October 2022

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Big News 
More chaos for the UK Prime Minister(s). In the space of just 7 weeks the chaotic whirlwind that is UK politics has managed to “elect” as many governmental leaders as there were Lord of the Rings movies. This period of tumult started with the ousting of Boris Johnson followed rapidly by the appointment and subsequent resignation of Liz Truss which has culminated in the appointment of Rishi Sunak as PM. To say it has been a busy month for British politics is the understatement of the decade. Some people, in particular the Conservative government, believe that this is the end of the matter, but Labour are calling for a general election, there are threats of austerity as well as ominous discussions about the state of the UK economy.  I would like this to be the last time that UK politics dominates the “Big News” section of this newsletter, but I have a suspicion that we’re only entering the middle of the current crisis rather than the end.

Little News
The perpetual problem of DeepFakes. Deepfake technology, which uses AI to generate certain types of content, has been back in the news this month, prompted by inaccurate reports that Bruce Willis had sold the rights to his own face.  While it appears that most Deepfake technology is used to create hilarious YouTube videos or questionable TikToks of celebrities the technology has some interesting applications. There are already examples of audio Deepfakes to “resurrect” the voices of historical figures, the digital preservation, recreation or de-aging of actors, and the development of interactive art exhibits.  Sadly, Deepfake technology receives a justifiable amount of negative attention, fuelled by concerns about cybersecurity and their malicious use to create deepfake pornography.  In some ways the technology is still in its infancy, no doubt there will be growing interest in the technology as it becomes more widely accessible and discussion continues around the legality of their use.

What I’ve been enjoying this month 
BioShock Collection. Thanks to a sale on the Nintendo store I was able to pick up BioShock: The Collection at a discount and have spent the vast majority of my spare time exploring the world of Rapture. The collection features all three games and DLC, which have been ported to the Switch and play beautifully, in every sense.  Thus far I have only played the first two games and have already sunk 60+ hours into the gameplay. If you’re looking for a first-person shooter on the Switch I can’t recommend this enough. 

Short stories. Between obsessively checking the news and playing Bioshock I have been making an effort to branch out in my reading and dive into the world of short stories. My main focus has been the anthology book Rogues commissioned by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois which features 21 original stories by a collection of best selling authors. Inspired by this outstanding collection I have also made my own attempts to write a short story, The Rock and the River.