In the age of the corporate intranet, one of the most obvious methods for taking the temperature of the staff is the online comment forum or discussion board. It is precisely because the solution seems so obvious that the decision to adopt it is usually made without a thoughtful consideration of the potential consequences. The manager who wants that employee feedback may get more than she bargained for.
The algorithm shoved a book in my face a couple of times. Normally, I’m immune to this form of ad attack, but the very title of the book intrigued me: “Art is the Only Way Out.” The ad sent me to a nicely produced website that teased the book. Two blocks of text stuck out to me in particular — enough that I wanted to save them here.
The recent Artemis II mission to the moon generated intense interest worldwide. And artists responded as the always do: by producing visually stunning and emotionally powerful work. I saw so much great art online that I wanted to gather some of my favorite pieces so that others could see this wonderful art presented thematically.
Anti-intellectualism no longer presents itself as ignorance. Instead, it’s framed as “independent thinking”, “questioning narratives”, or “rejecting establishment bias.” What’s actually going on is the nationalization of the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
As a nation, we haven’t had much to cheer about lately. Along comes NASA’s Artemis II mission, something that most in this country were completely ignorant of until a week or so before it happened; the lowest-key mission to the moon ever. Things changed a day or two before launch as attention suddenly became intense. It’s hard not to be excited about a giant moon rocket, the likes of which have…
A deep dive into the philosophical foundations upon which modern techno utopians sit, providing insight into why today's tech bros seem bent on delivering a future that few people actually want, including: why they're largely Libertarians; why their embrace of Effective Altruism bears all the hallmarks of a cult; and how a generation of white men raised on classic sci-fi and cyberpunk somehow…
“Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI” by Karen Hao is an exhaustively researched look into one of the most important AI companies in Silicon Valley. Here's what I learned by reading it.
You've felt it. That mental itch...to pick up the smart phone, check the news feed, check your social media performance, check something. Sometimes you think you should be able to resist it, but...nah, I want to look. I can quit any time I want! You know though, that you don't have nearly as much control as you’d like. It's not just you, it's everybody. The book “Stolen Focus” by Johann Hari is…
While scanning the upcoming class offerings at the School for Visual Design a couple of months ago, I came across an entry that looked promising: Experimental Drawing. It looked like a great way to break free from the rigid “same old” of some of my art-making patterns. Problem was, it was only being offered on campus during work hours. Bummer. Then, a month later, it became available as a…
The whole issue summarized in a brief exchange:
Steve Brodner was one of my first illustration heroes. I just loved his work and his unique fluid style. While the creation of the Internet has generally been regarded as a bad move, it does have its upsides—one of which is that it connects people who in the Old Days would never have met. In this way, I discovered that I could take classes from Steve because he taught at the School of Visual Arts…
Many design problems can be posed with this game in mind, the main principle to be learned being that of economy of means—making the most with the least. The game helps to sharpen the powers of observation through the discovery of resemblances between geometric and natural forms
Most people, either alone in quiet contemplation or engaged in alcohol-fueled conversations with friends at a bar, have at one time or another considered the question "why should there be something rather than nothing at all?" After all, it seems just as likely that the universe could consist of nothingness rather than be filled with planets, galaxies, cosmic dust and iPads. In “Why Does the World…
The wonderful thing about celestial mechanics is that they’re mathematically precise; there’s no doubt as to when things are going to happen. Heavenly events can’t be stopped or delayed by events on Earth, bad weather, or a collective lack of interest. They’re coming whether you’re ready or not. I first became aware of an impending solar eclipse several months before it happened from people who…
I have a tough time with choosing colors when making my own artwork. I often fall back into the same comfortable pairings. So, when I find a good reference like this, I want to tuck it away somewhere for safekeeping.
This is a strange little book that covers the life of Mark Weiser, a man who the author seems to believe occupies a pivotal role in the history of personal computing. Whether the author’s belief is warranted—or if indeed the entire book is warranted—is something I couldn’t quite decide by the time I reached the end of it.
This is a review of the book X-Risk: How Humanity Discovered Its Own Extinction by Thomas Moynihan. I was expecting this book to be an exploration of how human beings seem to be continually drawn to creating the mechanisms of our own destruction. Whether it be be nuclear weaponry, machines which poison our atmosphere, or computers which will become hyper-intelligent in an instant, we always seem…
What happened to the unattributed comics artists whose work he cribbed? Their art form was considered so low that Lichtenstein never felt obliged to credit them, nor was his audience ever much inclined to care who they were.
Elon Musk “long ago decided that for humanity to have a future, it must expand to other worlds”…a premise which is kind of nuts if one thinks about it for more than a few seconds but there seems to be no doubt that Musk believes it. This belief was his prime motivation for founding a company that could build the hardware to make that wild dream a reality. “Liftoff” is the story of the first few…
Author Martin Amis died this week and I saw a post by @juderogers recounting some of his views from later in life. This section really resonated with me.
Fukuda was expert at communicating messages using minimal graphic means. His spare style was universal, his symbolism bridging cultural divides.