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Monthly Archives: December 2019

‘Uncanny Valley’ Charts a Tech Pilgrim’s Progress

Even at the end of a decade marked by surveillance capitalism and Russian trolls — a period of time when techno-utopianism curdled into disillusion — Silicon Valley has shown itself more than capable of delivering on one of its core promises: a frictionless convenience, at least for those who can …

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Gertrude Himmelfarb, Conservative Historian of Ideas, Dies at 97

Gertrude Himmelfarb, a historian of ideas who applied cool intelligence and elegant writing to making the case that Victorian-era morals should invigorate contemporary social policies, died on Monday night at her home in Washington. She was 97. Her son, the writer and commentator William Kristol, said the cause was congestive …

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Strike up the band: Paris orchestra wails at pension reform plans

PARIS (Reuters) – The French capital’s Opera Bastille has been silent for nearly a month because its orchestra is on strike, but on Tuesday the musicians performed on the steps of the opera house to bring attention to their anger at planned pension reforms. Members of the Paris Opera’s orchestra …

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Microsoft says North Korea-linked hackers stole sensitive information

FILE PHOTO: The Microsoft sign is shown on top of the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles, California, U.S. October 19,2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp said on Monday it has taken control of web domains which were used by a hacking group called “Thallium” to steal information. Thallium is …

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Barbara Testa Dies at 91; Her Discovery Rocked the Literary World

Lots of people do it — search through their attics in hopes of finding something valuable. But Barbara Testa found more than she could have imagined. In her grandfather’s old steamer trunk, she came across a manuscript. And not just any old manuscript. It turned out to be half of …

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In This Corner, an Armenian Pro Wrestler. In That Corner, Genocidal History.

Chris McCormick’s new novel, “The Gimmicks,” contains what might seem like a few gimmicks of its own, including forays into the worlds of competitive backgammon and professional wrestling. But those subcultures, emphasized in the book’s eye-catching cover design and promotional copy, are not what fuel it. It’s really about history …

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Sleepy LaBeef, a Rockabilly Mainstay, Is Dead at 84

Sleepy LaBeef, an early and enduring rockabilly artist who helped fuel a resurgence of that genre in the 1970s and ’80s, especially with his propulsive live shows, died on Thursday at his home in Siloam Springs, Ark. He was 84. His daughter Jessie Mae Lynn LaBeff confirmed his death. A …

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What Beyond Meat, WeWork teach us about IPOs of next decade

Having a diverse board — including a mix of genders and ages — has been found to correlate to strong returns (race/ethnicity is challenging to collect and assure in a uniform way so that is not included). Lyft had the highest board gender diversity at 30%, the target level for …

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With Uighur comic, Japanese manga artist aims to highlight everday ‘suffering’

TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese artist whose manga comics about a Uighur woman went viral wants to use the simple power of her work to raise awareness of the “daily suffering” endured by the Chinese mostly Muslim minority, she told Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The cover page of the comic titled …

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Peter Wollen, Who Wrote a Film Theory Bible, Is Dead at 81

Peter Wollen, who in a wide-ranging career wrote the influential film theory book “Signs and Meaning in the Cinema,” directed or co-directed films, wrote screenplays for others and curated art exhibitions in New York and elsewhere, died on Dec. 17 in West Sussex, England. He was 81. His wife, the …

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