Tag: skill-estate
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Skill-estate in the raw
Our conventional “history” of labor unions focuses on the violent conflicts and corruption, from Haymarket to Hoffa. As I read about the history of printing, one constant emerges. Guilds have been around for 500 years in highly skilled trades, from masons to printers to silversmiths. The original purpose of a guild was a bank for…
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One problem
This interview focuses on the AI part of the Hollywood strike. The actors are missing one important point about the nature of copyright. They want each actor to own the copyright on his own image and voice and behavior. Copyright was NOT meant to defend one author against a publisher. One author can never mobilize…
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Substack in 1830
In 1896 William Dean Howells, known today as one of Twain’s associates, wrote a brief remembrance of his father’s country newspaper in the 1840s and 1850s. This was in Ashtabula at the northeast edge of Ohio. He discussed the Patent Insides, which were dominant in 1896: = = = = = START HOWELLS: Twice or…
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The Stevens rule
Very old rule: Tight budgets cause smart plans and smart designs. Unlimited money causes stupid plans and stupid designs. The rule is clear with designs. My favorite example is Brooks Stevens. His 1947 design for the Willys wagon was TIGHTLY constrained by postwar restrictions. Willys was last on the priority list for bodymakers and machine…
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Loyalty is lethal
Good long interview with a striking actress and a striking writer for Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Pittsburghers have put together their own Strike Paper where they can continue practicing their craft, but for some reason they haven’t DIVORCED themselves from the paper. They already have the new marriage with their CUSTOMERS, so they don’t need the…
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Puppets
Rob Lowe’s latest piece at the Ankler is about the total disconnection from SKILL at all levels. Hollywood doesn’t pay for skill, it pays for the PRESENCE OF A BODY. In pre-tech eras when the studios were more functional, executives and writers and actors were all expected to use the SKILLS appropriate to their position.…
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Just before audions
Found what seems to be the first electrical analog computer, or at least the first to be described as such. It’s in this 1909 physics journal. The Arthur Wright Electrical Device for evaluating Formulae and solving Equations wasn’t really a practical device and it wasn’t especially new. Wright was using modified versions of the Wheatstone…
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Legacy and copyright again
Branching off from the Kellogg patent insides, I started reading histories of stereotyping. 1. From Gutenberg’s movable type through the long line of inventors who repeatedly REdiscovered stereotyping, a pattern emerges clearly. Each inventor tried to keep the process secret through oaths (NDAs) and patents and copyrights. When the inventor died the process died with…
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One promising note
The philosophers and Intelligent Design folks are still handling the wrong end of the AI question, trying to knock its competence and credibility and HumanPersonNess. Those qualities are IRRELEVANT to the Tech Tyrants who are mobilizing and implementing AI. The Hollywood strikers, who were formerly on the wrong side of nearly all questions, are hitting…
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BIG victory for locals
I’ve been strictly avoiding mainstream media since the start of the hoaxocaust. This year I started watching some web coverage from TV stations. Locally because of the wildfires, nationally to see reactions to the actors strike. There is one HUGE change in local TV stations. Before the hoaxocaust, most of their ‘location’ reporters were petite…
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Reprint from a year ago
One year ago I wrote this. At that time I didn’t see much hope. Now I think we’re starting to see real signs of the changeover. Why is the ice breaking? Jerome Powell stopped the free-money music that was energizing the demons. = = = = = START REPRINT: We need a Foy Rebellion. Yesterday…
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Bigger questions
This discussion on Reddit verifies a hardass fact of life. Men stop talking about our troubles because women use the information for blackmail. This is actually a special case of a broader rule. Both genders are vulnerable in other situations. Priests and Deepstate want to hear your troubles so they can use the information for…
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Raw materials
The Ankler interviews a striking writer who makes a striking analogy. Every real business relies on raw materials or basic labor, and makes money by organizing and selling the materials and labor. “You wouldn’t have content, you wouldn’t be talking about streaming, if you didn’t have writers and actors to create the raw material.” Honest…
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The yak is the point
I’m doing an electronic project this week, aiming to make the GenRad 1565 into a practical microphone. If it works, I want to record a series of audio segments from Henry Wallace’s book. The entire purpose is fun, not practical. I know nobody will listen. As in any project, there’s a certain amount of yak-shaving.…
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Khaldun on the Dry Line
Still running through old materials looking for more weird clocks to animate. One clock was described in a journal about Islamic culture, which also included a lengthy article on Khaldun. His description of historical cycles is both accurate and well-known. He also had trenchant observations on a subject closer to home: the Dry Line. Reviewing…
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