iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Alex Howard

@digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

6 followers 0 following 193 posts

💡Founder of Civic Texts: civictexts.ghost.io 🛠️Dad, writer, citizen, chef, cyclist, skeptical optimist, cereal dilettante 🏛️ Freedom of information […] 🌉 bridged from ⁂ mastodon.social/@digiphile, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

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Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/08/2026

Today, I learned that Mastodon is @timbl’s favorite replacement for Twitter, while reading his memoir, “This is for Everyone.” This seemed worth sharing here. :) w3c.social/@timbl/115243018205563211

Screenshot of a book: THIS IS FOR EVERYONE an issue with children doom-scrolling in their classrooms, a ban is a bit draconian and deprives kids of a useful tool. What the Australian government should do is partner with phone manufacturers to create devices that block that very small (but ultra-invasive part of the web that causes mental health problems and polarization. These can then be replaced with better platforms. One such platform is the microblogging protocol Mastodon. It's my preferred replacement for Twitter, as it's completely open-source and runs across a distributed network instead of a centralized server. Mastodon's feed is structured on the timeline of events and the people you follow, without other more corrosive elements. As it is not funded by advertisements, it is not incentivized to hook teenagers into addie-tion. Without this incentive, the service becomes much less corrosive to mental health.

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/01/2026

NEWS: The United States government has withdrawn from the Open Government Partnership, epitomizing the rapid retreat from the Enlightenment values our nation of, by, & or the people was founded upon […]

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Original post on mastodon.social

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/01/2026

+---------------------+ | Loading 2026... | | | | [████████████] 99% | +---------------------+ My year doesn’t seem to be up starting up quite right. ‪Has anyone had any luck turning this new year on and off again?‬ I may have to power cycle my brain if a lag continues.

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/07/2025

The Senate passed the reconciliation bill 51-50. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202… On to the House. If they enact it and send it on to the President, millions will lose health care & food benefits — and the U.S. will scale up a police state […]

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Original post on mastodon.social

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/06/2025

Good morning from DC 🥵 If we need to connect: 🤳 Signal: digiphile.97 💡📲 civic-texts.ghost.io 📧 alex@governing.digital 🐦 X.com/digiphile 🦋 digiphile.bsky.social 🧵 threads.net/@digiphile 📇 linkedin.com/in/alexanderbhoward 👍 facebook.com/alexhoward 📸 […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

QR code for my signal account digiphile.97

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/06/2025

I updated my newsletter, with an apology for being out of touch. I will be updating more: American democracy has reached a tipping point as an authoritarian takeover accelerates. civic-texts.ghost.io/american-democ…

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/06/2025

Trustworthy government statistics about the economy, public health, energy, the environment, education, agriculture, campaign finance climate change, crime, & immigration are a crown jewel of every market democracy. The Trump administration is now trying to block politically inconvenient data […]

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Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/05/2025

More brilliant reporting on Trumpian corruption: nyti.ms/4iNzTYv But NYT does readers, nation, & Americans a disservice by not identifying monetizing the presidency as corruption. Ruling families in authoritarian regimes make patronizing family businesses the cost of access to state power.

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/05/2025

Happy #StarWarsDay, everyone! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_D… It has been many years since I was tempted by the power of the Dark Side. I found my way back to the light because the Jedi still saw something of good in me. May the 4th be with you and yours, always.

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/05/2025

Donald J. Trump is the most corrupt President in U.S. history. Cryptocurrencies have opened up new horizons for his abuses of entrusted power for political profit, creating new conflicts of interest, but his emolumental corruption is at issue. 🎁📰Gift link […]

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Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 21/04/2025

#HowToCitizen by @baratunde 🌱 Show up & participate ⚡ Understand power ❤️ Invest in relationships 🤝 Commit to the collective newsletter.baratunde.com/p/this-is-… We can find hope & light in these profoundly American stories: “The keys to rebuilding our […]

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Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 14/04/2025

The rule of law in the United States continues to be under the greatest threat in my lifetime, with fundamental human rights and civil liberties in question. I wrote about it more today, along with other emerging issues around technology and government. Please read & share […]

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Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 14/04/2025

