Author: Ian Kennedy
-
Raw Power
As we head into the 4th of July weekend, let me share a celebration of a uniquely American pastime, drag racing. What could be more ‘merican than putting the biggest engine you can think of on top of the lightest, spindly chassis that can hold this bundle of power just long enough to make it…
-
My First Dead Show
Remembering my first Grateful Dead concert on the eve of my last.
-
Notes from the (media) party
A couple of weeks ago, I had the good fortune to attend the Media Party conference in Chicago. As with previous, early-stage “what is this technology?” conferences, I found the three days in Chicago a great way to connect with others who are also stumbling around and learning about Generative AI (genAI), Large Language Models…
-
Sports Rivalry
How do you squeeze that extra bit of effort when you’re already at the highest levels of a sport? Top athletes have a competitive streak that they can tap on demand to push them beyond. Having the ability to summon that competitive drive and harness it to drive you to further heights is the secret…
-
Sotetsu Line Tear Jerker
In America, it used to be AT&T that made the nostalgic TV commercials that would bring a tear to your eye. In Japan, a Yokohama train line is pulling on that thread. The Sotetsu line was the train I took to my Japanese grandmother’s house in Wadamachi from its terminus in Yokohama. It was the…
-
Something Different
Yasumura has been polishing his bit for years back in his native Japan. Now he has taken his act internationally to Britain’s Got Talent, changing his name to Toni Kaku and leaning into his mangled Engrish. Don’t worry. . . he’s wearing . . . PANTS! Izumi dug up a video of him from eight…
-
White-label AI Bots
I’ve been playing around with a hosted Chat AI offered by Chat Thing that was recently announced on Product Hunt. Seth Godin has indexed 5M words from his blog [Seth’s Blog bot] and Dave Winer uploaded his 30+ years of daily posts from scripting.com [Scripting News bot]. Both bots are instructive and give you a…
-
Underlined or Crossed-out?
Last night’s episode of Succession hung in the balance on the interpretation of a memo left in Logan Roy’s safe and the collective interpretation of a single, wobbly pencil line left by the family patriarch. Just when you think it can’t get any murkier, the clouds roll in. UPDATE: Jesse Armstrong points out the obvious…
-
New York Media Obsession
I’m looking forward to when we can spend more time talking about challenges in front of us than crime and corruption from the past..