🕶A Smarter Dumbphone, The Lovecraftian Phase, and Tiny Internets

man-made horrors beyond comprehension

Hey friends! Welcome to this week’s edition of The Land of Random.

2024 is just about half over - it’s honestly kind of hard to believe.

This week’s “big news” was Apple going all in on AI (we saw that coming lol) and Twitter making likes private.

YaY. At least all the miiverse memes about Twitter were funny.

MEANWHILE

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It’s hard for me to get excited about new Apple devices when all that happens is more expensive devices. ($2000 iPads? Why? It can’t even run MacOS)

i’d be better off buying an old iPad off Backmarket and getting a Framework laptop with an unholy amount of RAM.

I know I’ve said this before - but I will likely NEVER buy a new device again because of Backmarket.

but let’s get off of the mainstream topics.

Are you watching any good shows lately?

I still need to start watching the new season of The Boys and House of Dragons.

I’m currently rewatching Castlevania. It’s so incredibly well done - I wonder if the upcoming Tomb Raider show will be anywhere near as good?

Let’s dive in!

🕶A Smarter Dumbphone

The LightPhone III was announced last week - and this one might just be the “one” that works.

I got the chance to check out a friend’s LightPhone a few months ago - despite its unique features I just couldn’t fathom ever using one.

NOT without carrying around an iPad mini with LTE or something like that.

Random side note: I’d like to buy one of the CAT flip phones or Qin F22 pros. They’re crazy cheap and infinitely more useful than a Lightphone 1 or 2.

Lightphone 3 on the other hand . . .

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It’s a HUGE upgrade from the LightPhone II.

We future-proofed this phone so that we can provide meaningful software updates without asking you to upgrade to a new product. The Light Phone III adds a metal frame, USB-C, fingerprint ID, a flashlight, 5G, an NFC chip, and a clickable wheel.

We’ve also added a camera, but… in our own way. Taking inspiration from our favorite point-and-shoot film cameras, it has a dedicated two-step shutter button, with center focus and a fixed focal length. (source)

As soon as I read that description I said to myself “ohhhhhhhhh this - THIS is the phone where they start trying to add more useful features.”

payments? maybe Spotify? They’ve discussed the possibility of integrating Beeper . . .

They’re thinking about how to integrate the Spotify API, build a way to get Uber or Lyft running on the Light Phone, make payments, send voice notes, and more. He’s interested in integrating with Beeper, too, to add more messaging services. Light isn’t steadfastly against apps, Tang reminds me, other than the endless feed ones. It’s just against the chaos of modern smartphones, and it’s trying to find better ways to get the features people want without the chaos that so often comes with them. It’s a tricky balance to strike. Light has also been playing with ChatGPT and other AI tools to see if they might be a way to bring users more information without subjecting them to endless news feeds and engagement bait. (source)

Heck I’d take SoundCloud or Pandora over the idea of uploading MP3’s all the time.

The camera is also a huge benefit. It’s so useful to have a camera these days.

With all the specs they’ve added to the Light Phone III - this is the first one where software updates may lead to an increase in sales.

I think there’s a decent chunk of people who’d relish the idea of using the Light Phone as long as they could use it to pay at checkout or listen to music.

I’ll be keeping a close eye on the software updates for this one.

Check out the Light Phone III at the link!

🐙The Lovecraftian Phase

There’s an old joke that our pop culture goes between interest in vampires or zombies every decade or so.

I’d argue we’re in an entirely new era. The era of Lovecraft and lore monsters.

There’s been small hints of “cosmic” horror over the years - with terrifying movies like Event Horizon or The Mist.

Both of those are soooo scary.

I’d say the Lovecraft phase encapsulates the following . . .

Monsters from the void. Cthulhu. Wendigos.

SCP’s, the Backrooms.

Unknown monsters who can’t be stopped (usually).

Over the past few years - there’s been a rekindled interest in Lovecraftian-type monsters.

• A Quiet Place

• Bird Box

• Lovecraft Country

• Antlers

• Black Spot

• Love Death and Robots “In the Vaulted halls Entombed”

• The Backrooms Youtube series

• The AHS Feral episode

Even video games have been getting into the action.

• Once Human

• Hunt: Showdown

• Decadent

• Phantom Line

I’m not sure when this trend will sputter out, but I do hope we get an “official Cthulhu” movie before it runs its course.

🕸Tiny Internets

I do love the alternative internet - webrings, web forums, all that which exudes “the old days” before the algorithms came to rot our brains.

Not that one can’t find cool stuff on IG, TikTok, or Facebook - it just involves diving into “the endless feed” to get there.

I discovered a fun little project by Spencer Chang called “Tiny Internets” with the following questions.

How can we make the web more natural and human-first rather than computers or institutions? How do we wish to interact with the internet beyond "browsing?” How would we shape the internet and our container for inhabiting it (currently, our browsers) if they were our neighborhoods and homes?

Good questions!

Years ago - newsletters kind of felt this way, but in recent years have gotten all . . . how shall I say. hmmmm.

I GrEw My NeWsLeTTer to 20,000 SuBsCrIbErS UsInG ThEsE TeN TiPS

ReAd My SoUlEsS LiSt NeWsLeTteR

Andddd that’s exactly how Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and everything else feel.

The “real” internet awaits on random forums and neocities webrings.

Here’s some more thoughts from “Tiny Internets.”

We have a chance to save the web for ourselves, to reclaim our spaces and welcome our neighbors. Instead of an all-encompassing Internet that is controlled by the few but powerful. Let us imagine and recall the original promise: a set of decentralized yet interconnected nodes, islands, villages. Rather than isolated silos, the pioneers of the web advocated for networks, archipelagos, and communities. The internet is inherently pluriversal, made of many autonomous and diverse worlds. It's our responsibility to maintain and cultivate it such that it can be a place for all worlds to thrive. Let us work towards a web that is soft, quiet, and natural. Let us make tiny internets. (source)

Very fun ideas - and optimistic too!

Part of my goal for The Land of Random is to share as many “off the beaten path” links as possible - like a weekly Stumbleupon of sorts - along with my musings on random things.

I hope to see some more cool stuff from Tiny Internets! Keep an eye on this one.

🐙The Land of Random

Let’s dive in shall we? Into the randommmm of the interwebz

Paint the Spinning Disk

Think Vinyl, but with painting

Crusader Knights in WWI

This was one of the craziest articles I’ve read in a while. Full-on direct descendants of Crusader knights with armor and everything . . . trying to sign up to fight in WW1!!

May I have some Oats, brother?

This video (and its many sequels) slaps, and I watch it every few years.

Kino Video App

REALLY COOL video filming app for iPhone - lots of cool presets, and built by a company that’s invested in its products. It’s not another CoOl FiLtErS ApP.

Cobalt

Very useful tool for video archiving. Past link → get mp3 or mp4

The Web Crawler Revolt

is beginning to happen. Read this blog for an in-depth argument.

Sounds of The Forest

Listen to forests from around the world on this interactive map!

Caffeinated Web Ring

A webring of websites by coffee enjoyers.

That’s all for this week!

That’s all for this week! See you next time.

Unlessssss you want to check out this cool upcoming book creation program.

OR explore my web of links on Kinopio!