Yesterday’s Falcon Heavy launch:
And here’s a stream of a car, in space, in a wide orbit around Earth and Mars for the next billion years:
This is exciting on a lot of levels.
Category: Videos
Link: Nerdwriter
Via Kottke.org, I’ve been diving into another film analysis Youtube channel that I’ve been really enjoying, called Nerdwriter. Some of the videos I’ve enjoyed, as a sampler:
Link: Subnormality
In one of the Slacks I’m part of, we were discussing Cracked’s recent decision to pivot back away from video, which led to sharing some favorite videos. One of the videos linked to was an episode of People Watching (fair warning, if you’ve ever dealt with depression and modern dating, this is a goddamn punch in the gut):
That left me floored, and was politely informed that the writer for that also does a rad webcomic called Subnormality, which I proceeded to seek out and devour. It can get a little weird and a little wordy at times, but it’s really, really good. You should check it out sometime.
Ursula Le Guin
To Ursula Le Guin: You were an astounding writer, and by all accounts an equally astounding human being. I’m grateful for your stories and your thoughts, and what you brought to this world. Rest well.
In John Scalzi’s piece on Le Guin’s passing, he said it quite aptly:
Look at the top tier of writers in science fiction and fantasy today — names like Jemisin and Gaiman and Jeff VanderMeer and Catherynne Valente, as well as rising stars like Bo Bolander and Amal El-Mohtar and Monica Byrne — and you see the unmistakable traces of Le Guin in their work. Multiple generations of her spiritual children, making the genre more humane and expansive, and better than it would have been without her. And all with stories of her.
[…]
The speaking of her name and of her words goes on, and will go on, today and tomorrow and for a very long time now. As it should. She was the mother of so many of us, and you should take time to mourn your mother.
Video: Your Attention
This sums up my feelings about a lot of the internet these days.
AI Created Soundscapes
Via Kottke.org, a demo of a deep learning algorithm creating audio soundscapes based on Google Street View. Kinda fascinating:
More about the project (and a usable demo!) here: http://imaginarysoundscape.qosmo.jp.
Video: Radiohead’s I Promise
For some context: this was apparently an unreleased B-Side from OK Computer. Since the album is now 20 years old (!), they’re re-releasing it and including 3 unreleased tracks as part of it. Fun track.
Rick and Morty and the Search for Meaning
Thunderclouds
This video is part of stormlapse.com, which is exactly what the name suggests: stunning footage of timelapsed storms. Found via Kottke.org, which after all these years continues to be a treasure.
Hi Stranger
There’s something about this video. The character is completely disarmed and open, and it’s intimate. And a little unsettling.