Saturday 23rd March, 2024 - Backlash (Issue #156)
TikTok ban, volcanos & the Pixies, Bitcoin basics from 2022, podcasters talking to podcasters, crypto narratives for 2024, AI models vs reality, EU regulation, tech innovation droubt, Apple antitrust
Hello and welcome to my newsletter!
Another season 2 instalment…
This week has seemed to me to be somewhat quieter as far as tech news than last week. There’s still a load of good podcasts though. Important topics in regulation, music, Bitcoin & crypto, podcasting, AI and growth. They are mostly tech related but I’ve sprinkled in a few that I just enjoyed, though they might have very tenuous connections to tech.
I’m still ill. It had looked like the antibiotics I took a few weeks ago had worked. I was feeling loads better, the flem vomming had stopped. But I still had a bit of a cough and occasionally was still coughing up a bit of flem.
Well that lasted a couple of weeks and then the illness returned, or maybe just resurfaced. All the symptoms reappeared. I got some new, more expensive antibiotics, and I’m taking those. They seem to be having a bit of an effect, but it’s not totally obvious.
I just want to be well again. Lung infections and not being able to breath properly are utterly horrible. The world has a different thing it’s going for though, which broadly speaking can be described as maliciously blocking every attempt I make to get healthily. From the pharmacist telling me randomly to “Burn”, to every place I spend time at suddenly having air quality that’s barely breathable, either disgusting smell or unbearably humid, to night time gang stalker sleep depravation, and more. It’s mindboggling.
I’m not allowed to get well, I’m not allowed to sleep, during the night, or even during the day. I’m not allowed to live.
Work on my static site generator has ground to a halt. A piece of software I rely on stopped working. First time in many years. I know I should really have an alternative but since I’m constrained to being on iOS, last time I looked there literally was nothing comparable. The cleanup of all my plugins which was nearly complete is on hold until the software starts working again or until I find a replacement.
I wish there was something to be cheery about, but there isn’t.
You see, when the world gets a bee in it’s bonnet it happens on all fronts. Note that it happened right after last week’s mega synchronicity week. I think that’s a bit of a pattern too. Strange, but that’s what always happens.
Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. Looks like Elon had a mega synchronicity week last week too. What are the chances?
https://x.com/markjgsmith/status/1771119275929219438?s=46&t=bRj2Jcps7ZVVYpFA7ISZ1A
Okay I’m not feeling very eloquent today, so I’ll keep the intro short.
Hope you are all well…
Podcasts
Are we really about to ban Tik Tok? (Vergecast Podcast) - Probably the best discussion and coverage of the Tik Tok situation in the US that I’ve listened to. https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vdmVyZ2VjYXN0/episode/ZmE1NDRjN2MtODRiZS0xMWVlLTk4MWMtNzc3NDczYmFkOGIz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQkfYCahcKEwjo_6aDhImFAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQNg
Clive Oppenheimer, volcanologist (Desert Island Disk Podcast) - I liked this episode a lot. Clive has very similar music tastes to me, not exactly the same, but somewhat parallel with some crossover. Very interesting scientific based life he’s had too. It reminded me of all my trips to the natural history museum over the years. At university I lived very close by, so I went there quite a few times, but though I enjoyed it, I wasn’t as fascinated as Clive. I always gravitated towards the science museum, which is just down the road. To be honest I found all those rocks and old bones a bit dull. I wish I’d been able to imagine how cool visiting and studying real life volcanos would be. Fun fact - all the atoms that we are made of have cycled through a volcano 6-7 times since our planet was formed. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001wgxx
Bitcoin Basics with Odell (Citadel Dispatch Podcast) - Odell does a great job of describing how Bitcoin solves the basics of sending, receiving and storing money. I wonder though whether his podcast needs some updating, it’s from a few years ago. He says it’s better than credit cards because there are no fees, but that’s not the case, Bitcoin does have fees. Also the fees have gotten and are definitely going to get too expensive to use for regular people, who will get pushed onto layer 2 solutions. At that point it’s not so obvious to me that sending, receiving and storing money is as easy as he says in this podcast. As far as I can tell, ideal vs reality seem to be somewhat at odds. https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9zZXJ2ZS5wb2Rob21lLmZtL3Jzcy9jOTBlNjA5YS1kZjFlLTU5NmEtYmQ1ZS01N2JjYzhhYWQ2Y2M/episode/MjEzZTc5YTgtMDcwMS00NTMwLWE5N2EtN2MwM2I4MTgxZjEx?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwiw3oiZhYmFAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQNg
