The printer’s art

Posted on by

HCB_print

This astonishing illustration comes from Sarah Coleman’s lovely essay on the vanishing art of analog printing and the artistry of Pablo Inirio, who is the Master Drkroom Printer at Magnum Photos in New York.

Two things are striking about the print. The first is the detailed mark-up: the numbers indicate the amount of dodging, shading or burning the printer had to do to get the best out of the image. The second is how near Cartier-Bresson got to Martin Luther King on that memorable day. Note also the expression on his face. He’s carefully assessing King as a photographic subject.

I always found printing difficult. Now I know why: it’s a serious art and I never mastered it.

Lessig for President?

Posted on by

I never thought I’d have a friend who contemplated running for President of the United States, but that’s exactly what Larry Lessig is contemplating. And if his Kickstarter fund reaches a $1m in pledges by Labor Day (next Monday), he’ll do it. As ever with Larry, it’s based on an ingenious idea for hacking the dysfunctional political system that is crippling America. (He did the same thing with Creative Commons — i.e. to use the system [in this case copyright law] to give people a legal way of sharing creative work while retaining as many [or as few] rights as they wished.)

This (long) interview gives him the space to explain his Presidential idea.

Worth watching in full. But make some coffee first.

Footnote Just checked (Friday 19:25 UK time) and the pledges now stand at $854,712. He’s going to get there, goddammit.

Quote of the Day

Posted on by

“Now I don’t want anything. Even if you give me all the countries in the world, I don’t want them. What was precious is gone.”

Abdullah Kurdi, the Syrian Kurd whose wife and two young sons drowned as they tried to cross from Turkey to Greece in a rubber raft.

Britain’s hypnotic monarchy

Posted on by

Nice column by Polly Toynbee asking why people are still so in thrall to the monarchy.

Maybe Shakespeare is partly to blame. The history of our monarchs is so profoundly embedded in us by our greatest writer that his plays on the rise and fall of kings elevates them in our minds, adding cultural depth and meaning to the absurdity of monarchy.

What an irony that the royal family itself seems devoid of cultural enthusiasm, preferring polo, corgis and shooting. But then, if centuries of privileged breeding and education produce dunderheads and philistines, that proves talent is genetically random, not inherited. A meritocracy would send the likes of Prince Andrew into the tender clutches of Iain Duncan Smith.

Potholes on the road to the self-driving future

Posted on by

This morning’s Observer column:

Somehow I think it’s going to take quite a while to get to self-driving nirvana. For one thing, autonomous vehicles require digital mapping that is an order of magnitude more detailed than anything in Google Streetview. Secondly, those maps need to be continually updated, because even an unexpected new mini-roundabout might confuse the vehicle and cause an accident.

Accidents, whether caused by human error or unpredictable road conditions, are an unfortunate reality of modern transportation. One moment of distraction or an unmarked hazard can lead to serious consequences for everyone involved. That’s why navigating the legal aftermath of a collision isn’t something to be taken lightly—because often, the circumstances surrounding an incident are more complex than they appear at first glance.

In situations where liability is unclear or multiple parties may be at fault, having an experienced legal team becomes crucial. That’s where Gammill Law comes into play—known for cutting through the noise and getting to the heart of what actually happened. They understand that each case requires a meticulous approach, from analyzing traffic patterns to reviewing maintenance records and driver behavior, all to ensure the right party is held accountable.

Accidents don’t just happen on highways—they can occur anywhere, from parking lots and pedestrian crossings to workplaces and construction zones. Whether it’s a car crash, a slip and fall, or an injury due to faulty equipment, the consequences can be just as devastating, and the legal process just as complex. That’s why having the right legal support from the very beginning is vital to protecting your rights and ensuring you don’t get lost in a system that often favors larger entities with deeper pockets.

George Pearson Law stands out for its unwavering commitment to digging deep into every detail, ensuring no stone is left unturned when building a case. They know that the real story behind an accident isn’t always obvious, and they work closely with clients to piece together facts that might otherwise be overlooked. From medical documentation to eyewitness accounts and expert testimony, having a skilled team ensures your side is represented clearly and powerfully. When an accident disrupts your life, you deserve a legal advocate who takes your situation seriously and fights to make things right.

Accidents involving trucks can be especially complex due to the scale of the vehicles involved and the potential for severe injuries. In cases where a truck accident occurs, determining liability often requires an understanding of multiple factors, from the driver’s actions to the condition of the vehicle and the maintenance history. The Kansas Truck Accident Lawyer is an expert in handling these types of cases, where the stakes are higher, and the consequences can be life-altering. In these instances, having a lawyer who understands the intricacies of both state and federal trucking regulations can make all the difference in the outcome of your case.

Trucking companies are often well-resourced and backed by legal teams, which can make it difficult for victims to get the compensation they deserve. Whether it’s a collision with a commercial truck or a crash caused by negligent truck driver behavior, it’s essential to have an attorney who can investigate every angle of the case.

But the biggest obstacle might come from what supposedly kept Harold Macmillan awake at nights – “events, dear boy, events”. Driving in Devon last weekend, I came on a number of temporary traffic lights at roadworks, and wondered how an autonomous vehicle would cope with them. After all, they would not appear on its digital map; and although it would be programmed to look for a red light in a standard position at a junction, it might not “see” a temporary one.

Devon is a ravishing county, but it has one quirk from the motorist’s point of view: it has lots of extremely narrow lanes, most of which have high hedges growing on either side. There are occasional passing places which allow two vehicles to edge past one another. This is fine until a procession of three or four vehicles meets another procession of several cars stuck behind a truck, at which point the only way to reach a solution involves a good deal of human-to-human negotiation. This is something that even the dumbest human is good at, but which will lie beyond the capability of even the smartest machine for some time to come…

Read on.

