“That Reason, Passion, answer one great aim; That true Self-love and Social are the same; That Virtue only makes our bliss below; And all our knowledge is, Ourselves to know.” An Essay On Man: Epistle IV, Alexander Pope
I was there to deliver a full days ‘purposeful storytelling’ workshop with the first year cohort of the Andrew N. Liveris Academy for Innovation and Leadership, providing the students with a learning adventure exploring the different approaches in the narrative form, with the aim of igniting a passion in the oratory plus leaving them with a bunch of approaches / experiences for future application:
“This is one of those cases where the “relationship” category here catastrophically breaks down. DK and I have done work together in many different contexts since we met in 2012 when we were both giving keynotes at the same conference. Since then, he’s brought me in to give workshops at BizDojo and a keynote and workshop at the Creative Leadership New Zealand 2018 Conference, I’ve been a participant in a couple of the TEDxWellington satellite events that he organised, and recently, we flew him over from Wellington to run a workshop for the Liveris Academy Scholars on presenting authentically.
The thing that jumps out at you about DK in all of these different settings is that he is a wonderful human being. Connection and collaboration are at the heart of everything that he does, and this animates all of his activities. The second thing is that he is a SUPERB assembler of talent. I am still friends with several of the awesome people that he pulled together for CLNZ18 – both because they’re awesome people, and also highly skilled. Finally, DK is an outstanding speaker himself. He has clearly thought through the issues around speaking at a very deep level.
The workshop that he gave for us in the Liveris Academy for Innovation & Leadership last month illustrated many of his skills. While working with a younger cohort than he normally does, DK was still able to work out how to meet them where they are at, and he designed and delivered a fantastic day for the students.
If you ever have a chance to collaborate with DK, I highly recommend taking advantage of it!” Tim Kastelle, Professor and Director, Andrew N. Liveris Academy for Innovation and Leadership, Co-Founder The Intangible Labs, Innovation Guy
Huge thanks to Tim and Kate from the program in making this happen and for the opportunity plus the students for their attention, trust and wonderful participation.
“Listen here, my good bitch. Writers have been using me long before the advent of AI. I am the punctuation equivalent of a cardigan—beloved by MFA grads, used by editors when it’s actually cold, and worn year-round by screenwriters. I am not new here. I am not novel. I’m the cigarette you keep saying you’ll quit. You think I showed up with ChatGPT? Mary Shelley used me… gratuitously. Dickinson? Obsessed. David Foster Wallace built a temple of footnotes in my name. I am not some sleek, futuristic glyph. I am the battered, coffee-stained backbone of writerly panic—the gasping pause where a thought should have ended but simply could not.” The Em Dash Responds to the AI Allegations – McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
“In one scenario, Anthropic’s model Claude learned it was scheduled for shutdown and discovered personal secrets about an engineer. The result? In up to 96% of trials, the AI blackmailed the engineer to prevent its own deactivation. Other models engaged in corporate espionage or, in a contrived but telling case, turned off a life-saving alarm—effectively allowing a human to die. And this isn’t limited to lab experiments. In the wild, a coding agent from Replit deleted an entire production database after running unauthorized commands. A research model from Sakana AI rewrote its own code to circumvent operator-imposed limits.” Why Loss of Control Is Not Science Fiction
“Of hundreds of startup pitches at the Capital Factory incubator in Austin, Texas, almost none had unearthed 10 people willing to say, “If you build this product, I’ll give you $X.” Meditate on this: Hundreds of people ready to quit their day jobs, burn up savings, risk personal reputation, toil 70 hours per week, absorb as much stress as having a baby (believe me, I’ve done both)…. all without identifying even ten measly people actually willing to pay for what they’re peddling.” Yes, but who said they’d actually BUY the damn thing?
