#been getting kinda bored of the direction my digital art has been taking lately

[saltmalkin]

midnight parade

#wanted to see if the way I painted with oils back in college could push my digital art a bit more #been getting kinda bored of the direction my digital art has been taking lately #anyway I like how this turned out. expect more of this maybe. #fantasy #animal art #saltmalkin

[specialpotforinstantnoodles]

I don't have any smart thoughts I just wanted to say that I am also tangibly upset about e3/the lack of interaction. Seems like they decided to rebrand but I don't entirely understand why. Anyway, you're not alone in feeling bad about it :/

i dont understand either. people love them because they are different from all the other gaming channels with their shitty sexist jokes and obnoxious fake-positive yelling, mainstream reviews and other boring shit. people watch polygon for goofs and friendly hang outs and interaction, that s what mcelroys had in mind when founding polygon, which they admit. but now they are def trying to appeal to a more mainstream audience with all the LA interviews and nods towards reddit and while i can understand this i also really cant?

as pygmy very correctly pointed out a while back, the fact that unraveled took off so well and the fact that so many people followed the channel after pokerap success is at least partly because of the fanbase their older series like g&g and awful squad built. fandom was practically yelling about pokerap the whole month after it was announced, writting posts, making edits, drawing art, creating content, inevitably sucking more and more people in, turning them into fans. knowing this, the idea that polygon is consciously trying to change their business model is wild.

i wonder how much it is influenced by mcelroys’ leave or, more precisely, how much the old rethorics was influenced by them and might it be that it just dissolves without their presence in the pool of corporate need. this might be a weird idea and also i m not really sure how long ago that happened and if there sa correlation at all, so forgive me if anything.

i m just kinda frustrated, i guess. out of a dozen series polygon had which involed at least two people imteracting on a constant basis episode to episode the only one left is overboard, which also turned into a bi-montly series instead of a monthly one. and that’s all, really, if you dont count monster factory. and that’s sad? so many people followed polygon after the perfect pokerap and the majority of them, i believe, doesnt even give a fuck about video games. ask anyone from the fandom om here how many games they played and let me assure you, the answer will be a single digit.

i have been confused (and i m not the only one) about the weird direction polygon seemed to be taking after unraveled success and how it looked like polygon doesnt completely understands who their audience is, but e3 was just like a final straw, i guess? everyone has been busy lately, tara left, simone and clay flew to la, pat and bdg were busy with the whole unraveled ordeal etc etc so i had my hopes up for some domestic lowkey hang outs and late night sleepy streams with beer and swetpants for e3 week and… we wont get them, not this year. and it sucks? i know e3 is kinda wack this year so it s reasonable to busy the crew with some more rewarding stuff but just. idk? i m sad. they stream sometimes and there s overboard, but i iust fucking want more. and if they keep going into this “serious journalism, mainstream videogames review” trying to appeal to a more broad audience for the sake of money i m just scared they might lose their charm.

#polygon #bdg #brian david gilbert #patrick gill #polygon meta

[ac-ars]

drunk talking

ayy she is there she is done, its ta au which is always sin, more sin than normally, plus the prompt is sin so here you have it i hope you have fun 

day 5 - “I called one of the telephone numbers written in the toilet stall and now I want to fuck your voice”

🌙

drunk talking

Luna Valente lucked out today despite the fact she very, very overslept. It’s the worst day possible to be late, since today is supposed to be some test on chemistry and she was studying probably too long, because this very chapter has been such a bitch. Longer than others and mentioning more difficult shit and in general Luna just never liked this part of chemistry. They will never be friends and she guesses that it’s okay. Anyway, she was running around her apartment like a tornado, starting one thing and then another, without finishing the first one. She ended up washing her teeth and brushing her hair while wearing her underwear, one sock and a skirt. And when she was buttoning up her flowy, short sleeve shirt, she was also eating her cereal. That’s called multitasking and no one but Luna Valente in hurry can master it to this level.

She managed to catch subway, the one before the last possible she could take to be on time, she finished her tea on the go, and then ran a little towards the building in the campus, so now she is heading to the toilet, to gather herself together and look less like messy mess.

Those dark circles under her eyes really need to disappear under the concealer and her face would love to use a little blush, and those brown hairs that are sticking in every side probably will be happy to be hang out with a brush.

In the middle of miracle makeover Luna gets a text from Pedro, asking her where she is. She hums and rolls her eyes at this impatient asshole and answers that she will be there soon soon. Her thoughts kinda run away in some weird directions to what else should she do, maybe buy a bottle of water, but now or later? Does she have time for that? Will she go for lunch with Pedro later or will he be drama queen about how she cheated from his test? This eats definitely too much time of Luna’s while she is trying to untangle this messy ball of her hair under right ear, she looks around the ugly mirror until she spots some writing with permanent marker right below the corner of said mirror.

