Richard_Littler

Richard_Littler, 19 days ago to bluesky

Jack Dorsey is furious that #Bluesky has attracted "very very common" people. He also doesn't like the idea of moderation tools facilitating the banning of racists.

All these tech billionaires are like a version of the movie Big, in which a pre-adolescent boy wakes up in the body of an aging Howard Hughes. Or Colonel Kurtz. Or a sardine.
#JackDorsey

Richard_Littler, 10 months ago to random

I'm launching a new social media app. It's called BIRB. This is the logo. It's the only app that demands you crochet, knit or embroider your posts.
Posts are called 'Yarns', editing a Yarn is called Darning, threads are called Tapestries, pile-ons are Shag Piles, blocking is called Black-Sheeping.
#BIRB

Richard_Littler, 3 months ago to Starwars

After god knows how many years of work, the people behind the #StarWars 4K project have released the final installment. For those who don't know: a group of dedicated restorers, unhappy with the reworked Special Editions, hunted down, scanned and restored the original 35mm theatrical prints of the first Star Wars trilogy in Ultra High Definition. They're better than the official blurays. Incredible work, not only in terms of authentic content but even the picture quality is superior.

Empire Strikes Back BBFC certificate
Return of the Jedi BBFC certificate
Screenshot comparison of Star Wars Bluray vs Project 4K

Richard_Littler, 7 months ago to random

I'm seeing more and more people, especially non-artists, saying things like 'My AI art skills are really improving,' as if AI is a discipline such as drawing, painting or whatever.
Like people in 1981 who pricked the cellophane on their frozen ready-meals, popped them in the microwave and said 'My cooking skills are really improving. Maybe I'm a chef now.'

Richard_Littler, 6 months ago to Cinema

Renowned artist Roger Kastel has passed away...
#cinema #graphicdesign #movies #books

One sheet poster: The Empire Strikes Back
One sheet poster: The Great Train Robbery
Book cover: 50 Great Horror Stories. A skeletal, robed hangman

Richard_Littler, 7 months ago to photography

It's very considerate of the weather to turn Switzerland into a horror film at this time of year...
#photography #halloween

Photo: misty field with cabin and trees like the head of a bat
Photo: misty field with derelict building and bare trees
Photo: rural road disappears into the mist

Richard_Littler, 1 month ago to random

It's #AlienDay. Here are my photos of the bar that H R Giger designed. It jars enormously with its location - a little, picturesque Swiss village.

Photo of the bar tables and seats designed by HR Giger
Photo of the bar ceiling designed by HR Giger. Looks like spines.
Photo of the bar wall designed by HR Giger. Looks like dead babies.

Richard_Littler, 4 months ago to jazz

I stumbled across this blue-tint-deteriorated photo of 52nd Street in New York in 1948 by William P. Gottlieb and thought that it deserved restoring. No colours added; they're all in the original photo.
#jazz #photography

52nd Street jazz clubs signage: Club Carousel, 3 Deuces, etc, featuring Charlie Parker and others. Photo colour corrected

Richard_Littler, 7 months ago to random

"Australia rejects proposal to recognise Aboriginal people in constitution"

FFS, Australia, I can hear your knuckles dragging in the dirt from here.

Richard_Littler, 6 months ago to Halloween

Self-portrait as plague doctor with hand puppet.
#halloween

Richard_Littler, 9 months ago to random

Right-wing press (2016): "The glorious age of Britain is upon us! Greatest Britain (blessed be its name) is the supreme realm in the known universe. In fact, we may as well rename the universe: 'Britannia, Oh Majestic Province of Divine Riches...'
Right-wing press (2023):

Richard_Littler, 8 months ago to random

I went to see my doctor this morning and told him I was concerned about becoming infected with the 'woke mind virus.'
He told me that WMV is difficult to detect with medical tests because it doesn't exist. Then he slapped me in the face, told me to grow up, and advised me to stop gorging myself on demonstrably untrue conspiracy theories disseminated by people with the intellects of gherkins.
#wokemindvirus #elonmusk

Richard_Littler, 5 months ago to ai

SO proud of all my achievements. Thanks to #AI, facts about our lives and culture are now preserved for future generations.

Richard_Littler, 5 months ago to Starwars

Choose your #starwars character name by simply opening any early 20th century #typography catalogue to a random page.

Richard_Littler, 8 months ago to random

I'm re-reading Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year. I'd forgotten there's a section on how, during such crises, people become prone to irrational beliefs and charlatans promoting, for want of a better expression, 'conspiracy theories' and anti-scientific ideas, and how these obsessional beliefs engender paranoia and the threat of group violence against 'non believers'. Maybe it's just something that (some) humans do in such times...
#Pandemic #conspiracytheory

Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year. Original publication title page

Richard_Littler, 5 months ago to random

After days of relentless rain and mist, I looked up from the TV...
I just had to run outside with the camera...

Snowy mountains as the sun goes down
Snowy mountains as the sun goes down
Snowy mountains as the sun goes down

Richard_Littler, 1 year ago to random

I think it's time we had a revised and updated reprinting of Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crowds to take into consideration all of this (gestures at everything).

Richard_Littler, 4 months ago to random

Religious people just came knocking which reminded me of when it last happened a few years ago.

Richard_Littler, 7 months ago to ai

I just sent a letter demanding AI companies remove my works from their training data. Use the Authors Guild's letter template to send your own. But please do augment it with your own details (I added my publication info. And called them parasites)
#AI #Books3 #author #books

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/authors-guild-author-letters-to-ai-companies

Richard_Littler, 5 months ago to random

This is no reflection on Wonka specifically, but...
FFS: Invest. In. New. Stories.
The last 30 years have seen remake after remake after reboot after prequel after spin-off.
So much of mainstream culture has become creatively timorous yet rapacious in its goal to milk intellectual properties dry.
Modern mainstream culture sometimes feels like a karaoke bar. Actually, an ouroboros in a karaoke bar. A never-ending cycle of consuming and re-consuming itself.

Richard_Littler, 8 months ago to random

When you're abroad, in a second hand bookshop, and you ask the owner if they have a copy of 'Architects in Switzerland' and he says 'yes,' then goes and fetches this...
Pronunciation is everything.

Richard_Littler, 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago) to Halloween

I created some #Halloween themed QR codes. A sinister little selection of 12 movie monsters.

Recognise them all?

Warning: Using your device to read the codes may lead to a poltergeist haunting...
#movies

Richard_Littler, 6 months ago to random

Good heavens, only a year old? It feels like an eternity.
#BabsAndMaureen #NeverForget

Richard_Littler, 7 months ago to politics

This is one of the dumbest fucking statements I've ever seen a human write.
#politics #conservative #UK

Richard_Littler, 1 month ago to ai

There are many sites offering free, print-ready CC0/public domain illustrations, photographs & vector graphics. Eg, Pixabay offers 4.4 million images, Unsplash 3 million.
Many fonts are also free for commercial use. And you can put the design together in free Open Source software.
With so many free images/fonts available, it's easy to create multiple design concepts for your book/product). And it's all done with the consent of the artists/photographers/typographers.
There's no excuse.

#AI