I don't have much to say this week, so here's some stuff from other people.
The Dead World of Blippi by Nathan J Robinson (from 2020) explores the world of online children's entertainer Blippi and finds it hollow.
Modern web bloat means some pages load 21MB of data - entry-level phones can't run some simple web pages, and some sites are harder to render than PUBG- A clunky headline, but it points to something important. When my family was first on the internet we used to joke about how one day the internet would load like cable channels, you would click a button and it would be there waiting. This was based on the idea that would stay the same and bandwidth would get ever faster. Well bandwidth did get faster (in general) but websites bloated and bloated with all sorts of invisible garbage behind the scenes to load some text and pictures. I Can Stop Playing Balatro Whenever I Want - A short video exploration of what it's like to start playing Balatro, a digital card game that has sunk its teeth into me.
2024 Hugo Finalists Announced - I don't think anything I nominated in the big slots became a finalist, but that just means I get to find new books! Also there's a nice number of Chinese language finalists, which at least some of the fans from the Chengdu world con last year took advantage of their nominating privileges. Regarding HIGHLANDER 2: THE QUICKENING by John Bierly - I discovered this week that despite its reputation I really like Highlander 2 - The Quickening. And not in a so-bad-its-good sort of way, but actually genuine enjoyment Sorry to everyone who still thought I had good taste.
