New issue of my newsletter: “Synths and Sensibility” — From Beethoven to Kraftwerk, innovative artists have used new technology to make music more human, not less
New issue of my newsletter: “Synths and Sensibility” — From Beethoven to Kraftwerk, innovative artists have used new technology to make music more human, not less
New issue of my newsletter: “No Happy Medium for Books” — A court ruling curtails the circulation of the written word
New issue of my newsletter: “Break Expectations” — Where does the ability of AI to mimic human expression end? Poetry provides a helpful case study
New issue of my newsletter: “AI Comes for Music”—As the record labels sue AI companies for generating derivative songs, let us ask: What makes a song original and human anyway? (Includes non-spoiler references to Robin Sloan’s new novel Moonbound.)
New issue of my newsletter: “Humane Ingenuity 53: Books are Big AI’s Achilles Heel”—AI companies may have the money and the data centers, but they are badly in need of what humble libraries have in abundance. (Co-authored with Dave Hansen of Authors Alliance)
One way of seeing the eclipse here in Boston: a graph of the electricity produced by the solar panel array on the roof of my library, with peak eclipse at 3:30pm
From the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections, a photo of viewers of the 1994 solar eclipse, when safety glasses were less advanced
New issue of my newsletter: “Humane Ingenuity 52: Is Science Becoming Conceptual Art?” — A combination of new technologies may represent a new era for science, but one in which the lone scientist may no longer need her lab mates. Is that a good thing?
My friends at the the American Social History Project/Center for Media & Learning at CUNY Grad Center are looking for a new Assistant Director for Digital Projects, great position with great people, might be you!
How much does it cost to save a book for 100 years, or forever? What about a web page? I look at hidden long-term preservation issues for cultural artifacts, print and digital, in the new issue of my newsletter Humane Ingenuity. Plus: Apple’s vision (not the Vision Pro)
New issue of my newsletter: “Apple’s Vision + The Cost of Forever” — revisiting the original design documents for the Macintosh computer to understand why we’re in a love/hate relationship with Apple, and a comparison of how much it costs to save a book and a web page forever.
Just a test to check federation from good ol’ social.dancohen.org to @dan@social.dancohen.org on ActivityPub/Fediverse/Mastodon and @social.dancohen.org on AT protocol/Bluesky.
Rwanda’s 500 franc note still has the One Laptop Per Child XO on it.
New issue of my newsletter is out: “The Power Broker at 50” — why Robert Caro’s book The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York remains vital for understanding how power is acquired, used, and preserved. I hope you’ll give it a read.
New issue of my newsletter is out: “Humane Ingenuity 49: Style and Personality” — on the small but important difference between these two expressive notions. Also: refreshing the design of a library.
Once again Thankgiving is the start of our winemaking. This year we are making Syrah, Pinot Noir, a Malbec/Syrah blend, a Pinot Noir rosé, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc. Grapes look nice!
Guilty as charged
A sweet story about a son finding something special in a book his late mother gave him 20 years ago: “It Happened Through a Book”
Northeastern University is celebrating its 125th year, and it was an honor to speak about our library at Convocation this evening
The Northeastern University Library is hiring a Text Mining Specialist — I think this is a really interesting position in our growing, innovative library. Please apply if this sounds like you!
This essay by Dan Bouk, which asks “Is it possible to train students to use something like ChatGPT in a manner that is appropriate? Or right? Or ethical? Or, most fundamentally, good?” is appropriate, right, ethical, and good.
New issue of my newsletter is out: “Humane Ingenuity 48: Reading and Writing” — With the new school year coming, my letter to students about using AI bots to write; an update on a lawsuit I wrote about earlier this year in The Atlantic; professorial blogs.
AI models are now ingesting scholarly content in an attempt to dispel their hallucinations. But another possibility looms: that AI will instead drag down scholarship into its muddy realm. A new essay on my newsletter: “AI Is Coming for Scholarship Next”
