Blog changes and self-hosting

Cubicgarden ltd logo in black on grey

You may have noticed cubicgarden.com has gone through a bit of change since I left BBC R&D. After setting up a Cubicgarden ltd, I quickly made some changes. One of them, is a quick page before you see this blog.

However I have finally got my Yunohost setup working thanks in a small part to Gemini, which filtered my queries down to something more understandable (It was a combination of a Yunohost bug which was fixed in the latest update, SD cards wear and reinstalling and DNS problems)

However, I now have moved things around to different domains.

We now have…

Cubicgarden.com = My personal blog
Cubicgarden.uk = My business site – Needs work
Cubicgarden.info = My mixgarden/Dj site – Still need to upload my many mixes, anyone know how to add the ability to subscribe and copy a channel with yunohost peertube?
Datingmanifesto.cc = The online dating manifesto – Still needs work and I need to move from Github to Codeberg too.

Expect more changes soon

Meet the Mozfest wranglers this November

Pictures of the Spacewranglers for Mozilla festival 2025 in square blocks
Who doesn’t want to meet the space wranglers this year?

Its September and the Mozilla Festival is right around the corner. Now is a very good time to book a hotel and get your ticket for the first global festival since London in 2019.

If you haven’t heard the tickets or badges have gone through a bit of a change too, thanks in part from the space wranglers speaking up and the Mozilla Foundation hearing our heartfelt concerns. The wranglers have always been thinking about the communities we represent and the result of this is the community badges/tickets.

But don’t worry, if you want to support the Mozilla Foundation which are (I imagine) thinking a lot about the recent DOJ judgement, but earn a bit of a bonus too. Use the promocode – IF-WRANGLER to get 25% off and individual tickets and 50% off group tickets (when buying in batches of 5 or more).

Really look forward to unlearning together with this incredible group of space wranglers this year.

Motorcycling lane filtering is a must!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRXIA-BwgK0

Filtering on a motorcycle is a must. I can’t even imagine not filtering to the front of the queue at traffic lights. The video above pretty much confirms all the things most motorcyclist know.

Passing on the side where cyclists usually are is certainly a death trap but I do see some motorcyclists in the UK do it. Although I do find it annoying when most car drivers don’t understand the rules around bus lanes (they usually have times of use on them, which makes it a normal lane most of the time).

I was shocked most of America and Canada makes filtering illegal.

It would be really interesting if Google maps had a motorcycle mode, especially in some cities like Bristol and London, where some bus lanes allow motorcycles and it can be a massive time saver. Frankly Google maps is always wrong with travel time for me on my scooter.

Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (Sept 2025)

Web browser with a Age gated website shown

We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed seeing how we are being watched, wishing people will stop sharing pictures with ChatGPT and people in the UK told to delete emails In order to save water?

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 lessons for the AI future in Supremacy, the real need for deniable encryption and how strong 3D printing has got.


You know its bad, when RSS is all you look forward to?

Ian thinks: This discussion between Molly White and Ed Zitron, RSS is mentioned as a really good example of a technology which is reader/person friendly and is a great example of how its simplicity and ecosystem is a example of what we could all learn from.

Has the Roman Church’s view on AI changed?

Ian thinks: In this podcast Paolo Benanti, digs deep into the human and shared society values of many of us, in face of the silicon valleys dreams of AI solving all. I especially like how putting aside differences to work on the bigger problem, is actually working.

The office wars are back?

Ian thinks: As someone who wrote XML stylesheets to convert Microsoft Office XML in 2003 to xHTML and PDF. I can completely understand Libreoffices deep concerns and how the old Microsoft mentality of embrace and extend, lives long

What can we say to grads entering the difficult job market

Ian thinks: There has been much said about AI taking jobs, well its happening but in ways not expected. Of course its not just AI, but there is a whole wave of different concerns causing the real difficult discussion with fresh new grads

Windows 12 sounds like a true nightmare?

Ian thinks: If this is the future of Windows is voice first and AI everywhere you turn. Its clear Microsoft vision of Windows is a privacy nightmare. More so than any other operating system currently used. Will it encourage people to jump? Unlikely, sadly.

A glimpse of the web we don’t want?

Ian thinks: Talking of nightmares, many of us have used the wayback machine at some point. However this is the way-forward machine, giving a spicy glimpse of where we are heading with the web if things move in the same direction. A warning from the future if you haven’t been paying attention

Leaking data and how AI could social engineers us?

Ian thinks: This intriguing long conversation starts with social engineering and how social engineering with the data we share and trust in others. Then turns towards AI and the threat of engineering from AI systems.

Do countries have true commitment to sovereignty?

Ian thinks: Cecilia Rikap’s open remarks about government and the public interest in regards to the UK speaks volumes. Then turning to Europe using parallels of South America and data colonising is spot on. Are countries willing take sovereignty for real or are the cracks growing.

