Author: Douglas McLennan

Roberto Bedoya On Expressing Oakland Creatively

Bedoya describes the culture of the city as “the embodiment of forms of knowledge and wisdom people have gained through their different lived experiences.” Another way he expresses this idea is that culture is the frame within which the arts provide “the power of shared sensibility and memory… kindling the emotions that make us aware of our shared humanity.” – Reportage From The Aesthetic Edge

Brooklyn Public Library And Brooklyn Historical Society Merge

Under the plan, which was approved this week by the boards of both organizations, the library — the nation’s fifth largest — will become the parent institute of the historical society. The society will remain in its landmark 1881 building in Brooklyn Heights, which houses nearly 100,000 books, manuscripts, photographs, maps and other rare items dating to the 17th century. – The New York Times

George Gershwin And His Attempts To Define An American Sound

Over the course of his career, Gershwin was praised and criticized in equal measure for his willingness to borrow and fuse musical elements from various cultural and ethnic realms. He regularly tapped into the aesthetic values and popular tastes of his surroundings, in an attempt to compose works that would connect with as broad a public as possible. This approach to composition produced mixed results.  – Times Literary Supplement

We’re Recreating The Nature Around Us With Technology

Under the rubric of “ubiquitous computing,” “smart dust,” and the “Internet of Things,” computers are melting into the fabric of everyday life. Light bulbs, toasters, even toothbrushes are being chipped. You can summon Alexa almost anywhere. And as life becomes computerized, computers become lifelike. Modern hardware and software have gotten so complicated that they resemble the organic: messy, unpredictable, inscrutable. – Nautilus

Eight Trends That Are Changing The Non-Profit Sector

There has also been unprecedented leadership turnover across the classical performing arts sector. “Furthermore, the pipeline for leadership is not there to meet the demands. Changing tastes, an oversupply of product and the delta between the availability and demand for leadership will lead to bankruptcies and dissolutions of many of the classical arts organizations.” – Hunt Scanlon Media

While We Weren’t Looking The Robots Became Our Bosses

The robots are watching over hotel housekeepers, telling them which room to clean and tracking how quickly they do it. They’re managing software developers, monitoring their clicks and scrolls and docking their pay if they work too slowly. They’re listening to call center workers, telling them what to say, how to say it, and keeping them constantly, maximally busy. While we’ve been watching the horizon for the self-driving trucks, perpetually five years away, the robots arrived in the form of the supervisor, the foreman, the middle manager. – The Verge