Sometime around the 2020 era, we lost the right to be mediocre at things we love.

No longer can you just bake bread...you must start a sourdough side hustle lol. Wanna stay fit and go jogging or running? Nah, you gotta optimize your biometrics for a marathon. What my point is that every hobby has been enshittified and gentrified into a brand opportunity.

This strange infatuation with optimization culture is killing the human spirit.

So this new year, starting tomorrow, one of my resolutions is to do something bad but fun. Maybe I write a terrible poem. I like to draw and paint, so perhaps I will draw a horse that looks like a table or sing off-key in the showers or in front of my loved ones. The algorithm driving the mainstream social media wants me to be a polished product, but my humanity lives in these messy, unoptimized, cringe-inducing joyful failures.

I will try to reclaim the right to be an amateur. Will you join me?

#creativity #hobbies #art #depression #socialmedia #newyear #resolution #happynewyear #MentalHealth #Culture #enshittification #creative #design #writing #reading #books #drawing #music #gardening #nature #running #fitness

@nlnet @sovtechfund @ngi

boosts are highly appreciated.

The more people who 🪙🪙 chime in, the more fun this will get.

Of course, we highly encourage you to unleash your own 🦄 #creativity and 🧚 #fantasy to lend more 🪷 beauty and 💪 to the campaign. As you do here already every day :)

Remember, only rule. Always use hashtag #smallishug (in low caps)

😎 Let's make #2026 bright.

Sometime around the 2020 era, we lost the right to be mediocre at things we love.

No longer can you just bake bread...you must start a sourdough side hustle lol. Wanna stay fit and go jogging or running? Nah, you gotta optimize your biometrics for a marathon. What my point is that every hobby has been enshittified and gentrified into a brand opportunity.

This strange infatuation with optimization culture is killing the human spirit.

So this new year, starting tomorrow, one of my resolutions is to do something bad but fun. Maybe I write a terrible poem. I like to draw and paint, so perhaps I will draw a horse that looks like a table or sing off-key in the showers or in front of my loved ones. The algorithm driving the mainstream social media wants me to be a polished product, but my humanity lives in these messy, unoptimized, cringe-inducing joyful failures.

I will try to reclaim the right to be an amateur. Will you join me?

#creativity #hobbies #art #depression #socialmedia #newyear #resolution #happynewyear #MentalHealth #Culture #enshittification #creative #design #writing #reading #books #drawing #music #gardening #nature #running #fitness

What If Heavy Files Felt Heavy?

https://www.shiveesh.com/thoughts-and-ideas/what-if-heavy-files-actually-felt-heavy

#HackerNews #WhatIfHeavyFiles #FeltHeavy #Technology #Innovation #DigitalArt #UserExperience #Creativity

What If Heavy Files Felt Heavy?

https://www.shiveesh.com/thoughts-and-ideas/what-if-heavy-files-actually-felt-heavy

#HackerNews #WhatIfHeavyFiles #FeltHeavy #Technology #Innovation #DigitalArt #UserExperience #Creativity

If you're truly into it, go deep into R&D and then you may be eligible for #funding by the many #EUHorizon #innovation programs.

Unleash #creativity, conduct good #research, and give gems of value back, for a commons to stand on. Bring foundational #socialweb technologies, building blocks for our #fediverse.

💕 Check out these fabulous institutions:

@nlnet
@sovtechfund
@PrototypeFund
@NGI_Taler

And of course..

@NGICommons

This one in particular #funds, well..
💎 #commons and 🫂 #cocreation. 😍

Publishing your work increases your luck

https://github.com/readme/guides/publishing-your-work

#HackerNews #Publishing #your #work #increases #your #luck #publishing #your #work #luck #increase #creativity #share #your #knowledge

Drawing with zero-width characters

https://zw.swerdlow.dev

#HackerNews #Drawing #with #zero-width #characters #zero-width #characters #art #encoding #creativity

Ragazzi, basta reels, adottate un Commodore!

