October 18, 2017
beyond the trailers
After the runaway success of his music for the Inception trailer (Mind Heist) Zack Hemsey talks about his process and how he moved from hip-hop to orchestral compositions and the equipment he uses. [more inside]
She had become the unwanted mad
Culture profoundly shapes our ideas about mental illness, which is something psychologist Nev Jones knows all too well. David Dobbs writes about her experience at the intersection of culture, mental health, and academia. [more inside]
Powerless Posing
When the Revolution came for Amy Cuddy. Amy Cuddy's 2012 TED Talk on power posing is the site's second most popular, viewed 43 million times. But after the reproducibility of her research was questioned, things have gone south in a complicated fashion. This NYT article discusses the controversy, the main players and the background behind the reproducibility problems (previously) in social psychology. [more inside]
It was the early days of the graphic novel
The Bayeux Tapestry - all of it, from start to finish. (SLYT)
The diary of Alex Case, researcher.
Xi is happier now. She opened up to me about how much she hates the life here. She said she dreams about The Sick Land. Although her academic career has been mal anthropology, she's planning to leave the field. She doesn't want to think about it for the rest of her life.
I can relate to her view. There's something different about being here. It makes you look at the research with new eyes. A lot of the stuff they've found out is horrible. When it was just pages in a book, I don't think I even noticed. [more inside]
I can relate to her view. There's something different about being here. It makes you look at the research with new eyes. A lot of the stuff they've found out is horrible. When it was just pages in a book, I don't think I even noticed. [more inside]
Garth Greenwell on escape, and finding himself...
Empathy requires inquiry as much as imagination.
"...And so it was with a familiar disappointment that Somalis watched as details of the attack failed to headline broadcast news or resonate globally on social media. There was no impromptu hashtag of solidarity, no deluge of television coverage. It was as if the bombing were just another incident in the daily life of Somalis—a burst of violence that would fade into all the other bursts of violence. The lack of public empathy was startling but not surprising." [more inside]
Always look for the helpers
California wildfires continue to rage but one doctor managed to rescue several newborn babies on his motorcycle. Devastating fires have been burning counties in Northern California for weeks now, leading to massive property destruction, death, and a healthcare crisis. New fires are cropping up in Santa Cruz County and Sausalito and Dublin. Fires have been worsened by a perfect storm of fire-favorable conditions. In addition to paid firefighters, incarcerated women are being paid $1/hour for fighting on the front lines.
rage
Rageaholic has matched over 200,000 YouTube videos to the last 20 years of ABC1's rage playlists in an easy to use interface. (They also have a free app: Google Play / Apple). The videos are a diverse mix of mainstream and rare music across many genres, including many little-known Australian, alternative and independent bands. (Via.) Also see: The The 30 Best 'Rage' Guest Playlists Ever. [more inside]
The confusion (and history) of Catalonia's efforts towards autonomy
The Catalonian desire for independence goes back almost 400 years, though the siege and ultimate surrender of Barcelona to Philip V, king of Spain was a key turning point. In fact, the Eleventh of September in Catalonia has been synonymous with large demonstrations in support of Catalan independence since 1714, when Barcelona fell to the troops of Philip of Bourbon. Since then, Catalonia has been a part of Spain, but with varying levels of regional independence. It is now facing a very real deadline: Carles Puigdemont, the region’s president, must clarify if the region declared independence by Thursday, October 19, 2017, as Spain is ready to impose direct rule on Catalonia on eve of this deadline. [more inside]
"You’re gonna show up naked sometimes."
Lin-Manuel Miranda interviews and writes about Stephen Sondheim (slnyt) for the New York Times Style Magazine's 2017 Greats Issue (slnyt).