Why is piracy on the rise again?

Ian thinks: I tried to find a good summary of the wider scope of whats happening (as many are focused on costs alone) but the best I can find is this video from moon. Private equity flatters everything and is something driving more enshittification.
Of course no one is condoning piracy but the times are changing?


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Mydata 2025: Machine readable letter of wishes, the workshop

I have the pleasure to be presenting at MyData 2025.

Its been 6 years since I spoke about the living room of the future in Helsinki for BBC R&D. This time, I’m giving a workshop on Digital legacy, focusing on the notion of a machine readable letter of wishes (as described out-loud here).

The workshop will explore

    • The notion of a letter of wishes: How Letter of Wishes works currently legally in the UK, what can be described and why they exist.
    • Fungible vs non-fungible: We will discuss the challenges which come with fungible of the Letter of Wishes. Exploring the unique potential to bridge the gap between human intention and automated execution.
    • Automated Support: Discuss how Letter of Wishes could empower and leverage technology to be automated and provide assistance to families and executors.
    • Empowering Your Legacy: Explore how this can be beneficial to society and the data ecosystem ensuring peoples final wishes are honoured with precision and care.

I hopefully won’t be alone… as I work best with others and the person who I’ve been talking to has such a great reputation and standing.

Earlier in the conference, I will also be presenting an early alpha of the online dating manifesto (name may change). As you can imagine, mydata is a perfect place to talk through this, find interesting ways forward and people also interested.

There might also be another surprise too!

If you are at Mydata this year get in touch I’m on the Mydata slack too.

My sourdough baking experiments so far…

Home made sourdough on a breadboard with a slice on its side
Bread number 3 with the instagram filter – Yum!

Don’t worry I am not going to start posting about baking sourdough… This is mainly some people were asking and offering tips and even starters. Thanks but honestly I think I’m doing alright so far…

I said a few posts ago, one of the things I have been up to is trying to bake sourdough bread. Baking isn’t my thing as I’m more of a person who doesn’t follow recipes and measure things. I even had a new years resolution to bake a cake a while ago. A few people offered a number of pointers and helpful links. But I have just gone off and done it with a sourdough starter from my old friend Paul.

So far its been quite something…

Home made Sourdough bread on a breadboard sliced in half
Attempt one

Here is my very first one, it was pretty dry I expect because I didn’t put enough olive oil in it. I also used garlic salt because I didn’t actually have standard sea salt believe it or not. I was quite impressed it actually turned out in a form I could eat. It was great with large junks of cheese.

I hated using my hands to fold the uncooked bread and I made the mistake of not having  cornflower, which meant it stuck to my hands like clay.

Home made Sourdough bread on a breadboard sliced with a knife
Attempt two

The second one, I fixed the problem of olive oil and sea salt. I also added more Rye flower to the mix (2/5’s  instead of 1/5). This loaf was really good and even my partner enjoyed it toasted with her Vegan butter.

I of course got cornflower too, to stop the clay like sticking.

Home made Sourdough bread on a breadboard with slice cut
Attempt three

Number three was amazing. With all knowledge of number two but I skipped a step when folding it, by accident. It made clear to me how I didn’t need to follow a set recipe to the letter, as I messed with the weights and percentage of white and rye flower again. As you can see it was closer to 50/50.

Home made Sourdough bread fresh out the oven in a cooking bowl
Attempt four

Number four with seeds got a bit too big as I wanted to see if I could use more sourdough starter. My measurements were pretty loose but I haven’t tasted it yet. It was pretty wet and I was thinking I should add more flower to dry it out. I haven’t tried it yet but now I finished number 3, I’ll give it a taste tomorrow.

Between 3 and 4, I was worried the sourdough starter would be a pain especially as I was out of the country quite a bit during summer and conference seasons. Now I have quite a bit of sourdough starter, hence why I tried to create a bigger loaf on attempt number 4.

Generally, I’m thinking maybe I should have done this much earlier (during the pandemic is when a lot of people picked it up) but its slight easier as I work mainly from home running the business now. I haven’t bought any Pollen sourdough for a while now.

Terminal velocity unhindered by dark clouds mix

Flying high into dark stormy clouds with KLM

I flew to Amsterdam and travelled around the Netherlands via trains recently. As usual I started a new mix slowly building on it with new tunes as I went around the Netherlands. There are quite a few new tunes added but the final mix was done on a KLM flight back to Manchester.

During that flight, a flight assistant asked me about the Pacemaker device. Its not the first and won’t be the last, as I have had not only flight assistants but even fellow passengers ask about it. I still remember when a KLM flight assistant mistaken the Pacemaker device for a walkie talkie? Honestly our conversation was really good, and who knows maybe she will read this and have a smile on her face.

Also reminds me I need to have cards just for Digital Italic and my mixes (Moo cards I got a order for you!)

