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Signals

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How Tech Outstayed Its Welcome
How Tech Outstayed Its Welcome
Last week, Apple opened pre-orders for the Vision Pro, a $3500 “spatial computer” that is its first real “new” thing since the Apple Watch, and arguably its most notable release since the iPad or iPhone. Ming-Chi Kuo, one of the few truly reliable Apple analysts, estimates that the Vision Pro
How Tech Outstayed Its Welcome
The Internet Is Full of AI Dogshit - Aftermath
The Internet Is Full of AI Dogshit - Aftermath
The Internet used to be so simple to use that people collectively coined the term “let me Google that for you” to make fun of people who had the audacity of asking other people questions online. In the future I fear that people will have no other choice but to ask people for information from the Internet, because right now it’s all full of AI dogshit.
The Internet Is Full of AI Dogshit - Aftermath
The Uncanny Valley
The Uncanny Valley
It has been a truly bizarre week. We’ve watched three banks die, and then a fourth bank almost died (Credit Suisse) before being scooped up by UBS for the rock-bottom price of $3.2bn. Credit Suisse’s fall from grace is especially remarkable given that it was
The Uncanny Valley
Greenland startup begins shipping glacier ice to cocktail bars in the UAE
Greenland startup begins shipping glacier ice to cocktail bars in the UAE
Arctic Ice argues its rare, pure product can be part of Greenland’s green transition and greater independence
“Helping Greenland in its green transition is actually what I believe I was brought into this world to do,” Rasmussen said. “We do have that agenda running through the company, but we may not have communicated it well enough yet.”
Greenland startup begins shipping glacier ice to cocktail bars in the UAE
Browsing the Eastern Side of the Personal Web
Browsing the Eastern Side of the Personal Web
Neocities users tend to link to only Neocities users and no one else. Despite many of its users being against walled gardens, it ironically became one itself.
Japanese Personal Web, or as they call it: creative/doujin sites.
I still find it interesting that there are still that many people overseas updating their sites for years despite social media existing
Something that I've noticed in general is that the personal sites over there tend to be very creations/product focused. That is, their sole purpose is to show off things that they've made, rather than embody some sort of persona.
Webrings or cliques over here usually have an admission system: you apply to be part of the ring, and if your site satisfies all of the requirements, then you're allowed in. You add the widget to your site, and the site of the webring/directory will link to all sites that are a part of it.
Since their culture handles criticism and feedback differently compared to those from the West, it's not surprising then that they're finding it hard to adapt to the Cancel Culture that is (unfortunately) heavily normalized over here. This is likely why many of these people, even in such a secluded place as a personal website, take extra precautions to make sure that they don't get negative attention, despite the fact that their sites are already hard enough to find as it is.
Browsing the Eastern Side of the Personal Web
Design Thinking Misses the Mark (SSIR)
Design Thinking Misses the Mark (SSIR)
Design thinking has failed to deliver on its promise to solve the world’s thorniest social challenges. Adopting a critical design stance can help designers serve communities, rather than their own methodology.
we explain why design thinking as typically practiced has not been able to create impactful and sustainable solutions to complex social issues. Instead, we call for a critical stance on design,
decontextualization also perpetuates the myth that design thinking is an objective and apolitical approach. Within this fiction, designers perceive themselves as impartial agents in design projects
When communities feel as if they’re being repeatedly asked to recount their experiences without witnessing the changes promised by the organizations that ask for their stories, participation becomes tokenizing, extractive, and triggering.
In the design-thinking process, the organization initiating the project and/or the professional designers working on it typically frame the problem at the beginning. However, external actors who do not experience the problem firsthand rely on assumptions to determine the accuracy, validity, and/or relative importance of the problem.
A critical design stance questions whether prioritizing novelty serves organizational priorities and designers’ freedom of creativity above community needs and desires. Impact does not necessarily require developing novel services or products but can result from leveraging resources to support communities’ initiatives—as the local government organization Southwark Council in London realized after working with the consultancy Engine Service Design in 2009. Engine collaborated with the council and citizens on solutions on issues related to health and the domestic environment. To the surprise of the Southwark team, who thought that residents would request new services or technology, several of the residents’ ideas relied on already-available community experts and resources. For instance, one idea proposed to use many of Southwark’s spaces and buildings for community-building activities like dinners and sports activities. Another recognized the presence of local food and health experts and recommended that these experts coach families on how to make healthy meals.
a critical design stance might ask whether scaling should be equated with increasing the number of beneficiaries. Could it instead be about solidifying or improving what an organization does in service to the same group of people?
Rather than focusing on demonstrating impact by increasing its numbers of beneficiaries, Amartha chose to focus on deep impact by doing more for the same communities in one region.
we urge those who practice design thinking to ground their practice in a critical design stance and to be reflexive and deliberate about the intentions, actions, and effects of their work
Design Thinking Misses the Mark (SSIR)