Despite employing a small army of contractors to monitor posts, it’s clear the company is no longer fit for purposeWay back in the 1950s, a pioneering British cybernetician, W Ross Ashby, proposed a fundamental law of dynamic systems. In his book An Introduction to Cybernetics, he formulated his law of requisite variety, which defines “the minimum number of states necessary for a controller to control a system of a given number of states”. In plain English, it boils down to this: for a system to be viable, it has to be able to absorb or cope with the complexity of its environment. And there are basically only two ways of achieving viability in those terms: either the system manages to control (or reduce) the variety of its environment, or it has to increase its internal capacity (its “variety”) to match what is being thrown at it from the environment.Sounds abstruse, I know, but it has a contemporary resonance. Specifically, it provides a way of understanding some of the current internal turmoil in Facebook as it grapples with the problem of keeping unacceptable, hateful or psychotic content off its platform. Two weeks ago, the New York Times was leaked 1,400 pages from the rulebooks that the company’s moderators are trying to follow as they police the stuff that flows through its servers. According to the paper, the leak came from an employee who said he “feared that the company was exercising too much power, with too little oversight – and making too many mistakes”.... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hug an author today! Fifty-four percent of debut authors responding to Bookseller survey said the process had a negative impact on their mental health—equally likely to feel bummed out whether they pubbed with a Big Four or an indie publisher. One, quoted anonymously in The Bookseller’s report,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-24 15:32:12 UTC ]
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The digital publisher grew fat off the back of Facebook’s fickle algorithm. Battered and bruised, it’s now going back to where it all began. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2023-04-24 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's author fails to prove claim that Excitable Edgar infringed her intellectual property. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2023-04-03 16:40:44 UTC ]
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Fay Evans alleged similarity between the 2019 Excitable Edgar TV campaign and her self-published book A self-published author who sued John Lewis over its 2019 Christmas advert about a trouble-making dragon has lost her case.Fay Evans brought a case for copyright infringement, alleging that... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-03 12:29:46 UTC ]
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John Steinbeck’s Sag Harbor home on Long Island may soon secure its place in literary history, thanks to an impassioned coalition of readers, writers, and booksellers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
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With Launchpad Republic, the authors make a strong case for the importance of American entrepreneurship. (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-03 05:00:00 UTC ]
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On Wednesday, the 41st John Dos Passos Prize was awarded to Uruguayan American writer Carolina De Robertis (The President and the Frog; Cantoras; The Gods of Tango) by Longwood University. The Dos Passos Prize is the oldest literary award given by a Virginia college or university, and every year... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-01-26 14:54:21 UTC ]
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John Hendrickson's memoir “Life on Delay” recounts his experience with this poorly understood neurological disorder, tracing an arc from frustration and isolation to acceptance and community. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-01-18 10:00:22 UTC ]
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At the start of the pandemic, several publishing professionals from around the world launched a Facebook group called Publishers Without Borders to stay connected to the broader global publishing community during lockdown. Today, the group has grown to 4,800 members and become a hub for... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-01-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
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At the start of the pandemic, several publishing professionals from around the world launched a Facebook group called Publishers Without Borders to stay connected to the broader global publishing community during lockdown. Today, the group has grown to 4,800 members and become a hub for... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-01-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The U.S. Postal Service announced new subjects for 2023 stamps: children's book author Tomie dePaola and civil rights activist John Lewis. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-12-14 18:11:26 UTC ]
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John Storey, one of the most respected indie publishers of his era, has died at 79. Storey founded Storey Publishing, now an imprint of Workman, with wife Martha in 1983. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-11-29 05:00:00 UTC ]
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“Shuna’s Journey,” a newly translated manga by the celebrated children’s animator, asks what it’s like to be a child in a world that is dead or dying. Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2022-11-01 16:20:02 UTC ]
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Wilkin was appointed after a six-month search and will succeed Erin Tripp, currently Interim Lyrasis CEO, who took the helm after CEO Robert Miller announced his departure in February. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-10-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
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On September 21, hundreds gathered at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine to celebrate the life and work of writer Joan Didion, who died on December 23, 2021, at the age of 87. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-09-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
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"Please don't ban my books in my hometown," John Green concluded in the TikTok. "It's really upsetting for my mom." Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-09-13 13:44:10 UTC ]
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As houses across the industry start recalling staff to their offices, publishing professionals are pushing back against low pay, heavy workloads, and an increasingly stifled corporate environment. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-09-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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It’s a tale as old as time: a Brazilian writer sets her Kindle aside for a few weeks to work on her own novel, and when she goes back to get a little reading done, finds that the device has been infested with a horde of tiny white ants. “My virtual library had become a […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-04 13:07:23 UTC ]
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In his book, "21st Century Monetary Policy," former Fed chair Ben S. Bernanke argues for letting the central bank do everything it can to correct serious downturns and keep cheap money flowing into the economy. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-27 16:20:21 UTC ]
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‘The Snake’ is a short story by the American author John Steinbeck (1902-68), published in The Monterey Beacon in 1935 before being included in Steinbeck’s collection The Long Valley in 1938. The story tells of a young scientist who is at work experimenting with animals in his laboratory when he […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2022-05-26 14:00:50 UTC ]
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