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 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, show me love.
So who the bloody hell is Wip anyway?
Wip is a nickname I acquired from my good pals back in Ilkley, West Yorkshire when I was growing up. 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 W3C. I dabble in writing speculative fiction and thinking speculatively about the future. Especially writing and thinking about the future of digital interaction technologies in the context of memory. Check out my stories and other content at https://futurewip.com/.
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 Digital Contract Design 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 blockchain 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, here.
Or you can wait till I try digest it into more bite sized, managable and navigatable chunks.
Also totally worth checking out my exhibition - https://iiexhibition.studio/. 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 guises. 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.
I'm not perfect. I've made mistakes. Sure, we all have. We are human after all. Let's give some grace, speak with kindness.
A wise man once told me, first seek to understand then attempt to integrate.
Lately, it has become clear that distribution is something I should care more about. 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. Occasionally wise.
Hearing my perspectives and ponderings. Even some of my personal lived highlights.
Then feel welcome. Sign up to the mailing list and say hello.
Oh, and if you made it all the way down here, then probably we are good pals. Or likely to be in the future.
You can find the home for each of my fractal selves at: https://drwip.com, https://futurewip.com and https://snipadvisor.ink.
I also have a historical tombstone as it were, that captures some of my journey through my PhD - https://wip-abramsom.dev. Some of the highlight reel includes, my rather botched attempt at a sadly virtual Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas for the fringe. A show titled nobody is in control, are you?. Would love to do that again sometime. Also you can read about my rather awful first encounter of the W3C community at the Strong Authentication and Identity Workshop in Seattle. Daym, that put me off for a few years. So much agro, plus no Manu, stuck in a blizzard, to smooth over the edges and weave the community together in his own special way. I see you Manu, we all do! Thank you for all you do for the CCG, the W3C and the thought collective we have grown around identity and identification.
Anyway, that was longer than I expected. Too many highlights in there. Even one of the first time I met Joe at RWOT in Barcelona. That was an incredible event.
Right, thanks for reading. I appreciate you.
Expect some words soon.
Peace and love x