Adam Buxton on podcast rivalry, problematic music heroes, abandoning social media (Louis Theroux Podcast) - I haven’t listened to Adam Buxton for a while. This episode with Louis was very fun and funny. Not particularly tech related, but they do talk about podcasting for quite a bit. https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vR0xUMTk0ODc0MTE4Mw/episode/MWZkYzRkY2EtZTUxNi0xMWVlLWEwN2EtOWZlMTQxMTMxYTE5?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahgKEwiw3oiZhYmFAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQ2wE
7 Most Bullish Crypto Narratives of 2024 (Bankless Podcast) - Always important to keep ahead of what the big narratives will be, this episode has you covered. There’s also a lot of info about crypto infrastructure and alt layer 1s that I found very useful. They list all the major new infrastructure modules. Seems to me that people are conflating the word ‘layer’ with ‘service’. There really should only be 3-4 layers, but everything is referred to as a layer. Some items even have the word layer in their name which I find very confusing. Anyway good episode to keep up with latest trendy narratives. https://www.bankless.com/the-7-most-bullish-crypto-narratives-of-2024
The Model is Not the Territory (Team Human Podcast) - Douglas Rushkoff lays out why he thinks we need to remember to distinguish between models and reality. I couldn’t agree more. As we progress into this AI powered world, especially for those that don’t remember or were not around in an AI-less world, it’s something folks are bound to get confused about. But it’s as basic as thinking you are literally in the map you are looking at. https://www.teamhuman.fm/episodes/287-douglas-rushkoff-the-model-is-not-the-territory
How Europe’s Digital Markets Act is Reshaping Big Tech (Decoder Podcast) - There’s a lot of activity happening in the tech regulation space. Nobody covers it better than Nilay, pulling out the major strands, looking at how they relate to the current environment, and just generally taking something that’s extremely dull but important and turning it into something really interesting and relevant. https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vcmVjb2RlZGVjb2Rl/episode/MmQ0YmUzNDAtOTljZi0xMWVlLWI2NmQtM2ZkZGMyZWEwMTU3?sa=X&ved=0CAYQkfYCahgKEwiw3oiZhYmFAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQhQI
How Growth is Killing Tech’s Innovation, ft. Robert Evans (Better Offline Podcast) - Ed Zitron does get a bit full on Debbie downer in places, and at times I wonder if he’s just reading off a script. Regardless though, often the topics are relevant and interesting. This one definitely leaves you with a lot to think about. It’s pretty scathing towards VCs, and the entire tech industry. We aren’t building genuine good businesses any longer. The incentives are off in too many places. Things are capital led rather than focussing on real user needs. Real innovation is suffering as a consequence. If Ed is so down on tech, I’d love to hear what he things of the wider economy, the state of the global financial system, could that perhaps be a contributing factor to the tech malaise? https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub21ueWNvbnRlbnQuY29tL2QvcGxheWxpc3QvZTczYzk5OGUtNmU2MC00MzJmLTg2MTAtYWUyMTAxNDBjNWIxL2NmMGMyNWFkLWNmMDEtNGRhNS1hZTFjLWIwZmMwMTVmNzkwZS81M2VkMjcwYi03MTQ3LTRmNzAtODFjMi1iMGZjMDE1ZmU0ZWQvcG9kY2FzdC5yc3M/episode/NDM0ODMxZWYtNzQ5Yy00MmRjLWFiYmQtYjEzODAxNjVhMjZj?sa=X&ved=0CAQQ8qgGahcKEwi4la_NhomFAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ
Apple’s antitrust fight begins (Vergecast Podcast) - Great coverage of all the litigation that is hitting Apple from the justice department. It’s surprisingly comprehensive, with a massive list of some of the companies most popular products. One gets the impression that it hits Apple right at the core of who they are as a company, namely integrating hardware, software and services to give the best user experience. The regulators though have a different opinion, they see a different story. David Pierce describes it well: “It’s is actually worse than it was before. You’ve made our lives harder in the name of pretending to make our lives easier. Apple keeps claiming it’s trying to make things easier for its users, and all it does is make things worse for everybody” https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vdmVyZ2VjYXN0/episode/ZmE4MzJhODgtODRiZS0xMWVlLTk4MWMtMzNlMjI3NjJmNmQ4?sa=X&ved=0CAYQkfYCahcKEwj459aohImFAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQNg
That’s all from me…
Best reguards,
Mark
Consider becoming a patreon, any support would be very much appreciated
Thanks for reading!
If you liked this newsletter you might like my blog, daily linkblog or experimental podcast :)
I’m a freelance web developer, consultant and automation engineer, consider hiring me!
Have a great weekend and a fantastic next week!