Estonia’s Digital Nomad Visa, very tempting

Tallinn, Estonia
About 3 years ago I signed myself up for Estonia’s e-residency programme.I have used a few times for ID and sending state backed emails, but ever since Brexit became a reality I have thought imagine if it could be used to spend more time in Europe? This is why I was so impressed when the digital nomad visa became a reality.

Because of this, I have been looking much more deeply into the idea of actually going back to Tallinn for 6 months when/if the current pandemic is more under real control. I have been pretty clear about trying to live in Europe at least for a short while. Originally the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden were hot my list but I’d like to just give it a try. The digital nomad visa looks perfect for this.My Estonian e-residency ID

I like to think of myself as a digital nomad, so maybe its time to test the logic? I know one thing for sure… Its been over 6 months since I was last in work. Besides my Ubuntu SSD issue (long story, but its something I can’t fix myself without wiping out the existing work settings) everything workwise has been fine.

Between a lot of cloud applications like Zoom, Slack, Google drive, Dropbox, etc. Its very clear I could do this from almost anywhere with a good internet connection. Of course with my personal cloud applications running on my server such as Plex, a number of docker apps, etc. I was recently checking out cryptpad.

I did notice thanks to the e-residency newsletter than Tallinn and Estonia featured recently in a episode of Netflix’s new science show called connected.

Tallinn

Estonia features in an episode of a new science series now available on streaming service Netflix, where the country is highlighted for its trail-blazing digital development.

“Connected”, a U.S. show hosted by science journalist Latif Nasser, looks at the various ways people are connected to each other and the world around them.

Episode 5 of the series, “Clouds”, visits Estonia and sees first-hand the country’s cloud-based digital infrastructure, as well as taking a turn in a smoke sauna.

The show has already received rave reviews, with the New York times listing it as their recommended show to watch Sunday, or at any time.

Presenter Latif Nasser notes that it is difficult not to get jealous of Estonians.

“Imagine you can vote in the sauna, register your company in the hot tub or declare taxes in the toilet,” he says.

Estonia's ID system

I finally bought the Oura smart ring

Oura vs Motiv smart rings

I decided its about time I upgraded my smart ring. I originally bought the Motiv ring because it supported Android, had a better price tag and was interested in the 2 factor authentication.

It was good but then I hit a problem about 6 months down the line and although Motiv did the right thing of refunding me completely and letting me keep the ring. It certainly felt like it was on its way to unsupported space with the new owners.

Oura vs Motiv smart rings

So with the new Oura being a bit cheaper and finally some proper Android support, I decided its time.

First impressions are very good, the app is better than Motiv’s and the ring feels a lot more robust. It has 3 different contact points while the Motiv has one. I took the risk of skipping the ring sizing as I knew my size from the Motiv ring. Luckily they were very close but the Oura is a bit bigger giving me more options of fingers to use.

The app now finally syncs with Google fit (one of the biggest complaints for Android owners). I also noticed there is the ability to download the raw data in Json format. I do find the app a little messy but its got all what is needed and if not you can login on the web and see/manage your data.

Oura's charger

If I was going to say one bad thing about it, it would be simply the charger is quite big compared to the Motiv one, which I was able to carry around on my keychain. But its not like I’m going away for a long while, and I noticed the airplane mode which is great.

Currently everyone is using Oura and its the right decision if you need the best tracker on the market. Just glad I didn’t get it when it was mainly iOS as it would have been extremely annoying.

Looking forward to seeing its sleep tracking as the Motiv was pretty awful. Thankfully I use Sleep as Android.

The Future of Media with the Firestarter

Future insiders with Cathy Hackl

Future insiders with Cathy Hackl, was one of the last podcasts I did over the summer. Cathy Hackl I met a few years ago while in Belgium during Fuel 2018.

We chatted and shared many experiences including some of the diversity & inclusion in the industry. She was friendly and full of interesting thoughts about the future. I honestly warmed to her warm personality and it helped with Cathy being from a Lantio background when talking about D&I. It was also very clear Cathy was on her way upwards, her background working with the likes of Oculus, HTC Vive and Magic leap was just the start.

