expansion pack: kit and ideas for remixing new board games by combining pieces and platforms of classic games one already owns—via Kottke’s Quick Links
video phone: the teleconferencing tool that’s being forced on many of us is a privacy and security nightmare whose long-term liabilities far outweigh the benefits of seeing colleagues in pyjamas
razliv haystack: a look into how the mythos of Lenin fuelled the early Soviet tourism industry
stay sane, stay safe: a graphic design community’s rapid response to promote positivity
at home everywhere: with at least a quarter of the world’s population under at least partial lockdown, a design duo has turned national flags into houses
utica club: beer steins Schultz and Dooley (voiced by Jonathan Winters) advertise Matt Brewery’s flagship beverage
tossed dallas: Tuna Antipasto and assorted silliness—see previously
mashrabiya and mezzanine: a celebration of balconies
Saturday 28 March 2020
8x8
Wednesday 12 February 2020
disinformation war
In order to better understand the media field landscaped by the campaign to reelect Donald Trump and the onslaught of propaganda and targeted messages, Atlantic correspondent McKay Coppins crafted and curated a burner social media account to invite that worldview and narrative, one that’s grown increasingly fraught as more turn towards the subjective that suits them, in and study the amplification and obfuscation. It’s truly disturbing how the predilections we’ve offered up freely can be monetized and weaponized against us, and it’s pure hubris to think any one of us is immune to these effects and above the flattery of psychographics and peerage.
catagories: ๐บ๐ธ, ๐️, ๐ฅธ, ๐ง , networking and blogging
fรผnf augen
Chillingly and now the subject of an official inquiry by the Swiss government (whose own intelligence service is formidable and nothing to underestimate), the Washington Post and the ZDF reveal that for decades the CIA and the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND, see previously) in partnership owned and controlled a communications and information security company that manufactured encryption machines and cipher (see also) devices for intelligence agencies and businesses around the world.
While it was known since 2015 that the firm’s founder had been approached by a field operative in 1955 and strongly urged not to sell the technology to governments not aligned with the West, the extent of America and West Germany’s involvement remained a mystery, and from 1970 to 2018 (the BND dropping out in 1988) conducted operations Thesaurus and Rubicon to distribute compromised machines with a backdoor built in to allow US spies to handily intercept and decrypt secret correspondence. Justifiably wary, the Soviets and China did not use the rigged machines but many governments in the Middle East and Central and South America did, informing and fueling American adventurism and proxy warfare in those regions.
Friday 27 December 2019
7x7
rebirth of a salesman: revisiting a 1969 documentary that revealed how evangelism and door-to-door sales converged
ะฝะพะฒะพะณะพะดะฝะตะต ะดะตัะตะฒะพ: the evolution of the Yolka New Year’s Tree—from its pagan roots to Soviet anti-religious symbolic staple (see also)
mamurluk: also home to the Museum of Break-Ups, a new gallery space dedicated to hangovers opens in Zagreb
now that’s a name i’ve not heard in a long time: a fan-made Obi-Wan Kenobi Star Wars story
intern’yet: reportedly, Russia successfully unplugs from the world wide web and replaced global portals with domestic ones
bergkristall: Adalbert Stifter’s timeless, beloved 1845 novella
open conference bridge: a team of volunteers are retrofitting and reviving a network of payless, pay phone booths to bring community cohesion
Saturday 21 December 2019
7x7
fintech: the Nordic country put together an artificial intelligence crash-course for its citizens and now is making the curriculum available to all—via Kottke
chirogram: a deaf student at the University of Life Sciences at Dundee, seeing a deficit in communication, invents one hundred new signs to quickly articulate complex scientific concepts—via Dave Log
the decade in content: Vanity Fair reviews the trends, memes and moments that defined aspects of the past ten years
dj earworm: the decade encapsulated (previously—albeit on a smaller scale) in a mashup of one hundred songs
klaviatur: a demonstration of the six-plus-six, four row Jankรณ keyboard—which allowed players to cover ranges impossible by a single performer on a traditional piano
headspace: the framework of current privacy protection advocacy and laws is unprepared to safeguard us from the coming mind-reading technologies
Friday 18 October 2019
e*vangelism
The Holy See, as Dezeen informs, is distributing a smart psalter as a wearable accessory that tracks the user’s worship and allow one to monitor the progress of each prayer—the act of reciting it, we presume rather than the missive’s to God’s ears, and synchronises with other mobile gadgets to post one’s devotion to social media.
catagories: ✝️, ๐ฅธ, networking and blogging
Saturday 12 October 2019
veritasiness
In order to reveal the potential fraught nature of the policy which has already seen fellow candidate Joe Biden having to waste time and energy dispelling a patent mischaracterization from the desperate incumbent intent on bringing the whole world down with him, contender Elizabeth Warren just called out a garbage social media giant’s practise of not rejecting or demoting political advertisements based on the truthfulness or accuracy of their claims about their opponents and exempting them from internal fact-checking standards.
