I'm traveling the world for a bit, starting with China but then hopping around the globe, anywhere. Open to any adventure. No plans, only a backpack. Hoping to meet & get to know humans from all walks of life. The pic is from a long hike on the Great Wall. For me, as a fan of history, this was an epic experience.
In China, first I'm visiting a few big cities & talking to engineers at the heart of China's AI revolution. After that, if feeling crazy enough, I'm hitchhiking (first time) across rural China for a few weeks. Hitchhiking because I think it's the best way to meet rural folks who I would otherwise never get the chance to meet. I hope to do the same in US and other places.
I have a request, if you have a travel recommendation, fill out the form(s) below if you feel like it. Or share with folks who might have advice about such travel.
Form 1 - travel recommendation:
If you can, recommend to me an interesting place I should visit anywhere in the world. For this, fill out form 1. Not touristy stuff, but something off the beaten path, that tourists may not know about, but is legendary. It could be as remote as meeting a herder in the mountains who is a local legend. Asia, Middle East, Europe, India, South/North America, Africa, Australia, anywhere. In China, I'm hoping to visit maybe Heibei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan, etc, so recommendations for spots to visit are helpful.
Form 2 - coffee:
If you want to grab a coffee with me anywhere in the world, fill out form 2 (please don't use form 1 for that).
Anyway, I hectically tossed stuff in backpack. Realizing I don't have a clear plan of any kind, which is probably the only way to do it. LFG.
Love you all ❤️
Here's my conversation all about @FFmpeg, the legendary open-source software powering most video on the Internet. In the episode, I talk with Jean-Baptiste Kempf and Kieran Kunhya. JB is lead developer of VLC and Kieran is FFmpeg contributor, codec engineer, and the person behind the now-infamous @FFmpeg account on X.
VLC (@videolan), by the way, is also a legendary piece of open-source software: it's a video player that can open basically anything & has been downloaded over 6 billion times.
I think both FFmpeg and VLC are two of the most important and impactful software systems ever created, both open source, and both created & maintained by volunteers: brilliant engineers from all walks of life.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to FFmpeg and VLC, and in general to all engineers giving their heart & soul to building systems used by millions (or billions) of people, and often doing so not for money, status, or fame, but purely for the love of building great software and doing good for the world.
Thank you to the builders! 🙏❤️
Shoutouts in this chat to @ID_AA_Carmack@karpathy@elonmusk@TimSweeneyEpic and everyone who is a contributor & fan of open source!
It's here on X in full and is up everywhere else (see comment).
Timestamps:
0:00 - Episode highlight
2:17 - Introduction
5:35 - Weirdest things VLC opens
9:59 - How video playback works
19:20 - Video codecs and containers
30:07 - FFmpeg explained
51:07 - Linus Torvalds
55:46 - Turning down millions to keep VLC ad-free
1:10:04 - FFmpeg & Google drama
1:29:18 - FFmpeg developers
1:35:55 - VLC and FFmpeg
1:40:29 - History of FFmpeg
1:43:46 - Reverse engineering codecs
1:57:01 - FFmpeg testing
2:01:08 - Assembly code (handwritten)
2:25:26 - Rust programming language
2:34:42 - FFmpeg and Libav fork
2:43:04 - Open source burnout
2:50:51 - x264 and internet video
3:04:07 - Video compression basics
3:11:04 - CIA and fake VLC
3:21:39 - Ultra low latency streaming
3:39:07 - AV2 codec and video patents
3:48:59 - VLC backdoors
3:59:14 - Video archiving
4:05:51 - Future of FFmpeg and VLC
Big announcement! After 16 years in SEO, today I'm launching something I've been building toward for a long time. 🥳
Introducing Algorythmic: my new SEO and AI search consultancy.
For the past decade+, I've led award-winning SEO teams at agencies. I've spoken at ~100 conferences. I've spent thousands of hours analyzing Google algorithm updates, studying E-E-A-T, and more recently, figuring out how brands can show up well in AI-driven search.
Now I'm channeling all of that into something of my own.
Through Algorythmic, I'll be selectively working with brands 1:1 on SEO consulting, AI search optimization (AEO/GEO), E-E-A-T strategy, content quality audits, Google Discover, algorithm update recovery, hourly training, and more.
I'm also excited to announce that as part of this launch, I will be continuing my role as VP of SEO & AI Search at Amsive, where I still oversee an incredible team of 30+ SEO experts (who won "Best Enterprise SEO Team" in 2025, according to the Search Engine Land awards!).
Algorythmic will allow me to take on solo projects that are a strong personal fit for my skills and experience.
Check out the comments for the link to my new site.
BTW, if you're curious about the name Algorythmic: it's a mashup of "algorithm" and "rhythm." If you know me, you know those are the two things that have defined my entire life (especially 'rhythm'). The full origin story (involving a fictional SEO-themed deli my Amsive team created in 2019) is on the blog - link also in comments.
I'm being very intentional about the work I take on through Algorythmic. If you think we'd be a good fit, I'd love to hear from you. Check out the new site and get in touch!
@_JoshuaSEO For newcomers, this may be true. But for people who have been in the business for decades, it’s irrelevant — clients know exactly what they’re getting.