“Fortunately, a technology on the verge of going mainstream will soon give us a chance to re-examine the role that copyright plays in our lives. By connecting the physical and the digital, 3-D printers remind us that copyright is not a general-purpose legal right that allows people to demand control over whatever they want. Instead, copyright has a narrow scope. And most of the things that make up our world simply do not fall into it.”
Month: February 2012
The End Of Cash?
“Thanks to technology, trustworthy banking (well, mostly), and our insatiable appetite for convenience, we’re all carrying less and less cash, and soon we’ll probably quit it altogether.”
Will 3D Printing Change The World? (It Already Is)
“In many ways, the progression of 3-D printing from giant warehouses to living rooms has happened faster than anyone had a right to expect. 2-D printing was the exclusive province of industrial presses and foundries for centuries. Computers were refrigerator-size beasts for decades before the Commodore PET and the Apple II. And yet 3-D printers have gone from lab to living room in less than 20 years–and at prices that are already coming within reach of the upper-middle class.”
JK Rowling’s New Book – For Adults
“Rowling has turned her back on Bloomsbury, the publisher of the Harry Potter series whose first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was released 15 years ago. Little, Brown Book Group, owned by Hachette, has acquired the rights to publish Rowling’s new novel and the publisher will have the lucrative English language rights in both print and ebooks.”
What’s In A Name? (It’s All About How Easy It Is To Pronounce)
“Altogether the researchers found that a name’s pronounceability, regardless of length or seeming foreignness, mattered most in determining likability. Ease of pronunciation accounted for about 40 percent of off-the-cuff likability.”
Christo’s Colorado Project Pushed Back Yet Another Year
“At first, the project – which will drape 5.9 miles of fabric across a 42-mile stretch of the river between Salida and Parkdale for two weeks – was planned for summer 2001 ‘at the earliest.’ Then it was 2003. Then 2008. The latest plan – which followed Bureau of Land Management approval last year – was for August 2014, ‘at the earliest.’ Now it’s August 2015.”
ENO Launches Online Search For Composers And Writers
“English National Opera is to launch a global online talent search for new composers, writers and filmmakers in an initiative seeking to ‘create the future of opera’.”
In Praise Of Barney Rosset And The Forbidden Books He Brought Us
“He published the books that nobody else would, because they were too risqué or too avant-garde (often that meant the same thing) or too unprofitable, and his imprint, Grove Press, quickly became a badge of coolness and sophistication. … To a considerable extent the dirty books made the arty ones possible, and Mr. Rosset wasn’t the least abashed about it.”
London Olympics May Hurt West End Sales In Short Term, But Should Help In Longer Term
“According to research into the legacy of the Olympics published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, London is expected to benefit from increased tourism after the event. The report states: ‘By 2013, the displacement effect is expected to be eroded and tourism into London should increase due to the 2012 games’.”
Tate Gallery’s Photo Archive Saved From Garbage; V&A’s Lost
“Art historians have been disturbed by allegations that the Tate was about to dump its invaluable photographic archive in a skip when another institution realised its importance and rescued it, and that the Victoria & Albert Museum has already destroyed its own thematic archive.”