Next week I’m starting an experiment: public office hours. Every Tuesday evening I’ll be hosting a one-hour session where I’ll take questions, help you debug your code, and make chit-chat about the implications of software. …

How AI will exacerbate “coordinated inauthentic behavior” — In July, Facebook announced they had removed four networks of accounts for “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” It was the latest battle in the long running — and ever escalating — propaganda arms race. The tactics of “inauthenticity” exploded into the American political conversation following the Cambridge Analytica and Russian interference scandals…

This week in tech — When Facebook launched in 2004 I never would have guessed it (and its successors) would be the subject of international diplomacy. In part that’s because I was only 15, but it’s also because the idea that any government should care about “the new MySpace” just sounded silly. …

Blame centuries of oppression — not protestors — for the riots in Minnesota — This past week, our country fell into sorrow, rage, and exasperation following the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests. On May 25th, the Minneapolis Police Department responded to a call from a convenience store about a counterfeit $20 bill. Police arrived, pulled Floyd from his car, handcuffed him…

This week in tech — You probably noticed that COVID-19 is canceling everything, everywhere. Today’s newsletter is mostly a rundown of how technology helps us keep the world running, mitigate the impact of the virus, track its spread, and more. …

Lessons learned and regrets earned over seven years in the Bay Area. — Seven years ago my future wife and I arrived at SFO with high hopes and four massive suitcases stuffed full of clothing. The move, one year in the making, brought us from Salt Lake City, Utah to one of the flagship cities of the United States. A cosmopolitan mecca famous…

This week in tech — The digital panopticon continues to expand, with a lot of help from the surveillance industrial complex. The surveillance state / surveillance capitalism mega-trend — which dates back to at least the early aughts if you believe Shoshana Zuboff — got a few boosts this week. The state of Utah signed…

This week in tech — California’s controversial new law about employee classification is doing its best Oprah impression. From the very start, there were dozens of specific exemptions carved out of AB5. Some exemptions are cleanly applied to entire industries, others are more complex. But, since the law went into effect in January, many industries…