This part of the campus, more like this very specific building is waiting for some renovations out and inside, this means the toilets aren’t in the best state here. Not that they are stinky and disgusting, but there are weird writings around, some doodles and curses, many, many phone numbers. Luna isn’t a fan of ruining something, writing over something, because there are usually people who will have to work and clean it later or fix, and she is just a good person, trying to get them as little of unneeded trouble, as possible.

But! She leans her head to the left, to make sure all her hair where the tangle ball used to be, are fine and there is nothing to brush else. Her eyes follow all the writings on the tiles on the wall, wondering why are people like this, covering almost every small tile with some drawing. There is, though, this one number, written with bold, bold font, the digits seem to be a creation of someone writing the same number over and over again in the very same place, just making it more visible and bolder. She hums, because what could be so important, or who, to be left like this for future in ladies’ toilet. Luna, completely not sure what she is going to do with it, just saves it on her contacts and runs towards the class, because boy, chemistry is watching for her.

🌙

“What do we have tomorrow?” she asks lazily while playing with her empty glass after wine. Pedro looks at her with raised eyebrows and shrugs. “I don’t know. No test, that’s for sure, but I think we have physics.”

“Oh my, I don’t wanna,” Luna mumbles, cursing under her breath and he kicks her ankle softly. “Don’t pretend you don’t wanna go. You are dying to see that guy every damn week, Luna Valente.” He looks super smug right now and she opens her mouth wide, very offended.

“I very don’t are if it’s Matteo or not, the break is this weekend and everyone cancelled classes tomorrow except this asshole. I really don’t wanna see him.”

Her Spanish friend looks at her very skeptical and totally not believing her. “I can’t even imagine you looking or thinking about him anything but hungry, and it’s totally okay. We all have issues when it comes to hot people. For example I still can’t not stare at my English prof from the old times when I tried to study English.”

Luna rolls her eyes and crosses her legs. “I’m totally not staring at him any hungry.” The wine in her head isn’t really helping now when it gives her images of said Matteo Balsano, who looked incredibly attractive when she last time saw him. So attractive, that she actually missed what he was talking about at the end of the class, and missed why the whole group is so mad at him. Then Pedro told her, and now Luna and her brain have quiet days without imagining her ta before she goes to sleep.

“Yes, of course,” he says getting up and putting his empty glass on the coffee table and kissing top of the brunette’s head. “I’m gonna be going home since tomorrow we are seeing each other on physics. Please don’t waste yourself so I gotta come here and put you together.”

She pouts at this but sends him a kiss and he leaves, and she empties her own glass quickly, not sure what to do now. It’s gonna be probably boring, so she takes her phone and looks through all insta stories to check what’s going on around the world.

Ambar is hanging out with some weird goths again, but she seems happy or at least not annoyed so it’s a good thing already. Simon and his Roller bros are playing some concert in this small famous club on the other end of Buenos Aires and it’s like third Thursday in a row, so they told her she didn’t need to attend. Gastón is posting on his story some aesthetic pictures of student life in Oxford, selfies with some girl and generally pretty shit, while Nina is travelling around museums today, writing and writing. Not once has she said that art inspires her to make more art.

There is nothing much happening when it comes to people from uni, so Luna just opens her recently used apps, because why not really? She finds that she used contacts today, which is unusual; they don’t really call or text each other since she mostly uses whatsapp or messenger, or anything that requires only internet.

In her contacts she finds some new one, added today, and in a moment she remembers it’s the number from her uni toilet, which sounds all kinds of ridiculous, but also very appealing to her drunk, wasted and tired brain.

She clicks on it, her phone asks her if she wants to call or text, and first thing she does is pouring some more whine to her glass. It’s gonna be very interesting here and Luna giggles at herself, as she presses the call square on her screen. When she hears like fifth signal, she remembers what the fuck time it is, and calling anyone at this hour is super, super rude, but in the same moment she takes her phone away from her face to hang up, someone picks up.

“Hello?” some male, deep and raspy voice asks, and Luna’s first thought is oh fuck and second is oh fuck I woke this guy up. Before she manages to say anything, he adds impatient. “Is anyone there? If it’s nothing important, I’m ending this call, because I would really love to sleep-”

“Hi,” Luna jumps and he shuts up for a few super short seconds. “Um, I’m sorry, it’s a mistake.”

“A mistake?” he asks, “I don’t think calling anyone at this ungodly hour can be described as a mistake, little lady.”

She takes a deep breath and a sip of wine from her glass. “I, um, shouldn’t have called, but I am drunk and I was bored, and it just kinda happened. I’m sorry.”