We stayed in touch and when I heard Cathy was setting up her own podcast I thought I need to subscribe. It wasn’t that long after Cathy got in touch and asked if I’d like to be guest on the show. Of course I agreed.

Massive thanks to Cathy for having me on as a guest, we certainly could have spoke for much longer. Hopefully this may happen much sooner than we think…?

If you are looking for the RSS feed its here.

I can’t tell you how much the firestarter title has gotten me places a producer couldn’t touch.

Amazon halo…be afraid be very afraid

There is so much I wanted to say about the Amazon Halo health/fitness tracker. The Twit.tv video above pretty much sums up my thoughts. I haven’t read through the halo privacy policy yet, but others are picking bit out already.

Amazon Halo privacy concerns

Wherever there are body scans, always-on microphones and a tech giant in the same service, there’s bound to be security concerns. Amazon knows this, and has already outlined what privacy will look like for future Halo users.

Halo health data is encrypted in transit and in the cloud, and sensitive data, like body scan images, are deleted once processed. Meanwhile, voice analysis is processed entirely on the user’s smartphone and deleted after. Nothing is recorded for playback — users can’t even listen to their own speech samples.

All Amazon Halo data can be managed and deleted in the Halo app. Your Halo account is also separate from your Amazon Prime one, so anyone you share your Prime account with won’t be able to access your private health information.

This for me is one of the things people in the Quantified Self movement were always worried about.

Do you trust Amazon with this much personal data?
Whats the actual pay off?
Is it all actually worth it?

Then you have to ask the question what makes it different from other quantified self devices and systems?

Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (Sept 2020)

Defcon 2020 safemode

We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed seeing the 2020’s worst security breaches so far and asking what changed in the EU?.

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 happening with challenges to app stores and seeing people take action over their social data.

My browser never ever consents

Ian thinks: One thing I like is browser extensions. This one is part of a movement to never consent to anything sites want to push us. Try it out and disable it if you don’t like it

More emerging tech from open hardware world

Ian thinks: NODE features a lot here but look out for the Edge of tomorrow exoskelton and the open cardboard robot which turns a smartphone into a low-cost remote telepresence robot.

The Underestimated Threat Vector: Homogeneity

Ian thinks: Right in the middle of the Defcon hacking virtual conference, a well thought-out talk about the threat of homogeneity. Remember not to read the comments. I could have done a whole month of recommendations for Defcon talks. I highly recommend browsing through the Defcon talks by starting at the playlists.

Thank goodness for the Max Schrems of this world

Ian thinks: I have been moving my data into EU servers when Brexit happened and its very difficult. Thanks goodness for the Max Schrems of this world, willing to go to court over this.

Build the resilient future using indigenous wisdom

Ian thinks: Julia Watson’s short TED video is deeply impressive and shows the answers are all out there, in places and communities we tend to ignore.

Paying for privacy, not ideal but interesting

Would you really abandon Google for a paid ad-free search engine? Neeva might be for you? Although I’m happy with Duckduckgo’s non-tracking ad system.

Deepfakes solution needs critical mass

Ian thinks: Its a reasonable idea but relies on people/systems creating and looking for the CAI metadata. I also checked if it was opensource and it is. I look forward to the Gimp plugin very soon.

Fawke your face for protection against facial recognition

Ian thinks: Finally a reasonable way to cloak your face from facial recognition systems like clearview AI. Nice open source which you can run without visually distorting your beautiful face.

Facebook ads under close scrutiny

Ian thinks: We all know how facebook adverts and editorial weighting works but everyonce in a while a experiment really brings it into sharp view. This Vox video is that, although they also point at the little known Facebook Ad Library.

Find the archive here

#BlackLivesMatter and Wakanda forever

I personally haven’t said much about the riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin (I also have been to Kenosha in the past). Once again another black person (Jacob Blake) shot in America. Don’t get me started about Kyle.

I can’t say enough about the death of Chadwick Boseman… King T’Challa

For a bit of light relief, you need to check out the Black Jeopardy with T’Challa. He will be massively missed and was a genuine great king.