Walking from Los Angeles to San Diego
I walked all the way from Los Angeles to San Diego with no transportation.
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86 47 is Silly and Serious
The timeline goes a little….like this: PART I Silly: Former FBI director James Comey shared a photo via Instagram on May 15, 2025 with a seashell arrangement of the numbers “86 47” that he said he found on a North Carolina beach. Via The Guardian, the original post that started it all: To 86 something is common slang to “throw out” and 47 refers to Donald Trump, the 47th president of the United States. “86 47” then was, in many people’s opinions, a silly way of saying, get rid of the
The Doge Meme is Dead
Not much to say to prove this point. Doge has been through a lot. It was originally just a wonderful photograph, then a creative, pure-hearted template for communicating in the forums, evolved into a variant that assumed the identity of a cryptocurrency, and now, it’s mainstream for death caused to people around the world under the direction of Elon Musk. Consider one recent headline: “How an Estimated Seven Hundred Thousand People Have Died from DOGE’s U.S.A.I.D. Cuts“ That makes DOGE completely dead. By dead, I don’t mean it no longer
What Virality Made: The Memetic Emptiness of MrBeast
Jimmy Donaldson, known worldwide as MrBeast, has organized his creative life around the measurable demands of internet platforms. As he has repeatedly explained, his objective is to give the algorithm exactly what it wants. He develops his videos around platform metrics, revises them in response to performance data, and removes whatever reduces their ability to spread. His success is not the product of artistic expression, it’s the systematic optimization for algorithmic selection. This helps explain why MrBeast’s videos feel so culturally disposable. They’re designed to maximize distribution rather than to
The Algorithmic Incentive Curve
When all hell broke loose on Facebook during the Cambridge Analytica era, people were focused largely on privacy, but equally important was the realization of its recommendation algorithms.
A is for Artist: The First A Corp
Today in Boulder at the municipal building on Broadway and Arapahoe, I met Yancey Strickler (co-founder of Kickstarter) after hearing his talk on a new business designation that went into law in Colorado called an A Corp.
Om Malik, 1966-2026
One of the times we met, we were at a restaurant with Salman Rushdie. We sat on either side. The room was small and dark, and kinda cramped. Rushdie was freaked out and paranoid, constantly looking around as if he was being stalked, possibly killed at any minute. We were both excited to meet him, but the meeting didn’t last long; once his wife arrived, Rushdie was out of there pretty quickly. I remember this moment afterwards where Om and I looked at each with a big smile and raised
ChatGPT Crack: Confidence Probability
A “ChatGPT Crack” is when you break through the boundaries of the backend in some way. I had ChatGPT provide some insight into the probability scores of its confidence.
Twitter: End of an Era
Computer protocols can help inform a platform’s policies and principles.
Working towards a thorough definition of the word ‘Meme’
I’ve been interested in a definition for the word meme. It’s practical to have one to state for the sake of conversation and continue on, though it should at least be formed to fit without a conflict for physics and philosophy. So far the throw-around versions used today are prone to all kinds of arguments. To say the least, there isn’t much related to the definition of the word meme beyond its use in the field of biology. I found OpenAI’s ChatGPT useful in this case to help with clarifying
The Artist, The City, The Framer, And Their Lovers
My favorite contemporary artist across all of the visual arts is Banksy. When he came to New York City on a painting spree, he hit a garage door across the street from my studio in Chelsea which I documented. I’ve never been involved myself in using any kind of ink or paint in public but I get a lot from it as an effected viewer. In Boulder, my favorite artist is Smile. Banksy and Smile each have their own beautiful style and message. I’ve given a lot of thought to why I
