A commonplace book.
A book by Alasdair MacIntyre . Source: en.wikipedia.org #ethics • #philosophy • #morality The good only reveals itself in the quest The good that is the goal of the quest is not adequately characterized the way geologists search for oil or miners for gold; the good only reveals itself in the quest, and every quest is a process of self-discovery. Related: The discoveries you make in the making The…
A specification by Richard Danne , Bruce Blackburn & Christopher Bonanos . The NASA Graphics Standards Manual by Richard Danne and Bruce Blackburn is a futuristic vision for an agency at the cutting edge of science and exploration. The book features a foreword by Richard Danne, an essay by Christopher Bonanos, scans of the original manual (from Danne’s personal copy), reproductions of the original…
A quote by James Acaster . I took the boy with me, she brought the girl along, and they had a great time the whole week, running around Disney having a blast. Because for me a good relationship is when you’re not just both getting on with each other in the here and now, but simultaneously, every past version of yourselves is getting on with each other as well. And you don’t have to protect your…
An essay by Ville-Matias Heikkilä . This is a collection of random thoughts regarding the application of permacultural ideas to the computer world. Some have tried to connect these worlds before (WikiWikiWeb's Permaculture article; Kent Beck's short-lived idea of Permaprogramming), but these have mostly concentrated on enhancing software engineering practices with some ideas from gardening. I am…
A book by Joseph Schillinger . Part One: SCIENCE AND ESTHETICS // Part Two: THEORY OF REGULARITY AND COORDINATION // Part Three: TECHNOLOGY OF ART PRODUCTION This work does not pretend to transform the reader into a proficient artist. Its goal is to disclose the mechanism of creatorship as it manifests itself in nature and in the arts. This system, which in a sense is itself a product of…
An abecedarium by Edward Gorey . The Quingawaga and Mork, Fidknop and Ampoo are among the fantastical imaginings of Edward Gorey's Utter Zoo Alphabet. The twenty-six postcards (one for each letter of the alphabet) feature Gorey's illustrations of unusual and biologically questionable creatures, each one described by a typically witty Gorey couplet. Source: www.google.com #fantasy • #animals •…
A short story by Jorge Luis Borges . “The memory has entered your mind, but it must be ‘discovered.’ It will emerge in dreams, or when you are awake, when you turn the pages of a book, or turn a corner. Don’t be impatient; don’t invent recollections. Chance in its mysterious workings may help you along, or it may hold you back. As I gradually forget, you will remember. I cannot tell you how long…
A case study by Agoston Nagy . QRNG (Quantum Random Number Generator), Noise, Random Sequences Explorations in quantum computing and generative art. Introducing my recent experiments with real quantum hardware to generate randomness with quantum algorithms in search of new aesthetic possibilities. Source: paragraph.com Related: I Ching #randomness • #physics • #art • #noise • #graphics •…
A video by Sarah Griffin . Concertina-fold almanacs are defined both by their structure—concertina-fold books—and by their contents as almanacs. The format was introduced in the 14th century. Typically, one long strip of parchment is folded in half lengthwise and then folded accordion-style in a zigzag pattern to create a small book. Cuts made perpendicular to the central fold allow readers to…
A website by Maxwell Neely-Cohen . #1: Logic Gate Drum Machine Back in 2019, I sketched out designs for a couple of web-based drum machines. I didn't actually code them until 2025 and then thought, ok, that was fun, I should make more. Why 10,000? I don't know. I was trying to come up with a name for a collection of drum machines and "10,000 DRUM MACHINES" was all that came to mind. I probably…
An article by Scott Alexander . A simulation of the Game of Life within the Game of Life ( video source ). Tegmark’s hypothesis says: all possible mathematical objects exist. Consider a mathematical object like a cellular automaton - a set of simple rules that creates complex behavior. The most famous is Conway’s Game of Life; the second most famous is the universe. After all, the universe is a…
A research paper by Robert Prevost . Prof. Richard Swinburne believes in the existence of God; Mr. John Mackie does not. Their disagreement ends there. They share assumptions about the nature of the claim that God exists and about the use of Bayes' theorem to evaluate that claim. In this essay I want to discuss some of these commonalities and to address the issue of theism as an explanation for…
An experiment by Alexander Kohlhofer . Hand-drawn cityscapes, procedurally generated. Source: kohlhofer.com Related: Floor796 Isometry Cityspace series Meltdown #generativity • #cities • #randomness • #drawing
A quote by Søren Kierkegaard . Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. Related: An endless living world #walking • #emotion • #happiness To Henriette Lund, from Letters and Documents , p. 214,…
A gallery by Tatsuo Horiuchi . The pictures shown on this site are "Excel Art"by Tatsuo Horiuchi, which were drawn and painted with Excel supported on PC originally, and were re-formatted (rasterized) into JPG for the data-compression. Source: pasokonga.com Related: the blog as a seasoned technology Spreadsheet as a Poetic tool #spreadsheets • #art
