Thoughts and ideas of a dyslexic designer/developer
Following the success of Limitless the TV series, maybe its time for Inception the TV series? I mean its been talked about in many circles, heck there was the motion comic, and even REM which became Awake.
Jonathan Nolan has been behind Person of Interest for quite some time, and even helped out Christopher Nolan (brother) and creator of Inception.
They say TV is the new Cinema, well maybe its time? Christopher? Chris please?
Came home from our first emerging tech and future narratives event, a partnership with VR Manchester. Saw there was a new last week tonight with John Oliver, watched it and half way had to replay the segment,
Sometimes you sit in front of your TV and realize you’re watching something important. It happens quite often on HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Sunday’s episode was no exception. In addition to an incendiary piece about abortion laws, Oliver attacked Hollywood whitewashing.
Such a great but ever so sad reminder of hollywood's whitewashing by @iamjohnoliver on @LastWeekTonighthttps://t.co/cNY1oPiZ6F
— Ian Forrester (@cubicgarden) February 22, 2016
It is 4 half minutes of pure joy, and ever so sadness all wrapped up in a excellent package; delivered with such skillful mastery. Even the Dailyshow with Jon Stewart would have been proud.
I have nothing to really say about the whitewashing of Hollywood which hasn’t been said by many others before, except… how is this still a thing in 2016!
I had always thought and stood by the idea that love is wider than the romantic love we are sold growing up in a western society. It wasn’t till I went to Laura Gordon‘s Dream Builders #4: Love Actually event, that I learned about the 6 words the greek use to describe love.
From what people at the event were saying, it was bounded around on twitter on valentine day but I guess I was too busy at TedxManchester to see it.
So the 6 words are…
There was discussion about the need for all 6 in different ways and of course how we are sold the idea that love is Eros; especially in western society. I had never really heard the terms and it reflects on my own thoughts and what certain people say to me about my own love life.
People have commented that maybe the reason why I don’t need/can afford to be so picky, is because I fill my time with the company of other friends. For some reason the percentage of female friends is higher than most men I know too. Don’t ask me why, but I have thoughts (for another blog post maybe)
This isn’t that blog post but in reflection on the 6 types of love, theres a whole lot of Philia and Agape in my life. This is also why I don’t necessarily feel like I’m missing something in my life.
I’m carving out something unique by spreading some love around by sharing my reality with friends and family, you only have to look at the amount of parties, BBQs, etc I do and have done. My hope is I’ll share it with someone who understands and loves the way I view the world.
Ok I’m bias here because I took part in TedXManchester4 as a speaker but honestly the line up was vast, diverse and had plenty of great talking points through-out. I said a similar thing about TedxLiverpool last year. But I have to admit Sir Ken Roberson did push it just past the dizzy heights of this excellent well conceived and very well executed TedX.
The TedXManchester team did a great job and it was well worth the extra year we had to wait for HomeMCR to be built and for TedxManchester to move with it.
Here’s all the talks and my brief thoughts… I did write notes in a mindmap, which can be seen here.
Tom Cheesewright
Tom gave much thought about our tradition notions of what a cyborg is and made some good arguments why we all are cyborgs now. Main point being we have all augmented our minds already and we need to get over it. Really nice start to TedxManchester.
Rob Procter
His study of digital wild fire as Rob called it was certainly cause for concern. It was a study of the viral spread of provocative or false information over social media.
I did have a slide in my old deck talking about how intimacy happens at internet speed. And in Robs case, a clear sign of how internet speed can really spread false information at a incomprehensible speed. I later spoke to Rob and made the point that a study of the awful ways relationship break ups happen at online would be most insightful.
Aala El-Khani
From bombs to bread was a breathtaking talk with plenty of passion and some incredible humanity on the things forgotten in a war. The effect of war is horrific but on those trying to carry on with family life in the middle of it can be devastating well past the end of the war.
Her project to focus on them was fantastic to hear and see.
Ruth Daniel
Ruth summed up one of my thoughts I had when I first moved to Manchester. They do things differently here. Yes besides the gravy sucking through a straw, there was something which spoke volumes to me.
Challenging the status quo, being inspired by those under pressure and if it wasn’t for Hip-Hop I would be dead. All spoke volumes to me. Great talk, shame we didn’t get a chance to talk Ruth.
Sam Aaron
I first saw Sam at Thinking Digital 2015 in Gateshead/Newcastle. Back then, I said to myself I would give SonicPi a try but kind of forgot about it in the swirl of other things that year.
