“Machine translations give workable renderings of basic texts, but complicated ideas or phrasings can trip up even the most sophisticated software, particularly in non-Romance languages. And when it comes to nuance, ‘machine translation just won’t get you there,’ … People worldwide are stepping up to provide that nuance, free of charge.”
Tag: 05.17.09
Technology-Addled, Multitasking Distraction: It’s Good For You
There’s an entire small industry of pundits decrying our web-enabled, Twitterfied short attention spans – and folks are trying meditation, Adderall, “lifehacking” and all manner of strategies to maintain focus. But, says Sam Anderson, “Focus is a paradox – it has distraction built into it. The two are symbiotic; they’re the systole and diastole of consciousness … We need both.”
Police: Stolen Henry Moore Sculpture Melted For Scrap
“One of the most audacious British art thefts, the disappearance of a two-tonne Henry Moore sculpture worth £3m, has been solved by police, who believe that the internationally revered Reclining Figure sculpture was melted down and sold for no more than £1,500.”
Drama Desk Awards Broadway
The Drama Desk Awards were bestowed, as usual, to Broadway shows over off-Broadway alternatives. “Billy Elliot” danced off with 11 prizes, including best musical.
TV Nets Try To Reinvent Their Ad Bait
“The recession has suppressed demand for commercial time during the shows the networks are planning for the 2009-10 season, which starts in September. That is particularly true for crucial advertising categories like automotive, retail and financial services. As a result, the broadcasters are making some startling moves in hopes of shaking up the market.”
Chicago Art Institute Addition – A Relationship To The City
“I can think of no other art museum in the world that mingles the experience of art and existing urban architecture so boldly and directly. And I can think of no other architectural heritage so appropriately considered alongside modern art.”
America’s Most Endangered Places
The list “reminds us how often people and groups who never signed up to be preservationists are thrust into the role. Schools, churches, hospitals all have primary purposes that make it awkward and sometimes impossible for them to be stewards of historic structures.”
A Succession For Spoleto
“After more than three decades as artistic director of the festival’s chamber music series, [Charles] Wadsworth — long credited with transforming the genre into a populist art form in this country — will no longer imprint his blend of exuberance and erudition on the midday concerts that Gian Carlo Menotti, the founder of its parent, Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, likened to an aperitif.”
Mikhail Baryshnikov – Portrait Of An Older Dancer
“Mr. Baryshnikov is fond of the old-man quips these days. But his performances are hardly portraits of a diminished star. Rather they are portraits of the dancer as mature artist, one with remarkable physical clarity. And, he still has the best hands in the business.”
More Consumers Ditch Their TVs For Online TV
“As alternative means of watching ‘television’ rapidly mature, the Danny Ledonnes of the world are at the vanguard of a potentially potent economic and social force. People like him could be poised to do to the broadcasting, cable and satellite TV industries what free music downloads did to the recording industry and free online news has done to newspapers — that is, alter everything about the creation, production and delivery of TV.”