This week's notable links
This is my regular digest of links and media I found notable over the last week. Did I miss something? Let me know!
British newspaper groups warn Apple over ad-blocking plans, FT reports
"British newspaper groups have warned Apple that any move to impose a so-called "web eraser" tool to block advertisements would put the financial sustainability of journalism at risk, the Financial Times reported on Sunday."
Counterpoint: block the ads.
The web is designed to be a flexible platform that can be mixed and remixed however you need. One of the points of CSS was that you could have your own styles for a site and they would supersede the interface that came out of the box.
Relying on ads is a race to the bottom. There are plenty of other ways to make money and build deeper relationships with your audience - many of which don't require paywalls or any invasive technology at all.
Ad technology profiles and tracks users; slows down websites; wastes energy; obliterates the user experience; and isn't even all that profitable. It's hard to square an organization that claims to be acting in the public interest advocating for them. #Media
[Link]
Abortion bans drive away young talent: New CNBC/Generation Lab survey
"The youngest generation of American workers is prepared to move away from states that pass abortion bans and to turn down job offers in states where bans are already in place, a new survey from CNBC/Generation Lab finds."
This stands to reason: why would you move to a place where government wants to control what you do with your body? Whether you have a uterus or not, caring for the well-being of people who do is obvious. And all the societal overreach and Handmaid's Tale overtones affect everybody.
I'm interested to see how this affects those locations over time. Of course, there are other implications of this legislation, too: it's likely to be one of the major drivers for voters in November. #Business
[Link]
An Interview With Jack Dorsey
This interview is as interesting for what it doesn't mention - fediverse, for example - as for what it does.
This helps explain why he distanced himself from Bluesky after he'd previously established it and ensured it had funding:
"This tool was designed such that it had, you know, it was a base level protocol. It had a reference app on top. It was designed to be controlled by the people. I think the greatest idea — which we need — is an algorithm store, where you choose how you see all the conversations. But little by little, they started asking Jay and the team for moderation tools, and to kick people off. And unfortunately they followed through with it."
That's not actually how Bluesky works - the people who were banned were banned from the reference implementation, not the protocol. And, often, they were banned from the reference community for heinous content that would have prevented other people from being able to make use of that space. Any open social platform that doesn't support moderation will be dead in the water: moderation is a key part of running any community.
I think Jack knows this, so I don't buy it.
Meanwhile, the interviewer is a Partner at Founders Fund who once blocked me on Twitter for being too left-wing, which I think sort of puts the comments about moderation and freedom of speech in context. #Technology
[Link]
Slop is the new name for unwanted AI-generated content
Simon Willison has a perfect name for unreviewed content that is shared with other people: "slop".
He goes on:
"I’m happy to use LLMs for all sorts of purposes, but I’m not going to use them to produce slop. I attach my name and stake my credibility on the things that I publish."
I think that's right. I'm less worried about using LLMs internally - as long as you understand that they're not impartial or perfectly factual sources, and as long as you take into account the methods used to generate the datasets that were used to train them. (Those are some big "if"s.)
But don't just take that output and share it with the public. And *certainly* don't do it so that you can publish content at scale without having to hire real writers. Not only is that not a good look, but you're going to harm your brand and your reputation in the process. #AI
[Link]
Stack Overflow bans users en masse for rebelling against OpenAI partnership — users banned for deleting answers to prevent them being used to train ChatGPT
"Users who disagree with having their content scraped by ChatGPT are particularly outraged by Stack Overflow's rapid flip-flop on its policy concerning generative AI. For years, the site had a standing policy that prevented the use of generative AI in writing or rewording any questions or answers posted. Moderators were allowed and encouraged to use AI-detection software when reviewing posts."
This is all about money: "partnering" with OpenAI clearly means a significant sum has changed hands. The same thing may have happened at Valve, which also unblocked AI-generated art from its marketplace.
