peter pelberg

I’m always thinking of Neil Postman’s observation from 1985 that feels prophetic: There are so many news stories worthy of our attention that the overall effect is that none get our consistent attention for long enough to do something about any of them.

start with what’s certain, no matter how small

@p__erry @roombaghost wow! thank you, perry! [i] - - - i. github.com/laurelschwulst…

@roombaghost amazing project! re: citation request- the image seems to be from "A Boy And His Atom: The World's Smallest Movie" from IBM research

"machines are gaining read-write access to our bodies"

as we gain capacity to script computers, it seems they are gaining capacity to do the same to us

i want a broader set of choices for how i can "be" on a mobile device

certain cues organize me into an entire way of being

Very proud to tell you that our rebuilt web client is now fully live 🌞 are.na/editorial/are-…

life imitates language

@steveruizok “vernacular architecture” ? …this is the metaphor/name I’ve spoken aloud in my mind to describe the kind “improvising” I see volunteers doing on Wikipedia

In Figma, many teams use emoji in page titles to mark a page’s status (in progress, complete, etc). It’s an example of users creating a feature for themselves in the “wiggle room” provided by the application’s other features. What do you call this? Where else have you seen it?

self-awareness as a service (SaaaS)

in it, Alÿs pushes a block of ice through the streets of mexico city for an entire day until it melts: francisalys.com/sometimes-maki…

this week is "inspiration week" at work. the uncertainty i sometimes feel when making reminded me of Francis Alÿs's: Sometimes Making Something Leads to Nothing

@MatthewWSiu @Strava +1 about the knowledge tools bit. it strikes me that few tools (in general) prioritize presenting information and affordances that empower “you” to ask questions about how you use them.

@ptpells As for tools that have proactively helped me find patterns about my activity, the best example for me is @Strava. Can see a heat map of all the runs I’ve done in a city overlayed on each other I do wish there were more things like this for knowledge tools in general

imagine if browsers gave you analytics on your browsing history you could see when you first discovered a topic, see trends in your interests over time, observe what times of day you frequent certain sites, etc.

@thesephist @MatthewWSiu neat! do you recall when and why you would visit Histools? also: if you’ve written a post about this experiment, I’d be keen to read. I didn’t immediately see one on thesephist.com/posts/

@MatthewWSiu I did some related experiments a while ago based on the Safari browsing history SQLite database (at least, on the times-of-day stuff) — github.com/thesephist/his…

@MatthewWSiu mmm, yeah. making history a “destination for discovery.” what’s your experience been with Spotify Wrapped? has it ever helped you to see something new? (what you said has me wondering if any tools I use have _proactively_ helped me to see patterns about myself)

@ptpells i think the key usage for better analytics on browsing history is the ability to find/save interesting chunks to return to as well as to help you zoom out to see the big picture of topics that interest you

"As for human relationships, home is customarily remembered as a cove of mutual support and comfort, forgetting that it can also be a prison in which feelings that stew in confined space turn into hatred and despair."

Oh! And then there’s “Home as Elsewhere” (a talk from Tuan) that I’m midway through watching…

the writing I’ve most recently enjoyed about “home” is “Space and “Place” by Yi-Fu Tuan…