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Seth's Blog
Credulous Where do con men come from? There are three conditions that need to be met: First, there needs to be...
8 hours ago
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8 hours ago
Where do con men come from? There are three conditions that need to be met: First, there needs to be rising societal pressure to get ahead, cut the line and find a win. Second, there needs to be people willing to set aside their ethical principles to take advantage of others in...
Not Boring by Packy...
Hyperlegible 002: Utsav Mamoria How to live an intellectually rich life
yesterday
Seth's Blog
Division is easier than connection But connection is where the value lies. Connected, resilient communities create possibility and...
yesterday
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yesterday
But connection is where the value lies. Connected, resilient communities create possibility and forward motion. Division is satisfying in the short run, and it might even draw a crowd. But the only useful reason to disconnect is if it opens up the chance to increase connection...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Ghibli-fy Everything Plus: Elon's fake numbers and a Good Shrek Prediction
2 days ago
Seth's Blog
“Be yourself” Really? Which self? The self you were when you were two years old, almost out of diapers? The self...
2 days ago
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2 days ago
Really? Which self? The self you were when you were two years old, almost out of diapers? The self you were when you were screaming with the fans at the big game? The self you were after a long night? How about this: Become the self you’d be proud to be. Hang out with people […]
Seth's Blog
Toward leggerio We might not seek it out often enough in our work. It’s a musical term, but we can use it too. The...
3 days ago
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3 days ago
We might not seek it out often enough in our work. It’s a musical term, but we can use it too. The light touch. A way to make a sound without making a commotion. Delicate and graceful. Showing up with care and with just enough extra, but not more than that. see also: sprezzatura
Infinite Scroll
How the Internet Changed Gen Z Humor "Soup Time", says Standing Frog
4 days ago
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #137 Mitochondria, Image Generation, Nobels, Vast, Common Sense, AI Lifeguards, Tina He
4 days ago
Seth's Blog
Obvious vs perhaps “Obvious” closes the door to inquiry. “Perhaps” opens it.
4 days ago
Handprinted - Blog
Neocolor Pastels for Mono Screen Printing Monoprinting using an open screen is a wonderfully creative way of using your screen printing...
5 days ago
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5 days ago
Monoprinting using an open screen is a wonderfully creative way of using your screen printing equipment for speedy, painterly prints. Neocolor Pastels are a great material to use when mono screen printing - you can draw directly onto the mesh and print your drawing through the...
Seth's Blog
The name doesn’t matter (that much) Busy people in important organizations waste a lot of time naming things. It could be that once a...
5 days ago
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5 days ago
Busy people in important organizations waste a lot of time naming things. It could be that once a name is good enough, you’re done. That’s certainly true for the logo. Nike is hard to pronounce. Starbucks is named after an obscure character in a mostly unreadable book. Apple is...
Stat Significant
Which Countries Have the Most Unique Taste in Music? A Statistical Analysis Which nations have the most distinct music tastes?
6 days ago
Not Boring by Packy...
Hyperlegible 001: Tina He Jevons Paradox: a personal perspective
6 days ago
Seth's Blog
The NSE confusions “Nobody wants this” is unlikely. “Somebody will like this” is almost certainly true. “Everyone needs...
6 days ago
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6 days ago
“Nobody wants this” is unlikely. “Somebody will like this” is almost certainly true. “Everyone needs this” is a trap. The work begins with finding the right somebodies, while ignoring the imaginary everyone. Scale is rarely the first signal of important work.
Handprinted - Blog
Meet The Maker: Tina Hagger I'm Tina Hagger, otherwise known as haggytea, a Printmaker based in Faversham, Kent, England. I have...
6 days ago
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6 days ago
I'm Tina Hagger, otherwise known as haggytea, a Printmaker based in Faversham, Kent, England. I have been making linocut prints for about ten years now, and have begun making Tetra Pak prints in the past two years. I make my own work to sell and I also deliver workshops.  I'm...
Not Boring by Packy...
Hyperlegibility Trading Secrets for Attention
a week ago
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Idiot Plots Plus! Gavin's podcast, morning routines, and a good chickpea post
a week ago
Seth's Blog
Project ownership (equity and equity) Since the days of Atari and Apple, the culture of Silicon Valley has been based on the idea of...
a week ago
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a week ago
Since the days of Atari and Apple, the culture of Silicon Valley has been based on the idea of programmers and early employees owning equity in the startups they took a chance on. The media is always happy to write about folks who took a shot on stock options and did very well...
Seth's Blog
The second time through One way to understand creative work is to think about the time and effort required to do something...
a week ago
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a week ago
One way to understand creative work is to think about the time and effort required to do something the first time versus doing it again. A novel might take five years to write. Retyping it takes a day. A company could easily expend 10,000 hours of effort before launching a new...
Seth's Blog
Picky or particular? A picky customer is oppositional. Whatever you offer, they want something (slightly) different. A...
a week ago
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a week ago
A picky customer is oppositional. Whatever you offer, they want something (slightly) different. A particular customer is easy to delight. They tell you what they want, and that’s what they want. We get to choose who we’re here for.
Seth's Blog
Maybe it’s in how you tell it The plot of 2001: A Space Odyssey is pretty simple. You could write out a summary in three...
a week ago
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a week ago
The plot of 2001: A Space Odyssey is pretty simple. You could write out a summary in three paragraphs. That’s not what made it one of the most revered movies of all time, and also one of the most difficult to make. Blurting out the plot of what we’re offering seems like the...
escape the algorithm
Have you tried unplugging and plugging yourself back in again? A conversation with David Zvi Kalman
a week ago
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #136 Abundance, Nvidia GTC, Splashdown, Matic, Food Dyes, Biotech Commoditization
a week ago
Seth's Blog
Throat clearing Simply say it. The first minute of a speech, the first paragraph of a novel or the tuning of the...
a week ago
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a week ago
Simply say it. The first minute of a speech, the first paragraph of a novel or the tuning of the orchestra before they begin… The performance improves if we skip that part. Sometimes, our throat actually needs clearing. But most of the time, we’re hooked on a ritual that doesn’t...
Infinite Scroll
Midweek Scroll: Woke Puritanism Slack Espionage, Evil Scientists, and RIP Hamster Forums
a week ago
Seth's Blog
Ways to alter the structure Cutting Growing Grinding Pruning Irrigating Sanding Cultivating Grafting Pressuring Polishing...
a week ago
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a week ago
Cutting Growing Grinding Pruning Irrigating Sanding Cultivating Grafting Pressuring Polishing Shifting Feeding Bending Welding Celebrating Melting Burning It works better when we choose with intent.
Stat Significant
What's the Perfect Song Length? A Statistical Analysis Investigating the "ideal" song length, and whether such a thing exists.
a week ago
Seth's Blog
Waves and tides It’s easy to be distracted by the wave that’s crashing on the shore. On the other hand, the tide is...
a week ago
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a week ago
It’s easy to be distracted by the wave that’s crashing on the shore. On the other hand, the tide is inexorable. It’s the long-term trend, the one that is quietly happening, over time. Sometimes, a big wave comes along and we lose our focus. It’s urgent. But expecting and working...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet The Maker: Fei Fei I’m Fei, a printmaker and designer working in Beijing. I make cards, prints, and run workshops in...
a week ago
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a week ago
I’m Fei, a printmaker and designer working in Beijing. I make cards, prints, and run workshops in the city.  I have a day job as a brand designer, and I use my spare time to grow my printmaking practice.  Describe your printmaking process. I start with simple sketches in my head...
Infinite Scroll
Podcast: Abundance ft. Derek Thompson My other job besides writing here at Infinite Scroll is hosting The New Liberal Podcast, and this...
2 weeks ago
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2 weeks ago
My other job besides writing here at Infinite Scroll is hosting The New Liberal Podcast, and this week I’m sharing an episode I recorded with Derek Thompson of The Atlantic.
Seth's Blog
Predicting the past It’s not unusual to encounter conflicting weather reports. One site says it’s going to rain, the...
2 weeks ago
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2 weeks ago
It’s not unusual to encounter conflicting weather reports. One site says it’s going to rain, the other insists it won’t. On the other hand, you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. It’s sunny, right now, you can tell. A weather service that said it was...
Seth's Blog
You are a media theorist If you’ve ever caught a ball, you’re a physicist. You might not be trained in it, but your intuitive...
2 weeks ago
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2 weeks ago
If you’ve ever caught a ball, you’re a physicist. You might not be trained in it, but your intuitive sense of where the ball is going to land requires having a theory about gravity. And if you’ve ever taken aspirin for a headache, you’ve articulated a theory about medicine....
Seth's Blog
Asking for directions It hadn’t happened in such a long time that I hesitated to respond. As I was walking through town, a...
2 weeks ago
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2 weeks ago
It hadn’t happened in such a long time that I hesitated to respond. As I was walking through town, a driver pulled up, rolled down his window and said, “is this the way to Irvington?” We now take for granted that we’re unlikely to ever again be in a car and not know where we […]
Seth's Blog
Bad design might simply be obsolete design Perhaps you’ve encountered a sink with two taps, not one. One for hot, one for cold, without a...
2 weeks ago
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2 weeks ago
Perhaps you’ve encountered a sink with two taps, not one. One for hot, one for cold, without a chance to mix them before you scald or chill yourself. It seems absurd that the folks who figured out the technology to build sinks with running water couldn’t be bothered with the last...
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #135 Solar, LNG, SphereX, Newsom, Packy in Austin, TBPN
2 weeks ago
Seth's Blog
Decoding the Knock Knock situation Novels, movies, even consulting, are based on a knock knock business model. Tom Cruise made a movie,...
2 weeks ago
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2 weeks ago
Novels, movies, even consulting, are based on a knock knock business model. Tom Cruise made a movie, and you need to buy a ticket to see it. Jane Collins is an engineering professional and you need to pay to get their insight about how to fix your bridge. This 300-page...
Infinite Scroll
The Midweek Scroll Substack's growth, RedNote reversal, and MrBeast hitting the wall
2 weeks ago
Seth's Blog
The big sort The phone book was a groundbreaking innovation. For the first time, you could actually look up the...
2 weeks ago
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2 weeks ago
The phone book was a groundbreaking innovation. For the first time, you could actually look up the person you were seeking to reach. At about the same time, the department store arrived. You could actually have a shot at finding what you were hoping to buy. TV Guide was, at one...
