Got up at 9:00 am and headed down to the Salamanca Market to see what the buzz was on a Saturday – the weather is wonderful in Hobart which reminds me of the sort of weather we have in Wellington. They have some wonderful wine in Tasmania because it is roughly at the same latitude as Canterbury in the South Island which has a reputation for producing outstanding Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. At around 11:50 am I walked down to the luncheon to spend time with my father’s classmates but after the function I walked back to my hotel.
After I got back to the hotel I grabbed a drink and freshened up before heading to the supermarket to pick up a 10 pack of Coca Cola No Sugar (I would have preferred Pepsi Max but it wasn’t on special). While I was down there I had a look at JB HiFi to check out the Pixel 11 Pro XL because if I was going to make a decision it would have to be before Monday because on Monday things are going to be crazy busy with the trip out to Port Arthur and there would be no time on Tuesday to do anything because we’ll be leaving to the airport at around 11:00 am. We fly out of Hobart at 2:15 pm however I want to get there with plenty of time up my sleeve.
I’m going to have a sleep on the decision but I’m around 95% there in my decision – I did some research on how I’d use the Google Home speakers with my Mac and I found an app called AirFoil that’ll enable me to stream my music to the speakers using any app on my Mac. When it comes to the Pixel 11 Pro XL and the Pixel Watch – I’d need to use both my Workspace and normal Gmail account because although I can setup the Pixel Watch with the Workspace account the health information cna only be saved on a consumer Google account. If I am going to go in the direction of going ‘all in’ when Google then the Google Streamer 4K is needed as the hub for the Google Home app (the Google Home integration with Google Workspace has been fixed up which will avoid the issues I’ve had in the past).
I’ve been following politics and there has been a bit of an internal debate within the Democratic Party regarding the leadership within the senate and congress. It never ceases to amaze me the extent at which talking heads in the media create drama where there is no drama. I’m reminded of a kid at school who stirs up trouble by spreading rumours so then they can sit back and watch the result of their handiwork – nothing beneficial comes from that other than a week of gossip masquerading as analysis.
I really have to wonder whether such discussions are done in good faith because this is a normal process and I think it is healthy discussion to have. I personally think that both current leaders should lean into the need to have a debate – “we had an election, our party won a majority and now we need to have a discussion about who is best equipped to lead the party for the next two years”. There is potential that the leadership may not change but if the current leadership is put under scrutiny then it demonstrates to the public that the current elected representatives have faith in their leadership then hopefully it sends a clear message to the Trump administration that they won’t be able to peel off some of the Democrats who might have been wavering in their support.
As I’ve said in the past on my blog and on Reddit, Silicon Valley see Trump as a liability and they’re now starting to move away from Trump with Alex Karp being the first amongst many to make the switch (link). Expect more Silicon Valley types to distance themselves and then when Gavin Newsom makes his announcement then don’t be surprised that the likes of Mark Zuckerberg says there has been a ‘vibe shift in the culture’ once more – the recent change in fashion can tell a lot about the image they’re trying to create in the minds of the average American.
As I’ve said, Trump seems to think (at least from what I’ve seen) that the whole ‘transactional relationship’ is a one way street where he gets the benefits and everyone else has to show loyalty. Once Silicon Valley gets what they want they’ll leave Trump high and dry in much the same way that someone will try to win over classmates to be their friend by buying stuff for them. Trump is going to quickly find out that they never actually liked him because the moment Trump no longer has power because he is a lame duck president is the moment the Silicon Valley types will looking for someone else to be around and that has started. Both Meta and Google had concerns about the DOJ going after them and the moment that threat disappears you’ll see a pivot away from not just Trump but the Republican Party in general.
Getting back to New Zealand politics, maybe if Labour doesn’t end up government after the special voters are counted is a good thing. The next two years ago going to be rocky with Trump in charge and unless we see the war in Iran and Ukraine sorted out then I don’t see much room for the government to maneuver. I think the big challenge is the lack of depth and breadth of talent given that their most experienced ministers have failed to win their electorate seats. There is the gradual deflation of the AI bubble and the hundreds of billion that has been committed to it with many of the funds coming from insurance and pension funds.
Regarding the recent push by both major parties (National and Labour) for age restrictions on social media (from what I see they haven’t defined what is and isn’t social media) it appears to be a something thas has been manufactured by the media. We see the likes of Haidt and many others pushing this policy then to make matters worse the media (at least in Nee Zealand) became cheerleaders for the policy – acting as PR for the policy rather than taking an impartial stance by reporting the pros and cons of such a policy.
How do we know the media has been promoting rather than report? how about the fact that the whole age verification policy is going to be a massive drag net because the only way to make it work is to age verify everyone. From the teenager at high school all the way through to Gertrude the pensioner who is using Facebook to share knitting and cooking recipes with her friends online. Yes, there are issues with young people and social media but the solution is teaching media literacy at school and providing wrap around mental health support. Why don’t they do that? because such solution isn’t exciting or glamorous when compared to having a draconian ban or restriction.
If one was conspiracy theory minded one might think that it is an orchestrated plan by the media to make the burden so high that people stop getting their news from social media and instead return into the media company’s website instead. If you’re going to have to verify your age then how many are going to walk away from social media altogether because they don’t see it as worth their while going through the process of age verification. I’m no fan of AI for example but lets say it extends to Google search “no AI summaries provided unless there is age verification” – how many media companies will be happy to see customers forced to go to their website rather than relying on summaries?
I’m not exactly pro-AI but I’m also not going to assuming that the media are doing what they’re doing for altruistic reasons. I am reminded of the movie “Thank you for smoking” where there was the line “everyone has a mortgage to pay..” what are the incentives in place and follow the money. Personally I think that AI is having damaging impact on media ecosystem at large – even though I have my criticisms of the media I am also aware of the fact that good media outlets such as 404 Media, The Intercept and many others have had their business mode undermined by AI summaries and unlike the bigger media companies they don’t have an array of other markets to subsidise their news division.
Anyway, before I head off to sleep tonight here is a great piece of investigative journalism by ‘Gamers Nexus’.
