Inspiration

I’ve long dreamed of selling everything (except my Mac and digital camera gear) and embracing a digital nomad lifestyle.

I found the image below on Susan T. Braithwaite’s website. Here’s what inspired Susan to create this image.

As with many writers, the thought of being able to write without the constant distractions of everyday life is something I dream about. Being able to completely immerse myself in my world of romantic suspense, free from mundane responsibilities…

The fantasy of a wee campervan transformed into a roving office also flits through my mind. Imagine jumping in the van and heading off to inspiring locales, penning stories against the backdrop of nature or bustling cityscapes.

Image generated by DALL-E
Image generated by DALL-E

I uploaded it to ChatGPT and asked for a description. ChatGPT responded:

This photograph depicts a serene scene with a vintage camper van parked in a woodland area during what appears to be a sunset. The van's side door is open, revealing a cosy interior with bookshelves, a small desk, and a chair, resembling a compact mobile office or study. Outside the van, there is a typewriter on a small table and books scattered around, suggesting a creative or scholarly pursuit amidst nature. A lantern hangs on the van's side mirror, and another is placed on the ground, enhancing the warm, ambient glow of the scene. The path and the trees are bathed in the golden light of the setting sun, adding to the tranquil and inviting atmosphere of the setting.

I then asked ChatGPT to use the description it had just provided to create a DALL-E prompt to create a new image. Here is the detailed prompt used for the DALL-E generation:

A vintage camper van is parked in a peaceful woodland area during sunset. The side door of the van is open, revealing an interior setup with bookshelves, a small desk, and a chair, creating an impression of a cosy mobile study space. Outside, a typewriter rests on a small table with books around it, suggesting a space for writing and reading amidst nature. A lantern hangs from the van’s side mirror, and another stands on the ground, both emitting a warm light. The surrounding trees are illuminated by the golden hues of the setting sun, contributing to the serene and welcoming environment.

The result.

DALL·E 2024-01-07 10.30.03 - A vintage camper van parked in a tranquil woodland setting during sunset.
DALL·E 2024-01-07 10.30.03 - A vintage camper van parked in a tranquil woodland setting during sunset.

I asked DALL-E to create a few variations using the same prompt.

DALL·E 2024-01-07 10.30.45 - A vintage camper van parked in a tranquil woodland setting during sunset.
DALL·E 2024-01-07 10.30.45 - A vintage camper van parked in a tranquil woodland setting during sunset.
DALL·E 2024-01-07 10.32.21 - A vintage camper van parked in a tranquil woodland setting during sunset.
DALL·E 2024-01-07 10.32.21 - A vintage camper van parked in a tranquil woodland setting during sunset.
DALL·E 2024-01-07 10.20.52 - A vintage camper van is parked in a peaceful woodland area during sunset.
DALL·E 2024-01-07 10.20.52 - A vintage camper van is parked in a peaceful woodland area during sunset.

I had a lot of fun with this. It was so much fun that I exceeded the daily maximum number of images for DALL-E!

I’ve long dreamed of selling everything (except my Mac and digital camera gear) and embracing a digital nomad lifestyle alongside my wife, Bhavna. I imagine sitting in the quiet glow of a campfire beside an Airstream camper van parked under a star-studded sky. The crackling flames mirrored the spark in Bhavna's eyes. We'd wander through the vast landscapes of the Americas from Canada to Costa Rica, from the rugged Rockies to the serene coastlines of Patagonia, our laptops connecting us to a world of opportunities. With each sunrise, a new adventure. I would work on information technology projects from the heart of nature, my office changing with the seasons. We'd capture the beauty of every place through my photography, creating memories that last a lifetime. Just thinking about it, I feel the wanderlust pulling me closer to a dream I hope will become our reality.

I was inspired by Susan’s original prompt to write a new prompt to create my own imaginary dream space. I used variations of the following prompt.

During sunrise, an Airstream camper van is parked in a peaceful tropical woodland area. The van’s side door is open, revealing an interior setup with a two-person bed, creating an impression of a cosy mobile bedroom space. Outside, an open Apple MacBook and a compact ILC mirrorless camera rest on a small table with a chair, suggesting a space for writing and photo editing amidst nature. A camera backpack and open tripod are on the ground just outside the side door to the camper van. The surrounding tropical trees are illuminated by the golden hues of the rising sun, contributing to the serene and welcoming environment. Generate a large 3:2 ratio image.

