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Context collapse with Beeper

Beeper client with all the networks it can connect to

I have been meaning to write about context collapse with beeper for a long while. I have written about Beeper previously.. In short Beeper is a messaging client which takes advantage of Matrix’s bridge system to connect/bridge to many different networks.

This means I use Matrix every single day on my laptops and smartphones. Its great, as its connects to so many different networks including Discord and Slack, all without installing Slack or Discord on my phone and even laptop if I wanted to.

However there is a effect which is best described as (like) context collapse.

The amount of times I have received a message from someone on Linkedin, Facebook msg, Twitter direct message (which I don’t think works anymore – as you can imagine)., etc, etc. They all end up in my inbox and its super useful but sometimes I need to look at the little icon to then figure out what I should do next.

Should I treat it as serious, should I reply straight away or not worry too much. This is very apt when you are getting linkedin or twitter DMs. This is similar for Facebook messages.

It also affects the way you reply too, should I reply in my usual laidback style, should I add emojis, should I write a lot back, voice reply, etc etc.

It sounds stressful but actually I’m ok with it because the alternative of having lot of apps on my phone or laptop running would be far worst in my head. If there was a way to make the notifications per network that might be useful, but generally I’m ok with the context collapse, as the icons make it clear enough and force me to think.

This changes a bit when using my Android wear watch, which strips out such detail. So I generally don’t reply unless I know its from a friend or family. Although even that can be interesting as my mother is on sms & signal or a friend who is on sms, discord and facebook msg.

I kinda want to see a matrix bridge for activitypub (fediverse) but honestly with the amount of context collapse, I don’t think it would personally be a good idea for me.

Interested what others think about this all and would you like one client to do all your messages and potentially your social networking too?

The problem is ultra-processed food?

I have on my long list of audiobooks to read and one of them is Chris van Tulleken’s Ultra-Processed People: Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn’t Food … and Why Can’t We Stop?

I assume there is a lot of debate about what counts as ultra-processed food and the result on the body. But I wanted to add 2 points ahead of reading the book..

A while ago I had a NHS dietitian and I was very shocked about the advice I was being told. Everything was about calories and counting them. Even when I rejected the advice, I was strongly asked if I actually want to lose weight? Although I had already established the dietitian had many clients and many of them came back regularly.

In short I was being told to eat packaged meals as it made counting calories easy, ignore most exercise as it doesn’t help weight lost and finally sleep doesn’t have that much effect (which I pretty much had a argument about). It completely blew my mind and in the end I just gave up and sustainably lost weight ahead of my crazy busy few months.

I’m one of those people who usually cooks my own food and like food which is pretty raw. For example my stirfrys don’t include sauces just the raw ingredients. But I am guilty of having sugar free and fat free things .

This is why I found the whole ultra processed notion very interesting and could explain so much, although there sounds like a lot more research is needed (especially around the gut biome)

In the Zoe interview, I was sadden/upset by the solution to avoid ultra processed food. Simply money, to pay for just processed or lightly processed food. This can’t be the only way!

Anyway, sure once I actually read/listen to the book, I will have much more to say and write. Till then, have a watch and let me know what you think?

Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (Aug 2023)

We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed thinking about the eyeball scanning worldcoin, Tesla’s secret range suppression team and dare I even mention @x.

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 joining the fediverse, all those Firefox tips in one video. and EU plans to force replaceable batteries in smartphones.

UK’s online safety bill breaks encryption

Ian thinks: Its clear the UK government like most governments around the world have a difficult problem with end to end encryption. In my own experience anything which weakens encryption means there is no encryption. Anything which weaken encryption is an open door with a door mat and bright lights saying try here and welcome.

AI everywhere, bias everywhere

Ian thinks: This is a disturbing piece about shop owners using facial recognition to protect their stock in the UK. Face-watch is a worrying trend especially knowing how much AI systems are desperate for more training data.

PublicSpaces 2023: The collective of videos

Ian thinks: All the Publicspaces videos are now on peertube and linked on this page. If you only watch one video, I highly recommend the keynotes from Ruha Benjamin, Levien Nordeman and Eli Parser

Ian thinks: I didn’t see this live in Mozilla House Amsterdam but had a really good talk with Symeon who convinced me to finally read his amazing book.

Is it time to give up on the global internet?

Ian thinks: I hate to say it but this piece has some really good points and its hard to argue against them. The vision of a global internet has been torn apart by many companies, governments and pure greed.

