“I recently got asked by an administrator at the Library of Congress to do unpaid labor for its website. … I was dumbfounded to get hit up by a federal agency with an annual budget of $750 million. Yet clearly my experience was not a random event.” Gioia proposes “five simple rules of etiquette for this ugly new beggar-thy-neighbor economy:”
Tag: 10.20.14
Grumpy People Get The Details Right (Well, That Explains A Few Things)
“Feisty personalities, although unpleasant, can be tremendously effective. … You’re probably avoiding this strategy because you think that being negative is, well, negative. … The good news is that a whole range of negativity – of beneficial negativity, mind you – has nothing to do with being a jerk.
Jury Rejects Oklahoma Ballet Dancer’s Suit For Wrongful Arrest
“A jury has ruled against a ballet dancer with a bad hip who sued Oklahoma City over his arrest in a park, where he was exercising in high heels with his cane. The woman who saw Allen Galbreath and called police testified she was concerned for the safety of her grandchildren.”
Whatever You Get Out Of That Arts Degree, It Probably Won’t Be Well-Paid Employment (So Says The Data)
“There’s one very clear take-away from the latest report released by the collective BFAMFAPhD: … ‘the fantasy of future earnings in the arts cannot justify the high cost of degrees’.” Alexis Clements crunches the numbers.
Amazon Strikes Deal With Another Major Publishing House That Isn’t Hachette
“The agreement ‘is economically advantageous for both Simon & Schuster and its authors and maintains the author’s share of income generated from eBook sales,’ said a letter signed by Carolyn Reidy, the publisher’s chief executive.”
Information Is Power (How We Go To War?)
“Global information warfare is not virtual. It is mostly latent; that is, it is in the world but not experienced as part of the world. It is a war without shadows. You cannot see it, and you cannot hear it; it happens silently every day, can hit anyone anywhere, and we can all be its unsuspecting victims.”
Can An Art Biennial Fix New Orleans?
“Conceived in 2006, one year after Hurricane Katrina, the biennial was created with lofty goals. Billed as a kind of saviour of the struggling city, it was founded by the curator Dan Cameron “on the principle that the art of our time can play a significant role in the revitalisation of an important US city”, according to an early mission statement.”
The Realities Of Writing In The Age Of Citizen Critics
“Everyone is a critic. Everyone’s got a soapbox. And the worst fate for a writer isn’t being attacked … it’s being ignored.”
Why Has Innovation Become A Religion?
“I’ve decided that the champions of innovation-speak are as confused by the subject as anyone. To them, technology is a thing with a life of its own. And it can evidently only be understood via the ministrations of a class of reverent spiritual adepts, duly catechized in treating its essence as holy and its creators as demigods. And so their tales are ultimately as simple, as explicit in their lessons, as a sacred text.”
Smithsonian Turns To Private Funding To Supplement Its Budget
“In an era of tighter federal funding the Smithsonian is increasing its private fundraising efforts to pay for its stepped-up ambitions at its sprawling network of museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park and research centers, one of the largest collections of museum and research centers in the world.”