Author: Ben Werdmuller
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TBL
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, on August 19, 1991: WorldWideWeb is a hypertext browser/editor which allows one to read information from local files and remote servers. It allows hypertext links to be made and traversed, and also remote indexes to be interrogated for lists of useful documents. Local files may be edited, and links made from areas […]
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You can’t empower users by targeting ads
Scott Hanselman has a great take on platforms and ownership on the web: Why doesn’t someone make a free or cheap social network for the people? Why can’t I control my content? Why can’t I export everything I’ve written? […] All these questions are asked about social networks we don’t control and of companies who […]
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Changing the game for artists
Contrary to what you may have heard, the web creates all kinds of new opportunities for artists – as long as they choose to engage with their fans and markets. Making money is about business, after all, but the positive thing about choosing to engage yourself is that you get to decide where the line […]
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Bootstrapping Elgg
In my twenties, as part of a two-person team, I co-founded and bootstrapped a social networking platform that would end up being used by organizations like Oxfam, the World Bank, the Australian government, the United Nations and NASA. We did this with a budget of $0; I don’t remember ever buying advertising, and for the […]