Category: creative writing

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Artist’s Diary: Anneli Berglund

Happy Saturday. Believe it or not, it’s been almost 9 years since I started this blog and this is my first Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Of course, I’m going to bend the rules by introducing Swedish fine artist and graphic designer, Anneli Berglund. In this post, she talks about her soon-to-be released Wabi Sabi Noir generative art project. I hope you enjoy her work as much as I do. She is truly stylish.

$$$$$$

Hello, I’m Anneli, here to tell you about my day. This morning I got up, put on some coffee, and sent the children to school. Then I went to watch a tutorial made by Goblin on YouTube, about how to deploy a generative collection on LaunchMyNft, an NFT platform I am using for my most recent art project.

Before that, I had self-destructed the same collection’s profile page on Foundation. Now, I’m setting up everything on this new platform. So, uhm, follow me on Instagram?

After gathering the information I needed from the tutorial, it was time to press “self-destruct” on Foundation.

In a storm of energy two days ago, I put up a brand new collection of art there. But after exchanging a couple of emails with Foundation Support, I realized I didn’t have a service to help randomize my design elements.

So I had to press the self destruct-button. It happened pretty fast. At first, I felt a little scared. Then, it felt like a cool James Bond movie moment. In truth, I regretted having to spend transaction fees on something I had to burn only two days later.

And now it’s afternoon. The kids will be home in an hour, but I have very little food in the fridge. So I’m thinking egg sandwiches should be fine? I’m still staring at my screen, waiting to add my new artwork to the Ethereum blockchain.

But I see that the transaction fees have gone through the roof. It’s going to cost $90 to mint the collection. That is too much. I’m low on ETH and need every bit of it to push out my work, especially because there’s no real guarantee it will sell.

My reach on all social media is crap right now because I refuse to play by the Algorithm Rules. It’s not a provocative choice; this is how I’m wired. I’m a busy woman, a full time artist and full time mother, and I will not post everyday nonsense to appease current technology. It’s built by greedy humans anyway, if you ask me.

Lately I’ve been looking at a decentralized social media app. I was told I’d get a spot on that app but, it’s still in beta.

Looking at my screen again, and the transaction fees are now between $63 and $68. It was down to $25 just a few days ago. Maybe I chose a bad time to do this, but I don’t have much time to sit in front of a screen later today. I really want to launch this collection on March 23 because the date will be 2023/3/23.

See what I did there?

The date itself is not special. I saw a bunch of 23s somewhere and decided March 23 was a good date. I work intuitively, much like when I decided to deconstruct my earlier ink works and put them back together again as unique characters. I call my characters “inklings.” And I have called the collection Wabi Sabi Noir. I guess a lot of what I do seems impulsive, but it’s working for me.

Ah! It’s getting late, and I have to wash my hair. Maybe the transaction fees will go down by the time I’ve finished? Fingers crossed.

Sending ….

God! Twitter removed all the spacing. What a horrible block of text – ha ha ha ha. I am literally heading into the shower now. See you around!

Follow Anneli Berglund on Twitter
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Writers’ Lift: AI integration in Google Workspace

Some exciting news was announced yesterday about generative AI integration in Google Workspace. Most of you might already be familiar with this paid set of apps used to manage a business. We already have access to a free version of the apps through our Google accounts. The workspace suite allows more functionality and comes with pricing options.

Dear Lord, let it be cheap. What I’m truly excited about is the prospect of having AI tools to help me research my writing projects. My second book is already finished and is waiting to be published. The plot itself was simple, and the story timeline was relatively uncomplicated. However, I needed to take the entire 2022 off to battle the great zombie apocalypse at work.

And even though it was challenging, I managed to get my writing done and produce two musical albums to go with the story. For this second novel, what was especially challenging was the research. In my Google Docs, I have a small book’s worth of research on the story. Of course, I love inventing new place names and designing interiors. I also have a wiki about the rules of interactions and laws of the fictional country in which the story is situated. It was also relatively straightforward to design a wave-powered yacht which has a floating indoor farm. But that wasn’t the most challenging part of the research.

This is a romantic story, which is not in my wheelhouse. In order for the story to work I needed a convincing pathogen, a test for that pathogen, and a treatment. Then I also needed a bunch of legal proceedings to distract my protagonist from his love interest. In other words, I had to leave the actual dialogue and chase rabbits down rabbit holes. One particular rabbit hole from which I recently got sprung was in YouTube.

I was fully immersed in some pop culture commentary. One of my protagonists is obsessed with social media. She knows what celebrities have for breakfast, but she thinks she’s better than they are because she doesn’t post countless photos of herself online. I needed to know how she spun her thoughts in her private moments, and I wanted to know what ticked her off. She was pretty irritated for most of the story, and she was using social media as a distraction from what was really bothering her.

I’m not writing about myself, I’m writing about a character. And I might have broken my brain. While I’m rehabilitating, I am creating a plan for how I’ll use the AI tools embedded in Google Docs to write about a much more complex character, Hurricane Nisto, in my third novel. It would be nice to fully flesh out her “voice” using the rules I created in the treatment for the story.

I had a plan to run off to Antarctica to write that story (already started) because that’s where everything happens. But I’m hoping I will be able to access the AI integrated suite for a very affordable price by the time I’m ready to continue working on it. I might not have to travel at all.

Thank you for reading. I’m more than happy to hear about the projects that you’re working on. I have been trying to find your blogs but not sure if I’m meant to comment or not. Please let me know how I can support you. If you find some of my comments in your spam folders, please be kind enough to fish them out for me. Best wishes.

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Political neutrality is for OnlyFans: Artists should lead with their values

Geisha Collection

Political neutrality is for OnlyFans and if you’re not on there, you need to lead with your values. The latest buzzword in marketing is “values-based marketing”. That is, showcasing your work in a way that appeals to your customers’ values. It’s everywhere – content creators on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook infuse their titles with their opinions. And I want to share my thoughts on why doing this is good for you. 

The other day, I read a report about Donald J Trump being called a p***y a** b***h by Chrissy Teigen on Twitter and almost having her account shut down by the White House. Not a fan of hers and this post is not about her. But I thought it was really important for artists to not be wishy-washy about expressing our values in a public space. 

Back to the bones

Living and breathing our values builds trust and that in turn helps our audience to find us. We should take a position on certain matters. Our audience wants to know what we think because they want to know why they are supporting us. 

Political neutrality refers to the idea that an individual should not promote a particular political ideology or agenda. A position like this is certainly appropriate for public institutions such as the judiciary, law enforcement agencies, and civil service. These institutions must maintain fairness and objectivity in decision-making. They are expected to work without bias towards any particular political party or agenda.

