Mostly, I Write

Ma insomma, questo nuovo "design language" di Apple, il Liquid Glass, piace oppure no? I primi pionieri sono presi bene, a quanto pare. Money quote: "The idea seems to be that because they're "floating" a layer over things like your lockscreen wallpaper or text, the "glass" can be translucent to give you a sense of what's under them. It makes sense. The initial implementation in the iOS 26 developer beta has many of Apple's signature flourishes and attention to detail. But boy are the changes jarring when you first see them." https://www.theverge.com/apple/683914/apple-iphone-ios-26-changes-liquid-glass

Letture per la domenica. Dobbiamo studiare il progresso per capire come fare a farlo meglio. O di più, che negli Usa temo sia considerata la stessa cosa. Money quote: "Looking backwards, it’s striking how unevenly distributed progress has been in the past. In antiquity, the ancient Greeks were discoverers of everything from the arch bridge to the spherical earth. By 1100, the successful pursuit of new knowledge was probably most concentrated in parts of China and the Middle East. Along the cultural dimension, the artists of Renaissance Florence enriched the heritage of all humankind, and in the process created the masterworks that are still the lifeblood of the local economy. The late 18th and early 19th century saw a burst of progress in Northern England, with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. In each case, the discoveries that came to elevate standards of living for everyone arose in comparatively tiny geographic pockets of innovative effort. Present-day instances include places like Silicon Valley in software and Switzerland’s Basel region in life sciences." https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/we-need-new-science-progress/594946/

La nuova Mostly Weekly numero 329 è pronta: Boeing in picchiata, sogni antichissimi e ciao Brian Wilson. Una lettura piena di spunti per chi ama farsi domande senza prendersi mai troppo sul serio (ChatGPT dixit) https://antoniodini.com/weekly/329/

Uno strano articolo che prende sul serio gli origami (e perché non dovremmo?) spiegando come hanno cambiato e stanno continuando a cambiare il mondo. Money quote: "The art form didn’t stop at paper. As early as 1529, high courts of Europe folded linen and other fabrics for decoration. Today, the art of origami inspires advancements in fields like architecture, medicine, biology, and robotics. Some modern-day inventions that are in debt to origami engineering are the ability for rapid rebuilding of structures following natural disasters; and for creating a small, flexible tool that attaches to laparoscopes and endoscopes that can quickly expand and contract so that surgeons can clean the scope without having to remove it from the surgical site." https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/the-history-of-towel-art Supplemento: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/origami-driving-futuristic-technologies-feature

Lo stato dell'arte: c'è un coso nello spazio che fa cose, e ce ne siamo accorti cosando per caso. Money quote: "Located 15,000 light-years away in a region of the Milky Way brimming with stars, gas and dust, this object could be a highly magnetized dead star like a neutron or white dwarf, Curtin University’s Ziteng Andy Wang said in an email from Australia. Or it could be “something exotic” and unknown, said Wang, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature." https://apnews.com/article/strange-celestial-object-milky-way-7c119d11d37b2b5b0fa254154b4aba8e

I film migliori (negli Usa) per la Gen X. Anni Ottanta, un periodo storico in cui l'impatto dell'America sulla nostra cultura è stato enorme (musica, libri, film). Scorrendo questa lista ve ne renderete conto. Money quote: "The big screen often reflects the society of its time, something that’s certainly true for these Gen X gems. They’re blockbuster comedies that propelled young actors to superstardom, hang-out comedies that questioned the value of success, cyber thrillers that started fictional world wars, and queer rom-coms that skewered binary norms. They spanned a decade, guiding audiences out of the fog of hairspray and neon that was the 1980s, ushering them into the grunge rebellion of the 1990s via Jane Austen adaptations and Cameron Crowe-directed coming-of-age films. While the best movies often cross generational divides, it’s always good to remember one’s roots. In that spirit, here are 15 of the best Gen X movies (listed in chronological order) that captured a groundbreaking era—not just for cinema, but for the culture at large. " https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-15-best-gen-x-movies-of-all-time

