From The Literary Review (UK): Oleksii Hnatkovskyi stands alone as Hamlet, spotlit and swathed in blue and yellow. The scene is from a Ukrainian-language production of Hamlet, directed by Rostyslav Derzypilskyi, performed in the basement-turned-shelter of the Ivan Franko Theatre … | Continue reading
From The Wall Street Journal: Somewhere around 1549, an English priest introduced love into marriage. Sort of. Thomas Cranmer, the archbishop of Canterbury during Henry VIII’s break with Rome, was the author and compiler of the English Book of Common Prayer, whose marriage rite—c … | Continue reading
From Police.com: Axon has announced the release of Draft One, a new software product that drafts police report narratives in seconds based on auto-transcribed body-worn camera audio, according to a press release. Reporting is a critical component of good police work, however, it … | Continue reading
From The Economist: Financial crime is as old as money. Hucksters were dreaming up Ponzi schemes centuries before Charles Ponzi gave his name to the ruse. Where there has been tax, there has been evasion. The looting of national coffers is as time-honoured as politics itself. But … | Continue reading
It is nice that nobody writes as they talk and that the printed language is different from the spoken otherwise you could not lose yourself in books and of course you do you completely do. Gertrude Stein | Continue reading
From Slate: Last week the article “No One Buys Books,” by Elle Griffin, went viral, topping Substack categories and being shared widely on social media. It’s easy to understand why. Publishing is an opaque industry, and Griffin’s piece—which collects quotes and statistics from th … | Continue reading
From The New Yorker: On September, Pope Francis became the first leader of the Catholic Church ever to visit Mongolia. It must have been a humbling stopover. The country has fewer than fifteen hundred Catholics. The welcoming ceremony, in Ulaanbaatar’s main square, attracted a fe … | Continue reading
From Anne R. Allen’s Blog… with Ruth Harris: We hardly ever write personal stuff here on the blog. I avoid politics and religion in my fiction as well as social media, and I figure nobody needs to hear about my little emotional ups and downs. But a couple of weeks ago, something … | Continue reading
From The Wall Street Journal: Late last year Randy Smith got a text from a complete stranger. She thanked him for putting her to sleep. Smith was shocked to discover that he was a YouTube star. The Ormond Beach, Fla., retiree was even more surprised about why: A tutorial he recor … | Continue reading
From EsquireUK: Every night for the last week, I’ve walked down a back street in a quiet suburban town. I know it well, or maybe it’s my first time there. I find a door. Behind the door is a dark room. In the middle of the dark room is a beautiful crafted miniature city. I’m ... … | Continue reading
Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks. Stephen Hawking AI will probably most likely lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime, there’ll be great companies. Sam A … | Continue reading
From EuroNews: In a coordinated operation, law enforcement arrested a group of Georgian nationals suspected of running a criminal operation stealing antique and rare books from European libraries. Over 100 law enforcement officials were deployed last week to raid 27 different loc … | Continue reading
From EIN Press Wire: LONDON, UK, April 30, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — The world’s first book with a stamp of authenticity to show it was written by a human and not by Chat GPT has gone on sale in a move that could transform the global publishing industry, curb the number of AI-gen … | Continue reading
From Publishers Weekly: In 2023, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory on an unexpected public health threat. The report, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation,” drew associations between loneliness and “a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, strok … | Continue reading
From The Atlantic: One afternoon in the mid-1980s, while on scholarship at the University of Oxford, Walter Kirn came upon a bulletin announcing that Jorge Luis Borges was visiting the campus and wished to meet students informally. Kirn, the future writer and critic, then in his … | Continue reading
It is a paradox that in our time of drastic rapid change, when the future is in our midst devouring the present before our eyes, we have never been less certain about what is ahead of us. Eric Hoffer Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative. H. G. Wells Int … | Continue reading
From The Wall Street Journal: Shortly after my book “Waving Goodbye: Life After Loss” was published April 9, I noticed a companion volume for sale on Amazon for $12.99. Its title: “Workbook for Waving Goodbye By Warren Kozak: Absolute Guide to Living Your Life even After Loss.” I … | Continue reading
From The Economist: Did you know that the wildfires which ravaged Hawaii last summer were started by a secret “weather weapon” being tested by America’s armed forces, and that American ngos were spreading dengue fever in Africa? That Olena Zelenska, Ukraine’s first lady, went on … | Continue reading
From The New York Times: The biggest U.S. challenge so far to the vast power of today’s tech giants is nearing its conclusion. Starting Thursday, lawyers for the Justice Department, state attorneys general and Google delivered their final arguments in a yearslong case — U.S. et a … | Continue reading
From The Wall Street Journal: In classic cop-speak, the bold, agile perp had a practiced M.O., or modus operandi. The jewel thief would approach one of the mansions of Dallas’s oil and tech millionaires at night from a nearby creek or wooded path, first calling ahead to make sure … | Continue reading
Dictators fall when they’re overconfident; they stay in power when they’re paranoid. Masha Gessen Dictators are allergic to reform, and they are cunning survivors. They will do whatever it takes to preserve their power and wealth, no matter how much blood ends up on their hands. … | Continue reading
From The Economist: North Korea’s rulers have always had strong views on art. Kim Il Sung, the regime’s founding despot, said artists should “arouse burning hatred for the enemy through their works”. His son and successor, Kim Jong Il, was such a cinema enthusiast that he kidnapp … | Continue reading
From The Literary Hub: One of the pleasures of reading 19th-century novels is that authors write openly about money. Take for instance Mr. Bennett, the patriarch in Pride and Prejudice, whose £2,000 a year makes him amongst the wealthier members of the gentry. With that sum, he c … | Continue reading
