Monday, January 16
Psst... The Computer's Listening Speech recognition programs aren't just for recognizing words anymore. They work behind the scenes to analyze the emotional tone of a caller, assist operators, and sort through audio files... Boston Globe 01/16/06
Posted: 01/16/2006 8:22 am
Science - The Trust Problem "We trust it. Should we? John Ioannidis, an epidemiologist, recently concluded that most articles published by biomedical journals are flat-out wrong. The sources of error, he found, are numerous: the small size of many studies, for instance, often leads to mistakes, as does the fact that emerging disciplines, which lately abound, may employ standards and methods that are still evolving. Finally, there is bias, which Ioannidis says he believes to be ubiquitous." New York Times Magazine 01/15/06
Posted: 01/15/2006 11:09 pm
More Students Opt For Online Courses Over In-Person "At some schools, online courses -- originally intended for nontraditional students living far from campus -- have proved surprisingly popular with on-campus students. At least 2.3 million people took some kind of online course in 2004, and two-thirds of colleges offering 'face-to-face' courses also offer online ones. But what were once two distinct types of classes are looking more and more alike -- and often dipping into the same pool of students." Wired 01/14/06
Posted: 01/15/2006 11:04 pm
Click here for more Ideas stories...
Ideas stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
Oakland Museum Gets New Director Lori Fogarty has been named director of the Oakland Museum. "Since 2001 Fogarty, 43, has directed the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito, where she led a $19.5 million expansion and fundraising effort." She'll oversee a planned expansion in Oakland. San Francisco Chronicle 01/16/06
Posted: 01/16/2006 8:49 am
New York's New Antiquities Theft Unit Manhattan's attorney general has appointed a special unit “dedicated to investigating and prosecuting antiquities theft and trafficking”. It will be headed by Matthew Bogdanos, "better known as the US Marine Corps Reserves colonel who led the investigation into the looting of the Baghdad Museum and helped recover more than 5,000 artefacts." The Art Newspaper 01/13/06
Posted: 01/15/2006 9:53 pm
Barnes Move Is Years Away When will the Barnes Collection move from its current home in to Philadelphia? Well, not even the foundation knows for certain, but it would seem that the transplant won't happen until mid-to-late 2009, or perhaps even early 2010. Philadelphia Inquirer 01/15/06
Posted: 01/15/2006 9:43 pm
Click here for more Visual Arts stories...
Visual Arts stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
LA Opera Expands Los Angeles Opera continues to expand. Next season the company will present 10 productions and 70 performances. "The aggregate number of performances, including the two recitals, is up from 61 in the current season, for an increase of nearly 25%. The total of 10 productions compares with eight this season." Los Angeles Times 01/16/06
Posted: 01/16/2006 8:16 am
Fliter Wins Gilmore Award Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter has been chosen the winner of the $300,000 Gilmore Artist Award. "Ms. Fliter was among about 450 pianists nominated in a poll of music professionals and was chosen from a final handful by six judges from the music world who stealthily heard her perform in Washington and Tokyo as well as on privately made live recordings." The New York Times 01/16/06
Posted: 01/15/2006 11:21 pm
Ailing Sawallisch Cancels Concert Dates Conductor Wolfgang Sawalisch is canceling concerts because of health concerns. "I cannot say if and when I will be strong enough to fly to America and to see you again. So I take the possibility now to thank you once again for the great collaboration in the past: The concerts in the Academy and in the new hall, the exciting travels to the most different parts of the world. The experiences remain always in my heart." Philadelphia Inquirer 01/14/06
Posted: 01/15/2006 10:40 pm
The Music Vending Machines Is this the year music kiosks take off with the public? Lots of big players are getting in to them. But there is also a great deal of skepticism as to whether kiosks actually fulfill any consumer demand. Yahoo! (Billboard) 01/15/06
Posted: 01/15/2006 10:13 pm
Click here for more Music stories...
Music stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
12 Things To Anticipate This Year "Among those making the 2006 list are the first building that will rise at the site of the former World Trade Center complex, a musical stage version of 'The Lord of the Rings' and a skywalk that will allow tourists to walk out over the Grand Canyon. SixNewThings.com 01/16/06
Posted: 01/16/2006 8:40 am
Rebuilding New Orleans - Start With Culture A New Orleans commission says that rebuilding the city ought to start with rebuilding its culture. "After the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina in late August, "no one doubts that the first order of business for New Orleans is to rebuild the levees and address the enormous need for shelter," the report says. "But it is New Orleans culture, our musical, visual, culinary, architectural, literary and graphic arts, that has always drawn people to visit, to live in, and to invest in our city. And it is our culture that will bring back the city that we love." The New York Times 01/16/06
Posted: 01/15/2006 11:15 pm
Click here for more Arts Issues stories...
