A new video from Le dessous des images discusses “micro-dramas,” short (1-2 minute) soap opera-style videos made for and shown on platforms such as Reelshorts. Webtoons also came to my mind; their monetization and distribution—short, cliffhanger-filled chapters, some locked unless paid for—are similar.
Years ago, I dropped Spotify due to the increasing number of playlists, like those for jazz, featuring little-known artists with single-track covers of popular songs. It was obvious to me that Spotify populated the playlists with songs as a way to reduce royalty payments to artists. This process, internally known as the “Perfect Fit Content program,” is the subject of a recent Harper’s Magazine article by Liz Pelly. This excerpt from her article perfectly captures how the process is changing our relationship with music.
A model in which the imperative is simply to keep listeners around, whether they’re paying attention or not, distorts our very understanding of music’s purpose. This treatment of music as nothing but background sounds—as interchangeable tracks of generic, vibe-tagged playlist fodder—is at the heart of how music has been devalued in the streaming era. It is in the financial interest of streaming services to discourage a critical audio culture among users, to continue eroding connections between artists and listeners, so as to more easily slip discounted stock music through the cracks, improving their profit margins in the process. It’s not hard to imagine a future in which the continued fraying of these connections erodes the role of the artist altogether, laying the groundwork for users to accept music made using generative-AI software.
In Gimpo, a Starbucks opened in the South Korean border observatory, close to where I live. #NotTheOnion
The South Korean city of Gimpo said hosting Starbucks was part of efforts to develop its border facilities as a tourist destination and said the shop symbolizes “robust security on the Korean Peninsula through the presence of this iconic capitalist brand.”
A mountain town in the Italian Alps, surrounded by steep mountains that obscure sunlight, erected a large mirror in 2006 to track the sun’s trajectory and bounce sunlight into the town square. The mayor, in an interview quoted in this Vice article, explained the project’s humanistic aims superseded its scientific foundation:
Although created to solve a very practical problem, the project has an almost poetic side to it too. “The idea behind the project doesn’t have a scientific basis, but a human one,” former mayor Midali said in a 2008 interview. “It comes from a desire to let people socialise in winter when the town shuts down due to the cold and the dark.”
You can also watch a video (in Italian) of the mirror’s inauguration here.
While living in northern Italy, I was impressed by the value, quality, and dependability of the rail service. For example, my ride on the high-speed Italo train from Bologna to Rome was one of the best train journeys I’ve ever had. An article in Railway Technology highlights the surprising success of private railway companies and the introduction of high-speed rail services like Italo.
Despite Italo shifting Trenitalia’s 100% market cap […] Trenitalia actually saw an increase in revenue during that period. High-speed rail was, and is, competing with low-cost flights, and despite the shift in market cap between the two train operators, they were actually winning more passengers from air to rail overall than from one another. […] The growth of both Italo and Trenitalia is also thanks to the fact that Italo’s growth was due to induced demand: if you build it, they will come. Or, you could say that the market for low-cost high-speed rail didn’t exist until Italo created it.
ARTE’s Le dessous des images released a video about the CrowdStrike-related IT outages in July 2024. This video traces the history of the “blue screens of death” in Windows and explores how it relates to larger themes present in speculative fiction.
An article in the Korea Herald I read today discussed the use of funeral wreaths as a protest metho in South Korea. These wreaths, traditionally used for funerals, are now being sent with messages to convey dissatisfaction.
One recent example of this is K-Pop fans who protested against a dispute between artists and their management company.
In reaction, some fans sent funeral wreaths to the agency’s headquarters in Seoul with messages such as “Hong Seunghan Out,” “Remove Hong Seunghan,” and “Riize is Forever Six” to protest his return.
In an article at The MIT Press Reader, Prof. Robert Hassan argues that Friedrich Nietzsche’s use of the Malling-Hansen writing ball may have influenced his philosophical work, boosting his productivity and altering his writing style and analytical depth.
Typing transformed Nietzsche’s consciousness — it affected how he thought about and expressed the world as he understood it. The literary scholar Walter Ong has said that writing as a technology was not simply an exterior aid but an “interior transformation of consciousness” […] The typewriter, with its capacities and its limits, its opportunities, and its curtailments, restructured his consciousness and therefore reorganized his philosophical and creative expression.
In their decision to abandon reunification, North Korea is eliminating all symbols that represented a unified Korean peninsula. I found that some of these logos, including Air Koryo’s, were actually quite beautiful. Their national air carrier logo featured a flying crane with wings shaped like the Korean Peninsula. To learn more, check out the following article from NK News.
North Korea’s national carrier Air Koryo has changed its logo to comply with a new state policy opposing unification with South Korea, according to NK News analysis. The former logo featured a flying crane with an outstretched wing in the loose shape of the Korean Peninsula. But the peninsula shape has now been replaced with a more tapered wing with stylized horizontal stripes.
The presence of pet dogs and strollers for small dogs is highly noticeable in South Korea, including where I live. A recent article from Korea JoongAng Daily suggests that the increase in dog strollers might also be due to changes in policies at shops and venues, which now require dogs to be in strollers for entry.
In Korea, more venues require pets to be kept in carriers or strollers when indoors. This trend has led to a rise in dog strollers as a necessity for pet owners who wish to bring their furry companions along when they go out. […] The Hyundai Seoul department store in Yeouido also offers dog stroller rentals. The store allows pets in strollers or carriers in most areas, except for food sections. Hyundai Department Store has adopted similar policies across its branches, catering to pet owners by permitting indoor access for pets in designated strollers or bags.