Since then, I’ve seen more and more live coding and started wondering if this could be a element the future of djing? I’ve already shared my ideas slides with Sam and Dan (who I work with in R&D) previously.
So I finally tried it with a little help from Sam…
Oh shame its not in the ubuntu repos… sudo apt-get install @sonicpi
— Ian Forrester (@cubicgarden) February 14, 2016
Currently got a problem with JackAudio and PulseAudio, which I need to sort out.
Jeff Coghlan
It was funny having Jeff just before my own talk. Jeff was making a lot of good points about games and play. Then there was me criticising game techniques in dating apps/systems/sites.
Interestingly I didn’t know Jeff’s company are involved in the VR upgrade of Alton Towers Air rollercoaster ride. I have already got in touch about what I wrote previously about Perceptive Media in a theme park. Who knows… could be interesting, just as interesting as his talk.
Myself
I feel like such a idiot, but its worth saying I was pretty good too but expect a full break down of my slides coming soon.
Very funny dating 101. Ian Forrester #tedxmcr
— myclever™ Agency (@mycleveragency) February 14, 2016
.@cubicgarden brilliant on online dating @TEDxManchester #TEDxMCR pic.twitter.com/qhFyVCXz4O
— Tom Cheesewright (@bookofthefuture) February 14, 2016
Hayley Parkes
When I first heard Hayley play back in Thinking Digital 2014 in Gateshead/Newcastle., I was touched and frankly stunned. Shes incredibly talented and to hear the personal story which surrounds her playing Clair de lune, was heart touching to say the very least. I look forward to the next time I hear her play again. Such talent and just starting out in her adult life.
Jan Blake
Jan was great, she told a old tale with such passion and such vigor you couldn’t help but be swept up in the story. She was right in the green room, these stories are as powerful today as they were then. I’ll be checking her out in the future…
If like me you were longing for more stories from @janstoriesUK after her fantastic #TEDxMCR talk, look no further! https://t.co/3E6wbrHQlj
— misscroissant (@misscroissant) February 17, 2016
Danielle George
It was great to hear how Radio waves are having such a effect on much more than we think. Danielle was a really great talker and communicator of her passion for the science radio waves. This also extended well into inspiring the next generation of women into engineering fields. Look forward to hearing more and seeing where she goes next.
Ed Carter
Looking at architecture as music is fascinating to think about and it actually makes a lot of sense, especially when framed as immersive experience. Quite a unique way of looking and evaluating the landscape around us. I especially like the quote Architecture is frozen music.
Lemn Sissay
Lemn’s poetry is incredible to hear again after Thinking Digital Manchester 2015. Epic and edgy as always.
Once again his trainers were of interest for the camera, maybe I should have wore my spring blades.
Yandass Ndlovu
There is little I can say about Yandass without really seeing her dance. I mentioned to Yandass afterwards that she summed up the exact reason why I love freestyle dancing and tend to reject couple/organised dancing. Yandass, just danced, mixing styles and building up her own take on everyone of them.
Oh my! Yandass ndlouv at #TedXMcr is explains the reason why I so love freestyle dancing
— Ian Forrester (@cubicgarden) February 14, 2016
It was amazing to see dancing, so free of movement and contemporary. Nice tie up with Ruth Daniel’s If it wasn’t for Hip-Hop I would be dead.
As a touching end to the whole event, Herb and his daughter said thank you to everybody for coming along with the core team of the Isabelle, the Emmas and many other helpers. It deserved to be sold out and people stayed right up to the very end.
Thanks to Herb and the team, I enjoyed every moment. Heck I even got a valentine dinner date after my call out on stage… with Herb in pizza express… ha! Not exactly what I expected but heck it was a great end to the day.
https://twitter.com/cubicgarden/status/698993200074248193
…a game in which nice single people are roped into a horrible game with others, resulting in cognitive overload, shocking manners, narcissism, algorithmic prejudice, financial loss and decisions based purely on appearances.
…a game in which nice single people are roped into a horrible game with others, resulting in cognitive overload, shocking manners, narcissism, algorithmic prejudice, financial loss and decisions based purely on appearances.
I’m just back from TedxManchester which was at homemcr, where I gave a presentation about onlne dating and some of the things I’ve observed about it. I believe I’m the first person to publicilly ask for a date from a Tedx stage.
Today is the day – Dating against humanity my #tedxmcr talk – https://t.co/GqhEO7g586
— Ian Forrester (@cubicgarden) February 14, 2016
It went well but I did have to speed up at the end, which did mean loosing some of my connecting points.
