[SIC] 228: Drukqs Reference

Volume 5 Number 20

Jan 13, 2023

Meantime, enjoy. Feel free to share, too. Here’s a button:

Corollary sources this week (all worth your review):

Hi all,

As most of you learned seven days ago, I was at CES last week. I never did fix the typos in the last free post, but that didn’t stop it from being the second most-read I’ve ever sent out, a fact I attribute mainly to the song/drug reference in the title (s/o Pulp). So I figured I’d take the same tack this week with this week’s title (s/o Aphex Twin). Har.

That being said, my (serious) joke in Vegas last week was that the technology story of 2023 was mushrooms; I heard more people talking about their (often new) relationship with psilocybin more than their impressions of AI, or the new auto industry, or even balloons to the edge of space (s/o [SIC] homies Hosi and Kim).

It was legitimately interesting: rather than tech, it was a plant-based biohack that everyone on the show floor and at the attendant parties wanted to talk about: from adtech founders to on-camera journalists (and everyone else). To say nothing of corollary stories like this “could mushrooms be the drug to finally cure eating disorders?” article in The Cut.

For me, the takeaways were a) stay listening b) the counternarrative’s gravity is often stronger than the prevailing narrative’s, and c) psilocybin is the next ‘green wave’ - so mind your investment timing, if you know what I mean. Thanks to everybody I saw in Vegas for the great vibes, meantime - and thanks to Celeste, Iolanda, Kevin, Paul, Sami, Jason, Rob, David and Josh for contributions this week. And, welcome everyone from Sunday Dinner who joined the distro. Glad to have you here.

Ben

It’s called “technology,” guys.

======[SIC] 228: Drukqs Reference======

Zeitgest / Gestalt

A fun investigation of how the platty joobs gave everyone a menty b before the cozzie livs hit / Dazed
But Is monogamy dead?! / i-D
And is Body Horror the New Intimacy? While sex is clearly in its cultural flop era, intimacy with ourselves and with others is being deftly portrayed in body horrors / Hyperallergic
Welcome to the live shopping era/ Elle
The hottest Gen Z Gadget is a 20 year old digital camera/ NYT
Related? Highlights from this year's Consumer Electronics Show / CNET
To say nothing of All the New Tiny Transports from CES / The Micromobility Report
Logical because for Gen Z, the Future of Corporate Activism Is Local First, Global Second / Morning Consult
Also roadworthy, from Paul Munford in reply to Sunday’s link Must we Gentrify the rest stop : “Re: gentrifying the rest stop. UK started it 50 years ago. Can attest to Tebay being absolutely legit ;) “/ The Guardian
Beyond the streets, Sony has unveiled a demo of its collaboration with the English football club, Manchester City, to build a metaverse offering centered around watching soccer / The Verge
Meanwhile, a Top AI conference bans the use of AI to write papers for the conference / The Verge
Elsewhere, LinkedIn is having a moment thanks to a wave of layoffs / CNN
From Sami Promisloff: “homie of mine compiled all the trend reports for 2023 / Space Cadet
And a build from Iolanda Carvalho: “If you want a ready to use version, I also have this, ahahahah” / Google
Here’s a trend: the hippest apartments in Japan have no baths. Young renters are flocking to public facilities to cut expenses and socialize / Asia Nikkei
And another: Creators are being cringe on purpose. Another tough watch, thanks. / Embedded
Also tough: from clothes to tech, why is everything so poorly made? How the cult of consumerism ushered in an era of badly made products / Vox
From Celeste Blewitt: “The perspective of philanthropy in this piece is intriguing. Giving insight into how and why the tech billionaires give is certainly enlightening.” 'Crypto's Credo: Effective Altruism After Sam Bankman-Fried' / Town & Country
AKA? Ice bath business meetings are now a thing / Inside Hook
Though at least the Green Jobs Boom Is Benefiting the People Who Need It Most / Reasons To Be Cheerful
Separately, from Jason Leavy: “Scott Belsky, the founder of Behance, has launched Implications, a newsletter that explores the spectrum of what to expect from the latest advances in tech, shifts in culture etc, and he's kicked it off with a free forecast and analysis piece that feels a world away from the standard 'lazy' 2023 prediction articles. So much to unpack here.
AKA: These are the top 10 most profitable side hustles in 2023/ Bloomberg
Also from Jason, tho: “at the risk of adding to the doom and gloom... [The Year that Podcasting Died]” / Nick Hilton
Also dead? The end of the high school essay/ Seth Godin
Young, Educated American Men 'Quiet Quit' Jobs the Most During Covid / Bloomberg
Tom's One Hour Photo The retro world of Tom Tuong / Desire Paths
The ‘shocking’ shift in brand loyalty drivers. highlights the primacy of emotion-based purchases in the post-pandemic marketplace. Factors which drive brand loyalty have shifted across a stunning 91% of the 110 brand categories/ The Drum
Less shocking: three-Quarters of Teenagers Have Seen Online Pornography by Age 17 / NYT
And "-ussy" Was the 2022 Word of the Year, According to a Bunch of Linguists / Them
Hence? how Tiktok Influencers are helping companies recruit new workers, LinkedIn who? / NBCNews