The guy on the other side of the phone sighs heavily, even this sound is somehow hot, and at this point Luna can’t really care if he can be some disgusting creep, she will just block this number tomorrow plus she won’t really tell him any details. Bless her drunk brain always keeping her safe no matter what.

“Okay, tell me, should I have your number saved? Where did you even get mine?” he asks, his voice changes and maybe he is more awake now, which is bad and bad at the same time.

“No, no, I’m, it’s gonna be dumb as hell, but I found your number written on wall in the toilet in my faculty.”

The guy laughs quietly and sighs again. “Dear stars, why have I done this to myself? So you are a student?”

“Yeah, but that’s all I’m telling you. I don’t know who you are and I won’t tell you anything.”

Luna hears him humming longly. “You don’t know who I am then?”

“I just told you that!” She rolls her eyes and he laughs again, and she is kinda annoyed at this point. The guy seems amused, but then he clears his throat. He speaks, and his voice sounds kinda different. She is focusing on his voice too much. “I have few questions for you, actually, but they aren’t about any private shit, you don’t have to worry I will try to stalk you anywhere.” He stops for a moment and continues, Luna completely focused drinks her wine slowly, just to find her glass is empty and it’s a moment to fill it again, because she is oh so curious. “I’m just lowkey lost, it’s been years since I got this kinda call.”

“I get it, you know you can just hang up, though?” she asks, playing with a strand of her hair and makes herself more comfy on the couch. It’s dark, and quiet, and Luna wants him to talk to her endlessly.

“Nah, it’s okay, I wasn’t really sleeping anyway, so tell me, little lady I don’t know name of, why are you awake at this hour?”

Luna shrugs to herself, remembering just after a moment that he can’t see her. “I guess I’m not sleepy yet. Plus I still have wine to drink.”

She can’t see him either, but she is sure that he is smiling right now. And it feels weirdly good. “Perfect, I’m going to help you with falling asleep today, because I think it’s unfair to leave you alone, not being able to sleep, even if, as you said, you called by mistake.”

This is getting weirder, and weirder, and Luna Valente doesn’t mind at all. “How would you help me from there, wherever you are?”

“Oh don’t worry about that. Will you do what I tell you, though?”

She bites on her lower lip, thinking, and wine answers for her. “Sure.”

🌙

Damn, damn, damn. Damn everything, because here she is, late again, and it’s probably Pedro ringing her door bell. It’s a disaster, she went to sleep definitely too late for it to be any accepted and her friend is gonna kick her ass in a minute. Wanting or not, Luna needs to open him, he looks at her super angry, but as soon as he sees her, he laughs so loudly.

She pouts, but honestly she can’t be stressed at all after last night’s letting all tension out. She isn’t even feeling any disgust with herself as she is planning to block the number to this guy, in case he calls her or something. Pedro seems to be very smug, but she ignores that.

“How late are we?” The brunette asks, running around as he just goes to the kitchen and makes himself a coffee.

“We are on perfect time to manage. I decided to scare you a little so you hurry up your little butt faster around.”

As soon as she sees that, she growls and huffs and goes to her bedroom to get dressed, and bless this bastard for driving her today, because she isn’t in a mood for subway today. She will be paranoid and think that every hot guy is the guy. His voice and his ideas were hot as fuck, so it’s obvious her brain will just go towards the attractive men.

“What is wrong with you, little one? You seem absent today. Tell me, what time did you go to sleep?”

She just rolls her eyes and pushes him out of her apartment, despite the fact that he is still holding one of her cat mugs.

Pedro is driving very weirdly, or at least Luna thinks that. He is a mess, but she feels with him always safe, right now safe enough to focus on her thoughts as she is wondering what the fuck is wrong with her that she called this guy last night. What the fuck is wrong with her at all? She has no idea, but this was so weird and so hot, and the wine didn’t help her to chill. Her eyes are set on the road in front of them, and before she can wake up, they are on uni’s parking lot and Pedro is poking her on the cheek to leave the car.

“Okay, I know,” he says and Luna throws him a weird look. “You know what?”

“Drugs. I’m sure it’s this, because you haven’t trashed me one single time during the way here, and usually you keep telling me how to drive, even if you don’t own a car.”

She rolls her eyes. “I have just other stuff on my head. I will tell you later, but now I gotta go to bathroom, because you idiot didn’t let me brush my hair.”

“You look pretty, maybe Balsano will think your bed head is hot.” Pedro hums, but she just shakes her head and walks quickly to the closest bathroom, since she hates being late.

Her eyes are focused on the phone as she is checking the hour, until she bumps into someone violently; the other person steadies her with their hands on her shoulders. The brunette looks up and blinks surprised, seeing no one else, but her physics ta, leaving toilet for women, which is weird, but his eyes sparkling with amusement, and this smirk don’t really let her think longer about how unusual this is.

