How Russian DJ Julia Govor Found 'Open Possibility' in New York | Village Voice
HOW RUSSIAN DJ JULIA GOVOR FOUND 'OPEN POSSIBILITY' IN NEW YORK
When Julia Govor moved to New York three years ago, her reasoning was simple. "Love," she answers on a recent video call. She repeats the word: "Love."
Govor, who is from Russia, met her husband, producer and composer Kamran Saghedi, at a festival in Europe. He was the only guy on the dance floor wearing sunglasses at night. "I thought, this is so rare," she recalls. When they first started dating, Govor was still based in Moscow. Eventually, they set up a home base in Berlin. However, when Govor's visa expired, she was unable to renew it, so, they headed to New York. Govor recalls the advice Saghedi gave here upon moving, "My husband told me, 'Julia, when you're going to move to New York, you have to have your goal because you can get lost very easily,'" she says.
She took that advice and, in just a few years, New York ignited Govor's career. "I've never been so productive," she says. She unleashed the solo track "Litmus" early in 2015 and has also worked on collaborative projects with other artists, including Synchronized Swimming with Saghedi. And she sounds smitten with New York as she mentions "the most beautiful and cool looking people" she sees while riding the L train from her East Village home. "It's so intense to be here," she says, "but in terms of creativity and energy of the people and possibilities, it's such a great thing."
Friday 20 November 2015
Wednesday 18 November 2015
Video games that help improve problem-solving skills - Business Insider
Video games that help improve problem-solving skills - Business Insider
Jane McGonigal, a world-renowned designer of alternate-reality games who has a Ph.D. in performance studies, wants to change people's conception of video games as "just escapist, guilty pleasures."
"My number one goal in life is to see a game designer nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize," McGonigal writes on her website.
She tells Business Insider she wants people to realize that games can be "powerful tools to improve our attention, our mood, our cognitive strengths, and our relationships."
And research is on her side.
Studies suggest that mainstream games like "Call of Duty" may improve our cognitive abilities significantly more than games specifically designed to do so by designers like Luminosity.
To help spread the truth about common misconceptions, seven neuroscientists from around the world signed the document "A Consensus on the Brain Training Industry from the Scientific Community" in 2014 to say they "object to the claim" that brainteaser games can improve cognitive abilities, as no scientific evidence has been able to confirm such a claim.
Even better for gamers, research from North Carolina State University and Florida State University suggests that mainstream games geared toward entertainment can help improve attention, spatial orientation, and problem-solving abilities.
In her book, "Super Better," McGonigal writes that the researchers she talked to about this seeming contradiction offered a simple explanation: "Traditional video games are more complex and harder to master, and they require that the player learn a wider and more challenging range of skills and abilities."
If you want to have fun and stimulate your mind, McGonigal recommends playing one of these six games three times a week for about 20 minutes.
Tuesday 10 November 2015
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