We’re building a non-profit, free repository of pure, immersive natural soundscapes as a fundraising platform for local, grassroots charities that support the restoration of our natural world.
The website earth.fm is “like Spotify, but for natural soundscapes”. I love everything about this.
© Patagonia (via YouTube)
Fishpeople tells the stories of a unique cast of characters who have dedicated their lives to the sea. Featuring Kimi Werner, Eddie Donnellan, Dave Rastovich, Matahi Drollet, Ray Collins and Lynne Cox.
Another beautiful short documentary produced by environmentally conscious clothing company Patagonia. After spending some days near the coast myself recently for the first time in literally years, I only realized again how much I’ve missed the sea. Probably that’s one of the reasons I enjoy this video so much; I’d love to live closer by and with the ocean myself.
Find your reason, practice, and go on holidays.
© LDC / Crown Record Co., Ltd. (via Youtube)
Nice Japanese Compilation of Jazz, Funk, Ambient, Rock, and World called On The Beach. The LP was originally released in 1985 and is available as a YouTube video nowadays. The ideal soundtrack –and video– for some summer/holiday vibes, here is its tracklist:
© ZDF
Was passiert hinter den Kulissen, wenn wir klicken, swipen, bestellen, matchen? Wie funktioniert die neue digitale Welt? Wer zieht hier die Fäden? Wer sind die Gewinner und Verlierer?
German television station ZDF recently started a documentation series about the digital world called Digital Empire. The first episode was about AI and the bias it might come with —based on its originators and their worldview, thus fostering inequality.
An important theme to start with, I’m curious about which topics the team is covering in the upcoming episodes.
© Vox (via YouTube)
Beginning in January 2021, advances in AI research have produced a plethora of deep-learning models capable of generating original images from simple text prompts, effectively extending the human imagination. Researchers at OpenAI, Google, Facebook, and others have developed text-to-image tools that they have not yet released to the public, and similar models have proliferated online in the open-source arena and at smaller companies like Midjourney.
Vox not only does share this interesting video on how AI is able to create imagery based on a short descriptional text —and some of the implications this technology has, but they also include a list of current free AI Art tools in the video description for anyone willing to dive deeper;
To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.
© Bo Burnham
filmed from march 2020-may 2021. edited from april 2022-may 2022.
I’ve already expressed my admiration for the masterpiece that is last year’s ‘Inside’ by Bo Burnham, but yesterday the comedian, musician, actor, director, and filmmaker surprisingly released an accompanying new video on YouTube called The Inside Outtakes.
The title is a little misleading though since it does not only contains outtakes in the classical sense, but a lot of making-of and behind the scenes material as well as some unreleased –mostly pretty great– songs entirely cut from the finished program.
In fact, Burnham put together the additional video over the last two months in a similarly meticulous style and it even has a longer runtime than the main piece itself. Apparently, there’ll be a deluxe version of the music album –with just the songs from Inside– soon, too. Yes please! 🤍
Unfortunately, the video can’t be embedded, but only be watched on YouTube:
© Wired (via Youtube)
Industrial designer James Dyson took over Wired’s Twitter account to answer some questions and share some design knowledge along the way last year. Notes taken.
A friend gave me design advice once. He said to start with left-aligned black text on a white background, and to apply styling only to solve a specific problem. This is good advice. Embrace this, and you embrace Brutalist Web Design. Focus on your content and your visitors will enjoy you and your website. Focus on decoration or tricking your visitors into clicking ads, and your content will suffer, along with your visitors.
Some ideas David Bryant Copeland proposes in his Guidelines for Brutalist Web Design might sound a tad radical, but I do like the general concept, so I’m tempted to follow along.
© Phoebe Bridgers / Dead Oceans (via Youtube)
Another beautiful piece of music by Phoebe Bridgers. She wrote Sidelines for the soundtrack of ‘Conversations With Friends’ where a lot of the great-looking footage for the music video was taken from. The melancholic song furthermore is featured in the Trailer of the Hulu series.
© ARTE (via Youtube)
Great German short documentary by franco-german television station ARTE about Machiya, a traditional architectural style from Japan.
The entire series Stadt, Land, Kunst (City, Country, Art) is fascinating —not only but all the more when the segments are about my place of longing.
I don’t care about my body of work. I don’t care about having some ceavure. I don’t care about having a consistent body of work. The only thing that gives me enjoyment is the current pursuit of whatever I’m doing.