"The Flash" è un gran film (per la DC) - la mia recensione per Fumettologica

https://fumettologica.it/2023/06/the-flash-recensione-film-dc-comics/

Sono passate un paio di settimane dalla WWDC, la conferenza di Apple dedicata agli sviluppatori che quest'anno ha visto la presentazione di Vison Pro, gli occhiali da realtà XR. Ci sono stati anche tantissimi altri annunci, più o meno rumorosi. Una cosa mi ha colpito. Parte del dividendo del lavoro fatto con il machine learning per abilitare funzionalità che permettono di mescolare realtà fisica e virtuale, c'è anche questo sistema per mettere il volto del presentatore sulla presentazione: una cosa "visionaria" che aveva fatto solo Doug Engelbart all'inizio di tutto, alla fine del 1968.

Money quote: "Apple also includes a small overlay option for times when you have more on your screen to share. This puts your face in a small floating circle that you can move around. Because this is a system-level feature that apps can take advantage of via an API, it will work with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and WebEx."

https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/my-favorite-announcement-from-apples-wwdc-isnt-headset-its-this-wild-software-feature-that-will-change-zoom-meetings-forever.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mother_of_All_Demos

Mai più soli. Un clone degli amici di chat, per poterci parlare quando si vuole. È una notizia di un po' di tempo fa ma divertente, nel suo essere folle.

Money quote: "Using the same technology that powers chatbots like Microsoft’s Bing and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Miller created a clone of his best friends’ group chat — a conversation that’s been unfurling every day over the past seven years, ever since he and five friends first came together in college. It was surprisingly easy to do, he says: a project that took a few weekends of work and a hundred dollars to pull together. But the end results are uncanny.

“I was really surprised at the degree to which the model inherently learned things about who we were, not just the way we speak,” says Miller. “It knows things about who we’re dating, where we went to school, the name of our house we lived in, et cetera.” "

https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/13/23671059/ai-chatbot-clone-group-chat

La Cancel Culture è solo l'ultima delle incarnazioni di movimenti di pensiero che cercano di fare di tutta l'erba un fascio: autore, opera, epoca storica. Ci sono cose intollerabili e cose intollerate, e ci sono grandi differenze. Un vecchio articolo di Francesco D'Isa sul Post cerca di chiarire un po' le cose.

Money quote: "Identificare opera e artista.

Questo è il punto più critico, perché giudicare il valore morale di un’opera in base a quello dell’autore suona un po’ come venire scartati da un concorso di bellezza perché proprio padre è brutto. Sebbene non si attribuisca a un muro il peso morale dell’imbianchino che lo ha pitturato, infatti, si dà in genere per scontato che le opere d’arte siano “più personali” degli altri prodotti dell’uomo, probabilmente perché veicolano un’espressione attraverso il medesimo linguaggio che viene usato per fare prescrizioni morali. Il messaggio, però, è dell’opera, non dell’autore, così come il colore è della vernice, non dell’imbianchino.
I quadretti di paesaggio di Hitler non devono rispondere della follia omicida del loro autore, ma delle sue mediocri competenze pittoriche. Lo stesso vale per i muri che il dittatore ha verniciato, magari splendidamente, lungo il suo precedente impiego da manovale. Qualora il dubbio persista, si immagini questa situazione: se un pittore uccide qualcuno, a dover andare in galera è lui o i suoi quadri?"

https://www.ilpost.it/francescodisa/2017/11/30/delle-opere-darte-dei-cattivi/

Gli utenti Mac tendono a essere piuttosto particolari. Soprattutto quelli "anziani", che sono abituati a usare software (spesso molto specializzato) anziché servizi cloud. Quando si rifà una macchina, un nuovo computer, l'avventura diventa entusiasmante. Adam Engst, che ha creato la seconda più longeva newsletter tutt'ora in corso di pubblicazione per quanto riguarda la lingua inglese, cioè Tidbits, ha raccontato per filo e per segno tutta la procedura e, soprattutto, quali sono le sue 46 app preferite che reputa necessario installare.