DALL·E 2024-01-07 08.58.59 - During sunrise, an Airstream camper van is parked in a peaceful tropical woodland area.
DALL·E 2024-01-07 08.58.59 - During sunrise, an Airstream camper van is parked in a peaceful tropical woodland area.
DALL·E 2024-01-07 09.22.08 - During sunrise, a large Airstream camper van is parked in a peaceful tropical woodland.
DALL·E 2024-01-07 09.22.08 - During sunrise, a large Airstream camper van is parked in a peaceful tropical woodland.
DALL·E 2024-01-07 09.15.17 - A peaceful sunrise in a tropical woodland setting with an Airstream camper van parked among the trees.
DALL·E 2024-01-07 09.15.17 - A peaceful sunrise in a tropical woodland setting with an Airstream camper van parked among the trees.
DALL·E 2024-01-07 09.14.32 - A peaceful sunrise in a tropical woodland, with an Airstream camper van parked among the trees.
DALL·E 2024-01-07 09.14.32 - A peaceful sunrise in a tropical woodland, with an Airstream camper van parked among the trees.
DALL·E 2024-01-07 09.12.50 - During sunrise, an Airstream camper van is parked in a peaceful tropical woodland area.
DALL·E 2024-01-07 09.12.50 - During sunrise, an Airstream camper van is parked in a peaceful tropical woodland area.

So, what’s the greatest gift someone can give me? Inspiration. Thank you, Susan T. Braithwaite!!

From what I've learned about U.S. copyright laws, artwork created entirely by AI, without any human input, can't be copyrighted. My conversation with DALL-E suggests that things are more complicated.

To be clear:

I, Khürt Williams, hereby release all of my images created using DALL·E under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0). This means that anyone is free to share, copy, redistribute, and adapt these images, even commercially, as long as they provide appropriate credit to me, indicate if changes were made, and distribute any modified material under the same license as the original. By applying the CC BY-SA 4.0 license to my DALL·E-created images, I am promoting open and accessible use of these works, while ensuring that I am credited for my original creation.

Sunday Paper - Social Media Algorithms and Creativity, Digital Nomads, Republicans for the Rule of Law

Social media algorithms are limiting creativity and subliminally controlling your world view

First things first: there’s no image of any sort in this post, which is rare for me. It’s a silent protest against the fact that whether this link and thus its contents get disseminated to people who subscribe to my social media feeds (FB, IG, Twitter) and read or not is almost entirely down to some self-curating algorithms. The alarmist and provocative title are deliberate attempts to play the game (explained further on). It has nothing to do with whether you subscribed to my feeds or not. Only a small portion of the total population of posts or images published by people you follow actually shows up on your feed. This has been verified by several people and a simulation account I set up and subscribed to several sources; sure enough, at the start, you see a lot of posts from your ‘new friend’, but not long after – they virtually disappear. It isn’t because they haven’t been making content, it’s much more sinister than that.

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The algorithms keep changing, though. They have to: again, to maintain popularity, relevancy and ultimately user base (necessary to justify ad rates to corporate spenders) – you have to keep the content diverse enough to grow the audience. You can’t keep showing the same stuff again and again even if it’s popular; the algorithm must allow for some genetic diversification to avoid the visual equivalent of inbreeding. But since we’re not at the point of programs sentient enough to determine if we find something wildly different interesting or not (or at least controversial enough to drive viewership) there still has to be human interaction in the coding. That human interaction reflects the biases of the creator – it must, because it’s impossible for any of us to be entirely objective or even objective relative to a larger audience. As a result, the algorithmically curated feeds now show what’s currently popular to the home base where the majority of the algorithm’s code is written. Unsurprisingly, this is remarkably US-West Coast-centric.

What a surprise. The digital nomadic lifestyle has consequences but not for those living it.

The appeal is obvious. Digital nomads present selective pieces of themselves on Instagram, YouTube, and personal blogs. Everything they do is alluring. If you only looked at social media, you’d think they were paid to chill on the beach. Of course, those looking to replicate their lifestyle only see what digital nomads want them to see. Who doesn’t want to show their most appealing self online?

But selective presentation covers up— or completely ignores — the less appealing aspects of calling your MacBook your office. Many digital nomads had significant privilege before pursuing such a lifestyle, privilege that allows them to avoid the potentially negative aspects of location independence.
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Digital nomads look for locales that are inexpensive (by Western standards), where they can easily outspend residents to maintain a quality of life that would be difficult to achieve on local salaries. Chiang Mai, Thailand, and Bali are some of the leading destinations for those seeking a location-independent lifestyle. Predictably, developers in these areas begin to chase Western money.Digital Nomads Are Not the Future by Paris Marx in Medium

Former Republican federal prosecutors discuss how if President Trump were anyone else, he would have been charged with obstruction of justice based off the information released in the Mueller Report.