Che peccato. R.I.P. William Langewiesche, lo 'Steve McQueen del giornalismo,' scomparso per un tumore a 70 anni. Money quote: ""I just talk to people and listen carefully and respond to what they're saying and try to give of myself as much as I'm asking them to give of themselves, so that a true conversation can develop," he said. "These conversations typically will go on for weeks, on and off. Sometimes I take notes." The real work, he said, came later when he sat down to write. "Writing is thinking; writing is a form of thought," he said. "It's difficult for me to believe that real thought is possible without writing."" https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/business/media/william-langewiesche-dead.html Archivio: https://archive.is/W36xw

A me sta cosa del poliamore un po' mi sta saturando, però. Non c'è niente di nuovo se non che se ne accorgono quelli giovani adesso, come gli altri hanno fatto prima di loro (e poi faranno dopo di loro). Ma sai la novità. Money quote: "I’m not currently interested in ethical non-monogamy. I see things in our relationship that I’d like to work on together with my husband. I want more of his attention and energy, to be frank. I don’t want his attention and energy being funneled into another relationship. I don’t have moral issues with ethical non-monogamy, I just don’t actually see any value-add for me right now. The cost-benefit analysis leaves me saying “not now.” My husband admitted that he’s hoping I will have a change of mind. I don’t want to force his hand, although I am continuing to say very clearly what I want in my relationship. How do we reach a compromise? If he cuts ties with this woman, he has resentment towards me. If he continues to pursue something with her, I feel disrespected, and while I don’t want to leave him I would feel the need to do something." https://www.vox.com/politics/414049/reading-books-decline-tiktok-oral-culture Archivio: https://archive.is/rlG9c

Poi a un certo punto arriverà uno che spiegherà tutto in maniera logica e chiara, e ci daremo una botta sulla fronte con il palmo della mano e diremo in coro "Ma certo, ovvio che fosse così!". Per adesso, invece, si brancola ripetendo i soliti discorsi da almeno tre anni. Money quote: "But when a text is written or generated by a large language model like ChatGPT, Claude or DeepSeek, the view of the author becomes clouded. Technically speaking, an algorithm wrote the text, but a human had to prompt the algorithm. So who or what is the author? Is it the algorithm, or the human, or a joint venture involving both? Why does it even matter?" https://www.noemamag.com/ai-signals-the-death-of-the-author/

Letture per la domanica (doppio senso) La riscoperta delle vecchie tecnologie da parte di chi scrive romanzi, e le usa come ambientazione. Money quote: "This juxtaposition—tech-savvy teen, antiquated technology—may seem unusual, but it’s actually become quite common in fiction. In the 2020s, Mark Athitakis writes in an Atlantic article this week, “vintage media have emerged as tactile objects that symbolize integrity, solve the crime, and radiate realness.” Airey’s novel is just one of a number of stories that seek some kind of lost meaning in the reels, discs, and cartridges that were ubiquitous before the turn of the 21st century. Athitakis points to the popularity of Stranger Things as a catalyst for this trope, but I imagine it also reflects a more personal longing. Lyca’s quest isn’t only about investigating her familial roots. It’s the story of a person who’s never lived without the internet in their pocket envisioning a lost past—and learning what life was like when their parents were young." https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2025/01/books-briefing-contemporary-fiction-analog-tech-confessions-catherine-airey/681528/ Archivio: https://archive.is/ZoU4l

Wall Street non era profetico, era solo ben pettinato. Nell’ultimo Mostly Weekly: Gekko, tastiere perdute, bambini tristi, e la morte dell’autore. Da leggere con lo zampirone acceso. https://antoniodini.com/weekly/328/

