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"by Cathleen O'Grady Dec 1 2014, 6:00pm CET Share Tweet 14 For researchers interested in studying human behavior, the explosion of social media data provides incredible opportunities. The result has been an explosion of research using this data, which was only brought to the attention of many users by Facebook's infamous study on emotional words, in which researchers manipulated the emotions of unsuspecting users."

"by Cathleen O'Grady Dec 1 2014, 6:00pm CET Share Tweet 14 For researchers interested in studying human behavior, the explosion of social media data provides incredible opportunities. The result has been an explosion of research using this data, which was only brought to the attention of many users by Facebook's infamous study on emotional words, in which researchers manipulated the emotions of unsuspecting users."

"The study called "Leading the Herd Astray," showed that "popular" music, no matter how bad it is, is a self-fulfilling prophecy." [... Bandwagon Syndrome... ]

"The study called "Leading the Herd Astray," showed that "popular" music, no matter how bad it is, is a self-fulfilling prophecy." [... Bandwagon Syndrome... ]

"It will be eighteen years this weekend since GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program, hit version 1.0 on June 5, 1996, and over twenty since the open source project first became generally available to the public. In that time, it has come a long way in both the expansion of features and in usability, and for many users across Linux, Windows, and Mac machines alike it has become their preferred image editor."

[ Book: Wolfgang Hoeschele. The Economics of Abundance: A Political Economy of Freedom, Equity, and Sustainability. Gower Publishing, 2010 Contents [hide] * 1 Description * 2 Contents * 3 Excerpts o 3.1 Introduction o 3.2 Oppressive Scarcities (pp. 19-20) o 3.3 Conclusions: Strategies for Change o 3.4 Table 9.1: Coalitions for change o 3.5 Resource Use and Property Rights to Minimize Scarcity + 3.5.1 Contributory resource uses + 3.5.2 Neutral resource uses + 3.5.3 Rivalrous resource uses + 3.5.4 Key References on resource use Description "The "economics of abundance" is based on a critique of our present economic system, which finds value only in scarce commodities - i.e., things which can be sold at a high price because demand exceeds supply. Because this economy depends on demand always outstripping supplies, it also depends on "scarcity-generating institutions" - institutions that either manipulate supply or demand in order to keep us in a constant state of need. An economy of abundance seeks to dismantle or reform these scarcity-generating institutions in such a way as to affirm our freedom to live life as art (self-expression to others), social equity (so that everyone can live life as art), and sustainability (so that all life can thrive into the future). Among other things, this implies a much greater role for various forms of shared property, individual and community-level self-reliance, and participatory decision-making." (http://shareable.net/blog/event-the-economics-of-abundance) ]

"Data keeps debunking myths about Millennials and their music. Baby Boomers are famously self-important when it comes to the importance of their generation and the music it created. But a new study shows that the 55+ demographic actually listens to substantially less music than their 16-34 cohorts. In fact, Millennials - loosely defined as those born in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s - listen to 75.1% more music on a daily basis, according to data shared this morning with Digital Music News."

"It was in Russia that the word "oligarchs" was first used to denote very rich businessmen. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has adopted the term to refer to billionaires who create or take over media empires to serve their business or political interests. There is a worldwide trend towards increasingly concentrated ownership of conglomerates that combine media outlets (TV channels, radio stations, newspapers and news websites) with banks, telecoms, property firms and construction companies. All this suits the rulers of countries such as China that espoused capitalism in order to better suppress democracy. "

"More and more academic papers that are essentially gobbledegook are being written by computer programs - and accepted at conferences * Higgs would not have found his boson in today's publish-or-perish research culture"

"Using Spotify to measure the popularity of older music. BY MATT DANIELS, EDITOR, POLYGRAPH"

"by Cathleen O'Grady Nov 24 2014, 4:00am CET If you know how to do something and people around you start doing it differently, you have two options: stick to what you know, or change to use their strategy. If the new strategy is more efficient than yours, or gets better results, it's a no-brainer, so you switch. But if it's exactly as efficient and produces the same results, the decision to switch is based on another factor-conformity."

"by Cathleen O'Grady Nov 24 2014, 4:00am CET Share Tweet 24 If you know how to do something and people around you start doing it differently, you have two options: stick to what you know, or change to use their strategy. If the new strategy is more efficient than yours, or gets better results, it's a no-brainer, so you switch. But if it's exactly as efficient and produces the same results, the decision to switch is based on another factor-conformity."

"Margrethe Vestager is on the lookout for antitrust issues arising from companies' use of big data -- but says it doesn't require special regulation"

" y Ernesto on February 26, 2016 C: 41 News A new study has shown that music piracy is still rampant in the United States with 57 million people between the ages of 13 and 50 accessing music through unauthorized sources. Interestingly, however, these pirates also spend significantly more money on CDs and paid downloads, more than their counterparts who only consume legally."

" Ernesto on January 9, 2016 C: 67 Opinion Hollywood tends to leave no opportunity unused in its quest to show that online piracy is devastating the movie industry. However, this supposed devastation is not visible at the box office this year. In 2015 worldwide box office grosses surpassed $38 billion, while North American theaters raked in more that $11 billion for the first time in history. "

" Ernesto on January 9, 2016 C: 67 Opinion Hollywood tends to leave no opportunity unused in its quest to show that online piracy is devastating the movie industry. However, this supposed devastation is not visible at the box office this year. In 2015 worldwide box office grosses surpassed $38 billion, while North American theaters raked in more that $11 billion for the first time in history. "

"TMR Editor's Note: There is perhaps no other internet hoax that is more ludicrous than the Flat Earth Theory. We're talking about the most nonsensical and preposterous, laughable and foolish hoax in history! Yes, it is that zany and loony, wacky and silly."