Her method was simple and effective, announcing that the company’s founder and CEO has thrown his support and backing to the Trump re-election campaign. Even if Mark Zuckerberg does not find the idea abhorrent given the revenue that Trump has given him, it is still a damning indictment given the obvious sway that such a statement would hold given his global reach that far outstrips any other polity in the world, larger than a nation state, larger than religious affiliation. Seconds later in the same political ad, Warren admits that her bold assertion is a total falsehood but one permissible by the company’s own rules. To add more milieu to the exchange, Warren has already established her antagonistic credentials by vowing to break-up the monopsonistic cartel that is intend to trounce on competition and users’ expectation of transparency.
catagories: ๐บ๐ธ, ๐ฅธ, networking and blogging
Thursday 3 October 2019
gdp or where art irritates life
Provocative artist Banksy (previously here, here, here, here and here) has opened a boutique storefront in Croydon offering—via a parallel online store, a line of his signature works on capitalism, environmental exploitation, dystopian dragnet surveillance, immigration and foreign-relations.
While also a chance to put the artist’s greatest hits on display for members of the window-shopping public to inspect, Banksy’s admitted ulterior motive comes after consultation with his attorney to seek relief from a greeting card company’s appropriation of his art.
Because Banksy did not formerly produce his own merchandise (maybe this is where all the tote bags come from), another party willing to commercially champion his creations can legally claim a trademark. Hopefully, by actively asserting ownership, Banksy’s can reclaim his own work. Despite this goal, the artist’s invitation stands: “I still encourage anyone to copy, borrow, steal and amend my art for amusement, academic research or activism. I just don’t want them to get sole custody of my name.” More to explore at the links above.
Wednesday 2 October 2019
8x8
surveillance cinema: iconic movie scenes from the perspective of security cameras, via Kottke’s Quick Links
take this job and fill it: a satisfying gallery of resignation letters
fortress america: Trump wanted to fortify border wall with snake- and alligator-filled moats
๐: a startup in Seattle demonstrates a mobile robotic chef that makes up to three hundred pizzas an hour, via Slashdot
flyover: a cache of gorgeous, high-resolution images of our planetary neighbour courtesy of the Mars Express orbiter
biogarmentry: living apparel made from biofabricated textiles photosynthesise
pareidolia: a surveillance camera detects a face in the snow and won’t shut up about it
Thursday 26 September 2019
Sunday 1 September 2019
go set a watchman
Via Boing Boing, we‘re exposed to a rather inverted demonstration project that leans heavily into the susceptibility of neural networks to human prejudice and pareidolia to pluck what could pass as evidence from the grainy though not necessarily sensitive to granularity.
Researchers—the sort that also lean heavily on gimmickry and Security Theatre—are training artificial intelligence on progressive facial resolution and recognition to limn in the incriminating details spared in historical footage. As shown nightmarishly on pixelated emoji, the subroutine wants to attribute greebling characteristics that are not honestly present with the potential of a netting an intruder or interloper whose culpability is boosted by being the unfortunate victim of circumstance and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. These applications can potentially turn into digital age witch-trials are rooted in the same mentality that supposes any image could be enhanced indefinitely or that the work of forensics is instantaneous and straightforward, speaking to authorities and actuaries that want a villain without regard to accuracy.
Tuesday 30 July 2019
incognito mode
Absent effective legislation or political will, Polish artist Ewa Nowak is staging her own intervention in the form of disruptive, masking jewelry that defeats facial recognition software (see also). The business of surveillance does not police itself but at least countermeasures can adapt as well and such stands are especially urgent as such automated monitoring is not only used by state-players to track whereabouts, it’s also being aggressively adopted by the marketing industry to enchant and guide our shopping experience.
Saturday 27 July 2019
moral hazard, moral obligation
Like the slap on the wrist that a social media giant received for bulldozing democracy and delivering Trump and Johnson and leaving us hobbled and handicapped absence the public trust and confidence in institutions and process to try to reclaim our government and civil society, a consumer credit-reporting agency was also given a paltry fine for its wrongdoings, compromising the data and confidence (and covering it up) of millions of Americans and people abroad. And though staking one’s claim to the class-action settlement for the amount allocated to each affected person is a bit onerous and insulting and probably the cheap alternative they are salivating over to avoid consequential punishment in the future, should you want these giant financial institutions to aspire to be better custodians of our data in the future, you ought to take the time and file your claim. It’s worth $125 at minimum to you (this is your entitlement for being put at risk for identity theft), more if you can demonstrate hardship encountered above and beyond that—and it’s just regurgitating back to the creditors the personal details on you they already have and then carelessly lost.
