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posted April 5, 2018 #

I said I’m sorry I’m just not comfortable posing doing air guitar. Or standing in front of a phone booth. And certainly I’m not jumping in the air. 20 minutes later: https://t.co/Tahl7mUmAE

posted April 5, 2018 #

https://t.co/h6fMI7trFv

Vox + Zuckerberg

posted April 5, 2018 #

Look, I already did a post about Facebook and some of my thoughts around all that. There's even some pleasant comments on the blog piece; proof that pleasant conversation can exist online. I don't disagree with the comments either - Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, etc are all helping to make advertising a more direct experience on the web. That's not a terribly bad thing on the whole.

All that is to say, please read this Ezra Klein interview with Mark Zuckerberg. It's also a podcast if you want to hear it instead:
I've had this open in a tab for days as I make my way through it. I'm continuously bugged by this comment that Zuckerberg makes in response to Tim Cook about how an advertising business model forces a company not to "care" for its users (emphasis mine):
You know, I find that argument, that if you're not paying that somehow we can't care about you, to be extremely glib and not at all aligned with the truth. The reality here is that if you want to build a service that helps connect everyone in the world, then there are a lot of people who can't afford to pay. And therefore, as with a lot of media, having an advertising-supported model is the only rational model that can support building this service to reach people.
As for the take on advertising, great, fine, whatever. I'm impartial. However, the core goal of Facebook is "to build a service that helps connect everyone in the world" and I can't help but wonder, Why? #1, we already have the Internet. We're all already potentially connected. #2, having run a small social network, I can promise you do not want to connect everyone in the world.

I'm sure it's just marketing and PR speak from Zuckerberg but the idea that their goal is to connect everyone seems asinine. I'm not an isolationist and I'm all for the entire world becoming more aware and socially conscious - I just don't believe Facebook is the way to do it.

Find The Beauty

posted April 5, 2018 #

By complete accident, I stumbled across this 2013 series called Find the Beauty in which an artist is presented with an old, somewhat bizarre, song and asked to rework it in a way that finds the beauty... within 48 hours.

There are only six episodes in total but acts like Fleming and John, Andy Davis and

posted April 5, 2018 #

A Doogie Howser-type show about a teenage lawyer called Retainers.

posted April 4, 2018 #

rosepepper with my besties

posted April 4, 2018 #

ANNIHLATION (2018) https://t.co/PZoeTplERs

posted April 3, 2018 #

If my calculations are correct, biscuits and Triscuits hint towards a mysterious third food called "monoscuits."

Cat Hiccups

posted April 3, 2018 #

brilliant. via @chadsnuts

Vidalotry / The Buckley Debates

posted April 3, 2018 #

The latest episode of Vidalotry, the Gore Vidal podcast, is a lengthy one (40 minutes) that explores the extremely heated debates between Vidal and William F. Buckley, Jr.
It's interesting because, up to this point, Vidal has been extremely progressive in his views and his biting wit has never seemed too mud slinging (more catty than anything) but he seems to reach his breaking point in the debates with Buckley. The debates are from 1968, which was not that long ago but long enough that you'd hope we'd grown up beyond this kind of behavior.

All and all, well worth a listen. Subscribe or just play it now.

Syd Mead

posted April 3, 2018 #

Been taking a bit of a dive into the work of Syd Mead, the graphic and conceptual futurist artist best known for his creations on Blade Runner, Aliens and Tron. There's plenty of info about his work on his official site or Wikipedia of course but I think immersing yourself in the work is really the way to go.

I think my favorite fun fact that I've encountered so far is that his insight on designs pushed movies beyond their look:
What's perhaps most interesting is seeing how these designs influenced more than just how the films looked. In one especially illustrative example, when Mead looked at the script for 2003 disaster thriller The Core, he realized that the drilling machine that was central to the movie's premise had an engineering flaw, and wouldn't actually work in the real world. After heeding Mead's advice, then-director Peter Hyams ultimately changed the script to incorporate these new ideas.
Maybe that's marginalizing his work because The Core is a questionable piece of work at best but it is a nice testament to how Design is more than just a surface level appearance.

Webcam Arpeggiator

posted April 3, 2018 #

Stop. Let this Jake Albaugh transmissionsoak in:
Made this thing last night that uses the hue of your webcam to change the chord of an arpeggiator.
Go enjoy it.

I won't confess to fully understanding it but also embrace my ignorance because I just enjoy it.

posted April 2, 2018 #

https://t.co/e6sUll8gQg

Warby's

posted April 2, 2018 #

winner of 2018 April Fools imo

Side Project Findings

posted April 2, 2018 #

There's been much written on the benefits of a side project but, frankly, it all boils down to your interests and priorities. They aren't for everyone but I've always found them fulfilling. In a rare semi-personal post I wanted to share a dabbling I had lately.

A segment on the Hott Minute show is around listener submitted content. Currently that's all done via a Google Form because of laziness but I kept finding myself wanting to send in ideas without having to fill out a form. So, I dug into Twilio, a service I've always heard lauded for it's ease of API and started learning about setting up an SMS number. To my delight (and their credit), the signup and Getting Started process is extremely easy and insightful.

After just a tiny bit of tinkering I was able to capture an incoming SMS message and respond to it, programmatically. The downside is that it feels like Pandora's Box has been opened because of course now I want to learn more about MMS responses, dynamic voice mails and creating faux "bots" with the interactions. None of that has anything to do with the podcast that it was originally built for but it's a nice rabbit hole of learning.

The one downside is that the Twilio dashboard is not so great. The get you in the door quickly and easily but then it's a bit of a mess. Hopefully you don't have to spend too much time in there.

The Biggest Mistake Of Our Lives

posted April 2, 2018 #

Last I posted about Hott Minute I claimed the episode was "likely their strongest yet." I think now, just two episodes later, they may have already topped it. Clearly I'm biased in my affinity for what Ashley `n` Jamie are doing but I love that they're getting more comfortable with the format and allowing themselves to be a bit more ridiculous in front of the mic. Here's The Biggest Mistake of Our Lives:
Many thanks to Dave Paulson for the theme song this week. It's a blast.

Simpsons Writers Reunion

posted April 2, 2018 #

Despite being posted in 2013, I'd never seen this Simpsons writers reunion with Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jay Kogen, Jeff Martin and, their host, Conan O'Brien. If you've seen it, watch it again! If not, you're in for a treat of behind-the-scenes talk around the inception of the show, the process for writing and what Conan himself brought to the table when he joined a few years in. Yes, it's over an hour long and Internet Attention Span is rarely that long but it's compelling from beginning to end.
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