December 2025
: If you give over agency to intermediaries and automated arbitration systems, you effectively …
October 2025
: “you should not rely on …” Services like ChatGPT generate responses by reading a user’s request and, in response, predicting …
September 2025
: Let’s just call this what it is … From RestOfWorld, The hidden labor that makes AI work: This industry has been called by many names: …
August 2025
: You too can read the sycophantic babbling of a rotten politician (nor a good one), as he brown-noses …
: You can tell a lie a thousand times, but that does not mean it is true. You can tell it a million …
June 2025
: Let’s see what the Empire announces tomorrow. 8 June 2025 — French West Indies
: The datacenters are the Achilles’ Heel You’ve probably heard about Vibe Coding by now. The method by which a person creates an application …
May 2025
: Rebel Alliance At some point, your scrappy Rebel Alliance gets so big that it becomes the Empire. 7 May 2025 — …
April 2025
: Meta, as in data Finally, I’ve changed my mind. Meta is a completely appropriate name for the organisation. Meta, as …
: Adtech is a cancer. It will eventually eat and destroy a business and more often than not its …
March 2025
: Any online-only survey on the economy that asks how people are fairing is inherently flawed and …
: Blockchain is still a solution looking for a problem. Why are we still talking about it? From Ars Technica: “It feels like a fake technological solution for a problem that doesn’t exist,” …
: “Ireland is Apple's second home” - Tim Cook VIa Apple Insider. When mere mortals have homes, they pay taxes. Pay your taxes, Tim. 17 March 2025 …
: In defence of Stage Manager Judging by public reactions, this is not a popular perspective, but I, for one, am grateful that …
February 2025
: Until I can switch off Apple Intelligence Smart Replies, this setting is going to remain off. I’d be …
: One year check in on Apple Vision Pro. Incredible technology still looking for a problem to solve.
January 2025
: Something the AI boosters are ignoring and working hard to ignore, is that humas intrinsically don’t …
: You’re standing in line. Believing the lies. Bowing down to the flag. You’ve got a bullet in your …
: Apple users, if you haven’t already done so, you should seriously consider turning on iCloud …
: Mark Zuckerberg has recently said that he’s taking Meta back to its roots. As one commentator …
: I hear all the time about how Meta’s products allow millions of micro and small businesses develop …
: I remember when the Internet was good. No. It was amazing. The first time I used the Internet, we …
December 2024
: I turned off Apple Intelligence on my Mac. It’s poor. Really poor. Very un-Applelike. 23 December …
: Weeknote #4: Week 49 I missed week 48 as I decided to take the time to do something else that needed to be done at home …
: Many say regulation stifles innovation. I call bullshit. Look at Formula 1. It is one of the most …
November 2024
: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy describes the fraternity of Tech Bros as: “A bunch of mindless …
: Weeknote #3 : Weeks 46 & 47 I’m back after a short break off-island. The break was well-deserved and needed and was something I …
: Week note #2 : W45 I’m a couple of days late writing this, but I did say that it might not be as regular as my other …
October 2024
: Week note #1 : W44 I haven’t been posting much here for reasons I can’t quite explain. But as it’s not a commercial …
September 2024
: I finally bought a decent coffee grinder after months of unsuccessfully trying to find one on the …
: BBC: Met Police launch plans to be “truly anti-racist and inclusive”. Yeah sure. We believe you this …
: I’m trying to figure out where I was when the memo was passed around asking everyone to use the word …
: Facebook continues insisting on being an awful Internet citizen. Surreptitiously scraping data to …
: What a wonderful sunset we had tonight. I was tempted to get the camera out and take a picture …
August 2024
: Please stop using the word content, as in “content creator”, “creative content”, or “content”. You …
: I’m currently reading Number Go Up by Zeke Faux. Anyone who is deep into, holds, uses or otherwise …
July 2024
: Despite the discussion about LLM training data and the rights to train this data, a fundamental …
: With news that Threads has reached 175 MAUs, this is an interesting waypoint in its life worth …
June 2024
: Social Media and general online commentary are about to get even more vacuous, irrational, wrong and …
: The long-term outcomes and the impacts on the economy, society, and politics clearly show that …
