
It’s that simple.
Peek a boo! 🥰❤️
I’m honored to be privileged to donate and support key local groups
My latest support is going to Atlanta Way 2.0!
If you’re here in #Atlanta and want to give back, they are an org I’m glad to recommend
Calling everyone building new apps and tools on ActivityPub: Is your project …
🌐 on the Open Web?
🌱 past the prototype stage?
✨ Reimagining the social internet?
New_ Public, @publicspaces and @waag are investing up to €10,000 in better alternatives to Big Tech
Learn more, share, or apply by May 1st at https://newpublic.org/OSA
Open Letter to European Citizens
The door to digital sovereignty is open, please come in
We ask European citizens, and through them those who govern European countries, to understand one important thing: the door to digital sovereignty does not open simply by choosing different software, but by understanding what sovereignty actually entails.
It requires open document formats, open fonts, continuity of expertise, and honesty about what "open" means.
https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/03/31/open-letter-to-european-citizens/
@mekkaokereke When we first moved to Silicon Valley from Canada, we chatted with a woman in a Meno Park park ... the subject of schools came up and she boasted about how they had been able to set the elementary school district boundaries to keep East Palo Alto out. Not quite KKK hoods, but close. (There's racism in Canada if course but more discreet)
Love and appreciation to the Trans community this Trans Day of Visibility :heart_sp_trans:
“In the detention center, his father says, Liam has been lethargic, sleeping a lot. He asks about his family and classmates. He asks for his bunny hat.
What would you tell him?”
– Scott Meslow: https://www.theverge.com/policy/870720/ice-minneapolis-parenting-liam-conejo-ramos #uspol #parenting
Early bird gets the worm!
Our annual #civictech #opendata #servicedesign conference, NYC School of Data, is back as a 2-day weekend! To celebrate a decade of community, we’re doubling the fun! 🎂
Mar 28–29 @ CUNY School of Law.
🎟️ Grab your early bird tickets today! https://schoolofdata.nyc/earlybird2026
Hey theATL.social! Hope everyone is having an alright holiday weekend. Lots of announcements:
First, I've written a wrap up for this year on theATL.social: https://join.theatl.social/news/wrapup-2025 :sticker_dancingelephant:
Learn about what happened, what's new, what's next, and let me know your thoughts!
Next, I'm happy to report that all our core software: Mastodon, Lemmy/yall, and Pyfed/PeachPie are now all updated to their latest stable nightly versions.
That's a fancy way of saying that everyone now has the latest-and-greatest version of each of those platforms on theATL.social.
Reply here, or send an email/DM, with what you'd like to see in 2026.
Thanks again for everyone's support this year - both financial and from just being excellent people. :ablobgrin:
@ShmosKnows I'm glad that there is finally focus to develop this. Other cities have something like this, and it's time we do too!