5IT, 12/8
1. And this is an economist's happy scenario for technology reducing inequality.
"We can easily imagine medical diagnosis by online artificial intelligence, greater use of online competitive procurement for health care services, more transparency in pricing and thus more competition, and much cheaper online education for many students, to cite just a few possibilities. In such a world, many wage gains would come from new and cheaper services, rather than from being able to cut a better deal with the boss at work. It is a bit harder to see how information technology can lower housing costs, but perhaps the sharing economy can make it easier to live in much smaller spaces and rent needed items, rather than store them in a house or apartment. That would enable lower-income people to live closer to higher-paying urban jobs and at lower cost."
2. There is still something special about seeing something by drone for the first time.
"The popularity of drone videos can be partially explained, yes, by their novelty. (And their newfound ubiquity inevitably gave rise to complaints.) But at their best, drones provide a compelling vantage that captivates viewers and point in a new and creative direction for journalism and cinematography."
+ And somehow decades of crane and helicopter shots seem to have prepared us to see our world this way, rather than vaccinated us against the angle's emotional effect.
"A team led by Angela de Bruin of Edinburgh University examined 104 papers on the bilingual advantage presented at academic conferences, which are often venues for researchers to get feedback on early results before refining their work and attempting to get published in peer-reviewed journals. The papers de Bruin's team looked at were almost evenly split when it came to which ones had results supporting the notion of a bilingual advantage and which ones presented results challenging the notion (including 'mixed findings' papers that leaned slightly in one direction or the other). But then, when it came to getting these conference papers published in journals, something weird happened: 63 percent of the papers supporting a bilingual advantage achieved publication in a journal, while just 36 percent of those questioning the notion did."
4. The architecture of immigration in LA.
"When Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne looks at L.A., he sees the city shaped by immigrants. Landmark buildings in Koreatown that adapt and evolve with a new generation. Houses in Arcadia that allow Chinese homeowners a proud, conspicuous place in a new country. Street life across the region that takes its cue from the way Latino neighborhoods blur the line between public and private. In this three-part series, Hawthorne shows us how Southern California may offer the first look at post-immigration America."
5. Why the Freedom Tower fell short of its green ambitions.
"A 26-page trove of internal documents obtained by Climate Desk from the Port Authority reveals for the first time a substantial hit to the project's green ambitions: Superstorm Sandy caused critical damage to the World Trade Center's $10.6 million clean-power sources—those world-class fuel cells—a third of which went unrepaired and unreplaced, in part because of a costly flaw in the main tower's design, and pressure to honor a billion-dollar deal with Condé Nast, the global publishing powerhouse and high-profile anchor tenant."
Today's 1957 American English Language Tip
coryphaeus. The leader of the chorus (Greek drama).
Another great word, seemingly designed for 2014!
The Credits: 1. nytimes.com 2. qz.com 3. nymag.com 4. latimes.com 5. motherjones.com
Houses in Arcadia