International icebreaker
I am not even twelve hours into the Italy trip and it is clear that the iPhone may be the surprise social lubricant of the journey. People are unabashed about asking about it, wanting to hold it, play with it. And I am of course obliging.
The great thing is that being wowed by the iPhone has nothing to do with language. It is visual and tactile and immediate. An Italian at O’Hare and an Indian in Milan (where I am now) were flicking through my kids’ photos in no time flat. A great conversation-starter.
For what it’s worth, the phone works great over here and EDGE isn’t too bad either.
Hi, I’m John Tolva!
Views From The Tank
Clowns at the circus
Gravid With Decay
Short recommendations, reviews, and cautionary tales about horror in fiction (mostly movies). Read through the archives and subscribe here.
Marginalia
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AI neologisms. Could just link #termsfromtoday to this and never manually post again.
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Science fiction becomes reality for fossil literature.
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So much worse than the passive voice.
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AI-generated imagery in the service of mythopoeic storytelling on a small town scale. (Follow via Instagram.)
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"Dark magic box": The unique design opportunity of designing a marine ecosystem experience for visitors.
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"A book with feedback"
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Matt Kirschenbaum writes his own words about the "ongoing planetary spam event."
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Meaning isn't 100% transitive.
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A one-shot music video performed using only the reel-to-reel tape recorders.
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Just because it was inevitable doesn't mean it isn't glorious.