The Eliza effect is big business

Ian thinks: With all the talk about AI, you can’t help but stumble into the chatbot space. Although its easy to laugh, we already know there is a demand to connect with people and there is a ton of companies willing to supply them with better versions of clippy. But do spare a deep thought of all the data being shared and sold too.

A old form of colonialism in effect?

Ian thinks: It was through the tech won’t save us podcast I came across the paper on Open AI’s whisper and indigenous languages. This isn’t just a cautionary tale, its actually as close to the playbook of colonialism. Glad the author and the community are call it out.

Had enough of Captcha’s?

Ian thinks: Although a emerging technology, privacy pass could bring an end to those captcha’s which are annoying, don’t stop a lot of malicious activity, are basically free labour which is used to sell to others. Could this client-side privacy pass protocol which uses un-linkable cryptographic tokens finally put an end to them for good?

Posting without consent is immoral?

Ian thinks: This is a question which has existed for a long time. Even mentioning a persons name can have dire consequences. Two things which were not mention is the interconnected nature of this all.and the EU laws around the right to be forgotten.

RIP Free Kevin

Ian thinks: When i heard Kevin Mitnick died aged 59, I thought back to all the things I had learned through his books, experiences and the free Kevin movement. Well worth re-reading his books and this piece in the register. Rest in piece Kevin.

Find the archive here

Smartwatches: after the Pebble on to wear OS

Since the pebble I have been a bit fed up with the selection of smartwatches.

Originally I kickstarted the Bangle JS 2 smartwatch then bought the TicWatch 3 pro, but the battery life just frankly annoyed me so much and sent it back to get the Amazefit GTR 4.

I liked the Amazafit GTR 4 because the battery life was 3-5 days but the setup was something else. It doesn’t run Wear OS but I was fine with this because battery life made a big difference.

There is a review I read after getting the watch which sums up the problems with the watch. I like to hack and customise things but the options were insane. Then to add to this was the apps which included the default Zepp app and another one to pick up on the shortcoming of Zepp. Ultimately there were so many options but some of the basic things I expect were not covered.

Replying to messages by voice wasn’t possible, although the watch does support voice commands and even Amazon Alexia integrations. The other thing which got me was the calendaring. With the pebble, the calendar was always up to date and I could trust it to know what’s next. With the Amazefit the calendar only updated when I opened the Zepp app, stop the calendar sync and then re-enabled it again. My calendar changes sometimes hourly so an updated calendar is super important.

In the end I got so fed up with a watch I couldn’t really trust, and finally I made the decision to sell the watch on ebay after reading reviews about the new TicWatch 5. I decided the reasonable battery life, quick charge, wear OS 3 support was enough to convince me to switch (although I am wondering if wear OS 4 will make it to the watch). Its great to have proper sleep as android support again too.

Its still early days but I do miss some things like the automatic workout stuff, I have no idea what to put diaboloing under in my workouts. But generally if I’m charging the watch every day while in the bathroom, everything should be great.

The fast charge really has made a big difference and makes up for the smaller battery life. I can see this working when away from home due to cheap USB chargers (unlike the Oura). But that element of trust when looking at my notifications, calendar and tasks is something which can’t be underestimated.

New Pacemaker device mix: Knights of the new republic

Another recorded live mix due to the Pacemaker’s latest firmware. I was listening to some of my older mixes and the Knights of the old republic recorded while in another conference (republica in Berlin) stuck out to me. So I thought it was time for a redo as I was in Amsterdam at a similar conference (publicspaces).

Of course it includes the tune I’m still loving at the moment, Carl Cox’s Inferno and similar to the last mix, I decided to switch Blaze’s my beat to the Jan Driver remix. Which in my mind is a dance floor disputer.

As its recorded live with the loop feature, there is very few edits just a bit of normalisation.

You can listen to it on my mixgarden in full quality with Webmonitzation or peertube.

The playlist is here

Altern8 – Infiltrate 202
Miki Lutvak & Ido Ophir – Shnorkel (Thank you city remix)
Leftfield – Open up
Tomcraft – Happiness and Loneness
RAM – Grotesque (Alex MORPH & RAM mix)
Blaze – My Beat (Jan Driver mix)
Inferno – Carl Cox
Moogwai – The Labyrinth (part one)
The Prodigy – Charly
Floyd (Extended mix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
Home (Cosmic gate remix) – Paul Van Dyk Feat. Johnny Mcdaid

Not so easyjet

I have just spent 15 days in the Netherlands, on the whole it was great but after 5 hotels and a generous friend it was hard work. A bunch of things happened which are hard to explain without a lot of detail, which I can’t go into. However…

There was a bunch of problems with my flights which had a knock on effect.

