Among the first computer viruses released in the wild—that is, not restricted to a single laboratory or network, and contagious in the general population, fifteen year old student Rich Skrenta created on this day in 1982, developed the year prior, self-propagating code as a prank, doing no harm to the host computers, the Apple II models, nor their vector, shared floppy disks with computer games and other software passed around by members of a local computing club, eventually becoming an irksome bug revealing itself after a set number of iterations of running the programmes—having already taken up residence in the host and infecting subsequent disks inserted with the user witlessly spreading it. Cheeky and harmless as it was, this experiment boded of vulnerabilities ahead.
Sunday 30 January 2022
Friday 28 January 2022
blocked-chain
catagories: ๐ฑ, ๐ผ, ๐ง , networking and blogging
Thursday 27 January 2022
esolang
A portmanteau of esoteric and programming language that arose in the 1990s by the hacker, coding enthusiast community as a form of artistic expression (see also), Hyperallergic contributor Daniel Temkin offers several points of entry into the conceptual interface that limns the boundaries of software art, communications and instruction that defy through definition the current obsession with non-fungibility as the direction of digital art. The pictured bitmap execution is a rendering of “Hello World” in the above mentioned Piet. Much more to explore with the various categories and movements in the link above.
catagories: ๐จ, ๐ฌ, ๐, networking and blogging
Sunday 23 January 2022
hangman
Originally conceived by Josh Wardle as an innocent, non-nosy-parker diversion, Wordle (previously) has spawned several imitations, including expansive clones and parody account for those who can’t wait for a new round to come up, here is a list of some games in the same vein—with mostly the same house rules, curated by Joe Jenett. We especially liked Absurdle (terribly challenging and first spotted here) and Queerdle—the yassificated version. Give them a try and let us know if you encounter any other good copies. Hier ist Wordle auf Deutsch.
catagories: ๐พ, ๐ฌ, networking and blogging
Friday 21 January 2022
how to start an alternative lifestyle
Via fellow internet caretaker, the always excellence Web Curios, we are directed towards this fun guessing game sourced from the often bizarre illustrations of wikiHow (see previously here and here) and challenged to associate it with the proper instructional article with only this bit of context—albeit the slightly menacing quality to the pictures are the bigger draw than the practical advise dispensed. Give it a try and let us know how many right you can get in a row.
catagories: ๐พ, networking and blogging
Monday 17 January 2022
ayn of green gables
On a property tour of the suburbs of Chicago, McMansion Hell (previously) explores the turrets, cornices and entryways that are, couched as architectural elements, the gross signifiers of ostentatious wealth. It’s as if the local Home Owners Association are spurring on a competition to see which monstrosity can project the most power. More at the links above and be sure to subscribe so as not to miss an update.
catagories: architecture, networking and blogging
Thursday 13 January 2022
aaron brrr, sir
Via friend of the blog Nag on the Lake (whose site is sporting a sleek new look), we are treated to this list of snow-plough names of the vehicles in the Michigan state Department of Transportation fleet—see also. Visit the links above and tag yourself.
catagories: ๐ค, networking and blogging
Monday 10 January 2022
6x6
curiosity cabinet: virtually explore the museum house of Sir John Soane (previously)—via Things Magazine
glitchy terrain: users and clients report bugs in fly-over features (see previously)—via Super Punch
debate club: let’s thrash out these ongoing arguments once and for all
low, heroes, lodger: a look at the Eastern European literature that influenced David Bowie’s Berlin trilogy and beyond
medico-mechanical gymnastics: the nineteenth century work-out regiment of Gustave Zander—see previously
ex libris: a look into some of the great libraries of Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Austria
catagories: ๐จ๐ค, ๐บ, ๐คธ, libraries and museums, networking and blogging
Friday 7 January 2022
web 3.0 is going great and is definitely not an enormous grift that’s pour lighter fluid on our already-smouldering planet
Via Web Curios (definitely lot’s more to check out there), we are introduced to a project by Molly White who curates articles and discussion threads that illustrate the dark side of tech utopian-thinking and how we can’t just code our way to equality and out of an environmental crisis that is exacerbated by Ponzi schemes and chasing that greater fool. There are some choice headlines about corporate malfeasance, lack of disclosure and how riots and disruptions to the internet in Kazakhstan (to quash the coordination of said protests) reveal the extent of bitcoin mining occurring there, subsidised and underwritten by the government’s policy of producing cheap fuel from the dirtiest sources.