Money quote: "When I wrote “Level 2 Clean Install of Ventura Solves Deep-Rooted Problems” (10 April 2023), I stopped at the point of declaring—and I am not being smug about this, universe!—seeming victory over several previously intractable problems. What I glossed over was the remaining step of reinstalling third-party apps. It was tedious but fascinating because I learned precisely which apps I really use and the order I needed them. The start of this list is less indicative than the latter part: I installed many of the early apps more or less simultaneously and then added back other apps when the task for which I use them cropped up.

Here then, are the 46 apps I rely on (so far!), with a few words of explanation for each. Note that while I do recommend all of these apps individually, that’s partly because I pay for hardly any of them. If I were working under a typical budget, I would be somewhat more circumspect, particularly with multiple apps in the same category."

https://tidbits.com/2023/04/19/the-46-mac-apps-i-actually-use-and-why/

Una giornata di lavoro un po' strana, mescolata, con orari non lineari. L'idea che serve per finire di demolire la vita d'ufficio tradizionale.

Money quote: "“A nonlinear workday essentially means that you’re not working in typical 9 to 5,” she says. “You have regular periods of the day where you’re working, but they don’t typically match that standard 9 to 5, with a classic lunch break in the middle.”"

https://www.fastcompany.com/90847103/how-nonlinear-workday-help-get-more-done

Storie di donne samurai - il mio articolo per Fumettologica

https://fumettologica.it/2023/06/storie-di-donne-samurai-mostra-tenoha-milano/

Se pensate che tornare a fare le foto con le macchine a pellicola in formato 136 (cioè il full frame o "piccolo formato" 24x36) sia un esercizio pensato per rendere la cattura delle immagini più consapevole e lenta, vuol dire che non avete mai provato il medio formato 120. Con 12 immagini per rullo. Altra roba.

Money quote: "These days everyone has a smart phone, and every tourist seems to either be touting a DSLR or a selfie stick. Locals see us coming and keep a wide berth. Shooting with a medium format camera will open a travel or street photographer to an entirely new world. People see the unusual looking camera and actually want to interact with you and to be photographed. Having a camera that people are interested in opens up a photographer to new experiences, whether it be a networking or an adventure opportunity. This advantage alone makes up for carrying the bulky weight of it. And although the camera itself may draw attention, a waste level viewfinder offers the ability for stealth shooting to catch natural and unexpected moments."

https://www.darksilverblog.com/mediumformat

Che fine ha fatto Doonesbury - il mio articolo per Fumettologica

https://fumettologica.it/2023/06/che-fine-ha-fatto-doonesbury-trudeau/

Credo che potremmo tranquillamente fare un titolo di giornale così anche in Italia

Money quote: "Poole said that his state’s government had larger issues to tackle than TikTok. "It’s so goofy to target them," he said. "We have terrible infrastructure; last year we had massive flooding that took out bridges and roads. There are so many other issues that nobody’s talking about, but they’re focusing on banning an entertainment app because they’re afraid of China mining data that the US already mines itself."

TikTok remains extraordinarily popular among young Americans; it has over 100 million users in the US. Representatives for TikTok told the AP that more than 200,000 people in Montana alone use the app."

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/may/19/montana-tiktok-ban-user-reaction-influencer

Avete presente quella operazione agli occhi che si fa con il laser e zac zac, tutto a posto in mezz’oretta? Beh, a quanto pare non va proprio liscia a tutti quanti.

Money quote: "According to the draft, doctors would be advised to share with their clients that their corneal nerves "may never fully recover, resulting in dry eyes and/or chronic pain", and that there have been reports of some patients who have experienced depression or suicidality they believe to be a result of the fallout from Lasik. (The FDA notes that "a definitive causal link between Lasik and these reported psychological harms has not been established".)"

(si parlasse di vaccini ci sarebbe già la guerra).

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/18/lasik-laser-eye-surgery

La fascinazione per l’America del passato e la sua nostalgia è una specie di desiderio simmetrico o forse archetipo rispetto a quel che succede da noi. Questo racconto mostra a che punto della retromania sono arrivati.

