Art: Picasso’s ‘Masterful Contradictions’ (1925)

Sotheby’s (November 17, 2024):In late September of 1925, Pablo Picasso, his wife Olga and their young son Paolo returned to Paris from their annual summer holiday in the South of France.

The summers were beginning to blend together for Picasso, who was tiring of the swell set he and Olga socialized with. The home they returned to at 23 rue la Boetie was a changed one. After lengthy negotiations, Picasso had acquired an additional floor of the building to be used as his studio.

He set about immediately modifying the space: removing doors from their hinges, bringing in his copious art supplies (and a limited amount of furniture) and stripping back most of the existing wallpaper. After years of jostling with his elegant and socially aspirational wife for space in their apartment on the floor below he relished a place to colonize as his own.

Travel Tour: Heidelberg – “Instagram Vs. Reality”

DW Travel (November 17, 2024): Even the artists of Romanticism loved the city of Heidelberg on the Neckar and painted the ruins of Heidelberg Castle.

Video timeline: 00:00 Intro 00:24 Heidelberg Castle 02:32 Philosopher’s Way 03:26 The Old Bridge

Today, it is tourists who post stunning photos of Heidelberg on social media. But are the castle and the city really as romantic as they appear? We conduct a reality check.

#heidelberg #germany #dwtravel #castle

The New York Times Book Review – November 17, 2024

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (November 17, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Who’s Johnny?’…

‘Carson the Magnific: Where’s Johnny? The Biography of a TV Host Whose Life Was a Closed Book.

Johnny Carson dominated late-night television for decades, but closely guarded his privacy. Bill Zehme’s biography, “Carson the Magnificent,” tries to break through.ent,’ by Bill Zehme

Combined Print & E-Book Fiction – Best Sellers

Rankings on weekly lists reflect sales for the week ending November 2, 2024.

MIT Technology Review – The Top Stories (11.17.24)

Ai gaping maw with teeth and two clawed hands swallows artworks which tiny artists have put poison symbols on the reverse side. One carries a flag with Ben Zhao's face
Ben Zhao remembers well the moment he officially jumped into the fight between artists and generative AI: when one artist asked for AI bananas. 

MIT Technology Review (Novemer 17, 2024): This week’s round up includes Generative AI taught a robot dog to scramble around a new environment; The AI lab waging a guerrilla war over exploitative AI; Life-seeking, ice-melting robots could punch through and Europa’s icy shell.

The AI lab waging a guerrilla war over exploitative AI

The tools Glaze and Nightshade are giving artists hope that they can fight back against AI that hoovers internet data to train. Are they enough?

Generative AI taught a robot dog to scramble around a new environment

A new system could help train robots entirely in generated worlds.

Why AI could eat quantum computing’s lunch

Rapid advances in applying artificial intelligence to simulations in physics and chemistry have some people questioning whether we will even need quantum computers at all.

AI search could break the web

Life-seeking, ice-melting robots could punch through Europa’s icy shell

Researchers are working on technology that could follow NASA’s Europa Clipper mission and hunt for life in the ocean of Jupiter’s moon.

Sunday Morning: Stories And News From London, Sydney And Marseille

Monocle on Sunday (November 17, 2024): Rainbow Murray joins Emma Nelson for a look through the week’s news, including Cop29 and a Marine Le Pen lawsuit.

Plus: we head to Sydney for insights into the UBS Australasia Conference 2024 with Monocle’s Asia editor James Chambers. Then: Monocle’s France correspondent, Mary Fitzgerald, gives us the latest news from the region.

The New York Times — Sunday, November 17, 2024

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Biggest Donors Expect Returns On Investment

Moguls Look To Lifting of Regulations

In Hiring, Trump Follows Instinct More Than Ever

Prioritizing Loyalty and Not Seeking Advice Outside His Cirel

How A Broken Border Keeps Our Shopping Carts Full

Migrants Exploited As Staffing Agencies Meet Demand

World Economic Forum: Top Stories – Nov 16, 2024

World Economic Forum (November 16, 2024) – The top stories of the week include:

0:15 AI robot zaps weeds while saving crops – It’s called Concentrated Light Autonomous Weeding and Scouting or CLAWS for short. CLAWS uses AI-powered image processing to identify the crops, then targets weeds around the crop with blasts of concentrated light. This gets rid of unwanted intruders without damaging either crops or soil.

1:52 5 ways bioeconomy affects daily living – The bioeconomy uses renewable resources from land or sea to produce food, energy, and other resources. It focuses on leveraging nature’s processes and products to create sustainable economic outputs. The bioeconomy is already a part of our daily lives, influencing various sectors and industries.

6:08 Iceland sees benefit of a 4-day work week – The Nordic nation of 380,000 is rolling out a new way of working. Between 2020 and 2022, 51% of Iceland’s workers accepted an offer of shorter hours, such as a 4-day week for no loss of pay. The shift has had a positive impact on work-life balance and personal stress, new research shows.

8:17 Restored Amazon ecosystems beat logging – Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance is fighting to safeguard 35 million hectares of rainforest through a collaboration between 30 Indigenous nations of the Amazon basin. There’s an economic case for protecting the Amazon, says Atossa Soltani, Director of Global Strategy, Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance.

#WorldEconomicForum

Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – Nov. 18, 2024

Barron's | Financial and Investment News

BARRON’S MAGAZINE (November 9, 2024): The latest issue features ‘The Nvidia Way’.

How Jensen Huang and Nvidia Led an AI Revolution

Nvidia’s CEO turned a struggling upstart into the world’s most valuable company. It took 30 years.

Inflation May Not Be Tamed. Commodities Can Protect You.

If prices start rising again, copper, corn, and oil could offer protection.

The Age of AI Is Still in the Early Innings. These 3 Stocks Will Keep Winning.

Barron’s interviewed more than a dozen senior executives across the world’s most important tech companies. Here’s why they remain bullish on the long-term opportunity for AI. Plus, the stocks to buy now.

Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London

Monocle on Saturday (November 16, 2024): Georgina Godwin looks back at the week’s news including president-elect Donald Trump’s picks for his future cabinet, X (formerly Twitter) users decamping to Bluesky and the purchase of Alex Jones’s ‘InfoWars’ by satirical publication ‘The Onion’.

Joining Georgina is Isabel Hilton, founder of China Dialogue and current chair of the judges of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non Fiction. Plus: we hear from one of the judges of the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards, Vivian Godfrey, about British readers’ continued love affair with Japan. Finally, Monocle’s Michael Booth speaks to the Copenhagen-based publisher behind the Gold Medal winning “Most Beautiful Book in the World”.

The New York Times — Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024

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Trump Takes On the Pillars of the ‘Deep State’

The Justice Department, Pentagon and intelligence agencies were the three areas of government that proved to be the most stubborn obstacles to Mr. Trump in his first term.

Kennedy’s Vow to Take On Big Food Could Alienate His New G.O.P. Allies

Processed foods are in the cross hairs of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but battling major companies could collide with President-elect Donald J. Trump’s corporate-friendly goals.

Is a ‘Green’ Revolution Poisoning India’s Capital?

India promised to burn its trash mountains and safely turn them into electricity. But a New York Times investigation found hazardous levels of toxic substances around homes, playgrounds and schools.

Trump Immigration Targets: Ukrainians, Venezuelans, Haitians

The president-elect has vowed to end a program that allows thousands of people from troubled nations to stay in the United States.