Sold out geisha collection from artist Pinxx
Geisha

However, for artists in a commercial space, achieving complete political neutrality should feel unnatural, because our personal or ideological leanings directly influence our work. Naturally, the main disadvantage of being politically neutral is lack of advocacy. By remaining politically neutral, we may miss opportunities to gain support for causes or policies that we believe in.

As artists, we have the means to express ideas in ways that will appeal to a wide cross section of society. If a cause or policy is in the public interest or if there are vulnerable groups who are affected, we should speak up. Being an artist is a privilege and we must always remember the advantages that creative expression affords us. 

Sharp shooter - 3D portrait
Sharp Shooter

According to recent business research, being politically neutral may prevent us from making good business decisions. One negative consequence of fence-sitting is perceived lack of accountability. Political neutrality is often a way to avoid making tough decisions. An audience will notice that. This can be particularly problematic for a highly visible brand. Quite a number of popular artists have been criticised because of their decision to remain silent on matters that their audiences care about.

Remember the Balenciaga ad scandal? Celebrities were called out for not speaking against the inappropriate presentation of children in that infamous ad campaign. And Taylor Swift got pummelled by her fans for not speaking up when the United States was politically split down the middle.

Geisha 3D artwork
Geisha

This brings me to my concern that in the wider society, political neutrality is a type of privilege. For example, some people want to signal that they are comfortable within the status quo. They can use neutrality to look away from people who are being marginalised or exploited. Or, neutrality could be a mask they use to hide their true beliefs while lobbing rhetorical salvos at their ideological opponents.

Many artists will avoid sharing their values or taking a political stance. It is natural to be scared of being called names on social media. But if your values are beneficial to society, being opinionated is good for everyone. Here are some ideas you can think about:

Portrait in 3D format
Back to the bones
  1. Expressing values and beliefs: We often have deeply held values and beliefs about social, economic, and political issues. Taking a political stance allows us to support causes and policies that align with those values and beliefs. We gain support in return and build communities as a result. 
  2. Participating in democracy: Participating in the democratic process doesn’t only mean voting. It means having a say in how society is governed. By engaging in political discourse, voting, and advocating for causes, we can help shape public policies and decisions that affect our lives and the lives of others. That’s the power of influence and how it should be used. 
  3. Making a difference: By taking a political stance and advocating for causes and policies that align with their values, artists can make a positive difference in the world and contribute to social and political change. Isn’t “changing the world” why we are all here? 
  4. Holding leaders accountable: By taking a political stance, and publishing our beliefs in the public domain, we can hold elected officials and other leaders accountable for their actions. This can help ensure that leaders are responsive to the needs and interests of their constituents and are held accountable for any negative impacts of their policies.

Taking a political stance does not necessarily mean aligning yourself with a political party or ideology. Instead, it means advocating for specific causes that you believe will have a positive impact on society.

If there is a cause that you feel passionate about, gather your thoughts and do some research. Reach out to others who have similar ideas. If your present audience does not agree with your stance, then be grateful for the chance to attract new supporters. I hope that you are fortunate, because then you will find that yours is the voice everyone has been waiting for.

Notes: Artwork for this post was generously provided by my fabulous friend, UK based 3D artist Pinxx. You can follow her on Instagram and keep up with her latest posts. And collect her artwork on Makers Place (ETH) or Objkt (tez). You’ll be happy you did. Thank you and have a fabulous week ahead.

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Content moderation at Elon Musk’s Twitter


Forget the Twitter Files, citizen journalism, or profit-sharing for creators. Elon Musk’s Twitter has one priority, and that is Elon Musk. It appears that he bought the company so he could broadcast his message without interference from legacy media. And it is possible, and this is only a theory, that he bought it because he wants to own a recognised media brand. I’m thinking of his 15-year feud with Jeff Bezos, who owns the Washington Post. 

The majority of legacy media is against Elon Musk because they know that Twitter has given the power back to people with its no-biased censorship.

Twitter takeover has changed the media forever – for the good. @elonmusk

Originally tweeted by DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) on January 29, 2023.

People think Musk wasted $44 billion ‘on an app’. It is not an odd choice when you realise that he has paid about $119.56 per user so that he can freely promote his businesses to them. (That figure is based on 368 million unique monthly users). 

If you’re on Twitter, what does content moderation look like? The latest change is that the smart technology has been showing you more posts from accounts you don’t follow. If you’re Elon Musk, your tweets will be shown to potentially 368 million unique users. But in reality, they are being shown to lots of people who will simply scroll past. Because of these changes, your follower count doesn’t matter as much as it used to. Engagement is key to content moderation. 

And though this reality is clear, content management is still incredibly frustrating. The ideas I shared in my earlier posts are still useful. In fact, they are more relevant now that the platform is focused on ‘real people talking to each other’. In light of certain new developments, I want to share some ideas and strategies that will help you to optimise your presence on the platform. 

Let’s focus on content moderation. Content moderation on Twitter is still facilitated by smart technology, or machine learning systems. But after Elon Musk fired more than 50% of the tech staff, the remaining staff have needed to make adjustments. They need time to write millions of lines of code in order to trial Musk’s hare-brained ideas, or to write useless reports for one of his lackeys. Then, they need to work overtime to press the “undo” button 10,000 times after trials are met with backlash. 

Perhaps their efficient retasking of the smart technology (by making it ultra sensitive) has led to more intense sorting of tweets, keywords, and accounts into silos. Silos are groups of accounts or tweets, based on keywords and common areas of interest. Read more on how sentiment analysis software helps make those decisions.

The system was always sensitive to your scrolling actions. Even a momentary pause is noticed by the software. And it reads your direct messages. Quite a number of people believe that direct messages are “unseen”. And they would be wrong. Everything you type, either in a public tweet, or in a direct message, helps the system to make decisions about the standing of your account. 

One other priority for the smart tech is to eliminate spam. The system is trained to filter out spam aggressively. Musk wants more organic views from your account, and if the system is overwhelmed by spam, you will not see his tweets. 

Twitter owner Elon Musk tweeted out this dot which generated news headlines and over 52 million views.

Based on observations of user accounts, the best way to get added to a spam list is to send lots of private messages to tweeters who don’t reply back. Other actions? Overtweeting, tweeting the same media (image, GIF, video) multiple times in a day, or replying to tweets and not getting a reply back. These are some actions which are read by the system as either “not engaging with other accounts” or “tweeters don’t like this account”. 

Remember what I said about accounts getting siloed? If your account (A) does any of the above actions and engages with another account (B), this account (B) will be flagged as, “account B is attracting spam accounts like A.” Then, people engaging with B’s tweets will be added to a list marked “accounts interacting with this account B which is in the group with account A”. This is a weird chain reaction that has affected a lot of perfectly legitimate accounts. And it’s unfair.

The phenomenon of people locking their Twitter account with the hope that it will improve engagement is a strange phenomenon. They’re performing a digital ritual to make themselves seen. Doing a little rain dance, but they’re trying to summon views instead of precipitation.

