HCRHS Media Lit

"According to findings from the Creative Artists Agency and shift7, a company started by the former United States chief technology officer Megan Smith, the top movies from 2014 to 2017 starring women earned more than male-led films, whether they were made for less than $10 million or for $100 million or more. The research also found that films that passed the Bechdel test - which measures whether two female characters have a conversation about something other than a man - outperformed those that flunked it. "The perception that it's not good business to have female leads is not true," said Christy Haubegger, a C.A.A. agent who was part of the research team. "They're a marketing asset." "

"Oryx and Crake is speculative fiction at its finest. Part dystopian satire, part post-apocalyptic nightmare, the novel examines the flaws of contemporary society through the lens of an imagined future that could all too easily come to pass. But examines isn't the right word for what Atwood accomplishes here; eviscerates is more fitting. As in The Handmaid's Tale (1985), her classic takedown of totalitarian theocratic misogyny, the author's satiric wit is razor-sharp and unsparing. Oryx and Crake isn't a book for the faint of heart or the easily offended. Potential outrages include a narcissistic, self-pitying protagonist who treats women poorly, unflinching depictions of child pornography and sex slavery, all manner of unfettered consumerist debauchery, and (spoiler alert) the deliberate annihilation of the human race by a brilliant scientist. Oh, and corporations control the world, social and economic inequality are endemic, catastrophic climate change is a given, and science and technology, especially genetic engineering, are exploited purely for profit by said all-powerful corporations without regard for human consequences. If some of these details sound uncomfortably like the present, well, that's the point. Oryx and Crake isn't about the future; it's about the present. The book is about us. Whatever future ultimately comes to pass-dystopian, post-apocalyptic, or otherwise-we are responsible for it. This story is our story. "

"In yet another work of speculative fiction by Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake holds its own particular significance. She takes her audience for a rather eye-opening journey deep into the apocalyptic dystopia of a deteriorating humanity. As the tragic chronicle of Snowman, her protagonist's life unfolds, the audience catches a jarring glimpse into his past and is repeatedly presented with a slew of perplexing issues. These fantastical problems presented by Atwood cause a profound speculation for her contemporary reader and perhaps even poses the true question as to whether these seemingly far-fetched predicaments are really so far from the realities of today. In a glorious attempt to awaken a possibly apathetic generation, Atwood's vision outlines the legitimate concerns we may have about the sterility of a much too structured, much too controlled society and how it could be the unintended downfall of our species."

"en years ago, Margaret Atwood ended the world, and in rather spectacular fashion. Oryx and Crake was a revelation: a harrowing vision of society gone terribly wrong, and a reminder that Atwood, author of the classic dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale, is one of the best speculative-fiction writers alive. The first volume in a trilogy, it was followed by The Year of the Flood, which, in a bit of remarkable narrative showing-off, offered a completely different story that unfolded concurrently with Oryx and Crake. With the publication of MaddAddam next week, she concludes her epic account of what happens in the wake of the end, after her "waterless flood" has scrubbed the planet clean, leaving behind only a handful of people - or, at least, only a handful we know of - to survive in a landscape populated by fearsome pigoons (angry pigs genetically altered to grow human organs). The trilogy is one of the most impressive achievements in contemporary literature, and stands as a grand document of humanity's greatest failings but also a moving celebration of our greatest possibilities. They are frank and ugly books but also funny and beautiful. And for all their SF fireworks, all the world-building pyrotechnics, they are quietly realistic stories that recognize that any future the world can hope to have will be one of adaptation and synthesis, of our learning to live better with those around us to make the most of the diminished circumstances in which we're likely to find ourselves."

"Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel drew on real-life politics but has never been more prescient, writes Jennifer Keishin Armstrong."

"As a psychologist, I worry that location tracking can confuse the question of who is mainly responsible for the safety of the roaming adolescent - the parent or the teenager? Teenagers are rarely apart from their phones, making it easy for parents to use apps that track their locations. Credit Drew Angerer/Getty Images Image"

"US psychologist Jean Twenge, who has claimed that social media is having a malign affect on the young, answers critics who accuse her of crying wolf"

"To determine TIME's annual list, we consider accolades across numerous fields, global impact through social media and overall ability to drive news. In the past, we've recognized everyone from singer Lorde to Olympic champion Simone Biles to political activist Joshua Wong. Here's who made this year's cut (ordered from youngest to oldest):"

"We filmed four dozen original interviews while making The Facebook Dilemma. Our reporting team conducted in-depth interviews with current and former Facebook executives, internet activists, government and intelligence officials in the United States and around the world, the digital chief of Donald Trump's presidential campaign and leading journalists and scholars. Explore many of these interviews - and see how we used them in the film - in this interactive version of The Facebook Dilemma, part of FRONTLINE's Transparency Project."

"There is no iPhone equivalent for children, and there never has been. For the most part, kids are stuck with their parents' hand-me-down smartphones, and the onus is on the parent to install the necessary parental controls. So, why hasn't Silicon Valley successfully made a phone for children? And if it did, what would such a device actually look like?"

A page from The Altantic, and sponsored Walmart, that looks at what shopping my be like in the future.

"Attention: everybody wants some - social media, tech companies and more. Watch these talks to better understand the ways these entities try and get on your radar."

"We're building an artificial intelligence-powered dystopia, one click at a time, says techno-sociologist Zeynep Tufekci. In an eye-opening talk, she details how the same algorithms companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon use to get you to click on ads are also used to organize your access to political and social information. And the machines aren't even the real threat. What we need to understand is how the powerful might use AI to control us -- and what we can do in response."

"Kids like weird things: Yellow sponge-boys, talking doe-eyed ponies, ruddy-cheeked rodents that say only "pika pika," and, especially in the past few years, unboxing videos. Kids' unboxing videos are YouTube series in which children, or in some cases just disembodied hands, take toys out of their packaging and play with them as uplifting music plays in the background. One particularly popular video shows a small boy unwrapping and then assembling a child-size electric car, using plastic tools that would surely fall apart in less practiced hands. He then drives the car down the sidewalk through an eerily empty neighborhood to a playground that is also completely empty, where he plays by himself, presumably because all the other neighborhood children are busy watching YouTube. The video has 267 million views."

"eople are known to walk, talk, and eat while sleeping. Increasingly, sleep texting is joining the list. A study from Villanova University found that the habit of using smartphones to message friends while still asleep - and having no memory of doing it - is a common technology trend among adolescents and young adults. The paper, "Interrupted sleep: College students sleeping with technology," was published last month in the Journal of American College Health. The study is the first nursing article to look at sleep texting. Researchers concluded it was a growing trend in the college student population."

"Fake news is nothing new. Despite its rise to fame thanks to the 2016 presidential election, the phenomenon has been around since humans have been able to relay information - from spoken word to the first newspapers and now, to social media. It's also nothing to be afraid of. When armed with the right tools and information, anyone can spot fake news from a mile away. NewseumEd offers free classes and resources on media literacy.  But if you're in a hurry, here's a quick guide to identifying fake news. "

"The First Amendment protects individuals from government censorship. Social media platforms are private companies, and can censor what people post on their websites as they see fit. But given their growing role in public discourse, it's important to ask ourselves-what exactly are their censorship policies? How do they compare to each other, and to the First Amendment's protections?"

"The messaging app, which is owned by Facebook, has been slow to address false news on its service. The problem may be less the company or product, and more WhatsApp the idea."

"Amazon and other tech giants have made devices connected to the internet increasingly prevalent. Now is the time to be freaking out about the dangers."