Saturday 16th March, 2024 - Compositing the Sistine Chapel (Issue #155)
Saturday 16th March, 2024 - Compositing the Sistine Chapel (Issue #155)
Apple & DMA & webapps & iOS browser diversity, Gilded age entrepreneurship, Rogan, Tiktok, Filterworld, running restaurants, bitcoin bull run, RFK
Hello and welcome to my newsletter!
Another season 2 instalment…
So many awesome podcasts this week. For some reason it also feels like one of those mega synchronicity weeks where huge pieces of the puzzle that is the future have moved into much better positions. It’s all about layers, and of course even the podcasts this week feel very layered.
Different layers are figuring shit out at the same time.
Rogan and Lindsay, so many things are f-ed up in the current system / government / world order, we are starting to articulate it in a much clearer way now
Bitcoin architecture, governance, co-ordinating development while being decentralised, from a melange of ActivityPubs to a resilient AT protocol
JS Party, open source development, and the Open Web
And all the other pods somehow fit in perfectly, like the history of Edwardian entrepreneurship from the Gilded age, how oil affects the global markets, how our modern communication systems are affecting our societies cultures one meme at a time, controversy and mud slinging as Apple runs into DMA regulations, presidential elections, recording cool music, cooking great food and creating amazing customer experiences.
There’s just so much. It’s like an epic painting on the ceiling of the the Sistine chapel, but a bit more humorous.
In an strange coincidence, the work on my static site generator appears to be in some way synchronised and part of this great carcophonie that is slowly coming together. I figured out a way around the thing that was blocking the big tidy up of all my plugin repos. It appears to work. I’m putting the finishing touches to it, and should have it working within a few days.
It’s still a crazy mess in places but it feels like we are making some sort of progress, doesn’t it?
Onwards! :)
Podcasts
The RFK Interview (Bankless Podcast) - RFK is a big crypto supporter. The Bankless guys do a great interview and of course focus on, well crypto :) https://www.bankless.com/the-rfk-jr-interview
The Wall Street Bull Market with Checkmate (What Bitcoin Did Podcast) - Checkmate’s detailed knowledge of Bitcoin behaviour is second to none. He decided a few years ago he was going to figure it all out and analysed the markets with all the tools available, mathematics, statistics, and just basically did an extended heads down on everything that has happened since the start. He now has loads of vital charts and new ways of looking through the data to bring to the surface unseen trends. Definitely worth a listen. https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/the-wall-street-bull-market
Colorful Criticism (ATP Podcast) - Chocablock with great Apple analysis on the new MacBook M3 Air, Apple getting fined $2bn by EU, Alt Stores and Epic’s developer account. Gets technical in places, but it’s worth it for the excellent analysis of the various quagmires Apple has found itself in over the past few weeks. The ATP guys are all Apple die hards but they look with a critical eye, and since they are also developers, their takes are really worth a listen, they even get pretty funny in places. There were definitely some angles on the Apple brouhaha that I didn’t hear anywhere else, since they know the company and people involved so well. https://atp.fm/577
Bitcoin’s Biggest Bull Run with The Rational Root (What Bitcoin Did Podcast) - Really strong show with discussions around the current bull market, the likely effect of the bitcoin ETFs, the halving and what will happen afterwards, as well as what the very interesting hoddler landscape looks like. Generally a great discussion all around the various phases of bitcoin to date and where we are in the cycle. You really get a sense for how the current major events are interacting to cause the price to rise so quickly. https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/bitcoins-biggest-bull-run
Kimball Musk: The Art of Cooking, Tesla, SpaceX, Zip2 and Family Ep#417 (Lex Fridman Podcast) - I really enjoyed this interview. I ran a gastropub in West London in the early naughts, so this conversation brought back lots of memories of that time for me. Extremely hard work, but very rewarding in terms of social interactions, having direct contact with customers, as well as with amazing chefs. I too fell in love with Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, which really did capture much of the atmosphere of working in restaurants. I also wasn’t aware that he worked alongside Elon in many of his ventures. Some great stories. He sounds just like his brother! But somewhat less loud and stressed out. Great interview. https://lexfridman.com/kimbal-musk
Titanic: The Tragedy Begins (Part 1) (Rest is History Podcast) - Much like Dominic I had a bit of an aversion to the whole Titanic story. Too commercial, too main stream, too Hollywood. How wrong I was. This series has had me completely transported back to the gilded age. I’ve been totally fascinated by all the companies and personalities involved in the ship building process, all happening with the backdrop of the problems in Northern Ireland. Also takes of opulence and luxury. These were the entrepreneurs of the day, building massive ships, to take hundreds of thousands of immigrants across the Atlantic to America. They focus in on individuals rich and poor and middle of the road, to give a historically accurate portrayal of this great story, with all the interesting detail that was left out of the Hollywood blockbuster. https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYWNhc3QuY29tL3RoZS1yZXN0LWlzLWhpc3RvcnktcG9kY2FzdA/episode/YzJmOThmNjItZGM5My0xMWVlLTg0Y2UtMGJlOTRmNjQwMmU3?sa=X&ved=0CAYQkfYCahcKEwi4gYfzn_iEAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQNg
How to save culture from algorithms, with Filterworld author Kyle Chayka (Decoder Podcast) - I thought this episode was excellent. It transported me back to the mid naughts, when I first got online. This was the sort of stuff I spent so long thinking about before I got into programming. I miss this world of marketing, memes, fashion, aesthetics, atmosphere, silly stories etc. A bit depressing how humans are so predictable in sone ways, but the spread of trends is so fascinating now that we are all connected globally. The fact that things have gone full circle and people now want authentic old crusty caffs is pretty hilarious. I wonder what the equivalent of all this stuff was on the Titanic. I want more of this :) https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vcmVjb2RlZGVjb2Rl/episode/MzA4N2QwNTQtOWVhZC0xMWVlLWJkZjctNjNjOTRjYTM1ZGQz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQkfYCahcKEwjgrImfoPiEAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQOg
Oil Markets Are Sending A Warning To The World (Eurodollar University Podcast) - Fascinating to learn a bit about the dynamics of the oil markets. I’ve always found it strange that the US prints money, and the OPEC nations print oil. It all seems to just complicate an already complicated situation, where it’s difficult to figure out what’s really going on behind all the production cuts which just hide the true goings on. https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy50cmFuc2lzdG9yLmZtL21ha2luZy1zZW5zZQ/episode/YjMyYTUyNGUtMWFiMC00MjhkLWFlYjUtZWIwZDE0N2VhZTUz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQkfYCahgKEwjgrImfoPiEAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQ7wQ
TikTok, Apple and Temu (Another Podcast Podcast) - Great coverage of the main tech topics from this week. Will TikTok be banned, what on Earth is going on over at Apple, and why Chinese fast fashion clothes websites are getting up the noses of big clothes stores like Zara and H&M. https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9iWjdVMlBFaw/episode/ZDllNjFhZmMtMTA0Yi00NDQyLTk1NmItZWRkNTcwNWU0NTE5?sa=X&ved=0CAYQkfYCahgKEwjgrImfoPiEAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQvwg
On The Brink? Wed. 03/13 (Techmeme Ride Home Podcast) - Brian has a really very very good observation about how trends in what different generations are mad into evolve over time. I’d go so far as to say he might have solved the generational trends problem. If you want to know how to position your next business venture so that you are ready for the big one, don’t miss this episode. The commentary / observations are at the end of the episode. https://www.ridehome.info/show/techmeme-ride-home/wed-0313-tiktok-on-the-brink
The Black Keys (The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast) - I haven’t been following bands or keeping up with the music scene for quite a few years now. Fun to listen to these guys shooting the shit with Rogan. It’s crazy and amazing that with podcasting we can have shows like this one. Guns and gun laws, Stephen Seagal & martial arts & 80s movies, the unibomber and the CIA, Charles Manson, recording music, Guns ‘n Roses, Chilli Peppers, Trump hand shakes, Biden and Dr Feelgood, accidental deaths, bizarre talents, Noel Gallagher, Phil Harmond, divorces settlements, stock options, Haiti gangs, Jesse Ventura, the Abyss, neighbouring dimensions, UAPs, Tom Delange & Covid, AI & Kurzweil, early 90s Memphis cassette tape rap, Napster, BitTorrent, DJing, record stores, offensive bowling alley animations, french president’s wife is allegedly a man, and so much more in the second half.
James Lindsay (The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast) - Okay this one is no doubt very controversial, but I decided to give it a listen anyhow. Sure he’s got some very controversial views of some factions of the LGBT, but I found some of his arguments interesting. In any case that was only a tiny part of the episode. The rest is a genuine tin foil hat conspiracy theory extravaganza. I’m not saying I believe in any of this stuff but I like to keep an open mind, sometimes listening to some of this crazy stuff you actually hear some interesting ideas. This episode doesn’t disappoint. It gets quite involved, very mind bending at times, but some of the worries raised I think have some merit, there’s definitely some thoughts worth contemplating, even if it’s just to train your mind not to be afraid of such strange topics. I was wowed by how large the painting was, towards the end of the conversation he managed to tie all the seemingly random strands together into a very impressive tableaux, even if it’s full on dystopian. To build a better future you can’t be scared of the present, even the bad parts. Worth a listen if you are feeling adventurous, and are not having a stressful day.
Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision with Dhruv Bansal (What Bitcoin Did Podcast) - I’d been feeling this past week that much of the Bitcoin development felt quite slap dash, like we are building on old primitives that don’t quite fit the use cases. So it was great to listen to this episode which gives some large scale structure to the Bitcoin story. It’s all about layers, slowly increasing in complexity, and markets of markets. It started feeling like a hodge podge collection of ActivityPub type protocols, but this episode made me feel like Bitcoin could actually be an AT protocol for money. https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/bitcoin-satoshis-vision
Advocating for the future of the open web Ep#316 (JS Party Podcast) - Browser diversity is massively important, but it’s been severely lacking on iOS until recently. Apple had also been making life extremely difficult for web apps in Safari, by blocking much needed features that other browsers have implemented, likely because they pose a threat to their business model. Alex and James Moore have been doing to difficult task of working with legislators to pass regulation to curb this anti-competitive behaviour, as part of the Open Web Advocacy (OWA). Very informative episode, being aware and supporting this type of work is important to keep the open web great! https://changelog.com/news/advocating-for-the-future-of-the-open-web-AQ06
That’s all from me…
Best reguards,
Mark
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