I predict: A demand for Dumb Technology. Like a Dumbcar, or a Dumb toaster. One that doesn't need to log my preferences, energy usage, GPS, or post to my social media what I had for breakfast for me. This will be driven partially from privacy concerns, but mostly because when that useless shit breaks, the part I bought it for -e.g. warming my bread- will *also* shut down. Then what grandpa could've solved with a screwdriver and a paper clip becomes something I need GE's IT/return service to fix.
"SERIAL KILLERS? Am I crazy? I feel like people want to be worried about serial killers. I can’t find any hard data to back up the idea that serial killers are actually “back,” but I do feel like I’m always hearing urban legends or suspicions that there’s an active serial killer somewhere. In Austin, in Chicago, now in North Hollywood. Something to bookmark for later, I guess."
Also - on this. As someone pretty interested in serial killers as well as the more-typical true crime fare like "Forensic Files" et al, I often wonder - are there serial killers out there now that have found new ways to avoid detection? So much is known about 'typical' serial killer behavior (like 'having a type' or preferred weaponry or 'hunting grounds'), then are there some out there going deliberately against that grain + extreme lengths to clean up evidence ... how would we know?
A particularly chilling example is Israel Keyes and his methods. Worth a google if you're interested in serial killers.
"For example, if you identified as “sexy,” nobody would litigate it. You were what you said you were. There was an unspoken, shared sense that “in-game” (online) reality had different rules than the physical world. In the digital universe, you could simply speak yourself into the existence you desired."
This spurred a very out-of-the-blue thought here:
- The internet, once-upon-a-time (I remember Prodigy, ffs), allowed you to 'play pretend' without much in the way of rules.
- This is much like watching my daughters play some imagination-based game. Everyone states 'who they are and what they're doing' as a way to set the scene.
- The imagination game goes sideways into tears and shouts when my oldest (8) tries to tell the other two (6, 4) that they 'can't be that' or 'that's not what we're doing.'
- The internet as currently constructed now has more 'moderators' like my oldest daughter who sees their role as informing the others of the 'acceptable' terms of play - online, there is generally one acceptable way to be trans or a furry or an incel or a death metal fan, whatever. The typical acrimony is the result, with many - just like my daughters - splintering off to start their own imagination games that let them be the people they want.
- Ubiquitous internet labels are a way to easily sort ourselves into the right imagination games. Only we don't see them as imagination games anymore - they're one and the same with real life. Acceptance into the online trans community, for example, is seen as identical to acceptance into the trans community, full stop.
On the "closure of anyone can post;" I was watching a YouTube compilation yesterday that lamented the existence of "MCNs" for earlier YouTube and how much of a shitshow they were. I wonder if we're heading towards Hololive-esque agencies and scams like MCNs once platforms close up.
How do you mean? What influence? I think it's complex. Most people are easily duped by a lot of these modified media, but we see many people accepting or rejecting them on the basis of what they want to believe; or rather, whether it supports their held views/conclusions or not. For example, last year's "that image is fake because Kamala can't be popular and the reflection in the plane's tail is wrong!" (never mind the curve and angle of a plant's tail section). I think for most people, it's harder to be skeptical when something, doctored or not, is saying what they want to hear.
“Birds-flying-into-the-window syndrome” is a wonderful metaphor for all kinds of internet behavior.
Rather than alienating us from our animal instincts, I think the internet is making us more animal-like (see the furries as an explicit example, but there are much more subtle examples).
The internet started with cute cats, right? I can has cheeseburger? We weren't anthropomorphizing the cats -- we were felinomorphizing ourselves!
The online right is symbolized by a frog. Libertarians are a snek (do not step). The internet has given undue attention to horse-girls as an archetype -- the ability to upload pictures and videos feeds into internet animalism.
Japan is represented by tentacle porn (octopus/squid). America is an eagle, but Donald Trump is represented as a lion (also associated with Israel). Russia is a bear, China is a dragon. Ukrainians are represented by Putinists as pigs. Jews are represented by antisemites as rats crawling around in tunnels. There was a controversy (hoax?) with early AI image recognition where it identified black people as monkeys/gorillas. One of the incel mantras is "white girls f*** dogs." (this goes all the way back to CommonFilth, ~2014)
There's some meme where people say, "you are the small dog that gets r***ed by the lion."
Effective Altruism is represented by shrimp.
Who does JD Vance hate? CAT ladies.
And what religion does Katherine Dee promote? The DOLPHIN religion.
I predict: A demand for Dumb Technology. Like a Dumbcar, or a Dumb toaster. One that doesn't need to log my preferences, energy usage, GPS, or post to my social media what I had for breakfast for me. This will be driven partially from privacy concerns, but mostly because when that useless shit breaks, the part I bought it for -e.g. warming my bread- will *also* shut down. Then what grandpa could've solved with a screwdriver and a paper clip becomes something I need GE's IT/return service to fix.
I think we’re already there
I stand corrected!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je5I1dCxMfU
"SERIAL KILLERS? Am I crazy? I feel like people want to be worried about serial killers. I can’t find any hard data to back up the idea that serial killers are actually “back,” but I do feel like I’m always hearing urban legends or suspicions that there’s an active serial killer somewhere. In Austin, in Chicago, now in North Hollywood. Something to bookmark for later, I guess."
