Something I have been talking about a long time ago, is what Perceptive media could bring to the in-car experience. Also MBUX sound drive is something which could easily be done with the open sourced Adaptive podcast app if you write a connection to the car sensor…
Category: design-and-ideas
Happy Holidays Fediverse!
Used under CC-BY-SA 4.0
I saw this in my mastodon feed and just thought it was incredible and just so much how the Fediverse is and could be a shining light for the future of the social internet.
Wonderful stuff on the eve of xmas.
Fresh Fediverse ideas (what a great idea…)
I was talking with Evan recently in London and it spilled out to the Fediverse the next day. We talked about many things including a bit of passion for both of us, the absolute sorry state of online dating.
Its something I won’t even start on, but someone mentioned in a fediverse conversation a site called fediverse ideas.
Having a look, there were a ton of ideas to add from my head. However as they are proper Git issues, I decided its worth planning them out – likely over the holiday season.
Its a great thing to have for many reasons at such a early stage of the fediverse. Really speaks to the culture and innovation growing up around the fediverse and activitypub. My hope is this keeps going but I’m sure once the money comes into the space we will see less generosity, sadly…
The Verge on E-Ink, but where are the large screens?
I enjoyed this verge piece about eink/epaper but throughout the whole thing, I wondered about the large screens. As I have done for a long while.
Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (Nov 2023)
We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed hearing how a man was trapped in a EV, AI facial recognition not being taken seriously and the online safety bill now part of law in the UK.
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 the BBC setting guidelines for Gen AI, Mozilla saying hello to two privacy and adding fake reviews detector to help us all.
Voice scammers scams coming your way
Ian thinks: The voice scamming is something most have heard about, but this podcast shows how vast the problem is in Asia. I suspect similar will be heading to the west soon enough.
Cory Doctorow why the internet is broken and how to fix it
Ian thinks: Cory’s new book The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation, says it all but if you were not convinced this interview with Vice will clearly why the fight for the future is not over, why and how you should be involved.
People over profits and LLMs
Ian think: The Mozilla podcast is in full swing again with a focus on the humans behind and affected by large language models. Mozilla do a great job reflecting viewpoints from outside the western markets with important contributions from Kenya and India in episode 2.
The origins of an oligarch, Elon is just one of many
Ian thinks: There has been a lot of discussion following the recent Isaacson book. I found this the very best series about Elon, not only critical of Elon but also a wider nod to many of the tech oligarchs and the culture surrounding them.
Devalued lived experiences
Ian thinks: Douglas Rushkoff is a character which some people enjoy and some less so. He was recently added to the Time person of the week, and this short podcast interview is a reminder of what the internet and technology could/should be and how it fits within human society, not consumes it.
The back and forth between founders and influences
Ian thinks: Taylor Lorenz’s book explores the tension between the owners and the women who drive the platform/service. Similar to Symons Browns’s Get rich or die trying, but focusing on usually stepped on female early adopters, this could shine a light on a sector never really covered.
Social engineering gen AI
Ian thinks: Its hardly a surprise people are finding their ways around the limitations of Gen AI systems but this really goes into details how people are social engineering sensitive information out.
A serious thought about the techno-optimist
Ian thinks: When Marc Andreessen published the techno-optimist manifesto. Most people just ignored it as silicon valley nonsense, but a few put together words to carefully deconstruct why. This blog is a perfect reply but also covers a lot of positive elements covered in this newsletter. Well worth the read.
The Repair revolution has started?
Ian thinks: Repair is essential for sustainability, we all know this and recent changes within the tech/internet sector has helped this already growing trend. The question is when some of the big companies will fully throw their weight behind such movements?
Where do you post?
Ian thinks: This post by the Verge sums up the struggle for many around social media right now. I highly recommend listening to the podcast, especially with interviews from Cory (pluralistic) and Manton (microblog), as they both give more definition to the problem. I would also recommend the deeper conversation with Manton, who discusses the Verge piece at a lot more depth.
Find the archive here
Society 5.0 Festival: Creativity, Care, Connect
Its been a busy time but I have the pleasure of going back to the Amsterdam once again for the conference/festival Society 5.0.
The tickets are all sold sorry to say but it looks great and its good to see a festival with core themes at the heart of it.
We are on the verge of a fifth societal revolution, driven by technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotisation and extended reality. How can the creative industry help to guide these innovations towards the well-being of the planet? And what role can creative professionals, like designers, (policy) makers, artists, technologists, hackers, and researchers play to ensure a society based on public values and positive impact?
I’m also hoping to drop into the Impakt festival too, there are still tickets!
Glow in the dark kinetic diabolo?
A little while ago I mentioned how I wanted to see if I could create a kinetic charged light up diabolo.
