These tools work to flag and categorize potentially harmful comments before a human can review them, helping to manage the workload and reduce the visibility of toxic content. Another approach that’s gained steam is to give commenters automated feedback, encouraging them to rethink a toxic comment before they hit publish. – Wired
Month: September 2020
Fascinating: Bay Area Songbirds Changed Their Tunes During COVID Lockdown
Male white-crowned sparrows around the San Francisco Bay Area exploited the sudden drop in anthropogenic noise when the region went on strict lockdown in April and May. From their field observations during previous years, the researchers had lots of data to show that urban birds sacrifice song quality for higher amplitudes—basically, they’re yelling to be heard in a noisy environment. When that din suddenly died down, the birds switched to songs that more closely resemble the softer, higher-quality calls of their nearby rural counterparts. – Wired
Decision To Delay Guston Show Divides The Art World
“What those who criticize this decision do not understand is that in the past few months the context in the U.S. has fundamentally, profoundly changed on issues of incendiary and toxic racist imagery in art, regardless of the virtue or intention of the artist who created it.” – The New York Times
Is Restoration Versus Opportunity A False Choice For The Arts?
“One of the things we’re learning in the Covid-19 era is that is that community is not defined only by proximity, or space. It’s defined by interest, and I think a lot about the music that we have in our repertoire and the music that should be more a part of the traditional canon of our repertoire.” – Medium
Hybrid Theatre – Virtual And In Person
“The Institute for Counterfeit Memory” cannily employs the devices it provides to bring you back to the feeling of being in a room with other spectators, even as it reminds you that you are alone. Its ministrations so impressed me that when I turned over the final cue card instructing me to applaud, I actually did. – Washington Post
Blockbuster Philip Guston Show Postponed Over Concerns About KKK Imagery
On Monday, the National Gallery quietly posted a joint statement signed by directors of all four museums set to host the show: Kaywin Feldman (National Gallery), Frances Morris (Tate Modern), Matthew Teitelbaum (MFA Boston), and Gary Tinterow (MFA Houston). The statement said the exhibition was being pushed “until a time at which we think that the powerful message of social and racial justice that is at the center of Philip Guston’s work can be more clearly interpreted.” – ARTnews
Our Consumption Of Music Is Largely Virtual Right Now. Is This A Threat?
“Are these experiences an authentic way of experiencing live music? Or do they indicate a transition towards a dystopian cultural milieu? In this scenario, we might end up losing sight of the multi-sensory and collective aspects of live music and experience it instead alone at home through a VR headset or a similar technological device.” – The Conversation
How Zoning Laws Change The Course Of Cities
How? Michael Kimmelman takes a tour of 42nd Street in New York City to understand how the street became what it is. – The New York Times
A Sculpture Park For Art From Burning Man
No, not all the art on the Playa goes up in flames. In fact, Burners face a real problem: how do they get these enormous sculptures out of the Black Rock Desert and what do they do with them afterward? Now one longtime Burner has provided an option in the desert just outside Las Vegas: Area15, where artworks from the festival are put on display and offered for sale. – Artnet
A Kinder Gentler Social Medium?
In a landscape of social networks, Telepath stands out because it’s more about your interests than who you know, and it requires real names for the conversations. It’s also positioning itself as a kinder, more inclusive network by making a point to establish ground rules and moderation up front. – Protocol