Arts Issues stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
D'Arcy Sues NPR, MoMA Former NPR freelancer David D'Arcy has filed a $5 million suit against NPR and the Museum of Modern Art, claiming that he was "slandered for his report on a Nazi-looted painting once displayed at the museum. D'Arcy says MoMA retaliated against him for the piece — which questioned the museum's role in a Jewish family's fight to reclaim Egon Schiele's 'Portrait of Wally' — by allegedly lying to NPR and saying he got his facts wrong." New York Post 01/16/06
Posted: 01/16/2006 9:36 am
Arundhati Roy Rejects Award Novelist Arundhati Roy has turned down a national award from India's academy of letters because she opposes the government's policies. The Globe & Mail (AFP) 01/16/06
Posted: 01/16/2006 7:55 am
Ma Appointed World Peace Envoy UN Secretary General Kofi "Annan met with Ma on Thursday and confirmed the cellist would become a "peace envoy," joining a list of other notables such as environmentalist Jane Goodall, actor Michael Douglas, basketball player Magic Johnson, jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, opera singer Luciano Pavarotti and Nobel laureate Elie Weisel." CBC 01/14/06
Posted: 01/15/2006 10:36 pm
Click here for more People stories...
People stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
Changing The Equation "It looked a lot like a reality show. Last month, [Toronto's] Soulpepper Theatre Company held the ultimate audition... Unlike most drama training programs (such as the National Theatre School, George Brown College, and so on) in which inexperienced students pay tuition in exchange for training and connections to the 'real world,' Soulpepper Academy is the real world, and its students working artists. As such, it reverses the financial equation. It will pay its students for their time. Each will receive an annual income of $30,000." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/14/06
Posted: 01/15/2006 8:24 am
Click here for more Theatre stories...
Theatre stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
Book Critics Circle Award Finalists Joan Didion, William T. Vollmann and John Updike were among the finalists announced Saturday for the National Book Critics Circle Awards. The fiction nominees included Vollmann's "Europe Central," E.L. Doctorow's "The March" and Mary Gaitskill's "Veronica." Two British releases also were nominated: Kazuo Ishiguro's "Never Let Me Go" and Andrea Levy's "Small Island." Washington Post (AP) 01/16/06
Posted: 01/16/2006 8:36 am
A Revolution In Textbook Publishing? Bill Gates predicts it: "Within four or five years, instead of spending money on textbooks, they'll spend a mere $400 or so buying that tablet device and the material they hook up to will all be on the wireless internet with animations, timelines and links to deep information. But they'll be spending less than they would have on textbooks and have a dramatically better experience." The Age (Melbourne) 01/14/06
Posted: 01/16/2006 7:46 am
Will Technology Kill Publishing? Look at publishing industry statistics and you'd think this was a Golden Age for he book trade. "If, on this evidence, you were tempted to call this a golden age of publishing, you should first talk to the publishers. To them, the IT revolution cuts both ways. It has inspired a boom, but it also threatens to turn the book world upside down." The Observer (UK) 01/15/06
Posted: 01/15/2006 10:29 pm
Click here for more Publishing stories...
Publishing stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
The Serial Killer Movie Canadians Aren't Demanding A movie about infamous Canadian serial killers Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo is released this week, but movie theatres aren't exactly clamoring to show it. Only 100 prints have been made, and so far only 60 copies have been booked. The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/16/06
Posted: 01/16/2006 8:00 am
Mitchell: US Public Television Is Broken Outgoing PBS president Pat Mitchell says that "the United States must fundamentally rethink the value of public broadcasting, because the cash-strapped service is now inhibited from taking programming risks or sticking with worthwhile shows. 'Public broadcasting has got to have more resources. This is what I said on day one. I'll say it on my exit'." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/16/06
Posted: 01/16/2006 7:53 am
Warning - Your Digital Rights Are Threatened Britain's National Consumer Council warns that corporate entertainment digital security measures are eroding consumers' rights. "Consumers face security risks to their equipment, limitations on their use of products, poor information when purchasing products and unfair contract terms." BBC 01/16/06
Posted: 01/16/2006 7:49 am
Rate This! Director Takes On The Ratings Committee An independent filmmaker gets fed up with the way the secretive movie industry's ratings board does its work. So he tracks down its members and makes a film about its deliberations... The New York Times 01/15/06
Posted: 01/15/2006 11:29 pm
Click here for more Media stories...
Media stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
NYC Ballet's Bright Future Arrives Bright Sheng might not be the first person a ballet company would think of when contemplating the creation of a composer's residency. (He's never written a ballet score, or expressed any interest in doing so.) On the other hand, New York City Ballet is hardly the first arts organization you might assume would be in a position to strike a major, multi-year deal with one of the preeminent composers of the era. (Ballet companies are not exactly rolling in money these days.) But Sheng is enthusiastically embracing his newest task, commuting to New York from his home in Michigan nearly every week, and getting involved in fundraising and education as well as the artistic side of the organization. The New York Times 01/14/06
Posted: 01/15/2006 9:15 am
Click here for more Dance stories...
Dance stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
|
