Words from Wip: Dispatches, Reflections, and Previews from Will Abramson’s Work-in-Progress.

I write under many different names, aliases or identifiers. I write for fun. I write to learn. I write to think. Writing is one of the best skills I have ever learnt. I love writing. You should too, give it a go. I promise you won't regret it.

Think of this as a central distribution hub for my words. Because even though I write under many different identifiers - some would mistakenly say identities - I am but one living, loving breathing, experiencing human moving through time and spaces.

Identity is in the eye of the beholder. Something far more complex, fractal, magical. Hopefully through some of these words you can get to know me a little deeper, watch me evolve.

Welcome. Tune in.

Watch me try find my voice. As I encourage you to search for yours.

But please, please please: Don't harsh my vibe or burst my buzz. Big me up and show me love.

Bless up x

Who the bloody hell is Wip anyway?

Wip is a nickname I acquired from my good pals back in Ilkley, West Yorkshire back in the blissful days of my youth. You can’t beat the shire, and I was absolutely blessed to grow up in Ilkley. That place, those moors and my pals from home will always have a special place in my heart.

My full, official name is William Issaro Peter Jess Abramson. Wip is shorter. Also how many Will's do you know? I'm betting you only know one Wip.

Wip is a sound geezer and a bloody good friend. Blessed to both love and be loved by an amazing woman.

I love music. I love parties. I love catching tunes, discovering new artists and of course attempting to bubble some of that back up and out into the world through my Tune Catcher Productions experiments. Check out some Beats and Barminess from Beatherder 2024 for example - https://www.snipadvisor.ink/beats-n-barminess-24/.

I am fascinated by memory and meaning. How we weave the shared stories of our lives. Tending many ideas and threads around this. I have been for some time - https://wip-abramson.dev/ideas-memory. It's wonderful to see my thinking evolve. Refine. Mature like a fine vintage

I have many hats. I currently chair the Decentralized Identifier WG and the Credentials Community Group at the CCG. I dabble in writing speculative fiction and thinking speculatively about the future. I am getting married, to and amazing, incredible woman next year. I work as a consultant specializing in requirements for identity systems and custom privacy-preserving cryptography research at Legendary Requirements. For example, I am have been helping Ryan Grant and DCD develop a new Bitcoin based DID method, did:btc1. That has been a blast let me tell you, so delightful to see the fruits of years of work start to turn into something concrete. Something tangible.

I guess I'm saying all this, not to brag, or to name drop. Whatever. I'm saying it so you know I think deeply about these topics that I am talking about. I have done for a long time, partly thanks to a wicked PHD position up in Bill Buchanan's crypto and identity lab at Edinburgh napier. My thesis is a monster, but it contains more than a few nuggets of wisdom I think. Nuggets for me at least.

You can get the full copy here if you are brave enough. Or just check out my scholarly output. You can find my academic, research interested at https://drwip.com.

Or you can wait till I try digest it into more bite sized chunks.

Also totally worth checking out my exhibition. Hopefully will have a revamp of this soon.

Anyway, I love writing. I have been writing for a long time. In many different forms and guides. But, I don't usually write to publish as it were. I'm not good at gassing myself up. I just try do what I want, what I feel is right and articulate how I see things.

Lately, it has become clear that distribution is key. In some form at least. So this is me, setting up a public distribution channel. A center through which my ideas and writings will flow. But not reside. Not originate.

So, if you are interested in hearing more words from Wip. Hearing my perspectives and pondering’s. Even some of my personal lived highlights. Like I am getting married next year - woop woop. Bit tings a gwarn.

Then feel welcome. Sign up to the mailing list and say hello.

Why subscribe?

Subscribe if you wanna see the world through my lenses. Or at least my attempt to construct and convey the lenses through which I see and interrogate the world. And remember the skill we should all trying to learn, is taking off our own lens and taking someone else’s for a spin.

Through this distribution hub, and fractal selves it represents I will try to get better at crafting lenses. At painting and rendering webs of meaning for us to experience together. Inter-subjectivley. At least that is the guiding star. Something to strive for, while at the same time being forever unattainable.

Anyway, I digress. Subscribe if you want to get to know me.

Give me some signal and together lets work to make better sense of the crazy, beautiful, infuriating world of ours.

A brief note of paid subscription

This distribution hub will never accept paid subscriptions. I write for joy. I write for myself. I write to learn. I write to attempt to express myself. You should too, you won’t regret it. That I promise you.

However, if you enjoyed this content and think it is worth some of your hard earned cashola. Then donate to a meaningful cause and drop me a line. I would love to hear about it.

I am no longer allowed to advocate for the group I was advocating for above. Brexit Britain. Where are we headed. Anyway, put your money where your heart is. If you do it because of me, do send us a message x.

This is bloody Britain. And we do not stand for authoritarianism here.

Resist the bullshit!

Join the crew

If you want to be part of whatever this is, in whatever way you think would be interesting. Drop me a line. Would be happy to chat.

If anyone else wants to piggy back on this distribution channel, should totally be possible too. Strictly Wip approved content of course.

Finally, if you are in London, and North London especially. Happy to make new acquaintances and pals. Always.