20th October 2019
From NESTA. ‘Precarious to Prepared.‘ ‘As a result of technological progress and demographic changes, more than six million people in the UK are currently employed in occupations that are likely to change radically or disappear entirely by 2030. Without immediate action, there’s a risk these people will be trapped in insecure, low-value, low-pay employment – or worse, forced out of work altogether.’
From Vox. Amazon’s Echo Look, currently available by invitation only, allows you to take hands-free selfies and evaluate your fashion choices. “Now Alexa helps you look your best,” …’These algorithmic experiences are matters of taste: the question of what we like and why we like it, and what it means that taste is increasingly dictated by black-box robots..Style is now an algorithm.
Why Epic took Fortnite offline for two days ‘It was, of course, a PR stunt. But it was one that did exactly what it was supposed to do: It put Fortnite—and its new release Fortnite Chapter 2— firmly back into the collective gaming conversation just as the game was beginning to lose a bit of its coolness factor.’
Great graphic showing the transfer in spend from music formats to gaming formats, !970’s to the present day.
From The Economist. The difference between Uber and Airbnb. ‘As the home-rental firm prepares to go public, it is keen to point out how its business differs from ride-hailing. Unlike Uber drivers, few of whom were previously riders, Airbnb hosts typically start out as renters first. Since it is a middleman for property rather than labour, Airbnb has avoided the controversy about “gig economy” exploitation, and the vexed question of whether ride-hailing firms should treat drivers as employees.’
Lovely piece from (friend of the Filter) @Stevexoh – Yugen and the art of the intangible takeaway. ‘Yugen is a Japanese word that has no English equivalent. I understand it to mean a momentary sense of experiencing the deep mystery of all things. An awareness of some meaningful connection or patterning that is beyond words but is a palpable experience nonetheless.’
Barbie® opens the doors to her iconic Malibu dreamhouse, on Airbnb.
China’s largest video platform #Tencentvideo (97M paying China subscribers) will begin inserting extra ads into movies/series that didn’t exist in the original. HT @mbrennanchina.
Neurosymphony, exclusive to Aeon, explores three distinct perspectives on the brain, using videos of the scans made freely available by the Massachusetts General Hospital. The video pairs the imagery with an excerpt from the album Chapel by the US electronic musician and music-cognition researcher Grace Leslie, in which she converts her brainwaves into music. See and hear the human brain as you’ve never experienced it before…and also from Aeon, this short video piece, Hunting for Hockney, is ‘A dreamy animated tale of grief, friendship and a road trip to David Hockney’s house.’
10 Great Infographics by XKCD’s Randall Munroeor. For those unfamiliar, XKCD is the Internet-famous webcomic created in 2005. In addition to the standard webcomic format, Munroe has also become well known for his always-entertaining infographics. Some are a quick chuckle while others are incredibly detailed and informative.
Fabulous bit of moment-in-time marketing from Guinness around the Rugby World Cup. Following Ireland’s defeat by New Zealand, encouraging everyone to have a pint of Carling.
Kehinde Wiley’s contemporary counterpoint to old confederate monuments unveiled in Times Square.
A Vimeo pick of the week – Turf Fever. ‘A young Filipino-American escapes a troubled childhood in a rough town through TURF dancing and the brotherhood of his dance crew.’ (Turfing, or turf dancing is a form of American street dance that originated in Oakland, California).