This week's best things

The last one of the year, I hope you’ve found these weekly roundups useful.

If there’s anything you think I should do more, or less of (or entirely differently!) then let me know.

Nobody Knows What’s Happening Online Anymore

“You are currently logged on to the largest version of the internet that has ever existed. By clicking and scrolling, you’re one of the 5 billion–plus people contributing to an unfathomable array of networked information—quintillions of bytes produced each day.

The sprawl has become disorienting. Some of my peers in the media have written about how the internet has started to feel “placeless” and more ephemeral, even like it is “evaporating.” […]

The very idea of popularity is up for debate: Is that trend really viral? Did everyone see that post, or is it just my little corner of the internet? More than before, it feels like we’re holding a fun-house mirror up to the internet and struggling to make sense of the distorted picture.”

How Lego builds a new Lego set

“Today, Lego is opening preorders for its replica of the classic rainbow stripe Polaroid OneStep SX-70 instant camera, based on Marc’s homegrown build. Lego sent one to The Verge to build and toy with, and as I’ll explain later, the set is a delight. Lego also granted us multiple interviews to discuss how a Lego dream comes to life — and the challenges that come with turning a fan-made design into a ready-to-sell product.”

Access initiatives in exhibitions at ACMI

ACMI is the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. They are a really forward-thinking, innovative and experimental organisation (I’ve spoken to their brilliant CEO, Seb Chan, on the Digital Works Podcast - and he is delivering the keynote at next year’s Digital Works Conference).

This article outlines some of the thinking and changes that have gone into making their exhibitions more accessible.

“In 2021 ACMI and Arts Access Victoria (AAV) agreed to enter a partnership to use the newly opened ACMI as a test bed for advancing accessibility initiatives in the museum sector. With a shared enthusiasm for experimentation and continuous improvement, we’ve since worked with AAV to trial and test different ways of increasing access for visitors with a lived experience of disability.”

The Secret Life of the 500+ Cables That Run the Internet

I’m always fascinated by ‘invisible infrastructure’ like this, and how relatively fragile the things that keep so much of modern life functioning are.

“Laced across the cold depths of the world's oceans is a network of multimillion-dollar cables, which have become the vital connections of our online lives.”

Leeds 2023 Data Dashboard

Leeds 2023 partnered with Open Innovations (formerly the Open Data Institute) to do some data visualisation on a load of key measures.

It’s interesting to see this sort of open/public dashboard approach, I’d be curious to see more cultural organisations consider this.

It feels like there’s maybe an interesting/different way to think about engaging stakeholders in a conversation about impact and reach.

The AI trust crisis

The always excellent Simon Willson on the issues that AI companies (specifically OpenAI) have with consumer trust.

“It’s increasing clear to me like people simply don’t believe OpenAI when they’re told that data won’t be used for training.”

'New York Times' sues ChatGPT creator OpenAI, Microsoft, for copyright infringement

And on a similar issue, the New York Times is now suing Open AI and Microsoft:

“The New York Times sued OpenAI and its biggest backer, Microsoft, over copyright infringement on Wednesday, alleging the creator of ChatGPT used the newspaper's material without permission to train the massively popular chatbot.”

Lord of the Rings, but it’s lo-fi beats

Really, really well done, and surprisingly beautiful and soothing!

Ok, that’s your lot, I hope 2024 brings you healthy, happiness, and interesting stuff.

Here’s last week’s round up