My world on the web
Eighteen months into this pandemic, I’m burned out as a worker, as a parent, and as a functioning member of society. My concentration span is non-existent and my anxiety levels are through the roof.
In the early weeks and months of the pandemic, there was hope that a ‘new normal’ would emerge from this mess that would give workers stronger rights, reset our collective relationship with capitalism, and would help fix the climate emergency. I was optimistic about these back then; now, not so much
Personally, I have been left thinking that it feels something like a plane going through extreme turbulence and the oxygen masks have dropped down. The problem is that there are not enough to go around because some people have grabbed two.
Not sure if that even makes sense, but not much does at the moment.
“We are approaching 1 million jabs a week and for a population of 8 million people, that is outstanding,” the Premier said.
“Thank you. It is making a difference. We are going to show the way in Australia as to how you can live with COVID.”
Always leading the way?
The cliché is that once something goes online, it’s up there forever. But the truth is that the Internet has a memory problem and some of what we’re losing – or could potentially lose – has significance and value. While archivists struggle with the challenge of preserving our digital record, the rise of pay walls present a particular problem.
Cory Doctorow (pluralistic.net)Network effects are how Facebook attracts users, but switching costs are how it holds them hostage.
The higher the switching costs, the bigger the shit sandwich Facebook can force you to eat before you leave.
That’s why interoperability is such a big deal – because it lowers the switching costs. If you can take your apps or friends or files or media with you when you leave a service, then the service has to treat you better, lest you depart.
The most effective way to sap distraction of its power is to stop expecting things to be otherwise – to accept that this unpleasantness is simply what it feels like to commit ourselves to the kinds of demanding and valuable tasks that force us to confront our limited control over how our lives unfold.
I’ve been using the Post Kinds plugin for a few years on this WordPress site. It allows you to easily style a specific type of posting (a like, bookmark, reply, rsvp, read, check-in etc), it automatically pulls in the relevant information form the posting you’re reacting to, and adds the right m…
“I Follow Rivers”View this post on Instagram A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder)LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS · SPOTIFYLykke Li is a singer and song,Lykke Li and producer Björn Yttling break down the song, “I Follow Rivers.”
A set of 41 questions drafted with a view to helping us draw out the moral or ethical implications of our tools.
- What sort of person will the use of this technology make of me?
- What habits will the use of this technology instill?
- How will the use of this technology affect my experience of time?
- How will the use of this technology affect my experience of place?
- How will the use of this technology affect how I relate to other people?
- How will the use of this technology affect how I relate to the world around me?
- What practices will the use of this technology cultivate?
- What practices will the use of this technology displace?
- What will the use of this technology encourage me to notice?
- What will the use of this technology encourage me to ignore?
- What was required of other human beings so that I might be able to use this technology?
- What was required of other creatures so that I might be able to use this technology?
- What was required of the earth so that I might be able to use this technology?
- Does the use of this technology bring me joy? [N.B. This was years before I even heard of Marie Kondo!]
- Does the use of this technology arouse anxiety?
- How does this technology empower me? At whose expense?
- What feelings does the use of this technology generate in me toward others?
- Can I imagine living without this technology? Why, or why not?
- How does this technology encourage me to allocate my time?
- Could the resources used to acquire and use this technology be better deployed?
- Does this technology automate or outsource labor or responsibilities that are morally essential?
- What desires does the use of this technology generate?
- What desires does the use of this technology dissipate?
- What possibilities for action does this technology present? Is it good that these actions are now possible?
- What possibilities for action does this technology foreclose? Is it good that these actions are no longer possible?
- How does the use of this technology shape my vision of a good life?
- What limits does the use of this technology impose upon me?
- What limits does my use of this technology impose upon others?
- What does my use of this technology require of others who would (or must) interact with me?
- What assumptions about the world does the use of this technology tacitly encourage?
- What knowledge has the use of this technology disclosed to me about myself?
- What knowledge has the use of this technology disclosed to me about others? Is it good to have this knowledge?
- What are the potential harms to myself, others, or the world that might result from my use of this technology?
- Upon what systems, technical or human, does my use of this technology depend? Are these systems just?
- Does my use of this technology encourage me to view others as a means to an end?
