Day: December 18, 2018

Curiositys, Future, Globalization, Living, Media&Culture, TechnologyLeave a comment

The Coming Commodification of Life at Home

Fernando Kaskais

A 1947 illustration of daily life in an urban apartment buildingGRAPHICAARTIS / GETTY As internet-connected devices and appliances accumulate, one academic foresees “the monetization of every move you make.” by JOE PINSKER “Imagine this,” says an advertising consultant named Barry Lowenthal. “I’m a smart toaster, and I’m collecting data on how many times the toaster is used.” I’ve just asked Lowenthal what he, as an advertiser, would be able to do with data transmitted from an internet-connected appliance, and I happened to mention a toaster. He thought through the possibility of an appliance that can detect what it’s being asked … Continue reading The Coming Commodification of Life at Home

Curiositys, Living, Media&Culture, PsychologyLeave a comment

The impossibility of keeping New Year’s resolutions

Fernando Kaskais

Image: Getty by RADHIKA SETH In the age of self improvement, why do we still insist on making New Year’s resolutions, especially when most people give them up by 12th January? Vogue investigates. No one captures the futility of making New Year’s resolutions more accurately than Bridget Jones. “New Year’s resolution: drink less. Oh, and quit smoking! And keep New Year’s resolutions,” she sighs in the opening scene of Bridget Jones’s Diary. We all know the feeling. The goals we set ourselves in January, after a month of excess and guilt, are often unachievable—and if somehow you manage to achieve them, you are left wondering … Continue reading The impossibility of keeping New Year’s resolutions

Curiositys, Freak U.S.A, History, Media&Culture, Politics, RightsLeave a comment

The Fall of Rome and the Lessons for America

Fernando Kaskais

Vincenzo Camuccini, The Death of Caesar, 1798 Getty Images By EDWARD J. WATTS Edward J. Watts is the author of Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell Into Tyranny. He holds the Alkiviadis Vassiliadis Endowed Chair and is professor of history at the University of California, San Diego. The author and editor of several prize-winning books, including The Final Pagan Generation, he lives in Carlsbad, California. The Roman Republic inspired many of the delegates who traveled to Philadelphia to design an effective federal government for the new United States in the summer of 1787. There was good reason for this. Not only did Rome’s Republic endure for … Continue reading The Fall of Rome and the Lessons for America