Un fantastico articolo di consigli per i viaggi, che in realtà altro non è che uno strumento per far comprare cose online con i referral, dal tema squisitamente nazionalistico oltre che vacanziero: 15 cose da non mettere mai in un bagaglio a mano per andare in Europa, e un americano che vive all'estero cosa dice di portare al loro posto. Money quote: "A backpack works great for air travel, but nothing competes with the security and ease of navigating a European city with a crossbody. This anti-theft version from Travelon, on sale when you apply the on-site coupon, holds everything you need to keep handy (i.e., passports, credit cards, medicines, etc.) and has an RFID-blocking card slot and interlocking zipper pulls to make it nearly impossible to break into." https://www.travelandleisure.com/europe-carry-on-spring-travel-essentials-expert-picks-11694173

E voi, siete superstiziosi? Money quote: "Il manga, pubblicato per la prima volta in Giappone nel 1999 e uscito in una nuova edizione nel 2021 (in Italia invece è inedito), si fece poi notare per avere predetto il terremoto e lo tsunami del 2011. Nella sua nuova edizione, Tatsuki anticipa invece un gigantesco tsunami causato da una frattura sismica sottomarina tra Giappone e Filippine, che potrebbe avvenire proprio fra poche settimane. La copertina del volume recita infatti: «Il vero disastro arriverà nel luglio 2025». La previsione ha generato attenzione e preoccupazione sui social, portando a un’ondata di cancellazioni di viaggi verso il Giappone. Le prenotazioni provenienti da Hong Kong sono diminuite per esempio del 50% rispetto all’anno scorso, con picchi dell’83% in prossimità della data prevista. Alcune compagnie aeree, come Greater Bay Airlines e Hong Kong Airlines, hanno ridotto o sospeso i voli verso il Giappone. Anche un’esperta della pseudoscienza nota come feng shui ha affermato che, secondo i propri studi, un grande terremoto potrebbe colpire il Giappone tra i mesi di giugno e agosto." https://fumettologica.it/2025/05/turismo-giappone-calo-manga-ryo-tatsuki/

La profezia di Frank Herbert - un altro articolone del vostro giovane autore preferito, ovviamente su Fumettologica https://fumettologica.it/2025/06/frank-herbert-dune-intelligenza-artificiale/

La fortuna esiste? E soprattutto, è possibile studiarla? Money quote "In 2020, a professor at the University of Iowa named Michael Sauder noticed that one subject was tacitly off-limits in sociology. No matter how hard you looked, the literature was curiously silent about luck. There was an exception, he found, that seemed to prove the rule. Some 50 years earlier, a team of Harvard sociologists had published a lightning rod of an academic tome called Inequality. Access to good schools was important, its authors argued, but education alone couldn’t close the country’s divides; to do that, your best bet was to redistribute income." https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/is-luck-real-meaning-philosopher-lee-john-whittington.html Archivio: https://archive.is/7IFeu

Fatto non foste per vivere come bestie Money quote: "Eric Baratay est historien et spécialiste de l’histoire de l’animal. Le professeur à Lyon-III vient de sortir Une histoire animale du monde (Tallandier, 352 pages, 22,90 euros). Il s’intéresse à l’histoire du vécu, des émotions et des désirs de ces êtres vivants qui, pendant très longtemps, n’étaient considérés qu’à travers leurs interactions avec l’homme. Interrogé par Le Monde, il raconte l’histoire de ce regard anthropocentré, qui puise son origine dans la philosophie et la religion, et a perduré pendant des siècles" https://www.lemonde.fr/m-perso/article/2025/04/05/eric-baratay-historien-des-animaux-le-grand-tabou-pour-l-homme-est-de-tomber-au-niveau-des-betes_6591437_4497916.html

Partendo da un ragionamento alquanto complesso su interfacce e interazione fisica e creatività, questo articolo ci regala tuttavia una grafica web notevole, sia in termini di animazioni css che di immagini (meglio vederlo su un computer, non un telefono) Money quote "We've been successfully removing all friction from our apps — think about how effortless it is to scroll through a social feed. But is that what we want? Compare the feeling of doomscrolling to kneading dough, playing an instrument, sketching... these take effort, but they're also deeply satisfying. When you strip away too much friction, meaning and satisfaction go with it. Think about how you use physical tools. Drawing isn't just moving your hand—it's the feel of the pencil against paper, the tiny adjustments of pressure, the sound of graphite scratching. You shift your body to reach the other side of the canvas. You erase with your other hand. You step back to see the whole picture." https://wattenberger.com/thoughts/our-interfaces-have-lost-their-senses

