The Universal Mirror
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Skeuomorph
13 min read
The author uses 'skeuomorphically' to describe how writing culture has become about the symbolic trappings rather than the substance. Understanding skeuomorphism—design elements that imitate older forms without functional necessity—illuminates the author's critique of modern writing culture.
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Reynard the Fox
17 min read
The author directly mentions this medieval French literary cycle as an example of content that doesn't perform well with readers. This 12th-13th century collection of satirical beast fables featuring Reynard the Fox is a fascinating piece of medieval literature most readers won't know deeply.
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Edison's Black Maria
10 min read
The author mentions Thomas Edison's Black Maria studio as one of the eclectic topics The Hinternet has covered. This was the world's first film production studio, built in 1893, and represents a pivotal moment in cinema history that most readers likely know little about.
Friends! Please remember that The Hinternet will be going paid-subscription-only as of January 1. We sincerely want to bring as many of you as possible into the semi-exclusive and self-sequestering community of readers that can really only exist beneath a paywall. For that reason, between now and the end of the year we are offering a massive discount on paid subscriptions. It is in your interest to get in now!
You will also be aware, no doubt, that we are entering the season of giving. Some readers have found at Christmases past that a Hinternet subscription has the power to warm its recipient’s hearts, which sometimes triggers an escalatory spiral of quid-pro-quo generosity that can have no real end. So please consider giving a subscription to your friends or loved ones as a gift, and get ready for the boons to redound back upon you in turn.
(Unfortunately there does not seem to be a way to configure the gift subscription offer so as to include the massive discount, but what can we say? Do it anyway? This is about giving, after all.)
On our side, we need a high percentage of paid subscriptions in order to maintain the Hinternet as a viable operation — to pay our guest contributors, to pursue larger-scale cultural initiatives, to pay our (real, human) assistants and collaborators, to maintain all the various monthly subscriptions for all the apps and tools that enable us to do what we do, etc. On your side, the simple fact is that the only Hinternet experience worth having at all is the one made possible by a paid subscription. Everything else is loitering in the parking-lot.
You should also buy my book, both for yourself and as a gift for your friends and loved ones. The critics, so far, are unanimous: they deem it great. But in order to be allowed to write more “great” books (I’ve got one cooking up on love right now), this one has to make back the money paid to its author as an advance, and in order for that to happen, you all need to start clicking “purchase” in greater numbers, adopting it for your book clubs, your school curricula, your indices librorum prohibitorum (in which case you are invited, nay encouraged, to buy all copies in existence, and to burn them).
“How,” you might be asking now,
...This excerpt is provided for preview purposes. Full article content is available on the original publication.
