Many individuals, groups, and organizations valorize, normalize, and validate being too busy. Buying into the cult of busy, on both an individual and an organizational level, reinforces real problems. It's a systemic problem, but we can also try to subvert it and support each other.
Design for Dreaming showcases post-WWII conspicuous consumption at its most glamorous. What was Design for Dreaming, and how can we understand its relevance 70 years later?
Bookpile is short posts on Fridays (though this time it's a Saturday) about what I’m reading now and what I’m liking about it. This week, it’s Imagination: A Manifesto, a call to action by Ruha Benjamin.
It’s far too easy to fall into the trap of reactivity, taking time to think about what isn’t good or desirable in the state of the world, without considering what would be desirable instead. For that reason, today I present to you, instead of an essay, a list of wants.
A long-running and only slightly imaginary side-project is a fictional design research company called Robeson and Morris. I like to say that Robeson and Morris was, in fact, the world’s first design research firm.
Quietly, we are all accumulating 4D digital doppelgängers, representations of ourselves in the data we leave behind when we have our actions measured and tracked. What's at stake, and how can we think about these traces?
Not so obvious will go on summer hiatus for four weeks. Before that, a quick recap of some highlights, full of fine links to click.
This is a follow up to my post earlier in the week, in which I break down Langdon Winner's classic article, "Do Artifacts Have Politics?" Because it's an interesting side-track, but not quite as essential as other parts of the article, I skipped
The second in a periodic series called "Reading," today's text covers a seminal academic article you might like, but find long and dense. I break down Langdon Winner's 1980 article, "Do Artifacts Have Politics?" and explain why it matters.
Bookpile is short posts on Fridays about what I’m reading now and what I’m liking about it. This week, The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI by Cory Doctorow.
Computer vision is everywhere, but gets less public discussion than the other, louder forms of "AI" currently in vogue. Being aware of CV and its assumptions matters.
Bookpile is short posts on Fridays about what I’m reading now and what I’m liking about it. This week, The Birth of Computer Vision by James E. Dobson.
work
It's something different this week: a very short essay about why there is no essay. In the context of the heat wave Europe has been baking through, I reflect very briefly and slightly personally on why things can't always be okay.
participation
Research which centres the experiences of people who are under-represented is not new, but is increasingly important as power imbalances grow more stark. Participatory research is a good place to start.
do
“Do” is a new series on Fridays. Elsewhere in my Friday posts, I focus on ways of trying to stay creative and focused in a distracting world. “Do” is practical interventions for specific tasks. Today's “Do” is about my imaginary interlocutor, Jim.
infrastructure
This week, I’m distilling some things we can learn from Marc Levinson’s 2006 (or in the second edition, 2016) book, The Box. The Box tells the story of the intermodal shipping container, an object you may not even know you should care about.
do
“Do” is a new series on Fridays. Elsewhere in my Friday posts, I focus on ways of trying to stay creative and focused in a distracting world. “Do” is practical interventions for specific tasks. The first “Do” is about reading aloud and recording as a part of editing my writing.
participation
Roller derby (a team sport on roller skates) is embedded in a culture of self-organization, inclusion, and openness. What can other values-led communities learn from a sport that's made a virtue of inclusion?
F/LOSS
In what will ideally not be the beginning of a new series, I give the bookpile treatment to a hot new document from the European Commission. The "Communication on European Tech Sovereignty, accompanied by an EU Open Source Strategy" isn't all great, but offers some specific hope.
AI
There seems to be a growing undercurrent of despair and disempowerment in discourse around "AI." The belief that the horse has left the barn encourages apathy and acceptance. But I'm to ready to give in just yet.
coping
Coping is short posts on Fridays about coping methods for doing creative and focused things in an unfocused world. In Coping 13, carving out room for joy in one's work.
F/LOSS
Software choices are about both capacity and self-perception. When we decide on a certain tool, it is not just a choice about accomplishing a task, but also about using tools that resonate with who we think we are.
coping
Coping is short posts on Fridays about coping methods for doing creative and focused things in an unfocused world. In Coping 12, reading the world instead of the news when out and about.
infrastructure
Rotterdam is defined by its port, one of the largest in the world. What does it mean for a city to be so closely entangled with global shipping?