Stat Significant
Which Movies Do People Love to Hate? A Statistical Analysis Which films and actors are famous for being bad?
2 weeks ago
Seth's Blog
Two kinds of instructions The more common, easier to execute sort: Instructions to remind people who already know what to do,...
2 weeks ago
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2 weeks ago
The more common, easier to execute sort: Instructions to remind people who already know what to do, what to do. The more essential and harder to create kind: Instructions for people who don’t know what to do. It’s a mistake to assume that just because you know all the steps, the...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet The Maker: Bethan Designs Hi! I’m Beth (Bethan) a printmaker who found a love for linocut relief printing. I’m based in a...
2 weeks ago
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2 weeks ago
Hi! I’m Beth (Bethan) a printmaker who found a love for linocut relief printing. I’m based in a little village in the middle of Derbyshire.  Describe your printmaking process. My printmaking process probably isn’t as traditional as others, I draw my designs digitally and transfer...
Seth's Blog
Birthing tech No one knows the name of the maternity nurse who helped with the delivery of Marie Curie or...
3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
No one knows the name of the maternity nurse who helped with the delivery of Marie Curie or Esperanza Spaulding. You might grow up to be a genius, but the team that helped your mom give birth don’t have to be geniuses–they simply have to be pretty good at their craft. The same is...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Vance Memes Plus: Media Literacy (gone) and Production (still here)
3 weeks ago
Seth's Blog
Freelancer as centaur Freelancers looking to build a career have two good options: The lousy options are to insist that...
3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
Freelancers looking to build a career have two good options: The lousy options are to insist that you don’t use AI, but to be slower, more expensive and not as good as the AI option. Or to do tasks that an AI assigns you. Hiring an AI to work for you and getting very good […]
Seth's Blog
The tactics trap You have a strategy. Perhaps you didn’t even choose it but you have one… and it’s not working. The...
3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
You have a strategy. Perhaps you didn’t even choose it but you have one… and it’s not working. The dominant question is, “what do I do now?” Which tactic do we use? How do we get the word out? How do we close this sale, solve the problem and succeed? Perhaps we should look to […]
Seth's Blog
Worst possible While it’s tempting to compare suffering, inconvenience, unfairness or general no-goodness, it’s not...
3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
While it’s tempting to compare suffering, inconvenience, unfairness or general no-goodness, it’s not helpful. Someone else’s trauma doesn’t diminish yours. In fact, when we can find the space to see that others have their own mess to deal with, it opens the door for forward...
Anarchy Unfolds
Is anarchy compatible with modern society? Problems of scale and shape in imagining the futures
3 weeks ago
Seth's Blog
“I don’t care” This is difficult. Care requires time and effort, and we can’t care about everything, all the way,...
3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
This is difficult. Care requires time and effort, and we can’t care about everything, all the way, all the time. If you’re prepared to care about every element of your work, then you also have to decide to not care about something else. Because caring equally about everything...
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #134 Blue Ghost, Starlink, Roche’s SBX, Wooly Mice, Female Brains, Tardigrades
3 weeks ago
Seth's Blog
Specific It’s one thing to say that 7,000,000 people will die next year from smoking cigarettes. It’s a...
3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
It’s one thing to say that 7,000,000 people will die next year from smoking cigarettes. It’s a totally different thing to list those folks by name. When we confront risk, two things make it seem less real: We’re not sure who, and we’re not sure when. If you want to clarify our...
Infinite Scroll
Trapped in the Platforms Platform lock in and the Open Web
3 weeks ago
Seth's Blog
You might not get a third chance The first impression is vitally important. It positions us, establishes the tone of our relationship...
3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
The first impression is vitally important. It positions us, establishes the tone of our relationship and earns trust. But we’re human, and it’s unlikely that every first impression will be as useful as we’d like. Fortunately, people can speak up and let us know, particularly if...
Stat Significant
Which Songs Are Frequently Featured in Film and Television? A Statistical Analysis Which songs have become staples of film and television?
3 weeks ago
Not Boring by Packy...
Primer: From Software to Schools Watch now (47 mins) | To fix the school system, build schools
3 weeks ago
Seth's Blog
The opposite of a good idea… might also be a good idea. The hard part isn’t finding proof before you begin. The hard part is...
3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
might also be a good idea. The hard part isn’t finding proof before you begin. The hard part is beginning, knowing you might not succeed.
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Angela Chalmers Hi, my name is Angela Chalmers. I am a visual artist living in North Yorkshire. I work with...
3 weeks ago
15
3 weeks ago
Hi, my name is Angela Chalmers. I am a visual artist living in North Yorkshire. I work with cameraless photography techniques and the cyanotype process producing 2D and 3D artworks on paper and textiles. Cyanotype dates from the early days of photography and produces beautiful...
Seth's Blog
Across and within Media theory pioneer Harold Innis saw it 70 years ago: Some cultures and ideas are built to spread...
4 weeks ago
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4 weeks ago
Media theory pioneer Harold Innis saw it 70 years ago: Some cultures and ideas are built to spread across SPACE. And some spread across TIME. It’s the tension between space and time that lead to the rise and fall of societies and cultures, and they’re worth understanding. Clay...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Striking Out General strikes, Opinion Blunders, and Yassified Shrek
4 weeks ago
Seth's Blog
… or the highway Our instincts might not be as good as we hope. Going with your gut is thrilling. It’s personal,...
4 weeks ago
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4 weeks ago
Our instincts might not be as good as we hope. Going with your gut is thrilling. It’s personal, vulnerable and brave. And if it’s getting you what you seek, keep at it. But often, our instincts are a way of hiding, undermined by a lack of knowledge. If you haven’t done the...
Seth's Blog
Seeking metaphor This is how we learn. An apple is a lot like an orange, but you can eat the skin and it’s not as...
a month ago
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a month ago
This is how we learn. An apple is a lot like an orange, but you can eat the skin and it’s not as sweet. If you know what an orange is, you’re most of the way to understanding an apple. But the indoctrination of school pushes us to be literal. When people talk about apples […]
Seth's Blog
March is strategy month January feels like the start of the year, but there’s always a hangover from the holidays. In the...
a month ago
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a month ago
January feels like the start of the year, but there’s always a hangover from the holidays. In the northern Hemisphere, February is dark and dreary and we’re mostly hunkering down waiting for the short month to end. But March? Around the world, March can be a chance to get down to...
Seth's Blog
The Ikea metaphors
a month ago
Seth's Blog
But where are the secret recipes? Over the years, I’ve been sharing recipes as pages here on the blog, but never posting about them…...
a month ago
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a month ago
Over the years, I’ve been sharing recipes as pages here on the blog, but never posting about them… you only got the link if I sent it to you. Well, your wait is over. For those seeking non-obvious but delicious and light-on-their-feet recipes, here you go: (two new ones added,...
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #133 Pancreatic Cancer Vaccine, Restoring Hearing, Loyal, Atlas, Apple, Coinbase, Lunar Landers
a month ago
Seth's Blog
The lonely unicorn That’s not what usually happens. If there’s at least one unicorn in the world, it’s likely not the...
a month ago
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a month ago
That’s not what usually happens. If there’s at least one unicorn in the world, it’s likely not the only one. And if one can make a valid English word from seven Scrabble tiles, it’s likely that more than one word can be found. “Impossible” is a very large set of situations. But...
Seth's Blog
Getting precise about tolerance Tolerance is an engineering term. When the parts of a car are made to a low tolerance, that means...
a month ago
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a month ago
Tolerance is an engineering term. When the parts of a car are made to a low tolerance, that means that they fit perfectly. A modern Lexus is a better car than a 1976 Nova because relentless improvement means that the parts are more exact. Tolerance is a design term. When a system...
Handprinted - Blog
Offset Registration for Multi Block Linocuts Accurate registration can be difficult when printing multi-block linocuts. Offset printing will show...
a month ago
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a month ago
Accurate registration can be difficult when printing multi-block linocuts. Offset printing will show you exactly where your design will sit on each block, allowing you to cut a set of blocks that will print in perfect alignment.  Begin by preparing a registration board. This will...
Handprinted - Blog
Offset Registration for Multi Block Linocuts Accurate registration can be difficult when printing multi-block linocuts. Offset printing will show...
a month ago
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a month ago
Accurate registration can be difficult when printing multi-block linocuts. Offset printing will show you exactly where your design will sit on each block, allowing you to cut a set of blocks that will print in perfect alignment.  Begin by preparing a registration board. This will...
Infinite Scroll
MAGA as Master Morality How Nietzsche explains our Trumpist moment
a month ago
Stat Significant
How Many Episodes Should You Watch Before Quitting a TV Show? A Statistical Analysis When to quit a subpar TV show, according to the data.
a month ago
Seth's Blog
At the speed of judgment Getting to the conference in Santa Fe isn’t difficult. Someone will drive/fly you there. The hard...
a month ago
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a month ago
Getting to the conference in Santa Fe isn’t difficult. Someone will drive/fly you there. The hard part is deciding to go. And yet, it might take 8 hours to arrive. If they invented teleportation and offered it for free, it would be very clear that where we went would simply...
Seth's Blog
Long-term selfish (and the circles of us and now) Whenever we make a choice, we do our best. We make a decision based on our interests. In other...
a month ago
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a month ago
Whenever we make a choice, we do our best. We make a decision based on our interests. In other words, it’s selfish. So what makes a choice a selfish act worth addressing? There are two circles: the circle of us and the circle of now. A selfish toddler keeps both circles very...
Seth's Blog
Your project is important But that’s not why it’s your project. Lots of things are important. Countless problems need to be...
a month ago
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a month ago
But that’s not why it’s your project. Lots of things are important. Countless problems need to be solved, people need to be connected, a living needs to be made. But this work you’re doing now, the work you’re doing instead of everything else–it’s your project. When we talk about...
Seth's Blog
The Mona Lisa problem If you want to be a great painter, perhaps you could reverse engineer what made the Mona Lisa such...
a month ago
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a month ago
If you want to be a great painter, perhaps you could reverse engineer what made the Mona Lisa such an important painting. You could move to Italy. You could learn about shadows and light and technique. The problem is that the Mona Lisa isn’t the most famous painting in the world...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: BookTok Perverts Plus! Elon's mania, presidential crypto, and concerning turkey behavior
a month ago
Anarchy Unfolds
Is human society natural? On the human/nature divide and how to overcome it
a month ago
Seth's Blog
Repeat happy accidents Those three words unlock our understanding of innovation and of biological evolution. Successful...
a month ago
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a month ago
Those three words unlock our understanding of innovation and of biological evolution. Successful outcomes often follow unpredicted actions. If we allow ourselves to do things that might not work, we’re far more likely to discover the things that do. And then we can repeat them.
