Bots worm their way into everything, including the once much more intimate Instagram Stories. Why? To get more engagement back. (There’s a Russian “secret app” for this social media marketing tool. Truly.) “This mass viewing strategy exploits our tendency to take an interest in people who appear to take an interest in us, a phenomenon social psychologists call reciprocal liking.” – Slate
Author: ArtsJournal2
Can Computers Really Learn How To Understand What They Read?
Maybe. They’re doing a lot better at reading comprehension exams, for instance. On a new “benchmark designed to measure machines’ real understanding of natural language — or to expose their lack thereof — the machines had jumped from a D-plus to a B-minus in just six months. ‘That was definitely the ‘oh, crap’ moment,’ Bowman recalled.” – Quanta
The Coded Emotional Appeal Of ‘The Matrix’
Seriously, why would anyone go to the movie in theatres 11 times? Sometimes you need distance to figure something like that out. “In The Matrix, I realized, I had found a message about my own life, the life of a closeted gay Mormon boy. It was something I had strained all those times to hear, and now it shot across the screen in letters lit by retrospect: You too will be free.” – The Atlantic
Thousands Of People Stand In Line To See The Revamped MoMA
The revamped MoMA invited people to visit for free on Sunday, before the official opening. Nearly 10,000 people took the museum up on its offer, and they needed to create new mental maps. “As they entered the new expanded lobby, many gravitated toward the electronic information sign — with columns labeled ‘West,’ ‘North’ and ‘South’ — to decide which way to go. Staff members wearing neck lanyards and carrying maps approached visitors with friendly ‘Welcome to MoMA’ greetings and offered to help direct them. But even employees seemed a little unsure of themselves. ‘Is there an elevator that way?’ one visitor asked. ‘I think so,’ answered a staff member, opening one of her maps, ‘Let me check.'” – The New York Times
Malaysia Is The Latest Country To Ban ‘Abominable’ Over Map Scene
The basic problem? A dashed line (one that violates international law as decided by a court at The Hague in 2016). “Malaysia’s censorship board initially agreed to permit Abominable to premiere on November 7, if the image of the map was removed from the version screening in their country. However, Universal Studios, which is distributing the film everywhere but China (Pearl Studio is Abominable’s Chinese distributor) has refused to make the cut.” – Vulture
The Artistically Fruitful Friendship Of Mary Cassatt And Edgar Degas
The elegant young American artist and the surly older French Impressionist inspired each other – and, because both destroyed or left little information about their friendship, a lot of art about them. A new play claims that “they were kindred spirits lucky enough to find each other in Paris.” – The New York Times
In Europe, TV Producers Debate How To Handle Streaming
Group up? Spend more money on new, fresh content? Somehow find, and fund, top talent? Everything is up in the air with all kinds of streaming services debuting and European producers wondering what, exactly, to do. – Variety
Viet Thanh Nguyen Talks About Writing, Social Movements, And The American Dream
Nguyen, author of The Sympathizer, says that he decided not to worry about what the audience thought, or more specifically thought of Asian Americans. “I had to stop caring. Because even as conditions of narrative scarcity were true, which they are, I don’t think a writer can allow herself or himself to be shaped by those conditions. … For example, the anxiety that because there are so few stories about us, we have to write our stories to make our own community look good, whatever that community is.” – The Millions
Fiery Music Critic And Biographer Nick Tosches Has Died At 69
Tosches, who had a taste for rock and country (and their far fringes) “and his fellow music writers Richard Meltzer and Lester Bangs were labeled ‘the Noise Boys’ for their wild, energetic prose” in the 1960s and 1970s. He also wrote many biographies, including a famous, perhaps infamous, one of Dean Martin. He said of that 1992 book, “Life is a racket. … Writing is a racket. Sincerity is a racket. Everything’s a racket.” – The New York Times
Extinction Rebellion Protesters Cover Their Half-Naked Bodies In Fake Oil In London’s National Portrait Gallery
The protest was held at the end of a show sponsored by BP (British Petroleum) to protest the museum’s ties to the company. One, a 19-year-old named Eden, said, “Who will there be left to see, who will there be left to paint, if we have no earth and no people? … We cannot be artists on a dead planet. Oil means the end, but art means the beginning.” – The Guardian (UK)