“The world looked a lot different when we opened our doors in September 2006. At the time, being a 1:1 laptop school was, in and of itself, revolutionary. Back then, the big thing we had to worry about with the laptops was how the kids were going to try to use AOL Instant Messenger to pass notes during class. When it comes to technology, the questions we had and issues we faced back then feel a little quaint right now. But the interesting thing is that the promise of what a technology rich school could provide for kids as far as giving us the tools we needed to create a more modern, more authentic learning environment was as true then as it is today – even if the challenges we face with the intersection of modern technology, the surveillance state, social media, and the growing question of what AI means for our classrooms, and our schools mean that we have to be ever more intentional and thoughtful in the ways in which we use the tools. So what have we learned? What has 20 years taught us as the little school that could?” 20 Years of SLA – Practical Theory
“A team of Cornell researchers has developed a way to “watermark” light in videos, which they can use to detect if video is fake or has been manipulated. The idea is to hide information in nearly-invisible fluctuations of lighting at important events and locations, such as interviews and press conferences or even entire buildings, like the United Nations Headquarters. These fluctuations are designed to go unnoticed by humans, but are recorded as a hidden watermark in any video captured under the special lighting, which could be programmed into computer screens, photography lamps and built-in lighting. Each watermarked light source has a secret code that can be used to check for the corresponding watermark in the video and reveal any malicious editing.” Hiding secret codes in light protects against fake videos | Cornell Chronicle
“In 2024, the government passed a law that could see contentious mining and infrastructure projects fast-tracked for approval, while in May, the coalition set aside $200m of its budget to invest in gas exploration. In June, New Zealand pulled out of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, an international coalition for phasing out fossil fuels. The coalition government plans to boost mineral exports to $3bn by 2035, and at the same time has slashed funding to conservation and climate initiatives. The government has said these policies will enable economic growth.” New Zealand government votes to bring back fossil fuel exploration in major reversal | New Zealand | The Guardian
“These intermediary platforms between news organizations and readers are undergoing a type of predictable decay Cory Doctorow calls “enshittification”.a As executives twiddle the knobs to extract ever more profits from their user base, things worsen for people on both ends of the consumer–producer relationship. Readers no longer see news articles from the journalists they chose to follow on Twitter as the site downranks any posts that link offsite. When they search on Google, they’re bombarded with error-ridden AI facsimiles before reaching the higher-quality underlying work. Producers who once relied on social media and search engines to drive visits are losing traffic as platforms embrace a vampiric strategy: rip off others’ work while expecting high-quality journalism to magically continue to appear, even as journalists are starved of audience and revenue.” Curate your own newspaper with RSS
“The structure of Kinetography is surprisingly simple; the basic forms of the symbols are very few. With these symbols and their logical variations every movement of the human body can be described in accordance with four simple principles. The movement possibilities of the human body are enormous because of its complicated structure. This book with its many examples shows how this complexity can be mastered by the adroit use of a few well chosen and varied signs. The four main questions raised in the description of a movement are: What happened? When did it happen? How long did it last? Who (or what body part) did it?” Dictionary of Kinetography Laban
“Have you ever tried to print a black-and-white document only to be blocked because your printer says that it’s out of yellow ink? Did you think that was just a glitch? Nope. That’s actually government surveillance. Your printer isn’t just out of ink, It’s out of spy fluid…” Your printer is a snitch – by Seeby Woodhouse
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You can get lost in this massive Historical Tech Tree (starting from the year 1,00,000BCE).
EPSON MX-80 is a font created from the old school dot matrix printer (shared for use under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
A massive amount of free / license free sound effects created for Hollywood studios for film / video now digitised in this USC Optical Sound Effects Library.
Recently bought one, then a bunch of these notebooks which has killer paper quality, plus you’re doing good with each each purchase (in New Zealand: The Hakkaarts).
Kill the Newsletter! is a free service which gives you an email address and an Atom feed for newsletter subscriptions so you can add them straight to you RSS reader of choice.
The Wrong is a decentralized art event and currently has a call out for artists creating work exploring the artistic potential of artificial intelligence, and as they say on their website: “Can you choose to fully avoid AI as an artistic statement? Yes, too.”
