On this page, first, an embedded Spotify playlist with my favorite tracks from all of the albums I favorited this year. Then, in no particular order, a Bandcamp gallery of those albums.
Category: blog
wordpress tweaks for twenty twenty one template
This is a living collection of the custom CSS I’ve added to my Wordpress Twenty Twenty One Theme. Plus links to the websites that provided the useful shortcuts.
We Are What We Are: Chicago and the Paradox of Protests
Democratic societies are alive and malleable, but only because they’re caught in a paradoxical tension between the natural, dynamic, and human will to create—and the controlled, inert, and bureaucratic will towards governance.
Philosophy Untangled Podcast: The Recovering Existentialist
Recorded April 2021
in the world of internet algorithms, there are only two sides to the conflict in israel
As the violence in Israel escalates, so too does the rhetoric around Judaism and global Jewry. Though I have an opinion on the Israel-Palestine conflict, I’m also just a guy in Chicago, so who cares? Right? But what happens over there affects what happens here, especially if you’re Jewish (like me). The American Right has… Continue reading in the world of internet algorithms, there are only two sides to the conflict in israel
turning transparent in the sun
Another shooting happened this week in America. . . . of course, telling when I wrote this doesn’t matter, because such violence happens here almost weekly. But for the sake of example, I’m referring to the case of Robert Aaron Long, a White Evangelical terrorist who deliberately targeted Asian people at two different massage parlors… Continue reading turning transparent in the sun
new essay forthcoming in “the chicago neighborhood guidebook” from belt publishing
After a couple of years of hard work on the part of its editor and authors, Belt Publishing today opened pre-sales for its new Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook, due to hit shelves this fall. Based on the success of its “idiosyncratic” guidebook series for Cleveland and Detroit, the Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook aims to explore community history… Continue reading new essay forthcoming in “the chicago neighborhood guidebook” from belt publishing
the ethics of digital face-swapping
I’ve published a new essay for the Center for Digital Ethics & Policy on the ethics of digital face-swapping, or the technology used to supplant different faces on different bodies and put them in digital spaces where they don’t belong. As suggested by the pied ethical reportage of digital face-swapping, deepfakes lack the charm of… Continue reading the ethics of digital face-swapping
how to market in the manufacturing industry
Last week I spoke about marketing trends in the manufacturing industry with Hubstaff, a time-tracking and productivity platform (and digital innovator that has emerged from the nascent Rust Belt innovation space). Manufacturing is a complicated industry in the U.S., with its human capital increasingly threatened by automation. That’s why it’s important for manufacturers to tell… Continue reading how to market in the manufacturing industry
everything your new year’s resolutions will do to your brain and body: spending less and saving more
The good folks at MEL Magazine reached out to me at the beginning of this year to follow up some other conversations I’ve had with them the past few years about saving money and spending less. According to the writer, I’m a bona fide “super saver.” When asked about how my habits and health started… Continue reading everything your new year’s resolutions will do to your brain and body: spending less and saving more
ben van loon 