capitalism, some capitalism, and more capitalism fail
Howdy [subscriber:firstname | default:yall],
This is the Wolfpaw Weekly. Don’t remember signing up or don’t want this anymore? It’s easy to unsubscribe.
I ended up skipping last week’s newsletter, despite being up at like 3am that morning and thinking about getting one together regardless. I’ve been swamped with work and personal projects that are still ongoing, but an ending to this current batch of busyness is in sight.
I realize that a large part of living and working online entails a bit of personal branding. I’m certainly doing it here, even if it can be a bit toxic and not conducive to real connection. But what are we online if not conglomerations of parasocial relationships?
I am stuck in this place where I want to share more of the fun, side projects that I’m working on, tools that I hope will be useful (like my updated WordPress theme), or random links and thoughts that I want to share. At the same time I don’t want to commodify it to the point that I am doing unpaid labor at the same level of paying client work without benefit.
Is there an answer out there? A balance that doesn’t feel forced or performative in either direction? If you’ve got any ideas I’d love to hear them.
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I’m not surprised, yet it’s still so brazen.
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The Ghosts of Brooks Brothers – Sapna Maheshwari and Vanessa Friedman, NYT
Oh look, another hedge fund buys another popular long-lived brand, strips it for parts, and leaves others to pay for their bankruptcy proceedings. It’s kind of incredible how this is allowed to happen, and yet not at all surprising.
Hearts are some of the most frequently used emoji and there’s plenty of love to go around
I’ve been really enjoying Jennifer Daniel’s newsletter on how the Unicode consortium makes decisions around emoji. This week she discusses the most used emoji, the hearts, and how the colors of the existing and proposed ones affect how we share concepts like regional flags, sports teams, and sexuality 💝💛💙
“This is your periodic reminder that language is a low-bandwidth technology and it’s totally normal to feel frustrated by the constraints you feel when trying to squeeze your infinitely prismatic emotions into its limited scale.”
Bowser’s penis is being censored by Nintendo – Matt Wille, Input Mag
I feel that the title is enough here, right?
The way that Marlin Moxiespike, founder of Signal, writes about dealing with cell phone hacking companies is as amusing as it is insightful. He basically did a “here’s a random feature we added, just because” quip, and literally did a “it fell off the back of a truck” joke. Switch to Signal.
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So few movies do these days, sigh
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🎥
Jordan Peterson’s Ideology | Philosophy Tube
I can honestly say that I learned a fair amount, and Abigail Thorn continues to educate and entertain in equal measure.
Reality Winner: The Story of an NSA Whistleblower as told by Samantha Bee (Director’s Cut)
Watching this yesterday my husband told me that he’d never heard of Reality Winner, and that’s part of the problem. We can’t expect to
How NFTs Explain Everything Wrong with Art
I admit, I’ve owned a bit of cryptocurrency for years now, and I added a bit earlier this year as the craze was taking off again with NFTs. I’m not against the concept, but I want structural changes to how they work before I take the plunge myself.
Ching Shih: The Pirate Queen • Puppet History
Would that I were such a boss.
This is a cute animation. It’s hard to stick with creativity that you are impassioned by when it seems that nothing is going anywhere, trust me.
Oreo CEO: Stop Making New Oreos
Brennan should be the actual CEO of every company with ideas like these.
I like mockingbirds, and their no-fucks-given attitude. But I do appreciate that state birds could be better!
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Toxic masculinity is harmful to everyone. Radicalization takes place in vulnerable spaces not on accident, but with purposeful measure. There’s a reason that body building forums, furry conventions, and brony sites are spaces where white nationalists try to normalize their fridge ideas that should be expelled from any community that spots them.
#FreeBritney – 2 Girls 1 Podcast
I’m thankful that this interview covers something that not many discussions about Britney Spears’ conservatorship have: don’t forget that this is a legal tool that is used to the detriment of many people, most of them not rich and famous with a legion of fans willing to fight for them.
Episode 60: History of Zoning in America with Keeble – Commune College
Is it racism? It’s racism! While that’s not shocking, learning a bit of history is still useful in pushing back in present times.
Sci-Fi Music Video: “Dolly.Zero” | DUST
It’s dark and weird but it’s also catchy.
Same as the above, but for bill wurtz and capitalism.
Remember to share the stuff that you liked this week. See yall in a week and stay safe! 💝
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