EU Antitrust Legislation

EU Opens Antitrust Case Against 6 Major US Movie Studios

Raf Casert | July 23, 2015

The European Union on Thursday launched an antitrust case against six major U.S. movie studios and British satellite broadcaster Sky UK, in a move that could profoundly shake up the highly lucrative pay-television market in Europe.

Source: http://lapostexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Antitrust-Feature-630x310.jpg

The EU's executive Commission has sent a so-called statement of objections to the companies regarding what it says are "contractual restrictions" preventing EU consumers outside Britain and Ireland from accessing the services of Sky UK.

<more at http://news.yahoo.com/eu-opens-antitrust-case-against-6-major-us-101806496--finance.html>

When the Brain Reads

When We Read, We Recognize Words as Pictures and Hear Them Spoken Aloud

Words are not encoded in the brain by their meaning but rather by simpler attributes such as sound and shape

Stephani Sutherland | June 11, 2015

We recognize words as pictures

Source: http://www.icanreadsystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/The-brain.png

As your eyes scan these words, your brain seems to derive their meaning instantaneously. How are we able to recognize and interpret marks on a page so rapidly? A small new study confirms that a specialized brain area recognizes printed words as pictures rather than by their meaning.

<more at http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-we-read-we-recognize-words-as-pictures-and-hear-them-spoken-aloud/; related links: http://www.readingrockets.org/reading-topics/brain-and-learning (Brain and Learning. (+Video) ) and http://www.pbs.org/launchingreaders/brain/overview.html (Reading & the Brain)>

Employment in America, 2010

Where are the Jobs? Employment in America, 2010

Website: http://www.robertmanduca.com/projects/jobs.html.


About: "We talk a lot about jobs in this country: jobs created, jobs lost, good jobs, bad jobs. But where are these jobs, exactly? This visualization plots one dot for every job in the United States, according to the Census Bureau's Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics data. The LEHD data is based on state unemployment insurance records, and tabulates the count of jobs by census block. Here, jobs are colored by type, allowing us to see how different industries and sectors exhibit different spatial patterns--some clustering in downtowns, others spreading across city and suburbs alike. This project was inspired by the Racial Dot Map, as implemented most recently by the Cooper Center at the University of Virginia. I'm grateful to them for hosting such a stunning visualization, and especially for their extensive methodology section, which I drew on heavily to create the map here."

                         Source: http://www.robertmanduca.com/projects/jobs.html                         

Related link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/07/14/nearly-every-job-in-america-mapped-in-incredible-detail (Nearly every job in America, mapped in incredible detail. July 14, 2015)

"Wayback Machine" for Marketing

Crayon Wants to Be Marketing's Wayback Machine ... and Inspiration Warehouse

John Koetsier | July 15, 2015

“We spend tens of billions of dollars every year building new things,” said founder Jonah Lopin. “We learn things: what worked, what didn’t … and we lose those learnings when we redesign.”

Source: https://www.google.com/search?q=crayon+marketing+wayback&espv=2&biw=1171&bih=839&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmoVChMI-cfCjYH0xgIVTyiICh0wPgbK&dpr=1#imgrc=3T4na43FYCUWtM%3A

To change that and provide a place where marketers can go check what has worked in the near and far past, Crayon is building an archive of websites, landing pages, emails, and soon apps. It’s then allowing you to track changes over time, so you can see how Salesforce, for instance, has adapted its design and messaging over the past few years...

<more at http://venturebeat.com/2015/07/15/crayon-wants-to-be-marketing-wayback-machine-and-inspiration-warehouse/; related link: https://twitter.com/Crayon/status/621406446962520069/photo/1 (Crayon building marketing’s Wayback Machine/inspiration warehouse!) and http://blog.crayon.co/ (Crayon Blog)>

Wi-Fi and Trash

Internet of Bins: Wi-Fi to Come to New York Trash Cans

Waste company BigBelly applies for mayoral grant in New York City to provide free 75Mbps internet – via its litter baskets

Hannah Jane Parkinson | July 16, 2015

The struggle is real. Out and about and the 4G isn’t cutting it. People used to cheekily pop into cafes to use the loo – now it’s to briefly pilfer Wi-Fi.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/16/bigbelly-nyc-trash-can-hotspot/

Well, this rubbish situation might soon be fixed, with potential blanket Wi-Fi coming to the streets of New York, courtesy of … bins.

<more at http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/16/wifi-bins-new-york-trash-cans-internet-of-things; related links: http://bigbelly.com/ ("The World Leader in smartWaste & Recycling Solutions") and http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/16/bigbelly-nyc-trash-can-hotspot/ (Company plans to turn NYC's trash cans into WiFi hotspots); further: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzQCCqXyKZc (Internet of Bins: Wi-Fi to Come to New York Trash Cans) and http://qz.com/182391/the-internet-of-trash-bins-is-here-and-its-more-awesome-than-it-sounds/ (The internet of trashcans is here and it’s more awesome than it sounds)>

Computer Fashion Statement

Researchers Can Tell If You're Well Dressed -- with Math

Brad Jones | July 14, 2105

Fashion trends can be difficult to predict — one minute something’s hot, the next it’s not at all. However, a team of researchers from IRI in Barcelona and the University of Toronto have built a mathematical model that will help us understand how something becomes fashionable.

Source: http://chrisswantra.blogspot.com/2010/09/tibi-dabo-robots-for-public-spaces.html

<more at http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/researchers-can-tell-if-youre-well-dressed-with-math/; related links: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150714083033.htm (Mathematical model gives fashion advice. July 14, 2015. [Summary: Researchers have developed a mathematical model that is able to assess whether a person is fashionably dressed and to give advice on how to make the outfit more fashionable.]) and http://chrisswantra.blogspot.com/2010/09/tibi-dabo-robots-for-public-spaces.html (Tibi & Dabo Robots for Public Spaces. >

German Architects and Libraries Around the Globe

German architects tackle global issues

Did you know that part of China's National Library and a St. Petersburg hospital were built by German architects? Architecture firms in Germany are expanding in developing markets by solving modern urban problems.

Deutsche Welle (German Radio) | July 22, 2015

The Bauhaus design movement was, for many years, closely associated with German architecture. Founded by architect Walter Gropius and later continued by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Bauhaus stood for the vision of uniting art and design.

Source: http://www.on-light.de/home/news/article/blendfreies-licht-fuer-die-king-fahad-national-library.html Designed by the German firm Gerber Architects in 2013 according to http://www.dw.com/en/german-architects-tackle-global-issues/a-18599260

...Now a new generation of German architects is establishing its reputation abroad, making the most of the positive attributes associated with the Made in Germany label - like quality and reliability - and focusing on sustainability, urban development and technology.

<more at http://www.dw.com/en/german-architects-tackle-global-issues/a-18599260>