ISSUE 0.23

⇐ see more issues

Deep Learning Eat World

This week's issue is all about machine learning, or deep learning that lets computers explore real life data and use it to track, create, sort, and filter the world around us with an almost human-like ability. Of course, there are cracks here and there, which can as amusing as it is relieving.

amazing results [karpathy.github.io]

The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Recurrent Neural Networks

This one is somewhat math-y but absolutely fascinating. Skim to the examples of what it produces--impressive, realistic Shakespeare, Linux code, Paul Graham essays.

robots laughing at us [larseidnes.com]

Auto-Generating Clickbait With Recurrent Neural Networks

This is absolutely hilarious. Clickotron is worth a gander--the results are as amusing as they are sublime.

the algorithm doesn't actually put that many !s into responses [newyorker.com]

Google’s New Autoreply Sounds Great!!!!

A friend and I played around with this, with some pretty hilarious results. It's particularly fun when the auto-reply will generate responses to its own responses, like: "That's weird." "No, it isn't."

game archeology [newscientist.com]

What digital trash dumped in games tells us about the players

I like this article. I could spend hours upon hours exploring abandoned Minecraft servers, obscure areas of Second Life, the detritus of digital worlds.

Deaf Girl's Glitchy Music Recs

Nico / Deaf Girl puts together glitch-inspired music track recommendations. He's awesome, and his picks are great. Annotations are his!

  • "Antes" by Siete Catorce - Very tribal music with thick electronic sounds, like a more dancy Toro y Moi.
  • "Wonk" by Coco Bryce - I don't think it gets more glitch than this (without turning into 8bit.) Staggering but somehow still entrancing. It's like hearing the process of destroying an image to create glitch art.
  • "Zerstorung of Destruction" by Jacques Boom - Dance, dance, dance. Rave, rave, rave.
  • "The Veiled (Glitch Hop Remix)" by Josh Money - Glitch goes Pop.
  • "Glitch Pop" by Barry Cohen - Self explained.

Nico! These tracks are seriously banging! Thank you!

cool application, chilly implications [kurzweilai.net]

This app lets autonomous video drones with facial recognition target persons

"One small step for selfies, one giant leap for cheap deep-learning autonomous video-surveillance drones."

reimagining robots [rhizome.org]

Bon Voyage, Killer Robot

Interesting aesthetic contemplation on different depictions and perceptions of robots in popular culture.

the policy side of minority report [slate.com]

The Reality of Crime-Fighting Algorithms

I am a data scientist, and this is why Minority Report will never happen."