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I work in publishing I post about working in publishing, education, art, fashion and travel.
November 28, 2009
“Berlusconi changed the culture of Italy before he changed the politics of it,” (via How Silvio Berlusconi Uses Women on TV - TIME “He introduced a culture of luxury and sex, one entirely different from the traditions of austerity promoted by Catholicism and the communists. His control of commercial television meant that he is the only politician in the world who helped create and shape his own electorate before it elected him.” In the 15 years since he began dominating Italian politics, Berlusconi has created a seamless weave of entertainment and power.

“Berlusconi changed the culture of Italy before he changed the politics of it,” (via How Silvio Berlusconi Uses Women on TV - TIME

“He introduced a culture of luxury and sex, one entirely different from the traditions of austerity promoted by Catholicism and the communists. His control of commercial television meant that he is the only politician in the world who helped create and shape his own electorate before it elected him.”

In the 15 years since he began dominating Italian politics, Berlusconi has created a seamless weave of entertainment and power.

link via tumblr.

link via tumblr.

A question of books and borders: Cuban books should be about sex and salsa

…I found myself wondering if there is such a thing as a national literature any more, something autonomous and utterly distinctive, and with a sufficiently large local audience….

Speaking of the influence of the French revolution on literary modernity, Walter Benjamin once wrote that “the lava of revolutions provides uniquely fertile ground for the blossoming of art, festivity, fashion”. Liberation from colonial rule spurred modernist experimentation in places as remote from the metropolitan west as Manila and Bogota, often motivated by the feeling among many aspiring writers that they were, as Octavio Paz once wrote about his Latin American peers, “inhabitants of the suburbs of history”.

The Guardian

Jean-Paul Marat (24 May 1743 – 13 July 1793) was a Swiss-born physician, political theorist and scientist better known as a radical journalist and politician from the French Revolution. His journalism was renowned for its fiery character and uncompromising stance towards the new government, “enemies of the revolution” and basic reforms for the poorest members of society. His constant persecution, consistent voice and uncanny prophetic powers brought him the trust of the people and made him their unofficial link to the radical Jacobin group that came to power in June 1793. For the two months leading up to the downfall of the Girondin faction in June, he was one of the three most important men in France, alongside Georges Danton and Maximilien Robespierre. He was murdered in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday, a Girondin sympathizer.

Jean-Paul Marat (24 May 1743 – 13 July 1793) was a Swiss-born physician, political theorist and scientist better known as a radical journalist and politician from the French Revolution. His journalism was renowned for its fiery character and uncompromising stance towards the new government, “enemies of the revolution” and basic reforms for the poorest members of society. His constant persecution, consistent voice and uncanny prophetic powers brought him the trust of the people and made him their unofficial link to the radical Jacobin group that came to power in June 1793. For the two months leading up to the downfall of the Girondin faction in June, he was one of the three most important men in France, alongside Georges Danton and Maximilien Robespierre. He was murdered in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday, a Girondin sympathizer.

Revolutions come and die

The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on Enlightenment principles of citizenship and inalienable rights.

The American Revolution is the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen of Britain’s colonies in North America at first rejected the governance of the Parliament of Great Britain, and later the British monarchy itself, to become the sovereign United States of America.

The Russian Revolution is the collective term for the series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union.

The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt that led to the overthrow of U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista of Cuba on January 1, 1959 by the 26th of July Movement led by Fidel Castro.[1] The “Cuban Revolution” also refers to the ongoing implementation of social and economic programs by the new Castro government.

The Chinese Revolution was a series of great political upheavals in China between 1911 and 1949 which eventually led to Communist Party rule and the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.

Revolution

A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, “a turn around”) is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time. Aristotle described two types of political revolution:

1. Complete change from one constitution to another 2. Modification of an existing constitution.

Revolutions have occurred through human history and vary widely in terms of methods, duration, and motivating ideology. Their results include major changes in culture, economy, and socio-political institutions.

Scholarly debates about what does and does not constitute a revolution center around several issues. Early studies of revolutions primarily analyzed events in European history from a psychological perspective, but more modern examinations include global events and incorporate perspectives from several social sciences, including sociology and political science. Several generations of scholarly thought on revolutions have generated many competing theories and contributed much to the current understanding of this complex phenomenon…

Madonna, Drowned World Tour 2001. The mother fucker tshirt.

Madonna, Drowned World Tour 2001. The mother fucker tshirt.

(via thewayoftheworld)

(via thewayoftheworld)

November 27, 2009
Why Don’t IT Departments Give Employees More Freedom?

How is it that employees can be trusted to take care of important customers, safeguard expensive equipment and stay within their budgets, but can’t be trusted to use the Web at work, choose their own IT tools, or download programs onto the workplace PCs? Do IT staffers really believe that conscientious, committed employees turn into crazed, malicious hackers when you give them a bit of freedom over their IT environment? Or are the nerds in IT all secret control freaks—the sort of folks who alphabetize their DVD collections and have separate drawers for different-colored socks and put on protective clothing before pounding a nail? Either way, if they had the budget, they’d probably hire hall monitors.

