“Only one in twenty formally employed Americans works consistently from home, but the fact that so many of us could work fills demographers’ eyes with visions of empty cubicles and broadband-blazing living rooms.”
Tag: 07.23.11
No Do-Overs. Scientists Say Time Travel Impossible
“The possibility of time travel was raised 10 years ago when scientists discovered superluminal — or faster-than-light — propagation of optical pulses in some specific medium, the team said. It was later found to be a visual effect, but researchers thought it might still be possible for a single photon to exceed light speed.”
The CrowdSourced Movie
“YouTube users from more than 192 countries uploaded more than 4,500 hours of video to his channel, all of it shot on a single day: July 24, 2010. Kevin Macdonald and his team, which included directors Ridley and Tony Scott, took that footage and made it into a 90-minute documentary called, aptly, Life in A Day.”
Why Are Hollywood Trailers So Bad?
“If audiences can’t wait for a film’s trailer to end, they won’t show up when it opens. In contrast, a great trailer makes you feel excited about a film’s imminent arrival.”
Big Book Fairs Make Big Money. So Why Are Writers Performing For Free?
“At present, all told (estimates vary), there are some 250 arts and books festivals in the UK promoting the buzz of live authorship. At the top end, there’s a lot of money flying about. Hay, now going global, turns over about £9m-£10m; Edinburgh approaches £2m; Cheltenham £1.49m and Bath £1.3m.”
The End Of Music Genres?
“The line-up for the prize is testament to the diverse tastes of fans and of the musicians working today. It includes exponents of urban hip-hop, melodic rock, retro-country, guitar band anthems and even the power ballad. And what is even more telling than the great range represented is the fact that each performer would happily admit to having been heavily influenced by at least one of the musical traditions they are up against.”
Book Apps – The End Of Reading?
“Backed by a top team of Silicon Valley software engineers and New York media mavens, the man who invented the Internet is now promising to “change the way we read books.” And few of the many enthusiasts who have had the chance to “read” the Our Choice app will disagree.”
Nike Wagner Talks About Her Famous Ancestors Liszt And Wagner
“The musicians he [Liszt] promoted — Wagner, Schumann and Berlioz — did nothing for him, and his revolutionary late works were decried as the product of a senile old man. What’s more, two world wars changed musical tastes. Eventually Liszt was seen as too emphatic, too loud, too pious. It’s also quite possible that the heavyweight Wagner deliberately tried to overshadow Liszt.”
Be It Resolved: You Can’t Close A Museum To Raise Money
“Thanks to the indefatigable determination of the claimants, Rose Museum board members Jonathan Lee, Lois Foster, Meryl Rose and Gerald Fineberg, with the support of the Massachusetts Attorney General, Brandeis acknowledges that they cannot simply “close” a museum and sell off its art collection for monetary gain aimed at easing budgetary difficulties. It is astonishing that they thought they could do so in 2009.”
Dallas Opera Cancels Production Over Money
“The elimination of the production will take the opera’s season down to four full operas, with the new chamber opera series taking up the fifth spot. In addition, the production of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde will be an opera in concert and not a full staging of the German giant’s work. And the opera came close to loosing the fifth production as well.”