May 2019 – mssv

90s Hagiography and Half Marathons

May 31, 2019

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5–8 minutes

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Issue 4 of my newsletter – subscribe here Now that millennials are ageing into their status as Prime Consumers of culture, it’s no surprise that our childhood era of the 90s is being mined for nostalgia. Not all of this is cynical – I’m as charmed by games like Hypnospace Outlaw that harken back to the early…
The Cultures Ep 296: If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?

May 26, 2019

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1–2 minutes

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Listen to episode 296 of my weekly podcast with Andrea Phillips and Naomi Alderman: If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich? The Rise of the Meritocracyby Michael Young, the book that coined the term satirically Liquid Death sells water to punks who are too cool for alcohol Note: No Naomi this ep
How to Read The New Yorker, my new TV, and the Playdate

May 23, 2019

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6–8 minutes

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Issue 3 of my newsletter – subscribe here The New Yorker is the most consistently well-written longform magazine I’ve read, and it’s been the source of so many of my ideas over the years. It’s also the one of the most unread magazines out there, gracing coffee tables across the world in artistic tsundokus. For the…
The Mapping Problem

May 20, 2019

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6–8 minutes

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2 comments on The Mapping Problem

Issue 2 of my newsletter – subscribe here There’s the book I’d like to write. And there’s the book I ought to write. Last year, someone from Samsung’s strategy team asked to talk to me about whether “gamification” could be a possible use (if not a killer app) for a hypothetical augmented reality heads-up display. I…
The Cultures Ep 295: Alternis

May 19, 2019

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1–2 minutes

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Listen to episode 295 of my weekly podcast with Andrea Phillips and Naomi Alderman: Alternis on Serial Box “A Taste of Armageddon” (the Star Trek ep Adrian was talking about) Memories of the Alhambra Note: No Naomi this ep
Wandering Through Designed Storytelling Environments (aka Exhibitions)

May 16, 2019

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8–12 minutes

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Issue 1 of my newsletter – subscribe here I have friends who can’t imagine a worse punishment than visiting Disneyworld or sailing on a cruise. These lifeless environments are smeared with the fingerprints of designers desperate to part you with your money, whereas – I imagine them saying – nature demands no payment. And I get…
The Cultures Ep 294: Airpods, Apologies, Ending Stories, Teaching Programming

May 12, 2019

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1–2 minutes

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Listen to episode 294 of my weekly podcast with Andrea Phillips and Naomi Alderman: OK, so it’s just Adrian this episode – due to life happenings, it’s been difficult for us to all get together these past few weeks and so rather than leave you hanging, we thought we should post at least something to tide you over. He’s…
Yes, I’m Starting a Newsletter

May 9, 2019

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1–2 minutes

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I’m starting a weekly(ish) email newsletter called Ultra Magic. Don’t like newsletters? That’s OK, everything I write in the newsletter will appear on this blog, so if you use an RSS reader to follow this blog (or you just type in the URL, like a savage), I salute you and I promise it’ll keep working.…