No leader or government agency genuinely interested in “radical transparency” cuts FOIA staff: kffhealthnews.org/news/article/hhs-… or gags scientists & doctors, censors data, clamps down on communications, & adopts secrecy in […]

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Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/04/2025

They are coming for international students, as Don Moynihan writes today, but not for crimes. Rather, for their speech: open.substack.com/pub/donmoynihan/p… They will purge civil servants & then try to weaponize the state against donors, nonprofits […]

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Original post on mastodon.social

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/04/2025

The most important thing agencies & companies can do on social media is listen & offer support — not post. Unfortunately, accounts tend to be made by PR & marketing folks whose job is to promote products & services, not do crisis management. Adobe’s Bluesky […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/04/2025

Julia Angwin’s reflections on a threat model for opposing authoritarianism: buttondown.com/JuliaAngwin/archive/… are an excellent preface for her New Yorker article. Both are worth your time. Their principles: Keep hope alive Clean-up digital […]

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Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/04/2025

Rainy, cloudy, & clammy in Washington, but it’s Friday. TGIF. What was the best thing that happened to you this week? What achievement will you remember? I encourage you to brag.

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/04/2025

Read facts. Mostly slow news. Not too much. civic-texts.ghost.io/what-should-be…

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/04/2025

I wrote up what I saw in Washington this weekend, along with what the Council of DC had done beforehand. civic-texts.ghost.io/what-i-saw-at-…

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/04/2025

By 2035, our sense of self will be challenged by personalized AI agents that eerily predict our interests, needs, desires, or flaws. We will see the emergence of a delta between students & professionals who overly depend upon AI & people who retain the capacity for computation & critical thinking.

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/04/2025

First time I’ve gotten an in-app notification from LinkedIn News — a “showcase page” — about breaking news. I learned LinkedIn now has 250 staff producing editorial content in a format that closely resembles journalism you might read at a news media website […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/04/2025

Nations with strong data protection laws, healthy institutions, constitutions that center human rights & civil liberties, & open democratic systems have the best chance at mitigating the worst impacts of automation, algorithmic regulation, & AI on society […]

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Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/04/2025

Will AI & change what it means to be human by 2035? civic-texts.ghost.io/by-2035-will-a… Hundreds of experts surveyed by Imagining the Digital Future offered predictive insights about how life will change […]

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Original post on mastodon.social

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/04/2025

No /About page. No /FOIA. No PIO. No calendars. No visitor logs. No list of staff. No asset disclosures, or ethics agreements. No weekly press conferences. No open meetings. No advisory committee. The U.S. DOGE Service is not even close to the “most transparent organization in government ever.”

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/04/2025

Happy April Fools Day! civic-texts.ghost.io/happy-april-fo… The USA is in a constitutional crisis. (No joke.)

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/03/2025

A Signal Truth: Any posts that conduct public business are public records that must be archived. civic-texts.ghost.io/a-signal-truth… (Art by Ben Landgren for #SunshineWeek)

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/03/2025

New post from the Archives: when the Chief Records Officer of the United States told me that blog posts and electronic messages are public records e-pluribusunum.org/2025/03/28/chief… NARA hasn’t […]

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Original post on mastodon.social

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/03/2025

What #SignalGate means for transparency & accountability — and what Congress & the Justice Department should do now. civic-texts.ghost.io/what-signalgat…

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/03/2025

The cherry trees next to Nationals Park are in bloom. An osprey returned to rebuild its nest along the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge. Rowers & sailors are out on the rivers. Spring arrived in Washington. Time to come out of hibernation, stretch, & grow, again. Onwards to longer days.

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/03/2025

I picked up a great souvenir at #SunshineFest this #SunshineWeek. It goes well with an artifact from the Sunlight Foundation (RIP). “Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/03/2025

Our #SunshineWeek conversation on AI & FOIA is streaming live www.youtube.com/live/qnd3H6sN_Uc #SunshineFest

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/03/2025

New essay: It’s a historic mistake for the U.S. government to eviscerate human capacity to uphold the Freedom of Information Act and hope generative AI can somehow make up the difference. americansforprosperityfoundation.or…

americansforprosperityfoundation.org

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/03/2025

Great idea for #SunshineWeek and the rest of the year, too! It would be awesome if journalism based on records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act also always published documents or data, especially when governments take down websites & original sources […]

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Original post on mastodon.social

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/03/2025

I’ve mown lawns, shoveled snow, babysat, & been an EMT, cook, carpenter, waiter, desk clerk, teacher, coach, reporter, editor, consultant, moderator, MC, analyst, advocate, & more. I’ve learned a ton in every job, including to respect anyone willing to work hard for a paycheck.

