poddus


hi! it's me. welcome. i've spent a lot of time on the internet. i remember a time when it was just a couple of forums, travel blogs, a chat room or two. you know, walkman, ipod, sms, aol instant messenger. i miss those days. things have gotten so much more unwieldy, complicated, and abusive, manipulative, and authoritarian. so here is my rather anachronistic tribute to a better time.

cheers,
poddus


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2024-11-30

Social Media

Social Media is something I've spent quite a lot of time thinking about, but I've never been able to (or spent the time to) express my distaste in any comprehensive way. Thankfully there are many much more eloquent people on the internet that have recently done exactly this.

The first one I'd like to share is from the illustrious Hank Green of Nerdfighter and vlogbrothers fame (among other divers projects). It offers a more general, historically embedded view of social media.

Populism, Media Revolutions, and Our Terrible Moment - vlogbrothers (link to Youtube)

The second one from tantacrul goes in to (a lot) more detail on facebook specifically. However I think many of the points made apply to social media more generally.

What Facebook Has Done To Us - Tantacrul (link to Youtube)

Consider this an explanation by proxy for whatever this website even is :)


2024-06-03

every now and then I come across a song that connects the world in such beautiful ways that it blows my mind. yesterday was such a day.

labi siffre was an openly gay black singer-songwriter in london in the 70s. he's still alive today. i got that from wikipedia. in truth i had no idea who labi siffre was before stumbling upon this song

Bless the Telephone - Labi Siffre (link to Spotify)

it sounded strangely familiar and that bugged me for quite a while. I originally thought that bonobo might have sampled it, but I couldn't find the song. then it finally hit me: RJD2!

Making Days Longer - RJD2 (link to Spotify)

"making days longer" is a weird, microrhythmic, more or less direct cover of siffre's piece. but that's not all! a quick search on whosampled and it turns out bonobo did actually sample it as well!

Tell Me How You Feel - Bonobo / John Kennedy (link to Spotify)

well, specifically it's a remix of jon kennedy. anyway, recognize the sample? it's at 1:10 in the original song.

and if that wasn't enough, you know the band madness? "our house, in the middle of our street"? well guess what, one of their other famous songs "it must be love" is (you guess it) a cover of labi siffre!

i just love when a seemingly obscure artist or song turns out to have such a wide impact. makes me feel better about whatever the hell it is that i'm doing with my life. you never know, something seemingly insignificant that you may do today could have huge implications down the line that you could never have predicted. so let's be good to each other and make those impacts good ones. dftba


2024-06-01

i like this video. i like to think that i'm a pretty disciplined person and there's a part in the video that really hit me

if your discipline makes it impossible for you to be what the people around you [...] need, then your discipline has become entirely self-serving
— Scott Wadsworth, "Essential Craftsman"

if you're even just marginally interested in construction, give the channel a look.

and keep up the good work :)


Self-Discipline: How I Manage & Why I (Mostly) Hate It - Essential Craftsman (link to Youtube)

2023-05-31