✨ Chi ricorda l’emozione di ricevere il proprio primo computer? ✨

Oggi i bambini e i ragazzi crescono immersi in smartphone e social, ma cosa succederebbe se potessero ricevere qualcosa che stimoli davvero la loro creatività, la curiosità e la passione per la tecnologia, proprio come è successo a noi con i nostri primi Commodore?

💡 La vera innovazione nasce dal gioco, dalla sperimentazione e dalla voglia di creare. Non basta scrollare Reels: serve uno strumento che dia potere alla mente dei giovani innovatori di domani.

Risvegliamo in loro la scintilla della curiosità, proprio come hanno fatto con noi i pionieri della tecnologia.

#RedHotCyber #Innovation #Creativity #Coding #FutureMakers #Commodore64 #TechForKids

Qntm's Power Tower Toy

https://qntm.org/files/knuth/knuth.html

#HackerNews #Qntm #Power #Tower #Toy #ToyDesign #Creativity #Engineering

The early web was driven by curiosity, openness, and play, not monetization. Creativity flourished because experimentation was encouraged.

Creator Audrey Witters reflects on that era, using her now-famous animated alien GIF as an example of how playful, freely-shared work helped shape digital culture—and why preserving it still matters.

Learn more ⤵️ https://blog.archive.org/2025/12/22/audrey-witters/

#EarlyWeb #DigitalHistory #Creativity @internetarchive

The early web was driven by curiosity, openness, and play, not monetization. Creativity flourished because experimentation was encouraged.

Creator Audrey Witters reflects on that era, using her now-famous animated alien GIF as an example of how playful, freely-shared work helped shape digital culture—and why preserving it still matters.

Learn more ⤵️ https://blog.archive.org/2025/12/22/audrey-witters/

#EarlyWeb #DigitalHistory #Creativity @internetarchive

There's no such thing as a fake feather [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5yV1Q9O6r4

#HackerNews #noFakeFeather #video #FeatherArt #creativity #innovation #YouTube

Ragazzi, basta reels, adottate un Commodore!

✨ Chi ricorda l’emozione di ricevere il proprio primo computer? ✨

Oggi i bambini e i ragazzi crescono immersi in smartphone e social, ma cosa succederebbe se potessero ricevere qualcosa che stimoli davvero la loro creatività, la curiosità e la passione per la tecnologia, proprio come è successo a noi con i nostri primi Commodore?

💡 La vera innovazione nasce dal gioco, dalla sperimentazione e dalla voglia di creare. Non basta scrollare Reels: serve uno strumento che dia potere alla mente dei giovani innovatori di domani.

Risvegliamo in loro la scintilla della curiosità, proprio come hanno fatto con noi i pionieri della tecnologia.

#RedHotCyber #Innovation #Creativity #Coding #FutureMakers #Commodore64 #TechForKids

Jonathan Blow has spent the past decade designing 1,400 puzzles for you

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/jonathan-blow-has-spent-the-past-decade-designing-1400-puzzles-for-you/

#HackerNews #JonathanBlow #Puzzles #GameDesign #IndieGames #Creativity

How GenAI is taking true fans activity – and creativity – to the next level

Walled Culture has written a number of times about the true fans approach – the idea that creators can be supported directly and effectively by the people who love their work. As Walled Culture the book explains (available as a free ebook), one of the earliest and best expositions of the concept came from Kevin Kelly, former Executive Editor at Wired magazine, in an essay he wrote originally […]

#ai #creativity #disney #ecosystem #fanArt #fanfic #genai #kevinKelly #london #madrid #midiaResearch #newYork #openai #sora #tokyo #trueFans #universalMusicGroup

https://walledculture.org/how-genai-is-taking-true-fans-activity-and-creativity-to-the-next-level/

Ideas Aren't Getting Harder to Find

https://asteriskmag.com/issues/12-books/ideas-arent-getting-harder-to-find

#HackerNews #Ideas #Innovation #Creativity #Inspiration #HackerNews

Intention: Critical #Creativity in the Classroom Foreword

#education #learning #artwork

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkJgY2VakmE&t=13s