Thoughts and ideas of a dyslexic designer/developer
Urban artistry is putting on a series of Street art documentaries every month at Cultplex.
The Streetart / Graffiti documentaries starts on Thursday the 4th of July.
Tickets are £5.50 and all screenings are 18+ Cinema doors will open at 7.30pm for an 8pm start. Food and drink are available from 6pm – 10pm.
The first one starts with Martha: A picture Story Year: 2019
If you are in Manchester and into street culture, this has to be a must!
Less than a week after the PublicSpaces conference in Amsterdam is the Mozilla Festival House also in Amsterdam but just north of central station in Tolhuistuin on 11-13th June.
I will be part of the team running the Mozilla/BBCRD ethical dilemma cafe. You maybe asking what is the ethical dilemma cafe? Well there is more here and if you are deeply interested, we started pulling everything together here in this public github (barcamp style)
The Mozhouse schedule just went up and its looks great and matches the theme of solidarity and togetherness. Between the keynotes, workshops and talks, is some excellent people to spend time with.
As its a Mozilla House event, the event will focus on the issues with the Netherlands and the EU but have a heavy dose of the wider internet health concerns.
Get a sense of last year and book your tickets here.
On June 6 and 7, PublicSpaces and Waag Futurlab will organise the annual PublicSpaces Conference. This year’s theme is ‘Taking Back the Internet!’ We’ll all be thinking and working towards a internet where we determine the rules, rather than it be dictated to us by the existing gatekeepers.
Of course I’ll be there again and looking forward to getting right into the weeds of the technical stack to enable the vision. I’ll also be talking directly with someone quite special following their keynote speech.
Tickets are on sale now and keep an eye on #PubConf2024 for much more.
We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed while understanding the risks of wearable technology, Discord public messages sold for profit and seeing the Investigatory Powers Bill approved.
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 America finally getting a online privacy bill. Bitwarden and Proton giving away passkey support to all users including the non-paying ones. Finally Fairphone shows up the consumer tech industry with new levels of sustainability.
Ian thinks: This video really explains whats known about the XZ backdoor and the Microsoft employee who saved so many in the industry from a unthinkable backdoor. The social engineering side is also fascinating and chilling.
Ian thinks: This lightening talk is a harsh reminder of the current state of encryption law in the UK. Whittaker’s talk is aimed at the EU, which are facing similar legal objections around encryption and privacy,
Ian thinks: Not tech as such but related as I was looking at larger effects of social media on our collective conscious.
Ian thinks: When a very popular youtuber covers a issue such as enshitification, you know its hit the mainstream (plus it was word of the year last year). This is perfect to share with many other people.
Ian think: The Verge’s piece about the importance and health of those super important internet cables is a good read and reminder of how important the physical cables are to so many.
Ian thinks: Zittrain’s recent podcasts looking at AI is worth your time. Although he use the metric of revenue & profit most of the time, there is parts across both podcasts asking about the public benefit. There is also a clear question about the problem of booms and bubbles.
Ian thinks: Although a very clicky headline, there are some really good points raised about the fragile egos of some men and the clear pointers to the lack of imagination and cooperation in a patriarchy. Read with a open mind.
Ian thinks: In the latest dot social podcast, Mike Cue is joined by Meta employees to talk about joining the fediverse. Techcrunch have a good cover of the conversation, Regardless of Meta, its clear the fediverse isn’t something which can be ignored.
Ian thinks: I have always been concerned about DNA testing, especially in the tech space. In this update the Freakonomics play an existing interview and update it with the very public downfall. I can’t help but think public health was ignored from the start.
Ian thinks: To understand Transhumanism is to understand the almost unwritten motivation of so much of the tech billionaires. Recently renamed techno-optimism, longtermism and even effective altruism, it crops up so much. Where better to listen to a critical view of it than on tech won’t save us?
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