CULTURE: Stubborn Myths and Dated Terms We'd Like to Retire in 2016

Photo via CityLab.

"Whether they’re overused, misunderstood, or wrongfully deployed, sometimes good words and concepts go bad. As CityLab wraps up 2015 and looks forward to a new year full of promise, we’ve compiled the following list of myths we’re tired of debunking and phrases we’re tired of seeing—not to mention writing. Maybe, just maybe, if we all hold hands and jump together, we can reduce the number of times we’re collectively forced to contend with these terms in 2016." Go to CityLab to read the extense list that include from "millenials" and "hipsters" to "artisanal" and "sharing economy"... They have their reasons. E.T.P. 8'

DESIGN, BUSINESS & INNOVATION

Photo via Mashable.

T.L. Stanley describes in Mashable how the ad industry has finally made peace with crowdsourcing and how mass collaboration continues to blossom nowadays as consumers prefer authentic, quirky or unvarnished brand messages. "James DeJulio, co-founder and chief executive of Santa Monica-based ad tech firm Tongal, says crowdsourced advertising is the Uber of the marketing world. There’s tremendous demand for a service – in this case, original content with a fresh voice for digital, social media and other platforms. And lucky for brand marketers, he says, there’s a passionate and motivated labor pool ready to step up for quick turnaround, low-cost projects." Read full article in Mashable. E.T.P. 7'

Photo via PSFK.

Super interesting article by Sophie Maxwell, Pearlfisher's Futures Director in PSFK: "It is increasingly hard to switch off from a world that is always on. Our new and infinitely connected world has enabled us to exercise endless choice. And keen to optimize every aspect of our lifestyle, we have bought into the fact that the digital and the physical need to work in synergy. But now, there is a growing realization that we are struggling to find the head space for it all. As a result, we are seeking to restore some sort of balance – in terms of how we connect with each other and with our surroundings – by taking shelter, slowing down and switching off.
It may seem counter-intuitive but we are looking to brands to guide us. We want brands to help us schedule time for contemplation, create new space for significant moments and connect with us in more creatively controlled ways." Read full article in PSFK. E.T.P. 3'

The Procrastinator (some) Times Sunday 17th of November Edition

EDITORIAL

This week we should start mentioning Belle Beth Cooper's article in Fast Company that you can find  in the Design, Business & Innovation section, a very interesting piece that justify our efforts to make procrastination meaningful, we will add that article to our manifesto for sure. Photoautomat presents the work of Riitta Päiväläinen, In Dog We Trust teach us how to make a fondant poodle and we keep talking about Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity, because we really loved it. Finally, we thank Batkid for saving not only Gotham or San Francisco, but the whole world of another week of just terrible news. Thanks Batkid!

Happy reading and happy Sunday!


NEWS

David Cameron at the Lord Mayor's Banquet. Photo: Getty via The New Stateman.

There is really not much that I can add about Laurie Penny New Stateman's very eloquent article. I'm not English, and I really consider that I don't have a qualified opinion on this country politics. The only thing I will say is that when I read news like this about the UK, the same day I saw photos of the actual re-written history books of my country (Venezuela), books that praise "subordination" as a value, I can't help but think that deep down we are not as far away as it might seem, and as Laurey I had to repeat out loud: "We have not always been at war with Eastasia."

This is how Laurie Penny's article begin:  The throne was golden and the lectern was golden and the speech was very clear: austerity will not be temporary policy in Tory Britain. It will last forever. Addressing a roomful of diplomats and business leaders who had just dined lavishly at the Lord Mayor's banquet, the Prime Minister this week promised a "leaner, more efficient state". "We need to do more with less," said David Cameron, looking comfy in his white tie and tails. "Not just now, but permanently." But he hadn't counted on Ruth Hardy, a journalism student, who was working as a waitress that night. "The contrast of the two worlds was striking; someone said it was like a scene from Downton Abbey," wrote Hardy in a viral piece for the Guardian. "Maybe Cameron didn't see the irony; perhaps he forgot about the army of waiting staff, cleaners, chefs and porters who were also present at the banquet. Perhaps he thought he was in a room of similarly rich people, who understood the necessity for austerity. Perhaps it didn't occur to him that this message might not be as easily comprehended by those who hadn't just enjoyed a four-course meal. Perhaps he forgot about those of us, disabled or unemployed or on the minimum wage, for whom austerity has had a catastrophic and wounding effect." Read full article here. E.T.P. (including video): 7'.

Jim Sollish and his son via The New York Times.