I have searched and searched and pretty much gave up till I saw a series of kinetic glowing skate wheels. The brightness is amazing, so I bought some as they were pretty cheap for what they are. I was also convinced there was a battery of some kind but absolutely wrong, no battery just two parts.
Getting them I understand how it works.
Light up wheels are powered by a dynamo that sits in the centre of the wheel. This needs to be firmly pressed by the bearings as when the wheel turns, it forms a temporary connection with each LED light, making it appear to flash. At faster speeds, the LED flashes so quickly, that it appears to be always on.
Great everything I needed and I knew it could work.
But the problem is its the opposite of what a Diabolo does. Without diagrams it became clearer that diabolos are one piece. If the axel moved it wouldn’t work. I thought about having the lights on the outside but there’s no guarantee the lights would actually turn?
There is a small light (ironically), with the triple axel/geared diabolos.but I need to really wrap my head around how to make the most of it, without making the diabolo super heavy or so clunky it doesn’t really spin at all. Luckily I have lots of diabolos which I can practice on and I guess retrofit if needed. Shame I don’t have a workshop and the time to do it.
Any thoughts are of course welcomed…
Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (Oct 2023)
We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed seeing criminals creating their own ChatGPT clones, Fitbit becoming useless without data sharing and those Tiktok frenzies.
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 the EU naming the gatekeepers, the 1.26 million Kardashion crypto fine and Signal’s CEO calling out AI surveillance technology.
Thinking about buying a creepy car?
Ian thinks: Thanks to Mozilla’s privacy not included project, its clear almost every major car brand is sharing your personal data without any consideration of privacy. Everything from race, weight and health is free shared without the drivers consent.
Cannabis could save the environment?
Ian thinks: This piece from German broadcaster DW really makes clear the positive potential impact of Cannabis in the fight for a greener more sustainable economy. Its a real eye opener and for reasons you didn’t think.
Regularly using the internet can half the risk of dementia
Ian thinks: When I first read this, I had looked through the paper taking it a part to see if there was something which could be wrong. However it’s solid and surprised it didn’t get much attention.
The big con, How the Consulting Industry Weakens society
Ian thinks: I started reading this excellent book, really digging into the 4 audit consultancy and Its ultimate affect on more than just businesses. I noticed DW’s mini documentary about most of the problems raised in the book is good start..
Is this the UK Government U-turn you wanted?
Ian thinks: In short no, it sounds like the UK government might have done a U-turn on the encryption in the new online safety bill. But it is still there waiting for the right moment.
Crypto was never really the saver
Ian thinks: Sex workers and adult entertainers are usually demonised by the mainstream, turned to crypto made sense. But like most things in the crypto space, its never so simple and the wired piece outlines some horrible and disturbing problem. There has to be a better way for the sake of so many.
Living Next Door to Russia, Ensh*ttification and Veilid explained at Defcon
Ian thinks: In the last few weeks, Defcon, Tech Open Air and Techcrunch disrupt have uploaded their conference videos. I found Mikko, Cory and the Veilid talks the best so far. Although I will give a nudge for the Opera and Vivaldi founder from TOA.
What people don’t know about the Luddites
Ian thinks: The word gets thrown around a lot and very few people know the history. In this podcast it becomes clear the luddites image of techbophic is very wrong. With thoughts for the future with generative AI and power, the Luddites image is due a rethink.
Learning from the Fediverse
Ian thinks: The fediforum is the unconference for the fediverse. I took part in the September one and learned a lot including how activitypub can become the plumbing channel between the usual (microblogging) and unexpected applications like event management (gath.io)
Find the archive here
The way of the firestarter?
I was talking with a colleague in London the other week. One of the great thing about working in the same space face to face is being able to noodle together. (I won’t talk about any endless whiteboarding right now).
Anyway one of the things which was mentioned was the design process being messy before it becomes clearer. (Without going into the number of different design methodologies). While they were drawing the multiple iterations, I started to think about how I work.
This is when I started to draw something like the bottom graph and started thinking to what degrees the existing methodologies are incompatible with a collaborative future. I don’t mean just co-designing together but actually building things which people can take forward in a slightly different direction or space.
When I drew it I thought about how I like to starting and proving the worth through research/experiments but also attracting more people into the project to share ideas and thoughts. Ideally there would be other lines which intersect with lines joining and leaving I guess? My old manager use to describe me as a different type of researcher but I can never remember what he called it.
I got a few examples I was describing when drawing. they mainly come from the Perceptive Media space including the Living room of the future and hopefully Adaptive podcasting soon. But even looking at the BBC Backstage era of creating a platform for others to explore above and beyond.
Busy time: Mozhouse AMS, PublicSpaces, Forest of imagination, etc
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.