7x7
sick sad world: our crypto-bro, cyberpunk dystopia
brik: aesthetic LEGO typography
just keep swimming: mobile aquaria allow fish to drive—via the morning news
molten path: an ancient—though not inaccessible—airburst over the Atacama shed shards of glass across Chile—see also
thinking of you, i mean me: a Barbara Kruger (previously) retrospective in Chicago on capitalism and its critique
queued-up: Instagram versus reality
a listicle in eight parts: Cory Doctorow expounds on the scam of fintech—via the New Shelton wet/dry
Thursday 30 December 2021
achievable goals
Courtesy of our friend artificial intelligencer and Smithsonian’s designated futurist-in-residence for next month, Janelle Shane (previously here and here) we are treated to a neural network’s attempt at coming up with a New Year’s resolution. With a few prompts, it generated suggestions like, “Make broccoli the national currency and then paint that,” or “take photos of my toes daily,” and intriguingly “act like a cabbage for a month,” “dress in a way that only a ghost could love,” “throw a birthday party for a tree” and “attempt to find peace living with an army of puppets.” More at the link above and see if you can find a resolution that’s particularly resonant for you. “I will now treat every worm I see as if it is an old friend.”
catagories: ๐ , ๐ค, libraries and museums, networking and blogging
Friday 24 December 2021
✨seasons greetings✨
We here at PfRC wish you and yours all good things and the biggest, brightest little Christmas yet. Take care of each other, and we look forward to seeing you all again real soon. Happy holidays!
catagories: ๐, ๐ , networking and blogging
Saturday 18 December 2021
pingxiety
This short about the tug-o’-war between duty to engage with social media demands and responsibilities in the real world that become increasingly suffused with online work and kindred spaces by Hanna Sun called “Blip” does an excellent job of limning that dreadful allure of the screen. Much more at Colossal at the link above.
catagories: ๐จ, ๐ฑ, ๐ง , networking and blogging
Friday 10 December 2021
fuzzwords of the year
Differentiated from buzzwords as something intentionally euphemistic or vague and so perhaps under the radar of censors and above a certain level of reproach, we enjoyed learning some of the current slanguage vocabulary of China. We especially liked the Mandarin / Putonghua near equivalent for the English acronym GOAT—that is, greatest of all time—in yวngyuวn de shรฉn (ๆฐธ่ฟ็็ฅ) YYDS, “eternal god” and used to heap praise for excellence. As the author points out, the same transliterated, four-letter initialism is also employed for yวngyuวn dฤnshฤn (ๆฐธ่ฟๅ่บซ), essential “forever single”—so context counts. Much more at Language Log at the link above.
catagories: ๐จ๐ณ, ๐ฌ, ๐ฃ, ๐คธ, networking and blogging
Wednesday 8 December 2021
legacy software
catagories: ๐ฌ, networking and blogging
from the depths of wikipedia
Via Waxy, we very much enjoyed this interview with Wikimedian and influencer—kindred spelunker and caretaker—Annie Rauwerda who shares her adventures lured down strange rabbitholes, daisy-chains and cul-de-sacs across several platforms. Perhaps the lone social media mogul whose project the public can intuit, Rauwerda regales, entraps us with delightful and seductive trivia, like Dolbear’s Law for instance, which describes the relationship between ambient air temperature and the frequency of cricket chirping (the number of chirps in eight seconds plus five is pretty close to the thermometer-reading in Celsius).
catagories: ๐ก, networking and blogging, ⓦ
Friday 26 November 2021
7x7
limerent limerick: help in recognising unhealthy obsessions and how to work one’s way out of intrusive thinking—hopefully through bawdy rhymes
there and back again: Gene Deitch’s animated short The Hobbit—the first such adaptation
roll for perception: a collection of resources, a florilegium from a Society for Creative Anachronism member for the LARP community—via Mx van Hoorn’s cabinet of hypertext curiosities
avenue of the sphinxes: a restored promenade between Luxor and Karnak opened with fanfare
opiate for the masses: drug use in Antiquity
mlhavรฝ: Martin Rak’s fog-draped forests in Saxon-Bohemia—see previously
here’s mud in your eye: a select glossary of beer and imbibing terminology—via Strange Company’s Weekend Link Dump
Sunday 14 November 2021
meanwhile back at the manse
catagories: 1981, architecture, networking and blogging
Saturday 6 November 2021
9x9
the audience effect: fellow blogger and internet caretaker Duck Soup passes a million page-views
ะณัะฐัะธัะบะธ ะดะธะทะฐัะฝ: celebrating the works of three pioneering Serbian graphic designers and topographers
mountain view: a prop gravesite used for film and television, interred and disinterred thousands of times, in a very real cemetery
subject matter expert: the street photography of Eric Kogan—via the morning newsutter rubbish: traumatising photographs of the garbage, sometimes neatly knolled, that humans produce
the briefing: a definitive guide to COP 26
greased falcon: a fan-channel dedicated to Star Wars! The Musical (2008)
time in a bottle: hackers are amassing encrypted data in the hopes that within a few years, quantum computers will be able to unlock it—via Slashdot
return to comfort town: more on brilliant housing development in Kyiv inspired by building blocks—see previously
Sunday 31 October 2021
7x7: happy halloween edition
robert the doll: Key West’s most cursed object—see also—via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links (lots more to see here)
zombie jamboree: Harry Belafonte’s actual ghoulish calypso number—notwithstanding the associations with the Banana Boat Song
la calavera catrina: a sugar skull puppet presents a primer on Dรญa de los Muertos
westsonality: enjoy Paul Lynde’s 1976 Halloween Special with a cavalcade of guest stars
respect the sabbath: periodic movements in the US to hold no Halloween on Sundays
main title theme: the score for John Carpenter’s classic horror film Halloween
lovecraft country: welcome to my metaverse—see previously