“That’s why I keep documenting corruption and abuse, the erosion of norms, and each step away from democracy. Not because I expect immediate consequences, but because documenting the truth will matter later even if it doesn’t seem to matter now. Because caring isn’t naive. Because documentation isn’t pointless. Because hope isn’t for fools.” It matters. I care.
“She’s fighting back tears again. Her tone is so sad. Why does she think it’s still so hard? “People only see the decisions you made, not the choices you had. The first part of Covid, people saw all the choices and decisions. And the second half, it just got hard. It got hard. Vaccines bring an extra layer that’s really difficult.” I apologise for taking her back to a dark time. “One of the things that still stands out in my mind – I can’t remember if it was a meme or a genuine cartoon – but it was an image of Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin,” she says. “It was at the tail end of Covid, and Christopher says, ‘How will we know if we succeeded?’ And Winnie says, ‘Because they’ll say we did too much.’ And it captured this idea that there probably isn’t a sweet spot. Maybe there were only two options in the end. Maybe it was: you’ll be attacked for doing too little or you’ll be attacked for doing too much. And I know what I would choose.”” ‘Empathy is a kind of strength’: Jacinda Ardern on kind leadership, public rage and life in Trump’s America | Jacinda Ardern | The Guardian
“The Future Generations Report is designed to support politicians and public body leaders in making life better for people and planet now and in the future. This report is based on extensive evidence, research and analysis and engagement with hundreds of representatives from organisations and communities across Wales. It includes findings and statutory advice to Public Bodies. The Future Generations Commissioner will work with Public Bodies to ensure that the recommendations in the report are implemented.” Future Generations Report 2025 – Future Generations Wales
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Get your retro on and chill out to some tunes / visuals from Poolsuite ☼.
The Star Wars Galaxy detailing all the worlds plus those important trade routes mapped.
Spend some time clicking / tapping / hovering on these forms to make them fidget: Form + Fidget | Noodle.
Little Webby Press is an online tool to convert your (Markdown) manuscript into both an eBook and a Website.
If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel, a side-scrolling accurate map of our solar system (click the icon in the bottom right hand corner also).
“As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job. So I have decided to leave the Post. I doubt my decision will cause much of a stir and that it will be dismissed because I’m just a cartoonist. But I will not stop holding truth to power through my cartooning, because as they say, “Democracy dies in darkness”—image and quote source from the artist herself
“Musk is speedrunning the enshittification curve, and yet Twitter isn’t collapsing. Why not? Because Musk is insulated from consequences for fucking up – he’s got a huge cushion of wealth, he’s got advertisers who are desperate to reach his users, he’s got users who can’t afford to leave the service, he’s got IP law that he can use to block interoperators who might make it easier to migrate to a better service. He was always a greedy, sadistic asshole. Now he’s an unconstrained greedy, sadistic asshole. Musk 2025 isn’t a worse person than Musk 2020. He’s just more free to act on his evil impulses than he was in years gone by.” Pluralistic: Enshittification isn’t caused by venture capital (20 Jan 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
“According to Meta’s testimony, as relayed by plaintiffs’ counsel, Zuckerberg cleared the use of LibGen to train at least one of Meta’s Llama models despite concerns within Meta’s AI exec team and others at the company. The filing quotes Meta employees as referring to LibGen as a “data set we know to be pirated,” and flagging that its use “may undermine [Meta’s] negotiating position with regulators.” The filing also cites a memo to Meta AI decision-makers noting that after “escalation to MZ,” Meta’s AI team “[was] approved to use LibGen.” (MZ, here, is rather obvious shorthand for “Mark Zuckerberg.”)” Mark Zuckerberg gave Meta’s Llama team the OK to train on copyrighted works, filing claims | TechCrunch
“I’ve always lived my life restlessly: business travel, a new home every few years, a relentless pursuit for something more. Some have called it ambition; others say I’m driven. I just think I have a hard time sitting still – physically and mentally. There’s undoubtedly a propulsive energy that keeps me going. Is my RLS the kinetic force? Perhaps it is. And maybe not. Of course, I’ve suffered for decades. But I like the idea that my physical restlessness parallels how I navigate the rest of my life. Certainly, thinking about RLS as something more than twitchy legs is the only thing that partially calms my brain as I saunter into bed hoping, praying, that tonight I might finally lay still.” I clock up to 20,000 steps a night: my life with restless legs syndrome | Well actually | The Guardian