: In other words, Threads likely wants to be a monetization center for online creators and eventually …
May 2024
: Heads up. Here’s the real reason the Caribbean cannot dig itself out of the hole that it has been …
: Never forget. Cory Doctrow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr), writing on pluralistic.net: Together, they …
: Blogrolls are cool again I’ve tried blogging on and off for years, possibly decades. It has never stuck. These last couple of …
April 2024
: Au revoir Apple Watch I’ve bought three Apple Watches since its introduction, spending a total of around 1000 € not …
: No Logitech, I don’t want or need an AI prompt system attached to the mouse software wasting GPU …
: When Facebook (or Meta if you believe they have changed purpose) first proposed the EU-only …
: Normal person reading Science Fiction novel: “Oh wow, cool story. Not reality however because of a …
: Every now and again, I get to show people around this Island in the middle of the Caribbean. I have …
March 2024
: If you’ve been following along the Beyoncé/Country Music thing, I recommend reading this article: …
: From TechCrunch: Facebook (Meta) is essentially a cybercriminal organisation *My headline In 2016, …
: BBC: Public satisfaction with the NHS has dropped again, setting a new low recorded by the …
: Burning the planet to a cinder is the answer to getting fans to buy your music? …
: I spent the weekend replacing an ageing Apple Airport wifi network with some fancy gear from …
: So much of the Internet is now a Hobson’s choice, that we’ve lost what its purpose was. 7 March 2024 …
: Generative AI accountability Should owners of GenAI machines be made responsible for their outputs? I’m not sure whether I …
: Shipwreck 3 March 2024 — French West Indies
: They say RSS died years ago, killed by Google. Lol. https://rss-is-dead.lol/ 2 March 2024 — French …
February 2024
: La Fondation du Rien Aren’t we all in need of this? 27 February 2024 — French West Indies
: “FineWoven cases are junk, say majority, sharing photos of peeling and scratches.” From 9to5Mac. I’d argue that pretty much all of Apple’s recent accessories are junk these days. The …
: Splash 25 February 2024 — French West Indies
: Welcome Back This is the first post of a completely new blog based on the old blog that used to reside here. I …
September 2023
: Meta May Allow Instagram and Facebook Users in Europe to Pay to Avoid Ads Via The New York Times: The subscription plan is a response to European Union policies and court …
August 2023
: Facebook/Meta and highly personalised ads in the EU Highly personalised ads imply highly personalised data about you. Despite what Facebook/Meta and the …
: Digital Colonialism in action We’ll just walk in here, do what we want and won’t ask permission. Look over there, free money! From …
: A world slowly going mad The FT reports that Meta is about to introduce chatbots with different “personas” as a retention …
July 2023
: The Metaverse: Just around the corner (if the corner is a galactic-sized outer arm) Mark Zuckerberg: Threads users down by more than a half - BBC News “He said work on the augmented …
: Digital IDs and Shitcoins Step 1: Create an AI that accelerates its adoption and forces the creation of AGI. Step 2: Roll out …
June 2023
: I’m a British subject not proud of it From the Conversation: In announcing the scheme, then home secretary Amber Rudd apologised for her …
May 2023
: Hallucinations are not limited only to GenAI, they are also the domain of its creators During an onstage interview with Sam Altman with Azeem Azhar, as reported by the Verge: “My basic …
: AI hallucinations I should have linked to this article from Naomi Klein in the Gruaniad a while back. AI machines …
: “Officer Naughty” From the Grauniad: What a twisted little egotistical world we occupy currently. ‘It’s ok, as long as …
: Not My King 6 May 2023 — French West Indies
: Rumours of a new journaling app in iOS According to the WSJ, Apple is planning on releasing a journaling app that competes with existing …
April 2023
: Take your coronation and shove it I, for one, will not be pledging allegiance to “the King”. Royalty is essentially a criminal …
: The Guardian: Meloni praises Sunak’s immigration policies on visit to No 10 From the Guardian: Not the kind of endorsement that I’d be comfortable with —more of an indication …
: A tale of two headlines From BBC News 24/04/2023: Also, from the same day: Both of these presenters got fired. Sacked. …
: Repeating the mistakes of AI past With the current news cycle being dominated by all things ChatGPT and AI, I thought it would be a …
