The difference between a tool and a weapon is intent – the mind and soul that employs its commission.

I think of this when I sit at a keyboard, for my dayjob, hammering out and sharpening key lines and messages crafted to take on a life of their own, and delivering them through digital channels.

I try to think about this, every time I sit at a keyboard – the input feeder to these engines of attention and distraction. These are a most beautiful tool and, potentially, a most terrible weapon.

Having a daily conversation with an AI chatbot is quite a surprising, and challenging, form of cybernetic Sādhanā.

The goal of the experiment, if there was was one beyond seeing what all the hype is about, is scoping what I, as a human in the broad generalist area of “communications”, can bring to our current and near-future context.

I’ve been viewing life from the inside a Virtual Reality headset a lot recently – maybe clocking in 40 hours per week, for… a few weeks now.

This was in large part driven by recently watching the charming Fallout television show. So, I’ve been playing Fallout 4 VR, adventuring around an alt-historical greater Boston. This has been massively improved with the addition of dozens of great mods from the passionate and skilled modding community.