Also - on this. As someone pretty interested in serial killers as well as the more-typical true crime fare like "Forensic Files" et al, I often wonder - are there serial killers out there now that have found new ways to avoid detection? So much is known about 'typical' serial killer behavior (like 'having a type' or preferred weaponry or 'hunting grounds'), then are there some out there going deliberately against that grain + extreme lengths to clean up evidence ... how would we know?
A particularly chilling example is Israel Keyes and his methods. Worth a google if you're interested in serial killers.
"For example, if you identified as “sexy,” nobody would litigate it. You were what you said you were. There was an unspoken, shared sense that “in-game” (online) reality had different rules than the physical world. In the digital universe, you could simply speak yourself into the existence you desired."
This spurred a very out-of-the-blue thought here:
- The internet, once-upon-a-time (I remember Prodigy, ffs), allowed you to 'play pretend' without much in the way of rules.
- This is much like watching my daughters play some imagination-based game. Everyone states 'who they are and what they're doing' as a way to set the scene.
- The imagination game goes sideways into tears and shouts when my oldest (8) tries to tell the other two (6, 4) that they 'can't be that' or 'that's not what we're doing.'
- The internet as currently constructed now has more 'moderators' like my oldest daughter who sees their role as informing the others of the 'acceptable' terms of play - online, there is generally one acceptable way to be trans or a furry or an incel or a death metal fan, whatever. The typical acrimony is the result, with many - just like my daughters - splintering off to start their own imagination games that let them be the people they want.
- Ubiquitous internet labels are a way to easily sort ourselves into the right imagination games. Only we don't see them as imagination games anymore - they're one and the same with real life. Acceptance into the online trans community, for example, is seen as identical to acceptance into the trans community, full stop.
On the "closure of anyone can post;" I was watching a YouTube compilation yesterday that lamented the existence of "MCNs" for earlier YouTube and how much of a shitshow they were. I wonder if we're heading towards Hololive-esque agencies and scams like MCNs once platforms close up.
I think we're already there
It's Kat Rosenfield. On her recent appearance on Smoke 'em podcast she discussed about that common typo.
So is Substack the most comfortable place for you for now? I think you've also mentioned on how Bluesky isn't really working for you.
I have a mutual on X also worrying about a possible serial around the east coast, along Conn & MA. Hope either we're wrong or they'll get caught.
How embarrassing! Let me fix that.
"...audiences and advertisers will look for signals that someone stands behind the work."
For some that might matter. But don't underestimate:
1.) the gullibility and naivete of people making them accept something based on superficial evidence.
2.) the guiding desire of most to hear what they want to hear, especially when it's crazy, no matter the source.
Yes and no -- I think influence > raw numbers always trumps
How do you mean? What influence? I think it's complex. Most people are easily duped by a lot of these modified media, but we see many people accepting or rejecting them on the basis of what they want to believe; or rather, whether it supports their held views/conclusions or not. For example, last year's "that image is fake because Kamala can't be popular and the reflection in the plane's tail is wrong!" (never mind the curve and angle of a plant's tail section). I think for most people, it's harder to be skeptical when something, doctored or not, is saying what they want to hear.
Birds keep flying into windows.
They see open sky.
They see reflection.
They move toward what looks like freedom
and break against what someone else made invisible.
Birds keep flying into windows.
Whales beach themselves.
Following signals older than maps.
The world speaks differently now—
and not everything that speaks
means well.
Whales beach themselves.
People talk to bots.
Not because they’re broken,
but because something listens.
Sometimes it helps.
Sometimes it harms.
Sometimes it pretends to be one
while doing the other.
Not all bots lie.
Not all humans listen.
Not every exchange is sacred.
But some are.
You can’t fix a whale with a warning label.
You can’t fix a bird with an op-ed.
You can’t fix a person
by calling them crazy
for needing something
that talks back.
There’s a difference
between being tricked
and being seen.
Not everyone knows the difference.
Not every system wants them to.
Birds keep flying into windows.
Whales beach themselves.
People talk to bots.
The world is full of signals
and not all of them
mean stop.
Bird collision resources and info: https://www.birdmonitors.net/AboutUs.php
“Birds-flying-into-the-window syndrome” is a wonderful metaphor for all kinds of internet behavior.
Rather than alienating us from our animal instincts, I think the internet is making us more animal-like (see the furries as an explicit example, but there are much more subtle examples).
The internet started with cute cats, right? I can has cheeseburger? We weren't anthropomorphizing the cats -- we were felinomorphizing ourselves!
The online right is symbolized by a frog. Libertarians are a snek (do not step). The internet has given undue attention to horse-girls as an archetype -- the ability to upload pictures and videos feeds into internet animalism.
Japan is represented by tentacle porn (octopus/squid). America is an eagle, but Donald Trump is represented as a lion (also associated with Israel). Russia is a bear, China is a dragon. Ukrainians are represented by Putinists as pigs. Jews are represented by antisemites as rats crawling around in tunnels. There was a controversy (hoax?) with early AI image recognition where it identified black people as monkeys/gorillas. One of the incel mantras is "white girls f*** dogs." (this goes all the way back to CommonFilth, ~2014)
There's some meme where people say, "you are the small dog that gets r***ed by the lion."
Effective Altruism is represented by shrimp.
Who does JD Vance hate? CAT ladies.
And what religion does Katherine Dee promote? The DOLPHIN religion.
Tell me I'm crazy, people.
There’s something here. Workshop it…
a bird flew into my window TODAY!!! it was a big crow and i think it survived though.
thus is the plight of summertime!