: The open blockchain, my arse! More like Fraudola. In a Bloomberg article by Nick Baker called An NFT Just Sold for $532 Million, But Didn’t Really …
March 2023
: WSJ: Meta to Let Users Opt Out of Some Targeted Ads, but Only in Europe From the Wall Street Journal. Meta Platforms Inc. is planning to let European users of Facebook and …
: Platformer: Microsoft just laid off one of its responsible AI teams What was I saying about that Silicon Valley mantra again? From Platformer: Some members of the team …
: First, drive people apart. Then sell them tech to bring them together. But only on our terms. And monetised. While I’m on the topic of bullshit and the onanistic nature of Silicon Valley, it seems the …
: “Move fast and break things”. - Silicon Valley’s mantra. I call bullshit. It’s been the mantra for some time now in the valley. Everyone benefits by moving fast and breaking …
February 2023
: Facebook tests deliberately drain phone batteries As reported by 9to5 Mac from an article in the New York Post —I’ll leave you to make up your own …
January 2023
: The End of Writing From ia.net. Soon, you won’t need to write much anymore. Artificial Intelligence will do it for you. …
: The enshittification of air travel Ever since the horrendous attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001, the airlines and various …
: Apple AirTag tracks a big detour of luggage In an article on Apple Insider, a couple of Air Canada passengers followed their luggage after it …
: Revenue haemorrhage at Twitter. From The Information: A senior Twitter manager told employees that the company’s daily revenue on …
: The Before. A curated playlist of samples and originals I’ve been having a lot of fun curating a playlist of songs and the corresponding tracks they sampled …
: Microsoft’s new AI can simulate anyone’s voice with 3 seconds of audio Via Ars Technica: On Thursday, Microsoft researchers announced a new text-to-speech AI model called …
: AI is coming for the Lawyers too The term “low-hanging fruit” tends to invoke a particular disdain from me, given that it has been …
: A turning point for Social Media? I’m wondering if this is a turning point for Social Media. There’s a confluence of factors that are …
: From nested fiction to reality: The story of (allegedly) skimming $300K From The Verge: Like Superman III 8 January 2023 — French West Indies
: A brief history of maps From archdaily: Source: Wikimedia Commons When in what was called Junior School at the time, ages 7 …
: How Apple Daisy de-manufacturing machines battle e-waste From Wallpaper: Image source: Apple Daisy. Daisy… 6 January 2023 — French West Indies
: The more social, social network There’s a number which is called Dunbar’s Number. It’s around 150 or so. It’s a significant number …
: Key Bitcoin developer calls on FBI to recover $3.6M in digital coin Via Ars Technica: The irony! Oh, wait. We need a centralised system to police the blockchain thieves …
: Exodus, movement of Jah people The mass exodus to Mastodon continues. Over 9 million accounts were created, with 113,393 new users …
: The Dark Risk of Large Language Models From Wired: Unless you’ve been hiding, in a coma, or purposefully ignoring Social Media, you will …
: “what the fuck happened to my FTX account” Poor guy woke up from a 5-month coma after a car accident to find that FTX had shit the bed. …
: What Can We Learn from Barnes & Noble's Surprising Turnaround? From The Honest Broker: So many businesses and industries could learn a lot from this. Every time …
December 2022
: Simple pleasures I’m sitting here listening to music at a volume I deem perfect, with a freshly brewed espresso. The …
: I don’t make predictions … … but I do think that Social Media, in general, will come to a reckoning over the next year or so. …
: “There is only one Pelé” From the Guardian: João Saldanha, the coach who helped shape that 1970 side, once said: “Ask me who …
: “What’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is mine.” Buying Instagram is best understood as part of a long pattern of Mark Zuckerberg coercing others …
: AI-Created Comic Has Been Deemed Ineligible for Copyright Protection CBR.com: The United States Copyright Office (USCO) reversed an earlier decision to grant a copyright …
: Ask, and ye shall receive File this under “I did not know that.” If you’re a researcher and you happen upon a scientific paper …
: That Steph Curry Video I don’t know if you’ve seen the video, but it is damn impressive. But I had doubts. Turns out, for a …
: A grain of sand [youtu.be/M2_eKX9iV...](https://youtu.be/M2_eKX9iVME) See more here. 23 December 2022 — French West …
