Weeknote 48/2024
Changing the world, iPhone archaeology, audio postcards, and inverse Turing Tests.
It seems to me that my best ideas are accidents within a controlled context. You could call them informed accidents. It’s about having a deep understanding of what you’re doing but, at the same time, being free enough to let the chips fall where they may. It’s about preparation, but it’s also about letting things happen… It seems that just by being open, you become a conduit for something else, something magical, something energising.
7 things worth sharing
The Experimental History blog and substack is always a great read - covering the social sciences, psychology, and culture and it’s written with wit and humanity. This most recent entry on “Underrated ways to change the world” is especially good; particularly when things might all be feeling a bit ‘too much’
Last weekend we got to see Conclave and it delivered all of the baroque politicking, papal intrigue, and scenery-chewing performances I was desperately wanting from this prestige workplace drama. For some reason, a group of about a dozen pre-teens tumbled into our showing and proceeded to make as much noise, mayhem, and nuisance as you would if you were 12 years old and watching a film about old white men fighting over who gets to wear the white dress. Eventually, they were ejected from the cinema and I wonder if they were disappointed they didn’t get to find out the ending.
I’ve yet to catch Wicked in the cinema - though I’m intrigued by a film based on a stage show based on a book based on a film based on a book. This interview with the production designer of the film, Nathan Crowly, is extraordinary and I was completely blown away by just how much craft, creativity, and sheer physical labour went into building the sets for the film. It’s easy to see the trailers and think “No one would put in that much work, it must be CGI” when it turns out that huge portions of it were built from scratch. Entirely astonishing. It reminds me of something that legendary stage magician Penn Jillette said about magic - “The only secret of magic is that I’m willing to work harder on it than you think it’s worth.”
“Between 2009 and 2012, iPhones had a built-in "Send to YouTube" button in the Photos app. Many of these uploads kept their default IMG_XXXX filenames, creating a time capsule of raw, unedited moments from random lives. I made a bot that crawled YouTube and found 5 million of these videos! Watch them below, ordered randomly.” - Riley Walz.
The Radio Lento podcast features long-form recordings taken in the wild and natural places of the world. Described as audio postcards, these beautiful soundscapes capture tidal marshes, deep forests, and ebullient rivers from 25 countries. The 3D sound recording makes for a particularly immersive effect with a good pair of headphones
This Inverse Turning Test kept me hooked for far longer than I was expecting - as it was trying to find out if I was a bot or a human. It seems humans are pretty bad at generating the sort of randomness that computers can and this can be used to figure out if you’re a meat bag or a metal box. The maths of it all is really fascinating and totally accessible.
The Meditations for the Anxious Mind YouTube channel is some of the funniest and sharpest satire around, and this episode on LinkedIn Warriors was a real joy for me, as someone who finds the urge to self-immolate creeping upon them whenever I’m forced to open up LinkedIn in a browser tab.
It’s been a relatively quiet week for us. We’ve had some friends over for drinks and (fierce) games of Uno Flip, some good walks through hillocks of leaves with Teddy the Dog, and a few little trips out to the cinema and a new (to us) coffee shop in town. We’ve also been stockpiling Christmas treats already, and just knowing that the cupboards are filling up with winter goodies gives a very pleasing feeling.
Work continues apace - though almost all of the last week has either been 1) sending emails 2) sending follow-up emails 3) sending follow-ups to the follow-up emails 4) writing documents. There’s a lot of ‘panning for gold’ right now, which can be tiring and a little draining but it’s all part of the cycle. I’ve also really been enjoying spending some time on Bluesky in the past week or two. I never really took to Twitter and have long since left that dormant, but Blueksy feels open, positive, and fun and there have been some great conversations and connections there which I’m looking forward to exploring more. If you’re on Bluesky do look me up!
- Mitch.