Sunday 18th June, I was booked, packed and had my boarding pass ready to get on my evening Easyjet flight to Amsterdam from Manchester. I just got back from the Northern Quarter after having brunch with a friend. Funny enough she asked me when my flight is and I joked it was 90mins from that moment.

On the walk back from brunch, I received a text message fr0m Easyjet.

We’re really sorry that your easyJet flight 2167 from MAN to AMS on 18-06-2023 has been cancelled due to poor weather. We understand that this will be disappointing news and we want to make it as easy as possible for you to make new plans.

What the hell I thought then when I got home I saw the email. 3 options were available.

Switch to a new flight for free.
Choose a voucher for the full value of your ticket
Request a refund

I picked option 1 but there were no flights available to Amsterdam till late the next day. Meaning I would miss a lot of the first day of Mozilla House. With some authorisation and time running short, I triple checked KLM were still flying and booked that one for about a hour or so later than the original Easyjet one. I can’t even explain how stressful this was because I couldn’t leave till I had the boarding pass on my phone & gdrive. With a small amount of time I could only get a Uber to the airport check in with my cabin luggage (I can’t do 2 weeks with a small amount of luggage), get through security and board the plane.

When I finally got to Amsterdam, the hotel was completely automated by email, which I never answered due to the change of flights. Luckily one of the team saw my signal messages after midnight and let me in so I could actually check in.

2 hotels later and a great Mozilla House event in Amsterdam (more on this in another blog post). My plan to visit a friend in Rotterdam was thrown into chaos with Rotterdam upgrading its railways. This meant booking another hotel very last minute but I did end up going to Walibi Holland still.

Goliath x8 (not steel dragon 2000, but similar in construction)
Untamed x10 (first time I been on a RMC steel converted woodie and it was brutal)
Speed of sound x3
Loss of gravity x15 (not the smiler, but same maker and track style, not enough inversions)
Xpress platform 13 – x1

As I wasn’t spending 4 hours getting back to Rotterdam, I got to do a bunch of other stuff including watching the Flash with Dutch subtitles.

Anyway back to flights and travel. On my return to Manchester on Easyjet, I got to the Airport with plenty of time. My partner had joined me after the Publicspaces conference in hotel number 5 and we had booked flights a long time ago just incase. I spent a long time (30+ mins with the messaging system) cancelling my part of that flight and then moving my new flight seat next to my partner on the return. Worth noting Easyjet wouldn’t cancel my extra luggage, although I wouldn’t be on that booking any-more.

I get to the Amsterdam airport and try to check in to find my boarding pass isn’t valid. We try different ways to check if I’m on the flight but none of them work. I call Easyjet and the company who booked the flight. Its a long story but by the time I understand what happened, my options to leave were fading away to zero. I even considered the Eurostar and almost booked one of the last business class seats on KLM but they couldn’t guarantee I would make it to the plane in time.

Luckily my good friend Si had offered following me a room after having to book a hotel due to Rotterdam.

Finally after 15 days, 5 different hotels and 2 conferences; I was back in Manchester again.

The thing I learned is Easyjet cancels both flights even if you request to cancel only the outgoing flight.I gather this isn’t true for every airline but I don’t think they are the only one. Easyjet insists they sent emails to me but as I wasn’t the booker, it didn’t get to me. Although they did have my mobile number and email address. Right now we are going through this all to see what went wrong.

Dont get me wrong I had a amazing time in Amsterdam, worked really hard throughout but got the right blend of work and pleasure. However my credit card looks pretty damaged although I will get back the flights, some hotels are on me.

Eurostar’s shrinking ambitions

I read a piece from the Guardian while in Amsterdam for a couple of conferences.

I honestly felt crushed by this, enjoying the pleasure of the Dutch while Brexit has clearly had an effect on so much.

While growing up I was blown away about the channel tunnel and being able to take a train to mainland Europe. But so much chimed in the guardian piece. For example I really wanted to take the train from Manchester to Amsterdam and although it would have taken a lot longer (well actually under 7 hours compared to Easyjet cancelling my flight and me having to order another one last minute, maybe not) but the cost on the UK side was a issue.

