Ian | Founder & Firestarter
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cubicgarden.com
Ian | Founder & Firestarter
@cubicgarden.com
Previously Senior firestarter at BBC RD, emergent technology expert and serial social geek event organiser.
http://www.cubicgarden.com | @[email protected]
Getting hot in Athens - My first full Drift zero mix is now available to enjoy

So good the captain of the plane came to have a look & listen 😅
Getting hot in Athens – My first full Drift zero mix
This is the first proper mix with the Drift DJ Zero while on holiday in Athens recently. It was done over two parts because of a crash with the beta firmware. Most of it in a lovely place in Athens (Morgan All Jeans) then second part on my flight to Barcelona, which attracted the eye of one of the captains of the plane!
cubicgarden.com
September 13, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (Sept 2026)

We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed reading Zuckerburg's deranged superintelligent AI future post, hearing about pagers leveraged for data breach and what could ever go wrong with…
Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (Sept 2026)
We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed reading Zuckerburg's deranged superintelligent AI future post, hearing about pagers leveraged for data breach and what could ever go wrong? To quote Buckminster Fuller "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.
cubicgarden.com
September 1, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Machine readable wishes and the Quantified Self = Digital legacy?

Garry's thoughts of using quantified self data for digital legacy, has me thinking quite a bit
Machine readable wishes + Quantified Self = Digital legacy?
The whole video (17.5 mins) is available on Peertube and now legacy media (Youtube). Small enough for a TED talk even... I was reading through the Quantified Self newsletter and had a shock when I saw my talk about machine readable wishes from #EMFCamp featured. I shared it on Linkedin quickly but not on my blog. Ian Forrester, founder of QS-Manchester back in the day, gave a fascinating talk a couple of weeks ago at EMF Camp on…
cubicgarden.com
August 3, 2026 at 4:41 PM
Digital italic is dead, long live The Cubicgarden

For a long time, I have been known as DJ Digital Italic. However people have gotten very confused and so today I'm changing my DJ name to The Cubicgarden.
Digital italic is dead, long live The Cubicgarden
For a long time, I have been known as DJ Digital Italic. However people have gotten very confused and so today I’m changing my DJ name to just Cubicgarden. Digital italic, came about when I was starting my move from vinyl to MP3’s (yes I switched CDJs because I didn’t like the format for its…
cubicgarden.com
July 26, 2026 at 9:40 PM
Have you thought about your digital legacy? at #EMFCamp 2026

Recently I had the pleasure of talking at EMF Camp about machine readable wishes. The slides are shared from google docs
Have you thought about your digital legacy? at EMF Camp 2026
Recently I had the pleasure of talking at EMF Camp about machine readable wishes. The slides are linked here. The proposal originally was a workshop but converted to a 20min talk in the main stage of EMF Camp at 10am. Death is inevitable, yet our digital infrastructure remains woefully unprepared for it. While traditional "Letters of Wishes" provide a static roadmap for executors, they lack the agency to interact with our complex, data-driven lives.
cubicgarden.com
July 21, 2026 at 9:52 AM
The recruitment agency scam, I almost fell for...

I was sceptical and careful but this is a clear warning to those searching jobs.

Becareful out there!
The recruitment agency scam, I almost fell for…
I almost fell for the recruitment agency scam... I was unsure but just had a some useful interaction with a recruitment agency. Back on 7th July I revived an email on my gmail address, not the one I mainly use for linkedin and lots of sites. Regardless I thought maybe they got it another way. Here's the email... Hello, I hope you’re doing well.
cubicgarden.com
July 16, 2026 at 5:20 PM
Following the discussion about wealth taxes in @garyseconomics.bsky.social's work.

I was wondering what people feel about Ingrid Robeyns‘ Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth.

Thoughts about a cap on how much one person can own being 10 million maximum

blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofb...
Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth – review - LSE Review of Books
In the face of soaring wealth inequality, Ingrid Robeyns' Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth calls for restrictions on individual fortunes.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
July 7, 2026 at 2:12 PM
Looking forward to Wednesday 8th July...
Its time for wealth taxes for the rich.