From Make a Living Writing: Let’s start with the Dictionary definition of euphemism: A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing. Dictionary.com definition Euphemism is a powe … | Continue reading
From The Paris Review: “What do you do with the old magazines when the new issues come out?” I asked the librarian. “At the end of the year, we donate them to neighborhood schools so kids can cut them up and make collages,” she replied. Our small public library is relatively new, … | Continue reading
From Publishers Weekly: As of May 2023, the American Booksellers Association’s membership included 2,185 companies with 2,599 locations; of those, 693 have opened their doors since January 2021. Many of these new booksellers see bookselling both as a career and as a means to adva … | Continue reading
From The Guardian: Scholars often say that no one doubted Shakespeare’s authorship until the 19th century. The response is a rote way of brushing off persistent questions about the attribution of the world’s most famous plays and poems – but it may not be true. New scholarship su … | Continue reading
Your first love isn’t the first person you give your heart to- it’s the first one who beaks it. Lang Leav, Sad Girls | Continue reading
From The Guardian: What do we mean when we say a novel is a “sad girl novel”? I could list a dozen popular novels published over the last few years that have had this term slapped on them. What do they have in common? Most often a protagonist who is at times miserable and disaffe … | Continue reading
From Sherwood News: Fan-fiction writers have for decades parlayed their passion for writing stories based on movies, TV shows, and books into careers as best-selling genre authors. But they haven’t often advertised to readers their pseudonymous identities as fan-fiction writers w … | Continue reading
I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering among the heath, and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass; and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth. The closing lines … | Continue reading
From The Economist: Cairo, a town at the southern tip of Illinois founded in the early 19th century, was given that name because it was expected to grow into a huge metropolis. Located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, it was the transport hub of a region that … | Continue reading
From The Wall Street Journal: ‘I’m a liar. I’m a thief. I’m emotionally shallow. I’m mostly immune to remorse and guilt. I’m highly manipulative. I don’t care what other people think.” Thus opens “Sociopath: A Memoir,” by Patric (short for Patricia) Gagne, psychologist, former th … | Continue reading
A short teaser for the newest Boston Dynamics humanoid robot. PG has blogged about earlier models of Boston Dynamics robots, but, even from the short video below, it’s obvious that the company has been hard at work. Thanks to several regulars on TPV or the tip. Here is a video of … | Continue reading
If we steal thoughts from the moderns, it will be cried down as plagiarism; if from the ancients, it will be cried up as erudition. Charles Caleb Colton | Continue reading
From The Japan Times: The Tokyo District Court on Thursday ordered the operator of a now-defunct manga piracy website to pay ¥1.7 billion in compensation to three major Japanese publishers. Presiding Judge Masaki Sugiura recognized that the site operator and his associates had up … | Continue reading
From Windows Central: It’s an open secret that Microsoft is working on a significant AI update for Windows 11 this year, timed with new “AI PCs” that are set to begin being made available in June. In fact, Microsoft is holding a special event on May 20, where it intends to unveil … | Continue reading
From Master Class: Authors employ different literary devices to create plot twists and conflicted characters. One of these devices is the unreliable narrator—a storyteller who withholds information, lies to, or misleads the reader, casting doubt on the narrative. Authors use this … | Continue reading
From The Federal Trade Commission: September 26, 2023 The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general today sued Amazon.com, Inc. alleging that the online retail and technology company is a monopolist that uses a set of interlocking anticompetitive and unfair strategi … | Continue reading
From The United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division: The Antitrust Laws The Antitrust Division enforces federal antitrust and competition laws. These laws prohibit anticompetitive conduct and mergers that deprive American consumers, taxpayers, and workers of the bene … | Continue reading
3 Body Problem April 7, 2024 by PG Click to Tweet/Email/Share This Post Categories Fantasy/SciFi, Video I think a common misconception about a small town in rural America | Continue reading
I think a common misconception about a small town in rural America is that everyone believes the same way, and nothing could be further from the truth. Ree Drummond | Continue reading
From The BBC: The release of Netflix’s series 3 Body Problem has been watched millions of times around the globe since its release late last month. It has even found an audience in China where Netflix is unavailable, sparking much chatter among viewers of the series. But many fan … | Continue reading
From Publishing Perspectives: Since Publishing Perspectives first reported in September 2023 on the textbook crisis in Mexico, publishers say the situation has gone from bad to worse, with the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador now taking steps to produce its own English-l … | Continue reading
From The Atlantic: Rage is the subject of a new book by the political scientist Tom Schaller and the journalist Paul Waldman. White Rural Rage, specifically. In 255 pages, the authors chart the racism, homophobia, xenophobia, violent predilections, and vulnerability to authoritar … | Continue reading
From Writers Helping Writers: DESCRIPTION: This narcissistic and antisocial character lacks empathy and will cross any line to get what they want. FICTIONAL EXAMPLES: Anton Chigurh (No Country for Old Men), Annie Wilkes (Misery), Amy Dunne (Gone Girl), the Joker (The Dark Knight) … | Continue reading
From Ask a Bookseller: This one’s for the creatives. Used bookstores can be a treasure trove of great reads, old and new, on a huge variety of topics. Dickson St. Bookshop in Fayetteville, Ark., is one such spot. Bookseller Elaine Eckert says she gets particularly excited when sh … | Continue reading
In his experiments with AI writing programs, PG has discovered a few strengths and weaknesses. Following are the first few paragraphs of “The Sun Also Rises,” as originally written by Ernest Hemingway: Robert Cohn was once middleweight boxing champion of Princeton. Do not think t … | Continue reading