There are times when I start writing these articles, and I suddenly think to myself, oh shit. I think I have bitten off more than I can chew. This is one of those moments, and against my better judgment, I have decided to try to get through it. Bear with me.

I have so many thoughts floating around that empty space balanced above my neck. And I have so many fleeting side conversations, some more in-depth and others that come to me during the day. Their existence is only in that moment and they are forever lost if not captured. So, I have been trying to write down many of these thoughts and ideas in any way I can, even if they turn into nothing. I’m sure I could be more diligent, but I have to work with what I’ve got, and that ain’t much.

In this week’s discussion, I’m returning to the subject of Internet Governance and how the Internet is starting to become a weapon in International games of control and manipulation.

Last week, I changed how I link to articles I’ve read to make them more obvious and provide a better link for you to read them. As a bonus, I think it looks better. I hope you do, too.

If you’ve been reading my writing for a while, you know that I have become evermore involved in Internet Governance, and I have even put myself out there to be part of the process that, in a small way, provides the guidance, structure and tools to run the Internet as an open, transparent and fair tool for all to use. This isn’t perfect, and those who are involved in Internet Governance would likely acknowledge that, but it is, at least, the best option we have currently. I was on the election list for the ARIN Advisory Council, and the results were announced while I was away. Unfortunately, I didn’t get elected, but I’ll definitely put my name in the hat again in the next cycle. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d do as well as I did, so that was a pleasant surprise.

I’m back after a much-needed short break where I travelled across the Atlantic Ocean approximately two and a half times. Did anything happen in the world while I was gone? 🤪

I was, however, dismayed and pretty offended by the recent comments from Emmanuel Macron (France’s President), who recently said that Haiti’s problems were the fault of Haitians. While any country is responsible for a number of its troubles —and believe me, France has its shit to deal with that it seems incapable of addressing adequately— the case of Haiti is an altogether different one. Macron’s comments were offensive because we know the real systemic causes of Haiti’s difficulties since its independence in 1804, only recognised in 1825. France imposed a “Freedom Reparations bill” that crippled the country financially and has only recently been fully paid off, to the tune of around 20 to 30 billion USD. The duplicitous and dishonest assessment of a country badly in need of help, not scorn, is just revolting. France owes Haiti an apology to start with; then, it needs to do something about the money it stole from the people it broke.

Last week was a shorter week than normal, as Friday the 1st of November is a bank holiday in France, and hence the island. In fact, we have both the 1st and the 2nd, a lot like in Mexico. Many businesses were open Saturday morning, though, and I’ll get to that a little later.

As you know if you read this regularly, I was on the electoral list for the ARIN Advisory Council. The votes are now closed, as of midnight on the 1st of November. Announcements will be made on (or possibly before) the 8th. I have no idea where I stand, but I would like to thank each one of you if you have either voted for me or endorsed me on the elections site.

The current climate on the island continued this week with several incidents of violence and general unrest. For me, I was pretty much holed up all week as a barricade in two areas persisted, and it was not practical to pass during the week. I could only get some provisions from the island’s commercial centre late Friday afternoon. Things seemed to have calmed down a little, but the tension is still palpable. All things considered, I should be able to get to my office this week.

It has been another week of tension on the island despite an accord being signed by several actors in the discussions. It wasn’t unanimous, meaning the conflict is not over. This will not be resolved until a much deeper discussion is had and a long-term plan is implemented. I’ll let you know how it goes.

There have been no Internet shutdowns so far, and I don’t expect that to happen in the current climate.

You can find the podcast and other links here.

This podcast is recorded in French, but using something like a Whisper model, you can get a transcript and then translate it into English or another language reasonably quickly and easily.

Show notes and topics discussed:

French

• La dépendance au cloud pose des questions de résilience.
• Un mix entre solutions locales et cloud est nécessaire.
• L’intelligence artificielle est mal nommée et mal comprise.
• Intel doit s’adapter aux nouvelles réalités du marché.
• La spécialisation est essentielle dans l’industrie technologique.
• La gouvernance d’Internet est en évolution constante.
• Les libertés d’expression numériques varient d’un pays à l’autre.
• Les technologies doivent être évaluées pour leur impact sociétal.
• Les modèles d’affaires doivent évoluer avec la complexité technologique.

English

• Cloud dependence raises questions of resilience.
• A mix between local and cloud solutions is necessary.
• Artificial intelligence is misnamed and misunderstood.
• Intel must adapt to new market realities.
• Specialisation is essential in the technology industry.
• Internet governance is constantly evolving.
• Digital freedoms of expression vary from one country to another.
• Technologies must be evaluated for their societal impact.
• Business models must evolve with technological complexity.

My thanks, as always, to my friend Jean-François Nantel and to Éric L’Heureux for hosting this podcast.

It has been a challenging week and not one conducive to reflection or giving me time to think about what I want to write about here. But as this is an exercise in getting me to write regularly, as much as it is a space for me to think about tech and how it relates to our lives, particularly here in the Caribbean.

If you haven’t been following or don’t get to see news from the French West Indies, we’ve been having a week of unrest and violent protests on the Island after a number of peaceful protests seem to stir up a general malaise in the population, which seems to have been hijacked by a small group of well-organised individuals that set about looting, pillaging and burning shops, cars and just about anything that could be burnt. Roadblocks were set up to disrupt circulation, as is always the mode operator here when there is a protest, and several deaths were recorded.

I don’t know. I must have gotten up in a bad mood or something. This is to announce the colour of this issue 😉. These are a few thoughts and are certainly not fully thought out, but I thought I’d put them out there for discussion anyway. 🤷‍♂️

There’s something seriously wrong with Big Tech at the moment. From the proclamations of Mark Zuckerberg (the laughably pathetic Julius Caesar cosplayer) that he no longer should care what he says and does to something like half of the world’s population through his privacy-ignoring “social” media project to Eric Schmidt’s declaration that climate change is bad, but a parlour-game guess-the-next-word text generator will solve it, to Sam Altman’s insistence that his particular brand of LLM is going to “solve all physics”, not that he knows anything about physics of course, and who couldn’t ignore Elon Musk’s Ketamine-fueled descent into fascism and continual abject stupidity.

Good morning. I hope you’re doing well. I’m writing this at the end of a busy week that hasn’t left me much time to think about a specific subject, so this will probably be both short and a little unstructured.

After a lull in activity, it seems the Atlantic is firing up for a busy end-of-season. To remind you, Hurricane season is from June to November, with a peak in early September and a spike in October. I’m looking forward to the end of this season.