Russell Davies

Semi-retiring
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Seasonal gift guide

Looking for gifts, look no further:

Get the audio book of Ways of Being. James reads it himself and does an excellent job.

Incredibly pleased that @audible_com has chosen WAYS OF BEING as one of the best audiobooks of the year. And it's read by the author ;) Listen to an extract here! https://t.co/P5IkBk7SAd pic.twitter.com/vtWIJ0rCWz

— James Bridle (@jamesbridle) November 19, 2022

These are the best cards. Or is it these?

Anne Ward's books are all fantastic.

There's the Kettle Companion, of course.

And, if you want more from the Internet of Good Things there's the Tidey.

 

 

November 23, 2022 in Recommended | Permalink

The internet of good things

Kettle Companion

I was very excited about the internet of things. And ambient intimacy. All that stuff. That was probably naive of me.

Lots of it failed because of bad ideas.

But some of it failed because execution was really hard back then. Developments with phones and bluetooth and everything have made lots of IOT stuff easier.

And the simple, clever ideas are starting to get built again. Properly. Functionally.

Here's one:

It's called Kettle Companion. Someone, let's say an older relative of yours, gets a little plug adaptor thing that plugs between their kettle lead and the wall. Doesn't get in the way, is unobtrusive, doesn't need switching on and off. It connects to their wifi. But then they don't have to do anything.

Someone else, let's say it's you, gets a little kettle shaped device that plugs into your wall and connects to your wifi. It takes a little bit of setting up but that's it. You can just leave it.

The kettle glows blue at midnight. Then if/when your elderly relative switches their kettle on to make a cuppa it glows green. If they don't boil the kettle before 10AM it goes red and you should probably give them a call and make sure they're OK. And, of course, if it goes green you know someone is up and about. It's a good time to call.

There's some additional nuance but that's basically it.

It's obviously only suitable for someone with a stereotypically British relationship with tea. And it could be seen as surveillance. And it shouldn't be a substitute for an actual relationship, you should still call occasionally anyway. BUT it's nice, it's gentle, it's clever. It works because it's very limited, it sends a very simple signal. Someone in that house has recently boiled a kettle. That's it. No one has to open an app, no one has to decide how they're feeling, no one has to declare their status. 

 

November 15, 2022 in Recommended | Permalink

Prime cuts from the slack

Some music recommendations from another place:

Properly interesting selection: "Minimalism in music, German experimental rock, the human voice, ambient techno, indie, hip hop instrumentals and the influence of dub"

Mostly outside genre. Really smart. Pop hits from a 'self taught, avant-garde violinist'.

And from there bandcamp recommended this, which is also mighty mighty.

November 12, 2022 in Recommended | Permalink

Newsletters of note

If twitter is going to fall apart as a place for recommendation/discovery we're all going to have to work harder at pointing out the good stuff. So here are a couple of newsletters well worth some of your subscribing calories:

Converge Guy Moorhouse on design and stuff he likes, he has such great taste. There's bound to be stuff in here you don't know about but will love.

Checksies Anna and Rod on "Ways to get started and keep going on your money journey. Savings, pensions and other money whatnot." Complex things made simple. But not too simple.

Feminist Friday "A manageable number of links (2-3), about or around women and feminism, every Friday. Leans towards culture and history. Usually light on commentary." Always fascinating stuff from Alex.

ustwoeuropenewsletter (is that what it's called?) Nicki writes from ustwoland. Always interesting and properly opinionated, like a leader should be.

November 04, 2022 in Recommended | Permalink

Give the gift of Stack

A great colleague left our team the other day. I couldn't work out what to get them as a leaving present. Designers are especially hard to buy for because, many of them, are choosy about the stuff they want in their lives. Then it hit me: Stack. Perfect. Such a good thing.

A couple of my favourites from my old Stack pile are Irin...

Irin magazine Irin magazine

Irin magazine Irin magazine Irin magazine Irin magazine Irin magazine Irin magazine Irin magazine

And Good Sport...

Good Sport Good Sport Good Sport Good SportGood Sport Good Sport Good Sport Good Sport Good Sport Good Sport Good Sport Good Sport

October 11, 2022 in Recommended | Permalink