• An article about the stoppage of live music.
“A concert also presents an increasingly rare opportunity to focus attention on a unique event as it unfolds in real time. There’s a chance to let an extended, unpredictable arc of sound, light and information envelop me, with no capability to pause or rewind, no temptation to multitask. Emerging from a spectacular concert — which might be as subtle as a jazz set or as walloping as a D.J. set — there’s a shared buzz in the audience, an ecstatic memory. It’s not a sensation I’ve ever gotten from a live stream of a show, or a group playback of a recording through a state-of-the-art sound system or, as I and so many people will be doing in the coming weeks or months, from listening at home with headphones.”
• An essay on computer programming as magic.
“In the world of programming, modules must be imported correctly in order to have the desired power, each function has a specific set of parameters and inputs that must be used properly, and every line must be without the slightest error. Programming and magic require precision.”
• An article on perception and living in the past.
“It takes time for information from our eyes to reach our brain, where it is processed, analysed and ultimately integrated into consciousness. Due to this delay, the information available to our conscious experience is always outdated. So why don’t we notice these delays, and how does the brain allow us to feel like we are experiencing the world in real time?”
brettworks 