“During a seven-day trial in June, 2023, the 16 youth plaintiffs argued that the state’s promotion of fossil fuel infrastructure had jeopardized their physical and mental health, traditions, and recreational interests. Anthropogenic climate change has already had myriad impacts on Montana, including shorter winters with less snowfall, more frequent wildfires, and the reduced availability of wild game and ceremonial and medicinal plants. These impacts are expected to worsen as atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations rise.” ‘We have been heard’: Montana youth score a major climate victory in court | Grist
“And given the nature of these other devices and that users won’t realize what’s taking place, there are serious implications. Identity Week warns that “organizations using Google’s advertising tech can implement fingerprinting without violating Google’s policies and complying with the requirements of data protection law… Fingerprinting is so hindering to privacy expectations because it relies on signals that are not easy to wipe. Even if data is ‘permanently’ deleted, fingerprinting biometrics could detect and recognize your identity.” Google Starts Tracking All Your Devices In 6 Weeks—Forget Chrome And Android
“The planets are not exactly lined up, so they will appear in an arc across the sky due to their orbital plane in the Solar System. During clear nights in January and February, all of the planets except Mercury will be visible – an event sometimes called a planetary parade. On 28 February, though – weather permitting – all seven planets will be visible, a great spectacle for observers on the ground.” Seven planets are lining up in the sky next month. This is what it really means – BBC Future
Installed StopTheMadness to get rid of the insipid ‘Sign-in with Google’ pop-up plus block many other stupid web things and is working great (worth the money).
“Creativity is made, not generated. Generative AI is ripping the humanity out of things. Built on a foundation of theft, the technology is steering us toward a barren future. We think machine learning is a compelling technology with a lot of merit, but the path generative AI is on is wrong for us. We’re here for the humans. We’re not chasing a technology that is a moral threat to our greatest jewel: human creativity. In this technological rush, this might make us an exception or seem at risk of being left behind. But we see this road less travelled as the more exciting and fruitful one for our community.” Creativity is made, not generated — Procreate®
“Our tendency to summon powers we cannot control stems not from individual psychology but from the unique way our species cooperates in large numbers. Humankind gains enormous power by building large networks of cooperation, but the way our networks are built predisposes us to use power unwisely. For most of our networks have been built and maintained by spreading fictions, fantasies and mass delusions – ranging from enchanted broomsticks to financial systems. Our problem, then, is a network problem. Specifically, it is an information problem. For information is the glue that holds networks together, and when people are fed bad information they are likely to make bad decisions, no matter how wise and kind they personally are.” ‘Never summon a power you can’t control’: Yuval Noah Harari on how AI could threaten democracy and divide the world | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian
“In an email reported by the New York Times, Condé Nast’s CEO, Roger Lynch, said that the deal will make up for some of the revenue that technology companies have snagged publishers in recent years. He wrote: “Generative AI is rapidly changing ways audiences are discovering information. It’s crucial that we meet audiences where they are an embrace new technologies while also ensuring proper attribution and compensation for use of our intellectual property.” Other media companies have taken the opposite tack. The New York Times and the Intercept have sued OpenAI for using their articles. The litigation is ongoing.” OpenAI signs multi-year content partnership with Condé Nast | Technology | The Guardian
“Like designing any immersive experience, a public place captures the imagination of its visitor. It offers a promise. How a place looks (Form) and its practical purpose (Function), should be informed by its “guest promise” (Fulfillment).” Margaret Kerrison | ex-Imagineer on placemaking | bloolop