World Order

From Rob Hubbert: Discovered this during that no man’s land between Xmas and NY - Adam Curtis documentary on fall of the Soviet Union and rise of Putin / YT
Related: I was not expecting this: Peter Zeihan on Joe Rogan. Listen. / YT
Corollary: “As Asian Societies Age, ‘Retirement’ Just Means More Work” / NYT
Hence? Chinese investors are buying their way into Irish residency at astonishing rates / FT
Apropos of Zeihan’s read on China: ‘Simplified Life’, Self Care and Hyper-Localization Among China’s Top Lifestyle Trends For 2023 / Jing Daily
Hari Kunzru in Harper’s on how the techno-libertarian dream of societal exit soured from its mid-nineties Wired optimism to today’s Thiel-funded populist accelerationism / Harper’s
Hence, next month a robot will advise a defendant in US court for the first time in history / New Scientist
Not so faux: How the ‘fake’ fur industry is secretly selling you real fur / Grid News
Well, at least Goldman Sachs is no longer predicting a recession for the euro zone?! / Quartz
Audubon’s ‘Birds of America,’ Updated for Our Polluted World. Artist John LaMacchia seamlessly integrates human trash into detailed bird portraits that mimic Audubon’s watercolors / Hyperallergic
You animals! If a hamster wheel is left in the forest, creatures will just start using it. Wild mice love taking a spin, as do slugs and frogs / Royal Society Publishing
US officials have granted conditional approval to a vaccine meant to protect honeybees against a fatal bacteria known to jump easily between hives, wiping out entire colonies as it spreads. It is the first time a vaccine for insects has been approved in the US / BBC
Cougars are moving back east. Their return could mean healthier forests and safer roads / NYT
And Earth’s ozone layer is slowly healing, a UN study said / UNEP

The Speculative Future

From Iolanda Carvalho: Prediction Consensus: What the Experts See Coming in 2023 / Visual Capitalist
From David Bloom: Microsoft’s new AI can simulate anyone’s voice with 3 seconds of audio. Text-to-speech model can preserve speaker's emotional tone and acoustic environment /Ars Technica
'Consciousness' in Robots Was Once Taboo. Now It's the Last Word / NYT
Artificial intelligence and the circular economy will dictate design in 2023 / Dezeen
Generative AI experts predict that 90% of content could be at least partially AI-generated by 2025/ Hollywood Reporter
Ergo: How content teams can protect themselves from ChatGPT / The Drum
Corollary: what ChatGPT can do for independent music / Midia Research
Meanwhile, a new baby monitor, the Q-bear, can tell you why your baby is crying with AI. / QBaby
Also ‘babies’: Marketing agency enlists AI "interns”. Instead of hiring human interns, Codeword — a tech-marketing agency within WE Communications — is leaning on artificial intelligence technology to complete menial yet necessary tasks / Axios
How to Build Better Work Environments for New Creatives / Creative Review
Blockchain Will Transform The Future Of Luxury / Jing Daily
BMW launches concept car that changes colours /Dezeen
How Should We Think About Our Different Styles of Thinking? / The New Yorker
The trajectory for how much themetaverse will make by 2030 is truly out of this world- we're talking five trillion / Cointelegraph