Maybe I’ll do a full breakdown of my thoughts but for now here’s some of the higher level ones.
Great TedX once again by Herb Kim and the thinking digital crew.
It was so apt, giving such a talk on valentines day…
I’ll write a review of the other great talks in a few days time, but I wanted to post up the slides as so many people have asked me about them.
Taym posted the news that first dates is coming to Manchester.
Of course I have already applied to first dates but a Manchester one would be preferred. It makes sense too, as Manchester is the 2nd biggest city of singles in the UK and of course most say its Englands 2nd city.
2.5 hrs on phone w @cubicgarden discussing his @TEDxManchester #TEDxMCR talk tonight. Looking forward to it! 🙂 https://t.co/HBvd2T2GkX
— Herb Kim (@herbkim) February 7, 2016
Normal blogging will resume after this weekend. Honest!
I was pleased to see so much power without turning anything off or doing anything special to save power.
The Lovegrumps is finally back, with a critical eye on dating apps. Ideal 2 weeks before I stand on stage at TedXManchester and talk about online dating and much more.
We’re back after almost a year of silence, this time to talk about those new fangled dating apps… with Ian, Hwayoung, Tom and David..
Mpeg3 and Ogg on Archive.org
I did a interview off the back of the Afrofutures talk I did in Manchester last year. Its part of a group of interviews on How We Get To Next. Its a good interview and thanks to Florence Okoye for the great questions which leads into my thoughts on black culture, diversity and growing up in a ever-changing world.
I was invited to do a interview off the back of the Afrofutures talk I did in Manchester last year. Its part of a group of interviews on How We Get To Next. Its a good interview and thanks to Florence Okoye for the great questions which leads into my thoughts on black culture, diversity and growing up in a ever-changing world.
Here’s some interesting parts, although I have to say the whole thing is good and worth reading in full.
A little background on what made me the person I am today.
I kind of knew I was different from other people at an early age. Yes, there was the challenge of being one of three black people in a junior school, but I also found out I might be dyslexic. Friends could tell you I didn’t quite fit in — though I wasn’t a misfit. I was popular, kind of sporty, but also geeky and fiercely independent in thought. This meant I tended to find my own way of doing things, and therefore my independence was tied to use of technology. It was only later at university that I learned once and for all that I was dyslexic, and my coping strategies existed around technology.
Remembering the first time I created a webpage for my graphic design course and the conflict I faced. I feel this is similar to the perceptive media idea; its a new medium and we should/could treat it as such.
There was a key moment I will never forget when learning about the web and creating HTML pages. I did one of my design projects as a website and my college lecturer asked me to print it out. I tried to explain and pled with her that this was a different medium and printing it out made no sense. I think it was that moment when I started to side more with the tech.
The effect of dance music/culture on my life, and the start of my distaste and distrust of popular culture… If I was answering this again, I would add something about being you’re self, not what others want you to be. This certainly speaks to my inner fire for independance.
I hate popular culture. It winds me up [to] no end! I was a geek but never got into fantasy or really into science fiction. I found it too stereotypical and formulaic for me to take seriously.
I also was massively influenced by dance/rave music, which was a very different culture. I remember hating mainstream radio for not playing rave music. The mainstream press was vilifying ravers and this new culture.
They say house music is a feeling, but it’s a whole culture which didn’t get its dues till far later, and even now it’s been watered down and packaged up into something boring and generic
A little but on how I see [I don’t see as such but my mind connects them] the world as one hyper-connected system full of interesting emergent structures and challenges. It hard for others to imagine but I’m imagining its similar to the way synesthesia feels for people who have it. Its just the reality, and it only people telling you again that you are wrong, which makes you dobht.
I see everything as connected. It’s just the way my mind thinks, being dyslexic. I see technologies which are not ready for the mainstream, technologies which break rules and change the centralized power structures. They are ignored or rejected till they get too big and the incumbents have to face up to them or outlaw them, as it breaks their fragile business models.
This is classic innovator’s dilemma stuff, to be honest.
What excites me… open collaboration with open minded people, as too much effort is wasted settling peoples egos.
There are lots of interesting trends in store for the future. I don’t like to dream about [them]; instead, I follow the Alan Kay quote, “the best way to predict the future is to invent it.” Instead of inventing it, which makes people imagine people in basements doing funny things alone, I would change the last part to collaborate.
Now if only I could adapt this into my Linkedin profile…
