The web is open, apps are closed. The majority of web users have installed an ad blocker (which is also a privacy blocker). But no one installs an ad blocker for an app, because it’s a felony to distribute that tool, because you have to reverse-engineer the app to make it. An app is just a website wrapped in enough IP so that the company that made it can send you to prison if you dare to modify it so that it serves your interests rather than theirs.
People and blogs involved with and about the IndieWeb community, the fediverse, and/or the open web in general.
Hallucinations in code are the least dangerous form of LLM mistakes
simonwillison.net/2025/Mar/2/hallucinations-in-code/#atom-everything
The moment you run LLM generated code, any hallucinated methods will be instantly obvious: you’ll get an error. You can fix that yourself or you can feed the error back into the LLM and watch it correct itself.
Compare this to hallucinations in regular prose, where you need a critical eye, strong intuitions and well developed fact checking skills to avoid sharing information that’s incorrect and directly harmful to your reputation.
With code you get a powerful form of fact checking for free. Run the code, see if it works.
Watched Away We Go and really enjoyed it. Totally missed this when it first came out in 2009. 📺
What happened in the Oval Office yesterday was as horror-inspiring as the riot in the Capitol on 1/6/2021.
My America is still a democracy and still part of the western world. A pretty great country, far from perfect, but my home. It's rich in all kinds of things, including money. We made a mistake in electing the person we did. Can we admit that and start fixing the mistake now? If not now, when?
GPT-4.5 preview thoughts… and Steve Jobs
OpenAI released GPT-4.5 this week to Pro subscribers and via the API, but it’s not what I was expecting. It is much more expensive, about 15-30 times the cost of GPT-4o. For my simple needs, like figuring out the keywords in a photo or summarizing a web page, older models ar...
Слава Україні!
Слава Україні!
One America Together
AOC asked for ideas of what to do for the SOTU.
I suggested we come up with a new slogan. Like this.
“One America Together”
Make hats, purple — enough for everyone, including the Repubs.
During applause, Dems rise and chant “One America Together.”
What do you think?
Wordle Kitty throwing out the first pitch of the baseball season. Earth is our only home.
The tab key now switches between the main editor and title editor in WordLand. Still a little work to do there.
These days I read Timothy Snyder's essays as soon as they come in.
New month. Last month's source code archived. Onward! 😄
Severance Is the Future Tech Bros Want - Reactor
The tech bros advocating for generative AI to take over art are at the same level of cultural refinement as the characters in Severance. They’re creating apps to summarize books to people, tweeting from accounts with Greek statue profile pictures.
GenAI would automate Lumon’s cultural mission, allowing humans to sever themselves from the production of art and culture.
The future of the internet is likely smaller communities, with a focus on curated experiences | The Verge
theverge.com/press-room/617654/internet-community-future-research
Good news for the fediverse, the indie web, and community sites like The Session:
People are abandoning massive platforms in favor of tight-knit groups where trust and shared values flourish and content is at the core. The future of community building is in going back to the basics.
The Sunshine by the Sea: S20E08 - Harsh Browns
Research by the Sea was one of the best conferences I’ve been to in yeeeeeears. So many good, useful, inspiring, thoughtful, provocative talks. Much more about ethics and power and possibility than I’d expected. None of the ‘utopian bullshit’ you usually get at a product or digital conference, to quote one of the speakers!
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
GSA eliminates 18F
[Natalie Alms at Nextgov/FCW]
I'd say this was an unbelievable own-goal. But, unfortunately, it's believable:
"The General Services Administration deleted 18F, a government tech consultancy that helps other agencies with their technology, early Saturday mor...
Through Lines 247 | Scott Boms
I miss being excited by technology. I wish I could see a way out of the endless hype cycles that continue to elicit little more than cynicism from me. The version of technology that we’re mostly being sold today has almost nothing to do with improving lives, but instead stuffing the pockets of those who already need for nothing. It’s not making us smarter. It’s not helping heal a damaged planet. It’s not making us happier or more generous towards each other. And it’s entrenched in everything — meaning a momentous challenge to re-wire or meticulously disconnect. I’m slowly finding my own ways of breaking free to regain a sense of self and purpose.
“What’s Up Doc?” IndieWeb Movie Club
Anchor position tool
This is a great little helper in understanding anchor positioning in CSS.
google webfonts helper
Google Fonts only lets you download .ttf files meaning that if you want to self-host your fonts (and you should), you have to first convert them to .woff2 files.
Luckily this tool has been online for over a decade, doing what Google Fonts should be doing by default.