flâneur

Isabelle L

2 followers · 849 views

on the atlas — 21

highlights — 34

  • All our steps in creating or absorbing material of the record proceed through one of the senses—the tactile when we touch keys, the oral when we speak or listen, the visual when we read. Is it not possible that some day the path may be established more directly?
    As We May Think
  • Might not these currents be intercepted, either in the original form in which information is conveyed to the brain, or in the marvelously metamorphosed form in which they then proceed to the hand?
    As We May Think
  • The owner of the memex, let us say, is interested in the origin and properties of the bow and arrow. Specifically he is studying why the short Turkish bow was apparently superior to the English long bow in the skirmishes of the Crusades. He has dozens of possibly pertinent books and articles in his memex. First he runs through an encyclopedia, finds an interesting but sketchy article, leaves it projected. Next, in a history, he finds another pertinent item, and ties the two together. Thus he goes, building a trail of many items. Occasionally he inserts a comment of his own, either linking it i…
    As We May Think
  • It is exactly as though the physical items had been gathered together from widely separated sources and bound together to form a new book.
    As We May Think
  • The user taps a single key, and the items are permanently joined.
    As We May Think
  • Business correspondence takes the same path. And there is provision for direct entry.
    As We May Think
  • Consider a future device for individual use, which is a sort of mechanized private file and library. It needs a name, and, to coin one at random, "memex" will do. A memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory.
    As We May Think
  • Having found one item, moreover, one has to emerge from the system and re-enter on a new path.
    As We May Think
  • Our ineptitude in getting at the record is largely caused by the artificiality of systems of indexing.
    As We May Think
  • Thus far we seem to be worse off than before—for we can enormously extend the record; yet even in its present bulk we can hardly consult it.
    As We May Think
  • He is primarily an individual who is skilled in the use of symbolic logic on a high plane, and especially he is a man of intuitive judgment in the choice of the manipulative processes he employs.
    As We May Think
  • A mathematician is not a man who can readily manipulate figures; often he cannot.
    As We May Think
  • Such machines will have enormous appetites. One of them will take instructions and data from a whole roomful of girls armed with simple key board punches, and will deliver sheets of computed results every few minutes. There will always be plenty of things to compute in the detailed affairs of millions of people doing complicated things.
    As We May Think
  • these are combinations of photocells for scanning the type, electric circuits for sorting the consequent variations, and relay circuits for interpreting the result into the action of solenoids to pull the keys down.
    As We May Think
  • Much needs to occur, however, between the collection of data and observations, the extraction of parallel material from the existing record, and the final insertion of new material into the general body of the common record.
    As We May Think
  • Mechanization may yet force the issue, especially in the scientific field; whereupon scientific jargon would become still less intelligible to the layman.
    As We May Think
  • Even the modern great library is not generally consulted; it is nibbled at by a few.
    As We May Think
  • A record if it is to be useful to science, must be continuously extended, it must be stored, and above all it must be consulted
    As We May Think
  • The difficulty seems to be, not so much that we publish unduly in view of the extent and variety of present day interests, but rather that publication has been extended far beyond our present ability to make real use of the record.
    As We May Think
  • The difficulty seems to be, not so much that we publish unduly in view of the extent and variety of present day interests, but rather that publication has been extended far beyond our present ability to make real use of the record.
    As We May Think
  • It seems cultural pessimism is a constant going back in time.
    This is what peak culture looks like - Works in Progress
  • we’re doing something else, that something else is probably better than the supposed historical masterwork
    This is what peak culture looks like - Works in Progress
  • with 80% or more of the impact of experiencing the original in real life
    This is what peak culture looks like - Works in Progress
  • innovation and scientific and technological progress and discovery
    History is in the making - Works in Progress
  • This in turn led to a change in the nature of leisure, entertainment, and communication with the advent of radio and, subsequently, television
    History is in the making - Works in Progress
  • In this materialist way of thinking, it is material lived experience that determines consciousness and shapes things like culture and politics
    History is in the making - Works in Progress
  • One reason is that politics is, in a sense, downstream of these technological breakthroughs, as politics is determined and driven by the changes in material circumstances and lived experiences that those events brought.
    History is in the making - Works in Progress
  • Ultimately, the company is hewing to one of the industry’s most well-rehearsed (and frequently criticized) mantras: that technology is neutral, and that building things is better than not. “This is the approach that we take because we see these tools as a potential infrastructure to advance humanity,” says Mostaque. “We think the positive elements far outweigh the negatives.”
    Anyone can use this AI art generator — that’s the risk - The Verge
  • A statistic that librarians like to repeat is that there are more public libraries in America than there are McDonald’s locations. That is a testament to widespread perseverance of libraries as institutions, but also to the wide array of realities that libraries exist within.
    Music Libraries | Pioneer Works
  • The really important thing about libraries is they're free public spaces that don't ask anything of you. We have fewer and fewer spaces like that. If people become more mindful of the connection there, we might be onto something cool for the future.
    Music Libraries | Pioneer Works
  • about the connections that get formed in the process and the activity that pops up around them.
    Music Libraries | Pioneer Works
  • “How do you make a licensing system that’s fair for all the artists in the world? I don’t know. And with respect to city-scale licensing, I don’t care. It’s important that we don’t care. We’re saying, let’s make something better here, in a way that’s super controlled by here. That’s governance that says, actually people in Memphis know more about Memphis than people in California, and we don’t need a generic solution for the whole world in order for people in Memphis to get paid.”
    Music Libraries | Pioneer Works
  • Take Amazon's price picker: Why is it two text boxes? Why not a slider? This has always annoyed me, since it's much easier for me to drag a slider than to manually type in my max price. And the quick-select ranges are literally the exact same no matter the product. If I search for a pen, nearly every result I want should be under $25. If I search for a trampoline, every result I want should probably be over $200. What the fuck?! I guess this somehow won the A/B test, but I can't think of a reason why.
    The Smartest Website You Haven't Heard of
  • 3. Great! Now, highlight some text and click save.
    Curius / Onboarding