I Want to Be a Millenial When I Retire. Jim Sollish wrote a really thoughtful article about his kid, a happy independent musician whose success is hard to be "measure" and therefore understood by older generations. "The Eskimos have all those words for snow, and it seems the only language we have for expressing success is numeric. It may be a universal language, but it’s an impoverished one. Maybe we need a word for “never having to sit in a meeting where someone reads long power point slides out loud.” Maybe we should have an expression that captures the level of success you’ve achieved when you do exactly what you love every day." Read full article in The New York Times. E.T.P. 3'

Photo via SF Gate.

Photo via SF Gate.

Photo via SF Gate.

Photo via Wired.

And of course, the cutest news from this past week was Gotham City being save by Batkid, the legendary Miles Scott aged 5. Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which organised the event, and to thousands of people in San Francisco that collaborated, Miles fulfil his wish to be Batman for a day. He participated in events across the city including fighting mock crimes and receiving an honour from the mayor. Read the article in BBC, Wired, SF Gate or in Spanish in BBC Mundo.

DESIGN, BUSINESS & INNOVATION

 

Photo: Richard Branson via Mashable.

Are you already planning your Summer holiday for 2014? Make sure you include "Space" somewhere in between Prague and Tokyo, because according to Sir Richard Branson, that is a possibility."Passengers will board the SpaceShipTwo (SS2) Enterprise, which recently just broke supersonic speeds in its second test flight, climbed to 69,000 feet above ground . . .  The experience won't quite be like boarding a NASA space shuttle, but it will definitely provide views you can't get on a plane." Wondering how much will this cost you? You might want to read the full article in Mashable before booking.

Image via Medium.

Welcome to Flatland. Recently in the tech community, a palpable aversion to the idea of management has been developing. This rejection of hierarchy is based on the belief that while hierarchy is good for maintaining predictability and repeatability if you are an entertainment company and you want the most intelligent, innovative and talented people working for you a hierarchic environment won't do it for them. Read this interesting article by Dustin Moskovitz in Medium.

Image: Cinder, created by the Barbarian Group in New York via Creative Review.

Thanks to Creative Review we discovered the Tomorrow Awards. "Launched in 2010 by Ignacio Oreamuno, executive director of the Art Directors Club and IHAVEANIDEA, with the intention of celebrating work that gives an indication of "where things are going" in advertising". If you want to have a look at this year's five winners click here.

 Image Wait But Why via The Huffington Post.

Why Generation Y Yuppies are Unhappy? Wait But Why, features in The Huffington Post's Blog  an interesting post about Generation Y workers, ambition, unrealistic expectations and satisfaction. I hate the paint/powepoint graphics a little bit, but some of the insights are useful if you are somehow interested in millenials. Read full article here.

DESIGN, BUSINESS & INNOVATION

Image: Time cover via Time.

TIME magazine this week ask (and tries to answer) this question: Can Google solve death? The major feature of their print edition explains how CEO Larry Page, who spoke exclusively with TIME about the new venture, 'has transformed the search giant into a factory for moonshots'. His boldest bet yet? To extend human life. Read more in Time.

Image: Courtesy of the artists via Wired.

eMotion, a 3-D Software that is basically a physics-based animation system that uses human motion to interact with projected graphics in real time,  is described by one of his creators as "Adobe Illustrator on acid". Adrien Mondot and Claire Bardainne, are the two Paris-based artist/technologists who created the software capable of blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. Read full article in Wired.

Photo: The Procrastinator (some) Times.

How to Manage a flexible workforce, and make sure work-at-home employees keep innovating. While Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer famously announced last winter that employees needed to be in the office to be innovative, Jennifer Owens, editorial director of Working Mother magazine  with whose staff members work when and where they choose, insists that there's another way. Read full article in Fast Company.

CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT

Photo: Salinger in Brooklyn, in 1952. Photograph by Antony Di Gesu/San Diego Historical Society/Hulton Archive/Getty. Via The New Yorker.

The past 5 of September was released in America Shane Salerno's documentary Salinger. According to IMDB: an unprecedented look inside the private world of J.D. Salinger, the reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye. You can read a lot of opinios on the Internet but there is this very complete piece by Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker that simply tries to answer: Who was J.D. Salinger? and in doing it so, might point out some inaccuracies of Salerno's film. 'There are certain artists, and some art, that become so popular that everyone peers into them, finding whatever they will, however they will'. Salinger was one of them. Read the article here.

 Photo via The New Yorker.

No one joins Facebook to be sad and lonely. But research into the alienating nature of the Internet—and Facebook in particular, and a new study from the University of Michigan psychologist Ethan Kross argues that that might be exactly how it makes us feel.  Do you want to know why? Read this article in The New Yorker.

Photo: DIY Bearding with pets cats and dogs via Dazed Magazine.

I selfie, therefore I am, it's an interesting article in Dazed Magazine about the selfie,  the on-the-go medium of self-celebration and envy, and a form of self-portrait accessible to everyman and everywoman – as long has he or she has a smartphone, and also, an A-Z guide. Have a look here.