Henry Cooke

why am I being followed around the internet by ripped tai chi monks

I have not consciously bought into “the smart home”, but there are some smart devices in here because it’s 2025 and everything has wifi in now. And there is one clear, tangible benefit it has brought to my life: I can turn noisy things off from other rooms when I just can’t be arsed to move.

Moomins are an essential part of any infrastructure

will def keep you posted! it was some conversations I had at Careful Industries' RAI unconference in Salford (almost a year ago, gosh!) that kicked a lot of synapses on the way to this

Shoutouts here to @wesleygoatley.bsky.social for chats along the way and @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social for prompting chunks of the thinking.

Right now I'm just excited that it works :)

Proper writeup coming soon; it's the product of a few lines of thought about how monstrous datacentres aren't the only way of having access to useful AI, and how we don't necessarily have to contribute to someone else's growth strategy by using it.

Also the fans spin up while it’s thinking, which is pleasing. Also also any data getting processed remains under my desk and isn’t getting sent off to giant tech companies.

A barebones computer, built out of spare parts, under a desk. A large graphics card is visible on top.

Presenting: the worst possible (but still useful) AI server! Lives under my desk and does low-ish end LLM inference work. Built out of used parts from ebay for almost exactly 100 quid. Idles at about 20w (should be able to get it down to 4 or 5), peaks at 150w while running inference.

also I have been digging www.minutecryptic.com on days when my brain feels clever enough

Wordle+ | An infinite word guessing game Guess the word in 6 tries. Play daily, hourly and infinite modes.

recreation of the OG (pre-NYT) version of wordle here, with bonus infinite archive: mikhad.github.io/wordle/#daily

Bane meme: you merely adopted tech bubbles, I was born in them, molded by them

my feelings when I see people getting exercised over the AI hype train

like you, this has been a cast-iron, unswerving principle of my internet life since the forum + usenet days

my new jam is playing beloved old drum & bass mixes in my headphones at 80% speed with a massive reverb on, because I am old and my anxiety can no longer cope with the full 170bpm

“Peripheral spotting” is the subject of an ongoing message thread between me & riwsa

aw, thanks! would have been good to see you too, another day!

When the Future Pushes Back Why We’re Designing Escape Rooms for Strategy Leaders of the AI sector walk out of negotiations with business and policymakers, threatening to take their economic value offshore. A pharmaceutical comp...

I wrote something about our work designing escape rooms for strategy, aka strategic simulations. Please come through. www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-f...

Thanks to @scoxsmith.bsky.social @prehensile.bsky.social and @igorschwarzmann.com for keeping the doors revolving.

Folks! Here’s an interesting niche request. Does anyone have access to a really fast video camera (1000fps or faster), or know someone who does? I’m working on a hardware project, and I need to verify something is updating at the rate it says it is.

<dr manhattan voice>

It is 2001. I am fucking about with computers and listening to Moving Shadow compilations in a music player with cool customisable skins.

It is 2025. I am fucking about with computers and listening to Moving Shadow compilations in a music player with cool customisable skins.

important point raised by taller child this morning: why is it that most cryptids are associated with cold / dark / snow? Where are all the sun-loving strange creatures?

BBC: Future of the Social Internet Report A while ago I contributed to BBC R&D's Future of the Social Internet Report, which explores the dynamics of current digital social platforms.

Spoke to the BBC about the future of social platforms: clicks, legitimacy, the alms race, and the collapse of shared ‘now’.

BBC R&D’s Projections: The Social Internet report is out now:

morning team! So far today I have managed to completely lose both my phone and my keys inside my own house and do my back in. things are going well.

heh, I did think that might be one of the options

morning team! what are we using to scratch that Flickr itch these days? By which I mean: somewhere to upload Proper Photos, with some social business but definitely not endless fucking reels / ads / other enshittifications

ME (SOBBING): why can’t functions just return things
NODE.JS FOR SOME REASON: you fool. you absolute buffoon.

yes! Also, the fundamental problem that the thing that you need to diagnose the problem is the thing that isn’t working properly in the first place 🧠

*hugs gratefully received* it’s actually fine once I’d diagnosed the problem and adjusted the tapering curve accordingly. Bu thank you :)

tapering off antidepressants while on Easter holidays with the family: NOT RECOMMENDED. Zero stars.

can’t log on to the train wifi until you fill in a brief survey about the state of the toilets. Just normal 2025 things.

I have a vague inkling someone has one up here, but I’m not sure I’d be able to blag it down to London

Cyborg This introduction to cyborg theory provides a critical vantage point for analyzing the claims around emerging technologies like automation, robots, and AI. C...

tfw someone says, "But who is going to TRANSLATE all this hard theory for non-academics???" and the answer is, "Me, I did it!"

If you've struggled reading Donna Haraway, standpoint theory, feminist theories of tech, or intersectionality, may I present: CYBORG

mitpress.mit.edu/978026254755...