Privacy – and networked hypocrisy – begins at home

Posted on by

I’ve been arguing for years that the Internet holds up a mirror to human nature. And much of what we see in that mirror isn’t flattering. But that doesn’t stop us blaming the mirror rather than addressing the awkward questions that our reflected behaviour reveals. The result is stinking hypocrisy. Evan Selinger makes this point forcefully in the CS Monitor today:

When people lament that privacy is dead or dying, they typically point fingers outwards, saying that government and corporate surveillance deserve all the blame. But as recent events highlight, our urge for online voyeurism plays an important role in the erosion of privacy.

As the Ashley Madison hack had the Internet gawking over details of the possible infidelity of its members, another lurid tragedy was going viral thanks to a woman live tweeting the breakup of a couple sitting next to her on an airplane. Both are examples of people succumbing to their baser instincts and failing to look away when when someone’s personal life is spilled online.

But until we can resist those urges, stop from clicking those articles, and trolling the databases hackers’ victims, we are just encouraging other hackers with an ax to grind, digital eavesdroppers, and snoopers to uncover our private moments and publishing them for the world to see. And, unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like we’ve hit that point of maturity in our collective Internet evolution.

Spot on. For chapter and verse see Jon Ronson’s terrific book — So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed.

Quote of the Day

Posted on by

“The economic management team in Beijing has seriously lost its way. But leaders do funky things when the ruling party’s bargain with its people is ‘we get to rule and you get to get rich.’ Collapsing markets can quickly lead to collapsing legitimacy.”

Tom Friedman, writing in today’s New York Times.

Not sure what he means by “funky”, though. It sometimes is a synonym for “cool”. But it could mean “frightened” — as in “he was in a blue funk”.

Just say ‘No’? I think not.

Posted on by

Hmmm… I found this a bit worrying:

A Hungarian psychology professor once wrote to famous creators asking them to be interviewed for a book he was writing. One of the most interesting things about his project was how many people said “no.”

Management writer Peter Drucker: “One of the secrets of productivity (in which I believe whereas I do not believe in creativity) is to have a VERY BIG waste paper basket to take care of ALL invitations such as yours — productivity in my experience consists of NOT doing anything that helps the work of other people but to spend all one’s time on the work the Good Lord has fitted one to do, and to do well.”

Secretary to novelist Saul Bellow: “Mr Bellow informed me that he remains creative in the second half of life, at least in part, because he does not allow himself to be a part of other people’s ‘studies.’ ”

Photographer Richard Avedon: “Sorry — too little time left.”

Secretary to composer György Ligeti: “He is creative and, because of this, totally overworked. Therefore, the very reason you wish to study his creative process is also the reason why he (unfortunately) does not have time to help you in this study. He would also like to add that he cannot answer your letter personally because he is trying desperately to finish a Violin Concerto which will be premiered in the Fall.”

Why is this troubling? Two reasons. One is that I get asked to do a lot of things — give lectures, attend other people’s events, read and comment on drafts, sit on committees and advisory boards, etc. And I often say ‘yes’, and then half-regret it because I’m conscious that life is a zero-sum game: the more time I give to other people’s stuff, the less I have to do the things I want to do (like finishing the book I’m currently incubating).

On the other hand… I gain a lot from participating in things. Innovation and creativity are, to a greater or lesser extent, social processes. I get a lot us useful ideas — ideas that I wouldn’t have generated myself — from interacting with others. If I took the Saul Bellow line I would probably wind up leading a pretty sterile existence.

But at least then people wouldn’t ask me to do things!

Calling the Chinese bluff

Posted on by

Lovely column by Joe Nocera about Jim Chanos, the guy who spotted the unsustainability of the Chinese real-estate bubble before most people — and acted on his insight.

Perhaps you remember Jim Chanos. The founder of Kynikos Associates, a $3 billion hedge fund that specializes in short-selling, Chanos was the first person to figure out, some 15 years ago, that Enron was a house of cards.

He shorted Enron stock — meaning that he would profit if the stock fell, rather than rose — and shared his suspicions with others, including my friend Bethany McLean, who wrote a story for Fortune that marked the beginning of the end for Enron. That call not only made Chanos a small fortune; it also made him famous.

Chanos and his crew at Kynikos don’t make big “macro” bets on economies; their style is more “micro”: looking at the fundamentals of individual companies or sectors. And so it was with China. “I’ll never forget the day in 2009 when my real estate guy was giving me a presentation and he said that China had 5.6 billion square meters of real estate under development, half residential and half commercial,” Chanos told me the other day.

“I said, ‘You must mean 5.6 billion square feet.’ ”

The man replied that he hadn’t misspoken; it really was 5.6 billion square meters, which amounted to over 60 billion square feet.

For Chanos, that is when the light bulb went on. The fast-growing Chinese economy was being sustained not just by its export prowess, but by a property bubble propelled by mountains of debt, and encouraged by the government as part of an infrastructure spending strategy designed to keep the economy humming. (According to the McKinsey Global Institute, China’s debt load today is an unfathomable $28 trillion.)

The 2015 Bad Taste Award

Posted on by

There are reports (the reliability of which is currently unknown) that two individuals whose identities have been disclosed in the Ashley Madison hack have committed suicide.

But in this crisis, ingenious entrepreneurs have spotted an opportunity. For example, this:

At least one company is using the whole unfortunate situation as a PR opportunity. Travel group CheapAir.com is offering $50 vouchers for anyone who sends the company a message from an email address that was disclosed on the leaked user list. “If your relationship is in ruins and you’re thinking about heading out of town, we have a solution for you,” the company wrote. “You may have made some mistakes, but a vacation may be just what you both need right now.”

This wins the Memex 1.1 Bad Taste Award for 2015. As the Obama election team used to say, never waste a good crisis.