This feels like short-term thinking to me: while Stack will clearly make some near-term revenue through the deal, it comes at a cost to the health of its community, which is ultimately what drives the company's value. If motivated contributors drop off, the only thing left will be the AI-generated content - and there's no way that this will be as valuable over time.
I'd love to have been a fly on the wall of the boardroom where this deal was undoubtedly decided. What are they measuring that made this seem like a good idea - and what are they not measuring that means they're blind to the community dynamics that drive their actual sustainability? It's all fascinating to me. #AI
[Link]
Meet AdVon, the AI-Powered Content Monster Infecting the Media Industry
"We found the company's phony authors and their work everywhere from celebrity gossip outlets like Hollywood Life and Us Weekly to venerable newspapers like the Los Angeles Times, the latter of which also told us that it had broken off its relationship with AdVon after finding its work unsatisfactory."
Even if the LA Times broke off its relationship because the work was unsatisfactory, the fact that this was attempted in the first place is unsettling. What if the work hadn't been "unsatisfactory"? What if it had been "good enough"?
It's not so much the technology itself as the intention behind it: to produce content at scale without employing human journalists, largely to generate pageviews in order to sell ads. There's no public service mission here, or even a mission to provide something that people might really want to read. It's all about arbitrage. #AI
[Link]
Bookending
"Here’s a small trick that worked for me over the dozen years I led remote teams: at the end of your working day, shut down every app on your machine. Yes, all of them. Stash your tabs somewhere if you must, but close them all down."
I do this, including closing all of my tabs. Who really needs to keep hundreds of tabs? You? Why? Let them go!
The note-taking aspect of this has been my actual use for Obsidian: I take daily notes that plug together my thoughts for the day and some ideas about what I might need to do next, as well as things I'm worried about (I'm always worried about a lot of things).
Not that long ago, I would have turned my computer off at the end of every day. This is kind of a modern version of that. Although, of course, there's something to just switching the computer off, too. #Productivity
[Link]
40 years later, a game for the ZX Spectrum will be once again broadcast over FM radio
"There were times when Sinclair ZX Spectrum games were copied over the radio waves across Slovenia. Radio Študent broadcast screeching, beeping and whining, which we recorded on tape and played a game a few hours later."
I love this! I never had a ZX Spectrum, but I did have a ZX81, one of its precursors, and have fond memories of loading games from tape. The idea that you could broadcast a game over FM radio is delicious - just start recording via tape and then you're good to go. A great way to spread free software and free culture before the advent of the commercial internet.
And I love that they're going to do it again! I wonder who still has a ZX Spectrum ready to go? #Technology
[Link]
Novel attack against virtually all VPN apps neuters their entire purpose
"Researchers have devised an attack against nearly all virtual private network applications that forces them to send and receive some or all traffic outside of the encrypted tunnel designed to protect it from snooping or tampering."
Except, oddly, on Android, which doesn't implement the DHCP setting that the attack depends on. The exploit has existed since 2002; we can probably assume that the bad actors that matter already know about it.
I assume we'll see operating system patches relatively quickly. This is not a reason to not use a VPN: in most cases they are still fit for purpose. The worst case scenario would be if users dropped VPNs out of lack of trust. They should not do that. #Technology
[Link]
How to recognize a psyop in three easy steps
"So, how do you distinguish between a psyop – a weaponized story – from other kinds of communication? Walk with me through these three simple steps."
This is a great introduction - I can't wait to read the full book.
It reminds me a little of some of the techniques described in The Century of the Self, the Adam Curtis documentary that explores the history of psychoanalysis, its influence on propaganda, and how it gave birth to the modern PR industry. If you've never seen it, the whole thing is on YouTube and is absolutely worth your time. #Democracy
[Link]
North Yorkshire Council to phase out apostrophe use on street signs
"A local authority has announced it will ban apostrophes on street signs to avoid problems with computer systems."
It's rare to see bad database security design advertised so openly! I can't wait to see what havoc the local residents will cause. #Technology
[Link]