“Watch out, Luna, please. We don’t want you to end up on the floor, do we?” he asks with small smirk and she needs to calm her hormones, and this is going to be a problem, since all tension that left her last night is all back, twice as strong, because so close to Matteo she has never been.

The brunette manages to speak, though. “Yes, yes, I’m sorry about that. I hope nothing happened to you.”

He sends her a smile. “Oh, don’t worry about that.”

With this, he caresses her shoulders last time, and leaves, probably to his small office and then to class, which means she doesn’t have much time. She still needs to brush her hair, even if he already seen her. Pedro is gonna pay for saying it and messing with her (bad) luck.

She enters the bathroom and without anything just searches for her brush in the back. Her eyes automatically swim towards the bolded number on the wall.

It’s not there anymore.

🌙

Sitting on her seat in physics class, next to her best friend who knows fucking nothing, is the most difficult thing. She has no idea what people around her are speaking, but now her mind is busy with the fact, how something written who knows when, could go off so easily, when just the very day before it was there visible and healthy.

She has really no idea, this is so, so confusing and she can’t tell Pedro, because this asshole is going to make fun of her and say that she seriously needs to drink less and get laid properly, not by herself on the phone, but he is ridiculous jerk with issues, so maybe it won’t be that bad.

For now, Matteo is talking something to them, she doesn’t understand, her mind keeps repeating how he said oh, don’t worry about that and with each and every time she is less calm. He eventually lies his eyes on her, there is something in his look that messes with her every thought.

He winks.

She gasps.

#soy luna #lutteo #lutteoficweek #my writing

[oldthe-nothing-maker]

Hello! I've been really admiring your colored pencil work and was wondering if you had any tips or suggestions on how to blend colors? Or maybe any good references/tutorials I could look at? Thank you very much regardless, and I hope you have a good day!

Hi ! I hope you don’t mind me publishing this publicly, because I’ve been thinking about sharing some traditional art tips I’ve discovered over the years and this ask is the perfect occasion to do it.Okay first of all I’m self-taught and never been to art school so maybe some the things I’m gonna say are actually bad ! Take it with a grain of salt and experiment yourself ! Also this is gonna be about coloured pencils only so... Yeah.Okay so :- I know the tool doesn’t make the artist but when it comes to coloured pencils it makes a great fucken difference whether your pencils are 1euro offbrand Rik et Rok at Auchan or... Better quality. If you’re really determined to work traditionally with pencils, you should think about getting some good pencils, where they have more pigment and a thicker consistence. I’m partial to Faber-Castell Polychromos but they’re very pricey so if you find another good brand that’s cheaper go for it (also hit me up ahah)

- Every brand is different. As I said, I primarily use Faber-Castell but recently my aunt gave me another brand that is a also “quality brand” (I don’t have the box at my flat so I don’t remember the name) but while the colours were really vibrant they also spread and smudged much more easily. I didn’t really like it, but if you’re used to it, I’m sure you can do great stuff !

- Also, use untextured paper. I don’t know why they say grainy paper is ideal for pencils ahah ^^ It gives a weird pixel effect when you scan it because of the tiny white holes you can’t fill with your pencil. I like smooth Canson paper better ! I use Exacompta paper but I mean there are a ton of brands who offer the same stuff.

- You can sketch with a mechanical pencil and everything but you shouldn’t keep graphite pencil on your page when you colour, otherwise your colours are going to get a weird greyish colour and it’s just Ugly. For me it’s the hard part of drawing digitally: I sketch with a mechanical pencil, then I take a coloured pencil and erase every line to trace over it with the coloured pencil. It’s boring and hard but it’s for the greater good.

- When you line with the coloured pencil, take an “in between colour”, like that’s what I call some colours that blend well with everything ? Because lines will smudge so you want to avoid clashes. Dark colours such as purple or black I tend to avoid because huge dark smudges aren’t a good look, unless you’re going for something in that colour palette. Same for all other colours, especially blues (cause the SECOND you use yellow it’s Over - be super careful with yellow and blue I’m warning you so you can avoid my fate). I usually take a deep pink (magenta) because pink is the ideal blend colour since it’s between warm and cool tones. Sometimes when I want to go for a more natural look I use browns that blend well too.- Also once you’re done colouring reline everything because smudged/less clear/less vibrant lines

- I tend to line everything with the same colour so there is continuity within the drawing. I use other colours for when I want a certain item to pop up.

- Pink is your ultimate best friend. Want to make that gradient between yellow and blue ? Use pink in the middle. It works for everything. I love pink.

- The trick is, go lightly at first, then add more and more layers. Think a bit like digital layers ? You do your flats first (rough colours, you don’t even have to fill it all properly like you can leave some white), then you put a layer of another colour (usually with the strokes in another direction like if your first colour has vertical strokes then go horizontally or diagonally), then another, then another again, and you refine that shit until it looks good.

