“In ‘Quantitative Patterns of Stylistic Influence in the Evolution of Literature,’ an article published in … The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, even today’s literary writers have little use for the classics. They are, the study asserts, much more influenced by their peers … And these researchers, being mathematicians, have the numbers to prove it.”
Month: May 2012
What’s The Best Music To Use As Torture, Erm, Enhanced Interrogation?
“Guards at Guantanamo Bay tried to coerce inmates into talking with songs from Sesame Street played on repeat, according to a new Al-Jazeera documentary. … What’s the best kind of music to use when you’re trying to break someone’s will?”
Russian Punk Rockers Facing Jail For Blasphemy Call For Help From Famous Westerners
“The lawyer for three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot, who are currently awaiting trial for an allegedly blasphemous protest in Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral … says only appeals from Western celebrities and high-profile cultural figures can save them from further criminal charges and long jail sentences.”
Only Philosophers Go To Hell
“This is because only someone who understands exactly what she is doing in sinning or rejecting God could deserve such a fate as Hell, and only a philosophical education could provide that kind of understanding. So, it follows, only philosophers can go to Hell.”
Art Project Falls Afoul Of US/Cuban Relationship
A project by the artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov during the 11th Havana Biennial was nearly derailed when the US Department of the Treasury denied the artists the necessary public performance and exhibition licence that would allow five US children to travel to Havana, saying the project was “not consistent with the current US Âpolicy on Cuba”.
Can “Big Data” Fix The Way Books Are Sold?
“The ability to process vast troves of data on customer behavior–data sets that would have been too expensive or taken far too long to process in the past–offers the potential to create predictive models for any business, and certainly for book publishing.”
A First: Digital Music Revenue Tops Sales Of CDs
“The amount of money made from digital music services has outstripped the sale of traditional CDs and records for the first time, according to first quarter revenue figures from music industry trade body BPI.”
In A Time Of Always-On Information About The Present, Pop Culture Obsesses Over Past And Future
The more the informational bombardment traps us in the here and now, the more we seek fictional escapes into the there and then. The one produces the other. Why?
Intense Storm Floods Montreal Museum Of Contemporary Art, Damaging Hundreds Of Works Of Art
“It’s a lot of work, a long process,” she said in a telephone interview. “It’s not a dozen works, it’s hundreds. But we still don’t know the exact number. We don’t know the total losses. We still have to make an evaluation.”
Dancing With The Star – Concert Will Let Viewers Create Dancing Avatars
“Literally, people will be able to create their own avatar and have it dance on the screen with Usher,” said Hamish Hamilton, who will be directing the concert broadcast.