Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Yes, we're heading back to Barcelona for Swedish Beers! Join me on Wednesday 28 February.

Yes, it's that time of year mobile friends. The GSMA is expecting about 90,000 of us to descent on Barcelona at the end of the month for our annual shindig celebrating all things mobile technology. And thanks to you lovely lot making last year's reunion sooooo good, we are coming back to Barcelona one more time. If you are an executive working in or with the mobile industry please do RSVP. Feel free to share with your friends and colleagues too.

We're back at Space Cowboy as they looked after us so well last year. We'll be open from 7pm until late. No admission after 01:00. We will revert to a pay bar if/when the beer tokens run out. Photo ID (eg. your MWC pass) may be required. We reserve the right to refuse admission. 

The format will be the same as previous years - a relaxed evening, no formalities, no presentations. Please come with an open mind, be prepared to see friends old and new, chat, enjoy a drink or three (courtesy of our sponsors) and have yourself a good time. Oh, and leave the ties, the corporate personas and the sales spiel at the door! There's no need for them here. The Swedish Beers crew and the friendliest bar staff in town will be on hand to welcome you.

If you'd like to support the party by being a sponsor, please get in touch with Helen. The more sponsors, the more beer tokens. Last-minute supporter level options are available allowing you to have your own beer tokens to distribute on the night.

See you in Barcelona.

Skål

Helen and Team Swedish Beers

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Like us on Facebook http://facebook.com/swedishbeers

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/swedishbeers

See our blog for parties past http://swedishbeers.org/

Please note, RSVP'ing here or on Facebook DOES NOT GUARANTEE YOU ENTRY! We managed to get everyone in who wanted to come last year so don't be put off! The queue does move quite quickly. All are welcome to attend if you are working in and around the mobile industry and enjoy a good chat. You may be asked for ID on entry. There might be a queue which usually goes down pretty quickly - Spanish licencing law requires us to keep to a specific capacity. We reserve the right to refuse entry. Beer tokens valid while bar tab lasts. No admission after 01:00.

Tuesday, January 02, 2024

Odd One Out - the Google Arts & Culture Experiment

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." That's one of Clark's three laws, and "Odd One Out" is proving it according to George Nimeh.

Odd One Out is an interactive game asking you to spot the AI generated image amongst four images presented to you, the other three being images of artworks created wholly by human artists.I have no background in visual art at all, but I did manage to go a few rounds without being out and scored 219. It's not easy though. Instinctively, I could spot some of the AI fakes, but they were not all obvious at all.

Of course, humans have also created the AI images. Prompts have to be written and the image chosen to be presented in the game. The software behind the image generators was created and written by humans. This makes me question where the line is drawn between human art and AI assisted art. It's blurred. And of course, this game or experiment has been created by Caroline Buttet and Emmanuel Durgoni who are both Artists in Residence at Google Arts and Culture Lab. Does that also make the experiment 'art'?

Anyway, I'm interested in what you think of it and how you score. You can find it here: https://artsandculture.google.com/experiment/odd-one-out/wAHNn4JsVTFOiw?hl=en