“Considering it’s 2020, it was especially tough to compile since most of us have felt powerless this year as a deadly virus ravaged our communities by forcing businesses to close, upending daily life, and resulting in the illness and death of millions of people.” – Hyperallergic
Author: Douglas McLennan
The (Largely Untapped) Potential Of Reaching People With Physical Disabilities
“There is simply a lack of awareness of the need and a misunderstanding of the public benefit that could result from reaching out to this population, not to mention the financial benefit that might be gleaned from this untapped market. But fiscal considerations aside, there is simply no good reason why a person with a physical disability must also be culturally disadvantaged.” – Equal Entry
What Happens When Independent Machines Make Mistakes (And They Will)?
“Products and services that make decisions autonomously will also need to resolve ethical dilemmas—a requirement that raises additional risks and regulatory and product development challenges. Scholars have now begun to frame these challenges as problems of responsible algorithm design. They include the puzzle of how to automate moral reasoning.” – Harvard Business Review
What “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” Teaches Us About Copyright Failings
The composer of the catchy tune, South African Solomon Linda, died destitute in 1962. While US artists were at loggerheads over the lucrative melody, he had been in and out of hospitals and suffering from kidney failure. – BBC
Our Robot Overlords Have Learned To Dance… (Better Than I Can)
The video sees Boston Dynamics’ entire lineup of robots — the humanoid Atlas, the dog-shaped Spot, and the box-juggling Handle — all come together in a bopping, coordinated dance routine set to The Contours’ “Do You Love Me.” – The Verge
Are Museums An Education Or An Experience?
“It has made me unexpectedly nostalgic for an idea of museums as spaces where the individual can go and explore on their own without being told what to think; spaces to contemplate works of art which express and demonstrate a different set of ideas and beliefs from the present. I don’t want constantly to be badgered and made to feel guilty that my ancestors have travelled the world collecting objects in order better to understand and interpret the world. I don’t necessarily regard the ideas and beliefs of museums in the past as morally reprehensible, but, instead, believe that many of them were stimulated by curiosity and a passionate desire for the understanding of other cultures — a spirit not necessarily of plunder, but of awe.” – The Critic
How The COVID Relief Bill Will Help Performing Arts Venues
“The bill gives priority to those who have lost at least 90% of their revenue between April and December 2019 and the same period this year; they can apply for funding in the first two weeks that grants become available. Second priority goes to those who have lost at least 70% of their revenue in the same period; they can apply in the second two weeks. Administrators can allocate up to 80% of the funds during those first four weeks; after that, anyone can apply. Individual grants are capped at the lesser of 45% of an organization’s 2019 revenue or $10 million.” – San Francisco Chronicle
First Step: Scott Cantrell Admits His CD Problem
The Dallas music critic has thousands of CDs accumulated over a long career. Of course he’s not going to give them up. Is it just habit, or is there something better about listening to music on plastic discs. Well, the first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem… – Dallas Morning News
Could The Arts Help Unify Our Fractures?
“In European nations, “save our cultural institutions” is widely regarded as a necessary cause. In the United States, the same cry is not heard. What is going on? Were the arts always a negligible component of the New World experience, insufficiently cultivated? Or did they become negligible? Are we as a nation simply too young to dig deep expressive roots? Too diverse? Too much crippled by our original sins of slavery and the Indian Wars?” – American Purpose
Big Entertainment Versus Big Tech – The COVID Relief Bill And Its Copyright Bomb
“Passage of the measure is one of the clearest public signs yet of longstanding tensions between the tech and entertainment industries and who’s winning the battle for control. Big Entertainment (Disney et al) has benefited enormously from technology in producing content and getting it to consumers in new ways, but Big Tech (Google et al) has also given consumers (and upstart content producers) the means of accessing that content on their own terms, which Big E sees as a threat.” – Post Alley