Trains to London from Manchester can be expensive and slower than you would imagine. On top of this if you get a lot of cancellations. HS2 will/could help but the biggest barrier is the border control due to Brexit. Hopping on and off is a complete fantasy now.

Dare I say the UK (Britons who want to rejoin EU at highest levels) has truly kicked the dream of frictionless travel into Europe I had when I was young into the gutter then set it on fire to burn.

Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (July 2023)

Woman typing on laptop while sitting on a sofa in a coffee shop

We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed seeing students using AI to learn languages, the malicious use of AI and Meta’s Voice AI,

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 AI act, Amazon prime dark patterns finally being acted on and a look at the tangible risks of AI.

PublicSpaces: For a collective internet?

Ian thinks: I am biased as I took part in this years Publicspaces conference, however this is a conference worthy of watching once the 2023 ones are added to the others in peertube. Some highlights include Ruha Benjamin, Eli Pariser, Public broadcasters and private social networks, Building Digital Commons.

Who added the creepy?

Ian thinks: I found this interview with Dave Eggers worthy of a mention. The EFF push him on his thoughts and get quite a lot back. I was struck by the line “…but who decided to insert the creepy?”

What is the public service view on AI?

Ian thinks: This interview with Acemoglu is quite enlightening and highlights the critical question of how would AI & ML operate and look like if it wasn’t about increasing the bottom line or hoovering up data?

The link between AI and loneliness and isolation

Ian thinks: Murthy in this interview has so many good points and ultimately links the possibility of loneliness with basic needs like hunger and thirst. I’m sure many disagree but as described in Turkle’s Alone together, its clear there is an unbalanced use of technology directly contributing to something.

Ian thinks: Following the previous link, Mozilla’s research deserves more attention. Consent is critical for trust and you would have thought the mental health industry would trust as their top priority? Maybe I’m naive and the commercialisation of the industry is self-evident.

Re:publica 23, its all about Cash? (day 1, day 2, day 3)

Ian thinks: Every year I see such great talks and come from Republica, most are in German but there are also a number in English. I am pretty sure they will separate the talks in time.

Ian thinks: I needed to add my thoughts on this challenge against openness by those leading the charge for openness (yes confusing). I understand the potential but its more likely Meta will close their instances to the fediverse, lets not be that person ahead of time.

Digital nomads reshaping the cities

Ian thinks: As someone looking to be a digital nomad, this is a hard pill to digest. I certainly would like to see more meaningful exchange with the locals rather than dive in an carve out a new bubble?

Get Rich or Lie Trying

Ian thinks: This book has come up so many times, but it wasn’t till I met the author at MozHouse Amsterdam. I decided to put it on top of my list. Symeon digs deep into the social dumpster fire and clearly points out the damage which has been done at all levels.

Find the original here – https://cubicgarden.com/2023/07/01/public-service-internet-monthly-newsletter-july-2023/ and the archive here

Manchester’s first trans councillor and my dear friend

I was so happy to see Chris win my area, the previous councillors were ok but I felt not much was going on and it was time for a positive change.

Reading about my good friend Chris in the Manchester evening news. Having only missed out last election by not many votes, this May she smashed it with 355 votes in Ancoats and Beswick. I wonder how much of it was postal votes, because for example I switched which I gather can make a big difference to the turn out.

Of course the hard work has just started, as there is a lot of problems in and around Ancoats & Beswick, including a lack of green space, anti-social behaviour, tensions from gentrification, etc etc.

Go get them Chris! Apply your problem solving methodology to local political system… I know you will do a great job and be part of the very needed change in (#brexit) Britain.

Busy time: Mozhouse AMS, PublicSpaces, Forest of imagination, etc

Myself at the Podcast news conference in the Lowry Theatre, Salford on 13th June 2023

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.

Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (June 2023)

We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed seeing dirty but cheap western cars filling Africa. malware infested new iot devices or how parents are monetising their children in digital times.
https://cubicgarden.com/2023/06/01/public-service-internet-monthly-newsletter-june-2023/

Man sits in front of a computer monitor, looking sad

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 Mozilla buying fake spot, google launching passkeys and even Meta’s well rumoured but not launched microblogging platform using ActivityPub.

Will the real Connor step forward?

Ian thinks: This podcast is all about Connor’s story, but more importantly his online identity being used to fool employers into paying people a lot of money for skills they don’t actually have. This raises a lot of questions for the future of identity

Finally airtag stalking is being taken seriously?

