Latest Stories
Most recently published stories on Vocal.
I Tried 5 Random Video Chat Apps So You Don't Have To
I'll be honest with you — I never thought I'd spend an entire weekend cycling through random video chat apps. But after Omegle shut down in late 2023 and the dust finally settled, I kept hearing about new platforms popping up everywhere. Some claiming to be safer. Some claiming to be the "next Omegle." Most of them, I figured, were probably trash.
By CEO A&S Developers6 days ago in Geeks
why I read Banned Books
The first time I picked up a banned book, I felt like I was doing something illegal. My palms were actually sweating. It was just a paperback. No alarm wires. No secret cameras. Just a story someone, somewhere, had decided other people shouldn’t read.
By John Smith6 days ago in Geeks
Speaking to Time Instead of the Room
Much of modern communication is oriented toward immediacy. Writing is framed as something meant to be consumed quickly, reacted to instantly, and replaced just as fast by whatever comes next. Under this model, the value of a piece is measured almost entirely by its initial reception. If it does not land immediately, it is treated as a failure. This assumption narrows the purpose of writing and misunderstands how meaning actually travels through time.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast6 days ago in Critique
AI as a Reflective Surface
Much of the confusion surrounding artificial intelligence comes from treating it as an agent rather than a surface. When people speak about AI “doing the thinking,” “creating the ideas,” or “speaking for someone,” they are often projecting agency onto a system that does not possess intention, belief, or understanding. This projection obscures what is actually happening in many real-world uses. In those cases, AI is not acting as a source of meaning, but as a surface that reflects, redirects, and reshapes what is already present.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast6 days ago in Futurism
Preservation as an Act of Care
Care is usually associated with people, not with ideas. It brings to mind attentiveness, patience, protection, and responsibility toward something fragile. Meaning rarely enters that picture. Thoughts are assumed to be abundant, replaceable, and endlessly renewable. If one is lost, another will come. This assumption feels practical, but it is wrong in a quiet and costly way. Some meanings are not interchangeable. Some insights arrive only once, shaped by a particular moment, a particular season, or a particular convergence of experience that will never repeat in the same form.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast6 days ago in Longevity
The Epstein Files
By now, the name Jeffrey Epstein carries with it far more than the story of one man’s crimes. It is shorthand for power, silence, secret networks, and the tectonic clash between justice and influence. Today, as millions of pages of Epstein Files — documents tied to the investigations into his crimes — have finally been released to the public, the world watches, debates, and sometimes recoils. But what are the Epstein Files? And why are they still shaping headlines, political fights, and global controversies years after Epstein’s death? �
By Jhon smith6 days ago in Criminal
The Seat That Was Already Reserved. AI-Generated.
The bus station closed after midnight. Not officially — the lights stayed on, the ticket window remained open — but the world itself seemed to abandon it. Conversations became whispers, footsteps softer, and even engines sounded distant, like memories rather than machines.
By shakir hamid6 days ago in Horror