Deprived of any meaningful power, people have become convinced their only influence lies in the visibility of their content. So of course they’re willing to try these little tricks and quasi-spells to spread their content and maximize their power.

Originally tweeted by Travis View (@travis_view) on February 1, 2023.

Recently, quite a few tweeters (including me) have tried locking our accounts to test the idea that our tweets would be further boosted among our subscribers. This worked very well, but it is a glitch and only a temporary fix. Fortunately, I have tested more reliable ways for you to fix your engagement. They’re presented here in no particular order.

  • Block spam accounts as soon as they follow you. Or, remove their follow from your settings on the desktop device/web browser. Do not unfollow many accounts at once, as this will look spammy. Go slowly.  
  • If you already get lots of engagement on your tweets, start restricting replies to people you follow. This will prevent bots from leaving comments on your tweets. Again, bot replies will make your account look spammy if you don’t hide them. 
  • Reply to everyone who comments on your tweets. 
  • Ask subscribers to turn on notifications for your tweets. Only ask for this if you don’t tweet every 10 minutes. Imagine hundreds of people rage blocking you for constantly interrupting them. You will feel bad, so think twice about this. 
  • Use the “following” tab to find active users. Reply to their tweets and invite a response. After 4 – 6 hours, go to your profile and delete replies (and tweets) that received no views or likes. Some people you follow are too busy to reply because they are busy tweeting. You can tell by the cascade of consecutive tweets (not part of a thread) that show up in your feed.
     
  • Ask more of your followers to subscribe to your blog (because you have one). And remind them to keep up with you that way. Remember that owning your own domain is the best engagement hack ever. 

Twitter is in utter chaos at the moment, but remember that it is a private company devoted to serving its owner’s emotional needs. He needs a breathtaking amount of attention. When I was writing notes for this post, he had posted a dot to his timeline, and it has already generated 52 million views. We are all enablers at this point. And until Elon Musk decides to let someone new play with his joystick, he will remain our fiercest competitor. 

Postscript: February 10, 2023. Another day, another dot tweet. If it is not yet obvious that Mr Musk seeks validation in Twitter engagement (views, likes, retweets, comments), here you go. When the personality decides what the algorithms will prioritise, it is helpful to focus on what is driving the person’s behaviour.

Update: February 11, 2023. Article on Elon Musk throwing a tantrum over low view counts for his tweets. Underscores the purpose of the “point” tweets. And I reiterate the point I made in the beginning of this post – Musk’s motivation is to get attention. Quite a lot of system errors, glitches and outages are caused by the lack of staff to monitor servers that run the platform. But a qualified engineer was fired for not saying what the boss wanted to hear. People are right to focus on the man himself if these are his priorities.

Update: February 15, 2023. Daily Beast is reporting (from a report on Platformer) that Elon did actually mess with Twitter algorithm to juice his own numbers. Adding this here because I was told that Mr Musk’s personality had NOTHING to do with navigating the algorithm. In other words, my initial analysis, which is that Mr Musk’s plan was to use Twitter to poke the eyeballs of all active users on the platform, was correct. And this would be obvious to anyone paying attention to his tweets (like this one his tech staff jacked up to 55 million impressions). At this point being part of this billionaire’s glorification milk tea party is really a choice to remain uninformed. And in response to allegations, here is the tweet from Mr Musk’s account acknowledging that he ordered his staff to mess with the algo so everyone would see his tweets in their feed. I find this quite disgusting.

Update: February 28, 2023. This drama keeps devolving and I’m here for it. I thought mansplaining had died out with the #metoo era but apparently dinosaurs/throwbacks still roam the earth. This is why I’m adding more evidence that Elon Musk, owner of Twitter, is a giant asshole and this directly affects how Twitter operates. And here we are, look at how he unceremoniously fired the staff who pledged their allegiance. One executive slept on the office floor to deliver the impossible and help him save face after he bought Twitter and made it weird. He fired her, too. But not before doing an informal peer review and destroying the Slack channels which helped the engineers to troubleshoot problems. There are now fewer than 1800 people working at the company and that means, like I said, the machine learning software (smart technology) is mostly running the platform. Therefore, tweeters must be careful about triggering the protocols that will get their accounts shadowbanned or siloed.

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How to market your novel with music

West Port: Intro to Songs for Maitheland (Part I)

Hello, everyone. It is time for another adventure in “how do I market my second novel”. My second fiction novel, which I am calling Maitheland, is wrapped. And, as you know, I have been working on this novel for some time.

The story takes inspiration from romantic flash fiction I wrote for this blog eight years ago. I decided to repackage the story and make one of the main characters a nephew of King Cordial from The Quarter Percent. This time around, I plan to promote the novel with music.

I took my time to finish writing the novel because I had to relaunch, promote, and relaunch my startup again. During that time, social audio became an adventure and I made lots of great connections through this new medium. Some of my new colleagues have been featured here on this blog.

Photo by Maisie Kane

Sidebar: Speaking of social audio, now that Elon Musk owns Twitter, if you’re not on there, kindly dust off your accounts and hop in now because the popcorn drama is on every hour. Not even journalists, clamping their eyeballs on their phone screens, can keep up.

On Thursday morning, Elon cohosted a Twitter Space. A day later, I read a news report that the host, Robin Wheeler, and cohost, Yoel Roth had quit. About two hours after I scheduled this post, I see a tweet from Robin saying that she was still at Twitter. That was too fast. The space was recorded, so you can listen in.

And now, back to promoting my novel. You may remember that my attempts at promoting my first novel, The Quarter Percent, were pure drama. This time, music has been my focus.

Why music? Aren’t you only supposed to read a novel? I wanted to create an immersive experience for readers. The story is sensual and moody, and I think that listeners will appreciate that. There are also lots of soundtrack music fans out there. And I have my own playlist I listen to when I want to concentrate. That is why why I thought this idea would work.

Photo by Marcelo Chagas

After producing a suite of classical tracks for one scene in the novel, Maitheland, I thought about creating EDM tracks related to the story. But as I contemplated the expense of hiring a new team, I asked Google if AI could generate music for me.

The answer was yes, and that was how I found the platform Boomy. Over the course of two days, I created five songs. If you go to my Vimeo channel, you can hear five tracks in the easy listening, loopy style that is really popular on YouTube.

How does all this help with marketing my book and other creative projects? Simply put, presence, exposure, and traffic. My plan is to take advantage of Boomy’s role as my distributor. The platform will submit my work to all of these streaming services:

Rolling hills and river in Iceland, the physical location for my fiction work, Maitheland.
Natural scene from Maitheland

… Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Amazon, Google Music, YouTube Music, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Shazam, 24/7, 7 Digital, 8Tracks, Akazoo, Alibaba Music, Amie, Audiomack, AWA, Deezer, EOS, iHeartRadio, iMusica, Kanjian, KKBox, Line Music, Leeway, MediaNet, RealNetworks, NetEase, Neurotic Media, RX Music, Saavn, Slacker, SoundExchange, Tencent Music, Aspiro, TouchTunes, UMA Music, Yandez, and Zvook.

