I’ve an ambitious goal for 2023: Write more out loud. I write (by hand) every day in a journal, but that’s more of a personal practice, a meditation. This year I want to get back to writing publicly, and last week, I managed to write four days in a row, a rare streak over the past few years.
I was all fired up to continue my new habit this morning, but my internet provider has decided that it’s a good day to remind me what life was like in the days of the dial up modem. Something’s awry with my connection, and without broadband, I can’t properly write.
No, that’s not quite it – without broadband, I can’t properly think. I have dozens of active tabs open when I write, and I’ll often make on the fly phone calls to sources as well. Cell service sucks where I live, so I use WiFi calling. With these two main inputs offline, I’m stuck staring at a blank page. For me writing isn’t so much placing one word after the other as it is a record of active inquiry, of engaging with the Internet and reporting back what I’ve found (and how it’s changed or informed my point of view).
Fortunately WordPress (my blog’s platform service) seems to work on tiny sips of bandwidth, so I can squeeze this short missive out. I’ll be back once service resumes – in the meantime, here are the pieces that were going to be the stepping off point to my journey this morning – tabs I opened right before the lights went out.
AI & The Big Five – Ben Thompson (paywall). Ben’s been covering AI’s impact for years, and is upping his game as it relates to all aspects of the tech industry, especially chips and the big players like Amazon, MSFT, and GOOG.
Six OpenAI Rivals Google and Microsoft Are Watching – The Information (paywall). Get to know the various startups playing the AI/LLM game.
Social Quitting – Cory Doctorow. Cory dissects the unraveling of Facebook and Twitter.
China, a Pioneer in Regulating Algorithms, Turns Its Focus to Deepfakes -WSJ. I follow whatever China’s doing to regulate tech, and this one has implications for how things may play out here.
I hope to be back later this week – I’m traveling till Thursday, so see you then, Internet gods willing.