Stories

Our Ability To Search The Internet Is Dying

Search can no longer pretend to be a neutral gateway to a stable body of knowledge. While the web has always been organized around intermediaries that shape what survives online and who sees it, the internet’s archival function is today breaking down under relentless pressure from stakeholders with very different—and often conflicting—priorities. - The Walrus

The Anti-AI ‘Hand-Designed’ Trend Is Big, But Also Filled With Grift

“Most telling is Claude’s branding, incorporating hand-drawn illustrations and details that attempt to tell the world, ‘Hey, we’re the more human AI.’” - Fast Company

Confirmed: Amazon Is Scanning And Then Ripping Up Rare Books

Wow, OK, way to be just obviously evil. “The printed book is destroyed in the process. The logo of the Amazon team that works at this warehouse, called VGT3, is a dinosaur, brandishing its teeth and with a book in its hands." - 404 Media

Once Again, Police Are Claiming Classical Music Soothes Crowds Of Rowdy Youth

In one British McDonald’s, a hot spot for fighting and generally antisocial behavior, “measures were brought in including a playlist of classical music in the evenings.” - BBC (Yahoo)

The Current Guy Uses AI To Claim Ballroom Approval From A Long-Dead Leader

The 47th president shared "a series of seemingly AI-generated images ... and a short video in which Trump and Washington stroll through the still-unbuilt ballroom. ‘Thank you, George, for some of your brilliant ideas on this great Military Complex/Ballroom!’ Trump captioned the 10-second video.” - Salon

Art Spiegelman Doesn’t See A Way Out Of The U.S. Political Mess

The man who created Maus has some worries: “The media are struggling with how to convey the stakes in this post-truth era, he explains, the courts are packed with Trump appointees, democratic norms have been destroyed, and there is no effective opposition.” - The Guardian (UK)

It’s Not Just US Booksellers Noticing A Gaping Maw Coming For Used Books

The booksellers are wondering how they’re supposed to feel. Tey’re "are “uncomfortable with the idea of books being destroyed - even if they admit not every title needs to be saved.” - BBC

The Dream Of A ‘Red State Hollywood’ Usually Founders On A Couple Of Things

“No one wants more uncertainty, and certainly no one wants this chaos. And let’s face it, no one really wants to move from Beverly Hills to Nashville.” - The New York Times

Maybe Celebrities Shouldn’t Be Recording Personal Videos For People Who Pay?

A Heated Rivalry actor had to “pause” his account on Cameo after possibly revealing that they're filming two seasons of the hit show at once. - CBC

Founding Literary Publications As One’s Home Is Shelled To Rubble

“I began asking myself: what will remain of this experience if it is not written down?”  - LitHub

Portland’s Newest Dance Group Performs To Tens Of Thousands Of People

That’s because the Firewerks are dancing in the Moda Center, the home of the new WNBA team the Portland Fire. "I don’t think any of us really knew what we were walking into. We were just excited about this new dance opportunity in Portland,” says one Firewerk. - Oregon ArtsWatch

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Gets To Tell Your Family’s Story?

“The trauma of the Holocaust has lived beneath the surface of daily life for decades, too painful to confront. But now second- and third-generation family members are getting access to archives of collaboration. In some cases, it’s opening old wounds.” - The New York Times

Roku’s New 24 Hour Slop Channel Is An Abomination

For instance: “There’s a seven-minute ... tale of a mountain biker who rushes straight from a race to support his wife who’s giving birth, only to get killed by the very ambulance carrying her—all narrated from the POV of his bike.” - Slate

As Some Paintings Are Found, Art Thieves Hit A Sicilian Museum

In the morning, good news about an art theft from March. Then came the evening. “Thieves got past the alarm system at Messina's Museo Interdisciplinare Regionale (MuMe), and broke open a security case. They soon left with four wooden panels.” - NPR

Zale Perry, Early Acquatic Star For Hollywood And Equally Early Acid Tripper, Has Died At 93

Perry was “a depth-defying scuba diver and underwater stuntwoman whose reverence for the oceanic world was deepened by tripping out on LSD in a research study that included Cary Grant, Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper.” - The New York Times

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