“In the twenty-first century, the face is a database, a dynamic bank of information points—muscle configurations, childhood scars, barely perceptible flares of the nostril—that together speak to what you feel and who you are. Facial-recognition technology is being tested in airports around the world, matching camera footage against visa photos. Churches use it to document worshipper attendance. China has gone all in on the technology, employing it to identify jaywalkers, offer menu suggestions at KFC, and prevent the theft of toilet paper from public restrooms.”
Blog
“We Shall Overcome” Is Freed From Copyright
Described as the “most powerful song of the 20th century” by the Library of Congress, the suit against the existing copyright holders was brought last year by the same legal team who had successfully disputed longstanding ownership claims over Happy Birthday to You.
Soprano Kiri Te Kanawa Retires After Half-Century Career
The world-renowned soprano, 73, said she had stopped performing a year ago but had not revealed her decision until now. Te Kanawa told the BBC it had taken her five years “to say the goodbye in my own mind” but wanted to decide “when it was going to be the last note”.
The Future Of Cameras Increasingly Is Computer Code
What we think of as a camera is largely a collection of software algorithms that expands with each passing year.
This Year’s Emmy Winners
“This year streaming shows accounted for four of the seven nominees for Outstanding Drama Series, two of the picks for Outstanding Comedy Series, and programs like The Handmaid’s Tale, House of Cards, and Master of None have earned praise in nearly every major category. But earning a nomination only does so much; at the end of the day, it’s who takes home the statue that matters.”
How Indy Bookstores Are Making Themselves Popular Again
“Bookstores are making a comeback. Just take a look at the membership numbers of American Booksellers Association (ABA), a trade organization that works with independent bookstores: In 2009, ABA membership hit a low, with just 1,651 locations. Like a phoenix, that number has risen for the last seven years, reaching more than 2,320 locations in 2017. Book sales in independent stores are also up. According to the ABA, book sales in U.S. indie shops grew more than 10 percent in 2015 over the previous year, and in 2016 sales at independent bookstore were up nearly 5 percent.”
The 50 Biggest-Selling Musicians Of All Time
We compiled this list by ranking the most successful acts in music history according to their total certified album units sold in the US, as provided by the RIAA.
UK Report: TV Broadcasters And Demographic Diversity
“The report found that across the five main broadcasters, women accounted for 48% of the total workforce – compared with 51% across the general population – and held 39% of senior roles. Ofcom also said those from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background made up 12% of workers, and disabled people just 3%, despite accounting for 14% and 18% of the general population respectively.”
French Theatres To Start Showing Ads Before Performances
According to advertising agency ODW, which is introducing the scheme, advertisers will be able to reach an audience “with high purchasing power”, building on the success of lucrative cinema advertising, while theatres can bring in additional advertising revenue and promote upcoming productions with trailers.
Millennials Are Sooo Yesterday. Here’s iGen
Coming to shoulder the burden is a generation the psychologist Jean Twenge calls iGen — like iPhones, but people. They love not only iPhones but also a number of other things beginning with i, such as individualism, irreligiosity, and (we’re straining a touch here) “in person no more.” Twenge defines them thus: “Born in 1995 and later, they grew up with cell phones, had an Instagram page before they started high school, and do not remember a time before the internet.”