Pop Cultures

And yet, the Buy Now, Pay Later Bubble Is About to Burst. Many Gen Zers have rejected traditional credit in favor of new-age layaway programs, which are riskier than they may seem / The Atlantic
While boomer Francis Ford Coppola says: No Truth To Apocalypse On 'Megalopolis' / Deadline
Meanwhile The 2023 Golden Globes Was the Year’s First Menswear Vibe Check / GQ
An artist was banned from a popular Reddit art community based on accusations that his work looked too much like AI-generated art / Hyperallergic
Sexy, lurid and satirical: [SIC] homie Elizabeth Renstrom’s rose-tinted photography hides a deeper meaning / It’s Nice That
Black Panthers, punks and brutalist buildings: a micro-publisher exploring Britain’s lost past / The Guardian
Kendrick Lamar’s New Chapter: Raw, Intimate and Unconstrained In partnership with his longtime collaborator, Dave Free, the greatest rapper of his generation is pushing himself — commercially and creatively — onto unexpected terrain / NYT
Corollary: TikTok and the Tumblr Music Aesthetic / Chart Metric
Lizzo Says Body-Shaming Comments on Social Media Should Cost Money / Allure
While [SIC] fave agency Digital Counsel talks to author Allie Rowbottom / Live Links
While blasting BabyLeg’s Spicy Ice Cream playlist mix?! /Spotify
Says Adam DeVine: 'We Are Deeply Butt Hurt'. 'Workaholics' Movie Axed at Paramount+ Weeks Before Filming / The Wrap
The New Face Of The Stem Player Is Ghostface / Cabbages
Is the art world changing? / Monocle on Culture Podcast
Eight New Art Spaces to Visit in Brooklyn. From a Williamsburg basement to a Bed-Stuy living room and a project space in Gowanus /Hyperallergic
“Man on the street” TikTokers are a public menace / Gawker
The Eccentric Art of Power Dressing: what’s beyond ‘the look’ is more important than ever / Frieze
The music industry has a long tail problem/ Music Business Worldwide
New York is dotty about Yayoi Kusama robot at Louis Vuitton / The Art Newspaper
Meanwhile [SIC] homie KidSuper seems to have gotten the nod to succeed Virgil? / Hypebeast
How Marvel Comics Captured a Generation of Investors: New communication methods developed by Marvel helped the company expand its investor base and make a splash on Wall Street / Equity Animal
How Has the Supply Chain Crisis Affected Artists? / Hyperallergic

Media Happenings

The People vs Algorithms gang debates the ‘death of the link’ / Apple
Vice Media is ready to sell ads on Twitch hoping to convince advertisers that its Twitch content is worth buying?! / Digiday
While TikTok is testing a 'sleep reminders' feature that nudges you when it's bedtime / TechCrunch
Related: TikTok will soon beat YouTube in viewing time / eMarketer
Tho TikTok's monetization is "absolute garbage" / Passion Fruit
Still, TikTok undercuts social media rivals with cheap ads in battle for growth / FT
Corollary: Meta will no longer allow advertisers to target teenage Facebook and Instagram users based on their gender or user activity. Advertisers on Meta's platforms will only be able to direct ads to teenage users merely based on age and location / WSJ
Speaking of big numbers: Steam hits 10 million concurrent in-game players/ The Verge
Litquidity launched Litney Partners as it expands into Wall Street recruitment / Bloomberg