C'erano due modi per gestire l'impatto dell'intelligenza artificiale con il mondo della scuola: fare qualcosa (anche sbagliato) e non fare niente. Indovinate quale strada stiamo scegliendo? Money quote: "Des enseignants racontent leurs tentatives pour intégrer cette nouvelle technologie dans leurs évaluations. Ici, un examen « ouvert » où les IA sont totalement autorisées, mais où les étudiants doivent rendre compte de leurs prompts. Là, une épreuve où les étudiants sont invités à évaluer la qualité d’une réponse générée par une IA en faisant appel à leurs connaissances… « L’idée est de plus en plus de faire de cette IA un objet pédagogique à part entière, de l’utiliser pour éveiller l’esprit critique des étudiants, dans des évaluations formatives et pas seulement sommatives », résume Pierre Beust, directeur du service d’appui à la pédagogie de l’université de Rennes, un établissement particulièrement avancé sur ces sujets." https://www.lemonde.fr/campus/article/2025/04/08/a-l-heure-des-ia-la-revolution-silencieuse-des-examens-la-question-n-est-plus-de-savoir-s-il-faut-s-opposer-mais-comment-on-va-vivre-avec_6592432_4401467.html Archivio: https://archive.is/OKewK

Un errore che alla fine potrebbe costare caro a Donald Trump è quello della retorica. Un po’ come la “rottamazione” di Renzi, per intendersi. Money quote: "Il faut donc réagir. Urgemment. Et c'est précisément ce à quoi le président s'emploie depuis quelques jours. On ne change pas une stratégie qui gagne. Or, la rhétorique de la fin des temps a été particulièrement importante dans la victoire du milliardaire à l'investiture suprême. A défaut de résultats et de victoires tangibles, Trump continue de répéter à qui veut l'entendre que les Etats-Unis sont entrés dans un nouvel âge d'or )-- ce mythe trouvant sa source, au sein du Nouveau Testament, dans le chapitre XX de l'Apocalypse de Jean, qui décrit le règne glorieux de Jésus et des saints ressuscités sur terre à la fin des temps." https://www.lemonde.fr/le-monde-des-religions/article/2025/06/08/la-rhetorique-messianique-de-donald-trump-risque-de-se-retourner-contre-lui-si-l-age-d-or-tarde-trop-a-advenir_6611151_6038514.html Archivio: https://archive.is/SSED9

Una strana lettura della domenica. Infatti è di un genere giornalistico a sé stante: testare in prima persona cose che in futuro potrebbero essere fondamentali per tutti. Ad esempio il sequenziamento del propri DNA per trovare malattie ereditarie e altre cose simili. Oppure un test del sangue per identificare microplastiche, come in questo caso. Tanta roba. Money quote: "Having microplastics in the human body does not sound good. To better understand why this isn’t good, I called up Heather Leslie. She’s a scientist who does consulting on environmental and health issues, and she’s an expert on blood-borne plastic specifically. In 2022 she led the research team that found microplastics in human blood for the first time. Microplastics were first observed in humans in 2018, when researchers at the Medical University of Vienna detected them in the digestive system. After that study came out, Leslie felt it was important to check the bloodstream. Finding plastic circulating there proved that it was actually absorbed by our bodies, rather than something that simply passed through us. Since then, microplastics have shot into our collective health consciousness—and knowing that we can absorb them has motivated some, myself included, to cut down on plastic use. I’ve filled my kitchen with Pyrex instead of Tupperware. I quit reusing Ziploc bags. I check clothing labels, looking for natural fibers." https://slate.com/technology/2025/05/microplastics-test-blood-brain-spoon-bryan-johnson.html