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IDEAS

The Shining’s Creepy, Mysterious Photo Is Mysterious No Longer

“The camera zooms in toward a black-and-white photograph hanging in the hallway of the Overlook Hotel. It's dated July 4, 1921. Dead centre stands Jack Torrance — played by Jack Nicholson — smiling in a crowd of partygoers. But the photo wasn't taken on set with extras.” - CBC

The Weirdly Long Life Of A Buffy: The Vampire Slayer Podcast

“We released our first episode of Buffering the Vampire Slayer on September 14, 2016. We couldn’t have imagined that only a few weeks later, we’d have thousands of new listeners.” - LitHub

If You’re Worried About The Environmental Impact Of Large-Scale AI, Check Out Small Language Models

“Small models are not used as general-purpose tools like their larger cousins. But they can excel on specific, more narrowly defined tasks, such as summarizing conversations answering patient questions as a health care chatbot. … They can also run on a laptop or cell phone.” - Wired

Turns Out Walking In A City Is Just As Great As Walking In The Woods

For some of us, it might be even better. But truly: "Researchers have identified a wellbeing boost known as ‘the cathedral effect’ which occurs when we have a lot of space above our heads,” and that includes, well, cathedrals. - The Guardian (UK)

So You Want To Strike A Blow For Small Businesses?

Pay for shipping. That choice “forces you to think about your purchases in a way that one-click overnight free shipping does not.” - Fast Company

Will AI Save Or Kill Journalism?

The more closely you look at the profession of journalism, the stranger it seems. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fewer than fifty thousand people were employed as journalists in 2023, which is less than the number of people who deliver for DoorDash in New York City. - The New Yorker

How We Figure Out Whether The Work Was Worth It

These changing patterns show that one’s relationship with effort isn’t simple. For many people, there’s a sweet spot – a little effort might make something more valuable, but push too far and the value drops. - The Conversation

The West, In Its Abundance, Has Gotten Intellectually Lazy

In place of pain, we have ennui, the quintessential modern condition. It follows directly from overabundance: an endless stream of video “content” or chocolate cake or edibles or any other indulgence cannot deliver lasting satisfaction. Everything gets old eventually, leaving one to grope around for the next fix. - New Statesman

The Key To Courage In Uncertain Times

Paul Tillich defines “the courage to be” as “the ethical act in which man affirms his own being in spite of those elements of his existence which conflict with his essential self-affirmation.” In other words, it is not simply an attitude or disposition. The courage to be is a deed. - The Conversation

Are Our Storytelling Tropes Insufficient For The Complexity Of Today?

Unfortunately, the dominance of psychological narratives manifests in the misplaced hopes we cast onto individual leaders – whether in the political, technological, social or religious realms – and the often simplistic ideas they put forward. - Psyche

Behind The Scenes At Disney World

As with any large-scale production - though this one also involves a lot of mechanics around the rides - there’s an army of creative workers that theme park visitors never, ever see. - Fast Company

Color Is A Math Nightmare

Also: “We technically could create a ‘universal’ solution, but every color space is made for different purposes, and they impact how everything is displayed, from the shades of a website to the color grading of a TV show. We would be sacrificing the ability to optimize anything.” - The Verge

Looks Like Scientists Might Finally Be Defining The Forever Known Unknowns

“Undecidability means that certain questions simply cannot be answered.” - Wired

Internet ‘Views’ Are Lies

That’s right, we’ve built a whole architecture - and funded people’s lives, or defunded their jobs entirely - based on nothing but lies. - The Verge

What Theatre Can Teach Us About Connecting And Loneliness

We live in a time of unparalleled interaction, communicating instantly with people across the world, with intimate insight into other people’s lives. Yet we feel increasingly disconnected from ourselves, each other and the world. - Aeon

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