John Horstman, the recommendation engine

Hey gang.  Since my last post was all about recommendations made by computers, I thought I’d balance that out with some recommendations made by humans – namely, me.  The following recommendations are my attempt to better your lives. Now that it’s not so cold that every moment spent outdoors is spent swearing, I’ve started taking walks and listening to podcasts.  This American Life, The Savage Lovecast and Meet... Read More

Knowing you better than you know yourself

In his 2005 interview with Giant Robot magazine (.pdf posted here), the artist Ryan McGinness (whose work is featured at the beginning and end of this blog) talks about how the role of the curator is increasingly important as it becomes easier and easier for people to produce creative output.  McGinness says that technology has created many more writers (thanks to blogs), musicians (thanks to cheaper computers and recording software), etc.,... Read More

Attention span approaching zero

For those who haven’t seen this yet on my tumblog, here’s proof that my girlfriend is the best girlfriend in the world. In your face, chumps! I remember reading something online a little while back about how Google is actually having a detrimental effect on people’s memory skills. Because so much information is now available at all times and can be accessed with a negligible amount of effort, not only is there less incentive... Read More