A book by David Ramsay Hay . Three Scales of the Elementary Rectilinear Figures, viz., the Scalene Triangle, the Isosceles Triangle, and the Rectangle, comprising twenty-seven varieties of each, according to the harmonic parts of the Right Angle from ¹⁄₂ to ¹⁄₁₆. My theory of beauty in form and colour being now admitted by the best authorities to be based on truth, I have of late been often asked,…
A book by Chet van Duzer . Via BibliOdyssey . The sea monsters on medieval and Renaissance maps are one of the most visually engaging elements, and yet they have never before been carefully studied. The subject is important not only in the history of cartography, art, and zoological illustration, but also in the history of the geography of the marvellous and of Western conceptions of the ocean.…
An album by iA . Welcome to the second Tokyo focus track - a series of soundscapes to help you focus on your writing - now taking the famous circular Yamanote Line. Tokyo, the birthplace of iA, has always provided inspiration for the work we do, and riding its trains a backdrop to focusing on your thoughts. With these soundscapes of journeys across Tokyo, we hope to convey the same feeling of calm…
A thesis by Elena Álvarez Andrés . "Post-production of a Palimpsest" poses a theoretical scenario that attempts to underline the transhistorical character of cities and to consider the role of the elements that compose them. How to approach the past, from the present, knowing that it is imperative to respect it, but not necessarily to venerate it? The project reveals itself as a collage composed…
An application by Manu Ebert . The Most Dangerous Writing App is designed to get you into a state of flow. If you stop typing for more than five seconds, all progress will be lost. Source: github.com Related: Everything not saved will be lost #writing • #typing • #danger Via Dynomight .
An article by Gordon Brander . Library of Babel, Rice+Lipka Architects. Source: Places Journal When you are an AI, creativity is a search problem. Your job is to find something that already exists out there in the space of possibility. It’s just waiting to be discovered. There is something powerful about this notion of possibility spaces, both from a theory standpoint, and as a way of seeing. It…
A short story by Jorge Luis Borges . The universe (which others call the Library) is composed of an indefinite, perhaps infinite number of hexagonal galleries. In the center of each gallery is a ventilation shaft, bounded by a low railing. From any hexagon one can see the floors above and below—one after another, endlessly. The arrangement of the galleries is always the same: Twenty bookshelves,…
A book by Robert Burton . On its surface, the book is presented as a medical textbook in which Burton applies his vast and varied learning, in the scholastic manner, to the subject of melancholia (or clinical depression). Although presented as a medical text, The Anatomy of Melancholy is as much a sui generis work of literature as it is a scientific or philosophical text, as Burton covers far more…
A book by John Gibson . T. Nelson & Sons, 1887, First Edition In ancient times little was known of the sea and its inhabitants. A wide field was thus presented for the play of the imagination, and so the waste of waters came to be peopled with a host of fanciful monsters. The better knowledge of modern times, while it has swept the most of this away, and reduced the remainder to truthful…
A film by Kim Nguyen . A pair of high-frequency traders go up against their old boss in an effort to make millions in a fiber-optic cable deal. Source: www.imdb.com The lemon farmers in Zimbabwe Anton: Well I'm here to make digital information travel faster between the Kansas electronic exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. Let's let's say you're an investor in Kansas and I'm a trader—also in…
A heartfelt appeal by Nick Trombley . I don't keep analytics on how many RSS subscribers this site has, and I don't ever plan to. What I can say is that over the years I've treasured every bit of feedback I've received, every backlink, and every note. Knowing there's a small community out there who find some of the things here interesting means the world to me and easily justifies the spare time…
An article by Breck Yunits . I wish I spent more time moving atoms and less time moving symbols. I enjoy reading and writing, but I do more of it than I'd like. ...It is far more rewarding to make things with atoms than symbols. Atomic creations are the things to be most proud of. The symbols on the screens should help us move and produce more, rather than sit and consume more symbols. Source:…
An experiment by Spencer Chang . Field Companions are everyday objects that have been modified to hold memory in order to share the perspective of our environments. From stones to sea glass to broken off asphalt, each Companion can be found every day you move through the world and has been given a 1-minute audio recording at the place in the minute it was found. An experiment in giving inanimate…
A tweet by Old Hollow Tree . April , Simon Sarris. Months ago, a cynical man said something to the effect that Mr. Sarris’s life was only picture-perfect because he deliberately made it that way. ...You can accuse aesthetically minded people like him of staging everything, of going out of their way to create a beautiful scene...but that earnestly results in a beautiful scene. It is no less true…
An artwork by Rob Gray . The Worst Chair Maker is an experimental sculptural and public art project. In June 2017, Rob started building chair-shaped sculptures using found wood. He had no prior woodworking or furniture designing experience. He explores the alleyways of northeast Portland collecting found wood scraps and rummages through the Rebuilding Center in search of their very worst cuts,…