🔗 WWW
There are a lot of links out to different parts of the web on this site. I try to mark them all so they get listed here.
From the chaps at Gaping Void ….
“Let’s just say, in 2024, if Trump gets reelected (for example), he will have to ask Elon’s permission to get back on Twitter. We’re talking about ‘the leader of the free world’ kissing Elon’s ring. And if the President is kissing the ring, imagine who else is getting in line: Politicians, regulators, captains of industry, foreign dignitaries, Hollywood celebrities.”
📚 I just added 🔗 A Good Hard Kick in the Ass by Rob Adams to my ‘want to read list’ … anybody else tried it?
Lore - What Is It Good For?
Apparently - absolutely everything, (with apologies to Edwin Star). That said, a really GREAT series of articles by Venkatesh Rao on ‘Lore’ The Index To The Series
This is Part 7 of 7 : 🔗 Towards Management Metamodernism , from which I quote;
Just as Wallace noted, in 1993, that literary writing was increasingly substituting TV-watching for observation of life (which, as he pointed out, was understandable, since life itself was about sitting on a couch watching television), by 2007 or so, on the threshold of the global financial crisis, “external reality” to leaders meant the output of the literary-industrial complex.
💬 Venkatesh Rao - Ribbon Farm
(My bold reminding me of the UK series Gogglebox - an entire show where we the viewers watched other viewers watch television!)
What I Listened To This Weekend
Dear New Zealand ...
… did you know this was going on in your own backyard?
“In the back room of an old and greying building in the northernmost region of New Zealand, one of the most advanced computers for artificial intelligence is helping to redefine the technology’s future.”
🔗 A new vision of artificial intelligence for the people
… as reported by MIT.
Vibe Shifts - Are You Part Of Them?
I never made the switch from photography to illustrations on my web properties, but I do very much remember when Unsplash seemed to suddenly be the ‘defacto choice’ for photography on many sites. More recently seeing Craft and others add the service right into their apps, I have felt for a while that I need to discover a new source of visual inspiration.
Was that due to that acquisition, or is it the uniquity of images from the Unsplash library? Are they related?
Case in point …. how many times have you seen this image?
Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash
According to Unsplash it has nearly 150 million views and has been downloaded 1,225,278 times - not recorded are the 2,397 sites I have visited that use this image!
So yes, I have noticed that I am struggling to find images on Unsplash that work for what I am writing about. Which is why I am eagerly waiting for my access to DALL-E 2 and … Midjourney … because I already have plans to change the illustrative approach to my blogs and social sharing.
I thought it was just me - until I read this today;
Sometime around 2015 there was a mysterious vibe shift in web design. It came so suddenly, and with so much decisive force, that it stood apart from the normal ebb and flow of aesthetic trends. It was like an invasive species taking over an ecosystem from a weaker competitor.
💬 Nathan Baschez
🔗 DALL·E 2 and The Origin of Vibe Shifts
I think when Unsplash (the free photography website) was founded in 2013 it killed the old vibe by democratizing access to great photography, and thereby ruining its function as a costly status signal. Companies then started using custom illustrations in their brand aesthetic because illustrations suddenly became much more rare and expensive relative to photos.
I’m interested in this little piece of design history because today I think history is on the brink of repeating itself. Now that we have DALL·E 2 (and other AI image generators), a huge portion of visual vibes will become democratized. What Unsplash did to photography, DALL·E 2 will do to illustrations, 3D renderings, and eventually all visual styles.
In other words: a vibe shift is indeed coming.
Me?
“I know nothing.”
💬 Private Schultz
But I have just been working through 🔗 Elon’s Giant Package … which is an alternative take on what is going on with today’s news.
📚 Just looking out ahead and realized that I still need to come up with my two books for the next meeting of 🖇️ 🔎The Readers Republic.
Just discovered 🔗 Future Wealth by Stanley M. Davis 📚 and added it to my ‘want to read’ bookshelf. The summaries I have read put it right in the middle of my 🔗 People First thinking
🔗 Still trying to get my head around ‘System’ … massive in scope - and yet only just getting started.
Wondering if anyone out there has spent time in there?
🎶🎵 As a 60s ‘pop song’, 🔗 Simon Dupree and the Big Sound’s Kites has always had a place in my heart.
As a progressive band, 🔗 Gentle Giant sits in my personal pantheon of musical influence.
Just discovered today that the latter were essentially the same band as the former. 🤯
Am I Dead?
You know in 🔗 Coco there is this idea that you need to be remembered to continue to live in the land of the dead?
I don’t think I am dead - but can anyone out there confirm?
Asking - because on three seperate occasions this past week - someone else has sought me out for a meeting, which I have confirmed and agreed to, only to then be totally ghosted.
I know. I know.
It’s not them … it’s me!
Ummm - yes. Agreed. It’s hard
But You Had ONE Job!
🔗 PayPal’s Peter Thiel may be a ‘genius’, but I’m still not champing at the bitcoin.
Spoiler alert - he isn’t a genius. In fact, he seems to be kind of mundane.
The clue might be that he is - despite everything else his name is associated with - still ‘Paypal’s Peter Thiel’.
Talking About Failed Leadership ...
Just after stumbling 🔗 across this
I found this
What tech billionaire was that wondered?
Eric Greenberg came the Google reply. He that founded Viant and then left and founded Scient. (I always thought that an odd move - to my mind they were identical companies - but no matter … onwards …)
To saving you going there, according to Wikipedia, Scient was bought and sold over the years and whatever is still left of it now sits in Publicis. Meanwhile Viant was acquired by something called Divine that filed for bankruptcy 20 years ago - and then liquidated after some of the execs were accused on looting subsidiaries.
**Meanwhile, more rabbit hold diving found that **
🔗 NY jury awards $12 million to Fla. billionaire in wine dispute
TL~DR … Eric lost in court to one of the Koch brothers over selling counterfeit wine.
Read more about that here …
🔗 Scient Founder Accused of Selling Counterfeit Wine
and out of that Eric emerged once more ….. to found ‘Wrap’
🔗 How Eric Greenberg Became a Once (and Future?) Internet Billionaire - WRAP
Who / What is ’Wrap’? Try this …
LMK if you get what they are doing. I don’t.
“How mighty are the fallen.”
🔗 QAnon candidates are on the ballot in 26 states (Apple News)
.. and if that wasn’t depressing enough ….
“QAnon candidates receive support from GOP megadonors like Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus, casino mogul Steve Wynn and San Francisco Giants owner Charles Johnson.”
Sometimes Old Posts Just Don't Hold Up
🔗 12 Different Ways for Companies to Innovate
It dates back to 2006 - and no need to read it, because in the opening paragraph they highlighted three US business leaders that we needed to pay attention to.
- William Ford Jr., Chairman and CEO - Ford
- Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman and CEO - General Electric
- Steve Ballmer, CEO - Microsoft
I think around that time there was a phrase bandied around …
#winning