Boomy ｜About

Have you even heard of some of those platforms?! In other words, based on the uptake, the soundtrack for my novel is going to be available everywhere. And that means (if I have used really good keywords) someone will find my work. Then, if they are intrigued, they will look me up. The first release of five tracks is called Songs for Maitheland Part I. There are four completed tracks, and I am hoping to expand that over the coming few weeks.

At the moment, I am waiting to find out if my music will be accepted by the above streaming platforms. Until then, I am building a presence on Vimeo. The rest is up to you. I hope that you enjoy the sounds of Maitheland.

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What revolution?


Fabric swatches on canvas with makeshift cardboard frames
Fabric swatches on canvas

The Netflix film, 365 Days, is not the worst film ever made. That distinction belongs to the threequel, The Next 365 Days. And this is according to journos who got paid to write nice things about it. The films are based on the series of novels by Polish author, Blanka Lipińska.

According to the Daily Beast’s Kevin Fallon, stories like 365 Days serve an important purpose. They allow us to watch as the inversion of our values play out in real world scenarios. And as we watch the scenes play out, our tablet or TV screens shield us from the consequences.

Sketchbook doodle from Charlie Esposito

Now, I think that as we broadcast disapproval of fan-fiction hot sex, we are avoiding the real hot topics. We might tell ourselves that we are staying neutral on those issues. But there is no political fence, not really.

Based on my experiences on social media over the past year, these are some questions I feel like asking people I am meeting for the first time:

Are you all in on a multicultural society? Can same-sex couples get married if they want? Can people with wombs please get a prescription filled without a pharmacist asking them to pee on a stick so their religious rules are not broken?

Dr. Emily Porter finds that medical professionals doing their job is going to be very frustrating

Neutrality is a nice word that means we are scared of saying what we think in case someone screams in our faces. Being human is already a lot of work, which is why we elect public officials to help us out. Yet, we keep electing representatives who won’t let us get on with living. They create legislation on matters that should remain private; and drag their feet on issues that are in the public’s interest. This is precisely the reason why more of us are speaking out.

With all of that in the background, I now ask you to consider the artist’s work during times of struggle. One of the best things about being an artist is that we usually end up collaborating to start a movement. The movement is whatever we choose to call it. We make noise as a collective, and people pay attention to our message.

Medusa Marie is on Twitter. Follow her for more fabulous visual art.

Unfortunately, the creative space is most vulnerable to interference. Because we artists are living in a society filled with outrage, our worst enemy becomes what we think others want from us. Fear stifles our productivity. But if we don’t make things, we cannot refine our process and become better artists.

Artists are people with feelings, and this makes us easy targets. And people use their own reactions to our relatively benign creations as an excuse to avoid the draft.

If you are a hobbyist critic, should you pack up and leave? Not so fast. There is still time to get some real work done.

Find balance in everything you do. drawing of stones balanced on top of each other.
“Find balance in everything you do” Artwork by MHBB via Twitter

Here are some people who will benefit from your support: Women, children, minority ethnic groups, refugees, the homeless, the starving, the physically challenged, the mentally unwell, recovering addicts and the orphaned. Dial up your voice to the usual strength. Vote for representatives who can help. Keep writing letters to them until they mobilise resources to alleviate pain and suffering.

Fairies are real and help us achieve our dreams as we sleep. AI assisted digital painting by Simply Veronica.
Fairies are real and assist us in our dreams – artwork by Simply Veronica

The revolution calls you to the draft. There is no need to burn your old scripts. Find a new cause, make some edits, and read them again. You might need a change of costume. Maybe a haircut. Or perhaps a 15-minute session on IG Live will get the ball rolling. The energy expenditure will leave you exhausted and restless. But soon enough, someone will hear you. And then, they will listen.

Good luck out there.

❤️

Postscript: Big shout outs to my lovely friends, Charlie Esposito, Medusa Marie, MHBB, and Simply Veronica. Thank you very much for responding to that last-minute request. Keep inspiring everyone with your activism and hard work.

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The Lotus (Short film): Meet Australian filmmaker Bernadette Walsh

The Lotus: Short film by Bernadette Walsh

Thank you for viewing The Lotus, a short film by Australian filmmaker, Bernadette Walsh. It has been a while since the last short film Friday. When I caught up with Bernadette in Twitter Spaces the other night, I knew her activism would resonate well with you. Read on as she opens a window into her project.

The Lotus: Behind the scenes with director Bernadette Walsh

My name is Bernadette Walsh and I wrote and directed the short film, The Lotus. The film tells the mythical story of a brother and sister who were rescued from the darkest of places, and given a future with hope. I wrote the story in 2019, because I was inspired by the work of Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, an NGO based in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Bernadette Walsh and her sister, Kate Walsh

The Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation was founded by Australian philanthropist Michael Brosowski in 2004, when he saw the need to rescue children from exploitation by labour and sex traffickers. Michael founded the NGO to provide these children with the care and support they would need to help rebuild their lives. In 2020, Blue Dragon rescued the 1,000th survivor of human trafficking. Today Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation is still working with over 10,000 children and youth from around Vietnam.

Transforming the lives of children who were trafficked is hard work. And I knew that I wanted to support the NGO in any way I could. Working together with Blue Dragon, I raised funds through the Australian crowdfunding platform, Pozible, to make my film project a reality. My family and friends also chipped in to offer support.

The Lotus was brought to life by sand animation artist, Kseniya Simonova who rose to prominence in 2009, after winning Ukraine’s Got Talent 2009. Ten years later, she participated in The Champion on America’s got Talent. And on Britain’s Got Talent, she was the only act to receive two Golden Buzzers. Kseniya is an extraordinary artist who brings to life moving stories through incredible sand art. Having previously seen her work online, she immediately came to mind as the person who could breathe life into the story.

Sand art by Kseniya Simonova

The other wonderful, creative and talented people working on The Lotus included fine artist Kate Walsh, who created the storyboard visuals for Kseniya. The original music was created by Australian film composer, Robert John Sedky. And as the narrator, my 11-year-old son, Michael, was happy to offer his voice.

I enjoy testing new narrative styles in storytelling. This is why my next film project, Navigating a Pandemic will be testing more boundaries. For this project, I will be using artificial intelligent software to animate pandemic-related data into a 3D pigmented sculpture. I am fortunate to have the support of a high-performance computer company, which is supplying me with the computing power I need to render the project.

