We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed by looking down at our feet or at the endless twitter fighting.
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 Matt Mullenweg’s comments about a open and diverse web after buying tumblr.
Don’t forget if you find this useful, you will find “Public Spaces, Private Data: can we build a better internet?” at the RSA London on 21st October 2019, right up your street.
Watching the labrats scurrying away
Ian thinks: Recently read Labrats book after seeing Dan Lyons at Thinking Digital. Its quite a raw insider view on silicon valley culture, the laughable and the horrific sides in equal lashings.
The Great Hack Workshop from Mydata 2019
Ian thinks: This was one of the highlights of Mydata 2019. Carole Cadwalladr & Paul-Olivier Dehaye’s deep dive into the build up to the great hack was fascinating. Lots of useful resources were revealed.
Are Boris Johnson’s PR People Manipulating Google Search?
Ian thinks: True or not, our dependence on a single search engine/service makes any potential manipulating even more impactful.
Ted Nelson on Hypertext, Douglas Englebart and Xanadu
Ian thinks: Its always amazing to see pioneers who narrowly missed out pushing concepts which were too early, but could come back.
Look out here comes the hyperledgers
Ian thinks: More ledger/blockchain projects to power your projects than you can shake a stick at. Very happy at least some are open-source.
ReasonTV’s look at the Decentralised web
Ian thinks: I was expecting something light touch but having Cory Doctorow mainly interviewed means its got some depth.
Etiquette and privacy in the age of IoT
Ian thinks: Etiquette tends to be forgotten in the advancement of technology. I don’t consider it rude to shut off a Alexa, I’m sure others will disagree.
Tipping etiquette set by user interface
Ian thinks: Talking about etiquette, very interesting to see norms set by user interface design decisions. Obviously set to benefit the company but its stuck now.
Exploiting technology or exploited by technology?
Ian thinks: Curious tale, but it does raise a question about digital access and backups. Least we forget about power and when things go technically wrong.