I, for one, welcome our new robot Go masters
Deep Mind reports a new Go-playing neural net. In 100 games against its predecessor — which defeated the human world champion — it won every game. It's vastly more efficient than its predecessor, because it uses a neural net to predict who's going to win instead of playing out a quick game from each possible lookahead. The network learned without access to expert human Go knowledge. It was trained entirely from self-play, and no knowledge of the game beyond board structure, legal moves and turn-taking built into the architecture and training schedule. [more inside]
What can brown and furry do for you?
Sean McCarren has been working for UPS for 17 years now and is a proud "driver of the big brown truck," he told BuzzFeed News. One of the greatest perks of his job, he said, is the dogs he meets on his routes. "I wish we could just hang out with the families and their dogs all day, but it's just not feasible," McCarren said. He explained that he and other UPS drivers will often take their work breaks to play with these dogs who run up to their trucks or greet them when they come to people's front doors. Five years ago, McCarren was inspired to start a Facebook group — a community of sorts — for him and other UPS drivers to share photos and videos of their pup friends. He named it UPS Dogs. (Tanya Chen, BuzzFeed News Reporter) [Links to FB but should be viewable w/o an account]
An Important Question Answered
"We need the novel because paradise is always a lie"
the novel matters because it's fiction, and fiction, like truth, profoundly matters to the human species. In the age of Trump, when truth is so blatantly revealed as something dismissible, somehow simply no longer relevant, the novel matters even more, because to some extent we all live by fictions, we have all along survived by using them.The novel in the age of Trump by Ali Smith.
"I want tariffs. And I want someone to bring me some tariffs."
The US International Trade Commission has voted to proceed with a complaint filed by bankrupt solar manufacturer Suniva, joined by SolarWorld, under Section 201 of the 1974 Trade Act claiming imported cells and modules "caused significant harm" to US solar manufacturing. If ITC finds in Suniva's favor, they could vote to impose tariffs of $0.25/watt on cells , along with a floor price on modules of $0.74/watt. [more inside]
The Future is Nothing but a Robot Punch
The long-awaited duel between America's Megabots and Japan's Suidobashi Heavy Industry has finally arrived (YT). [more inside]
Gord Downie 1964-2017
Promise me, promise me,
They bury me some place I don't want to be,
You'll dig me up and transport me, unceremoniously,
Away from the swollen city-breeze, garbage bag trees,
Whispers of disease and the acts of enormity
And lower me slowly, sadly and properly
Get Ry Cooder to sing my eulogy
Gord Downie, lead singer of the Tragically Hip, has died.
They bury me some place I don't want to be,
You'll dig me up and transport me, unceremoniously,
Away from the swollen city-breeze, garbage bag trees,
Whispers of disease and the acts of enormity
And lower me slowly, sadly and properly
Get Ry Cooder to sing my eulogy
Gord Downie, lead singer of the Tragically Hip, has died.
She made it sound like a bad-ass bitch boot camp
Inside a Secretive Group Where Women Are Branded
Content warning for abuse of all sorts, please tread carefully. [more inside]
Content warning for abuse of all sorts, please tread carefully. [more inside]
Mama
I think punk did save me, and that music sounded like I felt
“My name is Chris Packham. What you probably don’t know about me, because I’ve been hiding it most of my life, is that my brain is different than yours because I’m autistic. I’ve spent 30 years on the telly, trying my best to act normal, when really I’m anything but.”
On October 17th, The National Autistic Society announced television presenter, photographer, naturalist, and campaigner Chris Packham as its new ambassador. On the same day, the BBC broadcast a documentary about his life with Aspergers: Asperger's and Me.
On October 17th, The National Autistic Society announced television presenter, photographer, naturalist, and campaigner Chris Packham as its new ambassador. On the same day, the BBC broadcast a documentary about his life with Aspergers: Asperger's and Me.
How To Get Covered in London Parakeets
You will need an Oyster card, an apple, a sturdy constitution, and this Londonist guide to London's iconic feral parakeets.
Vulcan, you are Cleared for Take-off
On 18th October 2007 G-VLCN, better known as XH558 took to the air for the first time in 14 1/2 years. [more inside]
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