[PHOTO] Grey clouds and condo towers, Yonge and Eglinton

I love the way that the grey of these rain clouds works with the condo towers.

[PHOTO] José Picardo on that photo of students using smartphones in the Rijksmuseum

I blogged in December about how the people criticizing visitors at art galleries who took photographs of the work, even photographs of themselves with the work, were misunderstanding the point. From my perspective, if I am (say) photographing a work, I'm making note of it. If there is a photograph of myself, whether taken by myself or by another, it's meaningful. Encouraging people to make sketches is great, but arbitrarily privileging sketching over photography is senseless.

Just now, my feeds on Facebook and Tumblr have been sharing this essay by José Picardo noting the misunderstanding--unintentional, I hope--of a photo showing children using smartphones at a Dutch art gallery.

Late last year this photograph of children looking at their smartphones by Rembrandt’s ‘The Night Watch’ in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam started doing the rounds on the web. It quickly became viral. It was often accompanied by outraged, dispirited comments such as “a perfect metaphor for our age”, “the end of civilisation” or “a sad picture of our society”.

Clearly, to lots of folk, the photograph epitomised everything that is wrong with young people these days and their ‘addiction’ to technology. These children were being distracted by their technology to such an extent that they weren’t paying any attention to the beauty surrounding them in the real world.

Only they weren’t. It turns out that the Rijksmuseum has an app that, among other things, contains guided tours and further information about the works on display. As part of their visit to the museum, the children, who minutes earlier had admired the art and listened attentively to explanations by expert adults, had been instructed to complete an assignment by their school teachers, using, among other things, the museum’s excellent smartphone app.

I wonder whether the photo would have caused so much indignation and disapproval if it had depicted students ‘ignoring’ the masterpiece while reading a paper leaflet or museum brochure instead. Though I suspect not. It would appear that, once again, reports heralding the death of civilisation at the execrable hands of technology might have been greatly exaggerated.

The same principle applies, people.

[VIDEO] "A ride on the Spadina subway extension"

"A ride on the Spadina subway extension" (Watch on YouTube)

This video from the TTC, showing the completed expansion of the Spadina line, is exciting. I hope to explore it one day.

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly notes the import of journalism, even now.


• Centauri Dreams looks at the bright spots of Ceres.


• D-Brief looks at gravitational wave astronomy in space and notes that fish can recognize faces.


• Dangerous Minds looks at some groovy French playing cards from the 1960s.


• The Dragon's Tales notes the permanent deployment of more Russian forces to the Ukrainian border.


• Joe. My. God. reports a claim by a New York state legislator that a bishop tried to bribe her to drop her support for child abuse reform legislation.


• The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer looks at the claim that perceived anti-Hispanic policies in California helped kill the Republican Party there, and finds it interestingly wanting.


• Savage Minds examines the decolonization of anthropology in the Pacific islands.


• Window on Eurasia suggests that Russians are not interested in fighting over the Baltic States.


• Arnold Zwicky remembers his lovers and the roses he loved.

[NEWS] Some Wednesday links

• CBC notes the baffling decision of New Brunswick to create a minister of Celtic Affairs.


• CNET notes the underperformance of the Blackberry Priv in the American market.


• Gawker reports from the scene of Mongolia's only gay bar.


• The Inter Press Service looks at urban poverty in Buenos Aires.


• The National Post reports the origins of a Bangladeshi Islamist terrorist in the Canadian city of Windsor.


• The New Yorker reports on how Republicans profess upset by Trump's anti-Hispanic statemens yet support his candidacy.


• NOW Toronto notes the return of the Sam the Record Man sign this summer.


• Open Democracy makes the claim that underdevelopment in Brazil, and South America, stems from the political fragmentation of rivers.


• Universe Today describes how one photographer takes photos of the night sky from cities.