Hello World!
I’m Johannes C. Zeller, a consultant, copywriter and journalist. I’ve spent more than two decades working with words, websites and ideas, alongside quite a few other pursuits you’ll find further down this page.
I live in Andalusia with my partner, three dogs and four cats and work mostly remotely with clients around the world. My main working languages are English and German, and I also speak Spanish.
On this page, you can find out more about my professional experience and skill set, along with some current projects and topics that interest me.
Professional Experience // Work-Life-Learning-Balance
Variety has always been part of my working life: from the radio booth to the assembly line, from the construction site to the PR office, from the barroom to the newsroom. I’ve worked as a professional ghostwriter, refurbished furniture, organized international ICT events and helped bring punk gigs to the local community… to name just a few.
For more than two decades, journalism has given me a reason to ask questions and explore new subjects while writing for newspapers and international news outlets. My involvement in web development and online projects goes back almost as far. In 2014, I founded my business offering SEO consulting and copywriting, combining analytical expertise with a knack for convincing language and hands-on technical skills. Online marketing and GEO consulting complement these services. Curiosity about AI has also taken me into new territory: I share what I learn through occasional blog posts and have published a research paper on AI-driven social engineering in the peer-reviewed journal AI and Ethics. My AI consulting helps businesses understand the technology and put it to practical use.
I hold a postgraduate degree in English Linguistics and a certification in Media Studies. But I’m firmly convinced that there is no substitute for real-world learning. Why miss an opportunity to try something new, explore a new subject or acquire a new skill?
A Unique Skill Set // Don’t Be an Ant!
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal […]. Specialization is for insects.”
From: Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
Just like Heinlein, I believe that people should develop a versatile skill set and leave overspecialization to the ants! 🐜
Here’s a selection of things I’ve learned along the way, in no particular order:
Skills
.enslaving robots
.critical thinking
.climbing
.creative writing
.navigation without GPS
.photography
.fluent in English and German
.también hablo español
.coding with C#, Python, PHP…
.cryptic crosswords
.brand naming & wordplay
.a green thumb
.fixing your computer
.research & data analysis
.chess
.training pets to be ninjas
.Photoshop
.soldering & electronics projects
.snowboarding
.campaign strategy
.woodworking & furniture restoration
.coining new words in Ancient Greek
.making fire
…
Past & Present Hyperfocuses // Stuff That Interests Me
Once a topic catches my attention, it can quickly become an obsession. Some stay with me for years, others return at unexpected intervals, and I’m usually happy to find an excuse to talk about them.
As a professional (ghost-)writer, I have written about almost everything from transcendentalist poetry to mechatronic systems engineering. Finding the interesting angle in a new subject is one of the things I enjoy most about my work. Here’s an incomplete collection of past and current hyperfocuses, again in no particular order 😉
Topics
.artificial intelligence
.sociolinguistics
.street culture
.independent cinema
.communication science
.the psychology of the irrational
.literary history
.utopias & dystopias
.organic gardening
.storytelling
.hardcore punk (and other music that’s not pop)
.(social) entrepreneurship
.evolutionary psychology
.blockchain technology & cryptocurrency
.investing & financial markets
.astronomy & astrophotography
.social engineering
.reptiles
.woodworking & carpentry
.probability theory
.scientific skepticism
.sustainable energy
.cooking
.hard sci-fi
.game theory
.existentialist philosophy
.data visualization
.metal detecting
.electronics & soldering
.radio waves & shortwave radio
.building miniature biospheres
…
If we share an interest, I’m always happy to compare notes or discover another rabbit hole worth exploring.
Current Projects
Some of my interests have turned into publicly accessible projects. Here are a few of those passion projects.
Creating a Free Roguelike Space Exploration Game
The universe is a big place. So where is everyone? Where Are They? is my take on that question in the form of a space game inspired by the Fermi paradox.
I developed the concept, story and gameplay, with AI-assisted tools helping with coding, sound and visuals. It gave me a chance to put my enthusiasm for sci-fi to work and find out what it takes to turn an idea into a playable game. You can play it for free in your browser and on Android.
The current single-player game is basically a demo for a bigger vision: a shared multiplayer galaxy with millions of star systems, where players explore, expand and try to survive, all bound by the speed of light.
Thinking About AI-Driven Social Engineering
My interest in AI and social engineering led to a research paper: Defending against AI-driven social engineering: a conceptual framework, published in the peer-reviewed journal AI and Ethics.
The paper explores how AI can be used to manipulate people and how we might defend against it. It’s a subject that connects several of my recurring interests, particularly language, human behavior and technology.
Read the Abstract · Read the Blog Post
Want to read the full paper? Send me a message and I’ll send you a copy.
Tracking Headline Changes for More Media Transparency
News headlines change throughout the day, and earlier versions usually disappear from view. I built verworfen.at to keep track of those changes on news.orf.at, the news site of Austria’s public broadcaster.
The site lets you explore and compare headline revisions, offering a closer look at the wording of the news.
This project is only available in German, although headline trackers for other news outlets might follow.
Any Questions? Contact Me Here 🙂
Do you have any feedback? Found a typo? Want to discuss the future of LLMs or some other topic?
Send me a message and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Photo credit header: Ola Mae – THANKS 🙂