Weds 8 July 9pm BST is when Gary Stevenson's documentary will air on @channel4.bsky.social in the UK...But will be on @garyseconomics.bsky.social 's Youtube from Sunday

www.youtube.com/@garyseconom...
My Documentary is Coming Out THIS WEEK!! – why you should watch it
YouTube video by Garys Economics
www.youtube.com
July 6, 2026 at 11:56 PM
Reposted by Ian | Founder & Firestarter
Interview today with @channel4news.bsky.social. Watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPeP...
Gary Stevenson says Britain is FINISHED unless we fix this problem
YouTube video by Channel 4 News
www.youtube.com
July 6, 2026 at 5:24 PM
The in & outbound train DJ mixes

2 mixes while on the Eurostar train in June. If you like trance you will love it if not check it out anyway...
The in & outbound train DJ mixes
Recently on a conference trip to Amsterdam for the excellent PublicSpaces conference, I took the Eurostar and it was a interesting experience with the whole outbound ride taking 11hours (its a long story but glad I over spent on food at London as it things get real when the food runs out in the eurostar's onboard shops. Don't get me wrong a journey which should have taken 6 hours maximum gets tiresome once you get to 11hours!
cubicgarden.com
July 2, 2026 at 12:52 PM
Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (July 2026)

We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed reading the rule of the super rich on hearing about gig working nurses and how can we trust the ghost town of W social, let alone our feeds?

To…
Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (July 2026)
We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed reading the rule of the super rich on hearing about gig working nurses and is W social European and open or not?? To quote Buckminster Fuller "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.
cubicgarden.com
July 1, 2026 at 8:40 AM
Reposted by Ian | Founder & Firestarter
With @michael.eurosky.social @elenarossini.com @cubicgarden.com and Björn Staschen at the PublicSpaces conference
June 5, 2026 at 12:12 PM
Whatsapp must never be public infrastructure

PublicSpaces #pubconf26 made this super clear for me, with the people who are actually doing something about it.
Whatsapp must never be public infrastructure
For the longest time I have avoided using Meta's Whatsapp. Recently its become more difficult with more and more services using Whatsapp as there default way to communicate. Luckily my partner has become a bit of a human bridge to some Whatsapp groups. To be really clear this is not good! I'm very aware of the mental load women shoulder in society and relationships.
cubicgarden.com
June 11, 2026 at 10:17 AM
Its Pebble time… 2!

Finally the Pebble time 2 came... As most of you know I was a big Pebble fan, for many reasons but battery life is a massive plus. The Ticwatch 5 pro was doing my head in, because although it will last a day no problem. Once you add sleep tracking its a very different story.…
Its Pebble time… 2!
Finally the Pebble time 2 came... As most of you know I was a big Pebble fan, for many reasons but battery life is a massive plus. The Ticwatch 5 pro was doing my head in, because although it will last a day no problem. Once you add sleep tracking its a very different story. It's taken a little while (just under a year I think) to get back into the pebble way of doing things but after 2-3 days I have forgotten most of the affordances of Android Wear OS.
cubicgarden.com
June 11, 2026 at 8:11 AM
We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed seeing the problems with single sign on, Google chrome forcefully downloading 4gig of a LLM and why on earth is meta smart glasses selling so well, despite privacy worries?

To quote Buckminster Fuller…
Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (June 2026)
We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed seeing the problems with single sign on, Google chrome forcefully downloading 4gig of a LLM and why on earth is meta smart glasses selling so well, despite privacy worries? To quote Buckminster Fuller "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.
cubicgarden.com
June 1, 2026 at 8:03 AM
Reposted by Ian | Founder & Firestarter
more evidence AI “agents” are incredibly inefficient. so much of these generative AI use cases will make no sense when people have to pay the true cost of the technology.
Using AI to click around on a website burns 45x as many tokens as just using APIs
For AI agents, seeing is expensive
www.theregister.com
May 8, 2026 at 9:12 AM
Making the #familiarstrange #podcast is now on #Applepodcasts

Making the familiar strange...

A podcast exploring modern relationships, intimacy, loneliness and love. In an era of hyper connectivity, why does it feel like we've never been further apart?

podcasters.apple.com/support/5570...
May 6, 2026 at 11:19 AM
Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (May 2026)

We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed hearing how Tesla robotaxis being remotely driven, seeing Linkedin spying and fingerprinting job hunters and the absolute madding thoughts of…
Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (May 2026)
We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed hearing how Tesla robotaxis being remotely driven, seeing Linkedin spying and fingerprinting job hunters and the absolute madding thoughts of Palantir CEO Alex Karp, translated for us lay people? To quote Buckminster Fuller "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.
cubicgarden.com
May 1, 2026 at 7:05 AM
Reposted by Ian | Founder & Firestarter
#Techgrumps 3.39 - Mythos only for the elite

New techgrumps podcast is available with @rnalexander.bsky.social @wendyg.bsky.social @eastmad82.bsky.social @mskakapo.bsky.social and @cubicgarden.com

rss.com/podcasts/tec...
Available where ever you get podcasts!

Picture not real / AI generated!
April 21, 2026 at 4:05 PM