Google Arts&Culture trova il vostro sosia nel mondo dei ritratti d’arte - adesso disponibile anche in Italia - il mio articolo per Macity

https://www.macitynet.it/selfie-artistico-google-molti-americani-non-tutti/

Roberto Viola, dirigente Ue per la tecnologia (un ruolo fondamentale, sotto c'è un link a un articolo che racconta la sua storia) era a Venezia alla Mostra del Cinema e ha dichiarato a Variety che i servizi streaming (Amazon, Netflix) da dicembre dovranno dare spazio al 30% di programmazione locale, ben in evidenza. Da noi ci aspettano Don Matteo e Un medico in famiglia?

Money quote: "Viola said that, starting in December, the EU’s 28 member states would have 20 months to apply these new norms and that countries “could choose to raise the quota from the 30% minimum to 40%.” EU nations can each choose whether the 30% includes sub-quotas on original productions in their countries and whether they want to follow the German model of adding a small surcharge on streamer subnoscription fees to support the national production fund."

https://variety.com/2018/film/news/netflix-amazon-local-product-quotas-european-union-law-1202924740/

La (notevole) storia di Viola

https://www.politico.eu/article/roberto-viola-profile-eu-dsm-tsm-technology-tech-policy/

La domanda è molto semplice. Le sostanze chimiche psicotrope, droghe ricreative o medicali, ci danno più libertà o ci cambiano e ci pilotano?

Money quote: “Psychological medications such as Xanax, Ritalin and aspirin help to modify undesirable behaviours, thought patterns and the perception of pain. They purport to treat the underlying chemical cause rather than the social, interpersonal or psychodynamic causes of pathology. Self-knowledge gained by introspection and dialogue are no longer our primary means for modifying psychological states. By prescribing such medication, physicians are implicitly admitting that cognitive and behavioural training is insufficient and impractical, and that ‘the brain’, of which nonspecialists have little explicit understanding, is in fact the level where errors occur”

https://aeon.co/ideas/do-psychotropic-drugs-enhance-or-diminish-human-agency

Lavorare in un open office richiede regole certe: come stare in biblioteca. Però può convenire dal punto di vista economico (lo spazio viene sfruttato meglio e costa meno attrezzarlo, che poi è il motivo per cui molte aziende lo preferiscono) e richiede una mentalità condivisa organizzata e coerente.

Money quote: “We did the best job we could designing an open office (and a culture) that allows everyone to work in focused peace and quiet every day. But even that’s not good enough, which is why no one is ever required to come into our office. Basecamp is a fully remote company of 54 people, and even the 14 people who work in Chicago work remotely from home most of the time. Walk into the office on any given day and you’ll see 3–5, if you’re lucky. Yes, it’s a tremendous waste of space most of the time, but that’s a concession we’re comfortable making.“

https://www.signalvnoise.com/library-rules-how-to-make-an-open-office-plan-work-f9f6d69a2d4c

Davvero vogliamo la vita eterna, l’immortalità in Terra, oppure abbiamo bisogno della morte, di una fine che dia senso a quel che succede prima? E se poi la nostra fosse “solo” paura di non riuscire a controllare il nostro destino finale ed ineluttabile? Un articolo decisamente non banale.

Money quote: “It seems, then, that both philosophers and popular culture keep trying to tell us the same thing: you might think that you want to live forever, but reflection should convince you otherwise. And yet, if this is ultimately true – as philosophers and popular culture seem to want to say that it is – then another question arises: why do we keep needing to be told?”

https://aeon.co/essays/theres-a-big-problem-with-immortality-it-goes-on-and-on

Ecco Chrome 69, l’ultima versione del browser di Google che compie 10 anni - il mio articolo per La Stampa

http://www.lastampa.it/2018/09/06/tecnologia/ecco-chrome-lultima-versione-del-browser-di-google-che-compie-anni-3Zlk2BUHG0HiJCNhIgzdfM/pagina.html

iTerm2 3.2, il Terminale alternativo per Mac ora supporta Metal 2 - il mio articolo per Macity

https://www.macitynet.it/iterm2/

Sul perché bisognerebbe tutti quanti collezionare orologi della Seiko (concordo!)

Money quote: “The Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, wears one. Ellen Ripley wore one when she battled aliens. Ramon Ang wears one to meetings and, if he likes you, will take it off his wrist and give it to you. The manong security guard at the mall has one. And after years of saying that I’d never collect watches because I’m already deep down the rabbit-hole with hi-fi audio and fountain pens, I have one as well.“

https://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/the-latest-news-features/70000/seiko-watch-collection-a503-20170503

Alla fine, quel che conta è lo strumento... forse.