Market-ations

From David Bloom: “So, this will enrage many fans of great audiobook narrators, but will also simplify the process of expanding access to books to many more kinds of works.. So, win some, lose some. [Death of the narrator? Apple unveils suite of AI-voiced audiobooks]” / The Guardian
OpenAI has been looking for ways to monetize ChatGPT and today we learned how it is going to do that. The company is now piloting a premium version called “ChatGPT Professional.” / TechCrunch
From ‘Celeste Blewitt: [TikTok To License IMDb Data for Feature And Tv Content] /The Hollywood Reporter
How Marketers Are Spending Their Budgets in 2023/ BoF
AKA: how Tito's Handmade Vodka is tapping into Dry January / Digiday
Mastercard announces new 'Artist Accelerator' web3 music program/ The Drum
While Patagonia releases The Yin & Yang of Gerry Lopez: a documentary / LinkedIn
Uniqlo owner to raise wages in Japan by 40% as inflation climbs / FT
Nespresso Collaborates With Angel Chen For Year of the Rabbit collection / Jing Daily
Canada Goose is working with influencers and emphasizing sustainability / AdAge
While virtual try-on technology glams up the beauty industry/ The Future Party

Superficial Interest

From Kevin Johannesen: “This NYT article has a little of everything for your bingo card:
- Needle park to skate park trope.
- Back to the future reference.
- Someone trying to undermine Palace's swag by outfitting / photographing a rollerblader in their gear
  No notes.... “/ NYT
Where the Amish Go on Vacation. “Earrings, usually forbidden, can be seen glittering from beneath white bonnets. Swimming is allowed; volleyball and shuffleboard are encouraged; ice-cream cones are a nightly ritual” / The New Yorker
Unrelated to Rumspringa: Four new urine analysis technologies have everyone thinking that perhaps they’re in for a trend / Engadget
From Iolanda Carvalho: “Really cool one! "The in-between is the scene, the place to be seen, the source of scenius, that collective form of genius named by Brian Eno." / WARC
Five typography trends set to make waves in 2023 / It’s Nice That
The art of Japanese portable record players / In Sheeps Clothing
From Josh Gardiner: “Haven't shared much of late but I thought this was quite a good list of good interviews (though it feels hard to find the time to get into them all)” / LinkedIn

Food / Drink

Another from Josh: We’re paying more for a pint / Semafor
Also from Josh: You will have seen too, no more Noma — with inflation and recessions and climate considerations... a return to more modest eating for all of us?
Wait, actually, Noma is just shutting down regular service to become a full-time “food laboratory” / Quartz
Notable because Decreasing food waste helps the planet / The Carbon Almanac
Also unsustainable: the whole Olive Oil situation. Stock up now / WITI
Related: the top restaurant trends of 2023 / The Future Party
Outside the restaurant: crowdfarming: Farmers are turning to direct-to-consumer sales to cut out the middleman and get more money for their products / The Guardian
From Celeste Blewitt: “A great piece into human behaviour of food, comfort and eating. As it's summer here, the smells of bbqs and evenings outdoors are floating through the air every evening and it always brings on moments of comfort and nostalgia [Why Not All Comfort Food Is The Same]” / BBC
Apropos: Deep fried blooming artichoke / YT
Where — and how — to make the best of artichoke season in Rome /FT
Also: The Murky, Salty Mystery of Worcestershire Sauce / Epicurious

Useful Diversions

Listen: via SF/J:
- “To commemorate the 13th anniversary of Artificial Intelligence, the album that simultaneously launched Warp Records as a real concern and Autechre as an outfit with their own sound, the fellas Sean and Rob have made this mix, which the nerds have already provided a track listing for. It is the sound of 1992, and good god is it fun. It is not really head-scratching electronique bingue bongue. This is straight up dance music.”
- Aimé Leon Dore tells us what’s on in the shop this month: 214 MULBERRY VOL. 8 - LISTEN HERE / ALD

Do:

- [SIC] Talks Alum Joy Howard’s The Early Majority pops up at the Another Tomorrow Trunk Show at Channel Gardens, Rockefeller Center - Tuesday, January 17, 4-8pm. Here’s a Google Calendar Link
- The Forever Imperfect Party, tomorrow, Jan 13th at Baby’s All Right / Perfectly Imperfect
  HA-KA-SAN! HA-KA-SAN!