- Does using this technology require me to think more or less?
- What would the world be like if everyone used this technology exactly as I use it?
- What risks will my use of this technology entail for others? Have they consented?
- Can the consequences of my use of this technology be undone? Can I live with those consequences?
- Does my use of this technology make it easier to live as if I had no responsibilities toward my neighbor?
- Can I be held responsible for the actions which this technology empowers? Would I feel better if I couldn’t?
john (johnjohnston.info)Given that we have just enabled blocks on Glow Blogs I am glad classic will continue to be supported. I am still on classic here too.
One of the interesting aspects to having two sites is running two different setups. I still use the Classic Editor Plugin for my Collect blog and have started tinkering with Gutenberg in my main blog. I find blocks really cumbersome and appreciate Tony Hirst’s sentiments. I actually often carve out my posts in my Collect blog and copy the contents across, but the translation to blocks can be rather frustrating. On top of that, I am not sure where it leaves Post Kinds, which I guess is the point Ton Zijlstra is trying to make.
My key piece of advice to anyone thinking about writing short fiction is to (literally) exercise your sense of curiosity, to be aware of the world around you, to observe, to be ready for the moment.
It is important to document any scene that may feed the creative self. Not only does sketching document an idea that might otherwise be lost to memory, this act of writing is the first act of producing a short story
I believe this so fundamentally because the second trait that most successful writers hold in common is not talent or creative genius, but a work ethic and a regular and organised writing habit.
I guess this is Austin Kleon’s point about keeping on going.
My workflow for exporting my reading highlights, and how I publish those highlights to my personal website.
Professor Byrne’s predictions include a shift away from high-rise apartment towers in city centres to suburban low-rise apartment buildings or townhouses with access to backyards.
He also predicts more green space, common areas for casual interactions with plenty of space for social distancing, improved access to public transport from the suburbs and more employment opportunities nearby.
I think that the other point of change that I have noticed has been registers in supermarkets. Not only have screens and distance been introduced, but there also seems to be a push for more self-service with large conveyor belts.
Digital identification, integrated to greater or lesser degrees, seems an almost inevitable next step in our digital lives, and overall offers promising opportunities to improve our access and controls over the information already spanning the internet about us. But it is crucial that moving forward, digital ID systems are responsibly designed, implemented, and regulated to ensure the necessary privacy and security standards, as well as prevent the abuse of individuals or the perpetuation of inequities against vulnerable populations. While there are important cautions, digital identity has the potential to transform the way we interact with the world, as our “selves” take on new dimensions and opportunities.
Instead, he put all of it, all of every user’s needs and tools, into one pot and invented TruYou—one account, one identity, one password, one payment system, per person. There were no more passwords, no multiple identities. Your devices knew who you were, and your one identity—the TruYou, unbendable and unmaskable—was the person paying, signing up, responding, viewing and reviewing, seeing and being seen. You had to use your real name, and this was tied to your credit cards, your bank, and thus paying for anything was simple. One button for the rest of your life online.(The Circle)
And Kim Stanley Robinson’s YourLock:
People began to share the news that you could transfer everything going on in the rest of your internet life into a single account on YourLock, which was organized as a co-op owned by its users, after which you had secured your data in a quantum-encrypted cage and could use it as a negotiable asset in the global data economy, agreeing to sell your data or not to data-mining operations out there who quickly saw the new lay of the land and began to offer people micro-payments for their data, mainly health information, consumption patterns, and finance. (The Ministry of the Future)
I guess the question is who owns the data?
There is evidence that instruction, practice and repetition works, if the aim is to retain large amounts of information, although it’s less clear whether you can successfully impose this on other people without a very strict regime of control. The quibble is more about philosophy of education and whether retaining large amounts of particular types of information is the goal we should have for our children’s education. And there are some difficult questions about exactly what the purpose is of requiring children to learn a lot of information before they are allowed to engage in critical thinking or question what they are learning.
