A living collection of notes, ideas, and reflections from Doug Belshaw.
Tom Watson are presenting at TechNExt this morning on TechFreedom. If that weren't exciting enough, we're also using MarkDeck 3D, meaning I'm presenting using the web for the first time pretty much since leaving Mozilla!
…I applaud initiatives like this. The only concerns I have are around governance and burnout, but it often takes one person's (or a few people's) energy to get things going before a community can be self-sustaining. Bravo.
…As you'd expect from Boards of Canada, their latest album, Inferno is not only a proper sonic experience but... a bit weird. There's a lot of religious influences, from a young person talking about "being able to do all things through the Lord" to Hari Krishna chanting.
…I lreally like this artwork, generated by Richard Nadler, which I discovered via Are.na. So I went looking formore information t and discovered it's part of a series. More here.
Yamabushi are revered as mountain priests or ascetic hermits in Japan, devoutly following the ancient traditions of Shugendō. This spiritual practice intertwines elements of Buddhism, Shintoism, and the indigenous worship of mountains. The very name "yamabushi" itself translates to "those who find solace in the mountains."
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On Friday, I had the immense pleasure of reconnecting with a friend I haven't spoken to for over a decade. I'm not sure why, other than we used to live near each other, and then we didn't. Life gets in the way, sometimes.
…It's good to have a word to sum up the effect that capitalism can have on us, especially through pernicious advertising.
The lamp I want is playful. Confident. Carefree yet sophisticated. Qualities I want to embody… but buying the lamp won’t give me those qualities (though I would enjoy looking at it).
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I knew mitochondrial networks were interesting, but this is next level.
Using machine learning models, [scientists have] estimated that worldwide, the arbuscular mycorrhizal network stretches for 110 quadrillion kilometers, almost a billion times the distance from Earth to the sun. (Scoop up just a teaspoon of soil and you might find 10 meters of fungal strands.) Every year, these fungi shuttle around 4 billion metric tons of carbon, equal to 11 percent of humanity’s CO2 emissions.
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My experience of Fable 5 this week was limited, and I didn't really notice much difference between it and the Opus models. I've been following people's experiences on Reddit, however, and it's been game changing for them. Simon Willison, also gave a hint of how 'proactive' it can be.
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