malvasian links

David Carlton's link blog; my main blog is at Malvasia Bianca. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-17626903-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

[davidcarlton]

We Are Living in Pinocchio’s World

I have always wanted to own a Montblanc Writers Edition dedicated to Carlo Collodi, the Italian author whose real name was Carlo Lorenzini. He took his pen name from the Tuscan village where his mo…

When I read Pinocchio a few years back I wasn't too impressed by it but this post makes me think I was reading it wrong.

[davidcarlton]

The philosopher C. Thi Nguyen once told me that games can have both a goal and a purpose. The goal of a game is a win; the purpose of a game is to have fun. In toxic games, the goals overwhelm the purpose. You can win a game by mastering its rules, but also feel miserable by failing to see that there is a larger game of well-being whose rules you have broken in order to feel like a winner. I’ve come to believe that something similar has happened in pop culture. Entertainment and tech companies have gotten smarter about putting consumers into bastardized flow states that leaves people feeling drained and sad rather than challenged and enlarged as selves. Modern leisure recapitulates the goal of flow while evacuating the purpose, which Csikszentmihalyi summarized as “to make life more rich, intense, and meaningful.” Algorithmic flow is flow without achievement, flow without challenge, flow without even volition. What Wu calls “passive flow” and Bloom calls “shitty flow” deserves a harsher and more specific label. To be lost in the lazy river of algorithmic media is to be lost the current of life without a mind. Zombie flow.

How ‘Zombie Flow’ Took Over Culture - Derek Thompson

[davidcarlton]

I wish I’d had an excuse to work with Erlang at some point in my life.

[davidcarlton]

Interesting report from Knuth about somebody using Claude to solve one of his problems.

[davidcarlton]

Going into the Nuts and Bolts of Zhan Zhuang

After many years of people asking me to, some great people are helping me put together a book of these essays.

The advice here looks good. (And I need to get better at having my upper body float.)

[davidcarlton]

A business that occupies a space of 4,000 square feet or less in a commercial zoning district would no longer be required to obtain a planning permit, Hagan said. Instead, the business owner could apply directly for a building permit as long as they meet certain land use and operational standards, like those relating to deliveries, waste disposal and noise standards. “That would save anywhere from six months or more of time as well as $10,000 or more in permanent fees or other carrying costs on the unoccupied leased space,” Hagan said. The city also plans to remove “change of use” permit requirements, meaning that business owners do not need to apply for a permit when changing a rented commercial space from one permitted use to another permitted use. Hagan described the current process as confusing and burdensome for applicants.

Mountain View streamlines zoning rules to attract small businesses - Mountain View Voice

Yay.

[davidcarlton]

runjak.codes: An adversarial coding test

Sometimes the job interview just wants to gain code exec on your machine.

Oof.

[davidcarlton]

ASCII characters are not pixels: a deep dive into ASCII rendering

A look at how I used shape vectors to achieve sharp, high-quality ASCII rendering.

Neat renderer, neat explanation.

[davidcarlton]

Renaissance historian and sci-fi author Ada Palmer joins Nadine Smith to break down what we’ve gotten wrong about the Renaissance, and what it means for the fights we’re in now. They unpack how the idea of the Renaissance as a golden age was invented to serve political agendas, why liberal arts education was a survival strategy, not a luxury, and how real progress requires trusting future generations to challenge us, not copy us.

Rethinking the Renaissance: Ada Palmer on myths, power, and the future we’re fighting for - WMNF 88.5 FM

I really like interviews with Ada Palmer: aside from just being interesting, she does a great job of using her knowledge as a historian to fight against the excesses of doomerism.

[davidcarlton]

And then I discovered something even more alarming - a tiny built-in microphone that isn’t clearly mentioned in the official documentation. It’s a miniature SMD component, measuring just 2 x 1 mm, yet capable of recording surprisingly high-quality audio. What’s even more concerning is that all the necessary recording tools are already installed on the device! By simply connecting via SSH (remember, the device initially used default passwords!), I was able to start recording audio using the amixer and arecord tools. Once recorded, the audio file could be easily copied to another computer. With a little extra effort, it would even be possible to stream the audio over a network, allowing an attacker to eavesdrop in real time.

How I discovered a hidden microphone on a Chinese NanoKVM

[davidcarlton]

I heard a rumour that London IT professionals have selected the pub where they will meet when the internet goes down. It is apocalyptic thinking, perhaps, but it also feels plausible. Though the internet feels permanent, stable and sufficiently distributed to seem impervious to target, this infrastructure that underpins our daily work and life is strikingly vulnerable. Undersea cables get damaged; phone and cable systems go down; and software is frequently corrupted or hacked. A backup plan is sensible. It matters because they might be the only ones who know how to rebuild the internet – and they need a way to contact one another. Perhaps we also need a pub at the end of the university?

The Pub at the End of the University — Crooked Timber

This post also makes it more likely that I’ll read Katabasis soon.

[davidcarlton]

Why Solarpunk is already happening in Africa

Or: How Africa is building the future by skipping the past

Interesting; I certainly knew about the first factor but I hadn’t appreciated how financial machinery was helping with the solar transition too.

[davidcarlton]

This MacOS (APFS?) quirk was mentioned at the pub last night, and I still cannot believe this actually works when I tried it myself

benjojo.co.uk

So weird; I do not like it that this works!

[davidcarlton]

We're joined by Frank Lantz (Q-UP) and Mare Sheppard + Raigan Burns of Metanet (N++) for the first episode of All Systems Brough, a year-long exploration of the work of Michael Brough. We share our thoughts on why Michael's oeuvre demands a deep dive, add some historical context, and share the plan for the year ahead. We also introduce a (final?) rebrand to the podcast! Next episode: 868-HACK (it’s also recommended that you start playing Vesper.5 now to prepare for later) (Tentative) Episode/play order: 868-HACK Vertex Dispenser Zaga-33 Vesper.5 Corrypt Kompendium (plus digital archiving of O) BECOME A GREAT ARTIST IN JUST 10 SECONDS Helix (plus SMESPORT) Imbroglio Cinco Paus P1 Select (plus Quinzena maybe?) & Broughlike Game Jam Games 868-BACK (caveat: still in development) Audio edited by Dylan Shumway Discussed in this episode: Michael Brough’s Website Michael O’Blivion’s Youtube Channel Flock Wilmot’s Warehouse Boardgame Q-UP Donkeyspace (Frank’s Substack) The Beauty of Games Metanet Software N++ PRACTICE 2015: Mare Sheppard FTL Sylvie’s Games A wild start, 41 points with no artifacts! (Cinco Paus LP ep 1) by vivafringe Droqen’s website Raigan’s bluesky (will give away free copies of Cinco Paus on Christmas!) Q-UP OST 868-HACK (Steam) Vesper.5

Good episode; I'm not going to go through all of Brough's games but I'm happy to have an excuse to try more of them, I did think Imbroglio was very good.

[davidcarlton]

Good interview.

[davidcarlton]

The Electric Slide

The history, 99% decline, and future of the Electric Stack with Sam D'Amico

Super long, but also the electric tech stack is extremely important, lots of good information here.

[davidcarlton]

Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history

Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Team Ico’s masterpiece by looking back with 11 people who worked on it (and three who didn’t).

Good interviews about an amazing game.