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All 125 Taylor Swift Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best

By NATE JONES April 30, 2019

In this business, there are two subjects that will boost your page views like nothing else: Game of Thrones and Taylor Swift. One of them is a massive, multi-million-dollar enterprise filled with violence and betrayal, and the other airs on HBO. I find it hard to explain why exactly, and I’m sure Swift would, too: Somehow, this one 27-year-old woman from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, keeps finding herself at the center of our national conversations about race, gender, celebrity, victimhood, even the economics of the tech industry. And, outside the legions of fans who eat up everything she puts out, no take on her ever stays solid for long. She was a precocious teenager, and the ultimate embodiment of white privilege. She’s been feminism’s worst nightmare, and an advocate for victims of sexual assault. Some people say she’s a goddess of the alt-right. Other people say she’s Jewish.

And yet, unlike Madonna or Bowie, Swift got through the first 11 years of her career without any major reinventions. (For 1989, she embraced feminism and threw away the last vestiges of her Nashville sound, but those were basically just aesthetic changes.) If the word on her has shifted since her debut, it’s because we’ve changed, not her. Swift — or at least the version of Swift on her albums — has remained largely the same person since her debut: a thin-skinned, bighearted obsessive, with a penchant for huge romantic moments. People don’t slowly ease into a relationship in her songs; they show up at each other’s doors late at night and they kiss in the rain. An unworthy suitor won’t just say something thoughtless; he’ll skip a birthday party or leave a teenage girl crying alone in a hotel room. Listen to her songs and you’ll ache at the resemblance to the most dramatic moments in your own private history. Listen to too many and you might ache again at the nagging feeling that those stories of yours have all been a bit uneventful and drab by comparison. What sort of real life can stand up against fantasies like these?

So, uh, I don’t recommend you listen to this list top to bottom.

But I do recommend sampling as many of these songs as you see fit. Even with the widespread critical embrace of poptimism — a development I suspect has as much to do with the economics of online media as it does with the shifting winds of taste — there are still those who see Swift as just another industry widget, a Miley or Katy with the tuner set to “girl with a guitar.” If this list does anything, I hope it convinces you that, underneath all the thinkpieces, exes, and feuds, she is one of our era’s great singer-songwriters. She may not have the raw vocal power of some of her competitors, but what she lacks in Mariah-level range she makes up for in versatility and personality. (A carpetbagger from the Pennsylvania suburbs, she became an expert code-switcher early in her career and never looked back.) And when it comes to writing instantly memorable pop songs, her only peers are a few anonymous Swedish guys, none of whom perform their own stuff. I count at least ten stone-cold classics in her discography. Others might see more. No matter how high your defenses, I guarantee you’ll find at least one that breaks them down.

Some ground rules: We’re ranking every Taylor Swift song that’s ever been released with her name on it — which means we must sadly leave out the unreleased 9/11 song “Didn’t They” as well as Nils Sjöberg’s “This Is What You Came For” — excluding tracks where Swift is merely “featured” (no one’s reading this list for B.o.B.’s “Both of Us”) but including a few duets where she gets an “and” credit. Songwriting is an important part of Swift’s spellbook, so covers are treated more harshly than originals. Because Swift’s career began so young, we’re left in the awkward position of judging work done by a literal high-schooler, which can feel at times like punching down. I’ll try to make slight allowances for age, reserving the harshest criticism for the songs written when Swift was an adult millionaire.

125. “Look What You Made Me Do,” Reputation (2017): “There’s a mistake that I see artists make when they’re on their fourth or fifth record, and they think innovation is more important than solid songwriting,” Swift told New York back in 2013. “The most terrible letdown as a listener for me is when I’m listening to a song and I see what they were trying to do.” To Swift’s credit, it took her six records to get to this point. On a conceptual level, the mission here is clear: After the Kim-Kanye feud made her the thinking person’s least-favorite pop star, this comeback single would be her grand heel turn. But the villain costume sits uneasily on Swift’s shoulders, and even worse, the songwriting just isn’t there. The verses are vacuous, the insults have no teeth, and just when the whole thing seems to be leading up to a gigantic redemptive chorus, suddenly pop! The air goes out of it and we’re left with a taunting Right Said Fred reference — the musical equivalent of pulling a Looney Tunes gag on the listener. Other Swift songs have clunkier rhymes, or worse production values, but none of them have such a gaping hole at the center. (I do dig the gleeful “Cuz she’s dead!” though.)

