dissolving in the distance

Another month with no download I'm afraid, but I did record another wee video:

when the light stills

Further Reading

"if we're paying attention, we can already catch glimpses of a new holistic thinking emerging, one that positions human culture as a participant in a wider ecosystem. Maybe we're collectively holding our breath, just as people did before each renaissance, tending an ear for the sound of something that'll tear the middle ages wide open."

The new Boards of Canada video has some fun James Whitney vibes.

All the ways you can be tracked when visiting websites.

I feel like people are starting to talk about a potential major backlash against tech. A couple of data points:

• "The tech industry is shaping up to be one of the most hated industries in our modern era. It was built on the foundation of empire."
• "Governments are looking at regulating computers in ways they never have, not regulating big tech monopolies, just computers. They always wanted to do this but held off bc people like computers. What if people stop liking computers?"

I saw Rose of Nevada this month, and wow. Beautifully shot with a keen attention to texture and great sound design. I got strong Alan Garner vibes from the ambiguous time slipping narrative.

Richard Siken: Litany in Which Certain Things Are Crossed Out

A zine where the author created everything themselves; font, layout engine, page imposition, etc.

An actually useful search engine. I particularly like the Explore page.

Miguel Sicart: The Failure of Play:

"This is the premise of the argument for the failure of play: the ludic is everywhere, but it has not created a world that is more free, more creative, more leisurely, or more fun. If anything, it has sped up the use of tools of control by capital, the rhetoric of the far right, and the monetized mass delusions of conspiracy theory grifters."

v buckenham talking about livecoding, but also about community and culture:

"there are many things you can do to prepare for a community and a culture you love expanding rapidly. If you care more for the values of the community than the size of it. But one of the main things you can do is to shut it down, if you feel like it is not expressing the values that you want it to. There is a limit to how big you can get in a short space of time while still retaining the same culture. Technology can scale but community can't. And the magic of the livecoding community that me and Mike are in is more in the culture than it is in the technology."

"Your use case is, there's a fourteen year old in an emergency room at 3 AM. English is their second or maybe fourth language. They have a battered school Chromebook or a hand-me-down Android device that was the cheapest thing on the market six years ago or a PS Vita their parents don't even realize has a web browser, and they're trying to educate themselves in the middle of the single most terrifying night they've ever experienced. Your site needs to work for that person at that moment."

That's it from me this month. Sending all my best wishes and earnest hopes your way. Look after them for me.