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/03/2025

“As our lives are increasingly blurred between online & offline, we need to rethink how we organize.” - Dizzy Zaba www.beyondbifurcatedorganizing.org Stop saying what happens online isn’t part of the real world. Start finding out how to use digital tools more effectively to build power.

beyondbifurcatedorganizing.org

Beyond Bifurcated Organizing

There is no more online and offline. This report lays out a framework to collapse the distinction between field organizing and digital organizing as we build social movements.

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/03/2025

I am not particularly enjoying 2025 so far. This week’s challenge: managing the care of a kiddo sick with influenza. 🦠 Today, I am grateful for access to rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 & flu, vaccines, & telemedicine. Along with my health, I take none of them for granted. Don’t wait: vaccines.gov

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/03/2025

Nations should respond to information disorder by prebunking emerging propaganda campaigns with evidence shared through trustworthy infomediaries, not censorship. edition.cnn.com/2025/03/11/health/m… Inoculate people […]

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Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/03/2025

Secretary Kennedy keeps tweeting & talking about “radical transparency,” but his policy action tell a different story. I talked about he’s done and what it means in a recent podcast […]

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Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/03/2025

The tech press will need to be wary of reporting a rebranded “self-deportation app” from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency as a novel or innovative use of government technology without decribing its true function or purpose. What is this? Uncivic […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/03/2025

The biggest threats to open government data remain political: sunlightfoundation.com/2017/03/10/t… Today’s example: ending air quality data from U.S. embassies due to defunding […]

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Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/03/2025

Last night, the Trump administration ended 18F after more than a decade in which its staff helped agencies to deliver better, more effective services for the American people. It is a loss for open culture, open source software, and open vision for digital […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/02/2025

🚨🌥️Secretary Kennedy proposed eliminating public comment from proposed HHS decisions www.statnews.com/2025/02/28/rfk-jr-… It’s a frontal attack on the public’s right to know public business […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/02/2025

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/02/2025

The Trump administration ended the U.S. Open Government Advisory Committee today, which was chartered to co-create a national plan to improve government transparency & accountability for the Open Government Parternship, & offer recommendations on emerging issues. Grim sign […]

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Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/02/2025

For 15 years, I’ve come here to think about what Lincoln would do. He was flawed, as are we all, but I find comfort & purpose here, 20 score & 8 years since our nation was founded, conceived in liberty.🗽 We must rededicate ourselves to the proposition that […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/02/2025

I am pro-democracy. I am against authoritarianism. I am against corruption. I am for for good governance. I believe in the rule of law & the consent of the governed. I believe in freedom of information, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and freedom to petition our government. 🇺🇦🏛️🇺🇸

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/02/2025

We are seeing the “Twitter Files” playbook run on the U.S. government, at the same time Musk runs the hostile takeover plays he ran on Twitter. Formerly obscure open data gets amplified on X with intentional distortion, co-creating bespoke alternative realities […]

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Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/02/2025

My daughter & I finally unboxed Wyrmspan & learned how to play. She beat me, which fills me with pride. If you enjoy Wingspan🦅 & love dragons🐉 then this may also be up your alley. I have a LOT more pattern detection to do before I grok how to build […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 21/02/2025

February 21, 2025, DC — AP sued the White House Chief of Staff Wiles, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, & Taylor Budowich, 10 days after the Trump administration began denying access in an unconstitutional effort by President Trump to control the speech of the free press […]

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Original post on mastodon.social

Alex Howard @digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/02/2025

I bought the last carton of eggs at the Trader Joe’s near Eastern Market in DC at 9:30 AM. Paid $3.49. Shortages due to bird flu could grow worse. 30M culled in recent months. More to come. Vaccinating ~300M birds may not protect flocks, as influenza virus […] [Original post on mastodon.social]