Ian thinks: Finally Google and Apple have gotten together to stop the massive stalking problems of Airtags

The Obscene wealth simulator

Ian thinks: Perfectly timed for the Sunday Times rich list, this simulator gives you a sense of the “struggles” of the very rich people in society. Funny but also deeply tragic too.

The future possibilities for crypto?

Ian thinks: There is so much to say about this space, which has been generally eclipsed by AI recently. However this FT video does raise a number of good points. I also recommend the recently published public DLT paper by BBC R&D advisory team.

How I feel about the AI (LLM) changes when asked

Ian thinks: Over the last few months I have been asked about AI by many people, I want to deep dive but hold back. Using films like Her as reference, this video covers a lot of ground in short time but in completely understandable way

The debate over universal basic income is back

Ian thinks: Regardless of how close to midnight we are to AI singularity, the debate over UBI (Universal basic income) rages on

Forced to hack a world not built for you

Ian thinks: This fits with why I am interested in looking to the edges, where people in the minority are doing things to adapt technology for themselves and their community needs.

The dirty secret of online dating, but don’t worry AI will make it worst

Ian thinks: A bit of a key subject for me, I was surprised to see Wired explain the dirty secret in online dating. I am expecting AI chat bots to make things worst, as we experience higher levels of loneliness in society.

Sustainable streaming?

Ian thinks: I had only a small idea of the impact of streaming but this group is looking to make a big change to the sustainability of streaming services now and into the future.

Find the archive here

A beat that seems out of time (with the one you feel in the metronome of your mind) mix

Another mix using the Pacemaker device. However this time I have been experimenting with the later beta versions of the Pacemaker device firmware, which includes beat aware looping. It’s great but I find the native digital recording of the Pacemaker device unreliable when using it. I thought I had found the solution. But in the end I recorded the output directly using the analogue output.

The result is a completely unedited mix. Not quite as smooth with the cross fading but its just such a raw mix, I had to put it out.

First put together in Barcelona but the digital recording was all over the place, later I re-did the mix. This mix moves at a heavy pace and is fully of lovely progressive/tech beats with little lyrics. Perfect for hitting the treadmill, scooting down the motorway or what ever you fancy doing at a pace. Look out for the my beat into Inferno long mix, simply can’t stop bouncing my head to that section.

As always you can listen to it on my mixgarden or via peertube.

Here is the complete tracks used.

[00:00] Fall to Pieces – Jonas Steur feat. Jennifer Rene
[03:40] M.I.L.F. – Laurent Garnier
[08:35] My Beat (Ambassador extended remix) – Blaze
[11:10] Inferno – Carl Cox
[16:18] Interlinked – Thomas Schumacher
[23:02] Predator – Predator
[26:40] Fiction (Extended Mix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
[31:04] Shnorkel (Thankyou City Remix) – Ido Ophir, Miki Litvak
[35:42] Pǝsnɟuoɔ (Confused) – Laurent Garnier

Technique and symbols, street art tour done properly

I have been meaning to write about this incredible street art tour I went on in Lisbon. The tour we were on was 3 hours long and many didn’t survive the full tour but me and my partner did and were so much wiser for doing so.

There was so much to say but here are some of the key parts.

The viewing angle can make all the difference

Our guide showed us different examples where something was transformed into a whole new experience when stood in the right place. The one above is well loved and exists in many photos. However our guide talked about the importance of angle and viewpoint. When we moved to the carefully marked ground point, you could see the outline of the building in front obfuscating the other half of the street art.

Unique technique

Brush strokes as unique technique

Uniqueness is obviously key in street art and our conversation with the tour guide was fascinating as he asked if I preferred technique or message. Coming from Bristol, it was about the message but he pointed out one of my likely favourite artists now (Utopia).

Utopia's fingerprint style upclose

Those things which look like brush strokes are not, they are unique ways to spray and it requires a lot of time and practice. So much so, its like a fingerprint.

Subtle statements about politics and religion

When you see the devil face you can not un-see it in street art?

Although our guide valued technique over statement. He did show us another piece I had seen previously. The first time I had seen it, it was all about the amazing tile design in Portugal but our guide, pointed out something which looks like eyes, then the mouth. Almost like a devil faces (once you see them you can’t un-see them!). I was thinking where is he going with this, then he pointed out the small church it faced and stoked up the long running issues with Catholicism in Portugal. He left with the point to me, you don’t need to make statements so explicit for them to have an effect.

