Google's drone delivery program takes flight in Australia (Wired) Nintendo unveils redesigned 3DS console (Business Insider) The Boss to publish children's book (The Guardian) A box office dollar is not the same in every coun ...
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In his latest book, Greil Marcus distills the history of rock ‘n’ roll into just 10 songs, reports Wesley Stace in The Wall Street Journal (8/23/14). In part, Greil picks his list based on certain themes, like "escape," that are particular to rock ‘n’ roll. But the overarching idea "is how different artists cover, and re-discover, one another’s work." For example, In the Still of the Night, by the Five Satins, ...
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Maya Beiser channels Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and others through her cello, reports Corinne Ramey in The Wall Street Journal (8/26/14). Her idea is to play their “voice.” With Kurt Kobain, for instance, Maya produces a “grimy, fuzzy howl.” “His voice is raspy and out of tune and not clean,” says Maya. Getting at that “is about … diving into that world.” Similarly, Jimi Hendrix’s solo on Little Wing is “so out of tune … You have to learn to bend and sort of be around the n ...
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Why Facebook’s cutting down on clickbait (Mashable)  Snapchat must tread carefully as the free service intros ads (Wired)  Could smartphones be ruining preteens’ social skills? (The Star Online)  Microsoft lets you record your gameplay (EnGadget) Why September 9 could be a big deal for iPhone fans (CNET) Gaming needs to expand its reach beyond teen boys (The Globe and Mail) W ...
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Zippo is doing better than ever even though the number of US smokers is half what it was in the 1950s, reports Abram Brown in Forbes (9/8/14). Last year’s sales topped $200 million, a record. Zippo’s claim to fame is, of course, its innovative and iconic cigarette lighter — developed "with a windproof chimney and a distinctive hinged lid" — in 1932. "After soldiers received the lighters in WWII, Zippo successfully marketed itself with ...
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Amid the rise of Big Data is a decline in reliable research, reports David Leonhardt in The New York Times (8/26/14). "The declining response rate to surveys of almost all kinds is among the biggest problems in the social sciences," David writes. "It’s complicating our ability to understand how people live and what they believe." This is evident in the Labor Department’s jobs report, which s ...
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