- If you go on my earliest art pages you’ll see that my art wasn’t as well coloured as it is right now. Shit was LIGHT AS FUCK (and I kept complaining that I wasn’t able to get deep colours ahah). As with all shit, it’s gonna take a while to get it right.

- I hate colouring clothes so my Bullshit Secret Technique is horizontal or kinda wavy/following the movement of the clothing crosshatching with a lot of colours until it makes a decent gradient (see  all of my drawings in April 2016)

- Single coloured flats are hard. Get one colour, then get another colour and draw over your flat. Okay it won’t be all the same colour but 1) nuances are good 2it’s easier for some reason. Maybe it’s just in your head ? I don’t know.

- If you can get one of these small eraser pens like pens but they’re erasers, get them, especially to erase your sketch, it saves lives. At least it saved mine. It’s so much easier to erase one line at a time than erase everything then lose track of where was what.

- Get a white gel ink pen for highlights and tiny sparkling stuff- Know where the light parts of your drawing are going to be beforehand because there’s no way to get them back once they’re gone.

- Get a tablet and draw digitally. You can do much more stuff much more easily. Patterns ? Highlights ? Fluorescence ? Ctrl-Z ? Flats ? Resizing ? Last-minute glow in the dark ? Can’t do that traditionally. It’s too late for me cause I’d have to relearn everything and I’m lazy but if you’re getting started draw digitally.

- Otherwise add tiny sparkling stuff it’s really lovely.Aaand here ! I don’t know if that really helped you, I’ve said it before but I draw really instinctively so it’s hard to explain what I do ^^’ Thanks for the compliments though, and have a nice day too !

#text post #i need a me tag #art talk #and nooow i'm going to sleep #silverskye13

[fmservers]

A fictional Facebook Portal videochat with Mark Zuckerberg

TechCrunch: Hey Portal, dial Mark

Portal: Do you mean Mark Zuckerberg?

TC: Yes

Portal: Dialling Mark…

TC: Hi Mark! Nice choice of grey t-shirt.

MZ: Uh, new phone who dis? — oh, hi, er, TechCrunch…

TC: Thanks for agreeing to this entirely fictional interview, Mark!

MZ: Sure — anytime. But you don’t mind if I tape over the camera do you? You see I’m a bit concerned about my privacy here at, like, home

TC: We feel you, go ahead.

As you can see, we already took the precaution of wearing this large rubber face mask of, well, of yourself Mark. And covering the contents of our bedroom with these paint-splattered decorator sheets.

MZ: Yeah, I saw that. It’s a bit creepy tbh

TC: Go on and get all taped up. We’ll wait.

[sound of Mark calling Priscilla to bring the tape dispenser]

[Portal’s camera jumps out to assimilate Priscilla Chan into the domestic scene, showing a generous vista of the Zuckerbergs’ living room, complete with kids playing in the corner. Priscilla, clad in an oversized dressing gown and with her hair wrapped in a big fluffy towel, can be seen gesticulating at the camera. She is also coughing]

Priscilla to Mark: I already told you — there’s a camera cover built into into Portal. You don’t need to use tape now

MZ: Oh, right, right!

Okay, going dark! Wow, that feels better already

[sound of knuckles cracking]

TC: So, Mark, let’s talk hardware! What’s your favorite Amazon Echo?

MZ: Uh, well…

TC: We’d guess one with all the bells & whistles, right? There’s definitely something more than a little Echo Show-y about Portal

MZ: Sure, I mean. We think Alexa is a great product

TC: Mhmm. Do you remember when digital photo frames first came out? They were this shiny new thing about, like, a decade ago? One of those gadgets your parents buy you around Thanksgiving, which ends up stuck in a drawer forever?

MZ: Yeah! I think someone gave me one once with a photo of me playing beer pong on it. We had it hanging in the downstairs rest room for the longest time. But then we got an Android tablet with a Wi-Fi connection for in there, so…

TC: Now here we are a decade or so later with Portal advancing the vision of what digital photo frames can be!

MZ: Yeah! I mean, you don’t even have to pick the pictures! It’s pretty awesome. This one here — oh, right you can’t see me but let me describe it for you — this one here is of a Halloween party I went to one year. Someone was dressed as SpongeBob. I think they might have been called Bob, actually… And this is, like, some other Facebook friends doing some other fun stuff. Pretty amazing.

You can also look at album art

TC: But not YouTube, right? But let’s talk about video calling

MZ: It’s an amazing technology

TC: It sure is. Skype, FaceTime… live filters, effects, animoji…

MZ: We’re building on a truly great technology foundation. Portal autozooming means you don’t even have to think about watching the person you’re talking to! You can just be doing stuff in your room and the camera will always be adjusting to capture everything you’re doing! Pretty amazing.