Highlighting the missed

The panda likes...

Once last thing which I didn’t really see previously was other street artists highlighting other work. For example the panda can be seen across Portugal in different styles but its not about the panda. The panda likes something and is drawing attention to something important or great.

The panda likes the gay fishes

The panda likes the gay fishes which symbolises one of Lisbon’s first gay clubs and has been there for decades but is easily missed.

After this street art tour, I’m going to be a lot more choosy about which ones I pay for in the future!

Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (May 2023)

We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed seeing the environmental impact of ChatGPT, the fascination to force people back into the office and that musk interview.

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 a new right to repair for up to 10 years. how solar got so cheap and John Oliver’s 2nd reaction to cryptocurrencies.

Weakening encryption is a idea which needs to die

Ian thinks: There is so much to say about the potential UK online safety bill, when it comes to encryption. In my personal experience, weaken encryption is no encryption. I’m not the only one. There is a reason why no one uses MD5 anymore.

Using photosynthesis as a source of clean energy?

Ian thinks: This energy hack is exciting to say the very least. Although very exciting its very early. I certainly encourage reading the details of the Cambridge research here.

Heating our homes using abandoned coal mines?

Ian thinks: Novel use of the many shut down coal mines, is a gem of not just an idea but something being put into practice in other countries.

The bright future of Homomorphic encryption,

Ian thinks: This interview with Rand Hindi of zama.ai is very enlightening. The idea of Homomorphic encryption at every level is fascinating. Could it be quantum resistant? Well Rand certainly thinks so. I also expect we will be hearing a lot more about this in the next 2 years and will be a building block for the public service internet.

Bluesky finally on Android but join the waiting list

Ian thinks: Its good to finally see an Android version of Bluesky, as there is growing interest in Bluesky and the actively developed AT protocol. There is also a lot of pumped up tension from some about Mastodon vs Bluesky which is just nonsense and a waste of energy.

The danger of stochastic parrots

Ian thinks: This very shared piece calls out the real problems of the new range of “AI Chatbot.” Bender runs through history and her challenging sometimes ignorant experiences talking with those evangelising the AI future. Its well worth the read if you haven’t come across it somewhere else already.

The stochastic parrots which drives us insane

Ian thinks: Jaron’s thought on the affects of AI on our well-being is spot on. Be it consistently doubting, double checking or just the overload of AI generated content. It always makes me think an adversarial AI bot working for you makes a lot of sense.

Ian thinks: This very detailed post outlines with countless data points summarising the effect of social media on young girls. Just incase you were not clear already?

Is Kevin Kelly’s technium, unrealistic or genius?

Ian thinks: This interview was a difficult one to hear, mainly because I usually find Kevin Kelly a good thinker. However his general thoughts on tech will save us, painful to listen to and it runs through most of his thoughts. Worth a listen with a sharp critical mind.

Find the archive here

Islington wharf glass change… at last

The difference in the new and old glass — The difference in the new (right) and old glass (left)

I had most of my windows done in my apartment this week. There is a long story involving one of my glass panels being smashed in the middle of the night (from memory of when I heard one hell of a crack)

When I woke up in the morning, I walked into the living room and shouted something pretty rude and got on the phone to our residents liaison (that is a whole different story). Didn’t get through so sent emails but the builders were already ripping out the shatter glass. I talked with them through my restricted window. Long story short, they were able to get the panel of glass to installed the next day (Thursday 6th). In actual fact they put in the panel next to it too. Nice present for my birthday weekend, but friends couldn’t believe the pictures when I showed them in the party.

I was asked if I could allow access to my whole flat for a complete glass refit on Tuesday 11th. I agreed as I was going to be away and after coming back from a spa weekend. After coming back on Tuesday evening I found the new windows except in the second bedroom. I expect that will take another 5-6 weeks.

There is a lot more to this all including moving everything away from the windows, the endless back and forth getting a date and being let down. Will it make a difference to the heat? Its hard to tell because the original designs have changed and the windows are clearly less able to open as wide. There was always plans for two open windows to provide a in and out draft but in the Living room there is one. Plus its actually smaller than the original one and can’t open so wide.

One thing I do have is the temperature sensors in the living room and bedroom which I’m planning to map alongside the historical temperature over the last year (which I also have), to really understand the difference the new windows are making.