Link Salad, the Enkindling Edition
Some of what I've been reading
— The Beginning of the End of Big Tech - Meredith Whittaker, WIRED, Nov. 26, 2024
“And just as the money people are joining in critique, they’re also exploring investments in new paradigms. A crop of tech investors are developing models of funding for mission alignment, focusing on tech that rejects surveillance, social control, and all the bullshit. One exciting model I’ve been discussing with some of these investors would combine traditional VC incentives (fund that one unicorn > scale > acquisition > get rich) with a commitment to resource tech’s open, nonprofit critical infrastructure with a percent of their fund. Not as investment, but as a contribution to maintaining the bedrock on which a healthy tech ecosystem can exist (and maybe get them and their limited partners a tax break).”
— How a Small Game Maker Avoided Being Shut Down by Embracer - Jason Schreier, Bloomberg, Nov. 22, 2024
“But after the separation, Diea was faced with the same economic headwinds. He encouraged his staff to apply for new jobs as necessary and scrambled to find other financing options, like tax credits provided by the Quebec government. “I didn’t want to take over the studio to then fire people,” he said.”
— Murderbot, She Wrote - Meghan Herbst, WIRED, Nov. 26, 2024
“As a sort of memorial dirge, she went to the place where it all began—Texas A&M. The Cushing Memorial Library was putting on a first-of-its-kind exhibit of science fiction and fantasy work. As she wandered through the displays, she came across a glass case containing part of the original manuscript of her second novel, City of Bones. Near it were classics of the genre. Seeing her book included in such company sent flutters down her spine. Her words still existed. She still existed. It wouldn’t stop here.”
— How ‘Shogun’ Helped FX Find Its Footing as a Streaming Empire - Cynthia Littleton, Variety, Nov. 26, 2024
“Following that thread, Landgraf fretted about the prospect that humans will gradually lose interest in the stuff that is his absolute jam: dense, novelistic, narrative storytelling as delivered via movies and TV series — like a lavish sword-and-kimono costume drama set among warring factions in 16th-century Japan.”
Currently reading: Walls Come Tumbling Down: The Music and Politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge - Daniel Rachel
Currently listening: Kool-Aid - Bring Me The Horizon