Gary Hamel: Why Don’t IT Departments Give Employees More Choice? - Gary Hamel’s Management 2.0 - WSJ

National Geographic’s International Photography Contest 2009 - The Big Picture - Boston.com Nazroo, a mahout (elephant driver), poses for a portrait while taking his elephant, Rajan, out for a swim in front of Radha Nagar Beach in Havelock, Andaman Islands. Rajan is one of the few elephants in Havelock that can swim, so when he is not dragging timber in the forest he is used as a tourist attraction. The relationship between the mahout and his elephant usually lasts for their entire lives, creating an extremely strong tie between the animal and the human being. (Photo and caption by Cesare Naldi)

National Geographic’s International Photography Contest 2009 - The Big Picture - Boston.com

Nazroo, a mahout (elephant driver), poses for a portrait while taking his elephant, Rajan, out for a swim in front of Radha Nagar Beach in Havelock, Andaman Islands. Rajan is one of the few elephants in Havelock that can swim, so when he is not dragging timber in the forest he is used as a tourist attraction. The relationship between the mahout and his elephant usually lasts for their entire lives, creating an extremely strong tie between the animal and the human being. (Photo and caption by Cesare Naldi)

Washington Post Mounts Books Experiment with Amazon

The Washington Post’s business development unit just unveiled a new experiment—allowing readers to purchase books mentioned in the paper’s book coverage via Amazon.com’s (AMZN) Amazon Associates program. Book links on the site will go to a new Post store, where the paper will receive a percentage of any sales from Amazon. GalleyCat asked Washington Post Book World’s deputy editor Ron Charles for more information, but he stressed in an email that “I really don’t know anything about this program except what I read this morning in the press release. Advertising and editorial are kept entirely separate.” We contacted the communications department with our questions, and they passed along a release with quotes from Goli Sheikholeslami, the Post’s digital general manager and product development vice-president. The complete release follows after the jump… Here’s more from the Post’s release: “The Post’s news and editorial departments are not involved in placing the links. Post store links are automatically embedded by a non-editorial team after a review is posted and regardless of the nature of the book review. Links to the store are clearly labeled as commerce links. ‘If this test is successful, we will consider expanding the range of product offerings and participating online retailers,’ said Sheikholeslami.”

Continue reading here

November 26, 2009
The savvier consultants and their clients understand that the basis of the business is not technological but anthropological – and that this is not always a bad thing. Among human beings, it turns out, the perception of expertise, however unfounded, can sometimes be used to good purpose. As the shamans who poison chickens and the soothsayers who read entrails have long demonstrated, sometimes it is more important to build a consensus around a good decision than to make the best possible decision; sometimes it is more useful to believe that a decision is sanctioned by a higher authority than to acknowledge that it rests on mere conjecture; and sometimes it is better to make a truly random choice than to continue to follow the predictable inclinations of one’s established prejudices. Consultants, following in the footsteps of their pagan forebears, understand that they must adopt the holy mien of a priestly caste.
— “Masters of illusion: The great management consultancy swindle,” The Independent (via somethingchanged)
Toronto Star copyeditor edits memo announcing the elimination of copyeditor jobs - Boing Boing A copyeditor at the Toronto Star greeted the news that union copyeditor jobs were being eliminated in favor of freelancers by heavily editing the publisher’s memo announcing same, pointing out all the ways in which the publisher could benefit from editorial aid. This is very funny stuff, but having looked at the markup, I have to say that I would ask for a different copyeditor in future. A lot of these edits (“avoid simplistic qualifiers” for “very”) fall under the heading of “creative disagreement” not “helpful suggestion” or “correction.” I’ve generally benefitted from copyeditors who know the difference, but on the rare occasion where I’ve had to deal with a couple hundred pages of redlines by a copyeditor who thought that he was my co-author, it’s been quite a struggle.

Toronto Star copyeditor edits memo announcing the elimination of copyeditor jobs - Boing Boing

A copyeditor at the Toronto Star greeted the news that union copyeditor jobs were being eliminated in favor of freelancers by heavily editing the publisher’s memo announcing same, pointing out all the ways in which the publisher could benefit from editorial aid.

This is very funny stuff, but having looked at the markup, I have to say that I would ask for a different copyeditor in future. A lot of these edits (“avoid simplistic qualifiers” for “very”) fall under the heading of “creative disagreement” not “helpful suggestion” or “correction.” I’ve generally benefitted from copyeditors who know the difference, but on the rare occasion where I’ve had to deal with a couple hundred pages of redlines by a copyeditor who thought that he was my co-author, it’s been quite a struggle.

It is the December issue of Esquire, the Hearst publication’s annual “The Best & Brightest” issue, and it features the latest digital technology to dazzle advertisers and editors alike, augmented reality. When a reader holds up the code in front of a Web camera, additional content appears on their computer screens. In the case of the cover, after downloading software from the Esquire site, readers are treated to a full-screen video of the actor demonstrating how the special issue works and a clip of his upcoming movie, Sherlock Holmes.
—

Inside the ‘Esquire’ AR Experiment

The special issue is editor-in-chief David Granger’s latest ambitious attempt to produce the modern magazine, a product that marries the best of print and digital. “It’s been a program of trying to do things to cause our readers and advertisers to be excited about the possibility of print,” says Granger. The editor and his team have been “messing with what you can do with a magazine” for the last few years, experimenting with ways to enliven the reader experience. The May issue used mix-and-match covers to grab reader attention, for example, and 100,000 copies of its October 75th anniversary edition featured electronic ink on its cover. The experimentation, says Granger, is part of Esquire’s ongoing quest to “cause people to interact with the magazine in a new way, to rethink what a magazine is and how you are supposed to read it.”

* Technology * Design * Ethonomics * Leadership Magazine Community Jobs If eBooks Are the Future, Do Publishers Have a Plan?

“Everybody’s awake now,” says Mike Shatzkin, a 40-year industry veteran and founder of the Idea Logical Company, a firm of digital publishing futurists. He lauds larger publishers such as Random House and Hachette for being way ahead in terms of the mechanics of getting eBooks to market. But one of the publishers’ biggest problems, he says, is that their selling strategies are built around book formats, and not about the interests of the people reading those books.

Read the full article here