Ian Fogg

AI SMS Agents for Insurance Teams Cell helps insurance teams deploy SMS agents for their customers. Customers can ask questions, share information, and complete insurance tasks over text, while Cell connects directly to policy,…

There are strong 1990s vibes with this company name and also with the font choice on their website - generalmagic.inc

No, a Sauna Isn't a Substitute for Exercise Sitting in a sauna may raise your heart rate, but it's not giving your body an actual workout—and it won't detox you or burn fat, either.

Who is going to tell the Finn’s? lifehacker.com/why-a-sauna-...

Pinned lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · Aug 19, 2021 Almost three years ago, my editor called me early one November morning. A wildfire had sparked near a town called Paradise, he said. Could I go? (1/13) 0:02 / 0:10 lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · 47m I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I'm devastated. Quote lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · Jan 25 Waking up without power, heat, or running water. (Again.) But the work here in Kyiv continues. Warming up in the car, writing in pencil — pen ink freezes — by headlamp.

A publisher who lays off a reporter whose pen is freezing because she's covering a frigid war zone while dodging missiles is not an editor you want to work for, in a more perfect world

Sam Altman decided not to use OpenClaw on his laptop. Lasted about 2 hours... He gave it access to everything. Then was told he couldn't do that, and now runs two laptops.

Watching the Cisco AI Summit. Lots of major speakers. Sam Altman first up. Stream and full agenda is here - www.ciscoaisummit.com/ai-virtual-s...

Now this is a relatively old study (given the pace of AI tech). But the takeaway is that relying on a survey of people to self-rate their productivity is not sufficient to understand AI's impact. Instead a study needs to measure the actual productivity results from using AI tools.

Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity We conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to understand how early-2025 AI tools affect the productivity of experienced open-source developers working on their own repositories. Surprisingly, we…

"AI vibes" = people feel more productive with AI but are actually slower. With AI, developers take 19% longer to complete issues. But they believed AI had sped them up by 20%. metr.org/blog/2025-07...

Clawdbot Showed Me What the Future of Personal AI Assistants Looks Like For the past week or so, I’ve been working with a digital assistant that knows my name, my preferences for my morning routine, how I like to use Notion and Todoist, but which also knows how to control...

Clawdbot, the ultimate homelab AI agent. Now, I just need to find something to run it on where I can *closely* manage what services it can access (i.e. not a main computer, but something with powerful enough hardware): www.macstories.net/stories/claw...

I think it's more likely anyone interested in US-minimal smartphones will go for a de-Googled Android fork for speed, while working on a longer term solution that isn't dependent on AOSP.

Actually another possibility. I also switched on a *different* Pixel today, that had CalyxOS on it (with my Google ID on microG) to see if Calyx has restarted updates (no). Again, this phone is far from new. I wonder if that could have triggered a new Google welcome to Pixel email?!??

Jolla have too little funding and are far too small. Also, many sovereign-focused European potential customers will be put off by Jolla's history of partnering with Russian organisations

Yes, that could be it — if so interesting that wiping could do that. Other possibility is that it's a coincidence, or related to my Google activity on PC. Is there any possibility that something low level "underneath" GrapheneOS could still remember the prior Android/GMS install & my id?

What I did: switch it on for first time in a while, unlocked bootloader etc & installed Graphene OS, rebooted, and did not install Google Play Services nor did I enter Google credentials into any apps. So I am at something of a loss as to why Google re-sent the welcome email now

Not sure that is it. I've had the phone for a few years, so will have had the welcome email when I first got it. (to continue)

GrapheneOS: the private and secure mobile OS GrapheneOS is a security and privacy focused mobile OS with Android app compatibility.

In other news, I've installed Graphene OS -- but why, given there are no Google services included, did it trigger Google to send me a "welcome to your new Pixel" email?? Information on it here: grapheneos.org @grapheneos.org

‘The powerful have their power. We have the capacity to stop pretending’: the Canadian PM’s call to action at Davos | Mark Carney In a rousing speech, Mark Carney made the case for unity in the face of Donald Trump’s new world order. We reproduce it here

This is an extremely well articulated speech, it's a must read. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

There are 17 Bluetooth devices paired with my main phone. Wow. Fortunately for my sanity only a few are connected at the same time.

Ericsson chief warns Europe on sovereignty dangers Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm reportedly cautioned a European push to reduce dependence on US technology and pursue sovereignty.

Timely: Ericsson CEO warns on the challenges for Europeans to become technologically sovereign. My additional take: Equally impossible for US telecom carriers given all of the top 4 network suppliers are either European or Chinese i.e. none are US www.mobileworldlive.com/ranvendors/e...

I often wonder if the US political establishment follows the Douglas Adams' view of presidents:

YouTube video by Associated Press Davos LIVE: Canadian PM Mark Carney speaks at World Economic Forum

A Churchillian speech.

“The middle powers must act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu” - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE98...

It's possible to stop using US tech. But it would take time due to the extent: Almost every smartphone is dependent on a US firm for its operating system & apps (Apple, Google), similarly with cloud, office apps & email (Amazon, Google, Microsoft) & PCs (Apple, Microsoft), etc.

More on Confer, which claims to be a free private end-to-end encrypted LLM... created by a co-founder of Signal, Moxie Marlinspike confer.to

Part of the response:

ConferLabs ConferLabs has 2 repositories available. Follow their code on GitHub.

So, I asked Confer what models it used. It declined. When pressed, "If you're interested, I can check Confer’s GitHub repository (github.com/conferlabs) for any technical disclosures or model cards. Would you like me to do that? " and then it "worked out" what it was using!

Both book and BBC film have some flaws, but "An Ungentlemanly Act" is worth seeking out for a good account of the Royal Marines tripwire force on the Falklands, and their stand against the odds.

Hunt around enough and you can find the BBC version complete online. youtu.be/v53UT4QuFZ4?...

There are now at least 365 UK MPs with accounts on Bluesky – more than half (56%) of all MPs

🔴 This includes nearly 70% of Labour MPs
🔶 Nearly 90% of Lib Dem MPs
🟢 All the 4 Green MPs

🔵 But only 5% of Conservative MPs
➡️ No Reform MPs

A new Black Mirror episode premiers in Vegas at CES

First 500 mile running year since 2022!! Plus it was injury-free too! Yay!

Facebook, Instagram, X are simply banned in Russia. No US outrage about free speech there—yet the EU is the target. That contrast says a lot.

US denies visas to ex-EU commissioner and others over social media rules Thierry Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, says a

So much for freedom of speech. Alternative voices aren't even allowed into the deeply divided country.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...