Via @freakyfir on Instagram
Month: June 2023
ELBOWS KNEES AND HEADS
What the hell are we doing?
“Victor has found that projects pop up very late at night, so he is in the habit of waking every three hours or so to check his queue. When a task is there, he’ll stay awake as long as he can to work. Once, he stayed up 36 hours straight labeling elbows and knees and heads in photographs of crowds — he has no idea why.”
From ‘AI Is a Lot of Work,’ all about the for-real humans that make AI seemingly work.
“Work stripped of all its normal trappings: a schedule, colleagues, knowledge of what they were working on or whom they were working for. In fact, they rarely called it work at all — just “tasking.” They were taskers.”
We’re doomed.
COMPUTER SHOPPER SCANNING
From “Preparing for the Incoming Computer Shopper Tsunami.” I love the internet.
UNENDING BLOAT
I know social media is a constant bombardment of images, video, and text, but I think the most jarring part is how it’s all different.
So for me it’s bike, anti-work, bands, podcast clips in audio form, cookies, more bikes, cool camper vans, bands, bands, bands, coffee…
It reminds me a little bit of flipping through the cable TV channels back in the day, but with even less friction. And it’s not just 75 or 100 channels, it’s unlimited. You can sit there for HOURS and (probably) never see the same thing twice.
It’s like sitting there with a bag of chips, or (for me) a bag of cookies. I can just mindlessly consume them with zero thought. But then afterwards, I’ve got nothing of value, I’ve lost time, and I feel bloated.
KEEP OUT
I’ve been through this abandoned tunnel multiple times over the years, dating back to the 2000s at the least. We’d park nearby, do a few miles on our mountain bikes, and then come here to cool off and enjoy the scenery on the other side.
Not sure what happened. Must not have been too bad, right? Or else there’d be a real fence here, I’d figure.
GOING OUTSIDE
I deleted my Twitter account 15 days ago, but I think I watched 10 hours of video on Instagram yesterday. Not literally, but it sure feels like it.
When we used to watch four hours of television a day, which would been four or five shows as we flipped around, now we watch four hours of videos on social media platforms and it’s from 10,000 different things.
After a nice six mile run yesterday (photo above), I was wiped out. So in the evening I was scrolling, and scrolling, and scrolling. This kept me up, and then I got to bed late, which messed up my morning plans to travel for another adventure on Sunday morning.
Today I deleted Instagram from my phone. I feel like I gotta delete my account and just be done with it.
REVOLT
When I mention my cute “Social Media Escape Plan” there’s usually some people that bring up the community aspect, and the private communications like Facebook Groups, various DM inboxes, etc.
And then I what Reddit is doing, with killing off 3rd party apps, prompting users to revolt.
Don’t build your community on rented property.
Keeping in touch with your friends and family on a platform is fine until one day it’s not.
GET AWAY
Without Twitter (I shut down my account in early June, 2023) , what do I do now?
Well, I go outside more, wash my dishes, organize, go on bike rides, and talk on the phone more.
In this video below Jon Wayne talks about getting away from always being in the thing you wanna make (in his case, BEATS), and getting out and doing things that lend itself back to making beats.
Living a rich, well rounded, cultural life adds to your art.
Marlee Grace wrote about having someone else manage her Instagram:
I found that as I didn’t have access to my Instagram my interest in sharpening my website and offering came into clearer focus. I opened up my books for creative advising, saw opportunities for new classes, and started organizing plans for a new website. My ecosystem is so much more than an algorithmic grid.
Now that I’ve stopped focusing on tending to an app that many people don’t even use, I now have more time to work on things that can generate income, or give me joy, or fuck, just make my kitchen look nice.
And it’s not just about monetizing my hobbies or some shit. If anything it’s about not working – more bike rides, more running in the woods, more calm, casual conversations with friends.
So when it is time to work, I’m my best, most fulfilled self.
VISION PRO
Is this finally the sign that new things aren’t for me?
The iPod came out in 2001, when I was 25. I was PUMPED. I had to have one. My first was the U2 iPod, which I remember dropping on the pavement when riding in NYC.
The iPhone came out in 2007. I was 31. Had to have one. I stood in line for one or two, I believe. I had the 3GS, 4, 5, SE, XR, and now my 12 mini.
The iPad came out in 2010. I was 34. I’ve owned three of them over the years.
Now the Vision Pro in 2023. I am 47, and I feel this isn’t for me, and that’s plenty okay.
Converge’s seminal album ‘Jane Doe’ came out in 2010, when I was 34 years old, and I can imagine there were many 47 year olds who were like, “this isn’t for me.”
There’s a lot of “modern metal” out there made by young 20 somethings that just isn’t for me. It’s still good. It’s great! But it’s not made for cranky 47 years olds, really. I like some of it, some of it I don’t. I’m not 20 anymore.
The Vision Pro will be $3,500. That’s okay.
I want the $1,500 TP-7 from Teenage Engineering.
I guess it’s the idea that I don’t know exactly what I get with a Vision Pro, other than what I watched. I can watch movies. Do some work. Look at photos. Okay.
But the TP-7, damn. I mean, I’m not really going to buy it, but I know what it does, and what it can do, without ever actually holding it in my hand.
Is the Vision Pro the future? Maybe. I’m sure if I played with one it’d be amazing, and that’s okay. Many things can be true all at once.
HAZE
The Canadian wildfires left a bunch of us in the dark. Not total darkness, but it blocked out the blue skies and sun, and you could smell the smoke indoors, and it made your eyes scratchy.
Though it wasn’t as orange as the photos below, it was still very unsetting and creepy.
I figured instead of linking to big media coverage, why not see what people have posted on Flickr?