Money quote: “Decía Pablo Picasso que «la inspiración existe, pero tiene que encontrarte trabajando». Si un pintor esperara siempre a que le llegara la inspiración (o las ganas de trabajar), probablemente ninguno de sus cuadros vería la luz. Y si un escritor hiciera lo mismo, tampoco pondría el punto final a ninguno de sus libros. Y precisamente sobre el proceso de escribir y las distracciones quiero hablar hoy”

http://www.ochoenpunto.com/escribir-minimalismo-zenpen-scrivener/

Il mondo in cui viviamo

Cory Doctorow è un giornalista e imprenditore, oltre che scrittore. Personaggio complesso. La rappresentazione di quel che sta per succedere è perlomeno parziale.

Money quote: “Just last week, German music professor Ulrich Kaiser posted his research on automated censorship of classical music, in which he found that it was nearly impossible to post anything by composers like Bartok, Schubert, Puccini and Wagner, because companies large and small have fraudulently laid claim to their whole catalogs.”

https://boingboing.net/2018/09/05/mozart-bach-sorta-mach.html/

Una snella guida alla non-monogamia nel mondo. Intrigante.

Money quote: “Zou hun or “walking marriage” is a common practice with the Mosuo ethnic group, in the Yunnan province of China. Instead of traditional marriages, the Mosuo indicate interest, and a woman may give a man permission to visit her after dark. While sexual activities may happen with many partners, couples do not usually live together even when their relationships become longer-term; women remain with their family. Rather than caring for their specific offspring, men share responsibility for any children born to women in their own family.”

https://matadornetwork.com/life/non-monogamy-around-world/

Di cosa muore una startup? Di problemi personali. In gergo aeronautico: la uccide l’errore molto più spesso che non un difetto di progettazione. Solo che non se ne parla mai.

Money quote: “But the technical cause of death is usually a veneer. Behavioral, cultural, and interpersonal issues are among the biggest killers of startups, but they are seldom discussed in public. “

Money quote: “But the technical cause of death is usually a veneer. Behavioral, cultural, and interpersonal issues are among the biggest killers of startups, but they are seldom discussed in public. “

https://medium.com/s/story/what-really-kills-most-startups-e5dc06e72549

Tra poco apre il salone dell’orologio ma intanto il NYTimes racconta la trasformazione del mercato giapponese.

Money quote: ““We’re kind of in start-up mode in Japan,” said Steve Amstutz, vice president and chief commercial officer of Parmigiani Fleurier, a Swiss luxury brand expanding its footprint in Japan. “The market has changed over the past five, 10 years. It went from being an exclusively domestic market to one where there is a travel retail business, meaning overseas foreigners are coming to Japan and buying luxury products from Europe.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/fashion/watches-japan-swatch-group.html#click=https://t.co/KM2qnDOqBI

In Gran Bretagna sono tutti pazzi per le anticherie tecnologiche

Money quote: “The online retailer has noticed a rise in Gen Z collectors and millennials, aged 22 to 37, seeking products that take them back to their childhood.”

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/technow/britons-buying-more-retro-tech-as-millennials-catch-nostalgia-bug-866353.html

Le migliori app per prendere appunti sul mercato. Sono solo in parte d’accordo. Comunque, iA Writer e Scrivener ci sono.

Money quote: “Still, there’s a small quality-of-life improvement to enjoy when you switch from a mediocre, passable note-taking app to the best one you can find. And wouldn’t it be nice to have one app that fulfills your note-taking needs so that all your notes are in one place? That’s why we looked for the simplest, easiest-to-use note-taking app that’s relatively affordable.”

https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/this-is-my-next/2018/8/31/17630496/best-note-taking-app-google-keep-iawriter-school

Per gli amanti della fantascienza...

Quei giorni in cui ti impegni tanto ma sbagli proprio tutto...

Molto, molto interessante intervista della Paris Review a Chris Ware. La lettura lunga della domenica.

Money quote: “I’ve said it many times before, but Charles Schulz is the only writer I’ve continually been reading since I was a kid. And I know I’m not alone. He touched millions of people and introduced empathy to comics, an important step in their transition from a mass medium to an artistic and literary one.”

https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6329/chris-ware-the-art-of-comics-no-2-chris-ware