Anyway about the mix… This long worded mix is longer than usual but keeps the pace of about 140bpm. This mix is a real back and forth with some vocal trance alongside tech trance. I have been listening to this mix quite a lot since coming back and still find it great.

Finally I’m finding a bit more time to fix parts of my setup, but for now my mixes exists on Peertube only.

Enjoy this mix and play it loud!

00:04:16 – Lost in you (Extended mix) – Scorz feat Adriana Stone
00:08:50 – Sequence (Extended mix) – Estiva
00:13:53 – Marama (Moon & Stars) – Ferry Corsten presents Gouryella feat Saskia Lie Atjam
00:18:41 – Tell nobody – Basil O’Glue
00:26:41 – Decade (extended) – Chris Element
00:31:02 – Arist of your life (Extended mix) – London & Niko
00:36:37 – Brute (Extended mix) – Ferry Corsten and Armin Van Buuren
00:42:38 – Massive motion – M.I.K.E
00:47:27 – Mission – Basil O’Glue & Nomas
00:50:42 – Dark side of the moon (RYDEX extended remix) – Susana
00:54:21 – Energy crash (Extended mix) – Maarten De Jong

A lesson in separation of concerns: Google’s gemini hijacked

The news Google’s Gemini AI was hijacked via a hidden prompt in a calendar invite.

Hackers Hijacked Google’s Gemini AI With a Poisoned Calendar Invite to Take Over a Smart Home. For likely the first time ever, security researchers have shown how AI can be hacked to create real-world havoc, allowing them to turn off lights, open smart shutters, and more.

Rings bells to me about the lack of human data interaction especially the separations of concerns.

I already talked about this with Google’s AI wanting access to everything Google related. This hijack wouldn’t be so effective if there were better permissions and separations of concerns were built in rather than given lip service.

Google sent an email today with the title… Introducing temporary chats and new data controls. Still not addressing the underlying problems.

When will they learn???

It really makes me think about a few things.

Will Android fork off sooner or later? Will moat people care?

What happened to hobbies?

I noticed this trend around hobbies, in which I mean things you do and enjoy for the sake of enjoyment.

For example I enjoy Diaboloing and have done since a early age. It’s very common for me to bring my Diabolo on work trips and holidays. I am actually writing this on the train to the European juggling convention in the Netherlands.

However when people are me doing it, they assume I am doing it for a purpose of making money. Not necessarily right at that moment but for Instagram or tiktok or some captured social media nonsense. To be fair I do film myself but mainly for better understanding of where I am going wrong or capturing happy mistakes. There is a level of confusion when I say, I am sometimes posting to Pixelfed of course.

The video above and other things I have read, point to the mindset of productivity, hustle culture and capitalism ruins everything mentality. Not even your hobbies are safe from the latter. On the other hand, on the productivity side, it also points to a time poor society where people can’t afford the time to indulge in a personal hobby. Funny enough we talked about the first aspect a little in Techgrumps 3.28.

There is something about context collapse, which is key too. If all your hobbies centre around the smartphone for example, that is prime space for all those notifications and social media strings to pull on your attention, time and mind space. Hence you have more phones including a mode to limit the likes of Tiktok, Facebook, etc. I enjoy my phone but if everyone of my hobbies were on it, even I might struggle to manage the context collapse too.

You are seeing the smartphone in places it never was or should be?

For example I enjoy going to the spa/gym but I have noticed a trend of men in changing rooms, stand in front of the mirror flex and take a picture. Ok what really annoys me is the reflection may include me changing which is a straight up privacy problem. The gym does have some really crappy wi-fi (likely optimised for access to social networks) but almost zero 5G due to the sub-basement location. However I have seen men post their pictures and even a video to Instagram and WhatsApp stories. Its annoying but related to this blog is the need to share and the lack of personal achievement.

Hobbies were things you do for personal enjoyment, experience and mastery. They can be exciting, geeky and I would certainly add make you much more interesting as a person, due to the confidence they bring.. Which is certainly easy to link to the loneliness epidemic.

By the way, now back from the European juggling convention, which I did  enjoy once I found other diabolists. It was clear the people (mainly men) who cut themselves off into little cliques because they were potentially professionals and maybe doing it for a purpose of something more than enjoyment (there was a lot of filming, likely for instagram, etc). The session I ran attracted a range of people and none of the professionals attended, which was fine as we had a much better time without them.

Pipelines and AI?

A long time ago I described pipelines and where they could go.

I was made aware of Google’s OPAL project and reminded of how strong pipelines can be for managing complexity.

The pipes are described by prompts but interestingly you can reuse and share pipes and the whole flow. Which leads me to wonder if there might be a little market place for the pipes?

Might need to keep an eye on Opal, but wondering if there are better solutions. For example Xproc which can interface with APIs of large language model without getting into the weeds?