March 2011
28 posts
Sorry...
About the repeated posts. Weird stuff, Tumblr.
Dominance of coalition chatter betrays an... →
towerofsleep:
lukesimcoe:
I was talking about this with Wendy this morning, and it dawned on me that Harper has already won the election. By hammering the coalition issue at the outset, he forced Ignatieff to back away from the idea, meaning that unless the Liberals win more seats than the Cons (which isn’t going to happen), Harper stays in power. His ability to set the agenda is startling.
I...
Election looms as government falls - Politics -... →
jenniferanne:
It’s official — the government has fallen from power, clearing the way for a spring election. The opposition Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois came together Friday afternoon in a historic vote to say they no longer have confidence in the Conservative government.
YAY!
Um…. Great? I mean, one always hopes for the best….
Save for later....
4chan’s Chaos Theory in Vanity Fair.
In Defense of Nasty Art →
markrichardson:
barthel:
If we’re going to keep talking about Odd Future, you should probably read this piece by Ann Powers, which is excellent and thoughtful and nuanced about art that depicts unpleasant things:
Not all art that claims to be transgressive is worth caring about. But you can’t tell the bullshit from the real by setting moral standards. You have to set artistic ones.
(via...
Albums v Releases →
grimmertown:
therichgirlsareweeping:
tomewing:
This is a smart, passionate, bang up to date version of the “death of the album” argument I talked about in today’s Pitchfork column. I have no idea whether this iteration of the idea will come any more true than any of the others.
More interesting than anything in this very how-your-sausage-gets-made post that is in dire need of some editing:...
Terry Eagleton - Why Marx Was Right
Old school comes out swinging, apparently. Added to the stack (in real book form, even). Get it here, if so inclined.
Imperialism - one meme at a time!
“Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media. Military’s ‘sock puppet’ software creates online identities to spread pro-America propaganda.”
Why bother? As if so much of the Internet’s flotsam and jetsam isn’t already American centric enough, no?
Sigh....
Reports: Lax oversight, ‘greed’ preceded Japan nuclear crisis.
Why Rebecca Black's Much-Mocked Viral Hit 'Friday'... →
barthel:
perpetua:
The title of the post is a bit hyperbolic in a Slate sort of way, but if you were wondering what I thought of Rebecca Black…
Some smarter thoughts on Ms. Black than my bleatings of yesterday.
For some reason, I can’t not help but be reminded of the genius of Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers. Not sure if it matters if the creators of Friday need to be in on...
Reification and towerofsleep
20yardsoflinen:
towerofsleep asked: I’m pretty sure that I’ve never attained a satisfactory understanding of the concept of reification, even though I’ve been using it for years and have occasionally attempted to define it for others. Perhaps you could improve upon my understanding? ...
"Said Christopher Poole a.k.a. Moot"
“Anonymity is authenticity,” said Poole. “It allows you to share in an unvarnished, unfiltered, raw and real way. We believe in content over creator.” And with anonymity, users feel free to experiment without fearing reprisal, he noted. “The cost of failure is really high when you’re contributing as yourself,” he said. “To fail in an environment...
SXSW 2011: The Internet is Over →
towerofsleep:
culturite:
“This, for outsiders, is the fundamental obstacle to understanding where technology culture is heading: increasingly, it’s about everything. The vaguely intimidating twentysomethings who prowl the corridors of the Austin Convention Centre, juggling coffee cups, iPad 2s and the festival’s 330-page schedule of events, are no longer content with transforming that part of...
“In my view YouTube is as participatory as market research, and as democratic as...”
– - Jens Schroter, On the Logic of the Digital Archive
REDUCTIVE. It’s pretty silly to suggest that because a platform reifies capitalism means that it can’t transcend it. In fact I take issue with the entire dichotomy presented here. I dare somebody to give me any artifact today that doesn’t have...
“So if we want a society of broadly shared prosperity, education isn’t the answer...”
– Krugman is right, education no longer guarantees social mobility and university for the lower classes, at least in North America, is no longer worth it—assuming that the reason you are going to school is purely instrumental; and for the lower classes, increasingly, it cannot be otherwise. Why is...
And that's why Canada is so rife with revolution!
“Canadians’ Internet usage nearly double the worldwide average”.
Frontal Cortex: Against Attention →
jenniferanne:
A few years ago, scientists at the University of Toronto and Harvard gave a short mental test to 86 Harvard undergraduates. The test was designed to measure their ability to ignore irrelevant stimuli, such as the air-conditioner humming in the background or the conversation taking place nearby. This skill is typically seen as an essential component of productivity, since it...
