An interaction designer and a choreographer worked together to program a dozen of the little robot vacuum cleaners (yes, six as boys and six as girls) to dance as if they were in a Vienna ballroom. The only problem: Roombas get distracted by dust. (includes video)
Tag: 10.25.14
JS Bach’s Wife Wrote Some Of His Most Famous Works, Claims Scholar
An Australian musicologist and a forensic document examiner are arguing that Anna Magdalena Bach was not merely one of her husband’s copyists (that fact is well-established), but that – based on the characteristics of the handwriting in the manuscripts – she was composing some of the pieces on the spot.
After An American Tourist Got Trapped In A British Bookstore, It Organized A (Voluntary) Bookstore Sleepover
“There’s something really exciting about being in a bookshop when it’s dark and there’s no one else there, and it’s a bit out of bounds; like you’re an explorer and you’ve broken into a library.”
Whatever Happened To Australian Film After ‘Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert’?
“Cinemas and distributors are now “gun shy” of Australian films, becoming more conservative with programming choices, says film producer Brian Rosen, formerly chief of the Film Finance Corporation. All the way to the ticket booth, marketing machines guide which movie opens your wallet or purse.”
Using Subway Wi-Fi To Connect Musicians Across New York [VIDEO]
“Each of the musicians were set up with a music stand and an iPhone, while the conductor stationed himself in Bryant Park with nearly a dozen MacBooks to receive all the different video streams.”
How Jane Smiley Came To Write A Sprawling Saga (It’s Her Husbands, She Says)
“On the American literary scene, she is singular, and blessed, for the absence of angst in her creative life and her equable delight in what she does.”
Paris’ Picasso Museum Reopens After Long Delay, Huge Cost Overruns, Lots Of Acrimony
“French President Francois Hollande said at a ceremony the museum was ‘one of the most beautiful in the world and one of the most moving because it brings together the considerable and prolific work of the best-known artist of the 20th century.'”
The Two Big Art Houses Disagree About Whether To Compensate Heirs Of Nazi-‘Owned’ Art
“The tale of these two works with a shared history illustrates how, even 70 years after the war, experts in the international art market can disagree substantively about how to handle the sale of works once owned by Jews in Europe during the Nazi era.”
What’s The Future Of Streaming Content?
“Personalities and brands may be content in and of themselves. The future may hold a J.J. Abrams or Amblin Television (Steven Spielberg) or Louis C.K. channel.”
The Top Ten Fictional Buildings
“Bag End: Home of Bungo, Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, in Hobbiton, the Shire, Middle-earth.”