When loose internet threads find each other

I’ve been a fan of a book called The Cluetrain Manifesto since I first read it in 2001 or 2002-ish (early days of Poke). And I’ve mentioned it a few times on this blog.

Anyway, huge inspiration. That’s loose thread one…

Then a few years later (at Google) I was involved in a big consumer launch of the Chromebook. So much so that my kids appear in the main TV ad multiple times (although they aren’t the twins in the highchairs just for the avoidance of doubt).

Anyway, I was on Twitter the other day (which I rarely am) and spotted David Weinberger (the Cluetrain author) was having a problem with his Chromebook.

So… Being somewhat of a Chromebook geek (with kids who’ve abused them horribly) I immediately recognised the problem…

It very much made my day.

I Updated My Blog’s Sidebar!

It’s been in the works for over a year. But last week it actually happened:

I left the building. Or rather stayed at home, and didn’t log into Zoom. Anyway, I don’t work for Wieden+Kennedy anymore. (You might know that this isn’t the first time this has happened. And I love so much about that place and the people there I’m never going to say never – although they are probably terrified at the thought).

I’m not going to write a long soppy post now. I’ve still got a big emotional leaving party to get through later in the summer. But I felt like I had to update my sidebar at least.

I’m really excited about what’s coming next. I’ve been talking about doing things with some of my favourite people in the world. And it’s really clear to us that time is right to do something “new”.

There’s so much potential in the air right now. So many questions to answer. Things to try. And so much that needs fixing. And far too many brilliant creative and technological minds to rescue from drudgery and busywork.

And don’t get me started on how thrilling the current wave of technology is. I’ve not been this giddy since I first experienced the world wide web…

But first I’m going to take the summer off to recharge and refocus. And to spend some quality time with my kids who are about to go to ‘big school’ after the holidays, gulp!

More soon!

Pink Trombone (FNAR)

It’s not what you might think. I’ve grown up now (yeah, right).

This is in no way connected with a skin flute or a fleshy oboe, it is in fact a BRILLIANT simulator of the human instrument.

Just fantastic.

Revenge Bedtime Procrastination

Ironically read at 00:37 during a classic bout of ‘Hell No, I’m not going to bed, rebellion”.

From the always excellent Dense Discovery newsletter. Please go there and sign up and support them. It’s really really excellent.

Geeking out on TikTok

I’ve been mucking around in a very rudimentary and pointless way with a few nerdy things recently. Instead of making sourdough and hoarding blogroll, the impeding lockdown v2 has got me futzing with RunwayML and Wav2Lip.

And god forbid posting the results on TikTok!

@vversed

I was playing around with RunwayML and this popped out. Thought it was fun. #blindinglightschallenge #blindinglights #ai #theweeknd #weird #geek

? Blinding Lights – The Weeknd

Why TikTok? I know, right? It’s pointless. I’m too old for it. I don’t get it. I don’t really like most of what I see on it. And I have precisely 0 followers (not even my own kids). But TikTok does have one thing going for it (that none of the other platforms do): the ability to use music freely. And being able to use big tunes might make my crappy hacks appear a little less crappy.

I’m not posting stuff because I want lots of people to see it (yet), but it forces me to finish things (at least to the point where they’re ready to upload in a quiet way). If I don’t force myself to put things somewhere – I just end up with unfinished junk littering my hard drive. So much better to have somewhat finished junk littering the Internet. Right?

@vversed

A bit of late night fooling around with WAV2LIP. The tech is well beyond my paygrade. #borisjohnson #deepfake #chooselife #ai #uk #politics

? original sound – Iain

By the way if you want to do the lipsync thing it’s not too hard. You just have to not be intimidated by lots of scary looking boxes of code. There’s a really really good piece about how to do lipsync deepfakery over on the Verge that tells you everything I wish I’d known before I spent 2 late nights struggling to do it the hard-er way.

I Love Internet Today

My faith in the Internet has been restored.

It’s Saturday morning. I was doing a little Reddit scrolling. And this live stream caught my eye. There was just something about the combination of a tech house DJ and a man drumming on a box that intrigued me. And is he really routing a wooden box through Fruity Loops?!?

It’s a genuinely amazing bit of internet. Two people from entirely different worlds jamming together to make something entirely new and pretty awesome. And there’s such a nice vibe going on!

If only the whole Internet was like this, always.

One day I’d like to jam with u/cajonsoftheworld

The whole session can be seen on Reddit here.

Proudest Father Moment

A couple of hours ago one of my daughters Rickrolled me. From a Google Slides Presentation about what she wants for her 11th birthday. Finally a sign that I’m bringing them up right!

Although I’m unsure about the Fizzy Wine on the first page, that might not be such a good sign…