@clive@saturation.social
@clive@saturation.social avatar

clive

@clive@saturation.social

Writer, musician/songwriter, hobbyist coder. Contributing writer to New York Times Magazine and Wired. Author of "Coders". Blogging at clivethompson.medium.com, archive of writing at www.authory.com/clivethompson #science #technology #coding #software #writing #literature #poetry clive@clivethompson.net

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

clive, to random
@clive@saturation.social avatar

Whenever I'm doing in-depth research for a piece of journalism, I always re-discover the amazing quality of nonfiction books

A good nonfiction book is the most information-rich/dense piece of media on the planet

The qualifier "good" being crucial here, bien sur

But if it is good? Holy crap

You hold in your hands the product of someone who spent years exploring a subject, and sifting for the absolute best data/stories

Nothing -- no documentary, magazine piece, white paper -- can compare

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@micron

nice!!

clive, to random
@clive@saturation.social avatar

oh great

stephengentle, to random
@stephengentle@ioc.exchange avatar

@clive This kind of nonsense is not helpful - the main part of the story is an aircraft built in 1994 and operated in a region known for not having the safest maintenance and operations, and the other incidents mentioned are minor routine maintenance issues.

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@stephengentle

Yeah this is true

benchaotica, to random
@benchaotica@mastodon.nz avatar

@clive Calm down. This is a 737-300 manufactured 30 years ago. This accident is almost certainly not on Boeing. The left wing caught fire "briefly" after aborting a takeoff at high speed went wrong and they departed the runway (for unknown reasons) where the gear collapsed and the left engine ingested bits of cowling by the look of it. The injuries were all minor according to AvHerald. The headline and picture are sensationalised.

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@benchaotica

Yeah you’re right actually, this wasn’t a big issue

bgrinter, to random
@bgrinter@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

@clive a 30 year old 737 in Senegal - I’m sure it was immaculately maintained…

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/387749

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@bgrinter

That’s true, yes

jbayes, to random
@jbayes@sfba.social avatar

@clive A thirty year old Camry crashed and caught fire in my town last weekend, but people would think me foolish if I rushed to pin the blame on Toyota.

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@jbayes

That’s a good analogue, true

brianstorms, to random
@brianstorms@mastodon.social avatar

@clive

Boing Boing, really? 🤷‍♂️

This Boeing social media hysteria is getting out of control, closing in on Tesla-scale social media BS levels.

The 737 is everywhere in the world, with like 4,500 jets in active service across 500 airlines on every continent every day. Representing like 1/5 of all airline jets in service, worldwide.

The public does not know the cause of this one particular accident yet. It’s pointless to speculate.

Keep calm and carry on. Let investigators investigate.

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@brianstorms

Yeah, true -- this incident is also much less significant because the jet is very old

so I deleted the post!

invno1, to random
@invno1@mastodon.social avatar

@clive a tire had a blowout and caused a fire, how is that Boeing's fault? Just because the vehicle was originally built by the company? A 29 year old 737. Did you post this because it includes an outdated quote from you?

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@invno1

No, I just quoted it because I've been kind of mesmerized by Boeing's troubles over the last few years, and intrigued also by the stories about how they let their engineering culture slip!

but you're quite right that this jet is really old -- so it isn't representative of the problems with the newer jets in any way

I just deleted that post -- I appreciate you and the others pointing out the age issue with the jet here, I hadn't originally considered that

Mor696, to random
@Mor696@mastodon.social avatar

@clive

Curious?

How old is this plane?
Who is doing the maintenance? It's not Boeing if it's owned by a transportation company. Boeing can't possible be held accountable for a plan that has been sold and maintained by another company.

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@Mor696 @bgrinter

Good point!

clive, to random
@clive@saturation.social avatar

As I behold "Crush!", the new Apple ad for their Ipad Pro ...

... I fluctuate, with heisenbergian indeterminacy, between "they are clearly trolling us" and "they are totally earnest and have no idea how completely sociopathic they appear"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntjkwIXWtrc

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@crutlefish

Seriously

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@mogul

Dammit you’re right

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@jonhendry @danhon

I like it!!

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@dt

Lord above yes

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@tbaxter

A very defensible take

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@bradbury

I figured some people must have liked it! What struck you in a cool way about it?

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@gnate

Aha maybe!

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@harmonicarichard @crutlefish

That’s interesting to hear! I don’t edit videos so I don’t know much about that part of the Apple ecosystem

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@bradbury

It’s true — whatever one thinks about the message, the shot was really artfully done

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@Cekent @danhon

😂

clive, to random
@clive@saturation.social avatar

When you think of the various features of online media -- and how they've had a hand in deforming the information landscape ...

... i.e. procedural ads, algorithmically-sorted newsfeeds, etc ...

... I'm increasingly realizing there's one element that's having a big, malign effect:

Affiliate links

They're a key propellant in the modern eruption of AI-authored, grey-goo "product reviews"

You see that in this terrific Maggie Harrison Dupré piece at Futurism: https://futurism.com/advon-ai-content

1/x

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@blabberlicious

Ugh yes

noellemitchell, to Blog
@noellemitchell@mstdn.social avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    clive,
    @clive@saturation.social avatar

    @noellemitchell

    Yeah they're big nerds and not fans of fancy design 😂

    Raw HTML is also super fast loading! whoooosh

    clive,
    @clive@saturation.social avatar

    @noellemitchell

    It certainly can! But the effects are really only mostly noticeable with a lot of it

    Theorem_Poem, to random
    @Theorem_Poem@mstdn.social avatar

    Good folks of Mastodon, I've written a little book - about learning random stuff from the internet and talking to my friends about it. Please have a look if you have some time to spare!

    http://til52weeks.link/TIL-52weeksoflearning

    clive,
    @clive@saturation.social avatar

    @Theorem_Poem

    Super cool! The entry on chainsaws was spine-chilling

    clive,
    @clive@saturation.social avatar

    @Theorem_Poem

    So much fun to read!

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • Leos
  • vwfavf
  • magazineikmin
  • thenastyranch
  • Youngstown
  • everett
  • rosin
  • slotface
  • ngwrru68w68
  • InstantRegret
  • PowerRangers
  • kavyap
  • tsrsr
  • DreamBathrooms
  • normalnudes
  • hgfsjryuu7
  • mdbf
  • cisconetworking
  • osvaldo12
  • khanakhh
  • Durango
  • GTA5RPClips
  • tacticalgear
  • ethstaker
  • tester
  • cubers
  • modclub
  • anitta
  • All magazines
    •