The Good Thing #3

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Big Thing

In recent conversations with friends & associates, when they ask how I've been doing, I always say, "Oh, I'm fine - but things are so weird right now." They generally pause for a moment - almost as though the thought hadn't occurred to them - and concur. 

It's a weird time and it's been a weird year - very much the fulfillment of William Gibson's articulation of the 'Jackpot years': when all our deeds, both bad and good, bear fruit. We already know all our bad deeds (Santa keeps a list of those too, in case we forget), and THE GOOD THING isn't the place for exploring those. This is the place for all the good things that we've got because we did the right things in the right way for the right reasons. And we've got a real wealth of those. That they can feel insubstantial when weighed against all of the not-so-good-things is more perception than reality: humans are broadly wired to be overly-sensitive to risks. All the good things are seen through a distorted rear-view mirror that makes them appear further away than they actually are. In fact, there is so much good thing happening - everywhere - that's one of the big reasons everything feels so weird. We can't tell whether we're coming or going, rising or falling, because - from our point of view - we appear to be doing all of those simultaneously.

The good things are out there. There's a lot of them - more than we credit. And there will be many, many more.

Wonderful Things

To that point, here are three truly wonderful things that have come to light in the last month, from the frontiers of science:

Leukemia cured - From the BBC, a pioneering genetic treatment out of the UK appears to have cured a treatment-resistant and always-fatal form of childhood leukemia. [ article ]

Shingles vaccination reverses dementia - From the journal Cell, an examination of shingles vaccinations across populations in both Wales and Australia demonstrates a new finding - vaccination can slow and in some cases partially reverses the symptoms of dementia!

Gut bacteria from amphibians and reptiles achieve complete tumor elimination - From the journal Gut Microbes (who knew?), research showing bacteria discovered in frog guts can wipe out cancer cells with basically no side effects. This still needs to be tested in people, of course, but it's the sort of novel discovery that tends to lead to more novel discoveries...

Free Thing

From the time I was a child, I have loved this fully hand-drawn telling of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. This version is so outstanding it won the 1972 Academy Award for Best Animated Film. Enjoy!

Recent Things

After more than a decade and 200+ shows, I've decided to call time on THIS WEEK IN STARTUPS AUSTRALIA. It's been a great run. Listen to our final show here.

THE NEXT BILLION SECONDS podcast goes from strength to strength - we just began a series on 'agetech': [ Episode 1 ] [ Episode 2 ]

My latest column for The Register, "Joy to the Vibes" reveals - with some joy - that 'vibe coding' is suddenly good enough. Yet you do need both knowledge and patience to steer a very powerful but not wholly smart bit of kit. Fortune favours the prepared.

A one-hour webinar 'AI in Practice', presented to the British Computing Society. It covers everything we've learned over the last three years:

Which AI models you should be using - and why;
How to engage in deepening, problem-solving conversations with AI;
Agents - what they are, how they work, and how to design them for success;
The 'danger zones' - how to mitigate privacy, security and hallucination risks; Governance, via an exploration of the 'three Ps' - Policies, Practices and Protocols.

The final slide contains a QR code that links to a PDF of the notes and slides.

Upcoming Things

CES!

In less than a fortnight I'll be on my way to the USA to attend the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show. This year I'll be in Las Vegas from the 4th through the 8th of January, doing media coverage for The Register - look for a column on the 7th or 8th of January, a live cross to Radio New Zealand on the morning of the 8th (NZ/AU time), and daily (probably more than daily) shortform video updates on my LinkedIn. Look for them!

The Alembic

On Friday the 9th of January, I'll be at The Alembic in Berkeley California, on a panel with author Shira Chess, whose new book "The Unseen Internet" explores some of the 'hidden' history of the early days of the Internet and Web. I was extensively interviewed for the book, and will be on a panel moderated by Erik Davis, and also appearing with Paco Nathan and the legendary RU Sirius. If you're in the Bay Area, it'd be great to see you! [ tickets here ] and if you can only dial in, get your ticket for that [ here ].

Point Reyes Reality Investigation Center

Join me - and about 90 other folks - on Saturday 17 January up in beautiful Point Reyes, California, for a wonderful evening of food, drinks and music - all around a theme to be revealed that evening. I'll be making a short dinner speech to set the tone. For more information - go here.

Next Thing

May you have a lovely and peaceful holiday season, and a Happy New Year! I'll be back with THE GOOD THING I return from the USA.

Fun thing

May your life be filled with good things!

Mark