Movie Theaters in Some Cities Now Check for Vaccine Proof, Raising Fears About Release Delays

Aug 16, 2021 | video

Movie theaters in a handful of cities around the country will soon be checking for proof of vaccination — creating one more obstacle to the full return of moviegoing. In New York, the requirement goes into effect on Tuesday. Joe Masher, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners of New York, said he worried about the logistics of enforcing the rule.

Source: Movie Theaters in Some Cities Now Check for Vaccine Proof, Raising Fears About Release Delays

Why Is the Internet Up in Arms About a Font?

Aug 14, 2021 | games & graphics, networking

On Thursday, Twitter updated the design of its app and website. Some users were baffled by a change to the “follow” and “unfollow” buttons that could lead one to mix them up. Others took issue with the new Twitter font, Chirp. While the social network boasted that Chirp is designed to be more accessible and amplify “the fun and irreverence of a Tweet,” many tweets complained that not only is it harder to read, users are complaining of headaches .

Source: Why Is the Internet Up in Arms About a Font?

An ode to my dead, decaying Animal Crossing island

Aug 13, 2021 | games & graphics, networking, trends

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Where last year I was all about growing plants and facilitating life, this year my video game lockdown obsession has been flesh-eating monsters. Bit of a departure from Animal Crossing, I’ll grant you, but I’ve really gone all in with the whole rotting corpse vibe. 

Instead of joyfully handing villagers dumbbells or weird outfits, I’ve been playing Telltale’s Walking Dead games, scavenging for cans of food between shotgun shots to zombie faces. I’ve been deep-diving into the pop culture annals for zombie content, from Evil Dead to The Last of Us — and even a dab of Plants vs. Zombies, which is a little too telling, if you ask me.

We are certainly in a very different headspace in the year 2021. 

Source: An ode to my dead, decaying Animal Crossing island

What Do TV’s Richest Characters Read? Gladwell, Nietzsche and Sally Rooney, Apparently

Aug 12, 2021 | video

The rich kids on HBO Max’s “Gossip Girl” continuation look a little different than they did in the original series: they take Ubers instead of private cars, they actually think Dumbo is cool and, as many have wrote about, are a lot more woke — a fact made even more clear by the characters’ reading choices

Source: What Do TV’s Richest Characters Read? Gladwell, Nietzsche and Sally Rooney, Apparently

Hit songs rely on increasing “harmonic surprise” to hook listeners, study finds

Aug 11, 2021 | audio

A study of "harmonic surprise"—points where the music deviates from listener expectations—in popular music over several decades found that Childish Gambino's "This Is America" had the most contrastive harmonic surprise.

A study of “harmonic surprise”—points where the music deviates from listener expectations—in popular music over several decades found that Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” had the most contrastive harmonic surprise. Hip-hop artist Childish Gambino (aka actor Donald Glover ) made a splash in 2018 with the release of his Grammy-winning hit single, ” This Is America .” With its stark, sudden shifts between choral melodies in major chords and menacing percussive elements drawn from the trap subgenre , the song constantly defies the listener’s expectations throughout.

Source: Hit songs rely on increasing “harmonic surprise” to hook listeners, study finds

Why is tech illustration stuck on repeat?

Aug 11, 2021 | games & graphics, trends

You may not have heard of “Corporate Memphis,” but you’ve almost certainly seen it. The illustration style can be found in the trendiest direct-to-consumer subway ads, within the app you use to split restaurant tabs or on the 404 page that attempts to counter your frustration with cutesiness. In fact, Corporate Memphis has become so synonymous with tech marketing that some illustrators simply know it as the “tech aesthetic.”

But Corporate Memphis has also become a victim of its own success. The once-whimsical, fresh style now feels safe and antiseptic. More conspicuous iterations of it get roasted online, if they get noticed at all; one popular tweet asks, “Why does every website landing page look like this now?” Illustrators are just as often tired of Corporate Memphis, but tech companies continue to commission it.

Source: Why is tech illustration stuck on repeat?

Fake COVID-19 vaccination cards worry college officials

Aug 11, 2021 | networking, trends

Both faculty and students at dozens of schools interviewed by The Associated Press say they are concerned about how easy it is to get fake vaccine cards. Across the internet, a cottage industry has sprung up to accommodate people who say they won’t get vaccinated for either personal or religious reasons. An Instagram account with the username “vaccinationcards” sells laminated COVID-19 vaccination cards for $25 each. A user on the encrypted messaging app, Telegram, offers “COVID-19 Vaccine Cards Certificates,” for as much as $200 apiece.

Source: Fake COVID-19 vaccination cards worry college officials