McFilter

Interesting Things on the Internet: September 17th 2018

• The future of OSS. I don't agree with all of this, but it's good to be having more discussions and thoughts about how we fund open source software. Especially given that it underpins so much of all the software systems we use, even the ones that we pay for.
• "This is my bag of tricks — loose notes, design patterns, rules-of-thumb, methods of enquiry, tools, cheatsheets, gimmicks, leverage points, descriptions of systems, key questions, risks, and unknowns.". Some gold in that bag of tricks.
• Why Love Generative Art? Nice overview of generative/computational art.
• What do the people do? Excellent primer on making interactive art, from Tom Igoe.
• The Untold Story of NotPetya, the Most Devastating Cyberattack in History. Read this and then tell me it's a good idea to move to a fully cmoputerised, cashless society. More diversity in computer systems, more decentralisation and redundancy in infrastructure, less chasing hyper-lean-efficiency-to-wring-ever-last-penny-of-profit and crossing our fingers. Please.
• Decisions on behalf of others: different institutional and disciplinary interpretations of risk. Really liked the framing of how we might approach working as experts, and the musings on whether sensor data and the like could replace rules and regulations in ensuring that the things we build are (and remain) fit for purpose. Feels like we'd still need experts in those scenarios, although their job would involve more explaining and discussing the scenario and risks with the public rather than dictating to. Which is a good thing, to my mind. Also liked the concept of "the skills to deal not just with complex structures in simple contexts but with simple structures in complex contexts."
• Obama’s Lost Army. Politics is changing, but the usual suspects don't want to cede any of their control and power, and so lose all of their control and power.

And I've enthused about this to a bunch of people now, so I should definitely share it here...

Eyeo 2018 - Nathaniel Raymond from Eyeo Festival on Vimeo.