“The decision has been welcomed by Christie’s France, which is behind the move to pass on the expense to the buyer. The auction house is ultimately responsible for paying the levy to the collecting agency, but it is now its right to ask for the money from the buyer.” — The Art Newspaper
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Dance Magazine’s Ten Biggest Stories Of 2018
“What did our readers care about most in 2018? Judging by our top-clicked stories, topics as broad as confronting a bullying teacher, investigating how Instagram has impacted the dance world and advocating for dance as an intellectual pursuit were the biggest stories in dance this year.” — Dance Magazine
Saudi Arabia Asks Netflix To Block An Episode Of Hasan Minhaj’s Show; Netflix Promptly Complies
In one episode of the comedian’s Netflix series, Patriot Act, Minhaj let loose on the Saudi government’s murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Said government, unamused, demanded that Netflix block that episode from being streamed in the Kingdom, citing its law banning “production, preparation, transmission, or storage of material impinging on public order, religious values, public morals, and privacy.” — NPR
Happy New Year: Quotes To Inspire A Lovely 2019
“Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.” (Mark Twain)
— Doug Ramsay
Lookback: A child’s Christmas in Smalltown, U.S.A.
An excerpt from City Limits: Memories of a Small-Town Boy, my first book, published in 1991. — Terry Teachout
A 4000-Year History Of New Year’s Resolutions
Turns out, it’s a time-honored tradition that started about 4,000 years ago with the ancient Babylonians. Beginning with a 12-day religious festival (are we seeing a modern equivalent here?) called Akitu, the Babylonians crowned a new king or re-upped their devotion to the sitting ruler. At this time they also pledged to pay debts and return borrowed goods to keep in good standing with their gods. – Fast Company
Could California Soon Have Its Own Internet?
A series of laws passed in California this year raise a new possibility: that individual US states will splinter off into their own versions of the internet. In July, California passed a privacy law, similar to the European Union’s policies, that will give users more control about the data companies collect about them. Governor Jerry Brown followed by signing a net neutrality law in late September meant to replace federal rules banning broadband internet providers from blocking or otherwise discriminating against lawful content, as well as a law that requires bots to identify themselves if they promote sales or try to influence an election. – Wired
How Ariana Grande And Pete Davidson Perfectly Explain Our Cultural Moment
Celebrity news was intertwined with some of our culture’s most urgent issues, particularly involving mental health. Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade committed suicide in the same week. Demi Lovato, outspoken about her addiction issues, overdosed and went to rehab. The already-fractured political world was thrown into a frenzy when West, who addressed his bipolar diagnosis on his album this summer, visited the White House. – Washington Post
“Bird Box” Has Taken Over Netflix (And The Internet, Apparently)
Netflix claimed on Friday that the movie had been watched by approximately 45 million accounts since its Dec. 21 debut — the best first seven days ever for a film released on the platform. – Washington Post
The Coming Era Of Fake Video
In a paper presented at the SIGGRAPH conference on computer graphics in Vancouver this spring, university researchers unveiled “deep video portraits,” which can quickly and convincingly transpose head and mouth movements from an actor to a video of anyone. This means that before long, it will be possible for anyone to produce convincing fake video. – Maclean’s