This is neat: Robin Sloan is rewriting his 2009 short story, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore . “The interplay between books and technology has changed since I wrote them…but also that I have become a different writer, and a better one.”
This week, we honor a giant of 20th-century cinema, a sculptor of the natural world, and a self-described “paintoonist.”
“It wasn't as dirty as I was expecting,” said Justin Gignac, who suited up to collect garbage with a claw grabber outside Madison Square Garden.
Stop chasing life goals and start trying tiny experiments to learn from instead . “Chasing goals doesn’t work for life’s most important questions — career, relationships, health. It’s like locking in your answer before you have understood the question.”
A pair of exhibitions at the Milwaukee Art Museum underscores the support, comradeship, and spirit of rebellion shared by the Surrealist and her friends.
What’s the Point of Sex, Anyway? “There is yet another kind of male, known among ichthyologists as a ‘sneaky mater.’ This type dispenses altogether with nest-building and partnering and simply darts around squirting.”
In her first book, scholar Simona Supekar mines the history of stock imagery as a vessel for racism and sexism and considers its role in the age of AI.
Jonathan Allen’s guerrilla installations superimposed anti-genocide messages onto advertising displays outside the museum.
I’ve posted this before, but it’s so good, here it is again: a super-simple explanation of why differential gears are necessary in cars and how they work. (via @stevenstrogatz ) [This is a vintage post originally from Apr 2013.] Tags: cars · science · video
The Open Source AI Gap Map shows the current capabilities of open source AI tools with an eye toward answering an important question: “What building blocks are missing for creating completely open source AI products?”
The End of Reading Is Here . “The decline of reading will bring about changes of the same magnitude. It will affect our innermost thoughts, our society’s politics and culture, and how we tell the history of our civilization.”
"When an alligator kills someone in America, it can make international headlines. What happens to the thousands of gators that people deem 'nuisances' does not."
David Epstein, author of the recent Inside the Box (a book about the value of constraints), did a fascinating video on “anticipatory skill” and “chunking” and how players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo (who can accurately head the ball even in the dark ) use them to
Inventing ELIZA: How the First Chatbot Shaped the Future of AI . “This book presents the rediscovered original source code of ELIZA alongside previously unseen scripts…, revealing a far more sophisticated system than previously documented.”
This year, photographers in 160 countries submitted more than 108,000 images. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Atmospheric Scenes and Layered
"Masha Polska, 15, was an avid dancer who had been dreaming of a star turn in the group waltz. That was not to be."
British political news: Nigel Farage is facing competition for his parliamentary seat from “ a man with a trash can on his head, better known as Count Binface ”. From the country that brought you Boaty McBoatface …
"Netflix’s new adaptation of the beloved book series will probably leave out some of the most fascinating details from the author’s life—from Pa Ingalls’s ineptitude to the serial killers that stalked Kansas during her childhood."
City’s Beautification Initiative Hamstrung By Commitment To Local Artists . “I’m pretty sure when the mayor promised residents a revitalized arts district, he didn’t mean a couple of wonky fish sculptures haphazardly nailed to a tree…” Bwhahaha.
"It felt like a stabbing. It felt like a burning. It felt like a dull ache, then a sharp one, then it radiated all the way down."
Confronted with the horrifying reality of gendered violence, radically different people unite in resistance and protest - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
The British painter’s four seasons, the New Museum’s new director, and which Surrealist painter influenced a soccer jersey?
The author of Any Person Is the Only Self and recent Guggenheim fellow talks about the worst time of day, the value of wasting an hour, and chilaquiles.
What’s this idea (book, meme, song, TV show, marketing campaign) for? Perhaps you want to reach the largest number of people. Or make the most sales. Or generate the most word of mouth. Or be notorious. Or change part of the culture. Or get good reviews. Or have people actually
Alfred Hitchcock was not American, as even casual viewers of his television show could tell right away. He may have exaggerated his Englishness, but like more than a few high-profile outsiders, he also used his cultural position to render the United States all the more vividly
It’s a good bet that your first box of crayons or watercolors was a simple affair of six or so colors… just like the palette belonging to Amenemopet, vizier to Pharaoh Amenhotep III (c.1391 — c.1354 BC), a pleasure-loving patron of the arts whose rule coincided with a period of
"Johnny Knoxville and his band of merry pranksters got me through one of the worst weeks of my life."