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #132 Curing Blindness, Genetic Womb Treatment, Evo 2, AI co-scientist, Topological Qubits, Robots
a month ago
Seth's Blog
But what’s it really for? An expensive watch isn’t purchased to tell time. We already know what time it is. The food at a...
a month ago
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a month ago
An expensive watch isn’t purchased to tell time. We already know what time it is. The food at a wedding isn’t really there to keep guests from going hungry. A cookie could do that. Our focus, energy and money are often spent on transactions that are disguised as something else....
Not Boring by Packy...
Who is Larry Ellison? Anton Troynikov's Guest Post on the "CEO of Everything"
a month ago
Seth's Blog
The best intern on the team A great intern brings positive energy, a relentless work ethic and doesn’t cost very much. They ask...
a month ago
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a month ago
A great intern brings positive energy, a relentless work ethic and doesn’t cost very much. They ask a lot of questions, and the most useful questions will help you see an existing situation with fresh eyes. Of course, you’ll expect them to make mistakes, and a professional needs...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet The Maker: Ian Phillips Hi, I’m Ian Phillips, a printmaker based in Mid Wales. I’m originally from Leicestershire and...
a month ago
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a month ago
Hi, I’m Ian Phillips, a printmaker based in Mid Wales. I’m originally from Leicestershire and studied illustration at Leicester Polytechnic. After graduation I attempted the life of a freelance Illustrator in London, but quite quickly, well after a few years, realised it wasn’t...
Infinite Scroll
Internet Book Club: 'Because Internet' How the internet is changing the English language
a month ago
Stat Significant
Which Old Movies Stand the Test of Time? A Statistical Analysis An exploration of "timeless" films.
a month ago
Seth's Blog
Confusing status with skill The tenured philosophy professor at Princeton might not even be half as effective a teacher as the...
a month ago
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a month ago
The tenured philosophy professor at Princeton might not even be half as effective a teacher as the adjunct at the community college. The head of surgery might be relatively better at meetings and politics than they are at actually helping patients. Having a lot of social media...
Seth's Blog
Playing billiards on a boat We take stability for granted, until it’s no longer there. Some art forms and enterprises benefit...
a month ago
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a month ago
We take stability for granted, until it’s no longer there. Some art forms and enterprises benefit from an unstable environment, where systems are in flux and the changes are unpredictable. Others are nearly impossible. How much priority do your investors, clients and employees...
Seth's Blog
16 minutes Some facts and assertions about healthcare (particularly in the US) and then an outline of a change...
a month ago
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a month ago
Some facts and assertions about healthcare (particularly in the US) and then an outline of a change agent that could improve health, perhaps dramatically. And so, a system that’s organized around treatments and status, that misallocates time and effort, causing stress for...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Killing the Internet Encryption dramas, baby mamas, Reddit paywalls and a wholesome AMA
a month ago
Seth's Blog
All of it, all at once The smartphone is the most expensive device most people own, and the one they use the most. Here’s...
a month ago
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a month ago
The smartphone is the most expensive device most people own, and the one they use the most. Here’s everything you can’t have, can’t afford and won’t get, right here. Here’s everyone you want to have an argument with, one click away. Here is every piece of bad news we can imagine,...
Seth's Blog
Time well spent Doing what? When we choose which job to apply for, what career to commit to, which business to...
a month ago
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a month ago
Doing what? When we choose which job to apply for, what career to commit to, which business to start, it might be worth a moment (or a few moments) to get at the heart of what a day well spent produces. What’s it for? Here are a few to get you started: It’s hard to […]
Seth's Blog
Ensemble stars Over the last 50 years, 167 different people have been part of the Saturday Night Live ensemble...
a month ago
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a month ago
Over the last 50 years, 167 different people have been part of the Saturday Night Live ensemble cast. Some of them went on to become comedy superstars, others lasted a less than a season and are fairly obscure in the cultural pantheon. But if you were tasked of creating an...
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #131 KM3NeT, PAC-MANN, Cost Physics, IVAS, QuEra
a month ago
Seth's Blog
“I’ve got your back” This is a complicated promise. It’s about commitment and connection and most of all, time. If we’re...
a month ago
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a month ago
This is a complicated promise. It’s about commitment and connection and most of all, time. If we’re saying that we’ll do what’s in our short-term interest and convenient, then there’s really no reason to say anything at all, since that’s what we usually do anyway. Instead, we’re...
Seth's Blog
“Usualing” This is not a real word, but it’s useful nonetheless. When we default to doing what we did without...
a month ago
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a month ago
This is not a real word, but it’s useful nonetheless. When we default to doing what we did without examining our options, we’re ‘usualing.’ It’s a helpful way to save time, because we can’t re-examine every possible option or we’d never get out the door in the morning. We wear...
Handprinted - Blog
Block Printing Registration Using Measure Pattern Tape and Madder, Cutch and Co Inks Measure Pattern Tape is a really useful bit of kit for your printmaking projects. This adhesive...
a month ago
20
a month ago
Measure Pattern Tape is a really useful bit of kit for your printmaking projects. This adhesive ruler tape can be stuck onto your printing surface or board to help lay out your designs accurately. It's self-adhesive and we've even found it can be lifted up and re-used a couple of...
Stat Significant
Do People Actually Hate Coldplay? A Statistical Analysis Examining Coldplay's confusing cultural reputation.
a month ago
Not Boring by Packy...
Long Questions/Short Answers Questions reshape reality
a month ago
Seth's Blog
Two kinds of creative feedback If you’re the client or the boss, it’s possible that someone is going to create creative work for...
a month ago
18
a month ago
If you’re the client or the boss, it’s possible that someone is going to create creative work for you. Sooner or later, you’ll get something that doesn’t work. You might want to explain why it’s not good enough. Perhaps you can demonstrate how it doesn’t fit the genre or meet...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Bro Economy Everywhere Plus! Oral Traditions, Woke Chili, and Montoya
a month ago
Seth's Blog
Noticed There’s a delay between the time something goes wrong and when we notice it. Sometimes, it can take...
a month ago
32
a month ago
There’s a delay between the time something goes wrong and when we notice it. Sometimes, it can take years. Part of the art of project management is noticing things more quickly. And it helps to acknowledge that by the time we notice something, it’s probably too late to easily...
Seth's Blog
A little faster than you What’s the best speed to drive? I was caught in a snowstorm the other day. Visibility was low, so I...
a month ago
18
a month ago
What’s the best speed to drive? I was caught in a snowstorm the other day. Visibility was low, so I was going about 25 mph. Someone passed me on the highway, doing 30. Not 55 or 75, but fast enough to take a risk and pass the rest of traffic. Do that often enough and […]
Anarchy Unfolds
Did we really just get taken over by fascists in less than a month? Red Round-up #2
a month ago
Seth's Blog
The two-minute warning Once life gets busy, it’s sort of inevitable that we begin to sort the work to be done. And the most...
a month ago
31
a month ago
Once life gets busy, it’s sort of inevitable that we begin to sort the work to be done. And the most natural sort is to focus on the urgent. After all, if that plate is about to break, it’s hard to watch it fall when you’ve decided to work on something less urgent instead. Which...
Infinite Scroll
JD Vance and Vice Signaling Abandon your values for power and profit
a month ago
Seth's Blog
Rainy day surfer Of course you’re going to get wet, that’s part of the sport. And yet, only the hard core surfers...
a month ago
38
a month ago
Of course you’re going to get wet, that’s part of the sport. And yet, only the hard core surfers show up in the rain. If your project is about making things better, organizing the disorganized, connecting the disconnected and building community, you shouldn’t wait until the...
Seth's Blog
Figs, ivy, silphium and of course, commerce It’s just a week until Valentine’s Day, a multi-billion dollar spending jamboree. As often happens,...
a month ago
14
a month ago
It’s just a week until Valentine’s Day, a multi-billion dollar spending jamboree. As often happens, the people we depend on for much of it get the short end of the deal, but a little mindful planning can make a difference. The heart shape we associate with love came from leaves....
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #130 CT-179, Deep Research, NanoCas, Replit Agent, Go Birds
a month ago
Infinite Scroll
13 Things I Learned Reading a 225 Page Report About the Gaming Industry A quick poll for readers before we get started - you may have noticed there’s a lot of politics...
a month ago
Seth's Blog
Own it and label it This takes guts, and hustlers are afraid to do so. Thirty years ago, when the avalanche of email...
a month ago
24
a month ago
This takes guts, and hustlers are afraid to do so. Thirty years ago, when the avalanche of email spam was on the horizon, I proposed that any commercial email should have a $ in the subject line. A simple way for email programs to filter it out if you’re not looking for it....
Seth's Blog
Polishing the problem I won’t walk away. I won’t ease any of the constraints. I won’t forgive. I won’t get a coach. It’s...
a month ago
27
a month ago
I won’t walk away. I won’t ease any of the constraints. I won’t forgive. I won’t get a coach. It’s personal. I don’t want to talk about it. I will think about this often. I can add another problem just like this one. I can do this. Persistent perfect problems are a great way to...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Dave Buonaguidi Dave Buonaguidi, AKA Real Hackney Dave is a Hackney-based artist who combines the visual and verbal...
a month ago
20
a month ago
Dave Buonaguidi, AKA Real Hackney Dave is a Hackney-based artist who combines the visual and verbal language of advertising and propaganda with unique imagery and materials of found objects and ephemera. In a previous life, Dave worked in advertising for over 35 years, founding...
escape the algorithm
Announcing the Escape the Algorithm ᵐⁱᶜʳᵒsupporter Program Welcoming tiny acts of codependence
a month ago
Stat Significant
How Do Music Listening Habits Change With Age? A Statistical Analysis How does music listening change as we grow older?
a month ago
Seth's Blog
Clarity about the benefits Work on climate problems is actually about efficiency. It’s easier and cheaper to avoid sloppiness...
a month ago
22
a month ago
Work on climate problems is actually about efficiency. It’s easier and cheaper to avoid sloppiness and side effects than it is to clean the mess up later. And energy sources that don’t burn become cheaper over time. The investment in getting started pays off in cost, health and...
