I found this video and was pretty impressed with the conversation between Simon and Noah. There is a lot to unpack in the video but there was a question in the discussion which myself and my partner talked a lot about afterwards.
Especially the question…
Should we all say I love you to friends?
Its a really good point but I’ve been thinking about it ever since. With this in mind, I’m thinking about possibly saying it and potentially linking to the conversation some how (pretty hard to do in person of course).
My partner, as a female says it quite a lot to friends but as male, it still feels very loaded. Also she did say, she would feel a bit strange if I started saying I love you to my female friends too.
Since my brush with death, I have been hugging friends which is a lot more than I use to do while saying hi and bye to friends. Maybe I’ll give it a try and see what happens…
There is something ever so unique about Alison, my loving partner. She is AuDHD (Autistic and has ADHD). Although she hasn’t had an official diagnosis, shes is on a very long list to get these (7 years for ADHD she has been told).
If you were to meet her, its unlikely you would ever know she is AuDHD because shes highly masking through life. Masking is exactly what it sounds like and its super draining. I couldn’t even really understand how draining without Alison breaking it down for me.
I also took the test Autistic spectrum test Alison mentions and got these results. As you can see mine is quite different from her’s.
Ultimately I stand with her, proud to be her partner and I’m so glad she wrote the post not only to friends and family but to the public.
Alison is wonderful, creative, loving and a joy to be with. The mix of neurodiversity, life experiences, modern values and her personality means our relationship is full of mainly ups and some downs (which relationship isn’t?). I certainly didn’t expect the dopamine filled date nights!
Neurodiversity is full of stereotypes and misunderstandings. Some of it is ignorance but some of it is deliberately offensive and I’m looking at mainstream media. The social media space has its own problems but you are getting first hand perspectives which are sometimes interesting. Something I might pick up on again in a future blog post.
For a long while now (since my brush with death) I have been putting my hand up for many different things without really knowing whats going to happen. The one from TedXManchester is one I talk about a lot (8.9 million views!)
Neuralink is one of the least known companies founded and headed by Elon Musk, this is his BCI initiative, a brain-chip that will make us one with the machine, one with one another, allow the blind to have superhuman vision, negate the need for language and make us all transhuman, just in time to contend with the AI gods we are creating simultaneously. If that sounds like (bad) science fiction, as well it should, but it’s also the vision of Neuralink’s founders.
Musk and Neuralink informed the public of their activities, early results and utopian aspirations in August 2020 on a live stream press event. Musk invited on stage the co-founders and leading team, scientists, engineers and venture capitalists, all answered questions about various technical aspects, and then they took one final question: one by one they all envisioned a “Neuralink future” and gave their personal aspiration, what is the use case they most highly expect and anticipate. The answers went from bewildering and bizarre to outright frightening.
The panel (with some audience participation) will read the different answers given at the Neuralink press event and discuss the future represented by these dreams/nightmares. A conversation about man/machine interfaces, artificial intelligence and religion, creativity, psychedelics, video games, telepathic consent, hope and death.
As you can see in the video which was filmed (not the conference filming), there is a request for someone to join the panel. Of course without even thinking, my hand was up and waving around. From memory I was the only one, just like the TedXManchester event.
I hadn’t really thought I’d be reading out a script, which is a bit of a nightmare for me with dyslexia. But regardless, I was committed, ultimately had good fun and enjoyed the Q&A afterwards.
If I had thought it through, I may not have put my hand up but so glad I did… again!
I use to share notable chocolates on twitter and my blog in the past.
However with the Fediverse and one of my favourite platforms is pixelfed (like Instagram without all the crap, algorithmic nonsense, enshittifcation and unhuman design).
Recently I was interviewed on the Plutopia News Network. Podcasters talking on other podcasts, indeed. But good to discuss with people I have never met before.
Its an interesting interview, with a bunch of twists and turns, big thanks to the 2 hosts and regular Techgrumper and writer at Netwars Wendy Grossman.
During the Covid pandemic, I did a lot to sort out my sleep. I also read a few books about sleep including the popular Why we sleep by Matthew Walker and The Nocturnal Brain by Guy Leschziner. Then said…
I’m sure many will disagree, but I’d recommend The Nocturnal Brain over Why we sleep. Although I will admit it is a harder read, due to some of the experiences explained in some detail.
Its not a criticism of why we sleep but the nocturnal brain had so much more depth and watching this full interview with Leschziner, really confirms the level of depth and experience he has witnessed.
A while ago I made my first mushroom cocktail and it was delightful, I always meant to post it but its sat in my drafts for a long while.
I took the recipe from here, and made some changes to cater for my vegan partner.
Ingredients
25ml Dried mushroom
50ml Vodka
25ml Lemon juice
10ml Agave
Ice cubes
Method
Boil the Dried mushroom in water for about 45mins. Then pour into a container and put in the fridge to chill.
Later at the party, add 2 shots of vodka (50ml), 1 shot of the mushroom broth/juice (25ml – adjust for strength), 1 shot of lemon juice (25ml), 10ml Algave syrup to a cocktail shaker and add ice cubes. Then shake away.
Once you are done, filter the drink into a martini glass and enjoy!
Regardless, I did feel a bit tired from the lack of decent sleep over the last few weeks (Not spent much time at home recently) but I also felt cold but didn’t really think about it. The Mozilla team decided to take Covid tests and I did so not really thinking I would be positive.
Then it happened, 2 very red lines – a total surprise!
That was the moment I decided not attend Mozilla house Amsterdam because its a place where you talk to a lot of people and felt deeply responsible for passing on Covid on to others. I also decided to stay in my hotel room and only venture out for breakfast and to a supermarket which was about 15mins walk away. Both with a mask, which I happen to have in my laptop bag since 2021.
As close as I could get to Mozilla House Amsterdam
After a few days and a second covid test, I changed my plans and took a earlier flight back to the UK.
I did find it strange how people reacted to me wearing a mask, although I was trying to be a responsible person (No judgement on anyone else). I had assumed people would think I was protecting them as I might have Covid? There was one instance in the hotel lift when I informed a man they might want to wait as I have Covid. He decided to not worry about it but commented it was really good I was wearing a mask and most people don’t bother?
I know all the Covid policies have pretty much gone and we have moved from pandemic to endemic. Like myself, there was no way of knowing I had Covid till I tested. I wouldn’t have tested if I didn’t have access to tests and had a reason to test.
Its all quite a interesting catch 22…
How am I? I’m tired, slower but active. Cough has gone and I found my out of date Covid tests are still picking up on my positive Covid, although a year old. But I do have the new ones to confirm when I do believe I’m negative again.