: Oops. It wasn’t just account information… It was your passwords too! The Verge: If you have an account you use to store passwords and login information on LastPass, or …
: It’s only going to get worse According to the Guardian, “Cheating in professional exams is still a ‘live’ issue at the UK’s …
: Another “End of Era”: Terry Hall His voice and the Specials were part of the sound when we were growing up. Saddened to hear of his …
: End of an era: The final Boeing 747 is delivered after 50 years of production Reduced to a cargo plane today, this was probably the most important plane ever designed, developed …
: Freedom For a specific class, freedom always means freedom to do and say what they want, not what anyone …
: The Same Old Logical Conclusion Despite the odd way it works —and the new, sometimes, infantile terminology— Mastodon feels a lot …
: The Line I Will Not Cross Yesterday I wrote about how I’d likely dial-down Twitter use, but not leave the platform. Then this: …
: Not particularly social According to Insider Intelligence, as reported in the Grauniad, Twitter will likely lose 30 million …
: Crypto or Criminal? It is getting harder to tell whether Crypto actually means “Criminal”. Take this Reuters article, …
: Experiences and Timelines I had an odd experience last night. I say odd, but that’s making it sound more dramatic than it is …
: Hold my beer The world: “Surely it can’t get much worse than this now?” SBF: “Hold my beer…” …
: Themes If you listen to many podcasts in the tech space, particularly where a lot of Apple discussion takes …
: Design is how things work. Not how they look. In a New York Times article in 2003, Steve Jobs was quoted as saying: Most people make the mistake …
April 2021
: Marketing problem Science doesn’t have an execution problem. Science has a marketing problem. Conspiracies and fake …
: Internet fanboy I’ve been an internet fanboy for as long as I can remember —at least, as long as I learnt there was …
: M1 Happy Oh, my! I’m so happy with the new MacBook Air M1. It is everything that everyone said it was. The …
: It’s always them There’s and old saying in the Information Technology industry to describe the situation when the …
: On talking about Apple Music The app is an absolute unadulterated piece of shit. It’s buggy. It’s slow. Furthermore, it has a …
: Less is most likely more The answer to the problems created by technology is almost certainly not more technology. The likes …
: A missed opportunity for Apple and Apple Music 🤷♂️ Despite being criticised, and rightly so for some products, much hi-fi equipment is far from being …
March 2021
: It’s the little things No, scrap that. It’s the major things that make a difference. It is an absolute pleasure to no …
: Thoughts on Clubhouse I got on to Clubhouse, so you don’t have to. It is actually a fascinating idea but one I can’t quite …
November 2020
: The origins of Rosetta(2) probably lie in a little-known technology from 1996 called FX!32 Unless you’re a hermit or not in any way linked to the tech industry, you’ll be aware that Apple has …
: Virtual or Physical Civil War? In my timeline of doom and gloom, I put forward my theory that the recent divisions in societies …
: Software is indeed, eating the world When Marc Andreessen famously wrote that software is eating the world, it was seen as both a love …
: Time for all Internet comments to be switched off? This article from John Dario resonates with me when I read it this morning. It's not that comments …
: Election Day USA Never have I had any misgivings about the authenticity and verity of an election. For more than …
: 2020 Tropical Cyclone Season. Nearly over, but not quite. A truly breathtaking season that thankfully resulted in few storms directly hitting us here in the …
July 2020
: After the first real TW, comes the first real TS Genuinely a worrying image to see when you live in the Caribbean. For the best sources to follow and …
: The first (real) Tropical Wave of the season As many of you will know, I live in the Caribbean. And apart from its idyllic setting sometimes, we …
: These companies constantly prostitute the notion of the First Amendment From Fast Company’s interview with Scott Galloway: Fast Company: What do you think about Mark …
: My timeline of doom and gloom. Here’s hoping I’m wrong! I wrote in one of my recent newsletters that I had started to form a bigger picture of the events …
June 2020
: A few thoughts I don’t know about you, but it has been a particularly difficult couple of months to think clearly …
May 2020
