“It might be worth asking whether museums are the best places for people who are both creative and caring. Are museums supportive platforms from which to envision and enact social change? Can “we win” at creating a better future from within traditional museums? How could museums nurture more interesting, connective, transformative curators? Do museums even want to?”
Tag: 12.16.11
Why Black Market Business Is Good For The Economy
“Small, illegal, off-the-books businesses collectively account for trillions of dollars in commerce and employ fully half the world’s workers. Further, these enterprises are critical sources of entrepreneurialism, innovation, and self-reliance.”
What If Cause Isn’t Related To Effect? (At Least How We Can See It)
“We’ve constructed our $2.5 trillion health care system around the belief that we can find the underlying causes of illness, the invisible triggers of pain and disease. That’s why we herald the arrival of new biomarkers and get so excited by the latest imaging technologies. If only we knew more and could see further, the causes of our problems would reveal themselves. But what if they don’t?”
The Computer That Can Predict Hit Songs
“Using 50 years of data from the U.K.’s list of Top 40 singles, the scientists built a formula that they call the ‘hit potential equation.’ It can predict, with 60-percent accuracy, whether or not a popular song will make it into the top 5, or if it will remain in the bottom 30 to 40 spots on the hit chart.”
San Francisco Girls Chorus Was Doing So Well (And Then It Fired Its Director…)
Okay, make that “didn’t renew” the contract of its artistic director for the past 11 years, Susan McMane. Why the decision was made is a bit unclear…
Global Debate On E-Book Prices
“The strategy is to maintain value in what we produce, so whether that’s the print book or the e-book, this costs ‘x’ to make and we need to maintain that to stay alive.”
Never Mind The Movies, Here’s Video On Demand
No one’s going to the movies anymore. Instead of moaning, make and distribute indie flicks yourself, says actor/director Ed Burns. “This is not a business model where you are making millions of dollars, but you are making really healthy robust six-figure numbers.”
How The New York Times Deals With New Music, And How Insiders Do
“My gut reaction when I first read it was disbelief that this trend was being presented as being something new, as many of the changes and innovations that were mentioned seemed old hat to those of us who live and breathe new music.”
The End Of Netflix As We Know It – Is The Internet Ready?
As the U.S. Postal Service brings an end to one-day delivery, Netflix inevitably moves toward streaming – and the internet could see a 50 percent jump in demand for bandwidth.
The Terror, And The Thrill, Of Recording Beethoven
“That is the ever-present difficulty of recording: That the desire to communicate the music is balanced and sometimes even replaced by the desire to control the music.”