Ever heard of “dinergoth”? Me neither; it’s a term coined by Robert Mariani in his latest essay, and is about a (new) post-subculture taking over American suburbs, where Discord servers are more accessible than the next downtown center.

The discourse around “taste” has resurfaced in my bubble since the surge in AI tooling, AI slop, and the like. Jay Springett makes a connection in his well-worth-it “weekly notes” about taste as an interface behaviour with many references to other great reads.

In this (follow-up) podcast by Novara Media between Aaron Bastani and guest Karen Hao, they go deep into the impact of AI on jobs, its use of resources, and the reckless behaviour of its billionaire founders. Worth a listen amid the sea of hype posts about AI being our “saviour”.

There is always the possibility to opt out – at least to some extent... Nancy Walecki writes in The Atlantic about the trend of remerging (digital) devices from a less connected era.

Not that much to read here but rather to decipher. This book by Laurenz Brunner and Sourcetype explores the limits of language used in contemporary art, science fiction, politics, architecture, and technology.

Remember my exploration into how much control we're willing to hand over to technology in our everyday experiences, like laying on soft grass and watching clouds drift by? It's slowly taking its (final) shape. The screen above is one artefact of the wider story behind the project.

Life has been good lately. I've been spending time abroad to relax, recharge, and above all, take in some new scenery.