Bots, Cogs & Cranes …

Welcome to the second episode of “Just the Flax”, the official blog from Flax Consulting!

Today we will awkwardly attempt to weave bots, cogs and cranes together into a semi-coherent story. Are you ready?

Why did you pick the name Flax?

I got asked this last week during a client meeting in Belfast, so please allow me to explain.

About 4 weeks ago, I was brainstorming some business names with one of the founders of the creative agency, Mostly Harmless. Duncan (he won’t mind me giving him a shout-out) was critiquing my list of 12 suggestions for a company name.

No, no, no, no… have you got anything else, Ed?

I was a bit discouraged, given my inherent bias, I was quite proud of some of the suggestions, but others were shamelessly bad puns.

Duncan and I then chatted, sharing anecdotes as we continued the creative process.

One story was me sharing a phrase I heard back in 2019 describing Belfast,

“From flax to hacks”

What this was referring to was the pivot for Belfast, albeit over several centuries, as it went from the global linen market (flax) to being a European hub for cyber security jobs.

“That’s it, flax”.

Et voila, Flax Consulting was born 5 minutes later.

A blog was not in my original plan, but I love to write and share thoughts on all things tech.

Again, I get asked, why would you blog with the likes of Chat GPT and Bard around?

This is a fair and valid point and for me, these chatbots can help, augment our day jobs. Scott Galloway, aka Prof G aka “the Dawg”, frequently advises:

”AI isn’t a threat to your job, rather those people who know how to use AI to do your job are”.

I’ll admit I have used ChatGPT in 2023 to help with B2B blog posts, with the classic caveat of “trust, but verify“.

Getting the subject matter expert in the business to review and confirm the technical information if the provided text was correct. What I do next is top and tail the content with personal stories, connecting with the reader and tying the pieces together, the red thread if you will.

Threads vs. Twitter & Bots

Speaking of red threads and linking this back to Flax and our first blog post 2 weeks ago. Threads was released by Meta on the same day as Flax going live. Since then, Threads has surpassed 100 million users in a week. Do you have an account yet?

I was talking to someone on my commute home last week about local influencers and their lack of followers on Threads, compared to Twitter.

My theory on this is due to the lack of bots on Threads, compared to Twitter.

If Elon Musk has asked me for advice about buying Twitter, I would have said; “Don’t buy it, due to the prevalence of bots”.

I attended CES in 2015 and one of the few cyber security talks I could find that year was from White Ops. One of their executives quoted “40% of Twitter traffic in 2014 was bots”.

Bots are robots, not human eyeballs. Some will be innocent enough, crawling the web, while others will have ulterior and ultimately nefarious motives.

Why does this matter?

Let’s take the use case of online advertising – if you are a company looking to find new customers for your product, or service, would you really want 2/5 views to be non-human? The bots will not buy your product or service and you are wasting your money.

Musk tried to extricate himself from the Twitter acquisition last year for this very reason and it was still a hot topic at the end of 2022.

Threads will be a twitter killer.

Cogs & Flax 

Cogs, also known as gears, are essential components in machinery that facilitate motion and power transmission. These mechanical devices, typically made of metal, feature toothed wheels that interlock with one another to transfer rotational force. Cogs are widely used in various industries, from automotive and manufacturing to clockwork mechanisms and robotics. They play a crucial role in converting and controlling energy, allowing machines to perform specific tasks efficiently and precisely.

Linen manufacturing, on the other hand, pertains to the production of linen fabric from flax fibres (and the inspiration for our company name). Linen is a versatile textile derived from the flax plant and is known for its exceptional strength, breathability, and moisture-wicking properties. The process of linen manufacturing involves several stages, starting with the cultivation and harvesting of flax plants. The flax fibres are then extracted, processed, and spun into yarn. These yarns are subsequently woven or knitted to create linen fabric, which finds application in a wide range of products, including clothing, home textiles, and even industrial materials. Linen manufacturing requires careful attention to detail and expertise to ensure the production of high-quality, durable, and sustainable fabrics.

Cranes

Why did I mention this in the blog title? This is a bit more of a tenuous connection and is actually very simple. I love the Harland & Wolff cranes in Belfast. They are yellow, just like one of the primary colours of the Flax brand.

Meanwhile, Channel 4 still shows one of my all-time favourite comedies every morning, Frasier, based on the Seattle radio host and psychotherapist, Frasier Crane.

Ed-ilogue

I called this blog, Just the Flax… a play on the phrase, “just the facts“ (in case you didn’t realise :/ ). Twitter is a platform where misinformation is being spread hopefully, Threads does not go the same way. Mark Zuckerberg has an opportunity here to be the good guy in tech and protect users from fake news, let’s hope Meta seizes this opportunity.

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