Culture
AI, without the hype
Interviews with Ray Kurzweil and Noam Chomsky in which they nuance and debunk a lot of hype surrounding AI at the moment.
Fac 1, Factory Communications 1979-1992
Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus.
The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside, and (briefly) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and James. Factory also ran The Haçienda nightclub, in partnership with New Order.
Factory Records used a creative team (most notably record producer Martin Hannett and graphic designer Peter Saville) which gave the label and the artists recording for it a particular sound and image. The label employed a unique cataloguing system that gave a number not just to its musical releases, but also to various other related miscellany, including artwork, films, living beings, and even Wilson’s own casket and tombstone.
Two short clips about Factory artefacts
“I am not a piece of hash. I’m in charge of Factory Records. I think.”
Tony Wilson
Fac 51, The Hacienda or How Not To Run A Club by Peter Hook - #update
The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club by Peter Hook
The Haçienda was, as Hook says, in many ways the perfect example of how not to run a club – if you view a nightclub as a money-making business. But if, like the baggy trousered philanthropists Factory, you see it as an altruistic gift to your hometown and a breeding ground for the next generation of youth culture, it was, accidentally, purposefully, shambolically, anarchically, thrillingly, scarily, inspirationally, perfect.
Peter Hook is a founding member of Joy Division and New Order
See him talk about it.
See this short documentary about The Hacienda.
Hans Schnitzler - We Nihilists
Wij Nihilisten
An elite of tech entrepreneurs has succeeded in dominating people and society in a very short time. Since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, services such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat or the cloud have become indispensable. In fifteen years, a collective digital conversion has taken place that has radically changed our lives.
In Wij nihilisten, Hans Schnitzler poses a question that is hardly ever asked: how did this virtual class manage to do this? Inspired by, among other things, Friedrich Nietzsche’s writings on nihilism, he goes in search of the cultural roots of this success. His quest immerses the reader in the wonderful world of the archetype of the internet age: the nerd. At the same time, he presents a mirror to us: in fact we are all nerds.
The data revolution threatens to eat its own children. With this book, Schnitzler urges us to face our own part in this. Because only when we are aware of this change is possible.
You can buy the book here (Dutch only):
https://www.debezigebij.nl/boek/wij-nihilisten/
'The one who sees it all, sees nothing'
C.S. Lewis
Videos about the book and discussions about the presented issues:
All rights belong to the owners of the works presented.
AI documentaries
Interesting documentaries about Artificial Intelligence by german production house Deutsche Welle in English and Frontline from the USA. However, can somebody please write an AI plugin to remove all 'there is something sinister going on here' music from all AI documentaries.
Artificial Intelligence Documentaries by Deutsche Welle and Frontline
Disclaimer: The documentaries are from 2019 and 2020, so already considered 'ancient' in the AI developer world.
Francis and the Lights - Friends ft. Bon Iver and Kanye West
Great idea, low budget, maximum impact.
Francis and the Lights - Friends ft. Bon Iver and Kanye West
Directed by Jake Schreier from the album FAREWELL, STARLITE!
all enquires: seb@sebchew.com
written by Lammer, Starlite, Vernon.
Produced by BJ Burton, Francis, Kanye West and Justin Vernon.
Director of Photography: Adam Newport-Berra Executive Producer – Alex Fisch
Choreographed by Francis Starlite, Jake Schreier, Jake Lodwick, and Russell Wright.
post by Francis and ARTJAIL thank you Danielle Strle thank you Justin Ouellette, and the sOcial eXperiment
Alessandro Baricco - The Game
Alessandro Baricco presents a theory to the world why we live in the world we live in today.
He calls it The Game
Fascinating on many different levels.
Johnny Marr - Guitar Genius
Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher; 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer, best known as the guitarist and – with Morrissey – co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987.
Some appetizers on this page, but you should read the biography to hear it all
from the man himself, no ghostwriters involved.
Johnny Marr: Set the Boy Free: The Autobiography
'Try to be the master of your craft'
Johnny Marr
See him talk about it…and many other subjects
On writing his biography:
“I didn’t want to use a ghostwriter, I was there, I had to write it, so I learned how to write and be good at it.”
Hooked - Why we can't stop using some apps
Nir Eyal makes it clear why we are hooked to some apps.
Behavior Can Be Designed
Nir Eyal: ‘Whether you are designing the behavior change of your consumers or your own habits, you’ll benefit from understanding research I share from behavioral economics, neuroscience, and consumer psychology.’
Addictive Behaviors – Nir Eyal | Inside Quest #28
What makes some technology so habit-forming? | Nir Eyal | TED Institute
How to Build Habit-Forming Products | Nir Eyal @ Startup Grind Global 2017
Daniel Kahneman: "Thinking, Fast and Slow"
Daniel Kahneman: “Thinking, Fast and Slow” will transform the way you think about thinking….