Kseniya Simonova meeting with King Jigme of Bhutan

Next stop? Raising funds to produce the project, and I will do that via the sale of non-fungible tokens. For me, token sales to multiple buyers works in the same way as traditional fundraising platforms. Supporters will be funding the project with the proceeds of their crypto investments. In the meantime, I am working to focus my fundraising activities within the community of crypto investors. The possibilities are both exciting and daunting. Wish me luck.

The Lotus has received the following awards:

  • Special Jury Animation Award at the Awareness Film Festival in Los Angeles (Oct 2019)
  • Finalist at the Rome Independent Prisma Awards (March 2020)
  • Award of Merit at Best Shorts Festival in California (Apr 2020)
  • Finalist Mescalito Biopic Fes (Nov 2020)
  • Finalist JellyFEST Season 6 (Feb 2021)
  • Humanitarian Award at the Best Shorts Competition 2020 (2020)

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Curtis Richardson: Rihanna’s multi-platinum music producer chats with Charles Myambo


Happy Saturday, everyone. In this post, you will meet the multiplatinum music producer Curtis Richardson, who has written songs with Jennifer Lopez, produced music for Rihanna, and worked with David Guetta, Tiësto and John Legend. He is speaking with the fabulous celebrity interviewer, Charles Myambo.

How was it working with Jennifer Lopez?

Well, I first started working with Jennifer Lopez before she was mainstream. She came at a time where the world was itching for a breakout Latina star. At the time, its safe to say that Jennifer Lopez was a pioneer, not only in the US, but also around the world. To date, she is one of the biggest stars worldwide, but it was not always this way. Jennifer was extremely hardworking and determined when I first started working with her. She had a day job and needed to balance that with recording music. Combine all that with the pressure of being a Latina entertainer during a time where not many like her were global superstars, and you can see how Jennifer Lopez was a pioneer. To this day, she is one of my favourite artists to work with. 

Curtis Richardson

What are your thoughts on musicians becoming huge without the help of a record label?

You have to understand that record labels are like machines when it comes to artist promotion. The top tier record labels are exceptional at branding artists and giving them exposure to a global audience. If your question is whether artists can be filthy rich without record labels, then the answer is definitely yes. ChanceThaRapper for instance, is independent and extremely well-off. However, if your question is whether an artist can become as big as Nicki Minaj or Drake without a record label, then I have to say no. Not impossible but it is extremely difficult.

The room on Clubhouse

What tough-love advice would you have for aspiring musicians today?

It’s not easy. The music industry is very much cutthroat. You can gain or lose relevance so quickly. The volatility of music fans is simply astonishing and without careful planning and strategy, almost any artist can start becoming irrelevent very quickly. Obviously, you have your Beyoncé, Snoop Dogg, and JLo, who are household names globally and they are unlikely to ever become irrelevant. However, that’s part of the issue.

Fight about it

We have young artists who try and mimic exactly what these huge stars are doing while failing to understand that it took years for those superstars to be able to produce one album without promoting it on Instagram and it becomes a hit. Today’s artists need to understand that the music game costs money, requires time and effort, demands creativity, and also social media platforms such as TikTok and Facebook to promote upcoming tracks. Artists also have to be willing to adapt to trend changes in order to become relevant and perhaps even one day become the trendsetters.

If you don’t feel like quitting, your dream isn’t big enough

Do you feel like a celebrity?

No not really. Never feel too comfortable. You can always achieve more. Pride is the enemy of progress.

What was the most difficult part about the pandemic for you?

I love travelling, and I couldn’t travel as much as I really wanted.

It’s not that deep, baby

What is one major thing still left on your checkbox?

I’d love to travel more. I’d like to explore more of the world than I have already. Gain more new perspectives through learning about different cultures, music, ethnicities and heritage. 

👀

Thank you for reading this interview, which was provided by Charles Myambo. Follow him on Instagram. Charles is an actuarial scientist by day. And by night, he is founder of the celebrity networking community, Team Smooth. Since 2019, he has worked with hundreds of celebrities from all over the world. Team Smooth has a vision of presenting the community outreach of celebrities and some of the world’s most notable names and brands. Their mission is to spark positive change in the world by bringing awareness to worthy causes and communities.

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A gift of birth (W I P)

Floral montage with fabric swatches on canvas

A work in progress. Still drafting the story, even though I am about six months behind in writing. The best part is that this delay has allowed me to rethink the story I am trying to tell, and build more rounded characters.

In mid-January, I drafted two scenes to show faith intersecting science and politics. This is an important theme in the story because the politics are influenced by a religious doctrine. Blending them will be interesting, because I do not plan to make anything obvious. In this untitled scene, the science is explained in a conversation between two government officials.

Photo by Vidal Balielo Jr.

“That was their colossal cock up,” shouted the health minister. The minister was not inside his study, so Sebastian was talking to an empty desk this afternoon. The health minister was speaking from a different room, and he was shouting even though his voice was transmitted over voice activated smart mics in his home.

“Sir,” replied Sebastian, “Treasury does not have jurisdiction over private medical cases.”

“You can revoke their funding,” was the minister’s surly response.

“True, but taking away funding from medical research into fertility treatment would be tantamount to a human rights violation,” said a smirking Sebastian. He was rather pleased with himself. “And may I remind you that overseas investors are plugging large amounts of cash into the research and development?”

“Money, money, money,” said the health minister. “She is suing me for lack of oversight. Me, personally. The research shows that uterine cells never generate fetal tissues even when exposed to a massive cocktail of hormones.”

“It was an act of God,” said Sebastian. He was laughing silently because he knew the statement would annoy his colleague. He stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow because he wondered if the health minister could see his face on a monitor somewhere.

Collage elements, fabric swatches and acrylic on canvas

“An outdated notion,” was the swift correction from the health minister’s voice.

Sebastian rolled his eyes, slightly relieved that his mocking behaviour had not been noticed.

He said, “She is with the Congregation, so those notions are alive and well. And support, across the world, has been universally positive. Also, remember that this is a giant leap forward for fertility research. The value of stock portfolios of biotech investors have skyrocketed. Absolutely everyone loves her.”

“Fine,” replied the health minister. “She is raising her daughter, and enjoying sainthood, but why is she suing me … and the government for the near fatal heart attack she suffered minutes after giving birth? I feel sorry that she had to go through that, but the same technology reprinted her blood vessels that were damaged. She is alive because of us and is suing us? Yet, everyone believes her actions are justified. Especially after that fiction!”

“Creative non-fiction, sir,” corrected Sebastian. He glanced over on his screen to review the article published in the National Gazette, in which the woman recounted the experience of giving birth to a girl less than a year after male-to-female gender reassignment surgery. Bloating, swelling and discomfort were normal after these procedures. She and her doctors did not know she was pregnant and there were no sperm or egg donors. Her doctors guessed that because of the hormone protocol she received, some of the cells in her ovaries had changed to reproductive cells. After exhaustive tests, they concluded that the most likely explanation was that one of the cells moved to her uterus and started dividing spontaneously. The hormone protocol facilitated the pregnancy, and the fetus was delivered at the six month mark.