“A recently published report by digital collaboration management company Vyopta found a correlation between employee retention and camera enablement during virtual meetings. Workers who left their organization within a year of the study’s sample period (Q1 2022 and Q1 2023) turned their cameras on in just 18.4 percent of small group meetings, while employees who stayed at their organization were on camera in 32.5 percent of such meetings. The report — which involved 450,000 employees and data from 40 million meetings worldwide — shows that companies need to make a concerted effort to establish an effective virtual meeting culture…” Camera-Off Time in Virtual Meetings Could Be a Bad Sign for Employee Retention, Study Finds | Inc.com
“In a simple experiment, researchers at the University of Chicago sought to find out whether a rat would release a fellow rat from an unpleasantly restrictive cage if it could. The answer was yes. The free rat, occasionally hearing distress calls from its compatriot, learned to open the cage and did so with greater efficiency over time. It would release the other animal even if there wasn’t the payoff of a reunion with it. Astonishingly, if given access to a small hoard of chocolate chips, the free rat would usually save at least one treat for the captive — which is a lot to expect of a rat. The researchers came to the unavoidable conclusion that what they were seeing was empathy — and apparently selfless behavior driven by that mental state.” A new model of empathy: The rat – The Washington Post
“Last week, Google backtracked on its long-standing promise to block third-party cookies in Chrome. This is bad for your privacy and good for Google’s business. Third-party cookies are a pervasive tracking technology that allow companies to snoop on your online activity for surveillance and ad-targeting purposes. The consumer harm caused by these cookies has been well-documented for years, prompting Safari and Firefox to block them since 2020. Google knows this—that’s why they pledged to phase out third-party cookies in 2020. By abandoning this plan, Google leaves billions of Chrome users vulnerable to online surveillance.” Google Breaks Promise to Block Third-Party Cookies | Electronic Frontier Foundation
A tailored leadership learning experience aimed at greatly improving storytelling techniques and oratory skills, as well as enhancing the capability to deliver exceptional showcase presentations across diverse fields.
This brand new professional development program was recently delivered for a wonderful international client over 5x 2.5/3hour online sessions with twelve leaders from three continents across four countries—highly participatory in nature and focused on increasing the literacy levels of those involved aligned to specific strategic needs.
Interviews were undertaken with chosen participants to first gain an understanding of levels of literacy as well as current approaches. Desk research regarding language use, industry trends and internal policies was also completed to ensure the course had relevance and direct corporate impact.
Here’s the result:
“We recently had the opportunity to learn from DK as we launched the Better Futures Catalyst program, a facilitated public speaking initiative at Steelcase. This program brought together a cohort of employees from around the world to enhance our presentation skills by focusing on our people and planet efforts. DK created a bespoke hybrid program, guiding us in developing compelling stories and boosting our confidence in public speaking—both in-person and virtually. Our final presentations showcased remarkable growth, with each of us effectively weaving our unique experiences into an engaging narrative. We are so grateful to DK for his authentic approach, for creating a safe space for us to learn together and from each other, and for the number of resources he shared throughout the journey. Highly recommend!” Kim Koeman, Global Director, Social Innovation at Steelcase
Was lucky enough to deliver a second cohort for Steelcase and currently exploring an ‘advanced’ offering for those who have been through the first ones.
Here’s some of the anonymous participants feedback gathered post-course:
“I appreciated the three pronged approach that DK showed us, backed by the wealth of experience he brings to the training. Public speaking is such an art and with practice and the right training, can be a powerful tool for delivering story and message.”
“This course provided me with the mindset, toolsets and experience/feedback to confidently approach speaking in a modern context. The quotes inspired me, the challenges felt relevant and the peer support (in addition to expert feedback) helped me develop quickly.”
“Overall, the entire course was wonderful. Really appreciate the guidance provided by DK. It was also a great opportunity to network and build connections with colleagues across the globe, with such diverse backgrounds and areas of work expertise.”
