Thoughts and ideas of a dyslexic designer/developer
I was surprised to find myself on Youtube,
It was a really good conference and the machine readable wishes workshop went down very well. You can see the slide deck linked here.
Myself, Sam and Solana have started a blog here and there is a github repo started here. Expect more soon, and get in touch if you find the project interesting.
The man says, what are you going to do when the gym shuts down?
I was shocked, what do you mean? This weekend it will close for good. This is the moment I found out the last Bannatyne will close for good and my weekly spa time with it. I confirmed this with the staff, as I left for the last time, not only to get clarity but to find out when I’ll be getting a refund for my yearly payment (which I now have). I was told the nearest Bannatyne gyms are Blackpool (55miles) and Buxton (27miles) now.
The thing which got me is how over August Bannatyne sent 12 emails about their new app in August but zero about the closure of the last Manchester gym.
It’s laughable how this has all turned out and so quickly! At once point there was 3 different Bannatyne’s in Manchester then with the last 3 years they have shut down.
The main reason I blog about this is because I’m looking (Lazyweb) for a Spa/Gym which is based in Manchester city centre. It must have a steam room, sauna and a way to cool down (cold shower, Jacuzzi, etc) following this a weight room. Currently I’m using Kontrast for my sauna but with steam room and zero weights its a stop gap (although I do like the late night weekends).
Honestly, I’m open to suggestions because I see many gyms and a few Saunas but very few which have all three without a seriously huge cost. I would even consider having different subscriptions if cost effective. I’m currently looking at Nuffield and others
They would be a great time, when all those Manchester spas/gyms would see this and get in touch with there best options.
We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed seeing AI attempting to rewrite history, Agentic AI browsers fooled and Rabbit R1 is back?
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 good counter-points parts [1][2][3] to tell the AI die-hards, a uptake of LoRaWAN and low energy decentralised networks thanks in part to meshtastic and alternative to typical internet servcies but European based look no further.
Ian thinks: Rushkoff’s story about borrowing a drill and community has become similar to the billionares and the event story. Rushkoff calls it a revolutionary act, I call it an act of community interest, something we rarely see in
Ian thinks: This interview with professor Ingrid Robeyns, is a good listen especially after reading Limitarianism and thinking about the problems of inequality. I wonder if anyone in government is taking notes as there are so many voices and credible research pointing to the same conclusion.
Ian thinks: Like it or not, Rossmann speech about the right to repair, how we can’t own anything as the makers find more clever ways to enshittify is on point. I am sure Samsung’s fridge with adverts you can’t turn off, would be in a updated version if redone now..
Ian think: Karen Hao, has been the rounds recently with the Empires of AI book. This is one of the best conversations/interviews I seen with her. The mid point and end points are well argued by Hao, touching deeply on the need to make their own religious pyramids of technology.
Ian thinks: Do you remember when people use to “hard” post? What happened? According to Chayka many things. From algorithms, ephemeral, context collapse, advertising, etc. Let’s not forget the effect of bots too.
Ian thinks: in 1985 most won’t remember the Ozone hole threat as its so baked into the world we live in now. Tristan talks with Susan about the solution and how it can be applied now to the AI challenge.
Ian thinks: Nobel peace-prize winning journalist’s conversation with the Daily shows’s Jon Steward about the state of journalism and authoritarian, is a rare and frank exchange with Maria Ressa making it super clear how the playbook happened almost a decade ago and how they tried to alert the world back then.
Ian thinks: If this is true and the video summary isn’t off the mark. There is a big question about where do people go? We always knew having a duopoly for mobile devices was going to blow up in our faces.
Ian thinks: Meredith Whittaker tells it as it is, is great in this interview about how she got started in the tech industry, signal gate, AI, masculinity and so much more. Her insight on how “useful” AI agents are infiltration services such as Whatsapp and Signal is spot on.
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