Remains of the Day
How to Blow Up a Timeline
NOTE: I’d been working on this piece on and off for a few weeks while trying to move to NYC and...
7th Jul 2023
NOTE: I’d been working on this piece on and off for a few weeks while trying to move to NYC and settle into my new apartment, and just as I was about to publish it, Elon rate-limited Twitter and so, sensing a moment of weakness, Meta pulled up its launch date for Threads to...
Remains of the Day
My Favorite Movies of 2021
A second year of the pandemic passed in which I didn’t attend any film festivals in person. I miss...
1st Mar 2022
A second year of the pandemic passed in which I didn’t attend any film festivals in person. I miss it. My viewing output of is lower than usual but still much much higher than that of the median filmgoer.
Film is one category of media in which human recommendations still feel...
Remains of the Day
And You Will Know Us by the Company We Keep
It feels as if we're at the tail end of the first era of social media in the West. Looking back at...
10th Oct 2021
It feels as if we're at the tail end of the first era of social media in the West. Looking back at the companies that have survived, certain application architectural choices are ubiquitous. By now, we're all familiar with the infinite vertical scrolling feed of content units,...
Remains of the Day
American Idle
I promised one final piece on TikTok, focused primarily on the network effects of creativity. And...
22nd Feb 2021
I promised one final piece on TikTok, focused primarily on the network effects of creativity. And this is that, in part. But it discusses a bunch of other topics, some only tangentially related to TikTok.
All the points I wanted to cover seem hyperlinked in a sprawling loose...
Remains of the Day
Seeing Like an Algorithm
In my previous post on TikTok I discussed why its For You Page algorithm is the connective tissue...
21st Sep 2020
In my previous post on TikTok I discussed why its For You Page algorithm is the connective tissue that makes TikTok work. It is the bus on its motherboard that connects and closes all its feedback loops.
But in the breathless rush to understand why companies might want to acquire...
Remains of the Day
TikTok and the Sorting Hat
I often describe myself as a cultural determinist, more as a way to differentiate myself from people...
4th Aug 2020
I often describe myself as a cultural determinist, more as a way to differentiate myself from people with other dominant worldviews, though I am not a strict adherent. It’s more that in many situations when people ascribe causal power to something other than culture, I’m...
Remains of the Day
Veblen values
NOTE: I'm going to start cross-posting individual stories sent out in my newsletter over here on my...
12th Mar 2020
NOTE: I'm going to start cross-posting individual stories sent out in my newsletter over here on my blog. The versions here may contain additional side notes, and often as I bring them over I'll do some light word-smithing or additional copy-editing because I can never stop...
Remains of the Day
The Uncanny Valley of Interactivity
I believe mass entertainment suffers from a bit of format rigidity due to the natural inertia from...
7th Jan 2020
I believe mass entertainment suffers from a bit of format rigidity due to the natural inertia from structural ossification in the music, film, and publishing businesses, to name the most prominent.
One of the ways this manifests is in the one-way broadcast nature of much of our...
Remains of the Day
Narrative debt
HBO’s Watchmen is fantastic, as many have noted. It may be one of the most polished first drafts of...
13th Dec 2019
HBO’s Watchmen is fantastic, as many have noted. It may be one of the most polished first drafts of fan fiction to ever appear on the silver, errr, OLED screen.
DC may lag behind the Marvel Universe in box office and audience acclaim, but it feels like DC is starting to find its...
Remains of the Day
Status Update, and How Everyone IPO'd in the 21st Century
Sorry for the long hiatus. I've been doing some formal advisory work and a bit of angel investing...
13th Nov 2019
Sorry for the long hiatus. I've been doing some formal advisory work and a bit of angel investing these past months, and so more of my writing has been private.
More than that, though, the Internet, with all the status games and incentives I wrote about in my last post, began to...
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