The cognitive model is only one of many. There is an extensive body of research which shows how, from a very early age, children are engaged as active agents in their learning and learn through play. They test hypotheses, problem solve and come up with creative solutions. Alison Gopnik, professor of developmental psychology at University of California, Berkeley, calls this the ‘child as scientist’ theory of learning, and anyone who has spent time with a young child will have seen it in action. They mix things together, they experiment with floating and sinking, they ask purposeful questions. My own daughter did a series of complex experiments aged about six when she would put various concoctions in the freezer, oven and in the bath under water, to see what would happen. The first I knew of it was when black smoke started emanating from the kitchen. Scientific enquiry was so alive in our home that every time I opened the fridge a new experiment fell out.
This reminds me of Gert Biesta’s three key arguments for a ‘good education‘: qualification, socialization and subjectification
“With TFS, I think the world just caught up to our thing. We’ve been plying our trade for years and I think the world has finally become as anxious and neurotic as we’ve always sounded,” says Liddiard.
On a side note, I really enjoyed Liddiard’s breakdown of his setup.
Deep States does feel a bit all over the place, but what works for it (as it does for everything Liddiard has been involved with) is the overpowering confidence with which it is performed. Most songs feel like stepping into the middle of an improv session, and the lyrics at first may seem to be conjured up on the spot (although on closer inspection it is obvious that this is not the case). However, the abrasive and uncompromising presentation of this material leaves the listener with the firm understanding that it could not have been put in other words or played any other way.
You may well get to the end of Deep States unsure what you’ve just been subjected to; you may also discover that this is no barrier to wanting to experience it all again and again.
Classified by Lorde as her “weed album”, Solar Power is an indie folk and psychedelic effort driven by acoustic guitar arrangements, marking a departure from the synth-heavy, dance-oriented music of her previous works. The album’s lyrics revolve around solipsism and summer escapism, mainly focusing on Lorde’s leisure time in her homeland New Zealand, simultaneously expressing her disdain for fame and celebrity culture.
It doesn’t require a whole lot of mental effort to figure out why Lorde, like so many of us, is questioning her place in the world, discovering a new appreciation for nature, and trying to return to basics. On a personal level, she’s explained that dog ownership helped turn her attention outdoors. A global pandemic and a sickly, smoldering planet has surely prompted her to reëvaluate her priorities. The need to escape the psychic claustrophobia of technology looms large on this record, too.
“I haven’t made a Jack Antonoff record,” the singer said. “I’ve made a Lorde record and he’s helped me make it and very much deferred to me on production and arrangement. Jack would agree with this. To give him that amount of credit is frankly insulting.” She called the narrative — which has also included speculation about the pair’s romantic and sexual life — “retro” and “sexist.”
Solar Power finds its author thinking deeply about the jarring disconnect between being an extremely private person and an extremely well-known public figure. This is someone acutely aware of the absurdity of fame, which was foisted upon her at 16 and has waned very little since.
A collective list of free APIs. Contribute to public-apis/public-apis development by creating an account on GitHub.
The Dreaming is a young artist’s attempt to figure out how making music, and the striving for deeper understanding that work demands, makes her a monster not to others, but to herself – strange in her own body and mind. “If identity is shape carrying story,” the scholar Caroline Walter Bynum wrote in her 1998 study Metamorphosis and Identity, “we need not decide between mind and body, inner and outer, biology and society, agency and essence. Rather we are living beings, shapes with stories, always changing but also always carrying traces of what we were before.” What has been identified as monstrous, Bynum’s words suggest, is simply human, though it has been called fearsome and degraded within hierarchies devised to limit and oppress. The Dreaming is not a perfect work, any more than I lived an ideal or even always defensible life when just starting out in the world. But it fights against this banishment of difference and desire, and I still can feel the ferocity of its roar.
As with the residency, the album is split into three parts, comprising seven miscellaneous songs, the complete Ninth Wave suite from Hounds of Love, and A Sky of Honey from Bush’s 2005 release Aerial. Presented in the same order as the original show, the album’s performances are culled from various shows throughout the residency.
Before the Dawn contains the song “Tawny Moon”, performed by Bush’s son, Albert McIntosh. It also contains the track “Never Be Mine”, which did not feature on the Before the Dawn residency, but was recorded when the show was performed without an audience for the purposes of filming the production.
It is interesting to properly find Kate Bush’s music. Although I always knew Kate Bush, it never really went beyond the story of being discovered by David Gilmore and watching the various film clips on Rage. I did not have any friends who really listened to her music.