Internet Escape
The suffix -scape comes from ship and shape. Ex means out. Cape means cloak. Let's get out, hidden by the cloak and shape the endless horizon.
Another Monday, Another Naive Weekly - Curated stories on Technology and Internet Culture.
Copenhagen, October 20
Unlike most of my family I was born in Copenhagen. Copenhagen is not a big city when you compare it to what the rest of the world has to offer, but it is the largest in Denmark and radical larger compared to Sunds and Lemvig, the hometowns of my parents.
Lemvig is a small fisher village in the Northern part of the Jutland peninsula. Every summer I’d spend a couple of weeks in the childhood house of my dad, spending the days unsuccessfully trying to sell stones I found on the beaches and run around barefoot to improve the strength of my foot sole.
The past years I have had a growing desire to spend more time in nature. I romantize spending slow weeks in Lemvig, visiting the long sand beaches stretching along the North Sea. I don’t think it as much childhood nostalgia as it is a desire to reconnect with endless horizons.
Today my dad and his siblings have all left Lemvig and live in Copenhagen. The desire I feel for spending time in Lemvig is strong, but compared to what the older generation express it is barely existing. Whenever we talk about Lemvig the look in their eyes changes: They start to stare, but in no particular direction.
My aunt once described her longing for Lemvig as a longing for the sky. At first I found it rather odd given that the sky is omnipresent, it is here and there. But recently I was sitting on a train out of Copenhagen and as we left the final suburbs and were rolling through the fields of the North Zealand I suddenly understood what she meant.
In the city our view of the horizon and the sky is always blocked by cars and buildings. When I am walking around on the pavement my eyes can’t travel much further than the next block. Only when I go to the roof of a tall building can I have an unspoiled view of the horizon. Contrary to the city, on the countryside the limit of the sky is in my eyes.
I write these words starring into my screen. You read these words starring at your screen. Every single day we go to work starring at our screens and return home to watch movies starring at our screens. When I understood what my aunt meant with Copenhagen missing the sky I started to think of the horizon of the Internet. Is it just me, or does it appear extremely flat?
The Internet Black Hole
Job Interview With Algorithms
In the UK, Unilever has started using artificial intelligence to screen job applicants. The algorithm measures the applicant against some 25,000 different data points, from facial expressions to language. Based on the track record of previous successful applicants, the algorithm then gives a score for each applicant. Sounds bulletproof (irony).Flawed Face Scanning
Also in the UK it came out that the government introduced a passport photo checker that it knew had problems recognizing dark skin. Imagine having your lips recognized as an open mouth resulting in the machine rejecting to scan you. This is the reality we are building.Algorithms Punishing the Poor
Rounding of the stories on algorithmic justice, I enjoyed Ed Pilkington’s write-up in The Guardian about how algorithms punish the poor. In our pursuit of efficiency and automation it often seems we forget (or ignore?) that machines glitches, and when that happens I am sure we all agree that it would be nice that there is someone who recognizes us as humans, not as a string of numbers.
Planned Maintenance
Fortnite made waves on the Internet when it closed down the game for a few days. In a world where everything happens all the time, it seems like a brave (publicity?) move to shut down a service. When the game was back online, it was introduced as chapter two of the game, including new gameplay features and an entire new map. I’m impressed.Radical Urbanist
Paris Marx writes one of the best newsletters on the Internet. If you are remotely interested in urbanization, mobility and climate crisis I am sure you’ll enjoy receiving his weekly updates. Last week’s issue might have been the best yet.
Internet Garden
My fondness for Are.na keeps growing. My latest crush is a book project where Internet users draw a community garden. It reminds me of the Internet I fell in love with when I browse the plant submissions. It also reminds me of Aaron Koblin’s sheep market work.Native Ads
I am still trying to understand this short video showing Tencent’s plans to add extra advertisements into existing videos. Imagine your favourite movie suddenly providing an offer to McDelivery. Or even worse, imagine highly tailored ads that reflects your inner concerns in every single video you watch.
Reader’s Corner
Last week I asked whether phones appear in your dreams. To this Aydo shared this short story of sunshine.
i’ve had this recurring scene in dreams with phones connected to false awakenings. it goes something like this: i’m lying in my bed, waking up, reaching for my phone to check the time, but when i try to pick it up my hands just go right through. as if it’s made out of air, i just can’t grasp it. i quickly realize that i must still be dreaming. sometimes then i wake up for real, and sometimes i have another false awakening.
Naive Weekly
Hi, I’m Kristoffer and you have just read Naive Weekly - Curated stories on Technology and Internet Culture.
By next week I have written this newsletter every single week for a year. Without exaggerating, it really touches me that you are welcoming this to your inbox. Thank you for being here, for reading, commenting and sharing links.
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<3
Kristoffer