Seth's Blog
Muscling your way through When there’s an overwhelming amount of incoming, it’s possible to bear down and simply get through...
a month ago
21
a month ago
When there’s an overwhelming amount of incoming, it’s possible to bear down and simply get through it. 200 emails because of a product launch. A project goes viral and there are a lot of fires to put out. A deadline is imminent and it’s going to be a long night… But when the...
Prolost
Cameras, Phones, and Log — What’s the Juice? I know, I know, another video about shooting video in log on iPhones? I promise I’ll move on to...
a month ago
25
a month ago
I know, I know, another video about shooting video in log on iPhones? I promise I’ll move on to other topics, but two events happening in one week pushed me into making this video: Samsung adding log to the Galaxy s25 Ultra My brother-in-law texting me “Do you have a fix for...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: The Deep State Cometh /r/FedNews, DeepSeek hot takes, and a brutal menswear guy post
a month ago
Seth's Blog
Halfway projects Half a canoe is worth less than no canoe at all. On the other hand, eating half a pear is much...
a month ago
17
a month ago
Half a canoe is worth less than no canoe at all. On the other hand, eating half a pear is much better than not having one. You might get 85% of the value from only part of the pear. Some projects only benefit us when they’re finished all the way. Knowing this in advance is […]
Seth's Blog
To be in charge Every system, every bureaucracy and every organization creates boundaries. Sooner or later, we say,...
a month ago
21
a month ago
Every system, every bureaucracy and every organization creates boundaries. Sooner or later, we say, “I’d love to fix this, but I’m not in charge of that.” Perhaps, though, we’ve been conditioned to say this even when it’s not true. Because being in charge means being responsible,...
Seth's Blog
“Can’t complain” (but it might be worth considering) Complaining is a cultural phenomenon, but it’s particularly prevalent in societies with a consumer...
a month ago
22
a month ago
Complaining is a cultural phenomenon, but it’s particularly prevalent in societies with a consumer culture (the customer is always right) and those where comfort is coming to be expected. Given all the complaining we do (about the weather, leadership, products, service and...
Anarchy Unfolds
The rich don't have authority On the myth of power and money
a month ago
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #129 Supersonic Boom, DeepSeek, Science Corp, Heart Allografts, New Space, Meter
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
What’s for breakfast? Peter Drucker didn’t say “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” but reality rarely gets in the way...
2 months ago
20
2 months ago
Peter Drucker didn’t say “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” but reality rarely gets in the way of a good quote. But what does it mean? I think what ‘not Drucker’ meant was that MBA tactics will always be subverted by the power of systems, and that systems disguise themselves...
Not Boring by Packy...
Meter: The Internet Utility A Deep Dive on Vertical Integration, Networking, and How to Win the Internet
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
What sort of progress? Nothing stays still. Relative to the rest of the world, even something that’s not moving is...
2 months ago
22
2 months ago
Nothing stays still. Relative to the rest of the world, even something that’s not moving is changing. It’s tempting to talk about not making fast enough progress. But it’s far more useful to ask which direction we’re progressing. Often, people will point to the velocity of the...
Infinite Scroll
The UnPopulist: Abundance Politics This week I’m in The UnPopulist with an article about the politics of the abundance agenda:
2 months ago
Stat Significant
Are More Celebrities Dying? A Statistical Analysis Are more famous figures dying, and if so, why?
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
Organizing for urgent There are many ways to prioritize our time and focus, but the easiest and most vivid way is to do...
2 months ago
23
2 months ago
There are many ways to prioritize our time and focus, but the easiest and most vivid way is to do the urgent things first. If we wait until a house plant is sick before we take care of it, though, it’s too late. Deadlines, loud requests and last-minute interventions are crude...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: All Hail New Media Censorship, platforms, and exactly who are we empowering?
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
Analysis = Facts + Interpretation If you fail to show us the facts, it’s difficult to accept your analysis. While it’s tempting to...
2 months ago
27
2 months ago
If you fail to show us the facts, it’s difficult to accept your analysis. While it’s tempting to simply share an interpretation of what’s happening, credibility and persuasion are based on showing your work.
cabel.com
The Snacks & Cereals of 2024 Welcome to 2025. The vibes are a little heavy, so, I’m trying very hard to focus on the things I can...
2 months ago
28
2 months ago
Welcome to 2025. The vibes are a little heavy, so, I’m trying very hard to focus on the things I can control — and yes, that includes remembering to share things that delight me like the latest #new snacks and cereals I find at the grocery store!! Yeah. It’s an age-old, very-odd...
Seth's Blog
Getting clear about brand value Consulting firms rank brands on value. Marketers promise to increase it. But brand value has little...
2 months ago
122
2 months ago
Consulting firms rank brands on value. Marketers promise to increase it. But brand value has little to do with whether a company is famous or even profitable. The accurate measure of brand value is the premium that consumers will spend over the generic. What time, money or risk...
Anarchy Unfolds
To beat fascism, tell better stories On false narratives and the stories we need to tell
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
Checking all the boxes The simplest way forward is to see which boxes your target market has and then check all of them....
2 months ago
33
2 months ago
The simplest way forward is to see which boxes your target market has and then check all of them. Unfortunately #1: The audience doesn’t publish their actual list of boxes, they conceal many of them. Unfortunately #2: They don’t all have the same boxes. Unfortunately #3: If it...
Seth's Blog
Expertise and credentials In the ideal world, credentials would be awarded to all experts, and withdrawn from all charlatans....
2 months ago
28
2 months ago
In the ideal world, credentials would be awarded to all experts, and withdrawn from all charlatans. But they don’t always line up as neatly as that. An expert is someone who can keep a promise. Point to the results that demonstrate your skill and understanding and commitment and...
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #128 Stargate, Operator, Unleashing American Energy and Crypto, Synthetic Eukaryotic Genome, Zipline,...
2 months ago
1
2 months ago
Stargate, Operator, Unleashing American Energy and Crypto, Synthetic Eukaryotic Genome, Zipline, Contrary Tech Trends, Sacca on Ferriss
Seth's Blog
The weird arithmetic of coordinated action Twenty handwritten letters received by someone in power are worth a hundred times as much as two...
2 months ago
81
2 months ago
Twenty handwritten letters received by someone in power are worth a hundred times as much as two letters. And when that becomes a hundred different personal letters, increasing in volume, from different people, delivered to an organization every week for a year… it’s worth a...
Infinite Scroll
The Unbearable Cynicism of Trump 2.0 Who cares, nothing matters, cry about it
2 months ago
Stat Significant
Which Music Was Underappreciated in Its Time? A Statistical Analysis What music slipped through the cracks but eventually found its audience?
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
Honesty about better “I don’t want to learn to be better,” is something we rarely admit. We don’t say: I don’t want to...
2 months ago
29
2 months ago
“I don’t want to learn to be better,” is something we rarely admit. We don’t say: I don’t want to learn statistics, even though it will dramatically improve my decision making. I don’t want to learn a new programming language, even though it will get me a better job. I don’t want...
Handprinted - Blog
CMYK Screen Printing! CMYK screen printing is a great way of bringing both your photographic and coloured art images to...
2 months ago
36
2 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.  To start, you will need to...
Not Boring by Packy...
Most Human Wins A Strategy Memo for Humans, 2025 and Beyond
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
Trusting AI For generations, humans have been entrusting their lives to computers. Air Traffic Control,...
2 months ago
30
2 months ago
For generations, humans have been entrusting their lives to computers. Air Traffic Control, statistical analysis of bridge resilience, bar codes for drug delivery, even the way stop lights are controlled. But computers aren’t the same as the LLMs that run on them. Claude.ai is my...
Seth's Blog
Kinds of incompetence The second worst is the unaware sort. The work doesn’t meet spec, and we don’t even realize it. The...
2 months ago
56
2 months ago
The second worst is the unaware sort. The work doesn’t meet spec, and we don’t even realize it. The worst is uncaring. We know the work doesn’t meet spec, but we don’t bother to fix it. But there are other varieties, and some are worth seeking out: There’s the incompetence of...
Seth's Blog
Lulled Selfish is easy. Short term is easy. Complacent is easy. Turning our head and ignoring the problem...
2 months ago
39
2 months ago
Selfish is easy. Short term is easy. Complacent is easy. Turning our head and ignoring the problem is easy. Going along to get along is easy. But easy isn’t the point. Better is. Challenging the status quo is difficult, and worth it. Happy Birthday.
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: The Ban Cometh TikTok banned, RedNote reversal, TrumpCoin and Gjörfbunkle
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
Don’t steal the revelation Learning is a journey of incompetence. First, we realize that there’s something we don’t know. Then...
2 months ago
29
2 months ago
Learning is a journey of incompetence. First, we realize that there’s something we don’t know. Then we see that we’re going to be better at it, and we’re not good at it yet. Then we figure it out and we’ve succeeded. Repeat. When we pre-process the information and simply test...
Seth's Blog
Memo to the future The experience of the now is often more vivid than a distant memory. As a result, we can make...
2 months ago
36
2 months ago
The experience of the now is often more vivid than a distant memory. As a result, we can make decisions in the future without enough regard for how we felt the last time we were in a similar situation. Here’s a simple hack that can inform your decisions… You know someone who...
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #127 New Glenn, Mechazilla, Moon, Varda W-2, Wooly Mammoths, AI Tutors, MatterGen, Anduril
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
Embracing externalities Freedom is something we desire. The freedom to choose, to speak up, to produce, to follow our...
2 months ago
38
2 months ago
Freedom is something we desire. The freedom to choose, to speak up, to produce, to follow our passions and our dreams. And organizations in search of efficiency, shortcuts or profits often argue for freedom as well. The freedom to organize their production and to go to market...
escape the algorithm
So you want to escape the algorithm A primer
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
Building a process culture Process is the investment we make in inefficiency now to prevent errors from costing us later. Jet...
2 months ago
34
2 months ago
Process is the investment we make in inefficiency now to prevent errors from costing us later. Jet airlines are the safest form of travel ever created, largely because of the inefficient process that we put in place. They’re over tested and over staffed, with checklists and...
Handprinted - Blog
Kathryn Desforges: Meet The Maker I'm Kathryn Desforges, a Devon-born, Yorkshire-based artist with a passion for printmaking, process,...
2 months ago
38
2 months ago
I'm Kathryn Desforges, a Devon-born, Yorkshire-based artist with a passion for printmaking, process, and material experimentation. I specialise in etching, lithography and woodcut, and alongside my studio practice, my career as a printmaking technician and tutor intertwines with...
