The Future of the Map Isn’t a Map at All—It’s Information – Rebecca J. Rosen – The Atlantic

To Parsons, maps can be so much more than maps. They can be all the information that exists in physical space, and then a layer of intelligence that can put that information to use. He says in the interview, "How can we almost predict the sorts of information that you’re going to need in your day to day life? Can I say, uh well, this morning you’ve got an extra 20 minutes to have your breakfast cereal because the train you normally take has been delayed. You haven’t asked me that, but I know because of what you do usually, and I’ve got these various feeds of data that are contextual. I can start to make those decisions for you." Of course, he notes, Google’s going to have proceed with caution as it rolls out these kinds of services because "there’s kind of a fine line that you run between this being really useful and it being creepy." That’s going to be pretty tough to get around.

via The Future of the Map Isn't a Map at All—It's Information – Rebecca J. Rosen – The Atlantic.

Steidl

This is an opportunity to celebrate all the gloriosensuality of books, at a time when many in the industry are turning against them. The idea is that is should relax you, like when you read a book, to a level of meditation and concentration. Paper Passion has evolved into something quite beautiful and unique. To wear the smell of a book is something very chic. Books are players in the intellectual world, but also in the world of luxury.

via Steidl.

Engaging with the ‘Screwmeneutical Imperative,’ or why I teach humanities students how to code

But since most of my days are spent embedded in development of “new” ways of interacting with cultural artifacts—texts, images, and even code itself—I figured I’d get a little meta in this space. I’m going to discuss why the heck I’d ever teach programming concepts (and code) to humanities students.

via Engaging with the 'Screwmeneutical Imperative,' or why I teach humanities students how to code – ProfHacker – The Chronicle of Higher Education.