Sebastian looked at the highlighted text of an email which was opened in another window on his screen. His cousin, Gala of Vale, was the first person he contacted when the health minister asked him for a meeting. She had replied to him with a voice message. Reading the transcription, he saw that it had everything he needed.

“Technically,” Sebsastian continued, “she cloned herself but this not a flaw in the medicine. She is reproducing, which is, biologically, what her body is supposed to do. Ask your team to focus on that argument and petition the tribunal to force a settlement on those grounds. But while you do that, tread softly. Her story is about family, faith, and the belief in miracles. Something that is lost in our world. People like hoping for things. We shouldn’t try to take it away from them.”

Paper collage with 3D elements

“All right,” replied the health minister with a sigh. “And what can I do?”

“Hire her as a special health advocate,” answered Sebastian.

“Even though she’s suing me,” retorted the health minister.

“Yes. Exactly,” replied Sebastian. He glanced over at the rest of the notes from his cousin. “And for the settlement negotiations, you personally offer money and resources only if she agrees to set up a foundation. Ask the Congregation to join the negotiations as an appropriate third party. As health minister, you will appoint an advisory board to represent the Congregation and the biotech industry. Instead of fighting her at a tribunal, we should help her to build a platform and set an agenda for the next three decades.”

“All right, Sebs. I am going to get legal on the phone, and I want another meeting with all of you before dinnertime today.”

“Yes, minister. We will see each other then.”

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A loving me thing: 8 steps to an Instagram turnaround

Hello everyone. This is a followup to my post last year when I realised why IG was sending me followers though I did barely anything. As opposed to the year before. At that time, I reached 300 followers even as I posted infrequently, and used zero hashtags. Shortly after publishing that post, I reached 500 followers.

I have since that point started using hashtags. I also hid reels and archived posts to create a tight, focused grid. At some point, I will take down most of my current grid so I can keep the focus on installations of my artwork.

My Instagram account is attached to Clubhouse (and Spotify Greenroom). Quite a few of my early follows were coming from there because I participated in room discussions. I was also asking people in Twitter Spaces to join me on Clubhouse, and they found me on Instagram as well.

A few weeks ago, I was discussing the above results with a friend, and I came to understand that by posting to my Story daily, I was creating space for Instagram to place ads between accounts. People are used to tapping on the right side of their screens to see new stories, and that gives 5-second ads a place to breathe. I believe that my steady gain of followers daily had something to do with that. In other words, Story is where active accounts thrive, and you raise the likelihood of IG recommending your accounts to people interested in your niche.

By the end of 2021, (CH/Twitter) collaborations with some larger accounts were also boosting my account. Accounts with massive followings were talking about our collabs on Clubhouse and they reposted my stories (about them) to their stories. I have also been mentioned in their IG Live broadcasts. Remember that I am using IG for business and these were my goals all along.

Step by step, let’s review the method I used, with an updated set of 8 enhancements. These are also low effort and consistently applied, with focus on the Story feature.

  1. Share the work of other artists
    First, do for others. Instead of scrolling, think about whether you would like to share a post in your Story. I recommend that you share posts to Story if (a) the account supports you or (b) if the account is somewhat popular. In the latter case, a story mention (using the mention tag) ensures that you stand out in their notifications.
  2. Keep it up in messages
    Socialise via text and voice messages. The more time you spend sharing accounts in a meaningful way, the more you find yourself receiving kind notes from creators in your messages. And sooner or later, you will feel like you’re talking to your friends. Follow up by explaining why you like their work. Be interested in their methods or techniques, and ask them what other projects they are working on.
  3. Follow and share accounts that look like yours
    If an account is doing work that you want to do and it is not too big (over 100K followers), you should try to show that you have something in common. Show your followers that your ideas have been brought to light by another creator. Use the text or drawing feature in notes to make it obvious why you like the post you’re sharing. Be adventurous and you will find support.
  4. Pay attention to accounts with great content and few comments
    When a new post bubbles into view, look for comments first. Then, if this account is familiar to you and you know they will respond, leave a comment. Comments are precious, so offer them generously and try to keep them light and positive.
  5. Check stories and comments
    Quite a few popular creators schedule their posts and no matter how amazing your comment is, they (or their team) might never see it. One way to make sure that an account is active is to look at their Story. Active accounts may be more willing to engage with yours, and this is what you want.
  6. FL!RT
    This is the one time when I will advocate making the first approach. On the account of a popular creative (artist/writer) in your niche, look at comments on their most recent post. Did the post author reply to comments? If not, among the replies, look for accounts that engage with their followers. Come back to the post and reply to their comment. Then, heart some posts on their account, and wait.
  7. Mute
    There are accounts that produce amazing work, but a swath of posts down your timeline two days in a row is no bueno. Mute the account so you can see other posts. Or, if you feel so-so about a single post, hide the post so Instagram doesn’t keep showing more of what you don’t want. You can always see other posts from the account later.
  8. Unfollow
    What’s it like when you notice a live broadcast or a post that seems out of left field? It pays to do regular checks of accounts that you are following. Use the “most/least interacted with” feature in Instagram to check for accounts that are far outside your interests. First and foremost, focus your attention on accounts actively supporting you. From there, branch out with confidence, and bring new friends with similar interests into your fold.

Thank you for reading this post. I imagine you might realise that a low effort method of using social media takes … effort. Overnight, you could have great results, but that’s because you were consistent in the past. None of these methods require you to spend a whole day scrolling. Based on what I have shared so far, create a plan that fits comfortably with your needs and objectives. Never give up on your dreams, the saying goes, but you should be prepared to work for them. Best of luck.

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All Hallows’ Chic

Sylva and Tee Nightmare

Recently collected is the spectacular nonfungible token from Keith Allen Phillips on Hic et Nunc. The blurb reads, “Sylva and Tee – Nightmare. If you wake up to this at the end of your bed, do you run or do you stay? This is Sylva Hattington with Tee Marie modeling some of Sylva’s amazing creations.”

Will be checking my stats in about six hours to find out exactly how many eyeballs were clapped on this image, all 7MB of it. If you thought your eyes were going to fall out, wait until you see the rest of Keith’s collection. (Don’t look.)

And if you want to know the whole truth and nothing but the truth, I was drawn to the portraits because of the headdresses. I love headdresses and finding out these were designed by a woman made this token a must-have. Maybe it’s because I’m such an introvert and I need a shell in which to retreat.

Tea Time by Gimme

Then, collected last Sunday, was Tea Time by Thai artist GIMME because I have a thing for skulls carved out of crystals. The artist was featured in an earlier post on 3D NFT artists. I thought that nothing could make them scream, but they freaked out when I told them I was going to collect this token.