Stat Significant
What Are the Greatest Sequels of All Time? A Statistical Analysis What are the best movie sequels, and why?
2 months ago
Infinite Scroll
Stop Coping About TikTok It's proving that it deserves the ban
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
Good advice The cult of consulting suggests that if you simply had better advice from someone who knew more than...
2 months ago
35
2 months ago
The cult of consulting suggests that if you simply had better advice from someone who knew more than you, your problems could be solved. Generally, the advice isn’t really the hard part. There’s endless good advice just a click away. The art is in creating the conditions for...
Seth's Blog
Annoyed Annoyance is the inflammation that occurs after a mild emotional injury or wound. Like a physical...
2 months ago
31
2 months ago
Annoyance is the inflammation that occurs after a mild emotional injury or wound. Like a physical inflammation, if it’s not cared for it can become infected. The difference is that an annoyance is easier for us to control. We can invest the energy to build a habit about what we...
Seth's Blog
Decisions and choices Decisions are easy, choices are hard. A good decision is our best analysis of the facts, options and...
2 months ago
34
2 months ago
Decisions are easy, choices are hard. A good decision is our best analysis of the facts, options and risks. If it’s too close to call, flip a coin, because it’s too close to call. On the other hand, a choice involves understanding our priorities, evaluating our preference for...
Anarchy Unfolds
We Don't Need Conspiracies The real stories behind our problems are scary enough
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
“That will never work” Every successful SNL sketch, every bestselling book, every landslide-winning candidate… every single...
2 months ago
31
2 months ago
Every successful SNL sketch, every bestselling book, every landslide-winning candidate… every single one… had skeptics. Someone in the writer’s room, or on the editorial board or even an investor looked at what was on offer and said, “no.” Not just, “I’m sorry, this doesn’t match...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Zuck Kisses the Ring Plus! A collection of LA wildfire takes
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
Slow down to speed up Almost all car crashes would be avoided if the driver were just going a bit slower. (That’s why it’s...
2 months ago
34
2 months ago
Almost all car crashes would be avoided if the driver were just going a bit slower. (That’s why it’s more accurate to call them “crashes” and not “accidents.”) That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have bold plans. That’s essential. It’s the last-second shortcuts that get us into...
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #126 Sana Biotechnology, Memory Processes, METAGENE-1, McDermitt Caldera, More Speech, Enron Egg,...
2 months ago
1
2 months ago
Sana Biotechnology, Memory Processes, METAGENE-1, McDermitt Caldera, More Speech, Enron Egg, Telepathy Tapes x Jesse Michels
Seth's Blog
The magic of the commons Sheep are not like ideas. 200 years ago, William Foster Lloyd began pointing out that if land is...
2 months ago
29
2 months ago
Sheep are not like ideas. 200 years ago, William Foster Lloyd began pointing out that if land is shared, ranchers will all have an incentive to overgraze their sheep–if they don’t, the thinking goes, the others will. Each farmer expands until the commons is ruined. And this...
Seth's Blog
The problem with marketing puffery It costs more than you think. Last month, I hit the old stock on the Avery labels in my office...
2 months ago
30
2 months ago
It costs more than you think. Last month, I hit the old stock on the Avery labels in my office cabinet. I had a bunch of things to send out, and off they went. It turns out, who knew, that old labels stop sticking. It’s entirely possible some of my really important packages never...
Handprinted - Blog
Meet the Maker: Julia Triay Hi! I'm Julia Triay, I'm an illustrator and printmaker from Mallorca, Spain based in Norwich. I...
2 months ago
51
2 months ago
Hi! I'm Julia Triay, I'm an illustrator and printmaker from Mallorca, Spain based in Norwich. I moved to Norwich 8 years ago to study illustration. I fell in love with this fine city and made it my home. I recently quit my job to become a full time illustrator, which has been a...
Stat Significant
Which Celebrities Popularized (or Tarnished) Baby Names? A Statistical Analysis Which public figures impacted baby naming trends?
2 months ago
Infinite Scroll
Why Are So Many Online Trads Still Single? We asked single trads to tell us their secrets
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
Situational spending Money is a story. But money is also an exchangeable commodity, valued by different people in...
2 months ago
36
2 months ago
Money is a story. But money is also an exchangeable commodity, valued by different people in different ways. And time is the wildcard. Situational spending is a trap that seduces us into forgetting that time passes and debt (or assets) remain. A couple about to wed might not...
Seth's Blog
Busy-ness and leverage When I made breakfast this morning, I didn’t begin by making the blender. Someone else, a team with...
2 months ago
38
2 months ago
When I made breakfast this morning, I didn’t begin by making the blender. Someone else, a team with more skills, resources and scale, built the blender. I simply bought it. That seems obvious–no one expects a from-scratch baker to make their own baking powder. And yet, our...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Meta Swallows the Slop Plus: Elon's alter ego and Autistic Stew
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
The value of artifacts An artifact is an object that holds or signifies an idea. A book on paper is an artifact: it’s the...
2 months ago
34
2 months ago
An artifact is an object that holds or signifies an idea. A book on paper is an artifact: it’s the object plus the words. Now that you can get the words in many other ways, the value of the book is changed. A wedding ring is an artifact. If lost, it has sentimental value far […]
Seth's Blog
Working with problems Situations have no solution, they’re not problems, they’re simply the way it is. Problems are...
2 months ago
36
2 months ago
Situations have no solution, they’re not problems, they’re simply the way it is. Problems are distinguished by the fact that they have solutions. But that doesn’t mean that the solution is obvious, easy or convenient. If the problem is important enough, we should pick the best...
Seth's Blog
The system has fingerprints We all make mistakes. We all do things that we then realize weren’t in our interest, or useful to...
2 months ago
35
2 months ago
We all make mistakes. We all do things that we then realize weren’t in our interest, or useful to the community. If we do it a second time, it’s worth taking a hard look at the system that set us up for failure. How did the system get here? Who benefits? When we can see […]
Seth's Blog
“Does it work?” That’s the first question. The second question is, “how do we make it work better?” These two...
2 months ago
34
2 months ago
That’s the first question. The second question is, “how do we make it work better?” These two questions, patiently repeated, lead to incremental improvement and an understanding of reality. The opposite approach is, “because I said so.” Reality might not care what you want.
Stat Significant
6 Reasons to Be (Cautiously) Optimistic About Movies in 2025: A Statistical Analysis Six reasons to be optimistic about the film industry.
2 months ago
Seth's Blog
Collectibles (and list updates) The Strategy Deck that I made to go with my book has developed a real following. It’s a powerful way...
2 months ago
36
2 months ago
The Strategy Deck that I made to go with my book has developed a real following. It’s a powerful way to break a creative logjam. Taking out the deck in a meeting lowers resistance and increases a sense of possibility and playfulness. I’ve just gone back to press for a fourth...
Seth's Blog
Winging it Tech and culture have enabled a new sort of informality. Not simply the end of suits and ties and...
2 months ago
33
2 months ago
Tech and culture have enabled a new sort of informality. Not simply the end of suits and ties and heels at work, but the office itself is fading away. But there’s a difference between being informal and being in such a hurry to get to the next thing that we don’t take this thing...
Handprinted - Blog
Projects for the Year Ahead Are you looking to start the year by learning a new skill or starting a fresh project? Perhaps you...
2 months ago
52
2 months ago
Are you looking to start the year by learning a new skill or starting a fresh project? Perhaps you just need a boost of inspiration? We've put together some projects to get you going for the year ahead. Introduction to Linocut Did you get some new tools for Christmas and you'd...
Seth's Blog
Find the others New years bring resolutions, but those resolutions rarely stick. Creating change is difficult, and...
3 months ago
49
3 months ago
New years bring resolutions, but those resolutions rarely stick. Creating change is difficult, and it’s hard to do it alone. New years remind us that we might need a better strategy. A philosophy of becoming, a clear vision on where we’re going (and why). Here’s an invitation to...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: MAGA's Civil War The MAGA Civil War and a recap of recaps
3 months ago
Seth's Blog
The reality of meliorism Nearly 150 years ago, George Eliot gave us a name for our project. She pointed out that we could...
3 months ago
38
3 months ago
Nearly 150 years ago, George Eliot gave us a name for our project. She pointed out that we could ameliorate the problems of the human condition, day by day, year by year, toward better. Max Roser highlighted three sentences that seem like they can’t all be true: “The world is...
Seth's Blog
Calendars are a choice Humans are unique. We give names to the days of the week (we even have weeks). We eat something...
3 months ago
37
3 months ago
Humans are unique. We give names to the days of the week (we even have weeks). We eat something different for breakfast than dinner. We chronicle the passage of time. In fact, our chronicling of time is what makes it noticeable. Coordination can only happen when we’re in sync...
Seth's Blog
Secret recipes “You can try this at home…” But you probably won’t. The secret recipe isn’t the reason Coke is...
3 months ago
29
3 months ago
“You can try this at home…” But you probably won’t. The secret recipe isn’t the reason Coke is successful. And the recipe for KFC isn’t much of a recipe at all. The secret way you do the thing isn’t what keeps your clients coming back. It’s the part you do in public that matters.
Infinite Scroll
Infinite Scroll Podcast: Substack founder Hamish McKenzie An interview on where Substack sits in the digital media ecosystem
3 months ago
Seth's Blog
Fiblets Organizations lie all the time. Big lies, sometimes, but usually small ones. Is the call volume...
3 months ago
34
3 months ago
Organizations lie all the time. Big lies, sometimes, but usually small ones. Is the call volume actually unusually heavy? Did a chef really prepare this meal just for me? These fiblets are so common that they become part of the culture, a trope that lets the user know that this...
Seth's Blog
Project/Product managers You might be both. In big organizations, project management is a distinct skill. It involves...
3 months ago
39
3 months ago
You might be both. In big organizations, project management is a distinct skill. It involves timekeeping, record keeping and organization. The project manager knows the budget and the deadline, and ensures that constituents stay in sync. This is the construction coordinator and...
Infinite Scroll
A User's Guide to Building a Subculture How communities form online
3 months ago
Seth's Blog
Taxonomy as a service When the truck makes a delivery at the nearby True Value hardware store, Danny needs to figure out...