: Wish list for a new Magic Keyboard Just to be precise, I’m talking about the separately sold Bluetooth Magic Keyboard that comes …
April 2020
: More on Studio Neat’s Canopy I wrote about my love for the Studio Neat Canopy here. Literally, the only thing it lacks compared …
: GatesNotes : The first modern pandemic A thoughtful and interesting must-read, worth all of the twenty or so minutes it’ll take you to read …
: The versatility of the iPad I’ve been thinking about the new iPad Magic Keyboard (iPad MK) and have a couple of thoughts I’d …
December 2019
: NoNaBloPoMo My self-inflicted pressure to write a blog post per day for the month of November didn’t quite go as …
November 2019
: Depends where you look Although I haven’t been as active as I’d hoped, I’ve not been lazy. Quite the opposite in fact. I’ve …
: Ouch, 4 days! Dear oh dear! 4 days without an update despite me promising myself and anyone who read this, that I …
: Clean Shoes I love having clean, freshly polished shoes. It just shows the commitment and effort required to …
: Social Sewage I originally published this nearly a year ago. I still think it holds up and is relevant today, if …
: An enjoyable experience without the BS I like photos and photography in a casual way. I’d love ot be a better photographer but I’m not sure …
: My Apple Watch Series 5 quick take I treated myself to a new Aluminium (Space Grey) Apple Watch Series 5 a couple of days ago. I’ve …
: Happy Armistice Day I hope you had as peaceful a day as I did. /sarcasm 11 November 2019 — French West Indies
: 8 letter word. Abdicate. From an interview between Manoush Zomorodi (Note to Self Podcast) and David Hohusen (creator of Two …
: Birmingham, UK had one of the most vibrant record shop scenes in the country During the 70s and 80s, Birmingham became a Mecca for record stores. You could find almost anything, …
: Intentions to realisations In trying out this idea to write and publish something everyday for a month, I inevitably had a look …
: Every device Every device with a non-user replaceable battery should be available on a subscription bases, with …
: Only day two It’s only day two into my self-imposed folly of NaBloPoMo, and it is already difficult to find …
: NaBloPoMo Every November a writing challenge is started, NaNoWriMo. The goal is to write every day for the 30 …
October 2019
: Quick takes I’m always surprised how many pundits and commentators publish comments on as yet unreleased or …
: The Joy of Tech comic... Zuck, the Champion of Free Speech! Zuck, the Champion of Free Speech? A better perspective: …
: The BBC killed the paragraph Is it just me? Am I alone? The only one that thinks that the way the BBC writes it's articles is …
September 2019
: Book recommendation I really do think you should take the time to read this book. Talking to Strangers I get to the …
: U SHOOT VIDEOS? A wonderful short film worth watching on a big screen. U SHOOT VIDEOS? A Film by Morgan Cooper
: Feeling better by effort I can’t quite put my finger on when exactly I decided to do it, but after more than a month I feel a …
: Sunday Mornings Sunday mornings is my time. I wake up early, usually around 5am, so that I can have a coffee and …
: Missed opportunity On the horizon this morning, a beautiful scene of rising Cumulus clouds being lit by the warm …
: (Un)LinkedIn LinkedIn is a great resource for professional use. Links to colleagues (if you’re working in an …
: West Indian September Sunset One of the most beautiful periods in the year, September, gives us stunning sunsets almost daily, …
: Dorian The scenes coming out of the Bahamas are just heartbreaking. I fear we haven’t seen the worst yet. …
: A love letter to RSS You may be wondering what RSS is, however, if you listen to podcasts regularly then you’re using it …
August 2019
: La rentrée Here in the French West Indies, next week is La Rentrée, or Back to School. It’s a big deal not just …
August 2018
: Opinion : Google and MasterCard are not being entirely truthful I suspect We learnt recently via a The Verge article that Google and MasterCard had an agreement whereby all …
December 2017
: Music to my ears Music to my ears Depuis mon blog : Minus453F De temps en temps je m’éloigne de la routine …
November 2017
: Hey Siri, say Please. Image Source : http://www.mybloggerlab.com/2012/08/how-success-can-turn-pro-blogger-into.htmlHey …
December 2016
: #I caught iCloud Account Locked herpes I caught “iCloud Account Locked” Herpes Don’t misjudge the title, which is a little click-bait-y — …
January 2016
: Podcasts and the commercialisation menace I’m sure that like many of you coming from the generation that grew up with radio, the recent …