“Donor-advised funds have been a bad deal for American society. They have produced too many private benefits for the financial services industry, at too great a cost to the taxpaying public, and they have provided too few benefits for society at large. When we consider their overall effect, we see that rather than supporting working charities and the beneficiaries they serve, they have undermined them.”
Tag: 06.22.16
Hollywood’s Sequels Barely Even Bother With The Story, They’re About Milking The Brand
“Sequels have always been a financially driven proposition, and it’s not a revelation that some of them are churned out like sausage … But for the 15 years or so of the post-Star Wars blockbuster era, the bottom-line pragmatism behind sequels did not erase another priority: narrative.” But that was then: “This summer’s sequels are not, for the most part, story continuations but brand extensions.”
A Place Where Typewriters Still Hang On
“The manufacture of typewriters in India might have come to a halt, but in Goa, as in the rest of the country, there are plenty of machines still going clackety-clack. Government-run offices, village schools, and other rural administrative offices still use typewriters for work such as drawing up contracts or bills.”
Technology Will Make The World Better, Right? Not Always! (We’ve Gotta Change The Way We Think About This)
“Is it possible to get beyond both a naïve belief that the latest technology will solve social problems—and a reaction that rubbishes any attempt to offer novel technical solutions as inappropriate, insensitive, and misguided? Can we find a synthesis in which technologists look at their work critically and work closely with the people they’re trying to help in order to build sociotechnical systems that address hard problems?”
Luminato Festival Finds A Striking Venue And An Organizing Idea
“In its 10-year run, Toronto’s Luminato Festival has had lots of Whats – celebrated events such as last year’s Apocalypsis, the Joni Mitchell tribute of a few years past, shows by performance artist Marina Abramovic and many other first-rate attractions. But it’s always lacked a Why – a central idea or theme that has been able to knit together its varied and heterodox concerts, art installations, theatrical works and all-around happenings.”
Banff Center Reinvents Itself
“The name change is part of a rebranding endeavour that includes a new look (a monochrome colour spectrum inspired by snow and accented by red; the capital “A” in Banff resembling a mountain peak) and strategic plan. Among other things, the plan will see a heightened emphasis on public access, indigenous programs and training for cultural leaders.”
How NPR Unlocked A Ton Of Data About How Its Listeners Listen
“The largest age group listening to NPR One is 25- to 34-year-olds, according to NPR, with 40 percent of listeners under 35. More than a third of users who answered NPR surveys said they never or only occasionally listen to broadcast radio.”
What’s Truly *New* About The Internet
Virginia Heffernan: “Speed and expansiveness, to start. On expanse: The population of our ether – users of cell tech and wifi – is now just about coextensive with the population of the earth. This is fathomless by most minds. And speed: The illusion of near-absolute compression of time and space on the Internet is an illusion so beguiling we are virtually powerless to refuse it as real, except for short periods and with great mental or spiritual focus.”
Pakistan’s Leading Sufi Singer Shot Dead By Taliban
“One of Pakistan’s most famous and respected musicians, celebrated for devotional songs from [the] centuries-old mystic tradition [of qawwali], has been shot dead by Taliban gunmen in Karachi.”
Remember When You Could Call For The Correct Time? You Still Can, And People Do
“The U.S. Naval Observatory still offers a time-by-phone service. (Call 202-762-1401 today, and you’ll hear a pleasant ticking sound followed by the announcement of the exact time, delivered in an old-timey-broadcasting voice.) Not only does it still exist, but people still use it.” Adrienne LaFrance looks at why.