3 months ago
42
3 months ago
When the truck makes a delivery at the nearby True Value hardware store, Danny needs to figure out which shelf to put it on. Should the extension cords go next to the hoses? After all, they both do the same thing, one with electricity and one with water… The purpose of putting...
Seth's Blog
Our new school When I include links to various books and items on this blog, your purchases generate a small...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
When I include links to various books and items on this blog, your purchases generate a small royalty that I earmark for worthy causes. This year, we were able to help BuildOn and the community in Khakh build a new school. It’s the first real school building the village has ever...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: X-ocracy Now The government is now run by Elon Musk's X
3 months ago
Seth's Blog
The challenge of excess capacity Marketing as we know it happened because of machines. Machines made factories dramatically more...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Marketing as we know it happened because of machines. Machines made factories dramatically more efficient, which meant that producers could no longer easily sell everything they made. When you go from making four ceramic plates a day to 4,000, your capacity starts to look like a...
Ian Betteridge
Weeknote, Monday 23rd December A week off work, yay! Obviously that has not stopped me checking and replying to a few emails. My...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
A week off work, yay! Obviously that has not stopped me checking and replying to a few emails. My team were also attempting to get me to help them cheat at the work Christmas quiz using WhatsApp. Shamefully, they didn’t even win. I had my first face to face physio session about...
Seth's Blog
Leading side by side Orchestras are difficult. One reason is that we’re really good at noticing when they’re out of tune....
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Orchestras are difficult. One reason is that we’re really good at noticing when they’re out of tune. Just a tiny bit off changes our perception of the sound. The other reason is that if the performers wait for a leader in their section to go first, every entrance and every attack...
Anarchy Unfolds
Age of Empires but make it Solarpunk My favorite strategy game re-imagined
3 months ago
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...
3 months ago
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3 months 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...
escape the algorithm
ETA's Best links of 2024 Relinking some Links links
3 months ago
Seth's Blog
The thought that counts Well, maybe not. In 2024, worldwide gift card sales will pass a trillion dollars for the first time....
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Well, maybe not. In 2024, worldwide gift card sales will pass a trillion dollars for the first time. It’s a good grift. Surveys show that the buyer spends about 21% less per gift than they do when they actually buy something, while the recipients of the gift find themselves...
Seth's Blog
Mediocre tools Lousy tools are dangerous. They endanger our safety (physical or emotional) and undermine our work....
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Lousy tools are dangerous. They endanger our safety (physical or emotional) and undermine our work. Lousy tools are pretty easy to avoid, because they reveal themselves whenever we use them. Great tools are magical. They multiply our effort, amplify the quality of our work and...
Infinite Scroll
Flat Earthers and Belief in Belief What flat earthers can teach us about politics
3 months ago
Not Boring by Packy...
Weekly Dose of Optimism #125 Commonwealth Fusion, Off-grid Solar Microgrids, HORNET, Astranis , Technology Brothers
3 months ago
Ian Betteridge
Ten Blue Links, “your time is up” edition This week… But first, an announcement! TLDR: Over the holidays, I will be migrating this site from...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
This week… But first, an announcement! TLDR: Over the holidays, I will be migrating this site from WordPress.com to Ghost. This may mean a little disruption, but I’ll try to keep it to a minimum. Why am I doing this? I’ve been a paying customer of WordPress.com for my site...
Seth's Blog
The stories we tell ourselves If it happened to us, our memory of it is a story, our record of it with us at the center. Even if...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
If it happened to us, our memory of it is a story, our record of it with us at the center. Even if it’s on video, even if other people were there, our narrative and the context and the play by play belong to us. The useful question might be: “Is my story helpful?” And […]
Seth's Blog
Ideas need handles: the thing about subject lines A bureaucracy recently asked me to submit a few documents. They were very specific and the person on...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
A bureaucracy recently asked me to submit a few documents. They were very specific and the person on the phone said that the subject line of the email I sent should be blank. This is really unsettling. Almost like taking the labels off bottles at the supermarket. My email...
Handprinted - Blog
In the Studio 2024 What a busy year in the studio! Thank you to everyone who has joined us for a workshop, event or...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
What a busy year in the studio! Thank you to everyone who has joined us for a workshop, event or open access studio session. Let's take a look at what's being going on in the Handprinted Studio in 2024: WORKSHOPS 2024 has been packed with workshops, taught by our team as well as...
Seth's Blog
The first draft of your first non-fiction book Writing a book is good for you. It clarifies your thinking and it’s generous as well. You might not...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Writing a book is good for you. It clarifies your thinking and it’s generous as well. You might not publish it professionally, but sharing it with people you want to teach and lead is a useful practice. The first draft can be challenging. We’re facing a blank page, trying to find...
Stat Significant
What Are the Most Commonly Used Movie Clichés? A Statistical Analysis Exploring the cliché phrases that dominate movies.
3 months ago
Infinite Scroll
Infinite Scroll Podcast: Worst Tweets ft. Andrew Heaton It's possible that we might be too online
3 months ago
Seth's Blog
The fame/trust inversion A generation ago, the Generals ruled. General Motors, General Foods, General Mills, General...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
A generation ago, the Generals ruled. General Motors, General Foods, General Mills, General Dynamics… they were big, and they had a lot to lose. As a result, people trusted them to show up and keep their promises–it just wasn’t worth letting a few people down at the risk of their...
Infinite Scroll
Worst Tweets of 2024 - Dishonorable Mentions All of the most horrifying posts on Twitter that didn't make the final bracket
3 months ago
Seth's Blog
If they know, they should tell us Asymmetrical information creates real problems. And fixing the flow of useful proxies benefits both...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Asymmetrical information creates real problems. And fixing the flow of useful proxies benefits both sides. Cigarette companies knew a great deal about the addictions they were causing and the illnesses that resulted. If the public had known, they would have made different...
Seth's Blog
What do we do with our chance? Everyone needs more chances, more benefit of the doubt, more opportunity. But what turns a chance...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Everyone needs more chances, more benefit of the doubt, more opportunity. But what turns a chance into a big break is what we do with it once the chance arrives.
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Eternal September Plus: A little TPOT and a very good Christmas song
3 months ago
Ian Betteridge
Weeknote, Sunday 15th December
3 months ago
Seth's Blog
Change your shoes Like all good metaphors, it might be practical too. Your ‘shoes’ are the point of greatest leverage....
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Like all good metaphors, it might be practical too. Your ‘shoes’ are the point of greatest leverage. The spot where you have traction and engage with the world most directly. For a freelancer, it might be the way you engage with customers, or your software tools. It might be the...
Ian Betteridge
Ten Blue Links, “I am your BFDL” edition 1. Tech benevolent dictators are still… dictators in the tech community there is a concept of the...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
1. Tech benevolent dictators are still… dictators in the tech community there is a concept of the “benevolent dictator for life”. This is a leadership model where one person, usually the founder, has the final say on decisions. They guide the project’s direction, relying on their...
Seth's Blog
The opportunity for AI formbots Forms are a convenient way for bureaucracies to collect information. They’re convenient because they...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Forms are a convenient way for bureaucracies to collect information. They’re convenient because they offload the work to the patient/customer/taxpayer. The shift in labor led to an explosion of self-serve forms, but the built-in inefficiencies punish everyone. The fundamental...
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:...
3 months ago
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3 months 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...
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...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
It has been another incredible year of printmaking inspiration. We've put together a round-up of all our fantastic Meet the Maker artists from 2024, alongside their advice or inspiration for other printmakers. Read through for a wholesome dose of printmaking magic, and click...
Seth's Blog
Better at being better In most competitive markets, when an organization offers a new benefit, others will quickly move to...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
In most competitive markets, when an organization offers a new benefit, others will quickly move to match it. This means that it’s hard to justify the hard work of creating something better, because it’s just going to become a new standard. It doesn’t pay for a credit card...
Stat Significant
The Rise and (Overstated) Fall of Radio. A Statistical Analysis Examining radio's rapid adoption and surprising cultural endurance.
3 months ago
Infinite Scroll
Worst Tweets 2024 - Preliminary Rounds Vote on which bad takes will make the 2024 bracket!
3 months ago
Seth's Blog
How many sparks? That’s the tempting question. How much hustle, hoopla and initiative do we need to get this idea...
3 months ago
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3 months 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
On the way to professionalism Professionals make choices. Including: Don’t exploit friends and family. Surgeons shouldn’t do...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Professionals make choices. Including: Don’t exploit friends and family. Surgeons shouldn’t do surgery on their kids, and investment advisors shouldn’t manage their dad’s retirement fund. It doesn’t matter if you’re sure you’re the best in the world. Swap with the person who’s...
Seth's Blog
Wanting and getting Modern marketing culture is designed to amplify our desires. To turn faint wants into desperate...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Modern marketing culture is designed to amplify our desires. To turn faint wants into desperate needs. As a result, we’re intimately familiar with what we want. And we strive to get it. The problem with getting what you want is that now you have a hole, because you don’t want...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Dead CEOs and Conservative Progressives Plus! Hawk Tuah crypto scandal, gift guide season, and a good Spotify Wrapped
3 months ago
Seth's Blog
Complaints The best way to complain is to make things better. Complaining can be a form of intimacy. It’s a...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
The best way to complain is to make things better. Complaining can be a form of intimacy. It’s a useful way to explain our behavior. And best of all, it gives us a way to communicate as we work to create community action. The rest sort of complaint requires generosity and...
Ian Betteridge
Weeknote, Sunday 8th December 2024 This time of year, work becomes a tension between two opposing forces: the inevitable winding down...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
This time of year, work becomes a tension between two opposing forces: the inevitable winding down of the year, as fewer projects appear and people begin to drift away, and the equally inevitable rush to get whatever remains to be done. It’s a tension that keeps me awake at night...
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...
3 months ago
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3 months 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...
Anarchy Unfolds
Food Waste is Bad Actually How we frame the problem makes all the difference
3 months ago
Seth's Blog
You’ve already failed No project is going to exactly match every hope you have for it. And even before you ship the work,...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
No project is going to exactly match every hope you have for it. And even before you ship the work, you’ve already succeeded. No project is totally worthless. So, given that failure and success are on a spectrum, at least partly out of our control, the real question is: Now that...
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:...
3 months ago
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3 months 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...
Seth's Blog
The problem with shock design If attention is what you seek and attention is what you measure, it’s likely you’ll create drama....
