“An entire generation has grown up with a different set of games than any before it. Just watch a kid with a new videogame. The last thing they do is read the manual. Instead, they pick up the controller and start mashing buttons to see what happens. This isn’t a random process; it’s the essence of the scientific method. Through trial and error, players build a model of the underlying game based on empirical evidence collected through play. As the players refine this model, they begin to master the game world. It’s a rapid cycle of hypothesis, experiment, and analysis. And it’s a fundamentally different take on problem-solving than the linear, read-the-manual-first approach of their parents.”
Month: March 2006
UK’s Tenor Phenoms (Oh Really?)
So there are currently three tenors on the UK Top Ten charts. Or are there? “Just because somebody sings something in Italian doesn’t mean it’s opera. I suppose you could call them tenors, but don’t call them operatic tenors. Their voices are not good enough and most of the repertoire is desperate.”
Verizon Makes Deal For Programs From CBS
CBS has struck a deal with Verizon to carry the network’s programming. “The wide-ranging agreement gives Verizon’s FiOS TV the right to carry CBS’ analog and digital signals as well as video-on-demand content from CBS and its company-owned stations. Terms of the deal weren’t announced, but sources said it was likely to average upward of 50 cents per subscriber.”
UK’s Dance Think Tank
The British government is convening a think tank on dance. “Among the subjects up for discussion are education and health, employment and the relationship between the commercial and subsidised dance sector.”
The Phenomenal Rise Of YouTube
“In a few short months, the website YouTube has emerged from the obscure ranks of dozens of online viral-video outposts to dominate even giant portals in the category, including Yahoo! and Google. But its astonishing growth — streaming 30 million videos a day — also has put old-guard media empires on the defensive.”
Wanna Be Successful On Radio? What’s Your Power Ratio?
What makes a radio format successful? It’s not just the size of audience. It’s got something to do with power ratios…
Kenneth Baker Reports From Maastricht
The European Fine Art Fair is still the gold standard for art fairs. “With seven- and eight-figure prices quoted wherever I inquired, I tried to make a mantra of John Russell’s deathless line ‘No amount of money is worth a great work of art.’ But the big artistic thrills often came in modest — though not modestly priced — form, such as the Fragonard drawings shown by Agnew’s of London and New York, two rare Charles Rennie Mackintosh watercolors offered by London’s Fine Art Society…”
Chicago Producer: I Was Cheated
The producer of the hit movie “Chicago” is suing Miramax, claiming the company is misrepresenting profits on the film. “The suit contends that while precise figures are not available, Richards believes the film has generated over $300 million in gross receipts for Miramax. He claims the financial statements he receives from Miramax are “omissive, false and misleading” because they understate revenue from video and DVD sales and foreign release, while overstating overhead.
Toledo, Detroit Museums Go To Court Over Gauguin And Van Gogh Paintings
The Detroit Institute of Arts and the Toledo Museum are in court to settle ownership issues surrounding a van Gogh and a Gauguin. “At stake is whether the pictures will remain in the museums’ collections or whether the museums must return the works to the heirs or pay restitution. The paintings are worth an estimated $10 million to $15 million apiece in today’s art market, based on auction records.”
Queen Of Intensity
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg got an early reputation for being impetuous, and maybe undisciplined. “Did the world have her wrong? Or, at age 45, has Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg cooled down? In the 25th year since her debut, the latter scenario isn’t true. Last week, before sciatica forced her to cancel her Lincoln Center Brahms recital, she was still trying to rehearse while loaded up on Vicodin, and her recital partner, pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, barely noticed a difference.”