124. “Umbrella,” iTunes Live From Soho (2008): Swift has recorded plenty of covers in her career, and none are less essential than this 90-second rendition of the Rihanna hit recorded at the peak of the song’s popularity. It’s pure college-campus coffeehouse.

123. “Christmas Must Mean Something More,” The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection (2007): One of two originals on Swift’s early-career Christmas album, “Something More” is a plea to put the Christ back in Christmas. Or as she puts it: “What if happiness came in a cardboard box? / Then I think there is something we all forgot.” In the future, Swift would get better at holding onto some empathy when she was casting a critical eye at the silly things people care about; here, the vibe is judgmental in a way that will be familiar to anyone who’s ever reread their teenage diary.

122. “Better Than Revenge,” Speak Now (2010): A nasty little song that has not aged well. Whether a straightforward imitation of Avril Lavigne’s style or an early attempt at “Blank Space”–style self-satirization, the barbs never go beyond bratty. (As in “Look What You Made Me Do,” the revenge turns out to be the song itself, which feels hollow.) Best known now for the line about “the things she does on the mattress,” which I suspect has been cited in blog posts more times than the song itself has been listened to lately.

121. “American Girl,�� Non-album digital single (2009): Why would you cover this song and make it slower?

120. “I Want You Back,” Speak Now World Tour – Live (2011): Another 90-second cover of a pop song that does not particularly benefit from a stripped-down arrangement.

119. “Santa Baby,” The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection (2007): Before Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me,” there was only one holiday song about falling in love with Santa, and for some reason, we spent decades making all our young female singers cover it. Swift’s version leans out of the awkwardness by leaning into the materialism; she puts most of her vocal emphasis on the nice presents she hopes Santa will bring her. (The relationship seems to be fairly quid pro quo: She’ll believe in him if he gives her good gifts — even at this early stage, Swift possessed a savvy business sense.) Otherwise, this is a by-the-numbers holiday cover, complete with sleigh bells in the mix.

118. “Sweet Escape,” Speak Now World Tour – Live; Target edition DVD (2011): Swift’s sedate cover of the 2006 Gwen Stefani hit — those “ooh-ooh”s are pitched way down from Akon’s falsetto in the original — invests the song with a bittersweet vibe, though like anyone who’s ever tried the song at karaoke, she stumbles on the rapid-fire triplets in the first verse.

117. “Silent Night,” The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection (2007): Swift’s cover of the Christmas classic veers significantly away from Franz Xaver Gruber’s original melody, and even gives it a Big Taylor Swift Finale. Points for ambition, but sometimes you just want to hear the old standards the way you remember them.

116. “The Last Time,” Red (2012): Red is Swift’s strongest album, but it suffers a bit from pacing issues: The back half is full of interminable ballads that you’ve got to slog through to get to the end. Worst of all is this duet with po-faced Ulsterman Gary Lightbody, which feels about ten minutes long.

115. “Invisible,” Taylor Swift: Special Edition (2006): A bonus track from the debut that plays like a proto–”You Belong With Me.” The “show you” / “know you” rhymes mark this as an early effort.

114. “…Ready for It?,” Reputation (2017): The second straight misfire off the Reputation rollout, this one sees Swift try her hand at rapping, with some ill-advised bars about Elizabeth Taylor and a flow she borrowed from Jay-Z. (Try to rap “Younger than my exes” without spilling into “rest in peace, Bob Marley.”) Bumped up a spot or two for the chorus, a big Swift hook that sounds just like her best work — in this case, because it bites heavily from “Wildest Dreams.”

113. “I Heart ?,” Beautiful Eyes EP (2008): Swift code-switches like a champ on this charmingly shallow country song, which comes from the Walmart-exclusive EP she released between her first two albums. Her vocals get pretty rough in the chorus, but at least we’re left with the delightful line, “Wake up and smell the breakup.”

112. “Bad Blood,” 1989 (2014): When Swift teamed up with Max Martin and Shellback, the marriage of their dark eldritch songcraft nearly broke the pop charts. But when they misfire, the results can be brutal. The lyric here indulges the worst habits of late-period Swift — an eagerness to play the victim, a slight lack of resemblance to anything approaching real life — attached to a schoolyard-chant melody that will never leave your head, even when you may want it to. The remix hollows out the production and replaces Swift’s verses with two from Kendrick Lamar; it’s less embarrassing than the original, which does not make it more memorable.

