To combat dropping user engagement on older social media platforms, it appears Meta/Facebook plans to add AI-generated users that will post AI-generated content. Below is a quote from an article in the Financial Times:
A new video from Le dessous des images discusses “micro-dramas,” short (1-2 minute) soap opera-style videos made for and shown on platforms such as Reelshorts. Webtoons also came to my mind; their monetization and distribution—short, cliffhanger-filled chapters, some locked unless paid for—are similar.
Years ago, I dropped Spotify due to the increasing number of playlists, like those for jazz, featuring little-known artists with single-track covers of popular songs. It was obvious to me that Spotify populated the playlists with songs as a way to reduce royalty payments to artists. This process, internally known as the “Perfect Fit Content program,” is the subject of a recent Harper’s Magazine article by Liz Pelly. This excerpt from her article perfectly captures how the process is changing our relationship with music.
In Gimpo, a Starbucks opened in the South Korean border observatory, close to where I live. #NotTheOnion
The South Korean city of Gimpo said hosting Starbucks was part of efforts to develop its border facilities as a tourist destination and said the shop symbolizes “robust security on the Korean Peninsula through the presence of this iconic capitalist brand.”
A mountain town in the Italian Alps, surrounded by steep mountains that obscure sunlight, erected a large mirror in 2006 to track the sun’s trajectory and bounce sunlight into the town square. The mayor, in an interview quoted in this Vice article, explained the project’s humanistic aims superseded its scientific foundation:
While living in northern Italy, I was impressed by the value, quality, and dependability of the rail service. For example, my ride on the high-speed Italo train from Bologna to Rome was one of the best train journeys I’ve ever had. An article in Railway Technology highlights the surprising success of private railway companies and the introduction of high-speed rail services like Italo.
ARTE’s Le dessous des images released a video about the CrowdStrike-related IT outages in July 2024. This video traces the history of the “blue screens of death” in Windows and explores how it relates to larger themes present in speculative fiction.
An article in the Korea Herald I read today discussed the use of funeral wreaths as a protest metho in South Korea. These wreaths, traditionally used for funerals, are now being sent with messages to convey dissatisfaction.
In an article at The MIT Press Reader, Prof. Robert Hassan argues that Friedrich Nietzsche’s use of the Malling-Hansen writing ball may have influenced his philosophical work, boosting his productivity and altering his writing style and analytical depth.
In their decision to abandon reunification, North Korea is eliminating all symbols that represented a unified Korean peninsula. I found that some of these logos, including Air Koryo’s, were actually quite beautiful. Their national air carrier logo featured a flying crane with wings shaped like the Korean Peninsula. To learn more, check out the following article from NK News.