Manchester’s first trans councillor and my dear friend

The moment Chris won

I was so happy to see Chris win my area, the previous councillors were ok but I felt not much was going on and it was time for a positive change.

Reading about my good friend Chris in the Manchester evening news. Having only missed out last election by not many votes, this May she smashed it with 355 votes in Ancoats and Beswick. I wonder how much of it was postal votes, because for example I switched which I gather can make a big difference to the turn out.

Of course the hard work has just started, as there is a lot of problems in and around Ancoats & Beswick, including a lack of green space, anti-social behaviour, tensions from gentrification, etc etc.

Go get them Chris! Apply your problem solving methodology to local political system… I know you will do a great job and be part of the very needed change in (#brexit) Britain.

 

Busy time: Mozhouse AMS, PublicSpaces, Forest of imagination, etc

Myself at the Podcast news conference in the Lowry Theatre, Salford on 13th June 2023

June and July are busy for me… and you might have noticed less blogging recently. I’m carefully managing my time around the next few months.

Looking forward into June.

13th June – I’m going to be talking and networking at the Podcast news conference in the Lowry Salford. I’m expecting a much more future focused event unlike what I saw at the London podcast show a couple weeks ago, although I did speak and enjoyed the fringe events.

14th June – I will be at the opening of the Forest of Imagination in Bath for a short while but don’t worry I’ll be back in July. Its a wonderful event and takes over most of Bath.

19th June – I am running an ethical dilemma cafe with colleagues and partners within Mozilla House Amsterdam (no covid going to stop us this time). If you are local to Amsterdam, I highly recommend coming along and experiencing not just the ethical dilemma cafe but the many other talks and workshops already scheduled.

27th June – Its the PublicSpaces yearly conference and unlike last year, I will be covid free and looking forward to finally attending such a great conference. Once again if you are in Amsterdam, you will want to attend this a week after Mozhouse AMS.

Phewwww… Now July

5th July – Thinking digital which is usually in mid May, decided to switch to a summer schedule but is still in Gateshead/Newcastle over 1.5 days. Plus its still a must go conference in the UK.

11th July – I’m back at the Forest of Imagination but this time running a workshop with young people and artists as part of the rabbit holes collective. This also sits alongside the Bath digital festival.

Later in July – There is a number of Manchester International Festival events but not as many I have done in previous years.

 

Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (June 2023)

We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed seeing dirty but cheap western cars filling Africa. malware infested new iot devices or how parents are monetising their children in digital times.
https://cubicgarden.com/2023/06/01/public-service-internet-monthly-newsletter-june-2023/

Man sits in front of a computer monitor, looking sad

We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed seeing dirty but cheap western cars filling Africa. malware infested new iot devices or how parents are monetising their children in digital times.

To quote Buckminster Fuller “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.

You are seeing aspects of this with Mozilla buying fake spot, google launching passkeys and even Meta’s well rumoured but not launched microblogging platform using ActivityPub.


Will the real Connor step forward?

Ian thinks: This podcast is all about Connor’s story, but more importantly his online identity being used to fool employers into paying people a lot of money for skills they don’t actually have. This raises a lot of questions for the future of identity

Finally airtag stalking is being taken seriously?

Ian thinks: Finally Google and Apple have gotten together to stop the massive stalking problems of Airtags

The Obscene wealth simulator

Ian thinks: Perfectly timed for the Sunday Times rich list, this simulator gives you a sense of the “struggles” of the very rich people in society. Funny but also deeply tragic too.

The future possibilities for crypto?

Ian thinks: There is so much to say about this space, which has been generally eclipsed by AI recently. However this FT video does raise a number of good points. I also recommend the recently published public DLT paper by BBC R&D advisory team.

How I feel about the AI (LLM) changes when asked

Ian thinks: Over the last few months I have been asked about AI by many people, I want to deep dive but hold back. Using films like Her as reference, this video covers a lot of ground in short time but in completely understandable way

The debate over universal basic income is back

Ian thinks: Regardless of how close to midnight we are to AI singularity, the debate over UBI (Universal basic income) rages on

Forced to hack a world not built for you

Ian thinks: This fits with why I am interested in looking to the edges, where people in the minority are doing things to adapt technology for themselves and their community needs.

The dirty secret of online dating, but don’t worry AI will make it worst

Ian thinks: A bit of a key subject for me, I was surprised to see Wired explain the dirty secret in online dating. I am expecting AI chat bots to make things worst, as we experience higher levels of loneliness in society.

Sustainable streaming?

Ian thinks: I had only a small idea of the impact of streaming but this group is looking to make a big change to the sustainability of streaming services now and into the future.


Find the archive here