Seth's Blog
Bob Dobalina
I considered myself someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of a narrow range of mid-1960s TV and...
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...
Seth's Blog
Bongo 4 – Thinking about power users (skive!)
Power users are tempting. They know what they want, they’re happy to share their preferences and...
3 weeks ago
Power users are tempting. They know what they want, they’re happy to share their preferences and they show up. But power users can also be a trap, because their specific needs might not match the market you seek to serve. When you pick your customers, you pick your future. Brooke...
Open Culture
The Complete Howard Stern Interview with Kamala Harris
It’s hard to know where to start. This election comes down to whether or not we want to reward...
2 months ago
It’s hard to know where to start. This election comes down to whether or not we want to reward someone who tried to subvert our democracy four years ago. Whether we want to preserve the alliances that have kept the peace since World War II. Whether women want to resist losing...
Seth's Blog
Focusing attention is a skill
Where we choose to direct our gaze determines not only what we learn or believe, but how we choose...
a year ago
Where we choose to direct our gaze determines not only what we learn or believe, but how we choose to see the world. Typing is a skill. Juggling is a skill. So is project management. It’s easy to overlook the fact that we can get better at what we think about, create and consume....
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.
a month ago
Charting Nicole Kidman's recent career renaissance and rejection of industry norms.
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,...
a month 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....
Seth's Blog
Most people (and the people you choose)
Most people want you to make something cheap, write something short, share something funny, and fit...
a year ago
Most people want you to make something cheap, write something short, share something funny, and fit in. But the people you serve… they might want something else. The few people you need to thrive in your work might want you to write something they’ll remember for a long time, or...
Open Culture
Orson Welles Narrates an Animated Parable About How Xenophobia & Greed Will Put America Into Decline...
More than 50 years and 10 presidential administrations have passed since Orson Welles narrated...
2 months ago
More than 50 years and 10 presidential administrations have passed since Orson Welles narrated Freedom River. And while it shows signs of age, the animated film, a parable about the role of immigration, race, and wealth in America, still resonates today. Actually, given the...
Seth's Blog
Late-stage technocrats
Water flows downhill, and tech solves the easy problems first. After the launch of Amazon and...
a year ago
Water flows downhill, and tech solves the easy problems first. After the launch of Amazon and Google, when smartphones reached critical mass, an easy problem to solve involved bridging information with stuff. So you could use your phone to summon a car, a case of beer, a dog...
Seth's Blog
Full circle with myopia
In 1983, an old article from the Harvard Business Review changed my life. In 1960, Ted Levitt, a...
2 months ago
In 1983, an old article from the Harvard Business Review changed my life. In 1960, Ted Levitt, a professor at HBS, wrote the most popular article in the Review’s history. Called Marketing Myopia, it described a different way of thinking about change and marketing. I was a (very)...
Seth's Blog
Dreams, plans and contradictions
Dreams are fine. And dreams involve contradictions. We want this AND that, but both can’t happen....
8 months 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...
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...
8 months 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...
Seth's Blog
Severe weather alert
For the last two weeks, my weather app has informed me that there’s a real risk (in this case,...
3 weeks ago
For the last two weeks, my weather app has informed me that there’s a real risk (in this case, wildfires). But, after a few days, that’s not severe weather. That’s just weather. (Metaphor alert). Patterns are easy to ignore. We pay attention when the pattern is interrupted. The...
Seth's Blog
Doing presentations virtually
A few years ago, I posted about the hardware setup you can use to look better and feel better when...
a year ago
A few years ago, I posted about the hardware setup you can use to look better and feel better when working in a distributed organization. Since then, I’ve tried many hacks for how to integrate Keynote presentations into this environment. I used some fancy software that was...
Open Culture
How Henri Matisse Scandalized the Art Establishment with His Daring Use of Color
Even those of us not particularly well-versed in art history have heard of a painting style called...
2 months ago
Even those of us not particularly well-versed in art history have heard of a painting style called fauvism — and probably have never considered what it has to do with fauve, the French word for a wild beast. In fact, the two have everything to do with one another, at least in the...
Prolost
iPhone ProRes Log in Peru and Taiwan
This is a blog post about a video, which is about new color-conversion LUTs for Apple Log footage...
10 months ago
This is a blog post about a video, which is about new color-conversion LUTs for Apple Log footage from the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max (updated from my first set). The video is also a mini-travelogue of my recent trips to Taiwan and Peru. This post dives a bit deeper into both the...
Seth's Blog
Ideas need handles: the thing about subject lines
A bureaucracy recently asked me to submit a few documents. They were very specific and the person on...
3 days ago
A bureaucracy recently asked me to submit a few documents. They were very specific and the person on the phone said that the subject line of the email I sent should be blank. This is really unsettling. Almost like taking the labels off bottles at the supermarket. My email...
Seth's Blog
Practical approaches for more effective teamwork
Give credit, take responsibility Get aligned on timeframes Insist on a spec, write one, improve it...
3 months ago
Give credit, take responsibility Get aligned on timeframes Insist on a spec, write one, improve it Agree on a budget Keep a calendar Don’t hold a grudge Speak up clearly and generously Show your work Share your fears Make promises and keep them Do the reading Talk about people...
Prolost
Visual Effects Compositing in Adobe After Effects: My IBC 2019 Talk
Adobe graciously invited me to speak at their IBC 2019 booth about visual effects compositing in...
over a year ago
Adobe graciously invited me to speak at their IBC 2019 booth about visual effects compositing in After Effects — something I’ve been doing against all advice for many (many!) years. You can watch the entire talk here:
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...
9 months 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...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Cal Russell
I'm an artist living in Edinburgh working mainly in papercutting and linocut printmaking. I studied...
a year ago
I'm an artist living in Edinburgh working mainly in papercutting and linocut printmaking. I studied Illustration at Falmouth School of Art and did a Masters in Contemporary Art at the Edinburgh College of Art. I mostly work independently and sell my prints and originals online or...
Open Culture
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Creative Process: A Look Inside the Books & Techniques That Allowed His Art...
The story of Jean-Michel Basquiat has its unfortunate aspects: not just his premature death, but...
3 weeks ago
The story of Jean-Michel Basquiat has its unfortunate aspects: not just his premature death, but also the aggressive marketing of his work and persona in the years leading up to it. He became a vogue artist of the eighties in part because he could be taken as an unfiltered voice...
Seth's Blog
Sincerity is expected
Well, not always. That’s why it’s so important. We don’t expect an actor to tell the truth. That’s...
a month ago
Well, not always. That’s why it’s so important. We don’t expect an actor to tell the truth. That’s their job. Musicians and other performers are playing a role. And social niceties encourage us to put on a smile and share appreciation, even in situations where it might not be...
Seth's Blog
The Beatles and Taylor Swift
When we’re in the middle of a cultural swirl, it’s normal to believe that everyone else is too....
a year ago
When we’re in the middle of a cultural swirl, it’s normal to believe that everyone else is too. That’s part of the magic of a cultural swirl–it’s our friends, our work, our world. Most of these moments are actually tiny pockets. An episode of the much-talked-about TV show...
Seth's Blog
Your audiobook
Here’s a useful habit that’s more than a hack… The next time things are going well, when a project...
3 months ago
Here’s a useful habit that’s more than a hack… The next time things are going well, when a project is about to launch, when a meeting has been successful, when the sun is shining… take your phone and go for a walk. Hit record on an audio app and make a twenty-minute audiobook....
Seth's Blog
Inverting the vex
Life can be irritating. And sometimes, we can make a choice. The thing that’s vexing you: is it a...
7 months ago
Life can be irritating. And sometimes, we can make a choice. The thing that’s vexing you: is it a situation or a problem? Problems have solutions. If we care enough, we can find a way to solve a problem, but it might cost more money, require more effort or involve more risk than...
Seth's Blog
Heavy Lemon Tuna
It’s easy to smirk at the ridiculous images one can make in twenty seconds with AI. People used to...
a year ago
It’s easy to smirk at the ridiculous images one can make in twenty seconds with AI. People used to smirk at photographs in the 1800s. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” is no longer a useful thing to say. Truth is real, photos are not.
Seth's Blog
The stories we tell ourselves
If it happened to us, our memory of it is a story, our record of it with us at the center. Even if...
2 days ago
If it happened to us, our memory of it is a story, our record of it with us at the center. Even if it’s on video, even if other people were there, our narrative and the context and the play by play belong to us. The useful question might be: “Is my story helpful?” And […]
Open Culture
Mary Tyler Moore Accidentally Nails a Perfect Pool Shot on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1962)
Let’s rewind the videotape and revisit a classic moment in The Dick Van Dyke Show. In the 1962...
2 weeks ago
Let’s rewind the videotape and revisit a classic moment in The Dick Van Dyke Show. In the 1962 episode called “Hustling the Hustler,” Mary Tyler Moore (as Laura Petrie) plays pool and sinks three balls in a single shot. The original plan was to splice in footage of a professional...
Seth's Blog
The generosity of concealment
Human beings never reveal all of our emotions. We don’t simply blurt out the first thing that pops...
a year ago
Human beings never reveal all of our emotions. We don’t simply blurt out the first thing that pops into our head in a meeting, or insult someone upon meeting them. We’re able to give people the benefit of the doubt (which requires doubt before we can offer the benefit) and to...
Seth's Blog
She’s here!
Some restaurants keep a photo of the local reviewer in the kitchen. The thinking is that if someone...
7 months ago
Some restaurants keep a photo of the local reviewer in the kitchen. The thinking is that if someone notices she’s in the building, everyone can up their game. And some musicians wait eagerly for A&R person to be in the crowd. If they really kill it tonight, a record deal might...
Seth's Blog
How to change the world
All successful cultural change (books, movies, public health), has a super-simple two-step loop:...
a year ago
All successful cultural change (books, movies, public health), has a super-simple two-step loop: AWARENESSTENSION–>Loop<– It’s easy to focus on awareness. Get the word out. Hype. Promo. I think that’s a mistake. Because awareness without tension is useless. The tension is like...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Makers 2022
We've featured some fantastic makers on our Meet the Maker blog this year! Thank you to all that...
a year ago
We've featured some fantastic makers on our Meet the Maker blog this year! Thank you to all that have been involved and those that are yet to come in 2023! We love reading about your printmaking practices and hearing your beautiful words of advice.
Grab yourself a drink, pop...
Open Culture
The Golden Guide to Hallucinogenic Plants: Explore the 1977 Illustrated Guide Created by Harvard’s...
I mean, the idea that you would give a psychedelic—in this case, magic mushrooms or the chemical...
2 weeks ago
I mean, the idea that you would give a psychedelic—in this case, magic mushrooms or the chemical called psilocybin that’s derived from magic mushrooms—to people dying of cancer, people with terminal diagnoses, to help them deal with their — what’s called existential distress. And...
Open Culture
How Well Does Medieval Armor Actually Stand Up to Medieval Arrows?: A Historical Re-Creation Lets...
The popular image of the medieval suit of armor looks formidable enough that any of us could be...
6 months ago
The popular image of the medieval suit of armor looks formidable enough that any of us could be forgiven for assuming that, with its steel-plated protection, we’d emerge from even the most harrowing battle without a scratch. Yet if we really found ourselves transported to, say,...
Seth's Blog
The expanding frontier of ignorance
Some fields of endeavor continue to narrow down the unknown, in search of the recipe, the efficient...
a year ago
Some fields of endeavor continue to narrow down the unknown, in search of the recipe, the efficient method of industry. And others live on Feynman’s expanding frontier of ignorance, where each closed door leads to several newly opened ones. That’s a fundamental choice in our...
Seth's Blog
The problem with the movie version
There are lights, camera and action, but mostly there’s the unreality of making it fit. Happily ever...
a month ago
There are lights, camera and action, but mostly there’s the unreality of making it fit. Happily ever after, a climax at just the right moment, perfect heroes, tension, resolution and a swelling soundtrack. Every element is amplified and things happen right on schedule. Consume...
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
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...
Seth's Blog
We probably can’t buy our way out of it
That’s what we usually try to do. When technology, comfort, convenience, efficiency and price line...
a year ago
That’s what we usually try to do. When technology, comfort, convenience, efficiency and price line up, the market takes care of itself. On the other hand, seatbelts would never have happened if they weren’t required. But pizza grew to dominate our diets with no centralized...
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...
3 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
How Car Chase Scenes Have Evolved Over 100 Years: The Technology Behind Bullitt, The French...
For many a classic action-movie enthusiast, no car chase will ever top the one in Bullitt. The...
a month ago
For many a classic action-movie enthusiast, no car chase will ever top the one in Bullitt. The narrator of the Insider video above describes it as “the scene that set the standard for all modern car chases,” one made “iconic partly because of the characters, but also because of...
Open Culture
Andy Warhol’s One Minute of Professional Wrestling Fame (1985)
Andy Warhol did for art what the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) did for wrestling. He made it a...
2 months ago
Andy Warhol did for art what the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) did for wrestling. He made it a spectacle. He made it something the “everyman” could enjoy. He infused it with celebrity. And, some would say, he cheapened it too. Looking back, it makes perfect sense that Warhol...
Seth's Blog
It goes without saying
A phrase that’s been showing up recently is, “no pressure.” It usually comes in a pitch letter of...
a year ago
A phrase that’s been showing up recently is, “no pressure.” It usually comes in a pitch letter of some sort, written by someone who isn’t in a position to exert any pressure. So why say it? It’s a bit like, “while supplies last.” And “to be honest…” which is perhaps the most...
On the Arts
On the Arts: A Three Month Review
And a Thank You to Subscribers
a year ago
And a Thank You to Subscribers
Open Culture
Spin the 17th-Century Death Roulette Wheel & Find Out What Would Have Killed You in 1665
A common historical misconception holds that, up until a few centuries ago, everyone died when they...
2 months ago
A common historical misconception holds that, up until a few centuries ago, everyone died when they were about 40. In fact, even in antiquity, one could well make it to what would be considered an advanced age today — assuming one survived the great mortal peril of childhood, and...
Seth's Blog
Refusing the salon of the refused
This week is the 150th anniversary of the most important failed art exhibit of all time. It was...
8 months ago
This week is the 150th anniversary of the most important failed art exhibit of all time. It was organized by and featured artists who weren’t even among those that had a slot at the runner’s up exhibit for artists who weren’t featured in the real Salon in Paris. Manet didn’t have...
Seth's Blog
There are no stupid mistakes
There are mistakes. These are moments when reality teaches us something. And there’s stupid. This is...
a year ago
There are mistakes. These are moments when reality teaches us something. And there’s stupid. This is what happens when we refuse to learn from our mistakes. “Don’t be stupid” is a fine mantra. It’s particularly apt when talking about cultural forces, political agendas and our...
Seth's Blog
Willfully uninformed
Access to information used to be scarce. We ranked college libraries on how many books they had, and...
9 months ago
Access to information used to be scarce. We ranked college libraries on how many books they had, and time at the microfilm reader was booked in advance. Today, if there’s something I don’t know, it’s almost certainly because I haven’t cared enough to find out. I don’t understand...
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...
a month 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
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...
6 months 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
Is Andrew Huberman Ruining Your Morning Coffee Routine?
Andrew Huberman–the host of the influential Huberman Lab podcast–has gotten a lot of mileage out of...
3 months ago
Andrew Huberman–the host of the influential Huberman Lab podcast–has gotten a lot of mileage out of his recommended morning routine. His routine emphasizes the importance of getting sunlight within 30–60 minutes of waking; also engaging in light physical activity; hydrating well;...
Open Culture
Explore Burj Al Babas, Turkey’s Abandoned Town of 587 Disney-Style Castles
Burj Al Babas might have been constructed expressly to attract the attention of the internet....
a month ago
Burj Al Babas might have been constructed expressly to attract the attention of the internet. “Sitting near the Black Sea, the town is full of half-finished, fully abandoned mini castles — 587 of them to be exact,” write Architectural Digest’s Katherine McLaughlin and Jessica...
Open Culture
A 5‑Hour Journey Through North Korean Entertainment: Propaganda Films, Kids’ Cartoons, Sketch Comedy...
Over the second half of the twentieth century, South Korea became rich, and in the first decades of...
7 months ago
Over the second half of the twentieth century, South Korea became rich, and in the first decades of the twenty-first, it’s become a global cultural superpower. The same can’t be said for North Korea: after a relatively strong start in the nineteen-fifties and sixties, its economy...
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...
7 months 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...
The Great Discontent...
Brian Eno
From pioneering ambient music and ever-evolving light paintings to innovating production styles,...
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...
Seth's Blog
Significant work is a vote
When we show up to bring humanity to work, we’re making a choice. It involves risk and effort and...
a year ago
When we show up to bring humanity to work, we’re making a choice. It involves risk and effort and emotional labor. We’re here to make a change happen, and we’re giving something to make that happen. So it’s a vote. A vote for the customer we seek to serve. A vote for the boss and...
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...
6 months 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...
On the Arts
What is the Demoscene?
An Interview with Filipe Cruz on the Influential but Obscure Art Form
a year ago
An Interview with Filipe Cruz on the Influential but Obscure Art Form
Open Culture
Revisit Episodes of Liquid Television, MTV’s 90s Showcase of Funny, Irreverent & Bizarre Animation
MTV stands for Music Television, and when the network launched in 1981, its almost entirely music...
2 months ago
MTV stands for Music Television, and when the network launched in 1981, its almost entirely music video-based programming was true to its name. Within a decade, however, its mandate had widened to the point that it had become the natural home for practically any exciting...
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...
a week 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...
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
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...
Open Culture
John Waters’ RISD Graduation Speech: Real Wealth Is Life Without A*Holes
John Waters’ rollicking commencement speech at The Rhode Island School of Design offered up some...
3 months ago
John Waters’ rollicking commencement speech at The Rhode Island School of Design offered up some good one-liners and a few pearls of wisdom, though phrased, quite naturally, in an irreverent way. Ready for some sage advice on what really counts as wealth? And what career choices...
The Great Discontent...
Sheyam Ghieth
Sheyam Ghieth (she/they) is an artist and queer Egyptian-American abolitionist known for her work on...
a year ago
Sheyam Ghieth (she/they) is an artist and queer Egyptian-American abolitionist known for her work on the comedy-drama television series Ramy, FX’s The Americans, and the web series BROTHERS. They now live in Portland, OR, where they are prioritizing queer joy as a radical act of...
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...
11 months 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...
Handprinted - Blog
Transferring a Linocut to Inkjet Film using Adigraf Water Soluble Ink
We've recently discovered that you can expose a screen with artwork made by transferring a linocut...
a year ago
We've recently discovered that you can expose a screen with artwork made by transferring a linocut to inkjet film using a water based ink.
Often when we want to convert our relief prints to screen prints, we need to use some kind of digital programming to make this possible. With...
Seth's Blog
Three things about innovation
New approaches will never be embraced by everyone at first. If you need unanimous consent, you’re...
a year ago
New approaches will never be embraced by everyone at first. If you need unanimous consent, you’re not going to move forward. And it’s not convenient. If it were, someone would have done it already. Finally, it’s not sure to work. If you need any or all three of these things for...
Seth's Blog
Assume goodwill
There’s often doubt. Giving someone the benefit of that doubt enables us to move forward, and that...
6 months ago
There’s often doubt. Giving someone the benefit of that doubt enables us to move forward, and that requires us to realize that our doubt might be unfounded. Systems that assume goodwill create possibility, connection and utility far easier than those that don’t. Being invited to...
Seth's Blog
Confused about good
How often do we assume that popular things are good, and that good things become popular? If your...
2 months ago
How often do we assume that popular things are good, and that good things become popular? If your work doesn’t catch on, does that mean it wasn’t good? In almost every field, people with insight, taste and experience admire and emulate good things that aren’t popular, and are...
cabel.com
My GDC ’24 Talk: The Playdate Story
In January, I was invited to GDC, the Game Developers Conference, to give a talk about Playdate....
7 months ago
In January, I was invited to GDC, the Game Developers Conference, to give a talk about Playdate. That talk — “The Playdate Story: What Was it Like to Make Handheld Video Game System Hardware?” — has been made available free for all to view. Now, it’s been 10 years since my last...
Blog - Amy Goodchild
Playing dice: Randomness, determinism and the quantum world
What’s the difference between unexpected, random and chaotic? Does the
universe contain any truly...
over a year ago
What’s the difference between unexpected, random and chaotic? Does the
universe contain any truly random events, or is it operating like
clockwork, ticking from one event to the next?
Seth's Blog
Pet quirks
Peeves make lousy pets. They undermine us and put us on edge. But quirks? Little eccentricities we...
7 months ago
Peeves make lousy pets. They undermine us and put us on edge. But quirks? Little eccentricities we see in the world that offer a cost-free smile. Habits or interactions that always make us a little lighter on our feet and open the door to better… They’re easy to find, not hard to...
Seth's Blog
Pleasant
We often use words like “beautiful” or “stunning” or “perfect” when we actually mean “popular” or...
a year ago
We often use words like “beautiful” or “stunning” or “perfect” when we actually mean “popular” or “pleasant.” Every day is beautiful in its own way. But the weather yesterday was pleasant. Hit songs are hits. But they’re rarely perfect. I’m a big fan of pleasant. And I often like...
Seth's Blog
When did we lose consciousness?
In medical TV dramas, losing consciousness is something that happens suddenly and dramatically. We...
3 months ago
In medical TV dramas, losing consciousness is something that happens suddenly and dramatically. We can all tell… the body is still there, but the mind is gone, at least for now. Unfortunately, this happens in real life. At work. In our personal lives. For a few minutes or even a...
Seth's Blog
Choosing your pacemaker
Roger Bannister ran a four-minute mile by having a relay race of pace runners next to him. If he...
a year ago
Roger Bannister ran a four-minute mile by having a relay race of pace runners next to him. If he could keep up with his pacer, he’d finish the run in record time. If you work in an office where people are regularly shipping breakthrough work, it’s likely your work will ship as...
The Great Discontent...
Ophelia Chong
Ophelia Chong has had a long and storied career in photography, art, and creative direction that...
a year ago
Ophelia Chong has had a long and storied career in photography, art, and creative direction that spans from magazines and music labels to film festivals and book publishing. When a family member’s medicinal marijuana use inspired her to dip her toes into the world of weed, Chong...
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...
8 months 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...
Seth's Blog
The opportunity for AI formbots
Forms are a convenient way for bureaucracies to collect information. They’re convenient because they...
a week ago
Forms are a convenient way for bureaucracies to collect information. They’re convenient because they offload the work to the patient/customer/taxpayer. The shift in labor led to an explosion of self-serve forms, but the built-in inefficiencies punish everyone. The fundamental...
On the Arts
How do you actually create AI art?
A Walkthrough of Using Midjourney, a Popular AI Art Creation App
a year ago
A Walkthrough of Using Midjourney, a Popular AI Art Creation App
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Moïra Swann
Bonjour everyone! Moïra Swann is an English and Proustian adaptation from my real name Anne-Marie:...
over a year ago
Bonjour everyone! Moïra Swann is an English and Proustian adaptation from my real name Anne-Marie: while Anne-Marie lives in France and works full-time in a wonderful museum dedicated to the French painter Anne-Louis Girodet, Moïra Swann does lino printing whenever she can, as an...
Seth's Blog
Unfettered
That’s unlikely. You’re rarely going to get the freedom and resources to do your best work...
a year ago
That’s unlikely. You’re rarely going to get the freedom and resources to do your best work unfettered. The hard part (and the opportunity) is to figure out how to get comfortable with fettered. Because fettered is what’s on offer. Boundaries and scarcity aren’t simply...
Open Culture
Behold the Oldest Written Text in the World: The Kish Tablet, Circa 3500 BC
Image by José-Manuel Benito, via Wikimedia Commons Some refer to the written Chinese language as...
a month ago
Image by José-Manuel Benito, via Wikimedia Commons Some refer to the written Chinese language as ideographic: that is, structured according to a system in which each symbol represents a particular idea or concept, whether abstract or concrete. That’s true of certain Chinese...
Seth's Blog
Shields up
Years and years ago, I helped the Weekly World News make a book. While their periodical was weekly,...
a year ago
Years and years ago, I helped the Weekly World News make a book. While their periodical was weekly, it certainly wasn’t news. They were just four people in a small office in Florida. They gleefully made stuff up every week. They had a few filing cabinets of stock photos, and they...
Seth's Blog
Finding the glitch
Many moths are attracted to light. That works fine when it’s a bright moon and an open field, but...
a year ago
Many moths are attracted to light. That works fine when it’s a bright moon and an open field, but not so well for the moths if the light was set up as a bug trap. Processionary caterpillars follow the one in front until their destination, even if they’re arranged in a circle,...
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...
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,...
Seth's Blog
Default to surrender
AI chatbots highight a challenge that is worth understanding. It applies to customer service,...
9 months 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
Are you doing what you said you wanted to do?
If you want to be a poet, write poetry. Every day. Show us your work. If you want to do improv,...
a year ago
If you want to be a poet, write poetry. Every day. Show us your work. If you want to do improv, start a troupe. Don’t wait to get picked. If you want to help animals, don’t wait for vet school. Volunteer at an animal shelter right now. If you want to write a screenplay, write […]
Seth's Blog
The digital barback
A barback supports the bartending staff. There are always clean glasses and fresh ingredients, ready...
8 months ago
A barback supports the bartending staff. There are always clean glasses and fresh ingredients, ready to go. Having someone else do your mise en place can dramatically improve your productivity. And now, with a bit of effort, you can train an AI and a few systems to do it for you....
Seth's Blog
Choose your fuel wisely
If worrying about paying the mortgage gets you motivated to lean hard into the next project, don’t...
a month ago
If worrying about paying the mortgage gets you motivated to lean hard into the next project, don’t be surprised if that sort of fear arises every time you have hard work to do. If your goal is to teach the naysayers a lesson, remember that you’ll need to find people who you want...
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...
2 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...
Open Culture
Isaac Newton Creates a List of His 57 Sins (Circa 1662)
Sir Isaac Newton, arguably the most important and influential scientist in history, discovered the...
3 weeks ago
Sir Isaac Newton, arguably the most important and influential scientist in history, discovered the laws of motion and the universal force of gravity. For the first time ever, the rules of the universe could be described with the supremely rational language of mathematics....
Seth's Blog
The status quo is very good…
at sticking around. In fact, that’s what it’s best at. New research shows that computers and robots...
a year ago
at sticking around. In fact, that’s what it’s best at. New research shows that computers and robots are now better at solving CAPTCHA puzzles than humans. This was inevitable. The interesting question is, “how long before they go away?” First, someone has to decide that it’s...
Seth's Blog
Sufficient resolution
Robert Johnson is known as the king of the Delta blues. One reason is that his small output was...
a year ago
Robert Johnson is known as the king of the Delta blues. One reason is that his small output was brilliant. The other, bigger reason is that the recordings that remain of his short life are among the earliest that sound good… most audio recordings from before 1936 sound antique...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Grace Gillespie
Hello! I’m Grace Gillespie, a printmaker specialising in reduction linocuts and based in Bristol....
a year ago
Hello! I’m Grace Gillespie, a printmaker specialising in reduction linocuts and based in Bristol. Most days you will find me in my teeny home studio, adding layers of colour to my prints, thinking about future designs or working on the never-ending administration side of running...
Infinite Scroll
Get a Discount on Infinite Scroll
Limited time! 30% off paid access to Infinite Scroll
a month ago
Limited time! 30% off paid access to Infinite Scroll
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Creatively Bridge
Hello! I’m Bridget. I'm a part time printmaker based on the south coast in Chichester. My love for...
a year ago
Hello! I’m Bridget. I'm a part time printmaker based on the south coast in Chichester. My love for printmaking was born in the print rooms of Bath School of Art and Design where I studied Graphic Communication. This is where I first got a taste for Screen Printing, Linocut,...
Seth's Blog
Anonymity and Bugs Bunny
I came across this (ironically) anonymous quote recently: “The offline world is full of sticks, but...
4 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...
Open Culture
Destino: The Salvador Dalí — Disney Collaboration 57 Years in the Making
In 2003, Disney released a six minute animated short called Destino, finally bringing closure to a...
a month ago
In 2003, Disney released a six minute animated short called Destino, finally bringing closure to a project that began 57 years earlier. The story of Destino goes way back to 1946 when two very different cultural icons, Walt Disney and Salvador Dalí, decided to work together on a...
Seth's Blog
Now in Spanish
The Carbon Almanac is now available in Spanish. For free. Free to download, free to share and free...
a year ago
The Carbon Almanac is now available in Spanish. For free. Free to download, free to share and free to print a copy at home. While the book has been traditionally published around the world (in Italian, Czech, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Dutch), no Spanish-language publisher was...
Seth's Blog
The cheap chocolate system
The first step in building a successful and elegant strategy is to see the systems that are part of...
2 months ago
The first step in building a successful and elegant strategy is to see the systems that are part of our lives. October is a fine month to take a moment to look closely at one: the system that brings us cheap chocolate. Like most systems, it’s largely invisible. The people in it...
Open Culture
Artificial Intelligence & Drones Uncover 303 New Nazca Lines in Peru
If you visit one tourist site in Peru, it will almost certainly be the ruined Incan city of Machu...
2 months ago
If you visit one tourist site in Peru, it will almost certainly be the ruined Incan city of Machu Picchu. If you visit another, it’ll probably be the Nazca Desert, home to many large-scale geoglyphs made by pre-Inca peoples between 500 BC and 500 AD. Many of these “Nazca lines”...
Open Culture
George Orwell’s Political Views, Explained in His Own Words
Among modern-day liberals and conservatives alike, George Orwell enjoys practically sainted status....
7 months ago
Among modern-day liberals and conservatives alike, George Orwell enjoys practically sainted status. And indeed, throughout his body of work, including but certainly not limited to his oft-assigned novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, one can find numerous implicitly or...
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...
6 months 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
Trading trust
The Brookings Institution did a fascinating survey series over the last five years. I have two...
10 months ago
The Brookings Institution did a fascinating survey series over the last five years. I have two takeways from this: The first is that focused and persistent propaganda is able to shift public opinion about institutions they don’t have direct interaction with. The more important...
Seth's Blog
When the sun is shining
Our job as professionals is to show up and do the work. Not simply respond to incoming or do the...
a year ago
Our job as professionals is to show up and do the work. Not simply respond to incoming or do the chores, but to create and innovate. And yet, some days feel more conducive than others. There are moments when it simply flows. When the surf’s up, cancel everything else. Don’t waste...
Blog - Mac Pierce
Host Jumping, thinking about viruses and how they’re changing.
Thinking about the concepts and reasons behind the making of my work ‘Host
Jump’.
over a year ago
Thinking about the concepts and reasons behind the making of my work ‘Host
Jump’.
Seth's Blog
Knowing the territory
There is always room for someone who really knows their way around an industry, a technology or a...
2 months ago
There is always room for someone who really knows their way around an industry, a technology or a problem. That’s what agents, agencies and organizers do. The hard part isn’t in finding people who will value true on-the-ground expertise. The hard part is actually earning it and...
Open Culture
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity Explained in One of the Earliest Science Films Ever Made (1923)
Albert Einstein developed his theory of special relativity in 1905, and then mentally mapped out his...
6 months ago
Albert Einstein developed his theory of special relativity in 1905, and then mentally mapped out his theory of general relativity between 1907 and 1915. For years to come, the rest of the world would try to catch up with Einstein, trying to understand the gist, let alone the full...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet The Maker: Ariana Martin
Hi, I’m Ariana - a pattern designer and printmaker from leafy Sheffield. I create joyful patterns...
11 months 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...
Seth's Blog
The paradox of self skepticism
If we’re to publish, teach, invent, imagine or promote, we need the confidence to believe that we...
5 months ago
If we’re to publish, teach, invent, imagine or promote, we need the confidence to believe that we have something to offer. That we are, in some way, right. But the enterprise of rational thought is based on theories, tests and improvements. We can never be certain, all we have is...
Seth's Blog
Compounding head starts
When a six-year-old kid beats the other kids at tennis, that kid is more likely to be encouraged to...
a year ago
When a six-year-old kid beats the other kids at tennis, that kid is more likely to be encouraged to play more, or to get a coach, and pretty soon, they’re much better at tennis than the others. When a musical group has a single that gets some buzz on Spotify, they’re more likely...
Ian Betteridge
Ten Blue Links “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date” Edition
1. Who rules us? Google changed its rules on what kind of behaviour it regards as “spam” and, of...
4 weeks ago
1. Who rules us? Google changed its rules on what kind of behaviour it regards as “spam” and, of course, the impact on some companies will be pretty negative. The behaviour it is targeting is so-called “parasite SEO”, where a publisher allows a third party to create content for...
Seth's Blog
Practical empathy (vs. telepathy)
“If I were you…” or, more commonly, “if you were me.” Management has never been easy, but as the...
6 months ago
“If I were you…” or, more commonly, “if you were me.” Management has never been easy, but as the world becomes more complex, it gets more difficult. We’d like to imagine that the person (or AI bot, or freelancer, or firm) that we hired has enough drive, insight and common sense...
Seth's Blog
Purchase decisions
All purchases involve a decision. Yes or no, this or that, now or later… But it’s helpful to realize...
9 months ago
All purchases involve a decision. Yes or no, this or that, now or later… But it’s helpful to realize that all decisions involve a purchase. When we decide to spend time or take a risk or make a commitment, our brains act in a way very similar to how we choose to make a purchase....
Seth's Blog
When the future finds us
The future never arrives, of course, but it has a powerful force that’s impossible to avoid. We can...
a year ago
The future never arrives, of course, but it has a powerful force that’s impossible to avoid. We can see it as a threshold, a doorway toward something new. Or we can fight it as an unwanted change, and discover that it has traction, tenacity and leverage. We can influence the...
Seth's Blog
Your preference is not universal
You’re entitled to it, and we will do our best to help you find what you want. But it’s unlikely...
a year ago
You’re entitled to it, and we will do our best to help you find what you want. But it’s unlikely that what you want is what everyone wants. It’s hard to believe that there is only one appropriate standard for value, observance, speed or performance. The easiest way for us to help...
Seth's Blog
Glib
One of the valid complaints about some AI systems is that they make stuff up, with confidence, and...
5 months ago
One of the valid complaints about some AI systems is that they make stuff up, with confidence, and without sourcing, and then argue when challenged. Unsurprisingly, this sounds a lot like people. We often end up with what we are willing to tolerate. Show your work and ask for...
Anarchy Unfolds
Age of Empires but make it Solarpunk
My favorite strategy game re-imagined
2 hours ago
My favorite strategy game re-imagined
Seth's Blog
A finite ordered set of interesting objects
The alphabet is one. 26 letters, no more. One order, that’s it. The Beatles are another. John, Paul,...
a year ago
The alphabet is one. 26 letters, no more. One order, that’s it. The Beatles are another. John, Paul, George and then Ringo. The Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges, The Supremes. The astrological zodiac gets us to twelve, but I’m having a really difficult time finding a memorable...
Open Culture
Private Snafu: The World War II Propaganda Cartoons Created by Dr. Seuss, Frank Capra & Mel Blanc
Private Snafu was the U.S. Army’s worst soldier. He was sloppy, lazy and prone to shooting off his...
2 months ago
Private Snafu was the U.S. Army’s worst soldier. He was sloppy, lazy and prone to shooting off his mouth to Nazi agents. And he was hugely popular with his fellow GIs. Private Snafu was, of course, an animated cartoon character designed for the military recruits. He was an...
Open Culture
An Introduction to The Babylonian Map of the World–the Oldest Known Map of the World
Taking a first glance at the Babylonian Map of the World, few of us could recognize it for what it...
4 months ago
Taking a first glance at the Babylonian Map of the World, few of us could recognize it for what it is. But then again, few of us are anything like the British Museum Middle East department curator Irving Finkel, whose vast knowledge (and ability to share it compellingly) have...
Seth's Blog
But it matters a lot to them…
To get to the Kebab House Cafe, you’ll need to drive past a dozen fast food restaurants, restaurants...
a year ago
To get to the Kebab House Cafe, you’ll need to drive past a dozen fast food restaurants, restaurants you can find off just about any interstate. It’s certainly less convenient to go a few blocks off the beaten path, but the food and service and vibe might be worth it. The thing...
escape the algorithm
ETA's Best links of 2024
Relinking some Links links
5 hours ago
Relinking some Links links
Seth's Blog
“I don’t like it”
Everyone is entitled to their own taste. But this isn’t the helpful answer to the question, “is this...
a year ago
Everyone is entitled to their own taste. But this isn’t the helpful answer to the question, “is this good?” Whether it suits your taste might be irrelevant. “It doesn’t resonate with me” is not the same as “No one will like this.” The professional understands that they need...
The Last...
Don't Hate Her Because She's Successful
the first thing you noticed is her great outfit
and the first thing I noticed is she's covering her...
over a year ago
the first thing you noticed is her great outfit
and the first thing I noticed is she's covering her wedding ring
this is why you are anxious and I am Alone
Today in the United States and the developed world, women are better off than ever before. But the...
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
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...
Marian's Blog
Quadrocopter Lichtsystem
Dies ist ein Arduinoprojekt, das vier RGB-LED-Streifen an den vier Armen des Quadrocopters...
over a year ago
Dies ist ein Arduinoprojekt, das vier RGB-LED-Streifen an den vier Armen des Quadrocopters ansteuert. Das Ziel war, bei möglichst geringen Materialkosten möglichst viele Möglichkeiten bei der Beleuchtung des Quadrocopters zu haben.
Verwendete Teile:
1m RGB-LED Streifen, jeweils...
Seth's Blog
The answer to every question
If the thing of the moment is the answer to every single question, you might be in a bubble. If,...
a year ago
If the thing of the moment is the answer to every single question, you might be in a bubble. If, regardless of the problem, the answer is crypto, homeopathy, or the internet, or perhaps GPT, essential oils or decarbonization, it’s possible we’re taking an easy way out. A new...
Seth's Blog
Intuition
Intuition is simply a theory we haven’t yet put into words. Once we write down and share our...
a month ago
Intuition is simply a theory we haven’t yet put into words. Once we write down and share our intuition, it becomes more resilient, focused and useful to others.
Seth's Blog
Problems and the clover
Systemic and existential problems dance their way through three circles: If it’s not solvable, we’ll...
10 months ago
Systemic and existential problems dance their way through three circles: If it’s not solvable, we’ll pretend it’s not a problem. If the cultural cost of solving the problem is too high, we’ll pretend there’s no solution. People don’t spend a lot of time planning for death because...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Jo Muriel
Describe your printmaking process.
My prints are all one of a kind, mixed-media studies which...
a year ago
Describe your printmaking process.
My prints are all one of a kind, mixed-media studies which combine gestural marks and mainly abstract shape formations. Sometimes, I include figurative elements, sometimes not. I’m mainly concerned with conveying instinctive reactions to natural...
Open Culture
Martin Mull (RIP) Satirically Interviews a Young Tom Waits on Fernwood 2 Night (1977)
These days, references to seventies television increasingly require prefatory explanation. Who under...
5 months ago
These days, references to seventies television increasingly require prefatory explanation. Who under the age of 60 recalls, for example, the cultural phenomenon that was Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, an absurdist satire so faithful to the soap-opera form it parodied that it aired...
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...
a month 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...
Seth's Blog
Important change is systems change
Willpower is overrated. If you want to eat healthier, don’t work hard to avoid stopping at the...
4 months ago
Willpower is overrated. If you want to eat healthier, don’t work hard to avoid stopping at the cookie jar when you walk into the kitchen. Get rid of the cookie jar. Systems are long-lasting, widespread and resilient. We can push back on them with effort, but over time, the system...
Seth's Blog
The near future (and summer reads)
Near-future science fiction is a fine way to consider our now. Without the reality of today, we can...
6 months ago
Near-future science fiction is a fine way to consider our now. Without the reality of today, we can think hard about the tomorrow we’re about to live in. Summer reads are supposed to be a bit lighter. Technological change is making our near future a bit harder to dance with, and...
Seth's Blog
Commonplace technology
Not all tech is new tech. The ballpoint pen was a revelation, and a bit controversial. Now, it’s...
a year ago
Not all tech is new tech. The ballpoint pen was a revelation, and a bit controversial. Now, it’s disposable and obvious. Different industries go through tech spurts. My desk is covered with items I use every day (a mouse, headphones, a solid-state drive, transparent tape, and...
Stat Significant
Why Do People Like True Crime? A Statistical Analysis
Exploring the appeal of true crime podcasts and docuseries.
4 months ago
Exploring the appeal of true crime podcasts and docuseries.
Open Culture
When Slavoj Žižek and Jordan Peterson Debated Capitalism Versus Marxism
Karl Marx was a German philosopher-historian (with a few other pursuits besides) who wrote in...
5 months ago
Karl Marx was a German philosopher-historian (with a few other pursuits besides) who wrote in pursuit of an understanding of industrial society as he knew it in the nineteenth century and what its future evolution held in store. There are good reasons to read his work still...
Seth's Blog
Complaints are a gift
It’s easy to see a complaint as simple whining, the narcissistic impatience of someone who has...
7 months ago
It’s easy to see a complaint as simple whining, the narcissistic impatience of someone who has enough insulation from the real world that they can share their dissatisfaction over just about anything. But a complaint unheard gives us no way to improve. In our current medical...
Seth's Blog
It’s simple (it’s complicated)
It’s simple: This surgery will fix your problem and you’ll be better. It’s complicated: Changes in...
a year ago
It’s simple: This surgery will fix your problem and you’ll be better. It’s complicated: Changes in lifestyle, diet and attitude will, over time, help you feel better. Or… Our enemies are bad, and we’re good. Vote for me. The world is a big place that is filled with nuance,...
Open Culture
How Art Gets Stolen: What Happened to Egon Schiele’s Painting Boats Mirrored in the Water After Its...
George Clooney may be better regarded as an actor than as a director, but his occasional work in the...
2 months ago
George Clooney may be better regarded as an actor than as a director, but his occasional work in the latter capacity reveals an admirable interest in lesser-dramatized chapters of American history. His films have found their material in everything from the early years of the NFL...
Open Culture
Hear the Isolated Vocals of Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush in “Don’t Give Up”: The Power of Perseverance
Just by chance, could you use a song about perseverance and overcoming adversity? Something to give...
a month ago
Just by chance, could you use a song about perseverance and overcoming adversity? Something to give you a little encouragement and reassurance? Then we submit to you “Don’t Give Up,” featuring the isolated vocals of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. When he released the song on his...
Marian's Blog
BTduino documentation
The BTduino app sends data using the serial interface of a microcontroller and a bluetooth...
over a year ago
The BTduino app sends data using the serial interface of a microcontroller and a bluetooth connection. The concept of the protocol is to send all data in text form. Each set of data consists of the name and the value, seperated by a colon. This way of communication is not the...
Open Culture
How a 16th-Century Explorer’s Sailing Ship Worked: An Animated Video Takes You on a Comprehensive...
These days, it feels as if you can’t go very long at all before scrolling past another announcement...
3 months ago
These days, it feels as if you can’t go very long at all before scrolling past another announcement about some new technological development (realized or scheduled) related to space exploration. Some react to this by wondering what could possibly be out there in the universe to...
Seth's Blog
Study groups
If I had to choose one metric that would determine how well someone would do in law school, it...
a year ago
If I had to choose one metric that would determine how well someone would do in law school, it wouldn’t be the LSAT or another test. It would be whether or not they formed a study group, and who else was in it. Of course, the same is true for your project, or any sort […]
Seth's Blog
Further vs. faster
Sprints and marathons are both foot races, but they have very little in common. The training is...
a month ago
Sprints and marathons are both foot races, but they have very little in common. The training is different, and so is the technique. Which one are you signing up for? What about the thing you sell? Are we trying to get there faster, or do we promise to go further?
Open Culture
When Kris Kristofferson (RIP) Stood by Sinéad O’Connor at the Height of Her Controversy
One would have imagined Sinéad O’Connor impervious to any reaction from a hostile audience, no...
2 months ago
One would have imagined Sinéad O’Connor impervious to any reaction from a hostile audience, no matter how vitriolic. But even for a public figure as outspoken and unapologetic as her, it could all get to be a bit much at times. Take the 1992 concert Columbia Records put on for...
Blog - Mac Pierce
Loading, please wait... Starting the 1A2A3D project.
Starting out on a project looking at the first amendment, second amendment,
and 3-D printing.
over a year ago
Starting out on a project looking at the first amendment, second amendment,
and 3-D printing.
Seth's Blog
Living in hyperbole
In the pre-media world, we bumped into fables, or news from across the village, but mostly, our role...
a year ago
In the pre-media world, we bumped into fables, or news from across the village, but mostly, our role models and experiences were based on reality. Now, when it’s not unusual to spend eight hours a day surrounded by media fueled by greatest hits (worst offender, breaking news,...
Seth's Blog
Two chicken jokes
“Why did the chicken cross the road” tells us a bit about jokes. It’s a joke about jokes. The first...
10 months ago
“Why did the chicken cross the road” tells us a bit about jokes. It’s a joke about jokes. The first half is a setup, reminding us that an absurd question creates tension, which is then relieved by the punchline. But the second half undoes this by refusing to release the tension....
Seth's Blog
Thinking about jobs
Since I was born, the planet has invented 6 billion jobs. Technology is said to threaten the...
3 weeks ago
Since I was born, the planet has invented 6 billion jobs. Technology is said to threaten the replacement of human labor, yet, somehow we’ve found useful activities for a rapidly growing population. Coordinated without a coordinator, people go to work each day, often doing...
Seth's Blog
Getting better at bucket management
If you throw a bucket of water on a small campfire, you’ll succeed in putting it out. Pour a...
a year ago
If you throw a bucket of water on a small campfire, you’ll succeed in putting it out. Pour a bucketful of sake into one of those little glasses and you’ll waste most of it and ruin the table setting. And try to use a bucket to refill a dried-out lake and not much will happen. […]
Seth's Blog
And it can also do that
If you were around when the Model T was first announced, you could have built the organizations that...
10 months ago
If you were around when the Model T was first announced, you could have built the organizations that became Disney, McDonald’s and Holiday Inn, all of which were powered by cheap, plentiful cars. You could have become a major developer of suburbs, mortgage banking and even pop...
Seth's Blog
ChatGPT is dumber than it looks
That’s not true for a screwdriver. Or a table saw or even a spatula. These are useful tools, but...
8 months ago
That’s not true for a screwdriver. Or a table saw or even a spatula. These are useful tools, but they don’t pretend to be well-informed or wise. They’re dumb, and they look dumb too. That’s one reason that tools are effective. We use them to leverage our effort, but we don’t...
Seth's Blog
Mediocre tools
Lousy tools are dangerous. They endanger our safety (physical or emotional) and undermine our work....
yesterday
Lousy tools are dangerous. They endanger our safety (physical or emotional) and undermine our work. Lousy tools are pretty easy to avoid, because they reveal themselves whenever we use them. Great tools are magical. They multiply our effort, amplify the quality of our work and...
Seth's Blog
On the dot
Hardy came home from school and proudly showed his mom the cheap plastic trinkets he had earned that...
a year ago
Hardy came home from school and proudly showed his mom the cheap plastic trinkets he had earned that day. “I stood quietly on the dot and so I got some tickets. And if I stand on the dot quietly tomorrow, I can get some more prizes!” First grade! That’s one way to indoctrinate...
Seth's Blog
Living in the future
In a bad 1950s science fiction movie, you might see flying jetpacks, invisibility cloaks and ray...
4 months ago
In a bad 1950s science fiction movie, you might see flying jetpacks, invisibility cloaks and ray guns. What we got instead is a device that fits in our pocket. It allows us to connect to more than a billion people. It knows where we are and where we’re going. It has all of our...
On the Arts
Winter as Reading Season
David Foster Wallace on the necessity of quiet time in order to read.
a year ago
David Foster Wallace on the necessity of quiet time in order to read.
Open Culture
The Isolated Bass Grooves of The Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh (RIP)
This past Friday, the bassist of The Grateful Dead, Phil Lesh, passed away at age 84. Almost...
a month ago
This past Friday, the bassist of The Grateful Dead, Phil Lesh, passed away at age 84. Almost immediately the tributes poured in, most recognizing that Lesh wasn’t your ordinary bassist. As Jon Pareles wrote in the New York Times, Phil Lesh held songs “aloft.” His “bass lines...
Seth's Blog
Finding agency
The first few moves of a chess game give the player almost unlimited freedom. There are countless...
a year ago
The first few moves of a chess game give the player almost unlimited freedom. There are countless legal moves, and nothing to constrain the choices that a player makes among them. But as we add leverage to our culture and our organizations, the choices aren’t as easy. Jerry...
Seth's Blog
Who do you want to become?
Emotional enrollment is at the heart of performance, learning and connection. A coach can quickly...
2 months ago
Emotional enrollment is at the heart of performance, learning and connection. A coach can quickly tell when someone is committed to changing their approach in order to change the outcome–it’s easy to tell this person apart from someone who simply wants what they’re already doing...
Seth's Blog
What do we do with our chance?
Everyone needs more chances, more benefit of the doubt, more opportunity. But what turns a chance...
6 days ago
Everyone needs more chances, more benefit of the doubt, more opportunity. But what turns a chance into a big break is what we do with it once the chance arrives.
Seth's Blog
Everything costs
But not all costs are the same. There are three kinds of costs that people get confused about, but...
2 months ago
But not all costs are the same. There are three kinds of costs that people get confused about, but understanding them, really understanding them–in your bones–unlocks opportunity. Opportunity cost: If you eat the cupcakes, you can’t also eat the brownies. Every time we choose to...
Open Culture
The Night When Luciano Pavarotti & James Brown Sang “It’s a Man’s World” Together (2002)
Luciano Pavarotti and James Brown are remembered as larger-than-life performers with an almost...
2 months ago
Luciano Pavarotti and James Brown are remembered as larger-than-life performers with an almost mythical-seeming presence and distinctiveness. But it wasn’t so very long ago that both of them were active — and even active onstage together. In the video above, the King of the High...
Open Culture
Soviet Inventor Léon Theremin Shows Off the Theremin, the Early Electronic Instrument That Could Be...
You know the sound of the theremin, that weird, warbly whine that signals mystery, danger, and...
4 months ago
You know the sound of the theremin, that weird, warbly whine that signals mystery, danger, and otherworldly portent in many classic sci-fi films. It has the distinction of being not only the very first electronic instrument but also the only instrument in history one plays...
Open Culture
George Harrison Explains Why Everyone Should Play the Ukulele
George Harrison loved the ukulele, and really, what’s not to love? For its dainty size, the uke can...
2 months ago
George Harrison loved the ukulele, and really, what’s not to love? For its dainty size, the uke can make a powerfully cheerful sound, and it’s an instrument both beginners and expert players can learn and easily carry around. As Harrison’s old friend Joe Brown remarked, “You can...
escape the algorithm
I did retail theft at an Apple Store
I hope Jane Appleseed is okay
6 months ago
I hope Jane Appleseed is okay
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...
5 months 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
The Strategy Questions
My new book (out today) contains more than 500 questions. Here are some to get you started:
2 months ago
My new book (out today) contains more than 500 questions. Here are some to get you started:
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Chris Long
My name is Chris and I am an artist, printmaker, composer and teacher. I studied fine art and music...
over a year ago
My name is Chris and I am an artist, printmaker, composer and teacher. I studied fine art and music at the University of Liverpool, a Masters in musical composition at Newcastle University and I completed my PhD at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. I have recently returned to...
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...
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
The long walk
Before buying a house, it makes sense to spend a day on foot, walking around the neighborhood....
3 weeks ago
Before buying a house, it makes sense to spend a day on foot, walking around the neighborhood. You’ll notice things you might have missed in a car. Before starting a business, spend a few shifts working the cash register at a similar establishment. And before going into...
Infinite Scroll
On Consumption vs Production
How to improve yourself and be happier, online or offline
a month ago
How to improve yourself and be happier, online or offline
Seth's Blog
Bye now
The difference between ‘buy now’ and ‘bye now’ is very thin. Sometimes, when we push very hard for a...
3 months ago
The difference between ‘buy now’ and ‘bye now’ is very thin. Sometimes, when we push very hard for a commitment, we break the trust we’ve earned. For a while, you might not notice the broken trust, because we’re encouraged to keep pushing, treating every individual as a walking...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Suckered Yet Again
Influencer boxing, BlueSky winning, and incredible calendar confessions
a month ago
Influencer boxing, BlueSky winning, and incredible calendar confessions
Seth's Blog
The explosion
We spend much of our worrying time on crises. Our media is filled with warnings, coverage and fear...
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,...
Seth's Blog
Vocal fatigue
Most of us talk, some of us do it for a living. When your voice is on the fritz, it can affect your...
3 months ago
Most of us talk, some of us do it for a living. When your voice is on the fritz, it can affect your entire body as well as the way you approach your day. I’ve read all 25+ of my audiobooks myself, and I used to be able to complete each one in a day […]
Open Culture
Ray Bradbury Wrote the First Draft of Fahrenheit 451 on Coin-Operated Typewriters, for a Total of...
Image by Alan Light, via Wikimedia Commons It sounds like a third grade math problem: “If Ray...
6 months ago
Image by Alan Light, via Wikimedia Commons It sounds like a third grade math problem: “If Ray Bradbury wrote the first draft of Fahrenheit 451 (1953) on a coin-operated typewriter that charged 10 cents for every 30 minutes, and he spent a total of $9.80, how many hours did it...
Seth's Blog
Silence vs noise
When a group comes together, noise is easy. Just a few people have to make a commotion for noise to...
4 months ago
When a group comes together, noise is easy. Just a few people have to make a commotion for noise to happen. But silence requires everyone to be in sync.
Open Culture
The Evolution of Hokusai’s Great Wave: A Study of 113 Known Copies of the Iconic Woodblock Print
The most widely known work by the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Japanese artist Hokusai,...
6 months ago
The most widely known work by the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Japanese artist Hokusai, 神奈川沖浪裏, is usually translated into English as The Great Wave off Kanagawa. That version of the title reflects the iconic scene depicted in the image well enough, though I can’t help but...
Seth's Blog
“Let’s face it”
In 1959, three years after Columbia Records spent a fortune rolling out stereo recording, a senior...
12 months 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...
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...
10 months 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...
Open Culture
A Short Visual History of America, According to the Irreverent Comic Artist R. Crumb
As a founder of the “underground comix” movement in the 1960s, R. Crumb is either revered as a...
a month ago
As a founder of the “underground comix” movement in the 1960s, R. Crumb is either revered as a pioneering satirist of American culture and its excesses or reviled as a juvenile purveyor of painfully outmoded sexist and racist stereotypes. Crumb doesn’t apologize. He keeps...
Seth's Blog
Non-fatal errors
Most of our errors are in this category. Yesterday, The New York Times sent this newsletter to a...
8 months 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...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: MrBeast Games The System
Plus! A Momfluencer Horror Story and an Important Orca Update
2 weeks ago
Plus! A Momfluencer Horror Story and an Important Orca Update
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...
5 months 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
Updating our stuck interactions
There are few sitcoms, thrillers or plays where the plot can tolerate the addition of a cell phone....
8 months ago
There are few sitcoms, thrillers or plays where the plot can tolerate the addition of a cell phone. Once the characters have the ability to connect and clear up misunderstandings at will, a lot of tension disappears. If Juliet had had a smartphone, she and Romeo would have ended...
Open Culture
How Choose Your Own Adventure Books Became Beloved Among Generations of Readers
We’ve all read plenty of literature written in the first person, and plenty of literature written in...
5 months ago
We’ve all read plenty of literature written in the first person, and plenty of literature written in the third person. The second person, with its main subject of neither “I” nor “he” or “she” but “you,” is considerably harder to come by, and the writers who take it up tend to be...
Seth's Blog
Comfortable with the fuzziness
Atmospheric conditions on Earth limit visibility on a perfect day to less than 200 miles. Time works...
4 weeks ago
Atmospheric conditions on Earth limit visibility on a perfect day to less than 200 miles. Time works the same way. When we’re doing the same thing, in the same way, our perception of what will happen next can feel crystal clear. Plant some apple seeds in your backyard, and you’re...
Seth's Blog
Who pays?
Supply and demand are always in a dance, with one outpacing the other from time to time. In the last...
11 months ago
Supply and demand are always in a dance, with one outpacing the other from time to time. In the last three years, the green tech revolution has accelerated dramatically. Countless companies are being created to change how food is grown, people are transported and energy is...
Seth's Blog
Manipulation, indoctrination and addiction
They’re often related. It’s not unusual for someone to have more experience or knowledge than we do....
7 months ago
They’re often related. It’s not unusual for someone to have more experience or knowledge than we do. If they use that knowledge to their benefit, not ours, they might be manipulating us. If we knew what they knew, we wouldn’t have gone along. This is the difference between a...
Seth's Blog
Ice sculpture
There are very few activities that are fully reversible. Ice sculpture might be one of them. Once...
a month ago
There are very few activities that are fully reversible. Ice sculpture might be one of them. Once the ice melts, all the effort and information is lost, and refreezing lets you begin again with a new, fresh block of ice. Of course, it’s not completely gone. The thing you made...
Seth's Blog
The right marketing question
The wrong question is, “our project isn’t catching on, how do we promote it better?” The right...
a year ago
The wrong question is, “our project isn’t catching on, how do we promote it better?” The right question is a little more nuanced and far more important, “We’re seeking to make a change in part of the world. How do we find the right people and tell them the right (true) story that...
Seth's Blog
The convenience fee
Sometimes it’s obvious, like the $1 that you get charged for using an ATM or a credit card, and it’s...
a year ago
Sometimes it’s obvious, like the $1 that you get charged for using an ATM or a credit card, and it’s simply not worth the hassle to walk a few blocks. And sometimes it’s not, like the cost we all pay for the conveniently wrapped fruits or vegetables at the market–wrapped in...
Blog - Amy Goodchild
Emergence and Generative Art
Sometimes, a system is more than the sum of its parts. Simple rules can
lead to complex and...
over a year ago
Sometimes, a system is more than the sum of its parts. Simple rules can
lead to complex and surprising phenomena. This is emergence.
Seth's Blog
The head of marketing
It’s easy to be confused about this job, because it’s not one job, it’s at least three. This is why...
a year ago
It’s easy to be confused about this job, because it’s not one job, it’s at least three. This is why it’s a difficult job to fill, and why turnover is so high–we’re not allocating resources or setting expectations in a way that matches the work to be done. Marketing strategy: This...
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...
3 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
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...
2 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...
Seth's Blog
Different kinds of people
It’s a tempting shortcut. Different kinds of people prefer pop tarts to pizza, or prefer expensive...
a year ago
It’s a tempting shortcut. Different kinds of people prefer pop tarts to pizza, or prefer expensive wine to beer, or prefer amusement parks to bowling. Except everyone is the same and everyone is different. What’s actually useful is to realize that in this moment, under these...
Seth's Blog
Useful assumptions for teachers
Not simply in the classroom, but anywhere we hope to inform, inspire or educate: Assume enrollment....
a year ago
Not simply in the classroom, but anywhere we hope to inform, inspire or educate: Assume enrollment. Either someone is committed to learning or they’re not. While many situations place people into a spot where they are compelled to show up (exhibit A: learning arithmetic in grade...
Anarchy Unfolds
April '24 Myths & Recs
Sexual orientation, Cowboy Carter, mental health recovery, and more
7 months ago
Sexual orientation, Cowboy Carter, mental health recovery, and more
Open Culture
What Is Religion Actually For?: Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury Weigh In
In the nineteen-sixties, the music media encouraged the notion that a young rock-and-roll fan had to...
7 months ago
In the nineteen-sixties, the music media encouraged the notion that a young rock-and-roll fan had to side with either the Beatles or their rivals, the Rolling Stones. On some level, it must have made sense, given the growing aesthetic divide between the music the two world-famous...
Open Culture
What Victorian People Sounded Like: Hear Recordings of Florence Nightingale & Queen Victoria Herself
More than 120 years after the end of the Victorian era, we might assume that we retain a more or...
a month ago
More than 120 years after the end of the Victorian era, we might assume that we retain a more or less accurate cultural memory of the Victorians themselves: of their social mores, their aesthetic sensibilities, their ambitions great and small, their many and varied hang-ups. Some...
Seth's Blog
Population and big innovations
It’s tempting to embrace the meme that the best way for humans to solve the big problems in front of...
a year ago
It’s tempting to embrace the meme that the best way for humans to solve the big problems in front of us is to increase the population, perhaps dramatically. The thinking goes that people are the ones who can solve problems, and more people give us more problem-solvers. This...
Seth's Blog
What’s new at purple.space?
There are now 1,000 of us in this online community that’s not a social network. Proudly a millionth...
a year ago
There are now 1,000 of us in this online community that’s not a social network. Proudly a millionth the size of some other online experiences. It includes the original Creative’s Workshop, with hundreds of people working through it, side by side. And just added, access to the...
Open Culture
Simone de Beauvoir Explains “Why I’m a Feminist” in a Rare TV Interview (1975)
In Simone de Beauvoir’s 1945 novel The Blood of Others, the narrator, Jean Blomart, reports on his...
5 months ago
In Simone de Beauvoir’s 1945 novel The Blood of Others, the narrator, Jean Blomart, reports on his childhood friend Marcel’s reaction to the word “revolution”: It was senseless to try to change anything in the world or in life; things were bad enough even if one did not meddle...
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...
3 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
If they know, they should tell us
Asymmetrical information creates real problems. And fixing the flow of useful proxies benefits both...
5 days ago
Asymmetrical information creates real problems. And fixing the flow of useful proxies benefits both sides. Cigarette companies knew a great deal about the addictions they were causing and the illnesses that resulted. If the public had known, they would have made different...
Open Culture
What It Takes to Pass “the Knowledge,” the “Insanely Hard” Exam to Become a London Taxicab Driver
Anyone who’s followed the late Michael Apted’s Up documentaries knows that becoming a London cab...
4 months ago
Anyone who’s followed the late Michael Apted’s Up documentaries knows that becoming a London cab driver is no mean feat. Tony Walker, one of the series’ most memorable participants, was selected at the age of seven from an East End primary school, already distinguished as a...
Open Culture
Behold the Codex Gigas (aka “Devil’s Bible”), the Largest Medieval Manuscript in the World
Bargain with the devil and you may wind up with a golden fiddle, supernatural guitar-playing...
6 months ago
Bargain with the devil and you may wind up with a golden fiddle, supernatural guitar-playing ability, or a room full of gleaming alchemized straw. Whoops, we misattributed that last one. It’s actually Rumpelstiltskin’s doing, but the by-morning-or-else deadline that drives the...
Open Culture
How Man Ray Reinvented Himself & Created One of the Most Iconic Works of Surrealist Photography
It would surprise none of us to encounter a young artist looking to cast off his past and make his...
2 months ago
It would surprise none of us to encounter a young artist looking to cast off his past and make his mark on the culture in a place like Williamsburg. But in the case of Man Ray, Williamsburg was his past. One must remember that the Brooklyn of today bears little resemblance to the...
Seth's Blog
Pique-a-boo
Marketers seek to make an impact, and that takes interest. Three ways to spell the key word: Peak...
a year ago
Marketers seek to make an impact, and that takes interest. Three ways to spell the key word: Peak interest can’t get any higher. It never happens at launch. It’s the result of cultural change and an idea moving through the population. Peek interest happens when there’s scarcity...
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...
5 months 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
Invite: Behind-the-scenes webinar for the new book
In two weeks, I’ll be hosting a live webinar about my new book, answering questions and connecting...
a year ago
In two weeks, I’ll be hosting a live webinar about my new book, answering questions and connecting people to get serious in discussing the new way of work. The details are here. I hope you can make it. It’s possible that I’ve now written more bestselling business titles than any...
Seth's Blog
The positive auction
In 2023, I developed a new idea that transforms an old way of doing commerce. In traditional...
9 months ago
In 2023, I developed a new idea that transforms an old way of doing commerce. In traditional auctions, there are rounds of bidding and the high bidder pays to get the prize. The last bid is the amount paid, and no one else is charged anything. This is an interesting ‘game’ in...
Open Culture
Solving a 2,500-Year-Old Puzzle: How a Cambridge Student Cracked an Ancient Sanskrit Code
If you find yourself grappling with an intellectual problem that’s gone unsolved for millennia, try...
3 months ago
If you find yourself grappling with an intellectual problem that’s gone unsolved for millennia, try taking a few months off and spending them on activities like swimming and meditating. That very strategy worked for a Cambridge PhD student named Rishi Rajpopat, who, after a...
Open Culture
The Greatest Shot in Television: Science Historian James Burke Had One Chance to Nail This Scene …...
The 80-second clip above captures a rocket launch, something of which we’ve all seen footage at one...
2 months ago
The 80-second clip above captures a rocket launch, something of which we’ve all seen footage at one time or another. What makes its viewers call it “the greatest shot in television” still today, 45 years after it first aired, may take more than one viewing to notice. In it,...
Open Culture
Bertrand Russell’s 10 Commandments for Living in a Healthy Democracy
Image by J. F. Horrabin, via Wikimedia Commons Bertrand Russell saw the history of civilization as...
a month ago
Image by J. F. Horrabin, via Wikimedia Commons Bertrand Russell saw the history of civilization as being shaped by an unfortunate oscillation between two opposing evils: tyranny and anarchy, each of which contains the seed of the other. The best course for steering clear of...
Seth's Blog
To be well published
Sooner or later, we benefit from being well-published. Publishing has nothing to do with printing....
10 months ago
Sooner or later, we benefit from being well-published. Publishing has nothing to do with printing. It’s the act of taking risks to bring a new idea to people who want to embrace it. It’s the head of the lab who works behind the scenes to be sure the talented scientist gets a gig...
Open Culture
James Earl Jones (RIP) Reads Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” and Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”
Note: With the sad passing of James Earl Jones, at age 93, we’re bringing back a post from our...
3 months ago
Note: With the sad passing of James Earl Jones, at age 93, we’re bringing back a post from our archive–one featuring Jones reading two great American poets, Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman. These readings first appeared on our site in 2014. For all its many flaws the original...
Open Culture
The Long Game of Creativity: If You Haven’t Created a Masterpiece at 30, You’re Not a Failure
Orson Welles directed the greatest movie ever made, Citizen Kane, at age 25, with only a limited...
4 months ago
Orson Welles directed the greatest movie ever made, Citizen Kane, at age 25, with only a limited knowledge of the medium. When Paul McCartney was 25, he, along with his fellow Beatles, released the era-defining album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. By age 29, Pablo Picasso...
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
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...
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...
9 months 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...
Seth's Blog
Judgment
AI pushes us to do what we actually get paid to do: make decisions. Craft used to drive our hours or...
a year ago
AI pushes us to do what we actually get paid to do: make decisions. Craft used to drive our hours or even days. Get the pen lines just right. Source the Letraset. Get your instrument in tune. Sweat the details, because the details are everything. Now, I can choose from 1,000...
Open Culture
Honoré de Balzac Writes About “The Pleasures and Pains of Coffee,” and His Epic Coffee Addiction
174 years after his death, Honoré de Balzac remains an extremely modern-sounding wag. Were he alive...
5 months ago
174 years after his death, Honoré de Balzac remains an extremely modern-sounding wag. Were he alive today, he’d no doubt be pounding out his provocative observations in a coffice, a café whose free wifi, lenient staff, and abundant electrical outlets make it a magnet for writers....
Seth's Blog
The question book
In the old days, companies had a suggestion box. It was immortalized in cartoons, but the idea that...
9 months ago
In the old days, companies had a suggestion box. It was immortalized in cartoons, but the idea that an employee could anonymously submit a suggestion to make things better is a first step in engagement. Some companies took this much further and paid employees for suggestions that...
Open Culture
The Brilliant Engineering That Made Venice: How a City Was Built on Water
Many of us have put off a visit to Venice for fear of the hordes of tourists who roam its streets...
4 months ago
Many of us have put off a visit to Venice for fear of the hordes of tourists who roam its streets and boat down its canals day in and day out. To judge by the most visible of its economic activity, the once-mighty city-state now exists almost solely as an Instagramming...
Seth's Blog
Lost on purpose
…of course, if you’re lost on purpose, you’re not lost. Lost is only possible if you are fixed on...
a year ago
…of course, if you’re lost on purpose, you’re not lost. Lost is only possible if you are fixed on getting somewhere specific.
Seth's Blog
The broomstick objection
Every founder, leader, sales rep and person on a dating app has heard this. Why did the Wizard ask...
2 months ago
Every founder, leader, sales rep and person on a dating app has heard this. Why did the Wizard ask Dorothy to bring him the broomstick of the Wicked Witch? It’s not because he needed a broomstick. It’s because he wanted Dorothy to go away. If you send someone away to get...
Seth's Blog
“I’ve never seen you paint”
… said the collector to the painter Jasper Johns. “Neither have I.” Watching is different than...
10 months ago
… said the collector to the painter Jasper Johns. “Neither have I.” Watching is different than doing. Trying to do both at the same time is a challenge.
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Gemma Berenguer (Monostereo)
My name is Gemma Berenguer and I'm from Barcelona. I'm a printmaker specialising in screen printing,...
3 months ago
My name is Gemma Berenguer and I'm from Barcelona. I'm a printmaker specialising in screen printing, although I also dabble in etching and block printing as well. I run Monostereo, a screen printing company in Barcelona, which has been operating for 15 years now.
I first...
Seth's Blog
But what if we’re wrong?
Of course, we think we’re right. That’s why we’re sharing our opinion. But when there’s a...
a year ago
Of course, we think we’re right. That’s why we’re sharing our opinion. But when there’s a disagreement, or we’re predicting the future, it’s likely that someone will turn out to be incorrect. Sometimes, being wrong is a minor embarrassment, with very little real cost. And...
Seth's Blog
Spines out
I lost a cookbook the other day. After twenty more minutes of searching, there it was, right on the...
a year ago
I lost a cookbook the other day. After twenty more minutes of searching, there it was, right on the cookbook shelf. But the spine was much more subtle than the cover, and it hadn’t been what I was looking for or expecting. We spend a lot of time on our (metaphorical) book covers....
Seth's Blog
Phrenology
For thousands of years, and as recently as the 1930s, phrenology was seen as a useful proxy to judge...
6 months ago
For thousands of years, and as recently as the 1930s, phrenology was seen as a useful proxy to judge someone’s character. Carefully charting the bumps on someone’s head, along with the slope of their forehead and other telltale signs was seen as a thoughtful and proven way to...
Open Culture
Moebius Gives 18 Wisdom-Filled Tips to Aspiring Artists
Jean Giraud, aka Moebius, was a comic book artist who combined blinding speed with boundless...
3 months ago
Jean Giraud, aka Moebius, was a comic book artist who combined blinding speed with boundless imagination. He shaped the look of Alien, Empire Strikes Back and The Fifth Element. He reimagined the Silver Surfer for Stan Lee. And he is an acknowledged influence on everyone from...
Seth's Blog
Looking for a handle
What if your boots don’t have any straps? Bootstrapping is logically impossible. You can’t pick...
11 months 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...
Seth's Blog
Projects and the red zone
Many projects are never finished. There are countless broken and not-quite-fixed cars in garages....
a year ago
Many projects are never finished. There are countless broken and not-quite-fixed cars in garages. There are crafts projects, massive redevelopments and everything in between. They sit unfinished because of bad planning, lack of resources, and most of all, a lack of resolve and...
Seth's Blog
The new reality of old media
Cable TV was a perfect storm. The number of channels that needed old movies and TV series to fill...
5 months ago
Cable TV was a perfect storm. The number of channels that needed old movies and TV series to fill airtime almost exactly matched the number of worthwhile shows that were available. Which meant that A Wonderful Life, The Wizard of Oz, Seinfeld and MASH could be cornerstones of the...
Seth's Blog
ChatGPT for you
AI is a mystery. To many, it’s a threat. It turns out that understanding a mystery not only makes it...
a year ago
AI is a mystery. To many, it’s a threat. It turns out that understanding a mystery not only makes it feel less like a threat, it gives us the confidence to make it into something better. I use ChatGPT4 just about every day, and I’m often surprised at how frequently it surprises...
Open Culture
The Big Map of Who Lived When Shows Which Cultural Figures Walked the Earth at the Same Time: From...
We could call the time in which we live the “Information Age.” Or we could describe it more vividly...
3 months ago
We could call the time in which we live the “Information Age.” Or we could describe it more vividly as the era of Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart, Beyoncé and Bob Dylan. Whatever you think of the work of any of...
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...
4 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...
Seth's Blog
Communications hygiene (and the demise of texting)
Attention is scarce. Decisions are difficult. Searching takes effort. For thirty years, texting has...
11 months 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...
On the Arts
How to Write a Proper Haiku
A Starter's Guide to the Deceptively Simple Poetic Form
a year ago
A Starter's Guide to the Deceptively Simple Poetic Form
Seth's Blog
The 500 ways
There are thousands of ways to express encouragement and enthusiasm and support. Few of them require...
a year ago
There are thousands of ways to express encouragement and enthusiasm and support. Few of them require a blood oath or even much inconvenience. “I’m thrilled that you’re contributing.” “Can’t wait to see how this turns out.” “I know someone who really needs to hear about this.” “Go...
Open Culture
2000-Year-Old Bottle of White Wine Found in a Roman Burial Site
Image via Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports Back in 2017, we featured the oldest unopened...
5 months ago
Image via Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports Back in 2017, we featured the oldest unopened bottle of wine in the world here on Open Culture. Found in Speyer, Germany, in 1867, it dates from 350 AD, making it a venerable vintage indeed, but one recently outdone by a bottle...
Open Culture
The Most Iconic Hip-Hop Sample of Every Year (1973–2023)
Hip-hop was once a subculture, but by now it’s long since been one of the unquestionably dominant...
3 weeks ago
Hip-hop was once a subculture, but by now it’s long since been one of the unquestionably dominant forms of popular music — not just in America, and not just among young people. There are, of course, still a fair few hip-hop holdouts, but even they’ve come to know a thing or two...
Seth's Blog
Inconvenient!
That’s great news. The thing you need, the road ahead, the element that will transform your...
a year ago
That’s great news. The thing you need, the road ahead, the element that will transform your project–it appears to be inconvenient. That’s terrific, because it means that most other people can’t be bothered. It’s valuable because the very inconvenience of it makes it scarce. The...
Seth's Blog
Foibles
Our habits, preferences and idiosyncrasies make perfect sense. We each know that we have great...
a year ago
Our habits, preferences and idiosyncrasies make perfect sense. We each know that we have great reasons to embrace our ways and stick with them. Other people’s habits, though, show that they are simply picky, weird or too sensitive. The difference between a preference and a foible...
Open Culture
Hannah Arendt Explains the Rise of Totalitarian Regimes–and the Strategies Needed to Combat Them
“Adolf Eichmann went to the gallows with great dignity,” wrote the political philosopher Hannah...
7 months ago
“Adolf Eichmann went to the gallows with great dignity,” wrote the political philosopher Hannah Arendt, describing the scene leading up to the prominent Holocaust-organizer’s execution. After drinking half a bottle of wine, turning down the offer of religious assistance, and even...
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
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
Checking the date
After 2022, it’s hard to tell for sure. And going forward, public life is going to be even more...
a year ago
After 2022, it’s hard to tell for sure. And going forward, public life is going to be even more rumor-driven than it is now. Any video, any voiceover, any photograph–we can’t be sure. If YouTube or the Wayback Machine shows us that it happened after 2022, bring some doubt. AI and...
On the Arts
The Paradox of the Garden of Eden
An Interview with Professor David Fenner
a year ago
An Interview with Professor David Fenner
Infinite Scroll
Worst Tweets of 2024 - Dishonorable Mentions
All of the most horrifying posts on Twitter that didn't make the final bracket
5 days ago
All of the most horrifying posts on Twitter that didn't make the final bracket
Seth's Blog
Change your shoes
Like all good metaphors, it might be practical too. Your ‘shoes’ are the point of greatest leverage....
a week 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
Avoiding technology
Robert Caro never learned to type. He pecks out his books two fingers at a time on an electric...
11 months ago
Robert Caro never learned to type. He pecks out his books two fingers at a time on an electric typewriter. There are two reasons to avoid learning a proven new technology: You know what it can do and how it will change your life and you don’t want it. You don’t know what it can...
Open Culture
Google Creates a Career Certificate That Prepares Students for Cybersecurity Jobs in 6 Months
In 2023, Google launched several online certificate programs designed to help students land an...
a month ago
In 2023, Google launched several online certificate programs designed to help students land an entry-level job, without necessarily having a college degree. This includes a certificate program focused on Cybersecurity, a field that stands poised to grow as companies become more...
escape the algorithm
Close reading the trees
How competitive Google Street Viewing makes the world feel seen
10 months ago
How competitive Google Street Viewing makes the world feel seen
Seth's Blog
Raising the bar
That’s not the same as raising the average. With the advent of the high jump, the idiom raising the...
a year ago
That’s not the same as raising the average. With the advent of the high jump, the idiom raising the bar became well understood: If you can’t jump over the bar that the current leader cleared, you don’t win. But most of the innovations that change our culture don’t actually...
Seth's Blog
Putting up the big numbers
Some people go to the gym for health and energy. Some go to lift more weight than they did yesterday...
8 months ago
Some people go to the gym for health and energy. Some go to lift more weight than they did yesterday (or more than the person next to them). You can start a company to make an impact and surround yourself with people on a similar journey, or you can seek to maximize the stock...
Seth's Blog
Later or now?
When we feel like doing something selfish, indulgent, hurtful or short-term, we can simply decide to...
9 months ago
When we feel like doing something selfish, indulgent, hurtful or short-term, we can simply decide to do it later. And when it occurs to us that we might be able to make a useful contribution or do something important, perhaps we could do it now.
Seth's Blog
“But what if it doesn’t work?”
The best way to win a short-term game is to bet it all on one strategy. Someone is going to get...
a year ago
The best way to win a short-term game is to bet it all on one strategy. Someone is going to get lucky and it might be you. But we rarely thrive in the long run if we persist in playing a series of short-term games. Instead, organizations, individuals and teams do better when they...
Seth's Blog
Getting it right the first time
How unlikely is this? The artist who paints a masterpiece, from scratch, without hesitation. The...
a year ago
How unlikely is this? The artist who paints a masterpiece, from scratch, without hesitation. The playwright who doesn’t need a workshop or a reading. The architect who designs a food hall that has a layout and vibe that works without one alteration… Evolution is powerful. It...
Open Culture
The First “Selfie” In History Taken by Robert Cornelius, a Philadelphia Chemist, in 1839
In 2013, the Oxford Dictionaries announced that “selfie” had been deemed their Word of The Year. The...
4 months ago
In 2013, the Oxford Dictionaries announced that “selfie” had been deemed their Word of The Year. The term, whose first recorded use as an Instagram hashtag occurred on January 27, 2011, was actually invented in 2002, when an Australian chap posted a picture of himself on an...
Seth's Blog
Rewrite for humans
My building had an elevator problem. The management company sent everyone this note: Please be...
12 months ago
My building had an elevator problem. The management company sent everyone this note: Please be advised we have been experiencing intermittent issues with the elevator. Our priority is your safety, and we are taking immediate action to address the situation. After a thorough...
Seth's Blog
Mediocrity and perfectionism
It’s surprising to realize that they’re the same. They are both places to hide. When we ship average...
4 months ago
It’s surprising to realize that they’re the same. They are both places to hide. When we ship average work, it’s not our fault. We’re simply doing what the manual says, and if you don’t like it, blame the culture and the system. And when we hold back on shipping because it isn’t...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Michelle Hughes
I’m a printmaker and illustrator, living in York, North Yorkshire. I create limited edition linocut...
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...
Prolost
Apple’s “Let Loose” iPad Event was Shot on iPhone — With Panavision Lenses
Still from Apple’s “Let Loose” video.
Apple unveiled their new line of iPads yesterday in a...
7 months ago
Still from Apple’s “Let Loose” video.
Apple unveiled their new line of iPads yesterday in a pre-recorded video titled “Let Loose.” As with the previous “Scary Fast” MacBook Pro launch video, “Let Loose” ends with a tag proclaiming “Shot on iPhone” — this time adding “Edited on...
Open Culture
Oh My God! Winston Churchill Received the First Ever Letter Containing “O.M.G.” (1917)
Winston Churchill is one of those preposterously outsized historical figures who seemed to be in the...
6 months ago
Winston Churchill is one of those preposterously outsized historical figures who seemed to be in the middle of every major event. Even before, as Prime Minister, he steeled the resolve of his people and faced down the Third Reich juggernaut; even before he loudly warned of the...
Seth's Blog
Password stupidity is no longer viable
[Of course, it’s not stupidity. It’s fear and superstition, which often go together. First, the...
a year ago
[Of course, it’s not stupidity. It’s fear and superstition, which often go together. First, the rant.] It’s 2023. Major corporations should not be posting rules like this: This is not just security theatre. It’s a waste of time, the math makes no sense and it leads people to...
Seth's Blog
The Santa problem
An echo chamber is created by a marketer to assemble a group of people who are insulated from...
a year ago
An echo chamber is created by a marketer to assemble a group of people who are insulated from conventional discourse. It can happen to sports and music fans, to investors, to companies that have confidence in their view of the world, or to social or political gatherings. We...
Open Culture
J. G. Ballard Demystifies Surrealist Paintings by Dalí, Magritte, de Chirico & More
Before his signature works like The Atrocity Exhibition, Crash, and High-Rise, J. G. Ballard...
4 months ago
Before his signature works like The Atrocity Exhibition, Crash, and High-Rise, J. G. Ballard published three apocalyptic novels, The Drowned World, The Burning World, and The Crystal World. Each of those books offers a different vision of large-scale environmental disaster, and...
Blog - Amy Goodchild
Coding my Handwriting
Coding my handwriting in Javascript - how I did it and what I’m doing with
it.
7 months ago
Coding my handwriting in Javascript - how I did it and what I’m doing with
it.
Anarchy Unfolds
Pride, noise, and fear
Sleep deprivation is a social justice and public health issue
3 months ago
Sleep deprivation is a social justice and public health issue
Seth's Blog
Evenly distributed
For the first time, the only time, everyone on Earth was in the same boat at the same time. We’ve...
a year ago
For the first time, the only time, everyone on Earth was in the same boat at the same time. We’ve long been divided by privilege, by caste, by accidents of birth or by organized hierarchies. Sure, there have been events that struck us all at once. Landing on the moon caused us...
Seth's Blog
Infamy
We’ve gotten so hung up on famous that it’s easy to forget that there are two kinds of renown. Being...
4 months ago
We’ve gotten so hung up on famous that it’s easy to forget that there are two kinds of renown. Being known for lowering the standards of discourse, cheating, or whining is a choice, but why would you trade your reputation to become infamous?
Prolost
Jurassic Punk
If you’re reading this blog, you probably know the story — at least, you think you do. As Steven...
over a year ago
If you’re reading this blog, you probably know the story — at least, you think you do. As Steven Spielberg began production on 1993’s Jurassic Park, he and Industrial Light and Magic’s Dennis Muren planned to execute the all-important visual effects component of the film’s...
Seth's Blog
What sort of bicycle?
While it’s likely that you own a bike, you probably don’t have a front-wheel recumbent bicycle in...
a year ago
While it’s likely that you own a bike, you probably don’t have a front-wheel recumbent bicycle in your garage. Even though it’s more efficient, more comfortable and often faster. How did that happen? In 1933, a twenty-year old speed record was broken by a racer on a recumbent...
Seth's Blog
“What should I do now?”
We’ve forgotten how often society had an answer for that question. Perhaps our shift away from a...
a month ago
We’ve forgotten how often society had an answer for that question. Perhaps our shift away from a dictated answer not only gives us freedom, it also creates ennui and fear. The culture of a generation or two ago told you where to study, what to study, how to cut your hair, what to...
Open Culture
Medievalist Professor Answers Medieval Questions From Twitter: Why Is It called the “Middle” Ages?,...
From Wired comes this: “Professor of English and Medieval Literature Dr. Dorsey Armstrong answers...
6 months ago
From Wired comes this: “Professor of English and Medieval Literature Dr. Dorsey Armstrong answers your questions about the Middle Ages from Twitter. Why is it called the “Middle” Ages? [What did medieval English sound like?] What activities did people do for fun? Why were animals...
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...
2 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...
Seth's Blog
Who owns your words?
There are many ways to ask and answer this question. Authorship used to be rare, but now, all of us...
2 weeks ago
There are many ways to ask and answer this question. Authorship used to be rare, but now, all of us write something. If you’re putting your words on a social media platform, you might be surprised to discover that they could disappear at any moment. Some platforms acknowledge...
Marian's Blog
Uni-Timer
Ich bin seit diesem Semester Student und in der Uni dauern Vorlesungen immer 90 Minuten, von...
over a year ago
Ich bin seit diesem Semester Student und in der Uni dauern Vorlesungen immer 90 Minuten, von “viertel nach” bis “viertel vor”. Da kam mir die Idee, dass man eine Uhr bräuchte, die nicht den Fortschritt der aktuellen Stunde, sondern den der aktuellen Vorlesung zeigt. Dazu habe ich...
Anarchy Unfolds
Queer Folk Don't Need Orientation
How decade-old discourse shows us a way out
2 months ago
How decade-old discourse shows us a way out
Seth's Blog
Deadlines and tailgaters
If the ferry is leaving in fifteen minutes, do you drive faster than normal to get to the dock on...
a year ago
If the ferry is leaving in fifteen minutes, do you drive faster than normal to get to the dock on time? If someone is driving close behind you and pressuring you to turn when you don’t feel safe, are you more likely to go for it? We can do our work as fast as makes […]
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...
3 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
Celebrating the thousand with a special package
[Lots of links in this post… US offer is here, international is here.] Ideas travel horizontally....
3 months ago
[Lots of links in this post… US offer is here, international is here.] Ideas travel horizontally. Not from the creator to the audience as much as from one person to another. It’s easy to misunderstand the insight of Kevin Kelly’s 1,000 True Fans. Decades ago he argued that the...
Seth's Blog
Valuable contributions
We actually don’t really know. Netflix just released their first-ever detailed analysis of how many...
a year ago
We actually don’t really know. Netflix just released their first-ever detailed analysis of how many hours of engagement the top 15,000+ most watched shows on the network received over a six month period. Here’s the file. Who won? That question is actually the lesson here. The...
Seth's Blog
Kinds of power
There’s the James Bond villian sort of power, based on division, dominance and destruction. This is...
a month 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...
Seth's Blog
On building a cathedral
If you’re in need of a gathering place, a dry, functional, centrally located facility for your folks...
9 months ago
If you’re in need of a gathering place, a dry, functional, centrally located facility for your folks to meet, a cathedral is probably way more than you need. It’s far more expensive to build and maintain and not optimal in delivering what’s required. But what if this building...
Handprinted - Blog
Introduction to Linocut Tools
As printmakers, we know that having good tools can be a game changer when it comes to your...
10 months ago
As printmakers, we know that having good tools can be a game changer when it comes to your printmaking practice. There are lots of lino and wood cutting tools to choose from so read on for a breakdown of the different options available.
All our linocut tools can be found here.
We...
Open Culture
Scientists Discover that Ancient Egyptians Drank Hallucinogenic Cocktails from 2,300 Year-Old Mug
Bes mug by USF Institute for Digital Exploration (IDEx) on Sketchfab If ZZ Top have a favorite...
2 weeks ago
Bes mug by USF Institute for Digital Exploration (IDEx) on Sketchfab If ZZ Top have a favorite ancient Egyptian deity, that deity is surely Bes, whom the New York Times’ Alexander Nazaryan quotes curator and scholar Branko van Oppen de Ruiter as calling “a beer drinker and a...
Open Culture
Carl Jung Psychoanalyzes Hitler: “He’s the Unconscious of 78 Million Germans.” “Without the German...
Were you to google “Carl Jung and Nazism”—and I’m not suggesting that you do—you would find yourself...
a month ago
Were you to google “Carl Jung and Nazism”—and I’m not suggesting that you do—you would find yourself hip-deep in the charges that Jung was an anti-Semite and a Nazi sympathizer. Many sites condemn or exonerate him; many others celebrate him as a blood and soil Aryan hero. It can...
The Last...
No Self-Respecting Woman Would Go Out Without Make Up
For some reason, one of the most emailed articles from the NYT was an article about whether women...
over a year ago
For some reason, one of the most emailed articles from the NYT was an article about whether women should or should not wear make up. "New York Times? Sounds progressive." Yes.
Seven
people were asked their opinion in a column called "Room For Debate,"
liars, there was no...
Open Culture
Watch Hardware Wars, the Original Star Wars Parody, in HD (1978)
This past May, YouTuber Jenny Nicholson set off waves of social-media discourse with “The...
5 months ago
This past May, YouTuber Jenny Nicholson set off waves of social-media discourse with “The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel,” a four-hour-long video critique of Disney’s hugely expensive, now-shuttered Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser in Orlando, Florida. Having gone...
Open Culture
Watch a Japanese Artisan Hand-Craft a Cello in 6 Months
Cellists unwilling to settle for any but the finest instrument must, sooner or later, make a...
5 months ago
Cellists unwilling to settle for any but the finest instrument must, sooner or later, make a pilgrimage to Cremona — or rather, to the Cremonas. One is, of course, the city in Lombardy that was home to numerous pioneering master luthiers, up to and including Antonio Stradivari....
Seth's Blog
Demanding certainty
The defenders of the status quo often demand certainty when facing decisions about the future. It...
8 months ago
The defenders of the status quo often demand certainty when facing decisions about the future. It sets up the conditions for doing nothing, because certainty never happens until the future arrives. It’s much more useful to look at probabilities. Flipping a fair coin has a 50%...
Seth's Blog
Elites (vs. elitism)
Tom Brady is an elite athlete. Few have even approached the stats he had playing football. And...
2 weeks ago
Tom Brady is an elite athlete. Few have even approached the stats he had playing football. And Catherine Walker, NSTA Science Teacher of the Year, is an elite, because her pedagogy and understanding give her the ability to create better outcomes for her students. There’s a...
Open Culture
Hear Edgar Allan Poe Stories Read by Iggy Pop, Jeff Buckley, Christopher Walken, Marianne Faithful &...
In 1849, a little over 175 years ago, Edgar Allan Poe was found dead in a Baltimore gutter under...
6 months ago
In 1849, a little over 175 years ago, Edgar Allan Poe was found dead in a Baltimore gutter under mysterious circumstances very likely related to violent election fraud. It was an ignominious end to a life marked by hardship, alcoholism, and loss. After struggling for years as the...
Blog - Mac Pierce
The Opt-Out Cap, detailed assembly with photos.
How to assemble the Opt-Out Cap, a tool for facial recognition obfuscation.
over a year ago
How to assemble the Opt-Out Cap, a tool for facial recognition obfuscation.
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