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Sufficient Decentralization for Social Networks
A design pattern to reduce centralized control and change incentives in social networks.
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Twitter blocked my account for a tweet I did not make
Now this is pretty weird: I just got blocked by Twitter for a tweet that I did not make:
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If you’re so smart, why aren’t you happy?
“Happiness is for stupid people.” That’s a common complaint I hear from smart overachievers. They think only dumb or lazy people can be happy. Entrepreneurs will say, “I don’t want to be happy because I want to be successful.” They worry that if they get too happy they’ll lose their desire and won’t work hard anymore…
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The user experience problems of quadratic voting
In their seminal book, "Radical Markets," Eric Posner and Glen Weyl introduce quadratic voting to improve (or radicalize) democratic preference voting. They argue that by allowing voters to
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Making Quieter Technology
I spent the last years making technology calm and pleasant to use. This is roughly how I did it.
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AI translates Hokkien, an unwritten language, for the first time
Peng-Jen Chen is well aware of how language barriers can affect people’s ability to communicate. Chen grew up in Taiwan speaking Mandarin Chinese, but his father, Sheng-Jiang Chen, a 70-year-old retired factory lead technician, hails from Southern Taiwan, where Taiwanese Hokkien is widely spoken. Though the two…
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Is Europe just not good at innovating?
This article is part of a series on (European) innovation and capabilities. Feedback is very welcome on bert@hubertnet.nl. I’d also like to thank the many proofreaders, but all mistakes remain mine! In the world of (high) technology, Europe is exceptionally weak at innovating. There are many ways to explain how this…
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The candy stores of Oxford Street
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Ocean plastics: How much do rich countries contribute by shipping their waste?
Many countries ship plastic waste overseas. How much of the world’s waste is traded, and how big is its role in the pollution of our oceans?
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What would open sourcing the Twitter algorithm actually look like?
What would “open sourcing the Twitter algorithm” actually look like? In Part 1 of this series, we focus on understanding how Twitter’s algorithmic feed works under the hood.
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The Math Myth (2016)
Math professor David Edwards sent me this short essay on mathematical education. Printed with his permission. The Math Myth Themath myth is the myth that the future of the American economy is dependent upon the masses having higher mathematics skills. This myth goes back to at least Sputnik, when the Russians were…
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The clever reason scammers can’t spell (2019)
Anybody who doesn’t fall off their chair laughing is exactly who they want to talk to – Cormac Herley, Microsoft computer scientist.
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JetBrains suspends R&D activities in Russia and sales in Russia and Belarus
We have already made our position very clear in regard to the invasion of Ukraine. We condemn the attacks of the Russian government, and we stand with the Ukrainian people, including our own colleagues and their families.
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The anti-inflation pivot of 2022
In response to the surge in prices that began in earnest in the summer of 2021 central banks all around the world are hiking interest rates.
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The state of South Africa, 28ish years post-apartheid
A blog containing essays, of varying cogency, about various things that my mind have wandered to.
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Why We’re Suing NSO
Some of the most courageous journalists in the world write for El Faro, a Salvadoran news organization whose fearless, independent reporting about corruption, violence, and human rights abuses in Central America has earned it the gratitude of readers all over the world—and the enmity of criminal gangs and…
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Air Marshals Will Refuse Orders to Go to the Border, Prefer First Class Cabins
Armed federal officers publicly threatening to defy orders from the President seems like it’s getting insufficient attention. The Biden administration largely continuing Trump’s border policies (he’s building the wall!) seems under-covered as well. The claim about vulnerable flights as a result is absurd.
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Briar has been removed from Google Play
Status update Update (February 28, 13:20 UTC): Briar is available on Google Play again. Briar was briefly removed from Google Play because we didn’t provide Google’s review team with a username and password for testing the app. We provided Google with a username and password for testing and the app is now available…
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The next century of computing
80 Brief Predictions for the Future
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The future of innovation has patent-free standards
Supposedly “open“ standards – including those ratified by ISO, CEN and ETSI – can’t be implemented without going cap-in-hand to the world’s largest companies to buy a license.
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We asked 100 humans to draw the DALL·E prompts
Where do human artists fit in a world of rich, creative AI? We asked 100 Surgers to draw the DALL-E prompts.