“Science does show that some brain training programs do work. So which ones? As the Australian study showed, Mahncke’s BrainHQ and competitor Cognifit actually do have a real benefit. Because both are based on brain training that is focused on improving processing speed–the speed and accuracy with which the brain processes information.”
Blog
Why What’s Reality In Reality Is Different Than What’s Reality In Real life
“To put it simply: Much of digital technology seems to be, in the words of our YouTube debunker, not in sync. It doesn’t quite track. Twitter emotion doesn’t rise and fall the way human emotions do. Similarly, death, final by definition, is not final in Super Mario 0dyssey. GPS tech is not true to the temperature and texture of physical landscapes. Alexa of Amazon’s Echo sometimes seems bright, sometimes moronic, but of course she’s neither; she’s not even a she, and it’s a constant category error to consider her one. Living in the flicker of that error—interacting with a bot as if its sentiments were sentiments—is to take up residence in the so-called uncanny valley, home to that repulsion we feel from robots that look a lot, but not exactly, like us.”
Why Identifying And Censoring Offensive Content Is So Difficult
To help sort through torrents of material, platform operators increasingly rely on computer algorithms. But these software programs are imperfect tools for assessing the nuances that can distinguish acceptable from unacceptable words or images.
Five Degrees Of Liking – How Netflix Is Using Viral Affinity To Understand Its Audience
The Defenders provides Netflix with a unique case study. Instead of merely allowing it to find out if someone who likes, say, House of Cards also will like Daredevil (yes, BTW), it tells them which of the people who landed on Daredevilbecause of House of Cards will make the jump to The Defenders.
A Tiny Town In Arkansas Has A Plan To Thrive – Using The Arts
A $70 million infusion is key to the project: The money comes from a combination of donors, including Murphy Oil Corporation, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and the Walton Family Foundation. The first phase of the initiative, the $54 million, six-block Murphy Arts District in downtown El Dorado, is making its debut on Sept. 27. The district’s five-day opening celebration will have performances by artists like Brad Paisley, Smokey Robinson, Ludacris and the hip-hop trio Migos.
Report: NY Cultural Institutions Are Disproportionately White
“The information reflects findings in a study last year that city officials called “troubling”: While 67 percent of New York City residents identify as people of color, only 38 percent of employees at cultural organizations describe themselves that way.”
Studios, Networks Negotiate On Releasing On-Demand Movies While They’re In Theatres (Maybe Not)
Apple could also eventually join Netflix and Amazon as a threat, but for now, the studios have cast the Cupertino colossus as a PVOD savior. Accelerating the window on movie transactions doesn’t have the importance of, say, iPhone 8, for Apple, but it’s not a trivial matter, either. Coming days after the company made clear its intent to spend $1 billion on original programming, premium VOD would provide just the kind of boost Apple needs to follow through on CEO Tim Cook’s pledge to double the size of the services business in which its content-related efforts are house by 2020.
Thomas Meehan, 88, Wrote Annie, The Producers, Hairspray
He is the only creative to have written the books for three shows that ran more than 2,000 performances on Broadway: the aforementioned Annie (2,377 performances), The Producers in 2001 alongside Mel Brooks (2,502 performances), and Hairspray in 2002, which he wrote with the late Mark O’Donnell (2,642 performances). He earned Tonys for all three shows.
Sometimes When Your Editor Yells At You, He’s Entirely Right (No Matter How Much It Hurts)
Thomas Ricks labored over his new book, making it just so. When he was done, his editor hated the result, and harshly told him so. In completely rewriting it, Ricks discovered not only that his editor was right but that he could produce something much better…
Ai Weiwei To Build Fences Across New York City
The exhibition uses fences as a way to explore immigration, boundaries and the ongoing refugee crisis. Ai, who lived in New York in the 1980s when he was a student, says it is “a love letter to the city and its people”. The outdoor show will include large-scale site-specific sculptures as well as photography to be presented in more than 300 spots, both public and privately owned, across the city