5IT: demote
1. Autodesk is taking the idea of designing life quite literally.
"Although primarily known for revolutionizing computer-aided design with the release of AutoCAD, Autodesk is set to radically alter the design process of a new realm of materials: living objects. The transition into the emerging industry of designing life is the goal of Project Cyborg, a cloud-based design platform focused on developing and integrating numerous computational tools capable of designing, testing, and editing living things."
"As Max and Harper have gone deeper into their online sexual exploration, they have learned that sex is no longer a thing either of them could define. 'I know intercourse is definable as a thing but I don’t, like, believe in ‘sex’,' said Max. 'I don’t think I could point to it, I couldn’t tell you what it is, because for some people, completely-clothed-just-pulling-at-your-nostrils-at-a-camera is sex, it’s a massive turn-on.'"
"We live in a meritocracy. I can tell, because I'm on top and I'm the best at the criteria we use to determine who gets to be on top. The fact that me and other people who do well on that criteria unilaterally declared it to be the dispositive factor in determining merit is irrelevant. We're such lovely chaps, and so meretricious, that we can certainly be relied upon to pick the right criteria."
+ Via the State of the World discussion between Jon Lebowsky, Bruce Sterling, and Cory Doctorow on the WELL.
4. This Iannis Xénakis & Le Corbusier Pavilion for Philips at the 1958 World Exposition might not have gotten Kickstarter funded.
"'I will not make a pavilion for you but an Electronic Poem and a vessel containing the poem; light, color image, rhythm and sound joined together in an organic synthesis.'"
5. Some hard-won, practical advice on starting a feminist publication in this day in age.
"Every time I pay my lawyers, bookkeepers, and accountants I do a little happy dance of gratitude. It’s great to get to work with professional people who are competent at what they do. I like seeing how they save me from headaches down the road by doing things like setting the accounting categories up to be prepared for required state forms that need to be filled out in year 2. (I had no idea such forms existed until year 2, when suddenly that random-seeming accounting category made sense!) Professionals will know about the things you would never even imagine exist, and then your company will be ready for them."
Today's 1957 American English Language Tip
demote, the opposite of promote (He has recently been demoted), is heard and seen in news reports (US), but is so recent as to be in few dictionaries.
The Credits: 1. synbiobeta.co 2. medium.com / @kari_paul 3. books.google.com 4. acidadebranca.tumblr.com / @brutalhouse 5. ameliagreenhall.com
But an Electronic Poem