What the heck have I been up to? Turns out, a lot.

Week of March 11-15, 2024

Hey there everybody! So I realize that a lot of pretty obvious things take me a while to recognize. Case in point: You all signed up for this newsletter to know what’s going on with me. It just occurred to me that perhaps this is a good place to post a weekly update about, well, what’s going on with me! So to keep you all in the loop on the latest, expect a new post every Friday going forward. I’ll do my best to collect the many projects I’ve been involved with from the week and share any thoughts about the future with you as well. And let me tell you: I HAVE SOME THOUGHTS this week and would love your input. But first!

Android Faithful #35 - Assistant is Consistantly Inconsistant

Go ahead and say the title of this week’s episode out loud three times. It’s a total tongue twister! This is another of those episodes where Android tea-leaf-reading-machine Mishaal Rahman dominates with his amazing insight into the mechanics of Android behind the scenes. He is just so wicked smart. We are INCREDIBLY fortunate to have him on the team.

From satellite connectivity coming to Android, to the many changes in the EU thanks to the Digital Markets Act (and pondering whether we will see any of this stuff here in the US), to the fact that Google’s Pixel 8 will NOT get the benefits of its Gemini Nano for mobile devices. I also give a brief glimpse at the Onyx Boox Palma, a smartphone-sized e-ink device that runs on Android 11. I actually posted a first look and unboxing of that to the Yellowgold Studios channel last week in case you missed it:

But getting back to Android Faithful, we are trying some new things with the thumbnail as you probably noticed this week. I’ve been doing a lot of research on what works and best practices and all that and posed to the group that the old thumbnail design was perhaps a bit too busy. Yes, informative, but possibly confusing to the person who had no clue who or what Android Faithful was yet. So I’m trying some new ideas intending to bring the PERSONALITY of the show into the thumbnail. Also, simplifying the text to feature one major theme or story. Anyway, I’m open to thoughts on how effective the new thumbnail style is. Email the AF crew to let us know at contact@androidfaithful.com or leave a comment down below!

SUBSCRIBE: https://androidfaithful.com/episode/consistently-inconsistent-assistant
SUPPORT: https://www.patreon.com/androidfaithful

AI Inside #7 - The Value of Open Source AI

AI Inside is now officially two months strong and it’s feeling more comfortable with every episode. Launching a new podcast is invigorating but the first handful of episodes can be a bit of a stressful period. You have the IDEA of what you want the show to be going into the launch. And then, once launched, you begin to see the things that work better than others. Then there’s an adjustment period and hopefully, you make the kinds of adjustments that get the fanbase activated.

We’ve heard from many fans of the show that the current format which is more current-news focused works better than a full-hour deep-dive interview. And what do you know, both Jeff Jarvis and I feel very at home with this format. I can honestly say that I am looking forward to each episode more now that I know that Jeff and I can just talk about what’s on our minds as opposed to crafting the right interview questions each week. Very different approaches and this one is more fun in my opinion (as much as I love conducting a great interview!)

This week, Jeff and I talk about the return of Sam Altman to the board of OpenAI after his monumental (and brief) firing last year. Also, further discussion around the impossibility of building “perfect” guardrails for AI and why that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Elon Musk TWIXed that his xAI product Grok would be open-sourced, and we both think that’s an important trend that we hope to see more of in the world of Artificial Intelligence. And finally, dolls infused with AI and meant to act as companions for lonely and elderly people who have no family support. Articles refer to this as “creepy” but I believe they are missing the point.

And yes, I’m tweaking the thumbnails for this show as well. Again, how can I bring the personality of the show into the thumbnail so it doesn’t look as sanitized and, frankly, dull as the previous thumbnail design. I quite like what these new designs say about each episode. And I feel like I’m onto something because I catch myself smiling every time I make these thumbnails, smiling along with the freeze-frames that I’m capturing.

SUBSCRIBE: https://aiinside.show/episode/the-value-of-open-source-ai
SUPPORT: http://www.patreon.com/aiinsideshow

IQMZ Tech

One of my favorite tech podcast people is Owen JJ Stone aka Oh Doctah. During the years that I produced This Week in Tech, I was always delighted to book Owen on the show because I knew that he would bring his sharp wit, hilarious intensity, and grounded knowledge of the world of tech to the panel. In the recipe that was the combo of guests on a TWiT panel, he was GUARANTEED to bring the spice and I found myself laughing while producing more times than not.

Owen just relaunched his show, IQMZ Tech, a few months ago and invited me to join him and his co-host Ryan Pierson to talk about a handful of big stories from the week. We chatted about the impending doom of TikTok in the US, how AI is being used in political campaigns (I believe responsibly), and its working. Also the ridiculous power of modern chips in smartphones and we debate whether the average user has any need for all that power (I think they do, even if they have no clue what it’s doing.) A jolly good time!

Owen wants SO BADLY to get his YouTube channel past the 1000 subscribers mark. Help him, why doncha!

SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/c/IQMZmedia

What I’m Working On

Right now, I have a full plate of ideas. I currently have in hand for review:

• OnePlus Watch 2

• Nothing Phone (2a)

• Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

• Samsung Galaxy A15 5G

• Onyx Boox Palma

And I’m about to receive a slew of other mobile devices which I’ll talk about at a later time. My hands are full!

On top of that, I’m starting to get access to audio plugins that I’d love to give a walkthrough/review of. The problem there is that I have a hunch that the audience for my mobile tech coverage doesn’t cross over much with those who would care about an audio/music tech plugin review or interview with a music technology designer. Maybe I’m wrong?

I posed this question to my YouTube channel and the majority of subscribers said I should post music-tech stuff to the channel. I’m less worried about my most ardent fans watching. I’m more concerned about those hitting the channel for the first time, the people who have no clue who I am. I want them to be confident that a subscribe to my channel will give them what they are looking for. I definitely don’t want to confuse them by intermingling content in the mix that they have no interest in. That can damage the velocity of my channel as I try my damndest to grow it! Anyway, if you have thoughts on this conundrum, please let me know! I do have a personal YouTube channel that I could start to put the music stuff into if that makes the most sense. I just don’t know what to do!

Anyway, you all are so awesome. Thank you so much for supporting me as you have. Let’s keep this train rolling! Have a terrific weekend!