3 months ago
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3 months ago
If attention is what you seek and attention is what you measure, it’s likely you’ll create drama. And drama is inherently short-lived. The managing director of Jaguar said, “We’ve certainly gathered an awful lot of attention over the last few weeks.” Choosing the word “awful” was...
Open Culture
The 63 Cuisines of China Explained in 40 Minutes: A Complete Primer Wherever in the world you grew up, you probably grew up with an inaccurate idea of Chinese food. For...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Wherever in the world you grew up, you probably grew up with an inaccurate idea of Chinese food. For Americans, it can come as a shock to hear that such familiar dishes as chop suey and General Tso’s chicken are unknown in China itself. By the same token, almost every country in...
Open Culture
Unlock AI’s Potential in Your Work and Daily Life: Take a Popular Course from Google Generative AI is rapidly becoming an essential tool for streamlining work and solving complex...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Generative AI is rapidly becoming an essential tool for streamlining work and solving complex challenges. However, knowing how to use GenAI effectively isn’t always obvious. That’s where Google Prompting Essentials comes in. This course will teach you to write clear and specific...
Seth's Blog
Who owns your words? There are many ways to ask and answer this question. Authorship used to be rare, but now, all of us...
3 months ago
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3 months 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...
Open Culture
Explore an Online Archive of 2,100+ Rare Illustrations from Charles Dickens’ Novels As Christmastime approaches, few novelists come to mind as readily as Charles Dickens. This owes...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
As Christmastime approaches, few novelists come to mind as readily as Charles Dickens. This owes mainly, of course, to A Christmas Carol, and even more so to its many adaptations, most of which draw inspiration from not just its text but also its illustrations. That 1843 novella...
Open Culture
The BBC Creates Step-by-Step Instructions for Knitting the Iconic Dr. Who Scarf: A Document from the... When Jon Pertwee reincarnated into Tom Baker in 1974, the Fourth Doctor of the popular sci-fi show...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
When Jon Pertwee reincarnated into Tom Baker in 1974, the Fourth Doctor of the popular sci-fi show Doctor Who ditched the foppish look of velvet jackets and frilly shirts, and went for the “Romantic adventurer” style, with floppy felt hat, long overcoats and, most iconically, his...
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.
3 months ago
Infinite Scroll
How Gay Marriage Ruined Democratic Activism The end of Moral Triumphalism
3 months ago
Seth's Blog
Elites (vs. elitism) Tom Brady is an elite athlete. Few have even approached the stats he had playing football. And...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Tom Brady is an elite athlete. Few have even approached the stats he had playing football. And Catherine Walker, NSTA Science Teacher of the Year, is an elite, because her pedagogy and understanding give her the ability to create better outcomes for her students. There’s a...
Open Culture
Scientists Discover that Ancient Egyptians Drank Hallucinogenic Cocktails from 2,300 Year-Old Mug Bes mug by USF Institute for Digital Exploration (IDEx) on Sketchfab If ZZ Top have a favorite...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Bes mug by USF Institute for Digital Exploration (IDEx) on Sketchfab If ZZ Top have a favorite ancient Egyptian deity, that deity is surely Bes, whom the New York Times’ Alexander Nazaryan quotes curator and scholar Branko van Oppen de Ruiter as calling “a beer drinker and a...
Open Culture
Édouard Manet Illustrates Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven, in a French Edition Translated by Stephane... Edgar Allan Poe achieved almost instant fame during his lifetime after the publication of The...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Edgar Allan Poe achieved almost instant fame during his lifetime after the publication of The Raven (1845), but he never felt that he received the recognition he deserved. In some respects, he was right. He was, after all, paid only nine dollars for the poem, and he struggled...
Infinite Scroll
Infinite Scroll x GiveDirectly Read to the end for an AI cokehead
3 months ago
Open Culture
Beautiful 19th Century Maps of Dante’s Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatory, Paradise & More Even the least religious among us speak, at least on occasion, of the circles of hell. When we do...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Even the least religious among us speak, at least on occasion, of the circles of hell. When we do so, we may or may not be thinking of where the concept originated: Dante’s Divina Commedia, or Divine Comedy. We each imagine the circles in our own way — usually filling them with...
Seth's Blog
Searching for stars It’s easy to imagine that talent is a magical gift, and that we’ll know it when see it (and that you...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
It’s easy to imagine that talent is a magical gift, and that we’ll know it when see it (and that you have it or you don’t). And yet, over the years, Star Search has rejected each of these musicians, picking someone else to win the competition: One could argue that they’re simply...
Open Culture
The Golden Guide to Hallucinogenic Plants: Explore the 1977 Illustrated Guide Created by Harvard’s... I mean, the idea that you would give a psychedelic—in this case, magic mushrooms or the chemical...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
I mean, the idea that you would give a psychedelic—in this case, magic mushrooms or the chemical called psilocybin that’s derived from magic mushrooms—to people dying of cancer, people with terminal diagnoses, to help them deal with their — what’s called existential distress. And...
Ian Betteridge
20241202 Ten Blue Links, the late late late show edition! Technically this is eight blue links, because I spent the weekend in Bristol and we’re getting...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Technically this is eight blue links, because I spent the weekend in Bristol and we’re getting towards Christmas. Next week: five blue links and a bag of wine gums. 1. RIP ChromeOS (sort of) Odd as it sounds today, when I talk a lot about user privacy and avoiding cloud services,...
Seth's Blog
Speed, creativity and AI A little faster is a market advantage. A step change in speed changes the market entirely. Fedex was...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
A little faster is a market advantage. A step change in speed changes the market entirely. Fedex was faster mail. It allowed them to grow and profit. Email, on the other hand, completely changed communication. In the discussions of AI, most people are failing to consider the step...
Open Culture
Discover Hannah Arendt’s Syllabus for Her 1974 Course on “Thinking” If you’ve read one work of Hannah Arendt’s, it’s probably Eichmann in Jerusalem, her account of the...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
If you’ve read one work of Hannah Arendt’s, it’s probably Eichmann in Jerusalem, her account of the trial of the eponymous Nazi official — and the source of her much-quoted phrase “the banality of evil.” That book came out in 1963, at which time Arendt still had a dozen...
Open Culture
Mary Tyler Moore Accidentally Nails a Perfect Pool Shot on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1962) Let’s rewind the videotape and revisit a classic moment in The Dick Van Dyke Show. In the 1962...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
Let’s rewind the videotape and revisit a classic moment in The Dick Van Dyke Show. In the 1962 episode called “Hustling the Hustler,” Mary Tyler Moore (as Laura Petrie) plays pool and sinks three balls in a single shot. The original plan was to splice in footage of a professional...
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: MrBeast Games The System Plus! A Momfluencer Horror Story and an Important Orca Update
4 months ago
Seth's Blog
Thinking about jobs Since I was born, the planet has invented 6 billion jobs. Technology is said to threaten the...
4 months ago
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4 months 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...
Infinite Scroll
Why You Should Read Web Fiction A beginner's guide to an underappreciated format
4 months ago
Seth's Blog
Books and more, winter 2024 They’re a gift that lasts forever, because your friend will remember what they learned and how they...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
They’re a gift that lasts forever, because your friend will remember what they learned and how they felt… and they can keep it on their bookshelf or hard drive as a reminder in case they forget… Amazon chose This is Strategy for a Kindle deal today. It’s only $4. Also, the...
Seth's Blog
Severe weather alert For the last two weeks, my weather app has informed me that there’s a real risk (in this case,...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
For the last two weeks, my weather app has informed me that there’s a real risk (in this case, wildfires). But, after a few days, that’s not severe weather. That’s just weather. (Metaphor alert). Patterns are easy to ignore. We pay attention when the pattern is interrupted. The...
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...
4 months ago
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4 months 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...
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...
4 months ago
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4 months 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...
Open Culture
Get $160 Off a Year of Coursera Plus & Gain Unlimited Access to Courses in Data Analytics,... A heads-up on a Black Friday special: Between today and December 2, 2024, Coursera is offering a 40%...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
A heads-up on a Black Friday special: Between today and December 2, 2024, Coursera is offering a 40% discount on its annual subscription plan called “Coursera Plus.” Normally priced at $399, Coursera Plus (now available for $239.40) gives you access to 7,000+ courses for one...
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...
4 months ago
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4 months 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
“Thank you” is a complete sentence It’s a way to offer connection or acknowledgment. It’s a recognition of feedback and the time it...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
It’s a way to offer connection or acknowledgment. It’s a recognition of feedback and the time it took someone to consider us. We can use it after we share something important, or someone shares with us. More than the end of an exchange, it can be the beginning of a relationship....
Open Culture
The Illustrated Version of “Alice’s Restaurant”: Watch Arlo Guthrie’s Thanksgiving Counterculture... Alice’s Restaurant. It’s now a Thanksgiving classic, and something of a tradition around...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
Alice’s Restaurant. It’s now a Thanksgiving classic, and something of a tradition around here. Recorded in 1967, the 18+ minute counterculture song recounts Arlo Guthrie’s real encounter with the law, starting on Thanksgiving Day 1965. As the long song unfolds, we hear all about...
Open Culture
William S. Burroughs’ Scathing “Thanksgiving Prayer,” Shot by Gus Van Sant “Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, 1986” first appeared in print in Tornado Alley, a chapbook published by...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
“Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, 1986” first appeared in print in Tornado Alley, a chapbook published by William S. Burroughs in 1989. Two years later, Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, My Own Private Idaho, Milk) shot a montage that brought the poem to film, making it at least the...
Open Culture
Explore and Download 14,000+ Woodcuts from Antwerp’s Plantin-Moretus Museum Online Archive We appreciate illuminated manuscripts and historical books here on Open Culture, adhere though we do...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
We appreciate illuminated manuscripts and historical books here on Open Culture, adhere though we do to a much more restrained aesthetic style in our own texts. But that’s not to deny the temptation to start this paragraph with one of those oversized initial letters that grew...
Seth's Blog
The long walk Before buying a house, it makes sense to spend a day on foot, walking around the neighborhood....
4 months ago
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4 months ago
Before buying a house, it makes sense to spend a day on foot, walking around the neighborhood. You’ll notice things you might have missed in a car. Before starting a business, spend a few shifts working the cash register at a similar establishment. And before going into...