Wednesday 24 July 2019
ditto
Via Slashdot, we learn that the software engineer behind Twitter’s re-tweet button has a lot of remorse about his endowment to civilisation, comparing the feature that was originally installed to facilitate news in a natural disaster, which was indeed a force-multiplier in terms of virality, to having “headed a loaded weapon to a four-year-old.” Other social media sites developed their own form of push-button sharing soon afterwards. There are doubts whether the genie can be put back in the bottle.
catagories: ๐ฅธ, ๐ง , networking and blogging
Monday 22 July 2019
8x8
bird of prey: Airbus reveals concept hybrid-powered aircraft design that relies on biomimicry to boost efficiency
malpratise: Johnson’s and Trump’s assault on the NHS through relaxing UK price-controls on medication
we liked the sequel, also sprach zarathustra: re-mapping syllabi from institutions of higher learning
southern exposure: the rotating solaria of Doctor Jean Saidman
groundcrew: support staff of Japan’s Air Self-Defence Force (est’d 1954) celebrated its sixtieth anniversary with precision scooter manoeuvres
dysfluency: virtual assistants have an array of human touches to build trust and rapport
re-freezer: ingenious plan to combat rising oceans by replenishing the ice-sheet artificially
engage: the trailer for Star Trek: Picard (previously)
catagories: ⚕️, ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐, ๐, ๐ฅธ, ๐งณ, architecture, environment
Friday 12 July 2019
herd immunity
As the Chorus bemoans in Sophocles’ Antigone, “Nothing that is vast enters the life of mortals without a curse,” technology—impelled in part by not only the forces of capitalism and the need to maintain market and industry dominance but also by dint of our own inclination to laziness and decision-fatigue—has been an incredible support and source of solace and progress but likewise delivers a vehicle for remorse and helps us to bite off far more than we can chew. We are not good at self-assessment and postponing gratification. This latest edition of NPR’s TED Radio Hour explores the topic of digital manipulation and what lies behind the screen from several angles and is definitely food-for-thought.
catagories: ๐ฅธ, ๐ง , networking and blogging
Wednesday 3 July 2019
7x7
the farmer and the cowhand can be friends: a racy revival of Oklahoma! as a heuristic tool for exploring identity
eggcorn: celebrating malapropisms (see also) and mixing of idioms
horologium florรฆ: botanist and taxonomist Carl Linnaeus noted the opening and closing times of different species of flowers and proposed that one could reliably tell time by their routine
do not pass go: the downfall of Atlantic City (previously) reflects the psychopathic Schadenfreude of Trump’s evangelic of opportunism
skin deep: facial recognition payment systems will start applying beauty-filters so users don’t feel self-conscious
brick-and-mortar: anchor retailors offer to help US government scrutinise their online arch-rivals
toypography: 1990s play things turned into letters of the alphabet—see also
Monday 1 July 2019
7x7
general strike: Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger calls for a boycott of social media as a Declaration of Digital Independence, via Slashdot
imts: an exploration of mobile telephony (see also) from the 1940s onward
move fast, bank things: a helpful primer on a social media giant’s currency roll-out
a different kind of energy: US presidential contender Marianne Williamson
hang a yield sign in your rear window to prevent cars from passing: driverless vehicles are highly susceptible to spoofing
soffa sans: IKEA releases a new font in response to people testing the limits of their Vallentuna sectional planning tool
one of these things is not like the others: nepotism is not easy on the eyes
Wednesday 26 June 2019
8x8
blood meridian: two animated maps (see also) chart Manifest Destiny from contrasting perspectives
lobby cards: the iconic film posters and title sequences of Saul Bass (previously here and here)
strong to the finich: because of the leafy green’s steroidal qualities, some are calling for it to be banded like other doping agents
scientific method: brilliant vintage middle school text books via Present /&/ Correct
nineteen eighty-four was not meant to be an instruction manual: workers trialled with beacons and bracelets to monitor performance and productivity
best in show: a curated selection of the winners of the National Geographic travel photography competition
lj: going into production in 2021, the Lightyear One represents the industry’s first long-range and untethered electric vehicle, via Design Boom
pomological catalogue: the 1886 US contract for watercolour depictions of all the world’s fruit
catagories: ๐ณ๐ฑ, ๐บ๐ธ, ๐, ๐ท, ๐ฅธ, food and drink, labour, sport and games, transportation
Tuesday 18 June 2019
6x6
t-minus: the Apollo 11 mission in real time using historical mission footage, via Coudal Partners’ Fresh Signals
scrip: garbage cryptocurrency from a garbage social media company isn’t crypto at all
that yorkshire sound: hand-drawn animated short illustrates an every day, vibrant soundscape
carissimi auditores: after a thirty year run, Finnish broadcasters are ceasing their news in Latin segment, but no fear as the report gives other resources
deaccessioned: a large auction house will no longer be publicly traded as it goes into private hands
แน:“For Want of a Hyphen Venus Rocket is Lost” – programming is unforgiving
catagories: ๐ฌ๐ง, ๐, ๐ฅธ, ๐งฎ, libraries and museums, networking and blogging