Posts are short
Stuff I write
There are hundreds and hundreds of blog posts on this site. In the early days of the web I wrote with more variety and much more regularly. Nowadays many of my posts are about client projects and current “professional” endeavors. My newsletter is a good place for the rest of my writing.
- [FBT] on Softness and Screwed
Maybe I’m soft Good god almighty the Tech Bros, amirite!? I mean, we all knew they were supremely full of shit, but sometimes they at least pretended to be benevolent. Not anymore. Everyone is still up in arms about Zuck’s opportunist about-face on decency. And Musk is…well Musk. I don’t… Read More »[FBT] on Softness and Screwed - [FBT] on Anniversaries and Art
Maybe I’m ten 2025, eh? Here we are. I started writing this newsletter in 2015, so that’s a ten year anniversary. 2015 was the most traumatic year of my life. Something happened that shook hell and Earth for me, changed me permanently and made me privy to a kind of… Read More »[FBT] on Anniversaries and Art - Podcasts I’m listening to in late 2024
Podcast chain letter For those of you who are unawares, Doug Belshaw and I have been working together for longer than your 8th grader has been alive. Yesterday he posted about his podcasting habits, after Bryan Alexander posted about his podcasting habits, so now I’m posting about my podcasting habits… Read More »Podcasts I’m listening to in late 2024 - Activists, Campaigners and Advocates versus AI
Greening AI: A Roundtable Reflection cross-posted on the WAO blog Together with Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) or EWNI, we recently brought together climate and environmental justice campaigners, digital rights advocates, and other engaged activists. We discussed a set of shared principles for how we, as… Read More »Activists, Campaigners and Advocates versus AI - The Tao of WAOSome things we’ve talked about in our cooperative cross-posted on the WAO blog I thought it might be a good idea to try to describe the Tao, or the natural way, of WAO. “In the Tao Te Ching, Laozi explains that the Tao is not a name for a thing,… Read More »The Tao of WAO
- Cooperating through the use of AISome practical tips to use AI with your team cross-posted on the WAO blog The use of large language models (“LLMs”) such as ChatGPT can be a controversial topic. People have strong opinions about them for all kinds of reasons, from concerns around data privacy to the propagation of bias… Read More »Cooperating through the use of AI
- We don’t have rum for you (sea shanty #2)Went to dinner with the Corsican mafia and they were really niceA storm rolled in and we’re stuck in harbour not just once but thrice. Went out to the sea on the very next day to check in with the wavesPulled the main sail up and the fore sail out… Read More »We don’t have rum for you (sea shanty #2)
- Captain Planet and AI: Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and HeartIn the 80s, kids all across the US and likely the Western World, kids like me, used to watch Captain Planet, a superhero who came into being when 5 teenage climate warriors aimed their laser rings at each other: The co-op is working on a new project with Friends of… Read More »Captain Planet and AI: Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Heart
- How to build a co-design eventDevelopment vs Engagement in a Collaborative Setting cross-posted on the WAO blog Our new Mozilla Foundation-funded Friends of the Earth ‘Green Screen’ project has the express aim of developing a set of AI principles that the climate movement can use. The project involves desk research and a gathering of experts… Read More »How to build a co-design event
- Key Questions for User Research DesignOur approach to the nexus of user research and user testing cross-posted on the WAO blog WAO often starts projects with a bit of user research: asking your stakeholders and audience, users and even friends to give you some insight is always time well spent. After all, we all bring… Read More »Key Questions for User Research Design
- Building and Sustaining Engagement with the Digital Credentials ConsortiumDeveloping communications for your organisation cross-posted on the WAO blog This summer WAO ties a bow around a body of work we’ve been doing together with the Digital Credentials Consortium (DCC). This initiative is hosted at MIT and has member universities from around the world. The Digital Credentials Consortium is… Read More »Building and Sustaining Engagement with the Digital Credentials Consortium
- Finding your activist friendsSolidarity, common ground, and intersectionality in the climate movement cross-posted on the WAO blog This post looks at ways we can channel our activist energy in ways that address multiple issues and find belonging in adjacent communities. Recently at a week long event that brought together energy transition activists from… Read More »Finding your activist friends
- Fractional Leadership in Social Impact OrganisationsSetting up a successful leadership transition cross-posted at the WAO blog and on Coaching Buttons After years of working with and for a variety of different kinds of social impact organisations — from educational institutions to cooperative federations, small community-based charities to global non-profits — we’ve been lucky to see… Read More »Fractional Leadership in Social Impact Organisations
- Unpacking the foundations of Verifiable Credentialscross-posted on the WAO blog Did you ever consider that looking at a tree only reveals half of its story? Much like a tree’s roots, which stretch as a wide and deep as its branches, the visible aspect of technology barely scratches the surface. In this post, we’re going to… Read More »Unpacking the foundations of Verifiable Credentials
- Building a Minimum Viable Community of Practice (MVCoP)cross-posted on the WAO blog At the end of the month, we’ll be gathering a number of community-based organisations, interns and faculty in an online design workshop to jump start a Community of Practice together with Cal State University and Participate. This community, supported through the Internet for All programme,… Read More »Building a Minimum Viable Community of Practice (MVCoP)
Looking for something else?
You probably want to head over to the archives or try a search: