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Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Courtney Arnold Hello! I’m Courtney, a printmaker specialising in linocut. I live in a little town on the edge of...
a month ago
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a month ago
Hello! I’m Courtney, a printmaker specialising in linocut. I live in a little town on the edge of Dartmoor, nestled between moorland, farmland and the exquisite River Dart. The wonderful flora and fauna of these rugged and beautiful surroundings is my main inspiration. However,...
Open Culture
David Lynch Releases on YouTube Interview Project: 121 Stories of Real America Recorded on a... Take a sufficiently long road trip across America, and you’re bound to encounter something or...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
Take a sufficiently long road trip across America, and you’re bound to encounter something or someone Lynchian. Whether or not that idea lay behind Interview Project, the undertaking had the endorsement of David Lynch himself. Not coincidentally, it was conceived by his son...
Open Culture
Richard Feynman Creates a Simple Method for Telling Science From Pseudoscience (1966) Photo by Tamiko Thiel via Wikimedia Commons How can we know whether a claim someone makes is...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Photo by Tamiko Thiel via Wikimedia Commons How can we know whether a claim someone makes is scientific or not? The question is of the utmost consequence, as we are surrounded on all sides by claims that sound credible, that use the language of science—and often do so in attempts...
Stat Significant
The Fall and Rise of Nicolas Cage: A Statistical Analysis Nicolas Cage: A Data Story
3 months ago
Handprinted - Blog
Meet The Maker - Rebecca Perdue Hello! I'm Rebecca Perdue. I am a printmaker and artist based in a small garden studio in Wiltshire....
9 months ago
52
9 months ago
Hello! I'm Rebecca Perdue. I am a printmaker and artist based in a small garden studio in Wiltshire. I work primarily in linocut and monoprint, but also paint and make occasional silver jewellery pieces and textiles. I'm very interested in linking work across several...
Seth's Blog
Foundering or floundering? Floundering is flopping around and making little progress. A Dutch word for getting mired and lost....
2 months ago
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2 months ago
Floundering is flopping around and making little progress. A Dutch word for getting mired and lost. Foundering is what we call it when the ship goes down. It’s an ancient French word based on bottom. Too often, in our desperate attempt to not founder, we flounder. Better, I...
Handprinted - Blog
Spooktacular Screen Printing Projects! Get into the spooky spirit with a Halloween screen printing project! Create t-shirts, tote bags, and...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
Get into the spooky spirit with a Halloween screen printing project! Create t-shirts, tote bags, and poster prints that’re hauntingly fun and frightfully easy!   Party Prints - Speedball Night Glo Acrylic Ink on Paper! If you’re a Halloween lover this project is for you! Using...
Seth's Blog
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
11
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 […]
Seth's Blog
PW 3: Errors and productivity If productivity is useful work created by time or money, it’s worth thinking about what we mean by...
11 months ago
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11 months ago
If productivity is useful work created by time or money, it’s worth thinking about what we mean by ‘useful’. There are areas where reliability is crucial. It turns out that building an airplane that works 95% of the time is incredibly easy compared to building one that never...
Seth's Blog
The seduction of “why” It’s classic linkbait. Headlines that explain why something is happening. Questions to AI about why...
a year ago
11
a year ago
It’s classic linkbait. Headlines that explain why something is happening. Questions to AI about why something happens. Even kids, asking their parents. Why is easy to sell. Why is hard to deliver. Consultants make a good living explaining the why. And media companies try to. But...
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
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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
The drift to normal As an organization grows in scale, the idiosyncrasy and distinctiveness that was originally informed...
9 months ago
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9 months ago
As an organization grows in scale, the idiosyncrasy and distinctiveness that was originally informed by the taste of the founders moves toward the mean. Over time, things get more average. That’s because each new customer, each new supplier and each new employee wants or needs...
Seth's Blog
Project resistance In Steven Pressfield’s classic The War of Art, he introduces the idea of Resistance. It’s the...
a year ago
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a year ago
In Steven Pressfield’s classic The War of Art, he introduces the idea of Resistance. It’s the internal force that keeps us from doing our most important creative work. If an instinct, a habit or a feeling gets in the way of the work, it’s Pressfield’s Resistance. Things we would...
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
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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
The empathy of magic Magicians know where the trapdoors are, what’s up their sleeves and how to hide the ball. And yet,...
a year ago
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a year ago
Magicians know where the trapdoors are, what’s up their sleeves and how to hide the ball. And yet, mechanical skill is just the first step in being actually good at magic. The real skill is in finding the empathy to imagine that someone else might believe. To do the trick for...
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
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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
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
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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...
Seth's Blog
Tom Peters Tom announced his retirement today, at 80 years old, after 45 years of Excellence and perhaps...
a year ago
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a year ago
Tom announced his retirement today, at 80 years old, after 45 years of Excellence and perhaps 10,000,000 miles flown. I remember a photo of him sleeping on a bench in an airport in Siberia. I remember him holding my young son just before we went on stage in Florida together...
Seth's Blog
Ideas shared are exponential If everyone visits a factory and takes a sample, it goes out of business. But if everyone in the...
a year ago
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a year ago
If everyone visits a factory and takes a sample, it goes out of business. But if everyone in the community takes an idea, that idea goes up in value. The best marketing advice I have for someone writing a book is simple: Write a book that people want to share with others. And...
Open Culture
How Filmmakers Make Cameras Disappear: Mirrors in Movies If you’ve never tried your hand at filmmaking, you might assume that its hardest visual challenges...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
If you’ve never tried your hand at filmmaking, you might assume that its hardest visual challenges are the creation of effects-laden spectacles: starships duking it out in space, monsters stomping through major cities, animals speaking and dancing like Broadway stars, that sort...
Seth's Blog
What if they’re right? We spend a lot of time in our own heads, certain that our path and our method make sense. We often...
2 weeks ago
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2 weeks ago
We spend a lot of time in our own heads, certain that our path and our method make sense. We often become more certain in the face of criticism or even suggestions. This confidence is essential, as it allows us to lean into our project. Once in a while, though, it might help to...
Seth's Blog
After the emergency If we need to wait until after the short-term emergency is settled, it’s unlikely we’re ever going...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
If we need to wait until after the short-term emergency is settled, it’s unlikely we’re ever going to get to work on the long-term important work. Of course, we want to do “everything we can” when an emergency strikes. But the standard for that has always involved tradeoffs....
Seth's Blog
The nuanced challenge of “The Regular Kind” In a breakthrough study by Alex Berke at MIT, she and her team showed that labeling a menu item as...
a year ago
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a year ago
In a breakthrough study by Alex Berke at MIT, she and her team showed that labeling a menu item as vegan significantly decreased how many people would order it. In similar conditions, it turns out that more people choose exactly the same item if it doesn’t carry that label. One...
Open Culture
How the 18th-Century French Media Stoked a Werewolf Panic If you’ve studied French (or, indeed, been French) in the past couple of decades, you may well have...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
If you’ve studied French (or, indeed, been French) in the past couple of decades, you may well have played the card game Les Loups-garous de Thiercelieux. Known in English as The Werewolves of Millers Hollow, it casts its players as hunters, thieves, seers, and other types of...
Seth's Blog
Listening to organizational decline Great companies and teams often get stale and then fade away. Here’s what we hear as it happens:...
a week ago
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a week ago
Great companies and teams often get stale and then fade away. Here’s what we hear as it happens: “I’m way too important to listen to customers. Send them to the call center.” “It wasn’t a bad idea when we implemented it, so it’s not a bad idea now.” “My boss won’t let me.” “The...
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
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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...
Seth's Blog
The useful agreement Contrary to expectations, written contracts don’t have to be adversarial. In fact, the effective...
a year ago
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a year ago
Contrary to expectations, written contracts don’t have to be adversarial. In fact, the effective ones rarely are. When you hand someone a release, a royalty agreement or even a partnership document, it pays to point out the gnarly parts, the controversial bits and the ones that...
Seth's Blog
Walking the city, walking the world Last week, I passed 800 people as I walked my way through New York. I decided to look at the folks I...
a year ago
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a year ago
Last week, I passed 800 people as I walked my way through New York. I decided to look at the folks I was walking near. Of those 800 people, not one was as conventionally attractive as a movie star. Few looked like the images I saw on the billboards I passed. Most wouldn’t be cast...
Seth's Blog
Time, consquences and opportunities Dreams have consequences Hisham Matar Time passes, decisions are made, we face the consequences or...
11 months ago
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11 months ago
Dreams have consequences Hisham Matar Time passes, decisions are made, we face the consequences or enjoy the benefits. A few books for this moment, about navigating our days, and the possibility of light. It bends toward justice. The Return, by Hisham Matar. A beautiful and...
The Great Discontent...
Brad Montague Brad Montague is an illustrator, speaker, picture book author, video creator, and all-around maker....
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Brad Montague is an illustrator, speaker, picture book author, video creator, and all-around maker. He’s a self-proclaimed dreamer and doer. Above all, he’s a storyteller, “working to create a better world for kids with kids” through Montague Workshop, the creative studio he runs...
Seth's Blog
Regressing to the mean all by yourself “The mean” is the average. Another word for “mediocre.” When an organization gets big enough, by...
9 months ago
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9 months ago
“The mean” is the average. Another word for “mediocre.” When an organization gets big enough, by definition, it’s the average. When you have enough customers, they represent the population as a whole. If you find yourself seeking to serve the largest possible number of people,...
Open Culture
Stanford Continuing Studies Offering an Online Course Exploring the Music of the Grateful Dead Image via Wikimedia Commons A quick heads up: On October 3rd, Stanford Continuing Studies will kick...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Image via Wikimedia Commons A quick heads up: On October 3rd, Stanford Continuing Studies will kick off an 8‑week online course called Did It Matter? Does It Now? The Music and Culture of the Grateful Dead. Led by David Gans (author of Playing in the Band: An Oral and Visual...
escape the algorithm
Folk search engines Strategies better than plain Google.
10 months ago
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
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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...
Seth's Blog
Childish or childlike? Childlike involves wonder. It’s the ability to see the world with fresh eyes and create magic....
a year ago
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a year ago
Childlike involves wonder. It’s the ability to see the world with fresh eyes and create magic. Childish, on the other hand, is living as if there are no consequences. Over time, we’ve gotten very good at meauring the long and short-term consequences of our actions. And good at...
Seth's Blog
Nice bike A well-designed bicycle is efficient, inexpensive and delightful. If you use your bike on the right...
a year ago
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a year ago
A well-designed bicycle is efficient, inexpensive and delightful. If you use your bike on the right paths, with appropriate goals, it can deliver exactly what you need, while also allowing you to go at your own pace, see what’s going on around you and feel grounded. Until, of...
Seth's Blog
Knowing your customers In the very small business, the freelancer knows each customer. By name, by volume, by preferences....
4 months ago
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4 months ago
In the very small business, the freelancer knows each customer. By name, by volume, by preferences. And in the huge business, expensive software, data analysts and relentless margin seeking pushes organizations to increase their yield. But most businesses (and non-profits and...
Seth's Blog
And then that happened The world changes and we have a choice: • Fight hard to keep it the way it was. • Notice what...
a year ago
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a year ago
The world changes and we have a choice: • Fight hard to keep it the way it was. • Notice what happened and then decide to do something with that insight. Thirty years ago, AOL was my company’s biggest client. They charged users $3 an hour to use their precursor to the internet,...
Seth's Blog
Jump in the lake The waters of Buck Lake are cool and clear and restorative. All summer, it’s tempting to go for a...
10 months ago
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10 months ago
The waters of Buck Lake are cool and clear and restorative. All summer, it’s tempting to go for a swim. But it’s also a hassle. You need to change your clothes, find someone to guard, bring a towel and most of all, gasp at the transition when the cold water hits. And yet… no one...
Seth's Blog
Remarkable pronouncements The scientific rule of thumb is simple: When you make a bold claim, you need significant research to...
a year ago
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a year ago
The scientific rule of thumb is simple: When you make a bold claim, you need significant research to back it up. Telling us that eating vegetables is healthy can be justified by a fairly simple high school science paper. But if you want to claim that the moon is made of celery...
Seth's Blog
Complaints The best way to complain is to make things better. Complaining can be a form of intimacy. It’s a...
a week ago
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a week ago
The best way to complain is to make things better. Complaining can be a form of intimacy. It’s a useful way to explain our behavior. And best of all, it gives us a way to communicate as we work to create community action. The rest sort of complaint requires generosity and...
Seth's Blog
PW1: Two hats for productivity Welcome to 2024. Back to work, here we go. So it’s Productivity Week on the blog. Productivity is...
11 months ago
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11 months ago
Welcome to 2024. Back to work, here we go. So it’s Productivity Week on the blog. Productivity is the measure of the output (value) we get for the time or money we spend. Two hats for productivity: When I’m clearing my inbox, responding to comments in a doc, cooking lunch–these...
Seth's Blog
The blank page Sometimes, we’re so afraid of creation that we don’t even leave blank pages around. If your...
8 months ago
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8 months ago
Sometimes, we’re so afraid of creation that we don’t even leave blank pages around. If your workspace has a hole exactly the size of a creative idea in it, you’re more likely to fill the hole. When we decrease the number of steps to begin creating, and increase the expectation...
Seth's Blog
How many sparks? That’s the tempting question. How much hustle, hoopla and initiative do we need to get this idea...
a week ago
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a week ago
That’s the tempting question. How much hustle, hoopla and initiative do we need to get this idea ignited in the marketplace… But the much better question is: How much kindling do we have? Kindling doesn’t happen all at once. It’s the result of investments over time. We can earn...
Seth's Blog
No time to waste Of course there isn’t. Time is all we’ve got. Time is all there is. We can’t waste time because it’s...
a year ago
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a year ago
Of course there isn’t. Time is all we’ve got. Time is all there is. We can’t waste time because it’s not ours to waste. It’s simply the way we keep track of everything else.
Open Culture
How a Steady Supply of Coffee Helped the Union Win the U.S. Civil War Americans doing “e‑mail jobs” and working in the “laptop class” tend to make much of the quantity of...
5 months ago
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5 months ago
Americans doing “e‑mail jobs” and working in the “laptop class” tend to make much of the quantity of coffee they require to keep going, or even to get started. In that sense alone, they have something in common with Civil War soldiers. “Union soldiers were given 36 pounds of...
Open Culture
Download 1,600+ Publications from the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Books, Guides, Magazines & More Many of us in these past few generations first heard of the Metropolitan Museum of Art while reading...
a month ago
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a month ago
Many of us in these past few generations first heard of the Metropolitan Museum of Art while reading E. L. Konigsburg’s novel From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. More than a few of us also fantasized about running away to live in that vast cultural institution...
Open Culture
Hear 2.5 Hours of the Classical Music in Haruki Murakami’s Novels: Liszt, Beethoven, Janáček, and... Haruki Murakami’s hit novel 1Q84 features a memorable scene in a taxicab on a gridlocked freeway...
a month ago
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a month ago
Haruki Murakami’s hit novel 1Q84 features a memorable scene in a taxicab on a gridlocked freeway whose radio is playing Leoš Janáček’s Sinfonietta. “It is, as the book suggests, truly the worst possible music for a traffic jam,” writes Sam Anderson in a New York Times Magazine...
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
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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
“Not your best ever” In order to have a best ever, hearing this is part of the deal. Each thing is not going to top...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
In order to have a best ever, hearing this is part of the deal. Each thing is not going to top everything that came before it. Progress is rarely smooth.
Seth's Blog
The half-life of magic “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Arthur C. Clarke Try to...
7 months ago
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7 months ago
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Arthur C. Clarke Try to imagine the you of twenty years ago holding a Rabbit R1, or using a cell phone or being able to listen to every song, ever recorded, for just a few dollars a month. We don’t just take...
Seth's Blog
Speaking up For many, the imagined cost of speaking up is almost always higher than the actual cost. And we live...
a year ago
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a year ago
For many, the imagined cost of speaking up is almost always higher than the actual cost. And we live with the cost in our imagination daily, dying a little bit over time as we keep our insights to ourselves. Speaking up is a skill, and we can only improve it with practice.
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
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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...
Open Culture
A New 3D Scan, Created from 25,000 High-Resolution Images, Reveals the Remarkably Well-Preserved... Photos on this page courtesy of the Falklands Maritime Heritage  Few who hear the story of the...
a month ago
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a month ago
Photos on this page courtesy of the Falklands Maritime Heritage  Few who hear the story of the Endurance could avoid reflecting on the aptness of the ship’s name. A year after setting out on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1914, it got stuck in a mass of drifting ice...
Seth's Blog
Understanding pricing The money we exchange for a service or item isn’t based on how much it cost to make, how hard it was...
3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
The money we exchange for a service or item isn’t based on how much it cost to make, how hard it was to produce or how much the producer likes it. That’s hard to hear, because when we make something, we spend most of our time thinking about those very things. Price is based on...
Open Culture
The Olympics in the 2020s Versus 1912: See Side-by-Side Comparisons of the Athletes’ Performance... The Olympic Games have their origins in antiquity, but their modern revival has also been going on...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
The Olympic Games have their origins in antiquity, but their modern revival has also been going on longer than any of us has been here. Even the fifth Summer Olympics, which took place in Stockholm in 1912, has passed out of living memory. But thanks to the technology of the...
Seth's Blog
The network scam Lana Swartz coined this term in her breakthrough paper on crypto. A scam always involves a...
a year ago
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a year ago
Lana Swartz coined this term in her breakthrough paper on crypto. A scam always involves a transaction. In the traditional fraud, the scammer tells a lie and the buyer, either with or without diligence, believes it and loses everything. You buy the magic beans, but they don’t...
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
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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...
Seth's Blog
The paradox of insular language We often develop slang or codewords to keep the others from understanding what we’re saying. Here’s...
a year ago
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a year ago
We often develop slang or codewords to keep the others from understanding what we’re saying. Here’s an example (thanks BK) of the lengths that some are going to be able to take about Chinese politics. Of course, if you come up with a concealed enough code, the people you’re...
Seth's Blog
The unaware snoop Here’s a breakthrough that’s about to happen somewhere: A GPT that reads every email that anyone in...
a year ago
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a year ago
Here’s a breakthrough that’s about to happen somewhere: A GPT that reads every email that anyone in your organization has ever sent and makes it easy to ask it questions about what the entire organization knows. A person could probably not find the time, bandwidth or privacy...
Seth's Blog
The leaping curve The learning curve is familiar to many people. It might be steep, but it’s continuous. Organizations...
a year ago
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a year ago
The learning curve is familiar to many people. It might be steep, but it’s continuous. Organizations (and people) work their way up it, one step at a time (it’s the black line in the graph below). But there’s rarely a continuous learning curve. Instead, it’s often interrupted by...
Open Culture
RIP Paul Auster: Hear the Master of the Postmodern Page-Turner Discuss How He Became a Writer In the Louisiana Channel interview clip from 2017 above, the late Paul Auster tells the story of how...
7 months ago
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7 months ago
In the Louisiana Channel interview clip from 2017 above, the late Paul Auster tells the story of how he became a writer. Its first episode had appeared more than twenty years earlier, in a New Yorker piece titled “Why Write?”: “I was eight years old. At that moment in my life,...
Handprinted - Blog
The Endless Possibilities of a Square Block Repeat Using a simple square block can create a myriad of possibilities of pattern. We have used Speedy...
a year ago
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a year ago
Using a simple square block can create a myriad of possibilities of pattern. We have used Speedy Carve and Versafine inks for this project. Cut a square from the Speedy Carve using a scalpel. Draw a quarter circle curve on the block using a pencil. Above the curve draw some...
Seth's Blog
The missing post I had a great idea for a post, my best blogging of the year, in fact. I worked it all out when I was...
a year ago
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a year ago
I had a great idea for a post, my best blogging of the year, in fact. I worked it all out when I was driving, but when I arrived, it was gone. Vanished. So I went searching for it, trying out dozens of possible ideas. I never found it. But I did find five other […]
Open Culture
Free: 356 Issues of Galaxy, the Groundbreaking 1950s Science Fiction Magazine Along with Astounding Science Fiction and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Galaxy...
a month ago
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a month ago
Along with Astounding Science Fiction and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Galaxy Magazine was one of the most important science fiction digests in 1950s America. Ray Bradbury wrote for it–including an early version of his masterpiece Fahrenheit 451–as did Robert A....
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
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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
Create value If your job feels like a dead end, it might be because you’ve traded agency and responsibility for...
a year ago
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a year ago
If your job feels like a dead end, it might be because you’ve traded agency and responsibility for the feeling of security. But real security lies in creating value. Creating value isn’t easy, but it’s resilient and generous and often profitable. “How do I create more value?” is...
Seth's Blog
Tricked (again) If you knew then what you know now, would you have made the same decision? In the last fifty years,...
a year ago
12
a year ago
If you knew then what you know now, would you have made the same decision? In the last fifty years, more than 25,000,000 Americans have died prematurely due to cigarette smoking. Worldwide, it’s significantly higher. That’s fifty times as many U.S. citizens as died in World War...
Open Culture
Sex and Alcohol in Medieval Times: A Look into the Pleasures of the Middle Ages Playing video games, road-tripping across America, binge-listening to podcasts, chatting with...
5 months ago
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5 months ago
Playing video games, road-tripping across America, binge-listening to podcasts, chatting with artificial intelligence: these are a few of our modern pleasures not just unknown to, but unimaginable by, humanity in the Middle Ages. Yet medieval people were, after all, people, and...
Seth's Blog
Your own billboard Large sections of Los Angeles are studded with billboards for minor TV shows. These billboards exist...
a year ago
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a year ago
Large sections of Los Angeles are studded with billboards for minor TV shows. These billboards exist nowhere else, even though there are televisions globally. Obviously, there’s ego at work here, but it’s sort of productive. First, there’s the ego of the producers/networks. They...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet The Maker: Lisa Stubbs Hi, I'm a printmaker and illustrator living in the Holme Valley in Yorkshire, with a little print...
8 months ago
52
8 months ago
Hi, I'm a printmaker and illustrator living in the Holme Valley in Yorkshire, with a little print studio in the neighbouring Colne valley.   Describe your printmaking process. Playful and experimental! I love being curious during my process, combining different processes together...
Open Culture
16th-Century Japanese Historians Describe the Oddness of Meeting the First Europeans They Ever Saw Go to Japan today, and the country will present you with plenty of opportunities to buy pan, tabako,...
6 months ago
26
6 months ago
Go to Japan today, and the country will present you with plenty of opportunities to buy pan, tabako, and tempura. These products themselves — bread, cigarettes, and deep-fried seafood or vegetables — will be familiar enough. Even the words that refer to them may have a...
Seth's Blog
Bullies Bullies use intimidation and power to force others to act against their best interests. Bullies...
5 months ago
40
5 months ago
Bullies use intimidation and power to force others to act against their best interests. Bullies blame the victim, assuring everyone that they wouldn’t have to use force if people would simply go along with what they want. Effective bullies organize a small mob to enforce their...
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
26
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...
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
23
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
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
34
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...
Infinite Scroll
Revolt and the Reversal of Trust The digital roots of Trump's surprising youth popularity
4 weeks ago
Seth's Blog
“I don’t learn that way” If you’re sitting on the dock, watching the swim class without getting wet, it’s more accurate to...
7 months ago
56
7 months ago
If you’re sitting on the dock, watching the swim class without getting wet, it’s more accurate to say, “I’m just watching.” There are plenty of theories on how different people learn. Online, we’re in the middle of the biggest learning experiment in history, with countless...
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
22
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
Peak infrastructure Community resources are easy to take for granted. Unevenly distributed, they’re the sort of thing we...
10 months ago
52
10 months ago
Community resources are easy to take for granted. Unevenly distributed, they’re the sort of thing we miss only when they’re gone. Invisible things are easy to ignore. I was stunned to see a sign in Connecticut that listed the names of dozens of highway workers who had been killed...
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
Open Culture
David Bowie Predicts the Good & Bad of the Internet in 1999: “We’re on the Cusp of Something... “We’re on the cusp of something exhilarating and terrifying.” The year is 1999 and David Bowie, in...
4 months ago
23
4 months ago
“We’re on the cusp of something exhilarating and terrifying.” The year is 1999 and David Bowie, in shaggy hair and groovy glasses, has seen the future and it is the Internet. In this short but fascinating interview with BBC’s stalwart and withering interrogator cum interviewer...
Handprinted - Blog
On The Course: Creating Life Drawing Mono Screen Prints I (Bridget) was lucky enough to take part on last years Life-Drawing Monoscreen Printing workshop...
a year ago
49
a year ago
I (Bridget) was lucky enough to take part on last years Life-Drawing Monoscreen Printing workshop with Tricia Johnson. During the course, we worked with a life model to create painterly screen prints using the mono screen method. We used acrylic based screen printing inks and...
Seth's Blog
Trying harder Or trying better? Fast runners aren’t the same as slow runners, but with more effort. And great...
11 months ago
20
11 months ago
Or trying better? Fast runners aren’t the same as slow runners, but with more effort. And great chefs or violinists or actors… it’s not about doing what you did yesterday, but more of that. It’s something different.
Seth's Blog
Facing the future The Tofflers explained that Future Shock kicks in when the world changes faster than we’re ready...
2 months ago
32
2 months ago
The Tofflers explained that Future Shock kicks in when the world changes faster than we’re ready for. We react instead of respond, and often shut down in the face of too much of the new. When our world changes (and it always does, more now than ever) we have four choices. And...
Seth's Blog
“But what if I’m wrong? If we’re going to come together and invest the time in conversation, in research or in analysis, we...
8 months ago
28
8 months ago
If we’re going to come together and invest the time in conversation, in research or in analysis, we should begin by understanding what would be required for you or I to change our minds. If you’re not willing to consider that you’re wrong, then, in the words of a Dan Dennett,...
Seth's Blog
If it’s all in bold Then none of it is in bold.
a year ago
Neocha – Culture &...
Unorthodox Means
a year ago
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
46
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...
Marian's Blog
ESA ExoMars Rover 3D model This is one of my first 3D modeling projects in Blender and my biggest 3D modeling project so...
over a year ago
2
over a year ago
This is one of my first 3D modeling projects in Blender and my biggest 3D modeling project so far. It's a model of ESA's ExoMars rover. You can have a closer look at the model on Sketchfab: There is also a download option on Sketchfab so you can get the original .blend file and...
Open Culture
The Evolution of Cinema: Watch Nearly 140 Years of Film History Unfold in 80 Minutes The video above from YouTuber Alex Day includes clips from about 500 movies, and you’ve almost...
a month ago
23
a month ago
The video above from YouTuber Alex Day includes clips from about 500 movies, and you’ve almost certainly seen more than a few of them. Battleship Potemkin, Dumbo, Rear Window, Dr. No, The Godfather, E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Top Gun, Braveheart, Gladiator, Inception: we’re not...
Seth's Blog
Transitions are difficult They’re risky (unknown territory leads to unforeseen outcomes) and a very recent phenomenon. A kid...
10 months ago
16
10 months ago
They’re risky (unknown territory leads to unforeseen outcomes) and a very recent phenomenon. A kid dropped off at pre-school, a new boss, a food you’re not familiar with. None of this was common for most of pre-history. When the transition occurs, we’re tempted to direct our...
Stat Significant
Unpacking the Rise of Fan Fiction: From 'Star Trek' to 'Twilight'—A Statistical Analysis An exploration of modern fan fiction and the unique demography of its participants.
2 weeks ago
Seth's Blog
Unintended consequences …are still consequences. We’re all participants in the systems around us, and complicit in their...
2 months ago
31
2 months ago
…are still consequences. We’re all participants in the systems around us, and complicit in their consequences even if we didn’t intend them. First, we need to see the systems, and then we have the opportunity to work to change them.
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
16
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...
Seth's Blog
“For what purposes will it be useful?” In 1840, at the dawn of the information age, the king of Sardinia asked Charles Babbage what nearly...
9 months ago
18
9 months ago
In 1840, at the dawn of the information age, the king of Sardinia asked Charles Babbage what nearly instant messaging like the telegraph could possibly be good for. Twenty years later, it was obvious. When I first saw Prodigy in 1986, I saw that the consumer internet would have...
Seth's Blog
Thoughts on audiobooks I’m listening more than reading these days, and I find that a good audiobook can make a real impact...
2 months ago
28
2 months ago
I’m listening more than reading these days, and I find that a good audiobook can make a real impact on the way I absorb and learn from a book. It’s a once in a century sort of shift in this medium. My new book is now available in audio. It’s not on Audible, at least […]
Open Culture
What’s Under London? Discover London’s Forbidden Underworld When the words London and underground come together, the first thing that comes to most of our...
6 months ago
54
6 months ago
When the words London and underground come together, the first thing that comes to most of our minds, naturally, is the London Underground. But though it may enjoy the honorable distinction of the world’s first railway to run below the streets, the stalwart Tube is hardly the...
Seth's Blog
A long time is not the same as never It might feel like an endless slog now, but when the innovation appears, people won’t remember how...
a year ago
11
a year ago
It might feel like an endless slog now, but when the innovation appears, people won’t remember how long it took to get here. Often, we assume that today’s snapshot is actually the entire movie, but it rarely is.
Seth's Blog
“I didn’t see you there” Someone I’ve worked with over the years happened to be driving down my street. I called out and said...
a month ago
26
a month ago
Someone I’ve worked with over the years happened to be driving down my street. I called out and said hello… They ignored me. So I repeated myself. “Oh,” they said, recognizing me. “It’s you.” We’re more likely to see, hear and care if the person over there is actually a person. A...
Anarchy Unfolds
May all roads lead to solarpunk Letters to an anarchist - Part 8
3 weeks ago
Marian's Blog
Aquarium Innensicht mit Gopro Wegen meinem Quadrocopter habe ich eine Gopro, die ja auch wasserfest ist. Da war es naheliegend,...
over a year ago
2
over a year ago
Wegen meinem Quadrocopter habe ich eine Gopro, die ja auch wasserfest ist. Da war es naheliegend, die mal im Aquarium auszuprobieren. Bei dem Aquarium stand einiges an Arbeit an, da das Glasbecken undicht war, und alles komplett ausgeräumt werden muss, um das Becken...
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
16
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...
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
2
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
Them or us? What kind of culture will we build? At work, in our community, online? Each of us builds culture...
8 months ago
23
8 months ago
What kind of culture will we build? At work, in our community, online? Each of us builds culture every time we interact with anyone else. Opting out isn’t possible, all we can do is decide what sort of impact and contribution we’re each going to make. It’s tempting to say, “they”...
Ian Betteridge
When dealing with Musk, Labour needs to understand the world has changed There are plenty of objections to preventing Elon Musk from donating to Reform. The first is it’s...
41 minutes ago
1
41 minutes ago
There are plenty of objections to preventing Elon Musk from donating to Reform. The first is it’s politically motivated. A party shouldn’t (the theory goes) use its power in government specifically to target another party. Of course, Labour could do this in a way which prevented...
Seth's Blog
I fixed it for you Creativity is about hope and possibility. It gives us a chance to make things better. Plenty has...
7 months ago
27
7 months ago
Creativity is about hope and possibility. It gives us a chance to make things better. Plenty has been written about the sad iPad ad that Apple just apologized for. It wasn’t just out of character for the story Apple tells, it was a cheap hack, taking the nihilism and helplessness...
Seth's Blog
The unsurprising confusion about ‘per capita’ A car cut me off on the highway the other day. The car was going nearly 100 mph. Was the car a new...
a year ago
11
a year ago
A car cut me off on the highway the other day. The car was going nearly 100 mph. Was the car a new Porsche 911 GT3 or a used Toyota Camry? The thing is, there are more than 1,000 times as many Camrys on the road. But our instinct is to pick the vivid and […]
Seth's Blog
Cats and dogs Does your brand have a personality? When people expect you to act a certain way, you have a brand....
7 months ago
57
7 months ago
Does your brand have a personality? When people expect you to act a certain way, you have a brand. And that expectation is worth understanding. Can you help us understand whether you’re a cat or a dog in the way you react, respond, delight or sneak around? And if you’re a dog,...
Seth's Blog
Goals and expectations [a note to a frustrated friend, just starting out on a long career] There are three reasons that our...
a year ago
8
a year ago
[a note to a frustrated friend, just starting out on a long career] There are three reasons that our goals might not be achieved. In order of palatability, they are: Perhaps the goals are too lofty, too based on chance, unlikely for anyone to achieve, surrounded by barriers that...
Seth's Blog
The Net Promoter Score More than two-thirds of the companies surveyed said that they used NPS methodology with their...
7 months ago
49
7 months ago
More than two-thirds of the companies surveyed said that they used NPS methodology with their customers. Some are using it to measure employee satisfaction as well. The P stands for ‘promoter’, but of course, it doesn’t actually measure promotion. If that many of your customers...
Seth's Blog
The best possible use I walked by a psychic’s storefront studio. The window said that this person had been reading palms...
10 months ago
19
10 months ago
I walked by a psychic’s storefront studio. The window said that this person had been reading palms and predicting the future since 1989. It was a large space on a vibrant New York City corner. The rent must be astronomical. Or else the purveyor owns the building. Given that this...
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
10
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
The audacity of the crowd anthem There’s little doubt that We Are the Champions is one of the great crowd anthems of our time. Just...
a year ago
46
a year ago
There’s little doubt that We Are the Champions is one of the great crowd anthems of our time. Just about any group can be stirred into a frenzy just by playing a few bars: The same goes Rapper’s Delight. And yet… Can you imagine how frightening it must have been to play it live...
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
12
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...
Anarchy Unfolds
Genshin Impact & the appeal of open-world games I’ve been playing a lot of Genshin Impact lately.
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
Did we give up before AI arrived? Plenty of creative pundits are decrying the speed and cost of creating pretty good work with an AI....
6 months ago
36
6 months ago
Plenty of creative pundits are decrying the speed and cost of creating pretty good work with an AI. It can often draw, write and compose as well as a mediocre freelancer, sometimes better. But why were there mediocre freelancers? The system that pushed us to turn our writing into...
Open Culture
Discover the CIA’s Simple Sabotage Field Manual: A Timeless Guide to Subverting Any Organization... I’ve always admired people who can successfully navigate what I refer to as “Kafka’s Castle,” a term...
a month ago
16
a month ago
I’ve always admired people who can successfully navigate what I refer to as “Kafka’s Castle,” a term of dread for the many government and corporate agencies that have an inordinate amount of power over our permanent records, and that seem as inscrutable and chillingly absurd as...
Seth's Blog
The Mississippi River paradox There’s no water in that river that was there ten years ago. The boundaries have shifted in that...
4 months ago
28
4 months ago
There’s no water in that river that was there ten years ago. The boundaries have shifted in that time as well, there’s no riverbank that’s exactly where it was. And the silt and the fish have all moved too. So, what’s “the Mississippi River”? It’s a label, a placeholder, and a...
Open Culture
How Olivetti Designed the First Personal Computer in History, the Programma 101 (1965) If you were to come across an Olivetti Programma 101, you probably wouldn’t recognize it as a...
4 months ago
17
4 months ago
If you were to come across an Olivetti Programma 101, you probably wouldn’t recognize it as a computer. With its 36 keys and its paper-strip printer, it might strike you as some kind of oversized adding machine, albeit an unusually handsome one. But then, you’d expect that...
The Great Discontent...
Taekyeom Lee Taekyeom Lee is a graphic designer with an artist’s sensibility. As a researcher, educator, and...
a year ago
14
a year ago
Taekyeom Lee is a graphic designer with an artist’s sensibility. As a researcher, educator, and maker — born and raised in South Korea, now living and teaching in Madison, Wisconsin he works in the space where tactility and technology meet, combining ancient materials and...
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
11
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:
Open Culture
A New Analysis of Beethoven’s DNA Reveals That Lead Poisoning Could Have Caused His Deafness Despite the intense scrutiny paid to the life and work of Ludwig van Beethoven for a couple of...
7 months ago
22
7 months ago
Despite the intense scrutiny paid to the life and work of Ludwig van Beethoven for a couple of centuries now, the revered composer still has certain mysteries about him. Some of them he surely never intended to clarify, like the identity of “Immortal Beloved”; others he...
The Great Discontent...
Sofía Gallisá Muriente Emergence Issue: TGD’s fifth issue features a dynamic group of 15 creators who are deeply committed...
over a year ago
35
over a year ago
Emergence Issue: TGD’s fifth issue features a dynamic group of 15 creators who are deeply committed to addressing systematic challenges in their communities through creativity and emerging ideologies. Buy Now ¿Puedes compartir un poco sobre dónde y cómo creciste y qué influencia...
Seth's Blog
Too much competition There are two approaches: Broaden your offerings, make them easier, cheaper and more available. Dumb...
a year ago
35
a year ago
There are two approaches: Broaden your offerings, make them easier, cheaper and more available. Dumb them down and race to the bottom. Or… Focus on the customers who care enough about your idiosyncratic and particular offerings that they’ll not only happily walk away from the...
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
46
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
Empathy at a distance … is almost as difficult as empathy up close. That person that’s not like you, from way over there,...
3 months ago
30
3 months ago
… is almost as difficult as empathy up close. That person that’s not like you, from way over there, the one that’s on the other team–it’s hard to imagine what they’re dealing with. They don’t believe what you believe, they haven’t experienced what you’ve experienced. And the...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet The Maker: Fabiola Knowles Originally from Sicily, I grew up in Australia; however, having settled in the UK in 1996, it has...
5 months ago
55
5 months ago
Originally from Sicily, I grew up in Australia; however, having settled in the UK in 1996, it has been my home for the largest part of my life. I love the outdoors and I am drawn to open landscapes with big skies. I am an artist working mainly with various forms of printmaking. I...
Seth's Blog
Conspicuous (non) consumption One way to show status is by demonstrating how many resources you have. A bespoke suit, a huge...
a year ago
56
a year ago
One way to show status is by demonstrating how many resources you have. A bespoke suit, a huge graduation party, a fancy building… A bully who physically intimidates or an angry driver who cuts you off in traffic are each working to show their status and strength. But it’s also...
On the Arts
The Sea Has Always Looked the Same A View of the Ocean as a Connection to the Past
a year ago
Seth's Blog
Just looking Lots of people go to the beach but very few get in the water. 3,000 students go to the football game...
a year ago
6
a year ago
Lots of people go to the beach but very few get in the water. 3,000 students go to the football game to watch 20 of their peers play. And we go to a conference to meet people and connect, and then spend most of our time hoping someone else will see us and care enough […]
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
22
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...
Seth's Blog
PW 4: Productivity and tools Adam Smith and Karl Marx both wrote about the pin-making machine. Not too long ago, pins (for hats,...
11 months ago
14
11 months ago
Adam Smith and Karl Marx both wrote about the pin-making machine. Not too long ago, pins (for hats, to hold shirts in place, etc.) were incredibly expensive. They were a luxury item, and a handmade pin might cost more than buying lunch. The pin-making machine changed this. It...
Seth's Blog
Design has a language And it changes over time. You and I know what to do when we see a revolving door, or to speak...
a year ago
52
a year ago
And it changes over time. You and I know what to do when we see a revolving door, or to speak quietly in a library. We have expectations of how the world works and what designers are saying with their work. Here’s a photo of a device with two controls. We’ve been taught our whole...
Seth's Blog
Avoiding the trap questions A trick question is designed to fool us into proposing the wrong answer (example below). A trap...
5 months ago
35
5 months ago
A trick question is designed to fool us into proposing the wrong answer (example below). A trap question, on the other hand, stops the train completely. A trap question demands an answer, and the answer will paralyze us and keep us from the work at hand. “Yes, but how many...
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
54
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...
Seth's Blog
Redundancy has a half-life At first, this stop sign sign makes a lot of sense: Lives are at stake. Break the rhythm, turn...
10 months ago
22
10 months ago
At first, this stop sign sign makes a lot of sense: Lives are at stake. Break the rhythm, turn something ignored into something noticed. The challenge with “highlighting” is that it fades. When everything is in all caps, nothing is. Exclamation points are like salt. When people...
Neocha – Culture &...
Peace, Love, & Ass
9 months ago
Prolost
VFX Suite 1.5 Today Red Giant released the first major update to the VFX Suite we introduced last year. Lens...
over a year ago
7
over a year ago
Today Red Giant released the first major update to the VFX Suite we introduced last year. Lens Distortion Matcher A brand-new effect, Lens Distortion Matcher makes it ridiculously easy to profile the distortion of any lens, and either remove it, or build a VFX workflow around it...
Seth's Blog
Cat and mouse games I hope that most of us would agree that driving 50 mph in a school zone where little kids cross the...
5 months ago
21
5 months ago
I hope that most of us would agree that driving 50 mph in a school zone where little kids cross the street is a significant safety problem. The speed limit is there for good reason, and if you selfishly and recklessly blow through the crosswalk, you ought to get a summons....
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
21
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...
Open Culture
Neuroscience Shows That Viewing Art in Museums Engages the Brain More Than Reproductions We may appreciate living in an era that doesn’t require us to travel across the world to know what a...
2 months ago
23
2 months ago
We may appreciate living in an era that doesn’t require us to travel across the world to know what a particular work of art looks like. At the same time, we may instinctively understand that regarding a work of art in its original form feels different than regarding even the most...
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
39
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...
Blog - Amy Goodchild
Maplands Maplands is a long-form generative art project I released on fxhash on 5th Jan 2022. It sold out...
over a year ago
2
over a year ago
Maplands is a long-form generative art project I released on fxhash on 5th Jan 2022. It sold out 256 pieces in exactly 2 minutes.
Seth's Blog
Boring to who? Sometimes, marketers, musicians or speakers dig themselves into a solipsistic rabbit hole. They’ve...
a month ago
15
a month ago
Sometimes, marketers, musicians or speakers dig themselves into a solipsistic rabbit hole. They’ve heard their stuff before. They think everyone else has too. So they bury the lede, look for new laughs and most of all, try to avoid boring themselves. Which often leads to...
Seth's Blog
An end to pop Pop culture depends on scarcity. When there are only a few TV stations or a dozen radio stations,...
a year ago
57
a year ago
Pop culture depends on scarcity. When there are only a few TV stations or a dozen radio stations, it’s likely that many of us watch or hear the same thing at the same time. And so a popular TV show or song from fifty years ago probably reached twenty times as many people as a […]
Seth's Blog
On choosing a college For some fortunate 17 year olds, the end of the year is the day for a momentous decision, one that’s...
11 months ago
18
11 months ago
For some fortunate 17 year olds, the end of the year is the day for a momentous decision, one that’s largely out of the comfort zone of a 17 year old. A four-year college education in the US can cost nearly half a million dollars once we count the expenses and foregone...
Infinite Scroll
Infinite Scroll on Offline with Jon Favreau A chat about online media ecosystems
a month ago
Seth's Blog
Kinds of courage Courage is a generous act that involves risk. It’s not courageous to hang out with friends and make...
8 months ago
24
8 months ago
Courage is a generous act that involves risk. It’s not courageous to hang out with friends and make a crank phone call. The risk involved might be actual risk (it took courage to go to the moon) or it might feel risky (raising your hand at a meeting to ask a useful question...
Seth's Blog
The Jenga situation When an organization first sets out to have an impact, it discovers that it has no customers, no...
a year ago
11
a year ago
When an organization first sets out to have an impact, it discovers that it has no customers, no clients, no constituents. So it shows up, it makes an offer and it listens. The early days are exciting. Customers are seen and heard and served. Variations are created and value is...
On the Arts
The Necrologs of Bulgaria Remembering the Dead in Daily Life
a year ago
Prolost
Skate Warrior 1992, 1999, 2020 You May Have Seen This Image Before. In The DV Rebel’s Guide, I used this still frame as an example...
over a year ago
8
over a year ago
You May Have Seen This Image Before. In The DV Rebel’s Guide, I used this still frame as an example of guerrilla filmmaking taken too far. Which may also be an apt description of the entire film from which it was taken. In the summer of 1992, while I was home in Minnesota between...
Marian's Blog
Work in progress: Location based online game This is a game prototype I’m currently working on. The game is played online, on a real world map...
over a year ago
2
over a year ago
This is a game prototype I’m currently working on. The game is played online, on a real world map and the location of the player is also the location ingame, just like in Ingress. I know that making an online game like this is an ambitious goal and it will probably never be...
Seth's Blog
Better pockets Every coat needs better pockets. There are categories of products or services where there’s a...
3 months ago
29
3 months ago
Every coat needs better pockets. There are categories of products or services where there’s a universal area for improvement. When in doubt, make the pockets better. The interesting work is in realizing that you might offer a product or service where there are non-universal...
Open Culture
Umberto Eco’s List of the 14 Common Features of Fascism Creative Commons image by Rob Bogaerts, via the National Archives in Holland One of the key...
a month ago
22
a month ago
Creative Commons image by Rob Bogaerts, via the National Archives in Holland One of the key questions facing both journalists and loyal oppositions these days is how do we stay honest as euphemisms and trivializations take over the discourse? Can we use words like “fascism,” for...
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
19
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...
Seth's Blog
Fidelity, compression and culture The alphabet is a miracle, one that is compounded by books. And the lessons we learn from this...
a year ago
46
a year ago
The alphabet is a miracle, one that is compounded by books. And the lessons we learn from this cornerstone of modern culture apply to organizations, meetings, tech, politics and almost everything we do together. Your copy of To Kill a Mockingbird contains every single word that...
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
24
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...
Open Culture
Martin Scorsese Plays Vincent Van Gogh in a Short, Surreal Film by Akira Kurosawa The idea of the auteur director has been a controversial one at times given the sheer number of...
5 months ago
39
5 months ago
The idea of the auteur director has been a controversial one at times given the sheer number of people required at every stage to produce a film. But it hangs together for me when you look at the films of say, Martin Scorsese or Akira Kurosawa, both directors with very...
Open Culture
Isaac Asimov Predicts the Future of Online Education in 1988–and It’s Now Coming True “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” Though that line probably originated...
7 months ago
22
7 months ago
“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” Though that line probably originated with  a Canadian novelist called Grant Allen, it’s long been popularly attributed to his more colorful nineteenth-century contemporary Mark Twain. It isn’t hard to understand why it...
Open Culture
Jack Kerouac’s Hand-Drawn Cover for On the Road (1952) This falls under the category, “If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.” In 1950,...
4 months ago
24
4 months ago
This falls under the category, “If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.” In 1950, when Jack Kerouac released his first novel, The Town and the City, he was less than impressed by the book cover produced by his publisher, Harcourt Brace. (Click here to see why.) So,...
Seth's Blog
Flashing on contempt It doesn’t have to happen with intent, in fact, it rarely does. Micro-emotions appear on our face...
a year ago
55
a year ago
It doesn’t have to happen with intent, in fact, it rarely does. Micro-emotions appear on our face and then disappear in less than a second. Blink and you’ll miss them. But sometimes, people don’t blink. We’ve evolved to be hyperware of these tiny displays of emotion. And yet,...
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
41
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...
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
30
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...
Open Culture
Bukowski Reads Bukowski: Watch a 1975 Documentary Featuring Charles Bukowski at the Height of His... In 1973, Richard Davies directed Bukowski, a documentary that TV Guide described as a “cinema-verite...
7 months ago
30
7 months ago
In 1973, Richard Davies directed Bukowski, a documentary that TV Guide described as a “cinema-verite portrait of Los Angeles poet Charles Bukowski.” The film finds Bukowski, then 53 years old, “enjoying his first major success,” and “the camera captures his reminiscences … as he...
Blog - Mac Pierce
Enclosing a Prusa MK3, or how to completely overbuild an Octopi setup. Overbuilding a Prusa enclosure
over a year ago
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
16
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...
escape the algorithm
love letters to places i'll never meet a spooky digital seance
a year ago
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
26
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...
Seth's Blog
x1000 The future creeps up on us slowly. But when it leaps dramatically, we notice. One spam phone call a...
a year ago
48
a year ago
The future creeps up on us slowly. But when it leaps dramatically, we notice. One spam phone call a day is an irritation. 1,000 of them destroy the utility of the phone. One photographer undercutting our rates is a threat. 1,000 of them means we can’t make a living at it any...
Seth's Blog
Naming is part of marketing A name is a hook for us to hang a story on. We need to begin with empathy and a useful story… useful...
9 months ago
27
9 months ago
A name is a hook for us to hang a story on. We need to begin with empathy and a useful story… useful to the people who want to believe it, spread it, and use it to accomplish their goals. But then, the story needs firm footing and a way to stick with us. Patagonia […]
Seth's Blog
“We used to do that” When electricity came along, there was a swath of industries that were trapped in an old way of...
a year ago
13
a year ago
When electricity came along, there was a swath of industries that were trapped in an old way of thinking. The only ones that thrived were able to walk away from what they used to do and eagerly embrace something new. When the internet was young, the major book publishers had...
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
22
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
Meaningfully informed Community requires individuals to have the option of speaking up. If we’re in this together, we...
5 months ago
16
5 months ago
Community requires individuals to have the option of speaking up. If we’re in this together, we ought to be able to chime in. But while every member of the community can speak out, the ones that are heard also have something useful to say. Being informed is a requirement to be...
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
35
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...
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
46
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
At all costs Principles have a priority. Isaac Asimov’s three rules of robotics were: First LawA robot may not...
a month ago
22
a month ago
Principles have a priority. Isaac Asimov’s three rules of robotics were: First LawA robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Second LawA robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would...
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
10
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
The Western Union trap When the telephone began to gain traction, the monopoly of the time, Western Union, decided to get...
6 months ago
36
6 months ago
When the telephone began to gain traction, the monopoly of the time, Western Union, decided to get even better at sending telegrams.
Stat Significant
Quantifying 'The Kevin Bacon Game': A Statistical Exploration of Hollywood’s Most Connected Actors Examining 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon' and its statistical underpinnings.
2 months ago
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
29
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;...
On the Arts
On the Arts: A Year-End Review A brief guide to everything published this year.
a year ago
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
17
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...
Seth's Blog
Cheaper than that The race to the bottom has been won. Anything cheaper than what’s on offer is a waste of the...
a year ago
46
a year ago
The race to the bottom has been won. Anything cheaper than what’s on offer is a waste of the customer’s money, because it won’t get the job done. Once we’ve cut every corner, all that’s left is the brutality of less. One slogan is: You’ll pay less than you should have, and waste...
Seth's Blog
“Please create more tension” This rarely comes up in focus group data. It doesn’t come up when a school talks to students, or a...
2 months ago
15
2 months ago
This rarely comes up in focus group data. It doesn’t come up when a school talks to students, or a conductor asks the orchestra. It doesn’t come up when the gym owner surveys potential members or when a chef or playwright thinks about building something new. But of course, that’s...
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
41
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
The conspiracy of mediocrity Solo mediocrity is rampant, of course. We know that toasting the bread before making the sandwich...
3 months ago
31
3 months ago
Solo mediocrity is rampant, of course. We know that toasting the bread before making the sandwich makes it more delicious, but in service of convenience and speed, we skip a step. It becomes a conspiracy when more than one of us is involved. The freelancer who offers cheap and...
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
14
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
“Ready” vs. “Done” Ready means that time is up, spec is met and the user can engage. Done might mean that you believe...
5 months ago
38
5 months ago
Ready means that time is up, spec is met and the user can engage. Done might mean that you believe it’s perfect and cannot be improved. We’ll settle for ready. In fact, meeting spec means we’re not settling. It’s just what you promised.
Seth's Blog
When we get to where we’re going …perhaps we should stop. Unless the going was the point.
a year ago
Seth's Blog
Amazon Smile gets a frown I’m pretty sure how the first meetings went almost a decade ago: “Well, we’re paying our affiliates...
a year ago
50
a year ago
I’m pretty sure how the first meetings went almost a decade ago: “Well, we’re paying our affiliates 5% for referrals. If we pay charities a tenth of that and call it a donation, it’ll be great PR and we’ll also make a profit on every sale because we won’t need to pay a full...
Seth's Blog
The Le Guin precepts Fabled author Ursula Le Guin had a sign over her desk: Not a bad place to begin.
a year ago
Seth's Blog
The Pinocchio protocol He had a hard time lying because his nose got longer every time he did. Gas-powered leaf blowers...
5 months ago
34
5 months ago
He had a hard time lying because his nose got longer every time he did. Gas-powered leaf blowers would disappear if the smoke they belched out was black instead of invisible. And few people would start smoking if the deposits on their lungs ended up on their face instead. We’re...
Prolost
What Does and Doesn’t Matter about Apple Shooting their October Event on iPhone 15 Pro Max A still from Apple’s “Behind the scenes: An Apple Event shot on iPhone” video Apple Shot Their...
a year ago
15
a year ago
A still from Apple’s “Behind the scenes: An Apple Event shot on iPhone” video Apple Shot Their “Scary Fast” October Event Video on iPhones And We Had Feelings You’re somewhere on the spectrum of occasionally shooting video on your iPhone to a professional-ish video maker with...
escape the algorithm
Should this be a map or 500 maps? 500 priests, cartographic n00bism, and the limits of scale
6 months ago
Ian Betteridge
Ten Blue Links, “rapid evolution of form” edition 1. Why should Trump deliver for anyone but Trump? This Bloomberg piece forgets one important fact:...
2 weeks ago
4
2 weeks ago
1. Why should Trump deliver for anyone but Trump? This Bloomberg piece forgets one important fact: Donald Trump is not going to be on the ticket next time. He doesn’t have to deliver a dime for ordinary voters, and will act accordingly.  2. You can now sync Apple Passwords with...
Handprinted - Blog
Separating Your Colour Layers for CMYK Screen Printing CMYK screen printing is a great way of bringing both your photographic and coloured art images to...
3 months ago
41
3 months ago
CMYK screen printing is a great way of bringing both your photographic and coloured art images to life through colour separation. This is achieved by layering four colours (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) on top of each other using only 4 screens. Photoshop plays a key role in...
Seth's Blog
Beyond CRM Many marketers spend time with their CRM systems. Expensive cloud-based tools that automate Customer...
7 months ago
25
7 months ago
Many marketers spend time with their CRM systems. Expensive cloud-based tools that automate Customer Relationship Management. Maybe customers don’t want to be managed. They probably don’t. It might be more useful to think of our most important work as customer relationship...
Anarchy Unfolds
April '24 Myths & Recs Sexual orientation, Cowboy Carter, mental health recovery, and more
7 months ago
Seth's Blog
But it’s included… Perhaps your wedding package includes a cake. It’s paid for, better eat it. Even if you’re allergic...
a year ago
24
a year ago
Perhaps your wedding package includes a cake. It’s paid for, better eat it. Even if you’re allergic to wheat. Perhaps the amusement park includes as many rides as you like, even if you’re feeling sick or have had quite enough for today. The thing about included is that it’s free....
Prolost
Slugline 2 From the Slugline Blog: Slugline 2 is a new app that replaces the old Slugline for Mac. It has a...
over a year ago
7
over a year ago
From the Slugline Blog: Slugline 2 is a new app that replaces the old Slugline for Mac. It has a slick new UI, which includes a lovely dark mode. Big new features include: a drag-and-drop outline, an awesome new timeline, color-coded notes, Final Draft import/export, and Live...
On the Arts
From Gothic Invaders to Mall Goths How an ancient Germanic tribe gave its name to a modern subculture.
a year ago
Seth's Blog
Benign vs. normal We evolved to be wary of change. Our attention is limited, new things can be a threat and the status...
11 months ago
43
11 months ago
We evolved to be wary of change. Our attention is limited, new things can be a threat and the status quo feels comfortable. As a result, we spend a lot of time and energy being afraid (and arguing about) the upcoming changes in our lives, but almost no time at all thinking about...
Seth's Blog
Is it a t-shirt brand? Not all projects become t-shirt brands, nor should they. The risk is in thinking you’re building one...
a year ago
44
a year ago
Not all projects become t-shirt brands, nor should they. The risk is in thinking you’re building one when you’re not. T-shirt worthy brands are a very small subset of the whole. The question is: Would your customers want to wear your logo on a t-shirt? Why? If you’re creating...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Madder Cutch & Co. We are screen printers. We presume everyone knows that this is pushing ink through a mesh, which has...
over a year ago
46
over a year ago
We are screen printers. We presume everyone knows that this is pushing ink through a mesh, which has a pattern on it, using a squeegee. In our case, the screen and squeegee are quite big! We print linen by the metre and it is mainly used for home decorations, including...
Blog - Amy Goodchild
Early Computer Art in the 50’s & 60’s A deep dive on the early days of creative computing coming to life. Punch cards, plotters, light...
a year ago
Seth's Blog
The Hegelochus lesson More than 2,000 years ago, an actor in Greece botched a line in a play. In an inflection error, he...
a year ago
57
a year ago
More than 2,000 years ago, an actor in Greece botched a line in a play. In an inflection error, he said “weasel” when he meant to say “calm sea.” As a result, he was mocked by Sannyrion and then Aristophanes and others. He never worked again. The lesson might be that one innocent...
Seth's Blog
Eight marketing maxims
a year ago
Seth's Blog
Customer satisfaction and tipping In North America, tipping is an unfair system built into the status quo by law. Restaurants aren’t...
10 months ago
25
10 months ago
In North America, tipping is an unfair system built into the status quo by law. Restaurants aren’t allowed to easily spread tips around, and as a result, they tend to to exacerbate many of the inequities in our culture at the same time that they make it hard to count on a fair...
Infinite Scroll
Infinite Scroll x GiveDirectly Read to the end for an AI cokehead
2 weeks ago
Seth's Blog
Velocity and possibility The art of project management includes the dance between velocity and possibility. If you describe...
9 months ago
20
9 months ago
The art of project management includes the dance between velocity and possibility. If you describe the outcome with specificity and remove as many variables as possible, you’ll get the work done with more speed, higher reliability and less cost. That velocity, though, might...
Seth's Blog
The lonely zone For many, the goal is to be the deciding vote, the donation that gets a cause over the goal, the...
a year ago
51
a year ago
For many, the goal is to be the deciding vote, the donation that gets a cause over the goal, the person who counts. And often, we enjoy piling on. Once the cause or fashion or tech is clearly working, it’s easy and fun to say “me too.” More rare, more vulnerable and more...
Open Culture
The Real Reason Why Music Is Getting Worse: Rick Beato Explains Earlier this month, a North Carolina man was charged with generating songs using an...
3 months ago
19
3 months ago
Earlier this month, a North Carolina man was charged with generating songs using an artificial-intelligence system and configuring bots to stream them automatically, thus racking up some $10 million in illegal royalties. Though that amount no doubt startles many of us, in this...
Handprinted - Blog
Designing a Repeat Block by Hand Visualising what your design will look like when printed can be the hardest thing about designing a...
a year ago
49
a year ago
Visualising what your design will look like when printed can be the hardest thing about designing a repeat pattern. We have a good method for sketching out your initial design to see how it will work when it has been printed. For this project, we will be using a mounted lino...
Stat Significant
The Rise and (Overstated) Fall of Radio. A Statistical Analysis Examining radio's rapid adoption and surprising cultural endurance.
a week ago
Prolost
Introducing Prolost Beta Prolost Beta is a new subscription offering on the Prolost Store. It's an occasional email from me...
over a year ago
9
over a year ago
Prolost Beta is a new subscription offering on the Prolost Store. It's an occasional email from me containing a download or a link to something cool I'm working on, that's not quite ready to become a product yet. Or maybe ever. This will most often be Lightroom presets or...
Blog - Mac Pierce
+ / - , Actualization Reposting some writing I did a while back on the subject of how additive manufacturing is...
over a year ago
49
over a year ago
Reposting some writing I did a while back on the subject of how additive manufacturing is necessarily a destructive process.
Open Culture
Hear Edgar Allan Poe’s Horror Stories Read by Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, James Earl Jones,... Here on Halloween of 2024, we have a greater variety of scary stories — and arguably, a much scarier...
a month ago
21
a month ago
Here on Halloween of 2024, we have a greater variety of scary stories — and arguably, a much scarier variety of scarier stories — to choose from than ever before. But whatever their relevance to the specific lives we may live and the specific dreads we may feel today, how many...
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
13
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....
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
20
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
The landlord and the creative coach The conflict is real. “Jean-Michel [Basquiat] called,” Mr. Warhol wrote in his diary on Sept. 5,...
4 months ago
39
4 months ago
The conflict is real. “Jean-Michel [Basquiat] called,” Mr. Warhol wrote in his diary on Sept. 5, 1983. “He’s afraid he’s just going to be a flash in the pan. And I told him not to worry, that he wouldn’t be. But then I got scared because he’s rented our building on Great Jones...
Open Culture
Thomas Edison’s Recordings of Leo Tolstoy: Hear the Voice of the Great Russian Novelist Born 196 years ago, Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy’s life (1828–1910) spanned a period of immense...
2 months ago
22
2 months ago
Born 196 years ago, Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy’s life (1828–1910) spanned a period of immense social, political, and technological change, paralleled in his own life by his radical shift from hedonistic nobleman to theologian, anarchist, and vegetarian pacifist. Though he did...
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
40
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....
Open Culture
Philip K. Dick Theorizes The Matrix in 1977, Declares That We Live in “A Computer-Programmed... In 1963, Philip K. Dick won the coveted Hugo Award for his novel The Man in the High Castle, beating...
6 months ago
62
6 months ago
In 1963, Philip K. Dick won the coveted Hugo Award for his novel The Man in the High Castle, beating out such sci-fi luminaries as Marion Zimmer Bradley and Arthur C. Clarke. Of the novel, The Guardian writes, “Nothing in the book is as it seems. Most characters are not what they...
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
49
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...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: 2023 Round Up! What a fantastic array of makers we've had featured on our Meet the Maker blog this year. We've put...
a year ago
50
a year ago
What a fantastic array of makers we've had featured on our Meet the Maker blog this year. We've put together a round up for you with all of the wonderful advice our makers have given for creatives at any stage of their creative practice. Pop your feet up, grab yourself a nice...
Seth's Blog
I’ve been doing it wrong all along This is one of the great benefits of learning. It’s also a common challenge. When we get better at...
a year ago
11
a year ago
This is one of the great benefits of learning. It’s also a common challenge. When we get better at something, it is preceded by a moment of incompetence. In that moment, we’re not exactly sure how to do it better, but we realize that the way we’d been doing it wasn’t nearly as...
The Last...
The Dove Sketches Beauty Scam the only way to win is not to play "Dude, are you doing the Dove ad now?  That was so April...
over a year ago
2
over a year ago
the only way to win is not to play "Dude, are you doing the Dove ad now?  That was so April 15th...?"  Yes, I realize I missed the meme train, but it's better to be right than part of the debate, especially when there is no debate, this is all a short con inside a 50+ year long...
Seth's Blog
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
11
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 grid of inquiry Expertise and firmly held beliefs don’t always go together. Here’s a simple XY grid to help us...
8 months ago
20
8 months ago
Expertise and firmly held beliefs don’t always go together. Here’s a simple XY grid to help us choose where to sit at whatever table we’re invited to: Plenty of well-trained professionals have earned the right to have strongly held beliefs. These convictions save them time and...
Seth's Blog
Stevie and Marvin When Marvin Gaye joined Motown, he went with his strengths. He wanted to work only in the studio. He...
a year ago
48
a year ago
When Marvin Gaye joined Motown, he went with his strengths. He wanted to work only in the studio. He hated touring and was sure he lacked the charisma and other gifts that made some musicians great onstage. This didn’t really fit the label’s strengths, and he struggled to find...
escape the algorithm
ETA's Best links of 2024 Relinking some Links links
2 hours ago
Open Culture
Ancient Egyptian Pyramids May Have Been Built with Water: A New Study Explore the Use of Hydraulic... Image by Charles Sharp, via Wikimedia Commons The compelling but less-than-straightforward question...
4 months ago
36
4 months ago
Image by Charles Sharp, via Wikimedia Commons The compelling but less-than-straightforward question of how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids has inspired all manner of theory and speculation, grounded to varying degrees in physical reality. Sheer manpower must have played...
Seth's Blog
The strategy sessions I’m workshopping a new book. For the last few months, I’ve been feverishly writing a book about...
7 months ago
69
7 months ago
I’m workshopping a new book. For the last few months, I’ve been feverishly writing a book about strategy. Strategy for individuals, small organizations and large ones as well. Strategy for someone seeking to make a difference, and strategy for people who do projects. Starting...
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
21
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
Small doses If you go to a health food store and buy some pills with selenium, colloidal silver or other...
a year ago
20
a year ago
If you go to a health food store and buy some pills with selenium, colloidal silver or other mysterious substances in them, it’s possible that they’ll make you feel a bit better. On the other hand, if you take a large dose, you’ll get sick or possibly die. In very small doses,...
Marian's Blog
Procedural pixelart generator I made a procedural pixelart generator that is inspired by the art style of the upcoming space...
over a year ago
2
over a year ago
I made a procedural pixelart generator that is inspired by the art style of the upcoming space adventure game No Man’s Sky. Check it out and generate your own pixelart: https://marian42.github.io/proceduralart/ The art generator is written in javascript and uses noise functions...
Stat Significant
Gender Representation in the Film Industry: A Statistical Analysis Tracking the evolution of gender representation in acting, directing, and producing.
4 months ago
Marian's Blog
Raspberry Pi powered fishtank My fishtank is now internet-connected. It is run by a Raspberry Pi that can do three things: Feed...
over a year ago
2
over a year ago
My fishtank is now internet-connected. It is run by a Raspberry Pi that can do three things: Feed the fish, switch the lights and take pictures. To feed the fish, the Raspberry Pi sends commands to an automatic fishfeeder that I modified. It can empty any container in any order....
Seth's Blog
Semantic algebra Doing math problems in your head is a skill. No one is born knowing the answer to, “You have 35...
7 months ago
54
7 months ago
Doing math problems in your head is a skill. No one is born knowing the answer to, “You have 35 coins in nickels and quarters. They add up to $4.15. How many quarters do you have?” but we can learn. And some people find it easier than others, but yes, we can learn. The same […]
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
24
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...
Infinite Scroll
On Consumption vs Production How to improve yourself and be happier, online or offline
a month ago
Seth's Blog
“No photos” That’s what it said at the florist shop. I’m guessing because ‘taking’ a photo sometimes feels like...
a year ago
50
a year ago
That’s what it said at the florist shop. I’m guessing because ‘taking’ a photo sometimes feels like a taking. The creativity, skill and effort that goes into making a distinctive arrangement might feel uncompensated when someone simply takes the work and posts it. This misses the...
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
20
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
The early adopter (and the dilettante) The early adopter bought an iPhone in 2008 and never looked back. They played a few games of...
a year ago
11
a year ago
The early adopter bought an iPhone in 2008 and never looked back. They played a few games of pickleball and then joined a club and bought the equipment. They picked up a new magazine on the newsstand and then subscribed, and they bought the new bestseller and then read the...
Seth's Blog
“I changed my mind” Who is “I” and how does that “I” have the power to change the mind in question? What actually...
a month ago
19
a month ago
Who is “I” and how does that “I” have the power to change the mind in question? What actually happens is this: If you are brave enough to have your mind changed, experience can do that. But it’s rarely as conscious an intentional act as we give ourselves credit for.
Open Culture
Marcus Aurelius’ 9 Rules for Living a Stoic Life: Presented by Ryan Holiday This week, the Guardian’s Zoe Williams profiled Ryan Holiday, a one-time public-relations whiz-kid...
a month ago
16
a month ago
This week, the Guardian’s Zoe Williams profiled Ryan Holiday, a one-time public-relations whiz-kid who’s reinvented himself over the past decade as a speaker for the dead: specifically Epictetus, Seneca, and above all Marcus Aurelius, the figureheads of the ancient school of...
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
6
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...
Marian's Blog
Raspberry Pi Projekte Was macht man eigentlich mit einem Raspberry Pi? Ich habe mir vor einem halben Jahr einen gekauft....
over a year ago
2
over a year ago
Was macht man eigentlich mit einem Raspberry Pi? Ich habe mir vor einem halben Jahr einen gekauft. Seitdem steht er hier auf meinem Schreibtisch und führt eine Reihe von Aufgaben aus. Hier eine Übersicht: http-Server für einige Webseiten auf dem Pi und die Daten auf meiner...
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
19
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...
Seth's Blog
Learning from the Amazon gift card snafu Millions of people got this email last night: It’s legitimate, but it’s a mistake. A mistake...
a year ago
36
a year ago
Millions of people got this email last night: It’s legitimate, but it’s a mistake. A mistake because: We can learn a lot about what not to do from this. First, if you make a mistake by email, fix it. Fix it by email AND fix it on your site. Let everyone who got the wrong […]
Seth's Blog
Avoid false proxies They’re toxic, wasteful and a tempting trap. It’s one of the most important topics in my new book....
a year ago
58
a year ago
They’re toxic, wasteful and a tempting trap. It’s one of the most important topics in my new book. (And here’s a new podcast on it). We need proxies. You’re not allowed to read the book before you buy it or taste the ketchup before you leave the store. We rely on labels and...
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
35
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
Non-fatal errors Most of our errors are in this category. Yesterday, The New York Times sent this newsletter to a...
8 months ago
14
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...
Anarchy Unfolds
Met Gala meets Hunger Games #Blockout and beyond
6 months ago
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
19
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
Meet the Maker: Cal Russell I'm an artist living in Edinburgh working mainly in papercutting and linocut printmaking. I studied...
a year ago
30
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...
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
53
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
Two sides of “a big deal” Many businesses thrive by helping people deal with projects that feel like they have high stakes. A...
a year ago
9
a year ago
Many businesses thrive by helping people deal with projects that feel like they have high stakes. A kid’s first haircut, the offsite storage of data backup, an upcoming family reunion, a medical procedure or the inscription on a sentimental piece of jewelry or watch. But, if the...
Open Culture
When the Grateful Dead Played at the Egyptian Pyramids, in the Shadow of the Sphinx (1978) In September of 1978, the Grateful Dead traveled to Egypt and played three shows at the Great...
5 months ago
43
5 months ago
In September of 1978, the Grateful Dead traveled to Egypt and played three shows at the Great Pyramid of Giza, with the Great Sphinx looking over their shoulders. It wasn’t the first time a rock band played in an ancient setting. Pink Floyd performed songs in the middle of the...
Seth's Blog
More vs. better If every building in the shopping district in a big city was owned by one landlord, rents would go...
a year ago
8
a year ago
If every building in the shopping district in a big city was owned by one landlord, rents would go up. So would the prices of everything sold. The landlord would keep a significant percentage of each store’s profits and innovation would suffer as well. Google’s monopoly is real....
Seth's Blog
The long-range forecast keeps shifting Exactly. That’s why it’s a forecast, not an accurate account of what’s going to happen in the...
a year ago
16
a year ago
Exactly. That’s why it’s a forecast, not an accurate account of what’s going to happen in the future. This seems axiomatic, but our desire for certainty keeps letting us down. The shifting of forecasts is evidence that they’re merely forecasts.
Seth's Blog
Possibility and opportunity We have the chance to build something that creates connection and generates value. On the other...
a year ago
9
a year ago
We have the chance to build something that creates connection and generates value. On the other hand, a system that diminishes agency and dignity is inherently unstable. When we seek to create scarcity and control and optimize output at the expense of our humanity, it may pay off...
Seth's Blog
The braid out of balance There are three strands, present for most everyone: Power (sometimes seen as status, or the...
a year ago
32
a year ago
There are three strands, present for most everyone: Power (sometimes seen as status, or the appearance of status) Safety (survival and peace of mind) Meaning (hope and the path forward) The changes in our media structure, public health and economy have pushed some people to...
Seth's Blog
The problem with ‘very’ It’s a lazy amplifier. “Very” can modify almost any adjective, but it might not deliver our intended...
a month ago
24
a month ago
It’s a lazy amplifier. “Very” can modify almost any adjective, but it might not deliver our intended message. Putting it in front of a positive like “charming” or “kind” or “generous” can make it clear that we mean what we said, but more so. But, placed in front of a description...
escape the algorithm
The Scan Artist What it means to copy the world
10 months ago
Anarchy Unfolds
Is Sexual Orientation Obsolete? Not yet, but maybe it can (and should) be soon
5 months ago
Seth's Blog
Two kinds of salad A useful metaphor for freelancers and small businesses. Every good restaurant should have two...
a year ago
54
a year ago
A useful metaphor for freelancers and small businesses. Every good restaurant should have two different salads on the menu. The boring salad is the regular kind. It’s there for people who know that they want a reliable, repeatable, unremarkable salad. It’s the safe part of a safe...
Seth's Blog
Generational shifts in punditry In 1970, when Walter Cronkite was narrating current events for the United States, he was 54 years...
8 months ago
33
8 months ago
In 1970, when Walter Cronkite was narrating current events for the United States, he was 54 years old. Hitchcock made his last film when he was 77. When there’s a limited number of slots for narrators to fill, they can stick around for a long time. One of the overlooked cultural...
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
22
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...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Something Wicked This Way Comes Theater Kids, BlueSky momentum, and Kai Cenat's big month
3 weeks ago
Blog - Mac Pierce
The Whys and Hows of the Opt-Out Cap. Why I built the Opt-Out Cap cap, and how it all came together.
over a year ago
Seth's Blog
Getting AI to do your work That’s the first step, certainly. If you don’t, your boss will. The second step is to take the time...
3 months ago
28
3 months ago
That’s the first step, certainly. If you don’t, your boss will. The second step is to take the time you’ve freed up and do work that the AI can’t do.
Seth's Blog
The 77% threshold When the gas car was first introduced, it couldn’t compete with horses. After all, we’d had...
a year ago
49
a year ago
When the gas car was first introduced, it couldn’t compete with horses. After all, we’d had thousands of years to optimize our systems around horseback, and this new technology was still nascent. Roads were rare, gas stations were scarce and the cars themselves were unreliable....
Seth's Blog
On reading it in a book Mike Schur, co-creator of Parks and Recreation, said of his career, “This is not stuff you can read...
a year ago
49
a year ago
Mike Schur, co-creator of Parks and Recreation, said of his career, “This is not stuff you can read in a book,” he said. “This is stuff that you have to experience.” I think it’s also useful to flip it around. There are things you will have trouble experiencing until you read...
Seth's Blog
Grandiosity as a form of hiding A business that says its mission is to, “reinvent local commerce to better serve our customers and...
a year ago
47
a year ago
A business that says its mission is to, “reinvent local commerce to better serve our customers and neighborhoods,” can spend a lot of time doing not much of anything before they realize that they’re not actually creating value. A non-profit that seeks to create “fairness and...
Seth's Blog
The four cohorts of the status quo The first group cares about the policy. They benefit from it. They’ve organized themselves around...
10 months ago
11
10 months ago
The first group cares about the policy. They benefit from it. They’ve organized themselves around it. The second group cares about stability. They have limited bandwidth, and they’re not particularly interested in reconsidering everything, all the time. The third group doesn’t...
Open Culture
Bruce Springsteen Endorses Kamala Harris & Makes the Case Against Donald Trump The Boss speaks the truth in a dinner. Find it on Instagram.
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
The color-coded wires Have you ever wondered what the wiring layout behind the control panels at Abbey Road studios was...
8 months ago
22
8 months ago
Have you ever wondered what the wiring layout behind the control panels at Abbey Road studios was like? Neither have I. The Beatles recorded some of their best work there, and I have no idea if it was a rat’s nest of tangled wires, or if each wire was labeled, coded and perfectly...
Seth's Blog
A labor of love That’s magical. To have the resources to expend labor on something that fills us with joy. If you’re...
3 months ago
31
3 months ago
That’s magical. To have the resources to expend labor on something that fills us with joy. If you’re lucky enough to encounter this, perhaps it makes sense not to confuse the issue by also trying to turn it into labor for maximum profit. When we focus on one, we often decrease...
Open Culture
How the Hugely Acclaimed Shōgun TV Series Makes Translation Interesting Many of us grew up seeing hardback copies of Shōgun on various domestic bookshelves. Whether their...
3 months ago
31
3 months ago
Many of us grew up seeing hardback copies of Shōgun on various domestic bookshelves. Whether their owners ever actually got through James Clavell’s famously hefty novel of seventeenth-century Japan is open to question, but they may well have seen the first television adaptation,...
Marian's Blog
Designing a Lego orrery I've always been a fan of the Lego Technic series, especially those models that have gears and...
6 months ago
2
6 months ago
I've always been a fan of the Lego Technic series, especially those models that have gears and cranks and moving parts. But it seems that Lego is shifting the focus of the Technic series away from functional models, so I had to take matters into my own hands. I think an orrery is...
Seth's Blog
The sportscar quadrants They apply to jobs, relationships, art projects and everything in between: The top right is the rare...
a year ago
49
a year ago
They apply to jobs, relationships, art projects and everything in between: The top right is the rare one–a car that goes fast but doesn’t feel like it’s on the edge. The hot rod is a car that is actually pretty safe, precisely because it doesn’t feel that way. You don’t have to...
Seth's Blog
The next one When asked what his favorite composition was, Duke Ellington said, “the next one.” This is the...
a year ago
10
a year ago
When asked what his favorite composition was, Duke Ellington said, “the next one.” This is the essence of the artistic process. When we’re in the liminal space between now and what is about to come, we’re fully alive.
Seth's Blog
“What will I tell my boss?” If you can’t answer that six-word question, you’re selling a commodity. Organizations don’t buy...
6 months ago
55
6 months ago
If you can’t answer that six-word question, you’re selling a commodity. Organizations don’t buy things, people do. And people at companies aren’t spending their own money, so this is the only question on the table. A cogent story, based on affiliation and status, one that sees...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Pia Bramley I’m an artist, illustrator and printmaker. Having left London after a decade of city life I now live...
a year ago
35
a year ago
I’m an artist, illustrator and printmaker. Having left London after a decade of city life I now live and work in The New Forest, squeezing in drawing and printing around caring for a three year old. How and where did you learn to print? I did my foundation at KIAD (formerly...
Ian Betteridge
Ten Blue Links, “stoically facing the end times” edition 1. When is AI coding not AI coding? You might have heard something about how Google now creates a...
a month ago
4
a month ago
1. When is AI coding not AI coding? You might have heard something about how Google now creates a quarter of its code using AI. But as with most things concerning everyone’s favourite hot tech, the devil is in the details. And the details, according to this poster on Hacker News,...
Seth's Blog
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
19
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
Culture, care and typography I’ve been fascinated by the way we set type since I did my first packaging forty years ago. It’s a...
a year ago
46
a year ago
I’ve been fascinated by the way we set type since I did my first packaging forty years ago. It’s a combination of tech, art, systems, culture and most of all, deciding to put in the effort to get it right. [This is a long post, it would have been a podcast, but it doesn’t really...
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
10
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...
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
18
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...
Blog - Amy Goodchild
Packing & Expanding Polygons : An ongoing exploration I've been packing lots of irregular polygons into the canvas, and discovered some interesting (and...
over a year ago
2
over a year ago
I've been packing lots of irregular polygons into the canvas, and discovered some interesting (and some annoying) geometry along the way.
Seth's Blog
Simple techniques for complex projects Warm up the machines that take a long time first. Stress test the go/no go parts of the project as...
a year ago
51
a year ago
Warm up the machines that take a long time first. Stress test the go/no go parts of the project as early as possible. If the cost is low, replace dependent processes with parallel ones. Do the difficult parts when energy is high and the budget hasn’t been depleted. Ship before...
Seth's Blog
Direct questions worth answering For everyone on the team… Do you care enough to do great work? Can we agree on what great work looks...
11 months ago
19
11 months ago
For everyone on the team… Do you care enough to do great work? Can we agree on what great work looks like? When the world changes, do we have a process to redefine great work? Do you have the tools you need to reach your goals? How could we create a system where great work […]
Seth's Blog
If “no” is not an option… Then neither is “yes.” Enrollment requires choice. PS one of my all-time favorite encore episodes of...
a year ago
10
a year ago
Then neither is “yes.” Enrollment requires choice. PS one of my all-time favorite encore episodes of Akimbo is out this week: How to get into a famous college.
Seth's Blog
Optimized or maximized? Engineers can optimize a bridge. There are some bridge designs that satisfy aesthetic, financial,...
10 months ago
16
10 months ago
Engineers can optimize a bridge. There are some bridge designs that satisfy aesthetic, financial, durability, safety and efficiency needs better than others. The work of optimization is finding the best set of tradeoffs. Maximization, on the other hand, seeks the solution that...
Prolost
Red Giant VFX Suite Today Red Giant has released a brand-new collection of plug-ins for visual effects compositing. It’s...
over a year ago
9
over a year ago
Today Red Giant has released a brand-new collection of plug-ins for visual effects compositing. It’s called VFX Suite, and some of these tools are things I’ve been dreaming about since computers were beige. There are nine plug-ins in the suite. You can learn about all of them at...
Open Culture
Maurice Sendak’s First Published Illustrations: Discover His Drawings for a 1947 Popular Science... McGraw-Hill/public domain; copy from the Niels Bohr Library & Archives Once upon a time, long before...
3 months ago
19
3 months ago
McGraw-Hill/public domain; copy from the Niels Bohr Library & Archives Once upon a time, long before Maurice Sendak illustrated Where The Wild Things Are (1963), he published, notes Ars Technica, “his first professional illustrations in a 1947 popular science book about nuclear...
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
56
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...
On the Arts
What are Liminal Spaces? And why are they so popular? “Liminal spaces” have become trendy in recent years, especially on TikTok, Tumblr, and YouTube. But...
a year ago
12
a year ago
“Liminal spaces” have become trendy in recent years, especially on TikTok, Tumblr, and YouTube. But what makes a space liminal? And why are they so popular lately?