“If innovation is founded on data rather than human ideas, the firms that benefit are the ones that have access to the most data. Therefore, in many instances, innovation will no longer be a countervailing force to market concentration and scale. Instead, innovation will be a force that furthers them.”
Month: February 2018
Paul Robeson Was So Much More Than A Great Black Singer And Actor
He was a champion student athlete (and occasional football pro), an NYU- and Columbia-trained lawyer, London socialite, and linguist. (He was also, for a time, a nude artists’ model.) Many know that he was a civil rights firebrand, but he became a committed Communist and Sovietophile (he had fluent Russian) – until, far too late, he came to understand what life was like in the USSR, and it wrecked him.
Tax Consultant: Orchestra Musicians Are Big Losers In New Tax Law
Every change in our tax laws inevitably creates new winners and losers. Examining this new tax bill, I may have discovered the biggest losers of all — orchestra musicians.
‘No Orchestra Has Ever Come Close To The Ambition Of This Season’
That’s Mark Swed’s verdict on the 100th anniversary season of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It begins late next September with a festival of Californian music and a parade-cum-street-fair running from Disney Hall to the Hollywood Bowl.
Why Artificial Intelligence Might Be Particularly Good At Choosing Your Next Clothing Fashion
Despite the current limitations, fashion seems ripe for an AI invasion; it’s an arena that has great data sets on customers’ interests, and there is a lot of money at stake. Amazon, for one, is already working on AI systems to provide a leg up in spotting fashion trends, and it has also done some work with GANs (see “Amazon Has Developed an AI Fashion Designer”). Alibaba, meanwhile, just debuted FashionAI, a technology that can recommend items to shoppers on the basis of what they brought into the dressing room.
How The Gongs Puccini Had Custom-Made For ‘Turandot’ Ended Up In A Queens Warehouse
None of the Asian-style gongs that Puccini could find in 1920s Italy had just the sound – more precisely, the pitches – he wanted. So he had a set specially fabricated. Of course, Puccini died before the opera’s premiere, and the gongs slipped people’s minds afterward. But not everyone forgot.
Damien Hirst Writes About His Best Career Move: Breaking Into The Neighbor’s House
He made his first collages out of the incredible masses of stuff piled up by the hoarder next door.
Christopher Plummer Talks About Getting Award-Winning Roles In His 80s
“I’ve made over 100 motion pictures, and some of them were even good. It’s nice to be reborn every few decades, because then you can have another career. The nice part about awards and being nominated is the fact that it wakes everybody up again, and makes them realize you’re alive and kicking and available.”
Agnès Varda Sends Cardboard Cutouts Of Herself To Oscar Nominees’ Lunch
The 89-year-old French filmmaker, up for Best Documentary Feature for Faces Places, is the oldest Oscar nominee in history. She wasn’t able to get to Los Angeles for this event, but she charmed everyone there nevertheless: everyone wanted a selfie with her cutout. (By the way, the best headline for this story is from The Guardian: “Flat screen legend“.)
A Dance Company For Orthodox Jewish Men
“Dance and devotion have a long, rich relationship in Judaism. And dance continues to be used by some groups, including the Hasidim, as a form of ecstatic spiritual expression. For the members of Ka’et, all of whom identify as dati leumi, or religious Zionists (akin to modern Orthodox in America), dance also offered a way into prayer. As Rabbi Schwartz said, ‘I can’t fully express myself spiritually without connecting to my body.’ But putting that body on a theatrical stage, in front of an audience, was a bold and unusual move.”