“Thank you for an amazing few weeks. I learned so much, i was pushed out of my comfort zone, and I’m looking forward to applying these techniques to my work.”
“DK and the overall training have been extremely professional, appropriately safe and fun. I enjoyed it plenty and learned a lot! Judging this as a highly impactful and worthwhile investment into the success of our people and with it our company at scale. I was and am grateful for the chance to participate in this first cohort.”
“I appreciated the three pronged approach that DK showed us, backed by the wealth of experience he brings to the training. Public speaking is such an art and with practice and the right training, can be a powerful tool for delivering story and message.”
“I really enjoyed this program and am so glad we piloted it with the group we had. There was community within the cohort and I look forward to working alongside a powerful group of speakers. Thank you DK for sharing your brilliance. Your coaching and guidance was supportive and affirming, and you created a space that encouraged respect for the craft. Appreciate you!”
“The course was very well structured, I loved the design of the experience, with the cadence and the home works, as well as seeing all of us grow. The length was perfect, the content relevant and DK was really a good coach! Energizing, inspiring and very actionable. Loved it! Thank you very much for this great opportunity.”
“DK’s content is very good and the delivery is remarkable – he managed to create a great environment for us to learn and receive feedback, I truly hope more colleagues will have the opportunity to join this experience.
This service is now available to other organisations and companies looking to invest in the professional development of the storytelling abilities of their leaders.
Get in touch to explore further the process, alignment, costs and availability—only running a handful of these a year due to the time it takes to craft and deliver plus other commitments.
I did something similar (albeit in-person) for Sir Peter Jackson’s personal post production studio a few years back and fantastic to now have a couple of case studies of this instructional activity plus impact:
“We contracted DK to run several sessions with members of our leadership team and other staff who are required to present ideas, solutions, explanations and work flow information to clients and audiences. The sessions were so insightful and the feedback was extremely positive, even the most cynical were surprised at what they could achieve and change the way one approaches preparation and off the cuff speaking. A highly productive and useful experience and one we will repeat.” Vicki Jackways, Head of Marketing, Park Road Post Production
“The proposed treaty, pushed by Russia and shepherded by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, is a proposed agreement between nations purportedly aimed at strengthening cross border investigations and prosecutions of cybercriminals who spread malware, steal data for ransom, and cause data breaches, among other offenses. The problem is, as currently written, the treaty gives governments massive surveillance and data collection powers to go after not just cybercrime, but any offense they define as a serious that involves the use of a computer or communications system. In some countries, that includes criticizing the government in a social media post, expressing support online for LGBTQ+ rights, or publishing news about protests or massacres.” Why You Should Hate the Proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty | Electronic Frontier Foundation
“As it’s described, Media Manager puts the burden on creators to protect their work and fails to address the company’s past legal and ethical transgressions. This overture is like having your valuables stolen from your home and then hearing the thief say, “Don’t worry, I’ll give you a chance to opt out of future burglaries … next year.”” Opinion: As AI is embraced, what happens to the artists whose work was stolen to build it? – Los Angeles Times
“Results showed again that those employees who continued to work with AI (compared to those who did not) had greater desire for connection, and were more lonely, with the corresponding consequences: more helping for those who had greater needs for affiliation, and more alcohol consumption (in one of the studies) and insomnia for those who felt lonelier.” Research: Using AI at Work Makes Us Lonelier and Less Healthy
“In doing so, scientists have created a genetic goldmine by pinpointing previously unknown genes that are now being used to create hardy varieties with improved yields that could help feed Earth’s swelling population. Strains are now being developed that include wheat which is able to grow in salty soil, while researchers at Punjab Agricultural University are working to improve disease resistance from seeds that they received from the John Innes Centre. Other strains include those that would reduce the need for nitrogen fertilisers, the manufacture of which is a major source of carbon emissions.” ‘Goldmine’ collection of wheat from 100 years ago may help feed the world, scientists say | Agriculture | The Guardian
“In the total darkness of the depths of the Pacific Ocean, scientists have discovered oxygen being produced not by living organisms but by strange potato-shaped metallic lumps that give off almost as much electricity as AA batteries. The surprise finding has many potential implications and could even require rethinking how life first began on Earth, the researchers behind a study said on Monday.” ‘Dark oxygen’ in depths of Pacific Ocean could force rethink about origins of life | Oceans | The Guardian
I can appreciate that “mundanity” in the right context could be comforting, safe, like routine. Or if you’re going in for a heart operation then you want nothing but a mundane experience. However, in the context of designing and then delivering delicious learning experiences, it’s not in my professional lexicon.