TC: Doing what Mark? Actually, let’s not go there

MZ: Portal will even suggest people for you to call! We think this will be a huge help for our mission to promote Being Well — uh, I mean Time Well Spent because our expert machine learning algorithms will be nudging you to talk to people you should really be talking to

TC: Like my therapist?

MZ: Uh, well, it depends. But our AI can suggest personalized meaningful interactions by suggesting Messenger contacts to call up

TC: It’s not going to suggest I videchat my ex is it?

MZ: Haha! Hopefully not. But maybe your mom? Or your grandma?

TC: Sounds incredibly useful. Well, assuming they didn’t already #deletefacebook.

But let’s talk about kids

MZ: Kids! Yeah we love them. Portal is going to be amazing for kids

TC: You have this storybook thing going on, right? Absent grandparents using Portal to read kids bedtime stories and what not…

MZ: Right! We think kids are going to love it. And grandparents! We’ve got these animal masks if you get bored of looking at your actual family members. It’s good, clean, innovative fun for all the family!

TC: Yeah, although, I mean, nothing beats reading from an actual kid’s book, right?

MZ: Well…

TC: If you do want to involve a device in your kid’s bedtime there are quite a lot of digital ebook apps for that already. Apple has a whole iBooks library of the things with read-aloud narration, for example.

And, maybe you missed this — but quite a few years ago there was a big bunch of indie apps and services all having a good go at selling the same sort of idea of ‘interactive remote reading experiences’ for families with kids. Though not many appear to have gone the distance. Which does sort of suggest there isn’t a huge unmet need for extra stuff beyond, well, actual children’s books and videochat apps like Skype and FaceTime.

Also, I mean, children’s story reading apps and interactive kids’ e-books are pretty much as old as the hills in Internet terms at this point. So, er, you’re not really moving fast and breaking things are you!?

MZ: Actually we’re more focused on stable infrastructure these days

TC: And hardware too, apparently. Which is a pretty radical departure for Facebook. All those years everyone thought you were going to do a Facebook phone but you left it to Amazon to flop into that pit… Who needs hardware when you can put apps and tracker pixels on everything, right?!

But here you are now, kinda working with Amazon for Portal — while also competing with Alexa hardware by selling your own countertop device… Aren’t you at all nervous about screwing this up? Hardware IS hard. And homes have curtains for a reason…

MZ: We’re definitely confident kids aren’t going to try swivelling around on the Portal Plus like it’s a climbing frame, if that’s what you mean. Well, hopefully not anyway

TC: But about you, Facebook Inc, putting an all-seeing-eye-cum-Internet-connected-listening-post into people’s living rooms and kids’ bedrooms…

MZ: What about it?

[MZ speaking to someone else in the room] Does the speaker have an off switch? How do I mute this thing?

TC: Hello? Mark?

[silence]

[sound comes back on briefly and a snatch of conversation can be heard between Mark and Priscilla about the need to buy more diapers. Mark is then heard shouting across the room that his Shake Shack order of a triple cheeseburger and fries plus butterscotch malt is late again]

[silence] 

[crackle and a congested throat clearing sound. A child is heard in the background asking for Legos]

MZ: Not now okay honey. Okay hon-, uh, hello — what were you saying?

TC: Will you be putting a Portal in Max’s room?

MZ: Haha! She’d probably prefer Legos

TC: August?

MZ: She’s only just turned one

TC: Okay, let’s try a more direct question. Do you at all think that you, Facebook Inc,

might have a problem selling a $200+ piece of Internet-connected hardware when your company is known for creeping on people to sell ads?

MZ: Oh no, no! — we’ve, like, totally thought of that!

Let me read you what marketing came up with. Hang on, it’s around here somewhere…

[sound of paper rustling]

Here we go [reading]:

Facebook doesn’t listen to, view, or keep the contents of your Portal video calls. Your Portal conversations stay between you and the people you’re calling. In addition, video calls on Portal are encrypted, so your calls are always secure.

For added security, Smart Camera and Smart Sound use AI technology that runs locally on Portal, not on Facebook servers. Portal’s camera doesn’t use facial recognition and doesn’t identify who you are.

Like other voice-enabled devices, Portal only sends voice commands to Facebook servers after you say, ‘Hey Portal.’ You can delete your Portal’s voice history in your Facebook Activity Log at any time.

Pretty cool, huh!

TC: Just to return to your stable infrastructure point for a second, Mark — did you mean Facebook is focused on security too? Because, well, your company keeps leaking personal data like a sieve holds water…

MZ: We think of infrastructure as a more holistic concept. And, uh, as a word that sounds reassuring

TC: Okay, so of course you can’t 100% guarantee Portal against hacking risks, though you’re taking precautions by encrypting calls. But Portal might also ‘accidentally’ record stuff adults and kids say in the home — i.e. if its ‘Hey Portal’ local listening function gets triggered when it shouldn’t. And it will then be 100% up to a responsible adult to find their way through Facebook’s labyrinthine settings and delete those wiretaps, won’t it?

