tech

“The word ‘computer’ only really slid over to mean ‘a machine’ in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, once we started building mechanical and then electronic devices to do that work instead [of people]. We did not name the machines after some abstract idea. We named them after the humans they were replacing.”

The post We named them after the humans they were replacing. appeared first on Jeffrey Zeldman Presents.

My new book, Brave New Wild: Can Technology Really Save the Planet? is out and available at/through all fine book stores. And hopefully some disreputable ones too!

Working in tech means being comfortable with change and uncertainty. Successfully working in tech means not letting change and uncertainty paralyze you. Forge ahead on the best information you have, and be prepared to change direction as needed.

The post How do you spell success? appeared first on Jeffrey Zeldman Presents.

Though few of us would dispute the proposition (commonly attributed to George Santanya) that those who cannot remember the past are preparing themselves to repeat its mistakes, it’s advisable to keep your hand on your wallet when it comes up for sale in the marketplace of ideas, especially in times of open conflict. As David... Continue Reading →

Considered in Greek mythology to be a member of the fifth generation of beings to appear after the creation of the world, Cadmus was a Phoenician prince and the founder of the Boeotian city of Thebes. A great slayer of monsters, he appears in Herodotus as the conduit through which the Phoenician alphabet was introduced... Continue Reading →

SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH’S latest documentary is very likely to be his last. Released to cinemas on his ninety-ninth birthday, Ocean has the tone of a valediction: a swan song with whale song, and a shakier iteration of that celebrated reverential rasp. Notwithstanding its five stars in The Guardian and 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it is also something of... Continue Reading →

In Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool (2023), author James Foster (Alexander Skarsgård) is holidaying with his partner Em (Cleopatra Coleman) on the island of Li Tolqa, when he hits and kills a local man while driving back to his resort at night. The next day he is arrested by the authorities and told that the penalty... Continue Reading →

The notion of the Anthropocene was first proposed twenty-four years ago by the atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen. It denotes a geological epoch defined by human activity, and remains an unofficial designation, with the International Commission on Stratigraphy—whose processes appear to be geologically slow—yet to approve it for technical use. Nevertheless, in that quarter of a... Continue Reading →

By controlling what I listen to, and the order in which I listen, I’m slowly designing an infinite collage of my evolving musical tastes.

The post My weekend project appeared first on Jeffrey Zeldman Presents.

https://paradigmshifton4zzz.com/2024/07/15/s2e30-technocriticism-with-richard-king/