Now, if you want a nightmare story for Halloween, it should be about my dysfunctional love life. Without making a confession of any sort, I’ll give you the rundown as if it were the treatment for a work of fiction.

The story goes, a woman who looks disturbingly young for her age has run away from her gilded cage where she is being courted by dozens and dozens of extremely handsome suitors. As night draws near, she stumbles upon a tower at the edge of her world. The steward of the tower is a monk who has lived there, alone, for nearly thirty years. Seeing an opportunity to have all of his knowledge recorded, he seduces the woman with a promise to share his ultimate secret.

In exchange, she must work with him to write down every miracle he has ever performed. The woman agrees because she is in love. And as she studies his alchemy, she suspects that his insights are pedantic filler. His proclaimed power over the material world could be the stuff of fantasy. In order to save herself, she embarks on a search for her true soulmate. Does he exist, and will she find him in time?

Have a safe and blessed Halloween.

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Greetings from the Metaverse + Twitter (Spaces) update

Happy Monday, creators.

Photo by Anna Shvets

Does anyone remember that time last year, when I was crying into my phone about Twitter? Well, I took my own advice and it seems to have worked. I was miserable because I felt I had to change myself to fit into what I thought would gain traction. However, with this new account, I started out with the intention of doing what I wanted to do.

A musician I met on Saturday had this to say this morning.

Being a person with broad interests and unquenchable curiosity might have helped. After deciding to focus on non fungible tokens as a subject, I had no idea that all of my favourite topics would collide under that niche.

Unlike my previous post, in which I showed how you can get Instagram’s smart tech to work for you, Twitter is tricky. I can only give you generic advice with the caveat that everything depends on your specific subject matter. As you read, remember that I am using Twitter to promote sales of my creative projects, including fiction writing and fine art.

Social audio, specifically Twitter Spaces, allows me to hear from machine learning specialists, Buddhist and Hindu philosophers, philanthropists, musicians, authors, poets, programmers, game developers, actors, singers, tech venture capitalists, marketers, attorneys, architects, publicists, and blockchain specialists.

My work has been to use Twitter Spaces to create one large thought bubble, wherein everyone discusses a topic from the perspective of their areas of expertise. Reaching for a cognitively rich experience has made my time on Twitter stimulating instead of exhausting.

An example of a good bio tweet

In the list below, I will share some general ideas for working within your own niche with the help of Twitter Spaces. The most important principle to remember when marketing or promoting your work on any platform is simply, “Do what works, not what you like to do.”

  1. Spend time on Twitter. Can’t tell you how many times I have had people tell me they had no time but wanted to know the one tweet they could post so they could gain 10,000 fans overnight.
  2. Curate your feed. Do not scroll. Stop and engage with tweets for about ten minutes. Like it, share it, or toss it. Use the “Not interested in this tweet” option and add specific reasons. This helps the smart tech to learn more about you.
  3. Tweet a bio tweet like the one in Sreeran’s example above. Thereafter, when you enter a space, say your account name and your personal tagline and the smart tech will index your account under the correct topics of interest.
  4. Join Twitter Spaces and listen in as a priority, even if invited to speak.
  5. Use your time on a speaker panel to give a voice to your engagement. You may want to say that you have commented, liked, or retweeted a speaker’s tweet.
  6. Support other accounts more than you tweet about yourself. We use the word “shill” to mean “self promote”. Shill for others because as a rule, do for others and they will do for you. If you receive no support from an account, focus on other accounts until you find your group.
  7. Take your time and work consistently. Results will multiply over time, because your diligent effort will earn you trust within your network.
  8. Keep the hashtags to a minimum (2 – 4 maximum) until you meet your ideal threshold of engagement in terms of tweets, retweets, comments and likes. Thereafter, use them rarely.
  9. Avoid negativity. Rephrase your words positively (for the smart tech). Do not follow accounts that are antagonistic towards your principles.
  10. If you must be outspoken, discuss and debate in spaces where your ideas will be heard, even if others disagree. Same rules go for all audio spaces. Keep rants super short.
  11. Quote tweet. Own the conversation by bringing it to your timeline. Bring it up later in spaces and ask for feedback, shares or other engagement on your tweet.
  12. Tag accounts and mention them in tweets with requests for answers. This raises your engagement by putting you on their timeline. It is also a great way to start a conversation.
  13. Consciously disengage. When you disagree in a comment, etc., the person with whom you disagree gets a boost by the algorithm because the smart tech will read your engagement as POSITIVE interest.
  14. Avoid engaging with inactive accounts. Twitter’s smart tech loves fresh content, so keep within a view/comment/share threshold of about 17 hours.
  15. Follow accounts that you genuinely like and want to support. As a rule, I avoid following popular accounts and add them to lists instead.
  16. Any support you receive must be reciprocated. And focus on supporting accounts that give you support in return.
  17. Analyse, rinse and repeat. If you start gaining support from your activities, try them again and see what happens. If a thing is working, keep doing it, regardless of whatever “advice” you receive, including mine.

Remember to try many things. Do what works and not what you like to do (for example, staying off Twitter or only tweeting about yourself). After joining Twitter with a fresh new account on June 19, 2021, my account now has 3107 followers today, September 27, 2021. The final push to 3000 happened last night (Sunday) when the count was at 2992. Thankfully, when I asked for some help getting over the line, my friends were there to offer their support. And that is how it should be. That’s all for now, and thank you for reading. See you in the metaverse.

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Instagram’s smart tech is a loving me thing

It is Saturday afternoon and as I write this, I am waiting for a meeting to resume. Unfortunately, two expatriates seated at the far corner of the conference room are talking loudly about assorted bedroom activities. I gather that the man is gay and his friend is a married straight woman. I suppose they are comparing notes?

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

It was impossible to hear myself think, so I am standing near an open window to let the sound of traffic drown out their voices. And while I am here, I thought it would be good idea to update you with my Instagram goings on.

At the moment, I’m hardly posting on Instagram. But for the past eight days, every 23 hours to the hour, I see that I have 25 new followers. This exact number, at exactly the same time, tells me that this is the work of a machine. 

Remember that last year, Instagram was burning my posts. And now, after two months on the platform, the smart tech is working for me. I was advised in a Clubhouse room, a couple of months ago, that Instagram was doing a big reset. I was also advised to take advantage because this was a once-in-a-lifetime event. The problem is that I am an introvert and going live on video will never happen. Because of that, I needed a modified approach.

Photo by Tim Gouw

Here is what happened after two months and 18 reels, 3 (15-second) stories daily, no lingerie selfies, and zero live posts. I am at 472 followers. My account is growing every day, so I will continue on this path. (If only Twitter were as malleable).

