Murmel's Digest
March 01, 2026 · View on web
These are the most widely shared links from across Mastodon and the Fediverse today — surfaced by Murmel from thousands of posts in the open social web. This is the Fediverse-wide view. Sign up to get a digest tailored to the people you actually follow.
The cult that wants to give human rights to robots
spiked-online.com · 26 people
Anthropic’s ‘Claude Constitution’ reflects the misanthropic, ultra-utilitarian Effective Altruism agenda.
"Anthropic is guilty not only of wildly exaggerating the capabilities of AI, and promoting dystopian fantasies of ‘AI doom’, but also quietly advocating the deeply misanthropic philosophy on which it was founded. ‘Claude’s constitution is an unfortunate development in AI governance that minimises human values, rules, and rights’, Jarovsky says.
But knowing what we know about Effective Altruism, perhaps that isn’t a defect, but the main feature of the product."
— @timnitGebru · Feb 28
A world on edge as Trump bombs Iran and triggers war in the Middle East. There was no need for this | Simon Tisdall
theguardian.com · 34 people
We cannot know where this foolish, reckless attack will end – but new hatreds will be seeded, terrorist vendettas sown and, ultimately, little will be achieved, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall
“How dismaying – how unforgivable! – that those past lessons have not been learned. How incredible that an elected 21st-century American president still believes it’s effective and permissible, let alone moral, to dictate to the world from the barrel of a gun. By what conceivable right does the US behave in this way?”
— @heidilifeldman · Feb 28
Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death
politico.eu · 82 people
The capital city is Finnish’ed with car-related fatalities.
Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death
— @topstories · Mar 01
‘I live in constant fear’: surge in giant sinkholes threatens Turkey’s farmers
theguardian.com · 22 people
Falling groundwater, extreme heat and water-intensive farming are accelerating land collapse, forcing a rethink in agricultural practices
Surge in giant sinkholes threatens Turkey’s farmers
Falling groundwater, extreme heat and water-intensive farming are accelerating land collapse, forcing a rethink in agricultural practices
—Turkey is on the brink of a major drought crisis, with almost 90% of the country at risk of becoming desert.
— @cstross · Feb 28
A Secret Survey From Inside a Women’s Prison Tells Stories of Domestic Abuse Untold in Court
propublica.org · 19 people
From inside a women’s prison in Oklahoma, a domestic violence survivor began collecting other prisoners’ stories of abuse. Their accounts helped shape a new Oklahoma law intended to reduce their sentences — but will it work?
From inside a women’s prison, a domestic violence survivor began collecting other prisoners’ stories of abuse.
Their accounts helped shape a new Oklahoma law intended to reduce their sentences — but will it work?
#News #Oklahoma #Women #Prison #Abuse #DomesticViolence #Law
— @ProPublica · Feb 28
Labour must stop channelling Reform and unite with progressives. That’s the lesson from Gorton and Denton | Sadiq Khan
theguardian.com · 12 people
The threat to the party in some parts of our country is now existential. But we can progress, as we have in London, by being bold and strong in our core beliefs, says London mayor Sadiq Khan
Sadiq Khan - Labour must stop imitating 'Reform'.
"In all my mayoral elections in London, I asked potential Green supporters to lend me their vote so that we could deliver progressive policies to build a fairer, safer, greener and more prosperous London for everyone. Many did, but it only worked because people believed we would walk the walk, not just talk the talk."
/Cont'd.
— @markhburton · Mar 01
Iran unleashes its deadliest weapon in closing the Strait of Hormuz
thecanary.co · 14 people
Iran has shut the Strait of Hormuz in a serious blow to Western consumers - we run on oil, and that oil must pass through Hormuz
Iran unleashes its deadliest weapon in closing the Strait of Hormuz
— @therightarticle · Mar 01
The Eternal Promise: A History of Attempts to Eliminate Programmers
ivanturkovic.com · 19 people Worth reading
From COBOL in the 1960s to AI in the 2020s, every generation promises to eliminate programmers. Explore the recurring cycles of software simplification hype.
One of several points I tried to land in yesterday's talk is that _programmers are not going away_ and that software development will continue to need humans. The reasons WHY were softened by material-cutting; there were other things to say that were more critical in the moment. I could have gone on for some time.
This blog post goes into the history of past glorious promises to get rid of programmrs:
The COBOL example is always tops on my list here.
"Understanding why each wave of simplification tools falls short of its promises requires examining the nature of software development itself.”
This is the nut of it, and I think this blog post gets it, AND it gets what changes with each new tool introduction.
— @ceejbot · Feb 28
</> htmx ~ Yes, and...
htmx.org · 16 people Worth reading
In this essay, Carson Gross discusses his advice to young people interested in computer science worried about the future given the advancements in AI.
One of the best reads recently:
— @tomekw · Feb 28
Cognitive Debt: When Velocity Exceeds Comprehension | rockoder
rockoder.com · 12 people
A systems analysis of how AI-assisted development creates a gap between output speed and understanding, and why organizations cannot see it happening.
Really enjoyed this one. I personally started to suffer from the kind of burnout described here, coming from my inability to comprehend the vast volume of code I’m tasked with reviewing:
— @pedro · Feb 28
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