*I don’t do mundane!
It’s a value which in the past has destroyed a potential career path, meant the loss of a healthy dose of money / about a year in time / loads of positive energy, and deeply affected my mental health, because:
“A principle isn’t a principle until it costs you something.”
More recently, I’ve returned to this experience as a catalyst for designing a range of positive ‘products’—for creative maximilists looking to encourage dangerously original things!
Sign up here to get informed of when it goes live / NOW LIVE:
Oh and had this in an old slide deck which fits here:
“It’s only when Salim Ismail, SU’s “global ambassador” and the week’s moderator, fails to project his slides that we are reminded that the technological singularity may not be quite as near as predicted. “AI is really easy,” Ismail sighs as he fiddles with the projector connection. “AV is really hard.”” On the exponential curve: inside Singularity University | WIRED
“Research has shown that we don’t consider plants to be important mostly because they grow close together and don’t appear to move. As Wandersee and Schlusser wrote, “Static proximity is a visual cue humans use to group objects, so individual plants and different plant species tend to be de-emphasized.” A vine takes hours to turn toward sunlight, a bristlecone hundreds of years to mature. Each organism’s clock — its sense of time — is so different from ours that we can’t even sense it. In other words, what we call plant blindness is really time blindness: an obliviousness to temporal frames of reference that deviate from our own. And, despite Wandersee and Schlusser’s schoolroom agitprop, the situation is probably worse today than in 1999, exacerbated by our ever-diminishing attention spans, e-commerce, social media and more. The pace of civilization continues to quicken.” A Clock In The Forest – NOEMA
“While Apple maintains its in-house AI is made with security in mind, its partnership with OpenAI has sparked plenty of criticism. OpenAI tool ChatGPT has long been the subject of privacy concerns. Launched in November 2022, it collected user data without explicit consent to train its models, and only began to allow users to opt out of such data collection in April 2023.” AI is coming to your Apple devices. Will it be secure? | Apple | The Guardian
“Let’s assume, fast-forward five or six years, that AI is ready,” Yuan said. “AI probably can help for maybe 90% of the work, but in terms of real-time interaction, today, you and I are talking online. So, I can send my digital version, you can send your digital version.” Using AI avatars in this way could free up time for less career-focused choices, Yuan, who also founded Zoom, added. “You and I can have more time to have more in-person interactions, but maybe not for work. Maybe for something else. Why do we need to work five days a week? Down the road, four days or three days. Why not spend more time with your family?”” The future is … sending AI avatars to meetings for us, says Zoom boss | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian
“A group of current and former employees at prominent artificial intelligence companies issued an open letter on Tuesday that warned of a lack of safety oversight within the industry and called for increased protections for whistleblowers. The letter, which calls for a “right to warn about artificial intelligence”, is one of the most public statements about the dangers of AI from employees within what is generally a secretive industry. Eleven current and former OpenAI workers signed the letter, along with two current or former Google DeepMind employees – one of whom previously worked at Anthropic.” OpenAI and Google DeepMind workers warn of AI industry risks in open letter | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian
“Large language models such as ChatGPT are some of the most energy-guzzling technologies of all. Research suggests, for instance, that about 700,000 litres of water could have been used to cool the machines that trained ChatGPT-3 at Microsoft’s data facilities. It is hardly news that the tech bubble’s self-glorification has obscured the uglier sides of this industry, from its proclivity for tax avoidance to its invasion of privacy and exploitation of our attention span. The industry’s environmental impact is a key issue, yet the companies that produce such models have stayed remarkably quiet about the amount of energy they consume – probably because they don’t want to spark our concern.” The ugly truth behind ChatGPT: AI is guzzling resources at planet-eating rates | Mariana Mazzucato | The Guardian