MZ: You can control all your information, yes

TC: The marketing bumpf also doesn’t spell out what Facebook does with ‘Hey Portal’ voice recordings, or the personal insights your company is able to glean from them, but Facebook is in the business of profiling people for ad targeting purposes so we must assume that any and all voice commands and interactions, with the sole exception of the contents of videocalls, will go into feeding that beast.

So the metadata of who you talk to via Portal, what you listen to and look at (minus any Alexa-related interactions that you’ve agreed to hand off to Amazon for its own product targeting purposes), and potentially much more besides is all there for Facebook’s taking — given the kinds of things that an always-on listening device located in a domestic setting could be accidentally privy to.

Then, as more services get added to Portal, more personal behavioral data will be generated and can be processed by Facebook for selling ads.

MZ: Well, I mean, like I told that Senator we do sell ads

TC: And smart home hardware too now, apparently.

One more thing, Mark: In Europe, Facebook didn’t used to have face recognition technology switched on did it?

MZ: We had it on pause for a while

TC: But you switched it back on earlier this year right?

MZ: Facebook users in Europe can choose to use it, yes

TC: And who’s in charge of framing that choice?

MZ: Uh, well we are obviously

TC: We’d like you to tap on the Portal screen now, Mark. Tap on the face you can see to make the camera zoom right in on this mask of your own visage. Can you do that for us?

MZ: Uh, sure

[sound of a finger thudding against glass]

MZ: Are you seeing this? It really is pretty creepy!

Or — I mean — it would be if it wasn’t so, like, familiar…

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before a joint hearing of the US Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, April 10, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

[sound of a child crying]

Priscilla to Mark: Eeeew! Turn that thing off!

TC: Thanks Mark. We’ll leave you guys to it.

Enjoy your Shake Shack. Again.

Portal: Thanks for calling Mark, TechCrunch! Did you enjoy your Time Well Spent?

Via Natasha Lomas https://techcrunch.com

#TechCrunch

[eyedoteye-blog]

On Guides,

I've been thinking about.. my childhood lately; about what I would say to him, if I could reach back in time. I've been thinking about what he would say to me. How would he see me? Would he be proud? Confused? ..Upset? What would he think about the things I had to say? What do I have to say? And what of my role in the future, as a parent to my child? And what of my role in the present, as a parent to myself? The parent is not only a gaurdian, but a guide to the child, to greater fields, to greater heights. ..but who guides me..? And so I thought about that for a while.

What are guides, and how do they differ from role-models and inspirations?

Guides are those you trust to offer good direction. And they often can be role-models, and they often can be inspirations, or at least, sources of. But unlike, role-models, and inspirations, guides are not so essential to the core of your identity. Guides exist within a segment of time; guides are temporary. They are those who help you build your path in the present moment, and they last only until it is natural for your paths to diverge. They are the architects whom advise you on segments of your journey, but not the journey itself. And yet, through walking the guide-built path you may find yourself in a similar direction as the guides, but that is not the focus of the guide, that is just a possible effect.

Why are guides important?

Guides bring forth an awareness to our journey that is temporaly more significant to us in the present. Often, it is difficult for us assess the situations that are thrust upon us, and how we must navigate them in order to truly further our goals. And we are naturally inclined to compare, but often to weak frames of reference. The painter has little use in the rigurous analysis of their path in relation to the path of their friend, the accountant, or to the path of their idol, a historical and/or private figure (both of which have very little insight to give); yet we do these things anyways. And it causes a great split: between our identity, what we think we should be doing, and what we are doing. It is paramount to keep those things aligned. And we can begin through the recognition of our guides in this present moment. Who do we look to? Not just the figures we think about now and again, and are inspired by their tenacity or vision, but who are we looking at right now for insight?

And so, who are my guides?

This was actually a pretty fun mental model to explore. As I was exploring this idea. I came to realize, I was actually very unclear as to who my current guides are. And it took me a bit of time to really get that list together, but now that I have, I certainly feel a greater sense of awareness; and that feels good!

Note: before we continue, there are some kinda spoilery notes about The Witness coming up, so please consider tuning out if you haven't yet gotten the chance to play this amazing game.

