2024-11-14T17:03:37-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/135280266/leaving-town-this-bot-will-write-your-goodbye-letter-for-you Amelia Taylor-Hochberg 2015-08-27T19:31:00-04:00 >2018-11-10T08:07:40-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/w2/w24s0s7dm43xdiqm.png?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>Of course, San Francisco has much to offer. The clothing stores, the cable cars, the botanical gardens. My neighbor the conveyor operator, Alan. The libraries, the sports bars, the bus stations. Sigh.</p></em><br /><br /><p>"Leaving Everywhere" is a piece of net art that spits out "break-up" letters with cities by citing randomly-selected data from the US Census Bureau. Made by <a href="http://tinysubversions.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Darius Kazemi</a>, the letters are all essentially Mad Libs for arguing about cities, where Kazemi's algorithm fills in the blanks.</p><p>The letters are all structured more or less the same, expressing things loved about the city followed by its flaws, then some redeeming quality, a comment on racial demographics, and then sometimes, a Shakespeare quotation. This gives a deliciously arbitrary, and at times a bit unsettling, flavor to the data.&nbsp;</p><p>Here's a prime example, to Boston:</p><p><em>Boston, it is time for us to part. In just a few weeks I'll be moving to Newark, New Jersey.</em></p><p><em>I'm going to miss things about this city for sure. The bakeries, the Belarusian restaurants, the convention centers. The Greek restaurants, the flower shops, the toll booths. My local communications equipment operator, Delaney. It is with a heavy heart that I leave here.</em></p><p><em>That ...</em></p>