“We found that social networks have clusters of happy and unhappy people within them that reach out to three degrees of separation. A person’s happiness is related to the happiness of their friends, their friends’ friends, and their friends’ friends’ friends – that is, to people well beyond their social horizon. We found that happy people tend to be located in the center of their social networks and to be located in large clusters of other happy people. And we found that each additional happy friend increases a person’s probability of being happy by about 9%.”
Tag: 12.05.08
The Institutionalization Of Street Art: Now It Has Its Own Awards
“The same week that Mark Leckey was announced winner of the Turner Prize 2008 Matt Small and JR scooped top prize at the first ever Street Art Awards. Last night, at the end of an evening of urban bazaar-style partying, Small was announced winner of the urban art category, while JR won the street art section. To an outsider street art and urban art may seem like the same thing. But delve a little deeper and you will notice that street art is public and is usually done outside, whereas urban art is private and is usually done inside. It’s not a question of different aesthetics, rather a question of different production ethics.”
New Musical Instrument Could Change How We Interact With Computers
“Scientists in Barcelona have created a new musical instrument that will produce remarkable sounds, even for an untrained novice. But the ‘Reactable’ is more than a digital synthesizer. It might also point to a new way of using computers.”
New DC Visitor Center Is A Mess
“Calling congressional sprawl a visitor center was a con. It also lowered expectations. No need to match the original structure’s aspiration or attempt to invigorate the way Congress works if the thing is just about ticketing and coat checking.”
New Ways Of “Seeing” Information
“The challenge of presenting information clearly has become more difficult as the volume of data has exploded, and new types have emerged. Traditional design formulas, like graphs and pie charts, are fine for interpreting facts, but not for illustrating the complexities of contemporary life such as population shifts or the structure of an online social network. A new type of imagery was needed to depict their subtleties and fluidity. Cue visualization.”
TV – New Measure For Success
The TV business is changing quickly. So do ratings still matter?
A Bad Week For The Book Biz
Several publishing houses announced layoffs or salary freezes, and a major reorganization at Random House left two major players in the business without jobs. All this comes as booksellers head into the holiday season — when 25 percent of all book sales occur.
Minnesota Orchestra Defies Recession, Posts Surplus
After several years of deficits, the organization remained in the black in fiscal 2008, posting a $15,000 operating surplus on a budget of $31 million.
JK Rowling’s New Book – 8 Million Of ‘Em In Bookstores
Recession-hit booksellers hope the book – a collection of five fables mentioned in Rowling’s saga about boy wizard Harry Potter – will give them a festive boost.
Philly’s Latest Skyline Addition Has Some Swooning
Philadelphia’s skyline has always been a slow-developing phenomenon, and every new skyscraper seems to create controversy. The latest proposal “for a 1,500-foot office tower called the American Commerce Center has supporters “behaving like teenage girls at the opening of Twilight… They’re so entranced by the record-breaking stature of the proposed skyscraper that they seem not to have noticed that the object of their affection is a fat, hulking copycat.”