Collected Data

"We’re not tape recorders. You know, we’re sort of like meat in a can, observing the world."

Isaac Butler interviews Errol Morris;

However you want to describe it: the whodunit; the mystery of what really happened; the mystery of personality; of who people really, really are is powerfully represented when you have a crime standing in back of all of it. It’s a way of dramatizing really significant issues: How we know what we know? How have we come to the belief that we have? Is justice served by the various mechanisms in our society? Is the law just? And on and on and on and on and on.


What Errol Morris Thinks of Making a Murderer

R.I.P. Marvin Minsky 1927-2017

John Horgan for Scientific American;

"We have many layers of networks of learning machines," he explained to me, "each of which has evolved to correct bugs or to adapt the other agencies to the problems of thinking." It is thus unlikely that the brain can be reduced to a particular set of principles or axioms, "because we're dealing with a real world instead of a mathematical one that is defined by axioms."


The Many Minds of Marvin Minsky (R.I.P.)

Marvin Minsky, Pioneer in Artificial Intelligence, Dies at 88 (NY Times)

"Without broadcast regulation and Canadian ownership requirements, spending on Canadian programming could be less than a third of what it is today,"

CBC News;

In launching the hearings into local TV, the regulator said it's convinced there's already enough money in the broadcasting system to ensure stations can create quality local programming, including local news coverage.


But it said there may have to be a rebalancing of resources within the system.


But "robbing Peter to pay Paul" won't alleviate the revenue crunch that has backed some TV stations against a wall, said Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.


"Just redistributing the funds that the cable and satellite companies pass on from their subscribers would be, at best, a stop-gap measure and not a solution to the problem," said group spokesman Ian Morrison.


CRTC hearings on local TV get dire warning that half of all stations could close by 2020

Listen: "Gardenia" by Iggy Pop

Watch: "The Discarded Image: Episode 5 - Star Wars" by Julian Palmer

Watch: "Lazarus" by David Bowie

Listen: "Mr Mistake (Boards of Canada Remix)" by Nevermen

"This is a pivotal transaction that will create one of Canada’s leading integrated media and content companies, with the scale and media assets to succeed in the new regulatory environment"

Val Maloney for Realscreen;

The transaction will give Corus ownership of all of Shaw Media’s brands, including specialty channels like Food Network Canada, HGTV Canada, Slice and History Canada. It also includes Global Television’s national conventional service with stations in various Canadian cities, including Vancouver, Okanagan, Edmonton and Calgary, among others.


Corus and Shaw’s combined portfolio will include 45 specialty television channels, 39 radio stations, digital assets, the content studio Nelvana and 15 conventional television stations.


Barbara Williams , executive VP of broadcasting and president at Shaw Media, will move to Corus “in a senior leadership capacity” pending the deal closing. Her specific role is as yet unclear, but a release notes she will play an “integral role shaping the new Corus.”


The rest of the executive team for the combined company will be announced when the deal is finalized, according to the release.


Corus Entertainment to acquire Shaw Media

Corus Entertainment is buying Shaw Media in $2.65B deal (CBC)

Watch: "Scary Monsters" by David Bowie

R.I.P. David Bowie 1947-2016



Obituary: David Bowie

Listen: "Hyperion" by Krallice