Aesthetics
Many children are fascinated with the tools of construction, and I was no exception. In this case, a massive sea-crane is repurposed for deconstruction, and the process is still equally fascinating! There are videos, as well as many more photos, in the post linked below.
A Chain Just Cut Through A Capsized Cargo Ship Filled With Cars And The Process Is Fascinating
I love games that encourage exploration for its own sake. This reminds me of the art of Carl Burton but is more realistic and seems more interactive.
Also, since I’ve been watching Seinfeld lately: “It’s a game about… nothing!”
This new video game lets you do nothing in particular in a suburban Russian tower block
Recycling space trash into space houses is exactly the aesthetic I want from the future. Orbital junk is a huge danger to satellites including the International Space Station, so this would be a fantastic way to re-purpose some objects into something useful.
The Plan to Turn Scrapped Rockets Into Space Stations | WIRED
Featured Creators
@daniolivier_art - Dani Olivier is a Parisian artist who uses projection on models’ bodies to create interesting results, as seen above. A warning: there’s some abstract and implied nudity on their page.
@ccburton - Carl Burton is an artist and game developer whose work I mentioned earlier. I especially like his colorful, surreal animated scenes.
Technology
It’s a little weird to me that Facebook, a website that was once a forum for college students, now appears to wield so much influence around the world. In this case, we see the backlash take a unique form, as a small nation will attempt to restrict the platform. It’s clear that Facebook has the potential to divide people, but I doubt simply banning it will fix those rifts. Nevertheless, I respect the Solomon Islands for solemnly giving it a try.
Solomon Islands set to ban Facebook in the name of 'national unity'
It’s definitely worth your time to check out some tracks from OpenAI on Soundcloud. Some of the tracks are better than others but it’s just so weird hearing the music that comes out of a neural net. As always with machine learning, one wonders “what’s next?”
The eerie AI world of deepfake music | Music | The Guardian
Basically: the Wikipedia of mapping turns out to be really important. OpenStreetMap is Having a Moment: The Billion Dollar Dataset Next Door
Smart glasses are coming, sooner or later. This seems like an early version but if they’re as functional as claimed, they could enable some interesting uses.
Oppo Plans to Launch AR Smart Glasses in 2021
Culture
Expanding on what I mentioned last time with “Vtubers”, A Twitch streamer was banned for not owning the rights to her own [virtual] body! I guess this is one strong argument against using an avatar to publish content.
Quarantine fashion commentary from a notable style photographer and writer: The Sartorialist Discusses How to Dress for the New Normal. TL;DR: the garments don’t matter as much as fabrics, colors, and your efforts in considering how the pieces fit together as a whole.
As internet forums die off, finding community can be harder than ever. This article is lamenting the fall of independently-run discussion boards on the ‘net—specifically, the Foo Fighters board. I’ve participated in quite a few message boards in my years online, and I do feel nostalgic about them.
Today’s installment of “retro tech”: A Goofy App Can Turn Your iPhone or Watch Into a Nokia 3310. I bought this app because I’m enjoying using widgets in iOS 14, and I like it. You can use the app to play Snake as well 🐍
I love learning about emerging trends — it’s one of the reasons I write these posts! In this case, a micro-genre is breaking through into the mainstream: How a Small Spotify Playlist Grew Into a Big Deal (via New York Times, so you know it’s real). In case you’d rather go directly to listening to the music, here’s a link to the playlist: Hyperpop
Turns out that Nickelodeon was doing a lot of things right behind the scenes, and folks who worked there have gone on to do interesting work in the years that followed. I guess this is a double dose of nostalgia for my 90s kids (between this and the Nokia app) today! Nickelodeon Documentary Interview: The Orange Years Revelations