The End

Source: Matt Baron, Cargo Collective

Time to say goodbye.

This blog has formed part of an important personal journey for me over the last couple of years. I’ve treated The Wheat and the Chaff as a repository for interesting stuff from culture to collect and share amongst a handful of friends – the only people I ever expected to read it other than myself. For years that has been pretty much been the case. This week changed that and made me personally aware for the first time just how quickly things can escalate and spread nowadays.

A post from last year, credited to, but reproduced without permission from another site and author, suddenly generated a shit load of buzz and attention. The buzz and attention was completely warranted – it’s a brilliantly written labour of love on an emotive subject that has struck a chord with many. The recipient of it was not. Interestingly, despite the article being posted nearly a year ago, its sudden second-life illustrates that ‘stock & flow‘ aren’t necessarily exclusive in the internet age.

The author was credited upfront and the site was linked at the end of the piece, but this completely failed to recognise the way that people consume information in the age of the internet. As a result, my blog was credited with the piece rather than the original site. I don’t know how it was discovered on my blog with zero visibility rather than on the original site which has a far bigger readership, but it wouldn’t have happened had I directed people to the original source upfront. For that I’m sorry.

My blog has always been a hobby. But for many others, the content they create on their sites is their livelihood, and it’s unfair when that is potentially impinged upon through the thoughtless behaviour of others.

The content on this blog could only be described as ‘eclectic’, from plenty of bolshy strategic thinking and ad land oddities, to Houston Rap, random tumblrs and British Suburban decay, and for that I’m proud. It’s always been about the stuff that I want to read, which has meant I’ve sometimes played fast and loose with copy and pasting. And I forgot along the way that I’m not just collecting a scrapbook for an audience of one.

So for me, this hobby has run its course.

Cheers

(check out the rest of Matt Barron’s portfolio here)

(and go here, it’s great)

Forgotify

4 million songs on Spotify have never been played. Not even once. Forgotify wants to change that. Start listening here.

The Weightless Project

Under the idea of “obesity is preventable, hunger is solvable,” Weightless Project combines wearable technology (Jawbone, Fitbit and Basis partnered with the project so far) to a pressing world problem of hunger.

(via Adverblog)

.GIFYS

Created by LA based advertising agency CP+B, the .GIFYS is the first ever award honouring the humble GIF.

The nominees are seperated into different categories, including Animals, News and Politics, WTF and the highly prized GIF of the Year. The shortlist for each category was selected by a guest expert panelist, including members of Buzzfeed, Gawker and Tumblr, and of course, Lil Bub, who himself found internet fame in early 2012 thanks to the GIF format. Voting is open to the public, and already over 500,000 votes have been cast. The winners, who will be announced today.

There’s something universally appealing about the lo-fi looped animated GIF, and its popularity in recent years has seen it evolve something verging on an artform, capable of entertainment and social commentary. “The gif is now 26 years olds” says award co-founder William Sawyer. “It’s about time they received their due respect with a proper awards show”.

(via Protein)

Brutalist Football

Having visited the San Siro, above, at the tail end of last year to watch a struggling Milan side somehow sneak a draw against AS Roma in a poor game that only came to life in spits and spurts, by far the most awe-inspiring part of the experience was the stadium itself. A huge concrete beast of a thing, with insane spiralling columns connected to an exoskeleton structure, it’s what would happen if HR Giger designed stadiums instead of Alien sets. It’s one of the most striking, ugly-beautiful pieces of design I’ve ever seen.

So I was happy to recently discover an entire tumblr dedicated to celebrating the brutalist architecture of football stadia around the world (rather than celebrating brutal footballers). Two of my favourite things brought together in one place.

Be sure to visit the site for all the locations of the photos featured below, and for even more examples, if you share my odd fascination with these incredible monstrosities of a bygone era.

How architecture can save your life

Architects wield more power than you think over your mental and physical wellbeing, as shown in a new interactive chart by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Beautifully designed by Link Studio, the interactive chart is called “Designing Communities, Shaping Health” and shows the myriad ways in which careful decision-making during the architecture design process can positively impact life.

Check it out here.

An app that enables you to redefine music by looking around

An innovative and interactive musical app called “Sadly By Your Side”, aims to offer a new musical experience with each listen (building upon a concept that Gwilym Gold established). The app allows you to remix the Sadly By Your Side album, which was already released by Davide Cairo on the Fabrica arts label, who collaborated with the making of the app.

Essentially, it responds to the colours in any given environment that the phone’s camera is placed in. For instance, an environment with mostly black-toned colours will alter tempo, while a red or blue background would vary the tone of the piece.

 

350 kinds of zombies explained

Artist Jason Thomson counts over 350 unique species of zombies spread out across the popular media of the last century, and he’s catalogued them all in one 24×36″ poster inspired by vintage medical illustrations. The Map of Zombies has already reached its funding goal on Kickstarter. It should be available for purchase from Thomson’s online shop soon.

(via Co. Create)

 

Sony’s Be Moved microsite is lovely

Check it out here in all it’s beautifully crafted glory.

The Wired World in 2014: speed summary

Digital Intelligence Today have produced a handy speed summary of Wired magazine’s latest need-to-know tech trends for 2014: The Wired World in 2014.