Open Culture
Ken Burns’ New Documentary on Leonardo da Vinci Streaming Online (in the US) for a Limited Time A quick heads up: The filmmaker Ken Burns has just released his new documentary on Leonardo da...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
A quick heads up: The filmmaker Ken Burns has just released his new documentary on Leonardo da Vinci. Running nearly four hours, the film offers what The New York Times calls a “thorough and engrossing biography” of the 15th-century polymath. Currently airing on PBS, the film can...
escape the algorithm
The perfect pecan pie will never exi— Cutting a slice of longing
4 months ago
Infinite Scroll
Weekly Scroll: Something Wicked This Way Comes Theater Kids, BlueSky momentum, and Kai Cenat's big month
4 months ago
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...
4 months ago
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4 months 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
How Georges Méliès A Trip to the Moon Became the First Sci-Fi Film & Changed Cinema Forever (1902) If you happen to visit the Cinémathèque Française in Paris, do take the time to see the Musée Méliès...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
If you happen to visit the Cinémathèque Française in Paris, do take the time to see the Musée Méliès located inside it. Dedicated to la Magie du cinéma, it contains artifacts from throughout the history of film-as-spectacle, which includes such pictures as 2001: A Space Odyssey...
Open Culture
Isaac Newton Creates a List of His 57 Sins (Circa 1662) Sir Isaac Newton, arguably the most important and influential scientist in history, discovered the...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
Sir Isaac Newton, arguably the most important and influential scientist in history, discovered the laws of motion and the universal force of gravity. For the first time ever, the rules of the universe could be described with the supremely rational language of mathematics....
The Great Discontent...
Britt Reilly Britt Reilly's work lives at the intersection of immersive visual arts, historic architecture and...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
Britt Reilly's work lives at the intersection of immersive visual arts, historic architecture and preservation, and modernist design. Britt is the executive director and collections curator at the Irving & Aaronel deRoy Gruber Foundation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and when we...
Anarchy Unfolds
May all roads lead to solarpunk Letters to an anarchist - Part 8
4 months ago
Open Culture
How Rasputin Inspired the “Fictitious Persons” Disclaimer Commonly Seen in Movies “This is a work of fiction,” declares the disclaimer we’ve all noticed during the end credits of...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
“This is a work of fiction,” declares the disclaimer we’ve all noticed during the end credits of movies. “Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental.” In most cases, this may seem so trivial that it hardly merits a mention, but the...
Seth's Blog
Is there a market(place)? Not all needs have a market (yet). A market is a category. A market is a place with competition. In...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
Not all needs have a market (yet). A market is a category. A market is a place with competition. In a market, people have habits and budgets and social pressure to engage. There are buyers and sellers. In many cultures, there’s a market for all the items that go with a...
Open Culture
14 Self-Portraits by Pablo Picasso Show the Evolution of His Style: See Self-Portraits Moving from... 15 years old (1896) It’s possible to look at Pablo Picasso’s many formal experiments and periodic...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
15 years old (1896) It’s possible to look at Pablo Picasso’s many formal experiments and periodic shifts of style as a kind of self-portraiture, an exercise in shifting consciousness and trying on of new aesthetic identities. The Spanish modernist made a career of sweeping...
Ian Betteridge
Ten Blue Links “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date” Edition 1. Who rules us? Google changed its rules on what kind of behaviour it regards as “spam” and, of...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
1. Who rules us? Google changed its rules on what kind of behaviour it regards as “spam” and, of course, the impact on some companies will be pretty negative. The behaviour it is targeting is so-called “parasite SEO”, where a publisher allows a third party to create content for...
Seth's Blog
Comfortable with the fuzziness Atmospheric conditions on Earth limit visibility on a perfect day to less than 200 miles. Time works...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
Atmospheric conditions on Earth limit visibility on a perfect day to less than 200 miles. Time works the same way. When we’re doing the same thing, in the same way, our perception of what will happen next can feel crystal clear. Plant some apple seeds in your backyard, and you’re...
Seth's Blog
Toward better In our work to make things better, it’s easy to overlook two things: The best way to make things...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
In our work to make things better, it’s easy to overlook two things: The best way to make things better is to begin. Create the conditions for others to join you. Persist.
Infinite Scroll
Revolt and the Reversal of Trust The digital roots of Trump's surprising youth popularity
4 months ago
Seth's Blog
Game design and strategy (Bongo part 3) What’s it for? Making something fun is a good place to start if you’re building a casual word game...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
What’s it for? Making something fun is a good place to start if you’re building a casual word game like Bongo. But it’s not enough. Lots of things are fun, for a while, but that doesn’t meant that they’re worth the investment of time and money it takes to build them. From the...
Seth's Blog
Further vs. faster Sprints and marathons are both foot races, but they have very little in common. The training is...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
Sprints and marathons are both foot races, but they have very little in common. The training is different, and so is the technique. Which one are you signing up for? What about the thing you sell? Are we trying to get there faster, or do we promise to go further?
Open Culture
How Ancient Romans Traveled Without Maps In an age when many of us could hardly make our way to an unfamiliar grocery store without relying...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
In an age when many of us could hardly make our way to an unfamiliar grocery store without relying on a GPS navigation system, we might well wonder how the Romans could establish and sustain their mighty empire without so much as a proper map. That’s the question addressed by the...
Open Culture
How to Potty Train Your Cat: A Handy Manual by Jazz Musician Charles Mingus Charles Mingus, the innovative jazz musician, was known for having a bad temper. He once got so...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
Charles Mingus, the innovative jazz musician, was known for having a bad temper. He once got so irritated with a heckler that he ended up trashing his $20,000 bass. Another time, when a pianist didn’t get things right, Mingus reached right inside the piano and ripped the strings...
Open Culture
Google Creates a Career Certificate That Prepares Students for Cybersecurity Jobs in 6 Months In 2023, Google launched several online certificate programs designed to help students land an...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
In 2023, Google launched several online certificate programs designed to help students land an entry-level job, without necessarily having a college degree. This includes a certificate program focused on Cybersecurity, a field that stands poised to grow as companies become more...
Seth's Blog
When the media is ready (Bongo part 2) Media isn’t a magazine or a website. It’s a system. We can learn to see the system and contribute to...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
Media isn’t a magazine or a website. It’s a system. We can learn to see the system and contribute to it with leverage. There are three elements to consider in a media system that’s worth a professional creator’s time: Systems are changed by technology. When desktop publishing...
Open Culture
An Introduction to the Astonishing Book of Kells, the Iconic Illuminated Manuscript Whatever set of religious or cultural traditions you come from, you’ve probably seen a Celtic cross...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
Whatever set of religious or cultural traditions you come from, you’ve probably seen a Celtic cross before. Unlike a conventional cross, it has a circular ring, or “nimbus,” where its arms and stem intersect. The sole addition of that element gives it a highly distinctive look,...
Seth's Blog
Compared to what? Emotions are often tied to events and events feel absolute. But events are rarely absolute. They’re...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
Emotions are often tied to events and events feel absolute. But events are rarely absolute. They’re almost always relative. How does this compare to what I was expecting? How does it compare to what others like me are experiencing? How does it compare to yesterday? When we change...
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...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
I’ve always admired people who can successfully navigate what I refer to as “Kafka’s Castle,” a term of dread for the many government and corporate agencies that have an inordinate amount of power over our permanent records, and that seem as inscrutable and chillingly absurd as...
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...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
Once you've made an etching plate, you may be ready to print an edition - or you might want to proof it to decide on further edits. Taking a print is the only way you’ll be able to see how your plate is progressing. This blog is part of a series featuring tips and techniques to...
Stat Significant
Do People Actually Hate 'Forrest Gump'? A Statistical Analysis Examining the legacy of 'Forrest Gump.'
4 months ago
Seth's Blog
Bongo is here And you can be the first on your block to play it. It’s free. Click here to see today’s game. Over...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
And you can be the first on your block to play it. It’s free. Click here to see today’s game. Over the next week, I’m going to do a few bonus posts to explain how we thought about the creation and game design and marketing of this new project. The last eighteen months of...
Anarchy Unfolds
The hope of anarchy Letters to an anarchist - Part 6
4 months ago
Open Culture
Explore the World’s First 3D Replica of St. Peter’s Basilica, Made with AI In the trailer below for the world’s first 3D replica of St. Peter’s Basilica, Yves Ubelmann speaks...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
In the trailer below for the world’s first 3D replica of St. Peter’s Basilica, Yves Ubelmann speaks of using “AI for Good,” which isn’t just an ideal, but also the name of a lab at Microsoft. Microsoft and Ubelman’s digital-preservation company Iconem were two of the participants...
Seth's Blog
The nature of traps Our culture is filled with man-made traps, situations worth avoiding. They have three elements:...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
Our culture is filled with man-made traps, situations worth avoiding. They have three elements: Because of the third element, the organizer or beneficiaries of a trap can spend time and money to make it ever more seductive and to conceal the nature of what you’re actually signing...
Open Culture
The Final Days of Leo Tolstoy Captured in Rare Footage from 1910 114 years ago today (November 20, 1910), Leo Tolstoy—the author who gave us two major Russian...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
114 years ago today (November 20, 1910), Leo Tolstoy—the author who gave us two major Russian classics Anna Karenina and War & Peace—died at Astapovo, a small, remote train station in the heart of Russia. Pneumonia was the official cause. His death came just weeks after Tolstoy,...
Open Culture
Behold a Digital Restoration of 655 Plates of Roses & Lilies by Pierre-Joseph Redouté: The Greatest... Pierre-Joseph Redouté made his name by painting flowers, an achievement impossible without a...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
Pierre-Joseph Redouté made his name by painting flowers, an achievement impossible without a meticulousness that exceeds all bounds of normality. He published his three-volume collection Les Roses and his eight-volume collection Les Liliacées between 1802 and 1824, and a glance...
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...
4 months ago
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4 months 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
How Magician David Copperfield Made the Statue of Liberty Disappear (1983) In April, 1983, 50 million television viewers watched the illusionist David Copperfield make the...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
In April, 1983, 50 million television viewers watched the illusionist David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear, straight into thin air. If you’re north of 50, you perhaps remember the spectacle. How did he do it? 40 years later, the YouTube channel Mind Blown Magic...
Open Culture
Join Us on Bluesky. We Will Have Fun Together There’s an eXodus taking place, and millions are finding a new home on Bluesky. In recent days, the...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
There’s an eXodus taking place, and millions are finding a new home on Bluesky. In recent days, the decentralized social media platform has been gaining 10,000 new users every 10–15 minutes, or about 1 million new users per day. Open Culture is already there, sharing the cultural...