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Open Culture
The Wisdom of Alan Watts in 4 Mind-Expanding Animations Perhaps no single person did more to popularize Zen Buddhism in the West than Alan Watts. In a...
8 months ago
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8 months ago
Perhaps no single person did more to popularize Zen Buddhism in the West than Alan Watts. In a sense, Watts prepared U.S. culture for more traditionally Zen teachers like Soto priest Suzuki Roshi, whose lineage continues today, but Watts did not consider himself a Zen Buddhist....
Seth's Blog
Broken (and not worth fixing) In one corner of the parking garage near my office, car satellite radio doesn’t work. This is...
8 months ago
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8 months ago
In one corner of the parking garage near my office, car satellite radio doesn’t work. This is clearly broken, but it’s also not a problem. Certainly not a problem worth anyone’s attention when there are so many other problems to be addressed. Problems, by definition, can be...
Seth's Blog
Dreams, plans and contradictions Dreams are fine. And dreams involve contradictions. We want this AND that, but both can’t happen....
a year ago
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a year ago
Dreams are fine. And dreams involve contradictions. We want this AND that, but both can’t happen. That’s what keeps them from being plans. Plans embrace boundaries and reality, they don’t ignore them. Plans thrive on scarcity and constraints. Plans are open for inspection, and a...
escape the algorithm
Gift interfaces, an interview, and how you found me Some updates on things that have happened and that are coming in the escape the algorithm cinematic...
8 months ago
Seth's Blog
You are a media theorist If you’ve ever caught a ball, you’re a physicist. You might not be trained in it, but your intuitive...
3 months ago
26
3 months ago
If you’ve ever caught a ball, you’re a physicist. You might not be trained in it, but your intuitive sense of where the ball is going to land requires having a theory about gravity. And if you’ve ever taken aspirin for a headache, you’ve articulated a theory about medicine....
Seth's Blog
The last little bit Important hills usually get much steeper at the top. 99% of the training in competitive athletics is...
11 months ago
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11 months ago
Important hills usually get much steeper at the top. 99% of the training in competitive athletics is devoted to the last 1% of performance. A tenth of a second. The same is true for squeezing the last bit of performance out of a car, a grape or a semiconductor. And healthcare,...
Seth's Blog
The lonely zone For many, the goal is to be the deciding vote, the donation that gets a cause over the goal, the...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
For many, the goal is to be the deciding vote, the donation that gets a cause over the goal, the person who counts. And often, we enjoy piling on. Once the cause or fashion or tech is clearly working, it’s easy and fun to say “me too.” More rare, more vulnerable and more...
Open Culture
Get Unlimited Access to Courses & Certificates: Coursera Is Offering 40% (or $159) Off of Coursera... A heads up on a deal: Between today and June 23, 2024, Coursera is offering a 40% discount on its...
a year ago
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a year ago
A heads up on a deal: Between today and June 23, 2024, Coursera is offering a 40% discount on its annual subscription plan called “Coursera Plus.” Normally priced at $399, Coursera Plus (now available for $239.40) gives you access to 7,000+ courses for one all-inclusive...
Seth's Blog
Brakes and acceleration Every driver benefits from good brakes. It makes driving safer. Only a few skilled drivers benefit...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Every driver benefits from good brakes. It makes driving safer. Only a few skilled drivers benefit from better acceleration. Our habit is to compare top speed, horsepower, short-term returns and status. In every field, not just cars. But it probably pays to make sure that there...
Open Culture
William Faulkner Resigns From His Post Office Job With a Spectacular Letter (1924) Working a dull civil service job ill-suited to your talents does not make you a writer, but plenty...
a month ago
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a month ago
Working a dull civil service job ill-suited to your talents does not make you a writer, but plenty of famous writers have worked such jobs. Nathaniel Hawthorne worked at a Boston customhouse for a year. His friend Herman Melville put in considerably more time—19 years—as a...
Seth's Blog
The Le Guin precepts Fabled author Ursula Le Guin had a sign over her desk: Not a bad place to begin.
a year ago
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Caroline Fearn Hello, I’m Caroline. I live in London. Two years ago I picked up a carving tool and a block of lino....
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Hello, I’m Caroline. I live in London. Two years ago I picked up a carving tool and a block of lino. I quite liked it.   Describe your printmaking process My process is an intuitive one, so I typically just start, and I will see what develops through doing. Experimenting with...
Open Culture
The Hand: An Anti-Totalitarian Animation, Banned for Two Decades & Now Considered One of the... For obvious reasons, most art produced under oppressive regimes comes off as painstakingly...
8 months ago
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8 months ago
For obvious reasons, most art produced under oppressive regimes comes off as painstakingly inoffensive. For equally obvious reasons, the rare works that criticize the regime tend to do so rather obliquely. This wasn’t so much the case with The Hand, the most famous short by Czech...
Seth's Blog
The leaping curve The learning curve is familiar to many people. It might be steep, but it’s continuous. Organizations...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
The learning curve is familiar to many people. It might be steep, but it’s continuous. Organizations (and people) work their way up it, one step at a time (it’s the black line in the graph below). But there’s rarely a continuous learning curve. Instead, it’s often interrupted by...
Open Culture
The History of Electronic Music in 476 Tracks (1937–2001) Photo of Karlheinz Stockhausen by Kathinka Pasveer via Wikimedia Commons You may hear the phrase...
2 weeks ago
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2 weeks ago
Photo of Karlheinz Stockhausen by Kathinka Pasveer via Wikimedia Commons You may hear the phrase “electronic music” and think of superstar dubstep DJs in funny helmets at beachside celebrity parties. Alternatively, you may think of the mercurial compositions of Karlheinz...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Killing the Internet Encryption dramas, baby mamas, Reddit paywalls and a wholesome AMA
4 months ago
Open Culture
David Bowie/Nirvana’s “The Man Who Sold The World” Played on the Gayageum, a Korean Instrument from... East meets West, and the Ancient, the Modern. That’s what happens every time Luna Lee plays one of...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
East meets West, and the Ancient, the Modern. That’s what happens every time Luna Lee plays one of your favorites on the Gayageum, a Korean instrument that dates back to the 6th century. We’ve featured her work in years past (see the Relateds below). Above, watch one of her...
The Great Discontent...
Rafael Espinal Rafael Espinal was just 26 when he became an elected official. For the next 10 years, he worked...
9 months ago
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9 months ago
Rafael Espinal was just 26 when he became an elected official. For the next 10 years, he worked within the halls of government, first as a New York State Assemblymember and then as a New York City Councilmember, advocating for artists, independent workers, and underserved...
Neocha – Culture &...
Suit & Tiger
over a year ago
Handprinted - Blog
Meet The Maker - Rebecca Perdue Hello! I'm Rebecca Perdue. I am a printmaker and artist based in a small garden studio in Wiltshire....
a year ago
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a year ago
Hello! I'm Rebecca Perdue. I am a printmaker and artist based in a small garden studio in Wiltshire. I work primarily in linocut and monoprint, but also paint and make occasional silver jewellery pieces and textiles. I'm very interested in linking work across several...
Seth's Blog
“How can I help?” If you have a series of tasks to do, it’s easier to ignore this question and simply get back to...
10 months ago
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10 months ago
If you have a series of tasks to do, it’s easier to ignore this question and simply get back to work. Doing the tasks is more efficient than coordinating the help. But if your work is a project, a bigger mission that involves making a change happen, it’s much more productive to...
Seth's Blog
Signal and noise If the signal is very weak and the noise is large, it’s easy to imagine that there’s no signal at...
a year ago
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a year ago
If the signal is very weak and the noise is large, it’s easy to imagine that there’s no signal at all. AI and computers can be used as lenses now, which means we can strip away the noise and see things that we certainly didn’t expect. Dina Katabi at MIT can point a radio antenna...
Seth's Blog
Predicting the past It’s not unusual to encounter conflicting weather reports. One site says it’s going to rain, the...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
It’s not unusual to encounter conflicting weather reports. One site says it’s going to rain, the other insists it won’t. On the other hand, you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. It’s sunny, right now, you can tell. A weather service that said it was...
Anarchy Unfolds
To beat fascism, tell better stories On false narratives and the stories we need to tell
5 months ago
Seth's Blog
Portfolio theory One show can make Netflix’s year. One stock can make the numbers for an investor. One player can...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
One show can make Netflix’s year. One stock can make the numbers for an investor. One player can drive a team to victory. The key is, “I’m not sure which one it’s going to be, but it’s going to be one of these.” The challenge with falling in love with the potential of just one...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet The Maker: Ariana Martin Hi, I’m Ariana - a pattern designer and printmaker from leafy Sheffield. I create joyful patterns...
a year ago
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a year ago
Hi, I’m Ariana - a pattern designer and printmaker from leafy Sheffield. I create joyful patterns and illustrations, which are particularly inspired by 20th century design, and I produce my own range of stationery and homewares.     Describe your printmaking process. Screen...
Open Culture
Buckminster Fuller’s Map of the World: The Innovation That Revolutionized Map Design (1943) In 2017, we brought you news of a world map purportedly more accurate than any to date, designed by...
11 months ago
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11 months ago
In 2017, we brought you news of a world map purportedly more accurate than any to date, designed by Japanese architect and artist Hajime Narukawa. The map, called the AuthaGraph, updates a centuries-old method of turning the globe into a flat surface by first converting it to a...
Ian Betteridge
Ten Blue Links, “ignoring the election” edition 1. UK university fees going up (but not by enough to make the system work) For those of you not in...
8 months ago
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8 months ago
1. UK university fees going up (but not by enough to make the system work) For those of you not in the UK, the British system of university funding is a weird mash-mash of different stuff, cobbled together from the mistakes made by successive governments. When I was young, the...
Seth's Blog
Brighten up a room (just by leaving it) Moving into your kid’s college dorm isn’t going to make the experience better...
10 months ago
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10 months ago
(just by leaving it) Moving into your kid’s college dorm isn’t going to make the experience better for anyone. A smart founder leaves her company in a moment when it actually does better without her. The expectation that secession is failure causes a lot of damage. If you really...
Seth's Blog
The unwritten rules get written …when someone decides to selfishly push. There’s an assumption of civility and fairness in all of...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
…when someone decides to selfishly push. There’s an assumption of civility and fairness in all of our interactions. When a harsh competitor unilaterally breaks unwritten rules (because it’s “not technically against the rules”) the community then writes down a new rule. The best...
Seth's Blog
The generous ask “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” That’s problematic advice. Taken to an extreme, it turns us into...
a year ago
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a year ago
“If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” That’s problematic advice. Taken to an extreme, it turns us into hustlers. The alternative is to realize that the best asks are actually offers. When we offer to help someone get to where they were going, we’re approaching the relationship with...
Seth's Blog
The worst person on our team A common shortcut to cultural divisiveness is to find the single worst person in a different group...
a year ago
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a year ago
A common shortcut to cultural divisiveness is to find the single worst person in a different group and highlight and attack their behavior. By making it clear and obvious that this is what THEY (the plural) want and who THEY are, it’s easy to walk away from a larger we. Their...
Open Culture
Discover the CIA’s Simple Sabotage Field Manual: A Timeless Guide to Subverting Any Organization... I’ve always admired people who can successfully navigate what I refer to as “Kafka’s Castle,” a term...
7 months ago
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7 months ago
I’ve always admired people who can successfully navigate what I refer to as “Kafka’s Castle,” a term of dread for the many government and corporate agencies that have an inordinate amount of power over our permanent records, and that seem as inscrutable and chillingly absurd as...
Seth's Blog
Hobby mindset You might be fortunate enough to have a hobby. Something you are focused on and passionate about....
3 months ago
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3 months ago
You might be fortunate enough to have a hobby. Something you are focused on and passionate about. You might read the journals, develop your skills, collect, connect with others in the field, and commit to getting better at it… Time spent on a hobby feels like time well spent....
Open Culture
Neil deGrasse Tyson Lists 8 (Free) Books Every Intelligent Person Should Read Image via Wikimedia Commons A number of years ago, a Reddit user posed the question to Neil deGrasse...
a week ago
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a week ago
Image via Wikimedia Commons A number of years ago, a Reddit user posed the question to Neil deGrasse Tyson: “Which books should be read by every single intelligent person on the planet?” Below, you will find the book list offered up by the astrophysicist, director of the Hayden...
Handprinted - Blog
Using Pearl Ex Metallic Pigments to Enhance Linocuts Pearl Ex Powdered Pigments are metallic pigments that can be mixed into printing inks, acrylics,...
a year ago
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a year ago
Pearl Ex Powdered Pigments are metallic pigments that can be mixed into printing inks, acrylics, oils, encaustics and loads more. As printmakers we were keen to see how they could be used in various printmaking applications, starting with linocut.    We began by mixing Apple...
Open Culture
How Georges Méliès A Trip to the Moon Became the First Sci-Fi Film & Changed Cinema Forever (1902) If you happen to visit the Cinémathèque Française in Paris, do take the time to see the Musée Méliès...
7 months ago
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7 months ago
If you happen to visit the Cinémathèque Française in Paris, do take the time to see the Musée Méliès located inside it. Dedicated to la Magie du cinéma, it contains artifacts from throughout the history of film-as-spectacle, which includes such pictures as 2001: A Space Odyssey...
cabel.com
Firehouse Five and the Cinderella Surprise My goal was to preserve some never-before-heard recordings of an incredible Dixieland jazz band made...
a year ago
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a year ago
My goal was to preserve some never-before-heard recordings of an incredible Dixieland jazz band made up of mostly Disney employees, the Firehouse Five Plus Two. But along the way, I accidentally discovered an incredible lost song that was cut from Walt Disney’s Cinderella. And...
Seth's Blog
Exceed or maintain? In just about every group, people decide in advance how they’ll show up when it comes to learning,...
a year ago
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a year ago
In just about every group, people decide in advance how they’ll show up when it comes to learning, to winning and to responding to opportunities. They’re wearing a hat with a label, and over time, it’s not hard to recognize. This can change based on pedagogy, social conditions...
Seth's Blog
Creating value as an entrepreneur If you’ve borrowed money or sold shares, you’ll need to build something that’s worth more than your...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
If you’ve borrowed money or sold shares, you’ll need to build something that’s worth more than your labor. Here are some key pillars where value lives: Customer tractionPermissionDistributionThe network effectSmallest viable audience Customer traction is the big one. Every day,...
On the Arts
On the Arts: A Three Month Review And a Thank You to Subscribers
a year ago
Seth's Blog
The hierarchy of insight It looks like this: Which do we measure the most, spend the most obtaining and argue about most...
10 months ago
42
10 months ago
It looks like this: Which do we measure the most, spend the most obtaining and argue about most often? We might have it backwards. HT Russ Ackoff.
Open Culture
Watch the 1896 Film The Pistol Duel, a Startling Re-Creation of the Last Days of Pistol Dueling in... One sometimes hears lamented the tendency of movies to depict Mexico — and in particular, its...
11 months ago
50
11 months ago
One sometimes hears lamented the tendency of movies to depict Mexico — and in particular, its capital Mexico City — as a threatening, rough-and-tumble place where human life has no value. Such concerns turn out to be nearly as old as cinema itself, having first been raised in...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Matt Hooper My name is Matt Hooper and I’m a relief printmaker working from my rather compact studio I built in...
8 months ago
73
8 months ago
My name is Matt Hooper and I’m a relief printmaker working from my rather compact studio I built in the garden of my home in a town just outside Leeds. I’m a self taught artist and printmaker, ironically having being in the print industry for 32 years. I left school at 16 with no...
Seth's Blog
The illusion of concern When organizations reach scale, digital interactions belie our expectation that someone in charge...
a year ago
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a year ago
When organizations reach scale, digital interactions belie our expectation that someone in charge actually gives a damn. Once there’s math to do, the CFO does the math. It quickly reveals that no, the search engine shouldn’t bother having a customer support team. That UPS or...
Infinite Scroll
Podcast: Abundance ft. Derek Thompson My other job besides writing here at Infinite Scroll is hosting The New Liberal Podcast, and this...
3 months ago
31
3 months ago
My other job besides writing here at Infinite Scroll is hosting The New Liberal Podcast, and this week I’m sharing an episode I recorded with Derek Thompson of The Atlantic.
Prolost
Mac Studio and Studio Display Mac Studio with M1 Ultra and Apple Studio Display, running Cinema 4D and Redshift. In October of...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Mac Studio with M1 Ultra and Apple Studio Display, running Cinema 4D and Redshift. In October of 2021 I got to test a 14″ MacBook Pro with M1 Max processor. It performed so well, that I, along with many Mac power-users, questioned whether it could replace my desktop Mac. Last...
Prolost
Red Giant & Maxon, Sitting in a Tree Red Giant, where I’ve been Chief Creative Officer for a couple of years now, but making filmmaking...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Red Giant, where I’ve been Chief Creative Officer for a couple of years now, but making filmmaking tools for you for 17 years, is merging with Maxon, makers of Cinema 4D. From the Red Giant blog: Hi folks — by now you’ve probably heard the news that Maxon and Red Giant are...
Seth's Blog
Default to surrender AI chatbots highight a challenge that is worth understanding. It applies to customer service,...
a year ago
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a year ago
AI chatbots highight a challenge that is worth understanding. It applies to customer service, bureaucracies and teachers as well… If you ask an AI a question and it’s not confident in the answer, it should say, “I’m not sure.” That could be followed up with, “do you want me to...
Seth's Blog
Everyone wants to be connected But we hesitate to be the connector. Everyone wants to be trusted, but we hesitate to trust. And...
a year ago
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a year ago
But we hesitate to be the connector. Everyone wants to be trusted, but we hesitate to trust. And everyone wants to be respected, but we often fail to offer our respect. What an opportunity.
Seth's Blog
Confusion and delay Marketing is generally about action. Marketers seek to create the conditions for a change to happen,...
a year ago
18
a year ago
Marketing is generally about action. Marketers seek to create the conditions for a change to happen, for people to accomplish their goals and to satisfy their needs. But since 1950, some marketers have worked in a different direction. To sow confusion and doubt, and most of all,...
Blog - Amy Goodchild
Early Computer Art in the 50’s & 60’s A deep dive on the early days of creative computing coming to life. Punch cards, plotters, light...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
A deep dive on the early days of creative computing coming to life. Punch cards, plotters, light pens and lots more.
Seth's Blog
The A.R.E. skills matter more than ever Perhaps this is what your team needs from you: Agreeableness is not the same as agreeing. In fact,...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Perhaps this is what your team needs from you: Agreeableness is not the same as agreeing. In fact, they have little in common. Finding someone who’s only job is to agree with everything that is said is easy. On the other hand, agreeableness is the skill of having a contrary...
Open Culture
Hear the First Recording of the Human Voice (1860) When inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville sang a nursery rhyme into his phonoautogram in 1860,...
2 months ago
9
2 months ago
When inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville sang a nursery rhyme into his phonoautogram in 1860, he had no plans to ever play back this recording. A precursor to the wax cylinder, the phonoautogram took inputs for the study of sound waves, but could not be turned into an...
Seth's Blog
The unwarranted smile When we do something nice for someone, a ‘thank you’ and a smile is nice to receive. And, in many...
a year ago
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a year ago
When we do something nice for someone, a ‘thank you’ and a smile is nice to receive. And, in many parts of human culture, it’s a bit expected. But when something goes wrong, if we drop a plate or miss a turn or make someone late, it’s particularly delightful and memorable if we...
Handprinted - Blog
Prepping your Plate for Etching For a successful etch, there is a little bit of care and attention you need to give to your metal...
a year ago
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a year ago
For a successful etch, there is a little bit of care and attention you need to give to your metal plate first. There are surface impurities and grease pockets within the metal that will need to be removed before coating your plate with grounds. This blog is part of a series...
Seth's Blog
Trying harder Or trying better? Fast runners aren’t the same as slow runners, but with more effort. And great...
a year ago
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a year ago
Or trying better? Fast runners aren’t the same as slow runners, but with more effort. And great chefs or violinists or actors… it’s not about doing what you did yesterday, but more of that. It’s something different.
Handprinted - Blog
Kathryn Desforges: Meet The Maker I'm Kathryn Desforges, a Devon-born, Yorkshire-based artist with a passion for printmaking, process,...
5 months ago
58
5 months ago
I'm Kathryn Desforges, a Devon-born, Yorkshire-based artist with a passion for printmaking, process, and material experimentation. I specialise in etching, lithography and woodcut, and alongside my studio practice, my career as a printmaking technician and tutor intertwines with...
Stat Significant
Which Movies Have "Aged Poorly"? A Statistical Analysis Which films have not stood the test of time?
3 months ago
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Jessie de Salis I am Jessie de Salis. I run a screen printing textile business with my cousin, Alice. We print...
10 months ago
69
10 months ago
I am Jessie de Salis. I run a screen printing textile business with my cousin, Alice. We print colourful patterned fabrics from a Somerset barn, a space we share with the sparrows and house-martins. What inspires you? I love bold and bright design. I always seem to come back to...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet The Maker: Fei Fei I’m Fei, a printmaker and designer working in Beijing. I make cards, prints, and run workshops in...
3 months ago
36
3 months ago
I’m Fei, a printmaker and designer working in Beijing. I make cards, prints, and run workshops in the city.  I have a day job as a brand designer, and I use my spare time to grow my printmaking practice.  Describe your printmaking process. I start with simple sketches in my head...
The Last...
Ten Extra Seconds Would Have Saved True Detective's Finale what could it mean? You just watched a historical TV moment: never before has the audience for a...
over a year ago
25
over a year ago
what could it mean? You just watched a historical TV moment: never before has the audience for a show been smarter than its writer.   I submit as second evidence the season finale for The Bachelor that was on yesterday, for three hours, drawing ten million "people".  Just...
Seth's Blog
The next one When asked what his favorite composition was, Duke Ellington said, “the next one.” This is the...
a year ago
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a year ago
When asked what his favorite composition was, Duke Ellington said, “the next one.” This is the essence of the artistic process. When we’re in the liminal space between now and what is about to come, we’re fully alive.
Open Culture
60 Free Film Noir Movies You Can Watch Online, Including Classics by John Huston, Orson Welles &... During the 1940s and 50s, Hollywood entered a “noir” period, producing riveting films based on...
a month ago
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a month ago
During the 1940s and 50s, Hollywood entered a “noir” period, producing riveting films based on hard-boiled fiction. These films were set in dark locations and shot in a black & white aesthetic that fit like a glove. Hardened men wore fedoras and forever smoked cigarettes. Women...
Open Culture
How Steven Soderbergh Directs a Scene & Makes It Great Steven Soderbergh was one of the earliest filmmakers to break out in what’s now called the...
a month ago
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a month ago
Steven Soderbergh was one of the earliest filmmakers to break out in what’s now called the “Indiewood” movement of the nineteen-nineties. He was early enough, in fact, to have done so in the eighties, with the Palme d’Or-winning Sex, Lies, and Videotape. His subsequent films have...
Seth's Blog
Multiple choice “None of the above” is often the best option. We’re regularly confronted with multiple-choice...
11 months ago
93
11 months ago
“None of the above” is often the best option. We’re regularly confronted with multiple-choice questions. The foundation is already established, the options are already limited, do you want this or that? But the real questions lie in the assumptions that happened before you were...
Open Culture
Behold Gustave Doré’s Dramatic Illustrations of the Bible (1866) One occasionally hears it said that, thanks to the internet, all the books truly worth reading are...
a year ago
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a year ago
One occasionally hears it said that, thanks to the internet, all the books truly worth reading are free: Shakespeare, Don Quixote, the stories of Edgar Allan Poe, the Divine Comedy, the Bible. Can it be a coincidence that all of these works inspired illustrations by Gustave Doré?...
Open Culture
Nick Cave Narrates an Animated Film about the Cat Piano, the Twisted 18th Century Musical Instrument... What do you imagine when you hear the phrase “cat piano”? Some kind of whimsical furry beast with...
11 months ago
67
11 months ago
What do you imagine when you hear the phrase “cat piano”? Some kind of whimsical furry beast with black and white keys for teeth, maybe? A relative of My Neighbor Totoro’s cat bus? Or maybe you picture a piano that contains several caged cats who shriek along an entire scale when...
Marian's Blog
16×16 LED Matrix This is a 16×16 RGB LED matrix, made of 256 WS2812B LEDs. It’s powered by a Raspberry Pi and can...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
This is a 16×16 RGB LED matrix, made of 256 WS2812B LEDs. It’s powered by a Raspberry Pi and can display images and animations. With a game controller attached, it can play games. The pictures below show how I built the frame. Painting the base plate Drawing...
Prolost
Circle of Stone TLDR; a short film I DP’ed is playing tons of festivals, and you can see it stream this Friday! The...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
TLDR; a short film I DP’ed is playing tons of festivals, and you can see it stream this Friday! The Call to Action In early 2017, my buddy Mark Andrews asked if I would be his cinematographer on a short film. Mark and I met at CalArts and have been making films together most of...
Open Culture
The Heavy-Metal Band Disturbed Covered Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” Ten Years Ago, and... “The Sound of Silence” Is the Most Metal Song of the Past Decade”: imagine that headline, and the...
2 months ago
18
2 months ago
“The Sound of Silence” Is the Most Metal Song of the Past Decade”: imagine that headline, and the contrarian culture piece practically writes itself. Not so long ago, Slate was notorious for publishing that kind of thing, but it seems they’ve now put that sensibility behind them...
Seth's Blog
Responsibility and blame It’s tempting to hand it to other people. If someone else takes the blame, if they accept the...
a year ago
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a year ago
It’s tempting to hand it to other people. If someone else takes the blame, if they accept the responsibility, then we get satisfaction and we’re off the hook. Alas, this doesn’t work unless the others do the taking and do the accepting. Which is unlikely. We’re giving power to...
Seth's Blog
Rituals The things we do each day, every day, often arrive without intent. By the time we realize that...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
The things we do each day, every day, often arrive without intent. By the time we realize that they’re now habits, these random behaviors have already become part of how we define ourselves and the time we spend. Bringing intent to our rituals gives us the chance to rewire our...
Seth's Blog
The value of artifacts An artifact is an object that holds or signifies an idea. A book on paper is an artifact: it’s the...
6 months ago
48
6 months ago
An artifact is an object that holds or signifies an idea. A book on paper is an artifact: it’s the object plus the words. Now that you can get the words in many other ways, the value of the book is changed. A wedding ring is an artifact. If lost, it has sentimental value far […]
Seth's Blog
Hobson’s choice …is no choice at all. The stable owner gets to pick which horse you get. Take it or leave it. Some...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
…is no choice at all. The stable owner gets to pick which horse you get. Take it or leave it. Some people prefer this. It means that we’re off the hook and not responsible. It relieves us of the emotional labor of choice. Let someone else worry about it… And so we give up our […]
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Bro Economy Everywhere Plus! Oral Traditions, Woke Chili, and Montoya
5 months ago
Open Culture
John Nash’s Super Short PhD Thesis: 26 Pages & Two Citations When John Nash wrote “Non-Cooperative Games,” his Ph.D. dissertation at Princeton in 1950, the text...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
When John Nash wrote “Non-Cooperative Games,” his Ph.D. dissertation at Princeton in 1950, the text of his thesis (read it online) was brief. It ran only 26 pages. And more particularly, it was light on citations. Nash’s diss cited two texts: John von Neumann and Oskar...
Open Culture
When the CIA Studied Psychic Techniques to Alter Human Consciousness & Unlock Time Travel: Discover... By now, it’s widely known that the Central Intelligence Agency ran a decades-long program of...
a year ago
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a year ago
By now, it’s widely known that the Central Intelligence Agency ran a decades-long program of experiments involving LSD and other psychoactive drugs called MKUltra from the nineteen-fifties to the seventies. As one might suspect, that wasn’t the only research project into the...
Seth's Blog
Anonymity and Bugs Bunny I came across this (ironically) anonymous quote recently: “The offline world is full of sticks, but...
10 months ago
66
10 months ago
I came across this (ironically) anonymous quote recently: “The offline world is full of sticks, but the internet only has carrots.” When we come together in groups, it can bring out the best in people. When those groups are anonymous, porous and transient, though, the opposite...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet The Maker: Fabiola Knowles Originally from Sicily, I grew up in Australia; however, having settled in the UK in 1996, it has...
a year ago
97
a year ago
Originally from Sicily, I grew up in Australia; however, having settled in the UK in 1996, it has been my home for the largest part of my life. I love the outdoors and I am drawn to open landscapes with big skies. I am an artist working mainly with various forms of printmaking. I...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker Round-Up 2024! It has been another incredible year of printmaking inspiration. We've put together a round-up of all...
7 months ago
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7 months ago
It has been another incredible year of printmaking inspiration. We've put together a round-up of all our fantastic Meet the Maker artists from 2024, alongside their advice or inspiration for other printmakers. Read through for a wholesome dose of printmaking magic, and click...
Marian's Blog
Generating an infinite world with the Wave Function Collapse algorithm This article describes how I generate an infinite city using the Wave Function Collapse algorithm in...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
This article describes how I generate an infinite city using the Wave Function Collapse algorithm in a way that is fast, deterministic, parallelizable and reliable. It's a follow-up to my 2019 article on adapting the WFC algorithm to generate an infinite world. The new approach...
Seth's Blog
The magic of the commons Sheep are not like ideas. 200 years ago, William Foster Lloyd began pointing out that if land is...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Sheep are not like ideas. 200 years ago, William Foster Lloyd began pointing out that if land is shared, ranchers will all have an incentive to overgraze their sheep–if they don’t, the thinking goes, the others will. Each farmer expands until the commons is ruined. And this...
Seth's Blog
Knowing your customers In the very small business, the freelancer knows each customer. By name, by volume, by preferences....
10 months ago
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10 months ago
In the very small business, the freelancer knows each customer. By name, by volume, by preferences. And in the huge business, expensive software, data analysts and relentless margin seeking pushes organizations to increase their yield. But most businesses (and non-profits and...
Seth's Blog
Stopping a runaway train It feels urgent because it is. But by the time the train is running away, it might be too late. The...
11 months ago
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11 months ago
It feels urgent because it is. But by the time the train is running away, it might be too late. The better strategy is to not sign up for trains that are likely to run away. The first principle of risk reduction is to figure out if you can stop it later. If you can’t, […]
Seth's Blog
When was the last time you used a compass? How about an astrolabe? Or even a watch? Technology advances, and sooner or later, the old stuff...
a year ago
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a year ago
How about an astrolabe? Or even a watch? Technology advances, and sooner or later, the old stuff gets left behind. It’s easy to romanticize some of the classic devices that we built civilization on, and it’s worth remembering that the tech we’re wrestling with now will soon be...
Anarchy Unfolds
No Futures We don't have to think of the children
a year ago
escape the algorithm
Is Substack exaggerating its network effects? The data tells the story writers want to hear... but is it true?
a year ago
Seth's Blog
The challenge of nonprofit fundraising When someone starts a business, they spend a bunch of time with a business plan, working to raise...
a year ago
35
a year ago
When someone starts a business, they spend a bunch of time with a business plan, working to raise funds and get it off the ground. After that, though, the purpose of the business is completely aligned with the idea of not running out of money. We run a business to make money, not...
Open Culture
The First Animation That Hayao Miyazaki Directed on His Own: Watch Footage from the Pilot of Yuki’s... Hayao Miyazaki began his career as an animator in 1963, getting in the door at Toei Animation not...
11 months ago
51
11 months ago
Hayao Miyazaki began his career as an animator in 1963, getting in the door at Toei Animation not long before the company ceased to hire regularly. Miyazaki’s equally retirement-resistant contemporary Tetsuya Chiba, already well on his way to fame as a mangaka, or comic artist,...
Seth's Blog
An overlooked and powerful editing tool Consider building a word cloud of your writing. It might be all the text on your website, or the...
a year ago
43
a year ago
Consider building a word cloud of your writing. It might be all the text on your website, or the last 50 emails you sent. It might be your new book or the speech you’re going to give at Rice University. It only takes a few minutes. I use wordclouds.com because it’s easy and free....
Seth's Blog
Small groups, well organized And those are the two challenges of anyone seeking to make an impact. First, we get distracted by...
a year ago
26
a year ago
And those are the two challenges of anyone seeking to make an impact. First, we get distracted by the inclination to make the group as big as we can imagine. After all, the change is essential, the idea is a good one. It’s for everyone. Except that’s a trap. Because a group...
Seth's Blog
The missing file It contained some of my best writing. Cogent, clear and powerful. I found it. It wasn’t nearly as...
10 months ago
66
10 months ago
It contained some of my best writing. Cogent, clear and powerful. I found it. It wasn’t nearly as good as I remembered. In fact, it was hardly useful. The opposite happens with the things we fear. When they show up, they’re likely to be a lot less fearsome than we imagined.
Open Culture
The Night Frank Zappa Jammed With Pink Floyd … and Captain Beefheart Too (Belgium, 1969) Recently an older musician acquaintance told me he never “got into ‘Interstellar Overdrive’ and all...
10 months ago
38
10 months ago
Recently an older musician acquaintance told me he never “got into ‘Interstellar Overdrive’ and all that,” referring to the “first major space jam” of Pink Floyd’s career and the subsequent explosion of space rock bands. I found myself a little taken aback. Though I was born too...
Seth's Blog
In search of incompetence Learning is about becoming incompetent on our way to getting better. If you’re not open to the...
a year ago
27
a year ago
Learning is about becoming incompetent on our way to getting better. If you’re not open to the tension that is caused by knowing you could do better, it’s unlikely you’re willing to do the work to get better. As you’re doing that work, there’s the satisfaction it brings, but also...
Open Culture
Jerry Seinfeld Delivers Commencement Address at Duke University: You Will Need Humor to Get Through... This weekend, Jerry Seinfeld gave the commencement speech at Duke University and offered the...
a year ago
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a year ago
This weekend, Jerry Seinfeld gave the commencement speech at Duke University and offered the graduates his three keys to life: 1. bust your ass, 2. pay attention, and 3. fall in love. Then, 10 minutes later, he added essentially a fourth key to life: “Do not lose your sense of...
Open Culture
Martin Scorsese Plays Vincent Van Gogh in a Short, Surreal Film by Akira Kurosawa The idea of the auteur director has been a controversial one at times given the sheer number of...
12 months ago
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12 months ago
The idea of the auteur director has been a controversial one at times given the sheer number of people required at every stage to produce a film. But it hangs together for me when you look at the films of say, Martin Scorsese or Akira Kurosawa, both directors with very...
Handprinted - Blog
Using Schmincke Water-Based Inks to Create a Jigsaw Linocut We love the range of colours that are available in Schmincke water-based inks. We’re creating a...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
We love the range of colours that are available in Schmincke water-based inks. We’re creating a jigsaw linocut to allow us to use multiple colours of Schmincke ink in just one block! We are using Easy Carve Blue as it’s soft to cut up with a scalpel, making it ideal for a jigsaw...
Open Culture
Bambi Meets Godzilla: #38 on the List of The 50 Greatest Cartoons of All Time (1969) In 1994, Jerry Beck edited the book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation...
7 months ago
45
7 months ago
In 1994, Jerry Beck edited the book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals, which challenged experts to create a ranking of the best short, cel animated cartoons ever made. To no one’s surprise, the experts chose 10 Warner Bros. animations crafted...
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #130 CT-179, Deep Research, NanoCas, Replit Agent, Go Birds
5 months ago
Seth's Blog
Feeding the algorithm The marketing consultant told the client that they have to post three times a day on LinkedIn. “It...
10 months ago
36
10 months ago
The marketing consultant told the client that they have to post three times a day on LinkedIn. “It doesn’t matter if it’s good.” The SEO consultant explained that the website had to be loaded with keywords, and that a big budget needed to be set aside to develop inbound links....
Infinite Scroll
Internet Book Club: Careless People Incuriosity, carelessness, and the current political moment
3 months ago
Open Culture
What’s Under London? Discover London’s Forbidden Underworld When the words London and underground come together, the first thing that comes to most of our...
a year ago
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a year ago
When the words London and underground come together, the first thing that comes to most of our minds, naturally, is the London Underground. But though it may enjoy the honorable distinction of the world’s first railway to run below the streets, the stalwart Tube is hardly the...
Stat Significant
How Streaming Elevated (and Ruined) Documentaries: A Statistical Analysis Unpacking streaming's embrace and erosion of non-fiction storytelling.
8 months ago
Seth's Blog
“Let’s face it” In 1959, three years after Columbia Records spent a fortune rolling out stereo recording, a senior...
a year ago
31
a year ago
In 1959, three years after Columbia Records spent a fortune rolling out stereo recording, a senior A&R executive named Ward Botsman told the New York Times, “Let’s face it, the craze for stereo has not been as intense as expected,” writing off the format that would end up...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Madder Cutch & Co. We are screen printers. We presume everyone knows that this is pushing ink through a mesh, which has...
over a year ago
81
over a year ago
We are screen printers. We presume everyone knows that this is pushing ink through a mesh, which has a pattern on it, using a squeegee. In our case, the screen and squeegee are quite big! We print linen by the metre and it is mainly used for home decorations, including...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: MrBeast Games The System Plus! A Momfluencer Horror Story and an Important Orca Update
7 months ago
Stat Significant
Which Countries Have the Most Unique Taste in Music? A Statistical Analysis Which nations have the most distinct music tastes?
3 months ago
Seth's Blog
More alternatives, please There are two ways for an artisan or professional to see the world: Scarcity. This is the idea that...
2 months ago
9
2 months ago
There are two ways for an artisan or professional to see the world: Scarcity. This is the idea that if there were fewer photographers, more people would hire me to do wedding pictures. That if the bar exam were more selective, it would be easier for my firm to get clients. And if...
Seth's Blog
Bob Dobalina I considered myself someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of a narrow range of mid-1960s TV and...
over a year ago
80
over a year ago
I considered myself someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of a narrow range of mid-1960s TV and certain strains of pop music as well. I was stunned, then, to hear the song Zilch for the first time recently. Mr. Dobalina, Mr. Bob Dobalina. It’s unforgettable. And it’s from the...
Marian's Blog
BTduino BTduino is an Android app that lets you add a custom bluetooth interface to your Arduino project...
over a year ago
18
over a year ago
BTduino is an Android app that lets you add a custom bluetooth interface to your Arduino project without any programming on the Android side. Everything is better with bluetooth! Here are some examples: Download Android APK file Android 4.0 or higher is...
Open Culture
The Genius Urban Design of Amsterdam: Canals, Dams & Leaning Houses It’s common to hear it said that some particular city — usually one of the American metropolises...
6 days ago
10
6 days ago
It’s common to hear it said that some particular city — usually one of the American metropolises that sprang into existence over the past couple of centuries — “shouldn’t exist.” And indeed, as urban planner M. Nolan Gray writes in a recent blog post, “no city should exist.” On...
Seth's Blog
Software done well There are a few tools I use regularly that make me smile, because the craftspeople who made them...
a year ago
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a year ago
There are a few tools I use regularly that make me smile, because the craftspeople who made them decided to build something with extra magic and care. By using and paying for well crafted software, we often get far more than we pay for… Ecamm is the tool I use for all my online...
Seth's Blog
Modern apologies The AI driven voice mail system said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand you.” Of course, there is no...
10 months ago
64
10 months ago
The AI driven voice mail system said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand you.” Of course, there is no “I” and by most definitions of sorry, it’s not. But it made me feel better. The overworked and slightly bitter front desk person who was the frontline flotsam in a poorly designed...
Open Culture
Explore an Online Archive of 2,100+ Rare Illustrations from Charles Dickens’ Novels As Christmastime approaches, few novelists come to mind as readily as Charles Dickens. This owes...
7 months ago
64
7 months ago
As Christmastime approaches, few novelists come to mind as readily as Charles Dickens. This owes mainly, of course, to A Christmas Carol, and even more so to its many adaptations, most of which draw inspiration from not just its text but also its illustrations. That 1843 novella...
Open Culture
The Story of Lee Miller: From the Cover of Vogue to Hitler’s Bathtub In late-twenties Manhattan, a nineteen-year-old woman named Elizabeth “Lee” Miller stepped off the...
a year ago
50
a year ago
In late-twenties Manhattan, a nineteen-year-old woman named Elizabeth “Lee” Miller stepped off the curb and into the path of a car. She was pulled back to safety by none other than the magnate Condé Nast, founder of the eponymous publishing company. Not long thereafter, Miller,...
Seth's Blog
The seduction of false promises Why do we buy the pitch of the snake oil salesman, the flim-flam man, the con artist, the demagogue...
a year ago
58
a year ago
Why do we buy the pitch of the snake oil salesman, the flim-flam man, the con artist, the demagogue or the trickster? As our modern world becomes more informed and more rational, we see an increase (not the expected decrease) in scams, hustles, and chaos. There are Jokers and...
Seth's Blog
A good business Just because it’s useful, needed or worthwhile doesn’t mean it’s a good business. E-bikes are...
3 months ago
22
3 months ago
Just because it’s useful, needed or worthwhile doesn’t mean it’s a good business. E-bikes are transforming cities and offering mobility to those who previously couldn’t afford it. But they’re a commodity, and it’s difficult to make a significant profit producing them. A good...
The Great Discontent...
Brian Eno From pioneering ambient music and ever-evolving light paintings to innovating production styles,...
a year ago
24
a year ago
From pioneering ambient music and ever-evolving light paintings to innovating production styles, installations, and strategies of surrender, Brian Eno’s work occupies a rare space in this world with an imprint as deep as it is wide. For the Roxy Music founder, art is the kind of...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Michelle Hughes I’m a printmaker and illustrator, living in York, North Yorkshire. I create limited edition linocut...
over a year ago
68
over a year ago
I’m a printmaker and illustrator, living in York, North Yorkshire. I create limited edition linocut prints inspired by the British countryside and British wildlife. Describe your printmaking process. When I started making lino prints I used SoftCut lino and a wooden spoon to...
Seth's Blog
“I didn’t see you there” Someone I’ve worked with over the years happened to be driving down my street. I called out and said...
8 months ago
63
8 months ago
Someone I’ve worked with over the years happened to be driving down my street. I called out and said hello… They ignored me. So I repeated myself. “Oh,” they said, recognizing me. “It’s you.” We’re more likely to see, hear and care if the person over there is actually a person. A...
Seth's Blog
The explosion We spend much of our worrying time on crises. Our media is filled with warnings, coverage and fear...
over a year ago
84
over a year ago
We spend much of our worrying time on crises. Our media is filled with warnings, coverage and fear of cataclysms. The big boom, the sudden end, the crash. In fact, rot is far more common. Things decay unless we persistently work to support them. Organizations, reputations,...
Open Culture
Isaac Asimov Predicts the Future of Online Education in 1988–and It’s Now Coming True “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” Though that line probably originated...
a year ago
46
a year ago
“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” Though that line probably originated with  a Canadian novelist called Grant Allen, it’s long been popularly attributed to his more colorful nineteenth-century contemporary Mark Twain. It isn’t hard to understand why it...
Seth's Blog
The AI effort gap It can take seven years to get a PhD. And a month to write a useful business plan or a year to write...
3 months ago
22
3 months ago
It can take seven years to get a PhD. And a month to write a useful business plan or a year to write a book. And yet, when AI shows up, our mistake is thinking that if we can’t find useful brilliance in one simple prompt, it’s broken. Imagine what you could discover and create...
Seth's Blog
Customer math for a new business How much does it cost to get a new customer? How much do you make from every interaction with that...
a year ago
46
a year ago
How much does it cost to get a new customer? How much do you make from every interaction with that customer? How long does the customer stick around? How many new customers will existing customers bring you over time?
Seth's Blog
The new way of work Amazon is the last one. They are probably the last huge company where hundreds of thousands of...
over a year ago
82
over a year ago
Amazon is the last one. They are probably the last huge company where hundreds of thousands of people will be surveilled, measured and ordered to follow the rule book. The pandemic didn’t create distributed work, the laptop did. Human interaction is critical, but the office isn’t...
Seth's Blog
Chores They’re essential. The house begins to stink if we don’t take out the garbage. But at work, while...
over a year ago
91
over a year ago
They’re essential. The house begins to stink if we don’t take out the garbage. But at work, while they might be essential, they may not be important. At least, not important enough for us to spend a lot of focus on. Chores are: The bills have to get paid. But they might not have...
On the Arts
What is the Demoscene? An Interview with Filipe Cruz on the Influential but Obscure Art Form
a year ago
Open Culture
Watch Tom Waits For No One, the Pioneering Animated Music Video from 1979 Tom Waits For No One, above, is surely the only film in history to have won an Oscar for Scientific...
a year ago
65
a year ago
Tom Waits For No One, above, is surely the only film in history to have won an Oscar for Scientific and Technical Achievement for its creator and a first place award at the Hollywood Erotic Film and Video Festival. Director John Lamb and his partner, Bruce Lyon also deserve...
Seth's Blog
Where is your N + 1? If three people are coming over for dinner, does that stress you out? What if it’s 17? If you’re...
2 months ago
27
2 months ago
If three people are coming over for dinner, does that stress you out? What if it’s 17? If you’re giving a talk explaining your strategy to four people, does it feel like a high-risk event? What if it’s 54? How many more people are required before it flips to stressful? Because...
Seth's Blog
Three sheet metaphors Here’s a large blue bedsheet, queen sized. If we’re going to pull it taut, it will take the...
a year ago
26
a year ago
Here’s a large blue bedsheet, queen sized. If we’re going to pull it taut, it will take the coordinated effort of eight people, each pulling just the right amount, from each corner and edge. If we’re going to billow it up and down, like a parachute, we’re going to need those...
Seth's Blog
Patience It’s worth the most when it’s the most difficult to find.
a year ago
Open Culture
Free: 356 Issues of Galaxy, the Groundbreaking 1950s Science Fiction Magazine Along with Astounding Science Fiction and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Galaxy...
8 months ago
53
8 months ago
Along with Astounding Science Fiction and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Galaxy Magazine was one of the most important science fiction digests in 1950s America. Ray Bradbury wrote for it–including an early version of his masterpiece Fahrenheit 451–as did Robert A....
Open Culture
A Stylish 2,000-Year-Old Roman Shoe Found in a Well When the Romans pushed their way north into the German provinces, they built (circa 90 AD) the...
2 months ago
7
2 months ago
When the Romans pushed their way north into the German provinces, they built (circa 90 AD) the Saalburg, a fort that protected the boundary between the Roman Empire and the Germanic tribal territories. At its peak, 2,000 people lived in the fort and the attached village, and it...
Seth's Blog
You might not get a third chance The first impression is vitally important. It positions us, establishes the tone of our relationship...
4 months ago
41
4 months ago
The first impression is vitally important. It positions us, establishes the tone of our relationship and earns trust. But we’re human, and it’s unlikely that every first impression will be as useful as we’d like. Fortunately, people can speak up and let us know, particularly if...
Open Culture
What is Electronic Music?: Pioneering Electronic Musician Daphne Oram Explains (1969) Survey the British public about the most important institution to arise in their country after World...
11 months ago
53
11 months ago
Survey the British public about the most important institution to arise in their country after World War II, and a lot of respondents are going to say the National Health Service. But keep asking around, and you’ll sooner or later encounter a few serious electronic-music...
Neocha – Culture &...
Modern Thai Calligraphy
over a year ago
Open Culture
Jack Kerouac’s Hand-Drawn Cover for On the Road (1952) This falls under the category, “If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.” In 1950,...
10 months ago
40
10 months ago
This falls under the category, “If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.” In 1950, when Jack Kerouac released his first novel, The Town and the City, he was less than impressed by the book cover produced by his publisher, Harcourt Brace. (Click here to see why.) So,...
Seth's Blog
“I’ve got your back” This is a complicated promise. It’s about commitment and connection and most of all, time. If we’re...
4 months ago
40
4 months ago
This is a complicated promise. It’s about commitment and connection and most of all, time. If we’re saying that we’ll do what’s in our short-term interest and convenient, then there’s really no reason to say anything at all, since that’s what we usually do anyway. Instead, we’re...
Seth's Blog
Wild Hope Now: The power of books for causes Non-profits and charities depend on the emotional and financial support of their backers. And that...
a year ago
29
a year ago
Non-profits and charities depend on the emotional and financial support of their backers. And that support is always based on a story. A story of possibility, of justice, of community. They serve to right wrongs, to fix problems, to shine a light and to make things better. I’ve...
Open Culture
A Young Jim Henson Teaches You How to Make Puppets with Socks, Tennis Balls & Other Household Goods... By the time he filmed this video archived on Iowa Public Television’s YouTube channel, Jim Henson...
a month ago
13
a month ago
By the time he filmed this video archived on Iowa Public Television’s YouTube channel, Jim Henson was just about to strike gold with a new children’s show called Sesame Street. The year was 1969, and he already had 15 years of puppetry experience under his belt, from children’s...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Jennie Ing Describe your printmaking process. I make linocut prints by the reduction method. This is where all...
a year ago
32
a year ago
Describe your printmaking process. I make linocut prints by the reduction method. This is where all the colours come from the same piece of lino with the successive cutting away of the lino block and printing a new colour over the top of the last. The edition size has to be...
Seth's Blog
“I can’t go for that” Culture has stability. “The way things are around here.” When we are pushed too far from our norms,...
8 months ago
64
8 months ago
Culture has stability. “The way things are around here.” When we are pushed too far from our norms, life gets stressful. Some of the people in the systems that used to keep things stable have discovered that they can make a profit or gain an edge by embracing extremism instead....
Open Culture
The 100 Greatest Paintings of All Time: From Botticelli and Bosch to Bacon and Basquiat It would be a worthwhile exercise for any of us to sit down and attempt to draw up a list of our 100...
a month ago
14
a month ago
It would be a worthwhile exercise for any of us to sit down and attempt to draw up a list of our 100 favorite paintings of all time. Naturally, those not professionally involved with art history may have some trouble quite hitting that number. Still, however many titles we can...
Seth's Blog
Anti-smart There’s a difference between intellectual and smart. A plumber is smart, they know how to do a...
a year ago
20
a year ago
There’s a difference between intellectual and smart. A plumber is smart, they know how to do a skilled and effective job on the task at hand. Intellectualism isn’t about practical results, it’s a passion for exploring what others have said, though this approach is sometimes...
Seth's Blog
The audacity of the crowd anthem There’s little doubt that We Are the Champions is one of the great crowd anthems of our time. Just...
over a year ago
79
over a year ago
There’s little doubt that We Are the Champions is one of the great crowd anthems of our time. Just about any group can be stirred into a frenzy just by playing a few bars: The same goes Rapper’s Delight. And yet… Can you imagine how frightening it must have been to play it live...
On the Arts
From Gothic Invaders to Mall Goths How an ancient Germanic tribe gave its name to a modern subculture.
over a year ago
Infinite Scroll
How Gay Marriage Ruined Democratic Activism The end of Moral Triumphalism
7 months ago
Stat Significant
Which Old Movies Stand the Test of Time? A Statistical Analysis An exploration of "timeless" films.
4 months ago
Prolost
Introducing Prolost Beta Prolost Beta is a new subscription offering on the Prolost Store. It's an occasional email from me...
over a year ago
31
over a year ago
Prolost Beta is a new subscription offering on the Prolost Store. It's an occasional email from me containing a download or a link to something cool I'm working on, that's not quite ready to become a product yet. Or maybe ever. This will most often be Lightroom presets or...
Anarchy Unfolds
Paths to peace Letters to an anarchist - Part 4
7 months ago
Handprinted - Blog
Batik on Paper Batik is a fun, dynamic way of creating bold and beautiful designs on cloth but did you know batik...
a year ago
103
a year ago
Batik is a fun, dynamic way of creating bold and beautiful designs on cloth but did you know batik can be made on paper too? We used some Tej Prakrtika paper (as well as testing some others) to create a colourful, abstract batik.  You'll find lots more batik projects here. Begin...
Seth's Blog
The problem with marketing puffery It costs more than you think. Last month, I hit the old stock on the Avery labels in my office...
6 months ago
44
6 months ago
It costs more than you think. Last month, I hit the old stock on the Avery labels in my office cabinet. I had a bunch of things to send out, and off they went. It turns out, who knew, that old labels stop sticking. It’s entirely possible some of my really important packages never...
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #143 Pope Leo, Techno-Industrial Playbook, Stripe, Vulcan Robots, Natural Short Sleep, MenB Vaccine, Ezra
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
The intentional stance Dan Dennett explained that it began as a survival mechanism. It’s important to predict how someone...
a year ago
95
a year ago
Dan Dennett explained that it began as a survival mechanism. It’s important to predict how someone else is going to behave. That tiger might be a threat, that person from the next village might have something to offer. If we simply wait and see, we might encounter an unwelcome or...
Seth's Blog
Obvious vs perhaps “Obvious” closes the door to inquiry. “Perhaps” opens it.
3 months ago
Handprinted - Blog
Easy Christmas Cards Six Ways We’ve had a lot of fun this week working on easy, quick and fun ways to print your own Christmas...
a year ago
96
a year ago
We’ve had a lot of fun this week working on easy, quick and fun ways to print your own Christmas cards! We’ve come up with six simple ways for you to try. Take a look at our instructions below and have a go yourself.   Bah Humbug Lino Printed Card This two-layered lino card is...
Open Culture
Why You Do Your Best Thinking In The Shower: Creativity & the “Incubation Period” Image via Wikimedia Commons “The great Tao fades away.” So begins one translation of the Tao Te...
a year ago
43
a year ago
Image via Wikimedia Commons “The great Tao fades away.” So begins one translation of the Tao Te Ching’s 18th Chapter. The sentence captures the frustration that comes with a lost epiphany. Whether it’s a profound realization when you just wake up, or moment of clarity in the...
Stat Significant
The Rise of Nicole Kidman, Pop Culture Folk Hero: A Statistical Analysis Charting Nicole Kidman's recent career renaissance and rejection of industry norms.
8 months ago
Open Culture
Umberto Eco’s List of the 14 Common Features of Fascism Creative Commons image by Rob Bogaerts, via the National Archives in Holland One of the key...
8 months ago
87
8 months ago
Creative Commons image by Rob Bogaerts, via the National Archives in Holland One of the key questions facing both journalists and loyal oppositions these days is how do we stay honest as euphemisms and trivializations take over the discourse? Can we use words like “fascism,” for...
Handprinted - Blog
Spooktacular Screen Printing Projects! Get into the spooky spirit with a Halloween screen printing project! Create t-shirts, tote bags, and...
9 months ago
74
9 months ago
Get into the spooky spirit with a Halloween screen printing project! Create t-shirts, tote bags, and poster prints that’re hauntingly fun and frightfully easy!   Party Prints - Speedball Night Glo Acrylic Ink on Paper! If you’re a Halloween lover this project is for you! Using...
Seth's Blog
The slog, the hobby and the quest Here’s a simple XY grid to help you think about your next project, freelance career or startup: All...
a year ago
26
a year ago
Here’s a simple XY grid to help you think about your next project, freelance career or startup: All too common are ‘fun’ businesses where someone finds a hobby they like and tries to turn it into a gig. While the work may be fun, the uphill grind of this sort of project is...
Seth's Blog
Benign vs. normal We evolved to be wary of change. Our attention is limited, new things can be a threat and the status...
a year ago
63
a year ago
We evolved to be wary of change. Our attention is limited, new things can be a threat and the status quo feels comfortable. As a result, we spend a lot of time and energy being afraid (and arguing about) the upcoming changes in our lives, but almost no time at all thinking about...
Open Culture
Stanford Continuing Studies Offering an Online Course Exploring the Music of the Grateful Dead Image via Wikimedia Commons A quick heads up: On October 3rd, Stanford Continuing Studies will kick...
10 months ago
39
10 months ago
Image via Wikimedia Commons A quick heads up: On October 3rd, Stanford Continuing Studies will kick off an 8‑week online course called Did It Matter? Does It Now? The Music and Culture of the Grateful Dead. Led by David Gans (author of Playing in the Band: An Oral and Visual...
Open Culture
Pink Floyd Plays in Venice on a Massive Floating Stage in 1989; Forces the Mayor & City Council to... When Roger Waters left Pink Floyd after 1983’s The Final Cut, the remaining members had good reason...
a year ago
67
a year ago
When Roger Waters left Pink Floyd after 1983’s The Final Cut, the remaining members had good reason to assume the band was truly, as Waters proclaimed, “a spent force.” After releasing solo projects in the next few years, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright soon...
Seth's Blog
The gratuitous use of plastic At the dawn of the plastic age, it was a cheap substitute. The word “plasticky” is not a compliment....
a year ago
23
a year ago
At the dawn of the plastic age, it was a cheap substitute. The word “plasticky” is not a compliment. Over time, the plastics industry developed new finishes, colors and most of all, cultural impact, and extra (wasted) plastic packaging was seen first as convenient, then as a sign...
Open Culture
Jimi Hendrix Opens for The Monkees on a 1967 Tour; Then Flips Off the Crowd and Quits It’s easy to dismiss The Monkees. Critics and listeners have been doing it since the sixties,...
11 months ago
72
11 months ago
It’s easy to dismiss The Monkees. Critics and listeners have been doing it since the sixties, although the band has also come in for its share of reappraisals, particularly for their psych-rock album Head. (That’s the soundtrack from the 1968 Jack Nicholson-directed art film of...
Seth's Blog
Trouble in the grey zone In many creative industries, there’s a similar pattern. When the stakes are very low, most creators...
a year ago
20
a year ago
In many creative industries, there’s a similar pattern. When the stakes are very low, most creators produce things that are fairly banal and ordinary. Part of that is the law of large numbers, but it’s mostly our personal cultural resistance to leaning too far into weird stuff....
Seth's Blog
A new cooperative workshop My colleague Ava Morris is running her Song of Significance Workshop on Friday, October 6. It’s...
a year ago
23
a year ago
My colleague Ava Morris is running her Song of Significance Workshop on Friday, October 6. It’s powerful, effective and personal. It runs worldwide, in Zoom, and it’s completely interactive–every participant participates. This will be the third session… the first two got rave...
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #139 Dire Wolves, Base Power, ZBB Regulation, Zipline, Amca, Solano Shipyard
3 months ago
Haterade
It's Okay to Be a Mediocre Cook The Mitt Romney salmon is good, actually.
a year ago
cabel.com
Thank Goodness I’ve Written Some Ad Music This summer, a new video game came out that changed the way we think about comedy in games, becoming...
10 months ago
34
10 months ago
This summer, a new video game came out that changed the way we think about comedy in games, becoming an instant smash hit in the process. That’s right, I’m talking about Thank Goodness You’re Here! from Coal Supper. Ok, yeah, sure, I work for Panic and we published the game, so I...
Handprinted - Blog
Mono Screen Printing Using a Guide Mono screen printing is a great technique if you want to create beautiful painterly prints but...
over a year ago
109
over a year ago
Mono screen printing is a great technique if you want to create beautiful painterly prints but achieve the flatness of a screen print. It allows you to incorporate multiple colours in one layer and play with brush strokes and mark making.  When working with this technique,...
Prolost
What Does and Doesn’t Matter about Apple Shooting their October Event on iPhone 15 Pro Max A still from Apple’s “Behind the scenes: An Apple Event shot on iPhone” video Apple Shot Their...
a year ago
50
a year ago
A still from Apple’s “Behind the scenes: An Apple Event shot on iPhone” video Apple Shot Their “Scary Fast” October Event Video on iPhones And We Had Feelings You’re somewhere on the spectrum of occasionally shooting video on your iPhone to a professional-ish video maker with...
Seth's Blog
The paradox of lessons The people most likely to sign up for coaching or additional learning are the folks who are already...
a year ago
71
a year ago
The people most likely to sign up for coaching or additional learning are the folks who are already good at their craft. “I’m terrible at this,” can lead to, “and I don’t want to be reminded of it.” Or perhaps, “I don’t want to waste their time,” or, “I’m never going to get...
Seth's Blog
What does the world owe us? This question is a trap. It’s based on scarcity and entitlement, and most of all, the world isn’t...
a year ago
93
a year ago
This question is a trap. It’s based on scarcity and entitlement, and most of all, the world isn’t listening. When more and more people focus on this question, it simply pushes us apart. On the other hand, “what do I owe the world?” opens the door for endless opportunity. When...
Open Culture
Kurt Vonnegut’s Lost Board Game Is Finally for Sale Kurt Vonnegut’s life was not without its ironies. Fighting in World War II, that descendant of a...
9 months ago
49
9 months ago
Kurt Vonnegut’s life was not without its ironies. Fighting in World War II, that descendant of a long line of German immigrants in the United States found himself imprisoned in Dresden just when it was devastated by Allied firebombing. To understand the relevance of this...
Blog - Mac Pierce
XL Flex Arms, posable mounting for cameras and lighting. Making a few custom mounts for cameras and camera accessories.
over a year ago
Seth's Blog
It could have easily gone the other way It could have been way better. It could have been far worse. It’s easy to imagine that outcomes are...
a year ago
25
a year ago
It could have been way better. It could have been far worse. It’s easy to imagine that outcomes are inevitable, but they’re not. Was it your fault, or was it luck (good or bad)? If our story of the past is filled with second guesses, shame or blame, it can carry forward. Or...
Open Culture
Unlock AI’s Potential in Your Work and Daily Life: Take a Popular Course from Google Generative AI is rapidly becoming an essential tool for streamlining work and solving complex...
7 months ago
37
7 months ago
Generative AI is rapidly becoming an essential tool for streamlining work and solving complex challenges. However, knowing how to use GenAI effectively isn’t always obvious. That’s where Google Prompting Essentials comes in. This course will teach you to write clear and specific...
Seth's Blog
Effort and value We expend effort. We create value. It’s easy to get confused about which one we’re going to...
a month ago
21
a month ago
We expend effort. We create value. It’s easy to get confused about which one we’re going to ultimately be compensated for.
Ian Betteridge
Ten Blue Links, “stoically facing the end times” edition 1. When is AI coding not AI coding? You might have heard something about how Google now creates a...
8 months ago
34
8 months ago
1. When is AI coding not AI coding? You might have heard something about how Google now creates a quarter of its code using AI. But as with most things concerning everyone’s favourite hot tech, the devil is in the details. And the details, according to this poster on Hacker News,...
Seth's Blog
What do we do when it breaks? The unexpected happens. Systems fail, humans are unpredictable, interfaces aren’t perfect… The...
a month ago
13
a month ago
The unexpected happens. Systems fail, humans are unpredictable, interfaces aren’t perfect… The customer service professional demonstrates their strategic insight when they plan for eventual failure instead of denying it’s possible. The first step, of course, is to design things...
Seth's Blog
Childish or childlike? Childlike involves wonder. It’s the ability to see the world with fresh eyes and create magic....
a year ago
28
a year ago
Childlike involves wonder. It’s the ability to see the world with fresh eyes and create magic. Childish, on the other hand, is living as if there are no consequences. Over time, we’ve gotten very good at meauring the long and short-term consequences of our actions. And good at...
Haterade
How to Garnish Instructions on making (and becoming) a Silly Goose
a year ago
Handprinted - Blog
Monotype with Natural Materials Like monoprint, a monotype is a print that is one of a kind but does not use a matrix like a cut...
8 months ago
74
8 months ago
Like monoprint, a monotype is a print that is one of a kind but does not use a matrix like a cut block or plate. For this project we're using this simple technique to produce beautifully delicate prints using natural materials and found objects. You can also combine this with...
Seth's Blog
Effect vs affect In a culture fascinated by attitude, gloss and performance, it’s easy to believe that adopting an...
over a year ago
66
over a year ago
In a culture fascinated by attitude, gloss and performance, it’s easy to believe that adopting an affect is precisely what you need to make a difference. In fact, the persistent, generous work that happens when no one is looking is what actually makes a difference. Looking the...
Seth's Blog
The color-coded wires Have you ever wondered what the wiring layout behind the control panels at Abbey Road studios was...
a year ago
40
a year ago
Have you ever wondered what the wiring layout behind the control panels at Abbey Road studios was like? Neither have I. The Beatles recorded some of their best work there, and I have no idea if it was a rat’s nest of tangled wires, or if each wire was labeled, coded and perfectly...
Haterade
I Regret to Announce that I Cannot Stop Eating the Shaq Gummies I have the blood sugar of a very large, very tall man.
5 months ago
Open Culture
60 Free Film Noir Movies You Can Watch Online, Including Classics by John Huston, Orson Welles &... During the 1940s and 50s, Hollywood entered a “noir” period, producing riveting films based on...
a month ago
19
a month ago
During the 1940s and 50s, Hollywood entered a “noir” period, producing riveting films based on hard-boiled fiction. These films were set in dark locations and shot in a black & white aesthetic that fit like a glove. Hardened men wore fedoras and forever smoked cigarettes. Women...
Open Culture
The BBC Creates Step-by-Step Instructions for Knitting the Iconic Dr. Who Scarf: A Document from the... When Jon Pertwee reincarnated into Tom Baker in 1974, the Fourth Doctor of the popular sci-fi show...
7 months ago
31
7 months ago
When Jon Pertwee reincarnated into Tom Baker in 1974, the Fourth Doctor of the popular sci-fi show Doctor Who ditched the foppish look of velvet jackets and frilly shirts, and went for the “Romantic adventurer” style, with floppy felt hat, long overcoats and, most iconically, his...
Seth's Blog
My Big Fat Greek Wedding Among the top 500 grossing Hollywood movies of all time, this movie is the most profitable in return...
over a year ago
37
over a year ago
Among the top 500 grossing Hollywood movies of all time, this movie is the most profitable in return on investment. And among all Hollywood movies in the top 1,500 at the box office, Paranormal Activity is far and away the highest return, outperforming almost any investment the...
Seth's Blog
New decisions based on new information More than ever, we’re pushed to have certainty. Strong opinions, tightly held and loudly proclaimed....
over a year ago
137
over a year ago
More than ever, we’re pushed to have certainty. Strong opinions, tightly held and loudly proclaimed. And then, when reality intervenes, it can be stressful. The software stack, business model, career, candidate, policy, or even the social network habits that we had as part of our...
Seth's Blog
Change your shoes Like all good metaphors, it might be practical too. Your ‘shoes’ are the point of greatest leverage....
6 months ago
60
6 months ago
Like all good metaphors, it might be practical too. Your ‘shoes’ are the point of greatest leverage. The spot where you have traction and engage with the world most directly. For a freelancer, it might be the way you engage with customers, or your software tools. It might be the...
Seth's Blog
Holding on for dear life That’s a cliche from the movies. Dangling from a railroad bridge, only determination and firm grip...
a year ago
37
a year ago
That’s a cliche from the movies. Dangling from a railroad bridge, only determination and firm grip can save the hero. In our modern world, we often end up holding on to ideas, to grievances or to our view of the world. Ironically, the harder we hold on to the things we’re hiding...
Not Boring by Packy...
Hyperlegible 008: Golden Age with Mike Solana Turning (Parts of) America into Rare Earth Metals Processing Disney World®
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
Appropriate tension Growth usually feels risky. The feeling is a protection mechanism, a way to avoid failure or even...
a year ago
23
a year ago
Growth usually feels risky. The feeling is a protection mechanism, a way to avoid failure or even the fear of failure. Of course, risk also feels risky (or at least it should). Differentiating between the two is difficult, which is why finding institutions, methods or coaches...
Prolost
VFX Suite 1.5 Today Red Giant released the first major update to the VFX Suite we introduced last year. Lens...
over a year ago
29
over a year ago
Today Red Giant released the first major update to the VFX Suite we introduced last year. Lens Distortion Matcher A brand-new effect, Lens Distortion Matcher makes it ridiculously easy to profile the distortion of any lens, and either remove it, or build a VFX workflow around it...
Seth's Blog
Books don’t sell That’s not true, actually. Books sell, but book doesn’t. The odds of a particular book selling a lot...
a year ago
61
a year ago
That’s not true, actually. Books sell, but book doesn’t. The odds of a particular book selling a lot of copies are close to zero. The truth of the long tail is that most titles are way out on the fringe. Now that book publishing is unleashed from retail distribution, the math is...
Seth's Blog
The ledge Drowning is devastating, a tragic and painful way to go. So much so that feeling like we’re drowning...
9 months ago
65
9 months ago
Drowning is devastating, a tragic and painful way to go. So much so that feeling like we’re drowning is a trigger, an overwhelming emotion that causes us to grasp, struggle and leave our best self behind. It’s easy to experience this even when we’re out of the water. When the...
Seth's Blog
Informed consent (rarely is) Adults make choices and live with the consequences. No one else should tell us what flavor of ice...
a year ago
95
a year ago
Adults make choices and live with the consequences. No one else should tell us what flavor of ice cream we prefer, or what career to choose. We’re good at knowing what we want. In practice, this works really well for certain kinds of decisions. But when we add the network effect,...
Open Culture
How Rome Began: The History As Told by Ancient Historians Much attention has been paid to the fall of the Roman Empire, by everyone from august historians...
12 months ago
60
12 months ago
Much attention has been paid to the fall of the Roman Empire, by everyone from august historians like Edward Gibbon to modern-day observers wringing their hands over the fate of the United States of America. But as every Rome enthusiast knows, that long collapse constitutes just...
Prolost
Cameras, Phones, and Log — What’s the Juice? I know, I know, another video about shooting video in log on iPhones? I promise I’ll move on to...
5 months ago
43
5 months ago
I know, I know, another video about shooting video in log on iPhones? I promise I’ll move on to other topics, but two events happening in one week pushed me into making this video: Samsung adding log to the Galaxy s25 Ultra My brother-in-law texting me “Do you have a fix for...
Open Culture
Watch the Opening Credits of an Imaginary 70s Cop Show Starring Samuel Beckett Samuel Beckett: avant-garde dramatist, brooding Nobel Prize winner, poet, and…gritty television...
9 months ago
83
9 months ago
Samuel Beckett: avant-garde dramatist, brooding Nobel Prize winner, poet, and…gritty television detective? Sadly, no, but he had the makings of a great one, at least as cut together by playwright Danny Thompson, cofounder of Chicago’s Theater Oobleck. Some 35 years after...
Seth's Blog
The problem with shock design If attention is what you seek and attention is what you measure, it’s likely you’ll create drama....
7 months ago
52
7 months ago
If attention is what you seek and attention is what you measure, it’s likely you’ll create drama. And drama is inherently short-lived. The managing director of Jaguar said, “We’ve certainly gathered an awful lot of attention over the last few weeks.” Choosing the word “awful” was...
Seth's Blog
The marketing department That’s the first part of the confusion. It’s a group of people who can’t decide what the thing they...
a year ago
46
a year ago
That’s the first part of the confusion. It’s a group of people who can’t decide what the thing they do is supposed to be. Is it: Advertising Publicity Increasing retail distribution Direct and measured response SEO Making the logo pretty Wholesale and trade relationships...
Infinite Scroll
Trapped in the Platforms Platform lock in and the Open Web
4 months ago
Open Culture
David Bowie’s Fashionable Mug Shot From His 1976 Marijuana Bust David Bowie always managed to look cool, even when he was being booked for a felony. In early 1976,...
9 months ago
45
9 months ago
David Bowie always managed to look cool, even when he was being booked for a felony. In early 1976, Bowie was on his “Isolar” tour, performing as the Thin White Duke, a persona he would describe as “a very Aryan fascist type — a would-be romantic with no emotions at all.” Bowie...
Open Culture
Hear the Song Written on a Sinner’s Buttock in Hieronymus Bosch’s Painting The Garden of Earthly... There’s something unusually exciting about finding a hidden or discreetly placed element in a...
a year ago
63
a year ago
There’s something unusually exciting about finding a hidden or discreetly placed element in a well-known painting. I can only imagine the thrill of the physician who first noticed the curious presence of a human brain in Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam: God, his retinue of...
Seth's Blog
Emotional labor and its consequences Forty years ago, Arlie Russell Hochschild wrote about emotional labor. The work that frontline...
a year ago
69
a year ago
Forty years ago, Arlie Russell Hochschild wrote about emotional labor. The work that frontline employees had to do (especially women) in managing and expressing emotions as part of their job. She talked about how exhausting it was for flight attendants to show up with a smile,...
Open Culture
Hōshi: A Short Documentary on the 1300-Year-Old Hotel Run by the Same Japanese Family for 46... Hōshi, a traditional Japanese inn in Komatsu, Japan, holds the distinction of being the second...
2 months ago
41
2 months ago
Hōshi, a traditional Japanese inn in Komatsu, Japan, holds the distinction of being the second oldest hotel in the world—and “the oldest still running family business in the world.” Built in 718 AD, Hōshi has been operated by the same family for 46 consecutive generations. Count...
Blog - Mac Pierce
Creating art out of a weapon. Using the Stuxnet Virus. How and why I made Portrait of a Digital Weapon, a piece of electronic art made from the Stuxnet...
over a year ago
Handprinted - Blog
Meet The Maker: Strangford (Jo Pearson) Hi! I’m Jo, working as a printmaker under the name 'Strangford' in Northern Ireland - though I’m...
a year ago
122
a year ago
Hi! I’m Jo, working as a printmaker under the name 'Strangford' in Northern Ireland - though I’m originally from South London. Describe your printmaking process. I make large, bright, unusual relief prints from my home studio; mostly of animals. I carve into flooring lino - it’s...
Open Culture
Steven Spielberg Calls Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange “the First Punk Rock Movie Ever Made” Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick are two of the first directors whose names young cinephiles get...
a year ago
50
a year ago
Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick are two of the first directors whose names young cinephiles get to know. They’re also names between which quite a few of those young cinephiles draw a battle line: you may have enjoyed films by both of these auteurs, but ultimately, you’re...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Suckered Yet Again Influencer boxing, BlueSky winning, and incredible calendar confessions
7 months ago
Seth's Blog
Better at being better In most competitive markets, when an organization offers a new benefit, others will quickly move to...
7 months ago
59
7 months ago
In most competitive markets, when an organization offers a new benefit, others will quickly move to match it. This means that it’s hard to justify the hard work of creating something better, because it’s just going to become a new standard. It doesn’t pay for a credit card...
Open Culture
The Medieval Masterpiece, the Book of Kells, Is Now Digitized and Available Online If you know nothing else about medieval European illuminated manuscripts, you surely know the Book...
9 months ago
46
9 months ago
If you know nothing else about medieval European illuminated manuscripts, you surely know the Book of Kells. “One of Ireland’s greatest cultural treasures” comments Medievalists.net, “it is set apart from other manuscripts of the same period by the quality of its artwork and the...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet The Maker: Ben Goodman Hello. I’m a wood engraver and printmaker who specialises in portraiture. I work from my studio in...
4 days ago
9
4 days ago
Hello. I’m a wood engraver and printmaker who specialises in portraiture. I work from my studio in South Bristol where I’m lucky enough to have an old Albion Press. I’ve lived in Bristol for 18 years and love the friendly and open-minded spirit which it seems to...
Seth's Blog
Jevons paradox is not surprising When a resource can be used more efficiently, we end up using more of the thing, not less. So, when...
a year ago
36
a year ago
When a resource can be used more efficiently, we end up using more of the thing, not less. So, when cars get better gas mileage, people drive more, and consumption can actually go up. When AI learns to write computer code, the demand for programmers goes up, because more...
Open Culture
Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi–Walt Disney’s 1943 Film Shows How Fascists Are Made During World War II, Walt Disney entered into a contract with the US government to develop 32...
2 months ago
33
2 months ago
During World War II, Walt Disney entered into a contract with the US government to develop 32 animated shorts. Nearly bankrupted by Fantasia (1940), Disney needed to refill its coffers, and making American propaganda films didn’t seem like a bad way to do it. On numerous...
Seth's Blog
They will lose your data The rules are pretty consistent: We’re all creators now. Podcasting, videoing, photographing,...
over a year ago
83
over a year ago
The rules are pretty consistent: We’re all creators now. Podcasting, videoing, photographing, spreadsheeting… and we’re building a foundation of valuable data as we go. The software companies that produce the tools we use push their engineers in many ways, but not to create...
Seth's Blog
The inevitable meeting When the person you could have been meets the person you are becoming, is it going to be a cause for...
9 months ago
53
9 months ago
When the person you could have been meets the person you are becoming, is it going to be a cause for celebration or heartbreak? This is something we must work on right now, and tomorrow, and every single day until the meeting happens.
John Reynolds -...
Mammoth Life - Lights Out Music Video Title: Lights OutArtist: Mammoth LifeYear: 2014 --
over a year ago
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Julia Triay Hi! I'm Julia Triay, I'm an illustrator and printmaker from Mallorca, Spain based in Norwich. I...
6 months ago
75
6 months ago
Hi! I'm Julia Triay, I'm an illustrator and printmaker from Mallorca, Spain based in Norwich. I moved to Norwich 8 years ago to study illustration. I fell in love with this fine city and made it my home. I recently quit my job to become a full time illustrator, which has been a...
Marian's Blog
How to build a Lego Portal Gun Resources: Parts: list, Rebrickable CSV, Bricklink XML Model: LDR, 3DS Build this MOC on...
over a year ago
24
over a year ago
Resources: Parts: list, Rebrickable CSV, Bricklink XML Model: LDR, 3DS Build this MOC on Rebrickable Instructions: ...
Blog - Mac Pierce
Decreasing the F.Q. - A talk on Facial Recognition and the Opt Out Cap Links to a talk I gave on the Opt-Out cap and the state of surveillance via facial recognition.
over a year ago
Seth's Blog
Who is undermining your brand? There’s a high-end grocer in a very expensive neighborhood of New York–and they focus all of their...
over a year ago
42
over a year ago
There’s a high-end grocer in a very expensive neighborhood of New York–and they focus all of their energy on Italian food. Everything is imported, and they spend a lot of time and money earning the premium they charge for an authentic Italian shopping experience. And then a lazy...
The Last...
The Dove Sketches Beauty Scam the only way to win is not to play "Dude, are you doing the Dove ad now?  That was so April...
over a year ago
21
over a year ago
the only way to win is not to play "Dude, are you doing the Dove ad now?  That was so April 15th...?"  Yes, I realize I missed the meme train, but it's better to be right than part of the debate, especially when there is no debate, this is all a short con inside a 50+ year long...
Seth's Blog
Flailing There isn’t much of a correlation between how fast you swim and how much energy you put into it. In...
22 hours ago
3
22 hours ago
There isn’t much of a correlation between how fast you swim and how much energy you put into it. In fact, drowning people burn plenty of calories but they don’t go anywhere. When we’re confronting a new problem, more effort might not be the answer. It could be that we benefit by...
Seth's Blog
(Free) subscription drive Every four years, give or take, I make a big but cheap ask: Consider subscribing to this blog. If...
a year ago
31
a year ago
Every four years, give or take, I make a big but cheap ask: Consider subscribing to this blog. If you’re already a subscriber, please ask five colleagues or friends to subscribe. It’s free. You can subscribe by email by putting your email address in the little box. Click below if...
Seth's Blog
Worthless noise isn’t information Data becomes information when at least one of two related things are true: If you’re not getting one...
a month ago
15
a month ago
Data becomes information when at least one of two related things are true: If you’re not getting one of these things, then the data is simply noise. A distraction that wastes our time and confuses us. Breaking news is up to the recipient.
Haterade
Turns Out, Nobody Needs A Restaurant Critic The Haterade diss track
a year ago
Seth's Blog
Perfect Nothing is perfect… But everything can get better. There’s never enough time… But there’s time...
2 weeks ago
10
2 weeks ago
Nothing is perfect… But everything can get better. There’s never enough time… But there’s time enough to make a difference. Someone will always be opposed to the change we seek to make. And there’s always someone who wants to help. Anything can happen… But something will.
Seth's Blog
What happened vs. what we do about it It’s possible to have a useful conversation about what to do about something that’s broken or needs...
a year ago
46
a year ago
It’s possible to have a useful conversation about what to do about something that’s broken or needs improvement. But first, we must acknowledge that it happened. It’s not controversial to understand the facts, the data and the shifts that are happening in the world we live in. In...
Open Culture
The Enchanting Opera Performances of Klaus Nomi After making one of the grandest entrances in music history on the stages of East Village clubs, the...
10 months ago
37
10 months ago
After making one of the grandest entrances in music history on the stages of East Village clubs, the BBC’s The Old Grey Whistle Test, and Saturday Night Live, theatrical German new wave space alien Klaus Nomi died alone in 1983, a victim of the “first beachhead of the AIDS...
Seth's Blog
With the sound off If you’re watching a YouTube clip or a talking head, you can probably tell whether or not you...
over a year ago
84
over a year ago
If you’re watching a YouTube clip or a talking head, you can probably tell whether or not you disagree with someone even with the sound off. And we judge a book or an article on the layout and appearance long before we’ve read all the words. Human beings invented symbolic logic...
Seth's Blog
Normalizing selfishness Shoplifters lurk in the shadows. They realize that they will have an easier time if they quietly...
a year ago
28
a year ago
Shoplifters lurk in the shadows. They realize that they will have an easier time if they quietly steal stuff, because speaking up about it won’t help their cause. Sometimes, though, some people seek to change the culture in a way that celebrates taking. “I own this jetski and I...
Haterade
Divorce Licorice Introducing: the salmiakki blood pressure cuff
over a year ago
Infinite Scroll
Crisis PR for Dummies You too can avoid being cancelled!
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
Decoding ‘story’ Marketers like to talk about the story we tell. And non-marketers imagine that we’re referring to...
a year ago
40
a year ago
Marketers like to talk about the story we tell. And non-marketers imagine that we’re referring to Goldilocks and other ‘once upon a time’ moments. Because stories are the basic building block of culture, it’s difficult to see the nuance in this simple word. But one or two...
Seth's Blog
Is it a skill? If so, it might be worth learning. If so, it might pay to let someone who has learned it take care...
over a year ago
28
over a year ago
If so, it might be worth learning. If so, it might pay to let someone who has learned it take care of it. Coding is a skill. But it’s not clear that the person who knows how to code should be doing your design. Teaching is a skill. But simply because someone is good at […]
Seth's Blog
Hiding the ‘aha’ The most effective persuasion happens when we persuade ourselves. The purpose of the memo or the...
a year ago
33
a year ago
The most effective persuasion happens when we persuade ourselves. The purpose of the memo or the table or the graph or the presentation is to create the conditions for someone to make up their own minds. Because it’s almost impossible to make up their mind for them. The aha is...
Seth's Blog
Promises and our best There is a significant difference between, “I promise,” and “I’ll do my best.” Promises are...
8 months ago
52
8 months ago
There is a significant difference between, “I promise,” and “I’ll do my best.” Promises are difficult to keep and ought to be offered with that in mind. Doing our best is assumed.
Prolost
Slugline 2 From the Slugline Blog: Slugline 2 is a new app that replaces the old Slugline for Mac. It has a...
over a year ago
37
over a year ago
From the Slugline Blog: Slugline 2 is a new app that replaces the old Slugline for Mac. It has a slick new UI, which includes a lovely dark mode. Big new features include: a drag-and-drop outline, an awesome new timeline, color-coded notes, Final Draft import/export, and Live...
Seth's Blog
Digital shortcuts and cognitive load I used to drive 200 miles to Boston once a week or so. After a few trips on the highway, my...
a year ago
136
a year ago
I used to drive 200 miles to Boston once a week or so. After a few trips on the highway, my subconscious figured out that getting behind a few trucks for the entire ride enabled me to spend four hours without using much conscious effort on driving. Every day, we make decisions....
Seth's Blog
But what if it’s voluntary? For more than 130 years, we’ve celebrated Labor Day in the US and Canada. And May Day has been...
a year ago
24
a year ago
For more than 130 years, we’ve celebrated Labor Day in the US and Canada. And May Day has been around about as long. Around here, it’s become mostly a seasonal marker, but it was founded to devote just a day to something that deserves much more… to commemorate and celebrate the...
Open Culture
Watch Animations Showing How Humans Migrated Across the World Over the Past 60,000 Years Ex Africa semper aliquid novi. Attributed to various luminaries of antiquity, that saying (the...
a year ago
81
a year ago
Ex Africa semper aliquid novi. Attributed to various luminaries of antiquity, that saying (the probable inspiration for Isak Dinesen’s poem “Ex Africa,” itself the probable inspiration for her memoir Out of Africa, which in turn was loosely adapted into Sydney Pollack’s...
Open Culture
How 2001: A Space Odyssey Became “the Hardest Film Kubrick Ever Made” Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey has been praised in all manner of terms since it came out...
10 months ago
56
10 months ago
Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey has been praised in all manner of terms since it came out more than half a century ago. An early advertising campaign, tapping into the enthusiasm of the contemporary counterculture, called it “the ultimate trip”; in the equivalently trendy...
Seth's Blog
Good advice The cult of consulting suggests that if you simply had better advice from someone who knew more than...
5 months ago
54
5 months ago
The cult of consulting suggests that if you simply had better advice from someone who knew more than you, your problems could be solved. Generally, the advice isn’t really the hard part. There’s endless good advice just a click away. The art is in creating the conditions for...
Seth's Blog
Transforming two-sided markets AI agents are going to overhaul the way we think about buying and selling. Uber already did this in...
a year ago
29
a year ago
AI agents are going to overhaul the way we think about buying and selling. Uber already did this in a small way. They organized the drivers, and now they organize the riders. Hailing a cab was already sort of anonymous, but with competition and structure, AI will continue to get...
Open Culture
Johnny Cash & The Clash’s Joe Strummer Sing Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” (2002) In 1958, Merle Haggard saw Johnny Cash play in San Quentin, and went on to sing honest country songs...
9 months ago
77
9 months ago
In 1958, Merle Haggard saw Johnny Cash play in San Quentin, and went on to sing honest country songs for country outlaws. In 1982, future Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello saw Joe Strummer play with The Clash in Chicago and went on to play angry righteous rock for...
Open Culture
Read the Uncompromising Letter That Steve Albini (RIP) Wrote to Nirvana Before Producing In Utero... Today, Steve Albini, the musician and producer of important albums by Nirvana, PJ Harvey, the Pixies...
a year ago
105
a year ago
Today, Steve Albini, the musician and producer of important albums by Nirvana, PJ Harvey, the Pixies and many others, passed away in Chicago, at the all-too-early age of 61. In tribute, we’re bringing you this classic 2013 post from our archive.  Journeyman record producer Steve...
Open Culture
How the Ancient Greeks & Romans Made Beautiful Purple Dye from Snail Glands Much has been written about the loss of color in the twenty-first century. Our environments offered...
a year ago
57
a year ago
Much has been written about the loss of color in the twenty-first century. Our environments offered practically every color known to man not so very long ago — and in certain eras, granted, it got to be a bit much. But now, everything seems to have retreated to a narrow palette...
Seth's Blog
Comfort and convenience For the last thirty years, the easiest shortcut has been convenience. If a marketer or a politician...
a year ago
72
a year ago
For the last thirty years, the easiest shortcut has been convenience. If a marketer or a politician or an institution wants to gain acceptance, make it convenient. Tim Wu has pointed out that we’ll trade almost anything to save a few moments of hassle or thought. But that doesn’t...
Infinite Scroll
A User's Guide to Building a Subculture How communities form online
6 months ago
Stat Significant
Does 'Avatar' Have No Cultural Footprint? A Statistical Analysis Investigating claims of Avatar's cultural irrelevance.
9 months ago
Seth's Blog
The Jenga situation When an organization first sets out to have an impact, it discovers that it has no customers, no...
a year ago
27
a year ago
When an organization first sets out to have an impact, it discovers that it has no customers, no clients, no constituents. So it shows up, it makes an offer and it listens. The early days are exciting. Customers are seen and heard and served. Variations are created and value is...
Seth's Blog
“But what if I’m wrong? If we’re going to come together and invest the time in conversation, in research or in analysis, we...
a year ago
48
a year ago
If we’re going to come together and invest the time in conversation, in research or in analysis, we should begin by understanding what would be required for you or I to change our minds. If you’re not willing to consider that you’re wrong, then, in the words of a Dan Dennett,...
Open Culture
Wes Anderson Directs & Stars in an Ad Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Montblanc’s Signature Pen One hardly has to be an expert on the films of Wes Anderson to imagine that the man writes with a...
a year ago
53
a year ago
One hardly has to be an expert on the films of Wes Anderson to imagine that the man writes with a fountain pen. Maybe back in the early nineteen-nineties, when he was shooting the black-and-white short that would become Bottle Rocket on the streets of Austin, he had to settle for...
Seth's Blog
Non-fatal errors Most of our errors are in this category. Yesterday, The New York Times sent this newsletter to a...
a year ago
30
a year ago
Most of our errors are in this category. Yesterday, The New York Times sent this newsletter to a million people or so: I’m sure it wasn’t the best part of the day (or the week) for whoever messed up, but I also know that it had little impact on anything that matters. Being...
Open Culture
See Albert Camus’ Historic Lecture, “The Human Crisis,” Performed by Actor Viggo Mortensen Back in 2016, New York City staged a month-long festival celebrating Albert Camus’ historic visit to...
a year ago
62
a year ago
Back in 2016, New York City staged a month-long festival celebrating Albert Camus’ historic visit to NYC in 1946. One event in the festival featured actor Viggo Mortensen giving a reading of Camus’ lecture,“La Crise de l’homme” (“The Human Crisis”) at Columbia University–the very...
Seth's Blog
Yes, but how does it work? I worked with Arthur C. Clarke at the very beginning of my career. He’s most famous for saying, “Any...
9 months ago
53
9 months ago
I worked with Arthur C. Clarke at the very beginning of my career. He’s most famous for saying, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Magic isn’t such a bad thing. And we certainly have plenty of advanced technology around. Advanced in the sense...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Rachel Snowdon Hello! I’m Rachel Snowdon of Rachel Snowdon Studio, a London-born relief printmaker and illustrator...
9 months ago
94
9 months ago
Hello! I’m Rachel Snowdon of Rachel Snowdon Studio, a London-born relief printmaker and illustrator who has been based in West Devon since 2009.   Describe your printmaking process. Having recently introduced more colour into my designs, multi-block lino printing is probably...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Vance Memes Plus: Media Literacy (gone) and Production (still here)
4 months ago
Seth's Blog
Snowballs and avalanches Residents leave a town because of a lack of services, which cuts the tax base, which leads to more...
9 months ago
54
9 months ago
Residents leave a town because of a lack of services, which cuts the tax base, which leads to more services lost, which leads to more residents leaving… A hip new brand attracts a few opinion leaders, who flash the logo, which attracts more hipsters, who then establish a status...
Open Culture
High-Tech Analysis of Ancient Scroll Reveals Plato’s Burial Site and Final Hours Even if you can name only one ancient Greek, you can name Plato. You can also probably say at least...
a year ago
57
a year ago
Even if you can name only one ancient Greek, you can name Plato. You can also probably say at least a little about him, if only some of the things humanity has known since antiquity. Until recently, of course, that qualification would have been redundant. But now, thanks to an...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Ian O' Halloran My name is Ian O’Halloran. I am a professional Artist and Printmaker living and working in the...
a month ago
33
a month ago
My name is Ian O’Halloran. I am a professional Artist and Printmaker living and working in the Sussex Weald near Herstmonceux (UK). I am and always have been inspired by the British landscape. I came to art later in life than most, having had a career in civil engineering first...
Seth's Blog
Books (and more) Brad Feld has been contributing to and leading the tech community for more than thirty years. His...
a month ago
12
a month ago
Brad Feld has been contributing to and leading the tech community for more than thirty years. His books have always been inspiring and useful, but his new book takes it to a higher level. Adam Becker has written two books that I recently devoured. The first is philosophy, history...
Seth's Blog
Fire inspectors Running into a burning building is heroic work. Keeping buildings from burning down in the first...
11 months ago
60
11 months ago
Running into a burning building is heroic work. Keeping buildings from burning down in the first place is actually just as important. And it scales more reliably.
Seth's Blog
Avoid unnecessary amplifiers This is extremely unique vs This is unique I’m very upset vs I’m upset and I love you a ton vs I...
over a year ago
90
over a year ago
This is extremely unique vs This is unique I’m very upset vs I’m upset and I love you a ton vs I love you Sometimes, more words aren’t better.
Seth's Blog
Two kinds of instructions The more common, easier to execute sort: Instructions to remind people who already know what to do,...
4 months ago
29
4 months ago
The more common, easier to execute sort: Instructions to remind people who already know what to do, what to do. The more essential and harder to create kind: Instructions for people who don’t know what to do. It’s a mistake to assume that just because you know all the steps, the...
Seth's Blog
Communications hygiene (and the demise of texting) Attention is scarce. Decisions are difficult. Searching takes effort. For thirty years, texting has...
a year ago
31
a year ago
Attention is scarce. Decisions are difficult. Searching takes effort. For thirty years, texting has been a powerful medium. It’s the thing that vibrates in our pocket. It promises something urgent, and a reply that’s demanded equally urgently. “I’m running ten minutes late,” is a...
Seth's Blog
The natural size No matter how many people come over for dinner, you’re only going to be able to engage with a few....
over a year ago
49
over a year ago
No matter how many people come over for dinner, you’re only going to be able to engage with a few. And no matter how big the crowd in the arena, the musicians can only see the faces of a few hundred. An investor can only be engaged and smart about a very small number of […]
Seth's Blog
Designed, Designy or Well-designed? If we create something with purpose, we’ve designed it. It’s not an accident. An axe handle is...
3 months ago
26
3 months ago
If we create something with purpose, we’ve designed it. It’s not an accident. An axe handle is designed, and so is a symphony. Some things, though are designy. The designer’s fingerprints are all over it. The typefaces, knurled edges, needless heat sinks and homage to Dieter Rams...
Seth's Blog
Allocating scarcity If we’re lucky, we invent something that’s going to be in high demand. Reservations at a hot...
over a year ago
80
over a year ago
If we’re lucky, we invent something that’s going to be in high demand. Reservations at a hot restaurant. Limited edition trading cards. Concert tickets… How to decide who gets them? One attractive option is “first-come-first-served.” It feels fair, after all. The theory is that...
Open Culture
The First Recording of Allen Ginsberg Reading “Howl” (1956) Image by Michiel Hendryckx, via Wikimedia Commons Occasionally I slip into an ivory tower mentality...
a year ago
85
a year ago
Image by Michiel Hendryckx, via Wikimedia Commons Occasionally I slip into an ivory tower mentality in which the idea of a banned book seems quaint—associated with silly scandals over the tame sex scenes in James Joyce or D.H. Lawrence. After all, I think, we live in an age when...
Open Culture
The Radical Artistic & Philosophical World of William Blake: A Short Introduction Over the years, we’ve featured the work of William Blake fairly often here on Open Culture: his own...
a year ago
62
a year ago
Over the years, we’ve featured the work of William Blake fairly often here on Open Culture: his own illuminated books; his illustrations for everything from the Divine Comedy to Mary Wollstonecraft’s Original Stories from Real Life to the Book of Job; pairs of Doc Martens made...
Seth's Blog
Looking for a handle What if your boots don’t have any straps? Bootstrapping is logically impossible. You can’t pick...
a year ago
31
a year ago
What if your boots don’t have any straps? Bootstrapping is logically impossible. You can’t pick yourself up into the air by lifting on your boots, no matter how hard you try, because gravity isn’t just a good idea, it’s the law. But it’s significantly more difficult if your boots...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet The Maker: Kathryn Green I am a textile artist and tutor, specialising in dye and print processes to create organic, layered...
a year ago
91
a year ago
I am a textile artist and tutor, specialising in dye and print processes to create organic, layered and textural art textile pieces for exhibition, in addition to capsule collections of wearable art and interior accessories.  Having obtained a First-class degree in textiles, I...
Handprinted - Blog
Using a Thermal Screen to Print Festive Wrapping Printing your own bespoke wrapping paper or fabric can be very rewarding especially when the gift is...
over a year ago
84
over a year ago
Printing your own bespoke wrapping paper or fabric can be very rewarding especially when the gift is for a loved one. This week we're printing our own kraft wrapping paper using a Thermal Screen.  Here at Handprinted we use a MiScreen Machine to make our Thermal Screens. You can...
On the Arts
What does Wabi-Sabi really mean? Explaining an often misunderstood idea in Japanese aesthetics.
over a year ago
Seth's Blog
Other people’s problems It’s surprisingly easy to be generous and find solutions to our friend’s problems. Much easier than...
a year ago
39
a year ago
It’s surprisingly easy to be generous and find solutions to our friend’s problems. Much easier than it is to do it for ourselves. Why? There are two useful reasons, I think. FIRST, because we’re unaware of all the real and imaginary boundaries our friends have set up. If it were...
escape the algorithm
The perfect pecan pie will never exi— Cutting a slice of longing
7 months ago
Infinite Scroll
Get a Discount on Infinite Scroll Limited time! 30% off paid access to Infinite Scroll
8 months ago
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #141 Building Civilizations, Nuclear Moon, Physical Intelligence, Argentina, Creatine
2 months ago
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Angela Chalmers Hi, my name is Angela Chalmers. I am a visual artist living in North Yorkshire. I work with...
4 months ago
39
4 months ago
Hi, my name is Angela Chalmers. I am a visual artist living in North Yorkshire. I work with cameraless photography techniques and the cyanotype process producing 2D and 3D artworks on paper and textiles. Cyanotype dates from the early days of photography and produces beautiful...
Infinite Scroll
13 Things I Learned Reading a 225 Page Report About the Gaming Industry A quick poll for readers before we get started - you may have noticed there’s a lot of politics...
5 months ago
Handprinted - Blog
Inking Methods for Etching Once you've made an etching plate, you may be ready to print an edition - or you might want to proof...
7 months ago
83
7 months ago
Once you've made an etching plate, you may be ready to print an edition - or you might want to proof it to decide on further edits. Taking a print is the only way you’ll be able to see how your plate is progressing. This blog is part of a series featuring tips and techniques to...
Stat Significant
6 Reasons to Be (Cautiously) Optimistic About Movies in 2025: A Statistical Analysis Six reasons to be optimistic about the film industry.
6 months ago
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Nick Morley (with giveaway!) Nick Morley, aka Linocutboy, is an artist, illustrator, author and educator specialising in linocut....
over a year ago
86
over a year ago
Nick Morley, aka Linocutboy, is an artist, illustrator, author and educator specialising in linocut. His prints have been bought by people all over the world and his illustrations have appeared on book covers and in magazines. Nick teaches regular linocut workshops at Hello Print...
Seth's Blog
Kinds of power There’s the James Bond villian sort of power, based on division, dominance and destruction. This is...
8 months ago
64
8 months ago
There’s the James Bond villian sort of power, based on division, dominance and destruction. This is the short-term power of bullies, trauma and mobs. And then there’s a more resilient form of power. This is power based on connection, discussion and metrics. A power based in...
Open Culture
“The Vertue of the COFFEE Drink”: An Ad for London’s First Cafe Printed Circa 1652 The story of coffee goes back to the 13th century, when it came out of Ethiopia, then spread to...
2 weeks ago
15
2 weeks ago
The story of coffee goes back to the 13th century, when it came out of Ethiopia, then spread to Egypt and Yemen. It reached the Middle East, Turkey, and Persia during the 16th century, and then Europe during the early 17th, though not without controversy. In Venice, some called...
Seth's Blog
The paradox of brittle Optimizing a device or system means squeezing every drop of productivity out of it. In the...
9 months ago
60
9 months ago
Optimizing a device or system means squeezing every drop of productivity out of it. In the short-run, optimization works as long as the world stays the same. We can optimize a device to work at capacity. However, something working at capacity blows up if you step on the gas when...
The Last...
Still Alive WHERE DID YOU GO? I flatter myself by thinking you are asking this question.  I am writing a book of...
over a year ago
23
over a year ago
WHERE DID YOU GO? I flatter myself by thinking you are asking this question.  I am writing a book of and about porn. IS IT ANY GOOD? Not sure.  I am trying my best.  It's a lot of work, complicated by relentless self-doubt.  The good news is I am drinking more. ALMOST...
Blog - Amy Goodchild
Distributing Randomness A good pseudorandom number generator gives an even distribution of results from 0 to 1 but...
over a year ago
20
over a year ago
A good pseudorandom number generator gives an even distribution of results from 0 to 1 but sometimes in generative art we might want something different.
Seth's Blog
Avert your eyes There are things we avoid looking at too closely. If we looked, really saw what was happening, we’d...
over a year ago
44
over a year ago
There are things we avoid looking at too closely. If we looked, really saw what was happening, we’d have to change our minds, admit we were mistaken, refactor our priorities or take action. It’s so frightening that we even hesitate to make a list of the things we don’t want to...
Seth's Blog
Optimized or maximized? Engineers can optimize a bridge. There are some bridge designs that satisfy aesthetic, financial,...
a year ago
32
a year ago
Engineers can optimize a bridge. There are some bridge designs that satisfy aesthetic, financial, durability, safety and efficiency needs better than others. The work of optimization is finding the best set of tradeoffs. Maximization, on the other hand, seeks the solution that...
Seth's Blog
Productivity week: Bonus In an economy built on skill, knowledge, and attitude, the single most powerful way to improve your...
a year ago
34
a year ago
In an economy built on skill, knowledge, and attitude, the single most powerful way to improve your productivity is to learn something. You put in the effort once and it pays off for decades. There are more ways for an adult to learn now than at any time in our history, and all...
Seth's Blog
Catastrophizing toward action A friend found a knobby growth near his knee. After a few doctor visits, it was diagnosed as cancer....
8 months ago
49
8 months ago
A friend found a knobby growth near his knee. After a few doctor visits, it was diagnosed as cancer. A cancer diagnosis is a self-sufficient catastrophe–few people need more than that to start taking immediate action. At the same time, we live in a media culture where catastrophe...
Seth's Blog
Complaints The best way to complain is to make things better. Complaining can be a form of intimacy. It’s a...
7 months ago
76
7 months ago
The best way to complain is to make things better. Complaining can be a form of intimacy. It’s a useful way to explain our behavior. And best of all, it gives us a way to communicate as we work to create community action. The rest sort of complaint requires generosity and...