Aram Zucker-Scharff

@Chronotope@indieweb.social
2.8K Followers
1.6K Following
3.9K Posts
AramZS. Privacy Engineer. Tech for journalism. Ad Tech for Publishers. Prev: Fullstack, strategy, econ/game journo, storytelling, altac. Views are only my own
DM me on Keybasehttps://keybase.io/aramzs
Who Am I?http://aramzs.github.io/aramzs/
Dev Bloghttps://fightwithtools.dev/
Latest Stuff I've Writtenhttps://aramzs.glitch.me/
Aram Zucker-Scharff10h ago
Ben Werdmuller1d ago
"The reality is stark: If the advertising market, venture capital, and legacy institutions won’t invest in truth-tellers, then communities must invest in — and support — one another." https://www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/the-year-we-stop-pretending-the-industry-has-changed/
Nieman Lab's Predictions for Journalism 2026

Each year, we ask some of the smartest people in journalism and digital media what they think is coming in the next 12 months. Here’s what they had to say.

Nieman Lab
Aram Zucker-ScharffNov 26
I think one of the worst things React has done is rob developers of the joy of IDed elements and accessing a DOM element directly from the window object with its ID. True joy is this tiny shortcut.
Aram Zucker-ScharffNov 26
Show threadMark SampleNov 21
And read @zarfeblong on what exactly this means and doesn't mean https://blog.zarfhome.com/2025/11/zork-is-open-source
Zork is now open source

Two years ago, I wrote: Microsoft-the-company does not care about Infocom. But a lot of people in Microsoft must care. Microsoft is heavily populated by greying GenX nerds just like me. Folks who grew up with the first home computers and fondly ...

Zarf Updates
Aram Zucker-ScharffNov 26
Mark SampleNov 21

Microsoft makes the original Zork I, II, and III open source under an extremely permissible MIT License:

https://opensource.microsoft.com/blog/2025/11/20/preserving-code-that-shaped-generations-zork-i-ii-and-iii-go-open-source

Preserving code that shaped generations: Zork I, II, and III go Open Source

Microsoft’s Open Source Programs Office (OSPO), Team Xbox, and Activision are making Zork I, Zork II, and Zork III available under the MIT License.

Aram Zucker-ScharffNov 26
Did Github stop display Jupyter Notebooks or am I missing something?
Aram Zucker-ScharffNov 8
Thomas BaekdalNov 8
I just published a guide for newsrooms about how to avoid the most common mistakes around using generative AI, why news will always perform poorly with AI, and why generative AI should not be used as a database of information. https://baekdal.com/newsletter/guide-what-newsrooms-can-and-cannot-do-with-ai/
Aram Zucker-ScharffNov 7
Oh at some point Memento Web dot org died. That's sad. Sort of ironic too.
Aram Zucker-ScharffNov 4
Ben WerdmullerNov 4
As well as being very sad, this is deeply worrying. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/conde-nast-teen-vogue-newsguild-1236417079/
As Condé Nast Folds Teen Vogue Into Vogue’s Website, NewsGuild Condemns the Plan

The union, which reps staffers, says the move was "clearly designed" to blunt the journalism of the brand, which has leaned in to progressive politics.

The Hollywood Reporter
Aram Zucker-ScharffNov 4
Reading this article really put in perspective how the Mamdani campaign is a threat against right-wing attempts to mainstream itself via crypto-white-nationalism. His success is a rebuke of their entire theory of the world, undermining their arguments of separation & racism. https://aramzs.xyz/noteworthy/mamdani-and-new-york-citys-rebuke-to-white-nationalism/
Mamdani and New York City's Rebuke to White Nationalism

Microblog and feed from Aram Zucker-Scharff.

Aram ZS | Digital Garden
Aram Zucker-ScharffNov 4
BrianKrebsNov 4

Enjoyed reading The Atlantic's take on the highly incestuous and circular investments that are powering AI companies as they scrape and scrounge for more data centers. Or, why all this AI investment promises to be a lose/lose for everyone but the super rich. Tranches. Packaging and repackaging risky data center debt into financial instruments that people can buy or sell. Does any of this sound remotely familiar?

"Boom and bust can feel like two sides of the same coin: Consider also that if AI companies deliver on their massive investments, it would likely mean producing a technology so capable and revolutionary that it wipes out countless jobs and sends an unprecedented shock wave through the global economy before humans have time to adapt. (Perhaps we will be unable to adapt at all.) If they fail, there will likely be unprecedented financial turmoil as well."

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2025/10/data-centers-ai-crash/684765/

Here’s How the AI Crash Happens

The U.S. is becoming an Nvidia-state.

The Atlantic