Being a Knight-Mozilla Fellow ruined my life. My fellowship ended three months ago; I still don't have a job, my wife and I haven't spoken in days, and none of my friends take me seriously. There is only one piece of advice that I have for anybody considering applying: ignore all the obvious reasons why […]
I may have graduated, but I still get very good advice from my mentors. The most recent came from Ethan Zuckerman: “Dan, please try not to get fired in your first month. That would be really embarrassing for everyone.” His delivery reflected a hint of genuine concern. There are many reasons why he might have […]
Last month, I ran a user study to test the effectiveness of Truth Goggles (a credibility layer/B.S. detector for the Internet). The tool attempts to remind users when it’s important to think more carefully. If you’re curious, you can check out the demo page. Now that the study has officially concluded, the numbers have been […]
Remind me to never do that again. On Friday I officially handed in my thesis, titled “Truth Goggles: Automatic Incorporation of Context and Primary Source for a Critical Media Experience.” For those who don’t know already, it was about an automated bullshit detector for the Internet / an interface to help people think carefully called […]
Three weeks ago I went to a happy hour organized by the Neiman Lab, I mentioned my thesis project, Andrew Phelps said “that sounds cool, can I write about it?” and I said “sure why not!” I assumed that the post would get about as much traction as professional blog posts usually get: a few […]
My colleague Matt Stempeck said it best: “Dan, I know that your life has been a tornado wrapped in a hurricane wrapped up in a whole box of tsunamis this week, but you really need to start wearing pants to work.” It turns out only part of that quote is accurate, but you’ll never know […]
I’m working on a magical button. This button, when pressed, will tell you (an average person who just wants to know what is happening in this crazy world) what is true and what is false on the web site you are viewing. I have a fair amount of the platform finished already and you can […]