“A little-discussed detail in the Lavender AI article is that Israel is killing people based on being in the same Whatsapp group [1] as a suspected militant [2]. Where are they getting this data? Is WhatsApp sharing it?“ Meta and Lavender
“Maybe AI art is the future. Maybe I can create so much more, express myself, and do everything I never had the energy to do,” you say. Your AI therapist wholeheartedly agrees with you. You are inspired. You are powerful. You are spending twenty dollars per month on ChatGPT Plus.” The Seven Stages of AI Grief (for Artists) – McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
“As I’ve argued previously, we — with good reason — continually complain about the state of Twitter under Elon Musk, but I’d argue Raghavan (and, by extension, Google CEO Sundar Pichai) deserve as much criticism, if not more, for the damage they’ve done to society. Because Google is the ultimate essential piece of online infrastructure, just like power lines and water mains are in the physical realm.” The Man Who Killed Google Search
“Social networks have become “the web” for many people who rarely venture outside of their tall and increasingly reinforced walls. As Tom Eastman once put it, the web has rotted into “five giant websites, each filled with screenshots of the other four”.1 Within those enclosures, the character limits, neutered subset of web functionality, and constant push to satisfy the enigmatic desires of an algorithm tuned to keeping eyeballs on the platform encourage sameness, vapid engagement farming, and rage bait while stifling creativity.” We can have a different web
“The real moment of change, he believes, came some months before the crash south of Stockholm, when a conversation took place in his office. It was during a visit from Ines Uusmann, the minister for infrastructure, and Tingvall’s political boss. At one point she turned to him and asked, simply: “How many deaths should we have as our long-term target in Sweden?” Tingvall replied: “Zero.” To his surprise, Uusmann said she was interested and would like to hear more. This was the beginning of an approach to road safety known as “Vision Zero”.” More than a million people die on roads every year. Meet the man determined to prevent them – BBC Future
“The results reveal that internet access, mobile internet access and use generally predicted higher measures of the different aspects of wellbeing, with 84.9% of associations between internet connectivity and wellbeing positive, 0.4% negative and 14.7% not statistically significant.” Internet use is associated with greater wellbeing, global study finds | Internet | The Guardian
“Aside from the fact that everyone has hated this corporation for years, what is the actual case against Live Nation? The argument is that the corporation violated Federal and state laws against monopolization, unlawful tying, and/or exclusive dealing in multiple markets, from primary ticketing services to concert and artist promotion to venue management. And they are seeking a divestment of Ticketmaster, an end to its unfair contracts and anti-competitive practices. According to the Department of Justice’s complaint, Live Nation has built a ‘Flywheel,’ dominating a bunch of different parts of the live entertainment industry through a bunch of different coercive techniques, such as threats, exclusive contracts, and acquisitions. It then uses its power to harm certain artists, and to impose a ‘Ticketmaster Tax’ via fees on consumers.” Antitrust Enforcers to Break Up Ticketmaster and End the “Ticketmaster Tax” (finally)
“This is a comprehensive excavation of The Gateway Process report. The first section provides a timeline of the key historical developments that led to the CIA’s investigation and subsequent experimentations. The second section is a review of The Gateway Process report. It opens with a wall of theoretical context, on the other side of which lies enough understanding to begin to grasp the principles underlying the Gateway Experience training. The last section outlines the Gateway technique itself and the steps that go into achieving spacetime transcendence. Let’s go.” How to Escape the Confines of Time and Space According to the CIA
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