Original photo via
Hello all, and welcome to another edition of the newsletter! I decided to add something different to this episode and I hope you enjoy it! I don’t want to spoil what it is, but suffice to say that I will be better prepared next time I decide to do it and can make it more in line with the oral traditions inspiring this podcast.
Cryptic!
The title of this newsletter/podcast is inspired by the idea of how on the way to a world of diversity and weirdness we will more than likely have to pass through one of absurdity and playfulness, and possibly, be all the better for it!
I recently got a laptop (after something like five years of not using one) and a Windows one at that (add possibly another decade to the previous five) and it has been an interesting experience acclimating to the new work environment. I still use my smartphone and iPad for a lot of work and communication, but I have created a Dropbox folder that I use to exchange files between my mobile devices and the PC. If anyone is interested in my setup and which apps and so on I am using on each one (along with my reasoning), you can check out this Airtable I am putting together (will be updated throughout the week!).
The other information you will find on that doc is connected to the slow steps I am making towards disconnecting from various services run by the big surveillance capitalist companies (Google, Facebook et al) and while complete disconnection proves to be way tougher than one initially thinks it would be, I am content with the changes I have been able to and plan to make.
Links
Scale by Geoffrey West
What I am reading/watching/playing/listening to
Wiktopher by Rekka Bellum - “…is a eco-fiction story published online. The story follows two characters, Lupin and Eka, as they navigate the barren lands of the Soronan Desert, seeking food, company and supplies while living day-to-day.” (if that doesn’t get you to click, I don’t know what else will…maybe the gorgeous illustrations that accompany it? The writer and her partner also live on a sailboat sailing around the world. I am low-key obsessed with them and high key jealous!) // Web
New Scientist article on Incan khipu (side note: I really dislike the actual title of the article as to me it comes across as patronising, but the content is good) // Web
An Enemy Within: The Bicameral Threat to Institutional Religion in the Twenty‑First Century short story by Peter Watts // Web
Opus Magnum (beautiful puzzle game by Zachtronics maker of wonderful puzzle games. You will learn a LOT about the programming mindset and systems thinking by playing any one of their games). // Game
Shenzhen Solitaire (as I am back on Windows, a solitaire game seemed apt. This is a gorgeous one also by the aforementioned Zachtronics - also available on Max OSX!) // Game
The Newtype Vocab #8 - Entering Wonderland