Micro-speculations: w/c 20/7/20

They meet every year. In their club. The founding ‘fathers’. Reminiscing. Tales of transformation. Glory days and deals. Remembering when they were fast enough to pounce. The accountant. The creative turned CEO. The quiet one in the corner: the algorithm. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jul/21/sir-martin-sorrell-wpp-facebook-s4-capital

She was used to the sell. The moment when Speak2aDoc tried to sell her something. Before covid it had been cough sweets now it included masks. What was new was the offer of the vaccine. Those elecution lessons had worked. She spoke well enough to be in. https://voicebot.ai/2020/07/21/how-voice-samples-collected-from-whatsapp-in-brazil-may-help-create-an-audio-coronavirus-test/

He was due to deliver the keynote. He’d sent two scripts, depending on which way the vote went, the virtual attendees would see his contrite or frankly gloating persona. He’d never intended to talk live. He’d set the time aside for talking to lawyers. https://nypost.com/2020/07/20/mits-deepfake-video-of-nixon-announcing-apollo-11-disaster-surfaces/

She kept thinking of those movies: “it’s quiet. Too damn quiet.” It wasn’t fear but more, an uneasiness. It didn’t feel right. Even her garden was somehow wrong. She put her earbuds in and dialed up the Noise Amplification. https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/07/23/1005574/lockdown-was-the-longest-period-of-quiet-in-human-history/