Bath time in the West End
Amazing what you see when you wander round London with a camera.
Quote of the Day
“One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.”
- F Scott Fitzgerald, ‘The CrackUp’
Musical alternative to the morning’s radio news
Altan | Béidh Aonach Amárach (There’s A Fair Tomorrow)
Lovely rendition of an old Irish song.
Long Read of the Day
Machinery hurtful to commonality
Really insightful essay by Rob Miller on the relevance of an old (and comprehensively misunderstood) story that’s suddenly become dead relevant again.
The Luddites weren’t demanding the destruction of all machinery and the banning of automation. They wanted machines to be operated by workers who had undergone an apprenticeship and who were paid well, and they wanted them to be used to produce high-quality – rather than high-margin – goods. They demanded the return to a system, challenged by the industrial revolution, in which it was possible to make a good living as a skilled manufacturer. In their own words, they fought against “all machinery hurtful to commonality”.
It used to be possible to make a good living as a jobbing musician; in the era of pitiful streaming revenues, AI-generated slop and muzak on Spotify, it no longer is. It used to be possible to make a good living as an ordinary, non-A-list screenwriter or film crew; in the era of collapsing streaming budgets and the elimination of residuals, it no longer is. It used to be possible to make a good living writing for a niche audience on the web, funded by either advertising or membership fees; in the era of ad fraud and subscription fatigue, it no longer is.
We’re all just making algorithmic dogfood for the content factory…
It brings to mind Brian Merchant’s terrific book and Dave Karpf’s memorable review of it.
My commonplace booklet
After the Facebook boss made his pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the Great Dictator’s ring and announced that corporate bosses needed to be more ‘masculine’ in future, an interesting thing happened back at the Meta ranch:
That same day at Meta’s offices in Silicon Valley, Texas and New York, facilities managers were instructed to remove tampons from men’s bathrooms, which the company had provided for nonbinary and transgender employees who use the men’s room and who may have required sanitary pads, two employees said.
Some employees were livid at what they saw as efforts by executives to hide changes to the “Hateful Conduct” policy before it was announced, two people said. While people across the policy division typically view and comment on significant revisions, most did not have the opportunity this time.
On Workplace, Meta’s Slack-like internal communications software, employees began arguing over the changes. In the @Pride employee resource group, where workers who support L.G.B.T.Q. issues convene, at least one person announced their resignation as others privately relayed to one another that they planned to look for jobs elsewhere, two people said.
Linkblog
Something I noticed, while drinking from the Internet firehose.
- A free AQI (Air Quality Indicator) for Apple devices Link
Interesting
All proceeds from previous sales of this app have been donated to one of several climate change foundations:
Clean Air Task Force
Climate Change Emergency Fund
Union of Concerned Scientists
This Blog is also available as an email three days a week. If you think that might suit you better, why not subscribe? One email on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays delivered to your inbox at 6am UK time. It’s free, and you can always unsubscribe if you conclude your inbox is full enough already!