Money quote: "To me, so much of the story of America over the past 50 or 60 years is told in not only the food that these places serve but also in how these places are marketed, and how their signage and their buildings are designed. Just look at, to take one of my favorite subjects, McDonald’s, and how their architecture evolved from gaudy, neon, massive arches on a slanted glass building.

By the late '60s, this is becoming a bit tacky, and McDonald’s needs to keep growing beyond the roadside. They want to get into downtowns and suburbs, so then they come up with the mansard building, which can fit into a New England downtown.

Then, a generation later, that look is becoming a bit dowdy. And now, of course, we seem to not want to market our stores using architecture or signage. They’re all gray boxes that are sterile and sleek and perhaps elegant in a Bahausian way, but they are not particularly interesting and not something that captures your attention."

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-to-retro-road-trip-guide

Apple Vision Pro SDK, il momento della verità - il mio articolo per Macity

https://www.macitynet.it/apple-vision-pro-sdk-il-momento-della-verita/

Perché non mettere un "Out Of Office" perenne alla nostra mail, spiegando che non rispondiamo in tempo reale e che la leggiamo solo una o due volte al giorno? Non sarebbe più sincero che non lasciare questo vuoto dove le persone si negano senza spiegazione, salvo riemergere all’improvviso?

Money quote: "While using an OOO response 24/7 may not be for everyone, according to Lauren Gordon, lead behavioural insights advisor at Bupa UK, it could be a great way to remove distractions, reduce presenteeism and help you feel more in control of your workflow.

"It’s hard to be productive at work without boundaries -- they help manage the expectations that our colleagues have for us," Gordon tells *Stylist*.

"For example, if you’re working towards a tight deadline, it might be helpful to put an out-of-office on to explain that it might take longer for you to reply while you concentrate on the task.""

https://www.stylist.co.uk/life/careers/setting-work-boundaries-out-of-office/632254

La cosa dell’accento tra americani e inglesi è fantastica. Ma non è così fuori di testa come sembra: segue dinamiche diverse ma regole simili anche da noi. Infatti, avete presente il gioco che c’è con gli accenti napoletani, siciliani, romani, milanesi tra i ragazzini? No?

Money quote: "Americans have long been called out for their phony British accents – think Madonna in her Guy Ritchie era, or the friend who just came home from studying abroad in London. But Gen Z has embraced bad imitations of Cockney slang or a Yorkshire dialect, using obviously fake, theatrical voices to make light of low-grade daily dramas.

Vibe check: what does the most overused word of our era actually mean?
Read more
What’s behind the trend? Green, who is 26 and appeared on the US version of Love Island, blames it on her love for the original UK dating show.

“The accent really took over when I started watching the show,” she said. “It blew the accent the fuck up, and everyone was obsessed with their cute little sayings, like ‘doing bits’.” (For the uninitiated, that means getting intimate but not having sex.)"

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/may/14/fake-british-accents-americans-gen-z

L’autore di un libro sui funghi, che è una specie di divulgatore-intrattenitore, sta diventando una celebrità. Merito dei suoi talenti di public speaker ma anche dell’argomento che tratta.

Money quote: "At talks like these, Sheldrake is sometimes asked to answer a question he poses in the first chapter of his book: What is it like to be a fungus? The answer, at least according to Sheldrake, is at once alien and wondrous. "If you had no head, no heart, no center of operations," he began. "If you could taste with your whole body. If you could take a fragment of your toe or your hair and it would grow into a new you -- and hundreds of these new yous could fuse together into some impossibly large togetherness. And when you wanted to get around, you would produce spores, this little condensed part of you that could travel in the air." There were nods. In the audience, the woman next to me gave a long, affirming hum.

"Entangled Life" has turned Sheldrake, who is 36, into a kind of human ambassador for the fungal kingdom: the face of fungi."

https://archive.is/vy5K5#selection-611.0-623.125

Drew Barrymore si è reinventata alla grande. Vivendo in pubblico in maniera "terapeutica".