Jonathan Blow

It was March 26, 2016 at roughly 12:48pm PDT that Mr.Blow first planted a magic seed into my noggin. Now this all occured, during a particularly difficult period in my life. And I thought, from the little bits of The Witness hype I overheard, that maybe, maybe, the puzzles in this game can help me regrow some clarity, in my otherwise decayed status. I did not realize at the time, that The Witness was a game that secretly brought the player forth into states of mindfulness. Almost exactly what I needed in a game at that moment. And most peculiarly, this was also a time when in a completely different effort I had picked up a book on The Buddha's first teachings; completely coincidental, yet, so incredibly serendipitous. It really kind of added an extra layer to the whole experience. And I remember reading something from Jonathan at one point, when he said something to the affect of, "Don't let pundits define for you, what a game should be". And as I played The Witness, and as I discovered the..kind of amazing moments that are in the game, that idea of letting go of popular preconceptions, pulled itself out of the ether of my memories, directly into the center of my being, and resonated.

FrankeSmileShow

I have been following Francis Coloumbe's work since I was twelve. Seeing him transform and grow, has been an amazing and incredibly encouraging experience. When I first experienced Frankie, it was through Sluggy's Adventure, a game so rudimentary in design and art-direction, that looking back now, I'm sure even he kind of chuckles at how rough his start was; and not in a way the he's ashamed, but in a way that he is proud. Because now? Frankie is this.. part machine, part sanctuary of game and art, energy. The pace and consistency at which he produces these incredible pieces of art, animation, and prototypes is aboslutley astounding. And it's not just that he unstoppably churns at his passions, it's that he does it with the most humble and casual of demeanors. yeah, idk arts just happen

William Chyr

William first entered my cognizance during my batch at the Recurse Center, where after taking up a peer's offer for a massage in exchange for cool-facts, she informed me of her baloonman-turned-game-developer-friend. Now of course, the whole situation was strange enough that I was sufficently intriguied. And that's when I discovered, this game that has been on my radar for a while, Manifold Garden, was being developed by this very same man. And I was astounded that I had any connection at all to the developer of such an interesting and wonderous title. More importantly, I discovered his stream. William is a man whom, through doubts both self and familial, and stress both creative and temporal, continually manages to find the drive and raw willpower to continue ever onward, climbing up that mountain of passion. And all the while, he carries with him a most sinscere cordiality. William is phenomenal. It is sooo~ refreshing to see someone actively not only encouraging, but embodying positive health within the creative stratosphere -- a place often plagued by the romanticization of poor health and balance. It was William Chyr that got me thinking more actively about my diet, and I'm pretty sure it was he whom really helped seed my fervor for health in creativity.

Lavhorre

Probably the most recent and temporarly fluid of influences, Brittany Salzone brings with her this most playful yet focused attitude to her process. Through her stream I grew the courage to try my hand at illustration. But not just illustration, but the attitude and attenion I bring to it. It was here that I began taking higher education in a creative field more seriously, and it was here that I began to first question the shame I had been carrying for so long about my creative passion. And with my questions came a liberation; a freedom. The strangest circumstances bring forth the most incredible of reflections. I am very thankful to Lavhorre for enabling me in that way.

And I'm very thankful to all of the guides in this list, for enabling, and continuing to enable, my path.

Log#003

Good gosh, so much has occured since my last log two weeks ago. Both in my personal and academic lives. There was some period of some great turmoil, that I think really brought forth the preceding explorations. I suppose there is always a flower to bloom in the darkness. And so due to those complications, I think I'm going to unguiltily give myself an extra week to complete my #thatgamefeel challenge. I think that wil be a more useful measure, to me, of where I currently am.

However, not all news is bleak! I feel it's rather important to remain disciplined in growth, despite the adversities and challenges in life. So I've planted a couple new roots within my being.

I've been deligently goiny through a demystifying mindfulness course from coursera. I've even gotten accepted for a teensy-tiny scholarshiparuno! The course has been really amazing so far. There is a lot of writing involved, and that's pretty tiring, so I've really been getting a chance to excercise that discipline.

I've also begun illustrating, and have even started venturing into digital painting. It's really fun and the act, in itself, is really encouraging.

Good gosh, cold showers! After getting over the initial inhibitions, they are actually super amazing! Lately I've been starting the shower warm, and then slowly transitioning into cold. That way I get to experience the best of both worlds, it starts as relieving and then it leaves me with a great feeeling of refreshment.

Oh, also! I've completely reorganized my room. It is now a low bed and standing desk room. I've always believed that the room is a reflection of the mind and vice-versa; so I'm really happy with this new setup.

On the SphereKoan front, there has been some developments. Notably, I am currently transitioning and updating my workflow to better utilize YouCompleteMe. It's a little tricky because I'm compiling windows programs, but I'm developing the linux subsystem. I've also been making good progress on piecing together the architecture. I've been pulling pieces of my old projects together and reworking it to an infrastructure better suited for 3D-interactive projects. Aside from the technical boring stuff, I've also attached one of my behind-the-scenes, rougher design notes below:

Click To Enhance

I'm i.i, and okay bye