Metrics 

  1. This is a business account. 
  2. I do not pay for ads which means that all of my engagement is organic. 
  3. All of the new followers brought over from Instagram’s smart tech are 85% artists in the NFT community, 5% follower boosting accounts and 10% crypto investors. 
  4. Quite a number of my other followers are from Clubhouse. The apps share data with each other. Instagram will automatically suggest my account to anyone following me over there and vice versa.
Photo by Fiona Art

Posts and engagement  

  1. After my first five posts, I started posting reels in the form of animated videos showcasing my artwork. 
  2. Avoid captions. Only a few of my reels have them. Instead, I tell a story in a slideshow or MP4 video. 
  3. Nearly zero hashtags on posts or reels. Instagram treats hashtags like spam. 
  4. Edit all videos or images (to create a slideshow) in the IG native editor using filters.
  5. Add music and carefully choose clips within the song to match the story. Music choice is the number one compliment I have received so far. People seem to have a positive emotional reaction my artwork because of the music. 
  6. Repost my own reels/posts to stories. 
  7. Hashtags only in stories – limited to one per story and this is always NFT related. 
  8. Follow back as many accounts as possible. Check occasionally to make sure that all followed accounts are active. 
  9. Restrict spammy, fake looking accounts and never follow sales people (crypto investors). 
  10. Reply to all comments and respond to private messages. Delete messages I don’t want to answer. Accounts look spammy if they don’t talk to each other. 
  11. Mute accounts that post more than 5 reels in one hour. These kinds of accounts rarely engage with my posts. Then I look spammy to the smart tech. 
  12. Visit new followers’ profiles and engage with posts. 
  13. Engage with my timeline. Hide, mute, like or share posts to friends.
  14. Join live broadcasts even for a few minutes. Send comments and reactions while there. This signals that I am a real person.
  15. Engage with my followers’ stories by sending reactions and comments. Gauge feedback to these and mute accounts that are not responsive. 
  16. Remix posts from active followers and share them to my stories. Add music, fun stickers, gifs, scribbles, text and mentions.
  17. When a follower adds the above remix in their stories, immediately share to my stories.
  18. Use voice memos or calls where possible. 
Photo by Steve Johnson

If you are interested in testing this approach, try it on your Instagram account. I must point out that I am niche specific. I am an artist in the NFT community. I focus on graphic design and I’m interested in paintings from visual artists. And though I never tell Instagram what my specific niches are by using captions or hashtags, the smart tech introduced me to blockchain specialists, abstract painters and 3D/animation artists in the NFT space. Then, bear in mind that I spend no more than 30 minutes a day creating at least three stories. I also respond to all of my messages.

No selfies, no bikinis, no bare butts. Only plenty of good music, interesting stickers, and artwork to inspire me. Best of luck.

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Weaving Silk

Sculpting with light on the Silk web app

Happy Thursday, everyone. I am having an epiphany after using AI software to sculpt with light. It was an interesting conversation, with much guesswork on both our parts, but I think we understand each other. I am using the Silk web app for a second day in a row. If you want to try from your desktop browser, it takes a lot of tapping around, but eventually, you will get used to it.

Layered

Back to my epiphany. I wonder if anyone reading this is familiar with the hypothesis that we are living in a simulation? By familiar, I don’t meant listening to Elon Musk worshippers who say, “Our world is a simulation”. I mean have you looked at the math and tried to weave a hypothesis on your own?

I have some thoughts about this. The math says that in a complete simulation, the processor speed would intervene in the operations of the simulation. Put differently, if there is no level five of a video game, a genius player will spool for eternity at the end screen of level four. At some point, this player will resist every attempt to gaslight him about what’s going on.

Sainted

Some scientists have taken plant-based substances in order to access the cheat codes and escape the program. They seem not clever enough to acknowledge that they lack the correct plugins to decode what they are experiencing. Or perhaps they use the math as an excuse to go on trips and escape the truth, which is that a genius rigged this game and coded them into it.

Many trips later, they are left with a pile of printouts on their office floors, and no-one knows what they are talking about.

Blended

PS: Thank you for viewing my video installation. If you are using social media to share your work, and your reach is low, do not take it personally. Yesterday, the results of my first attempt at light sculpting went viral on Instagram. I was getting audio messages to please post more. Weirdly, the same presentation had only a few views on Twitter because the smart tech did not show it to anyone. The same thing happened this morning, with this version, so I will have to rethink the “get seen on Twitter” theory that is being sold to digital artists. Glad this is happening now and not when I have something major to release. Have a great Thursday.

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A reel turnaround

Hello everyone. I am sending happy weekend vibes to you. As you might guess from the title, I’m back on Instagram. Does anyone remember last year how I spent three days on Instagram and then spent another four trying to deactivate my account because they kept burning hashtags and deleting my posts?

On Wednesday, I downloaded the app again and created a fresh new business account. My experience is much more pleasant because I’m not using captions or hashtags. Instead, my method for increasing my engagement has been to make demands and threats. This has worked so far.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I get asked daily why I am not on Instagram, so I created this business account to connect with professionals I meet through social audio.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to make friends with someone who works with Google to train business owners to use Instagram for marketing. Thus, I have a strong incentive to not toss my phone out the window.

Instagram’s smart tech is impressive, something Marvin Stone would have approved of. I’ve only been on there for three days, not scrolling or searching for anything, and it showed me my favourite dish: charcoal grilled eel on sticky rice. The person who posted the image also has his headquarters at Starbucks and like me, he has the same drink every time he goes there. I had better behave or that thing is going to publish all of my secrets.

So in one of the scenes for my upcoming novel, I wrote about a social media application that shows only one post at a time. One of the characters, Mimi Hollingsbrook, is preparing for her work day. Because she works in the Royal Household as Baby Pudding’s nanny, she has agreed to keep a low profile on social media. Against her better judgement, she decides to look at her feed, and notices something in a caption from a famous influencer. She has a meltdown after reading it. Within a few minutes, her response, which is full of expletives, gains 5 million likes. This prompts her to permanently archive her account. In a later scene, Mimi is given a taste of power when a quarter percenter asks her to decide about that influencer’s future.

When writing notes about the social media applications I would be using in the story, I thought about reactions from readers. I was convinced that this feature would never be adopted in the real world. However, at the moment, the trend is to be super minimalist on Instagram, with as few posts as possible. At this rate, if I don’t hurry up and finish drafting, I will be publishing historical fiction.

In further news, I have been sucked into the vortex and I am now managing my social audio apps on two phones. One for Clubhouse, Discord and Twitter, and the other one for Greenroom and Instagram. That’s because one of the apps keeps crashing if I’m in audio spaces on two others. (Don’t ask). Juggling two phones might look cool on TV but I’m an introvert, so it does not feel right.

Why, oh why couldn’t I have found a marketing firm that was good at their job? I could’ve been friendlessly redrafting my new book right now.

Please send prayers. Thank you.