Money quote: "The Drew Barrymore Show launched into a void during the pandemic and, three seasons in, has become a therapy-infused, feel-good viral sensation — a part-Oprah, post-Ellen lovefest among its famous host, her famous guests, and her adoring audience. The show is by and for Barrymore: a venue for her to laugh, learn, love, cry, get rid of stains, and get snuggly. It is the purest distillation of the Drew Barrymore brand (also available as a chair at Walmart), which she has honed since becoming the most famous child star since Shirley Temple, overcoming her adolescent humiliation with a redemption arc as America’s rom-com sweetheart. Now, she’s bringing the public along for her postdivorce, don’t-call-it-sobriety alcohol-abstaining, single-mom journey of healing and self-discovery. She’s a conduit for all these emotions — hers, her guests’, yours — because rather than shut down or become self-protective, she opened up in the other direction: Let’s feel together five times a week."

https://www.vulture.com/article/drew-barrymore-show-profile.html

C’è una fotocamera miracolosa e di nicchia che però fa tendenza: la Leica M Monochrom, la fotocamera serie M che fa foto solo in bianco e nero (ma molto meglio di quelle a colori). Ecco, gli altri forse ci stanno arrivando. Ci ha provato Pentax, presentando una sua reflex digitale Aps-C con sensore monocromatico. Ma in molti si sono detti (me incluso) che forse l’azienda - Pentax è di proprietà di Ricoh – ha sbagliato bersaglio. Di brutto.

Money quote: "But if Ricoh was going to make an oddball camera for its fanbase, it missed one incredibly important opportunity. They should have made a Ricoh GR III Monochrome first. The GR has always been a camera for photo nerds by photo nerds, from the very start. Ricoh’s APS-C cameras have been phenomenal tools that are easy to shoot but can output impressive results in the right hands. Matching the street-smart GR III with a monochrome sensor would let users shoot in the dark practically, and ape the look that made photographers like Daido Moriyama famous. Rugged DSLRs like the K-3 III aren’t well suited for fast one-handed shooting, making the Monochrome version that much more of a head-scratcher."

https://www.dpreview.com/opinion/2301491718/did-ricoh-put-a-monochrome-sensor-in-the-wrong-camera

Gli appassionati di fotografia scoprono presto che ci sono differenti formati. Nel mondo digitale sono le dimensioni dei sensori, in quello analogico quelle della pellicola. Non è banalissimo e per quanto riguarda l’analogico anche piuttosto importante da capire. Questa guida non è fatta male perché fa capire un po’ di cose sugli obiettivi per il medio e il piccolo formato.

Money quote: "Numbers are pretty abstract, so I’ll include some more tangible examples from the lenses I’m currently using with my Hasselblad 500 C/M.

With a 6×6 aspect ratio, the 80mm lens is considered the 50mm equivalent on 35mm. It’s the lens I use most often, as it gives me the field of view that’s closest to what the human eye sees, and it’s versatile for shooting any subject matter."

https://shootitwithfilm.com/understanding-medium-format-vs-35mm-lenses/

L'incredibile solitudine delle grandi città

Money quote: "Throughout the town, Mike collects evidence that he has just missed people: Douglas Sirk’s movie Battle Hymn (1957) flickers in the empty cinema; a cigar burns in an ashtray; coffee boils on a stove in the diner; a phone in a phone booth rings, but no one is on the other end when he answers. A line of direction from Rod Serling’s noscript describes a long shot of the main street: ‘Once again the sense of emptiness and loneliness and that bizarre quality of activity with no actors.’"

https://psyche.co/ideas/struths-unpeopled-photos-evoke-the-loneliness-of-urban-life

Cory Doctorow ci prova a spiegare cos'è il Social Quitting dei social media e dove vorrebbe che andassimo tutti. Bella analisi ma assurdo lo sbocco.

Money quote: "In "Social Quitting," my latest _Locus Magazine_ column, I advance a theory to explain the precipitous vibe shift in how many of us view the once-dominant social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter, and how it is that we have so quickly gone asking what we can do to get these services out of our lives to where we should go now that we're all ready to leave them"

https://doctorow.medium.com/social-quitting-f049b33ad3f6