111. “White Christmas,” The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection (2007):The most bluegrass of Swift’s Christmas tunes, this gentle rendition sees Swift’s vocals cede center stage to the mandolin and fiddle.

110. “Crazier,” Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack (2009): When approached by the filmmakers about contributing a song to the Hannah Montana movie, Swift sent in this track, seemingly a holdover from the Fearless sessions. In an admirable bit of dedication, she also showed up to play it in the film’s climax. It’s kind of a snooze on its own, but compared to the other songs on the soundtrack, even Swift’s leftovers shine.

109. “I’d Lie,” Taylor Swift (2006): A bonus track only available to people who bought Swift’s debut at Best Buy. It’s as cute as a study-hall MASH game, and just as easily disposable.

108. “Highway Don’t Care,” Tim McGraw’s Two Lanes of Freedom(2013): After joining Big Machine, McGraw gave Swift an “and” credit here as a professional courtesy. Though her backing vocals are very pleasant, this is 100 percent a Tim McGraw song.

107. “Superman,” Speak Now: Deluxe Edition (2010): A bonus track that’s not gonna make anyone forget Five for Fighting any time soon.

106. “Change,” Fearless (2008): A bit of paint-by-numbers inspiration that apparently did its job of spurring the 2008 U.S. Olympic team to greatness. They won 36 gold medals!

105. “End Game,” Reputation (2017): Swift tries out her blaccent alongside Future and Ed Sheeran, on a track that sounds unmistakably like a Rihanna reject. The only silver lining? She’s better at rapping here than on “…Ready for It?”

104. “The Lucky One,” Red (2012): A plight-of-fame ballad from the back half of Red, with details that never rise above cliché and a melody that borrows from the one Swift cooked up for “Untouchable.”

103. “A Place in This World,” Taylor Swift (2006): Swift’s version of “Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman,” this one feels like it missed its chance to be the theme tune for an ABC Family show.

102. “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever,” Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack (2017): In Fifty Shades Darker, this wan duet soundtracks a scene where Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele go for a sunny boat ride while wearing fabulous sweaters. On brand!

101. “Last Christmas,” The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection (2007): Swift does George Michael proud with this reverent cover of the Wham! classic.

100. “Breathless,” Hope for Haiti Now (2010): Swift covered this Better Than Ezra deep cut for the Hope for Haiti telethon. With only one take to get it right, she did not let the people of Haiti down.

99. “Bette Davis Eyes,” Speak Now World Tour – Live (2012): “There’s some unbelievable music that has come out of artists who are from L.A., did you know that?” Swift asks the audience at the beginning of this live track. The crowd, not being idiots, responds with an enthusiastic yes. This cover loses the two most famous parts of Kim Carnes’s original — the synths and Carnes’s throaty delivery — but the acoustic arrangement and Swift’s intimate vocals bring out the best qualities of the tune.

98. “Eyes Open,” The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 and Beyond (2012): One of two songs Swift contributed to the first Hunger Games soundtrack. With guitars seemingly ripped straight out of 1998 alt-rock radio, this one’s most interesting now as a preview of Swift’s Red sound.

97. “Beautiful Eyes,” Beautiful Eyes EP (2008): The title track of Swift’s early-career EP finds the young songwriter getting a lot of mileage out of one single vowel sound: Besides the eyes of the title, we’ve got I, why, fly, cry, lullaby, even sometimes. A spirited vocal performance in the outro saves the song from feeling like homework.

96. “The Outside,” Taylor Swift (2006): If you thought you felt weird judging songs by a high-schooler, here’s one by an actual sixth-grader. “The Outside” was the second song Swift ever wrote, and though the lyrics edge into self-pity at times, this is still probably the best song written by a 12-year-old since Mozart’s “Symphony No. 7 in D Major.”

95. “SuperStar,” Fearless: Platinum Edition (2008): This bonus track is a relic of an unfamiliar time when Swift could conceivably be the less-famous person in a relationship.

94. “Starlight,” Red (2012): Never forget that one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2012 contains a piece of Ethel Kennedy fanfiction. The real story of Bobby and Ethel has more rough spots than you’ll find in this resolutely rose-colored track, but that’s what happens when you spend a summer hanging in Hyannis Port.

93. “Sad Beautiful Tragic,” Red (2012): Another glacially paced song from the back half of Red that somehow pulls off rhyming “magic” with “tragic.”

92. “Innocent,” Speak Now (2010): The disparate reactions to Kanye West stage-crashing Swift at the 2009 VMAs speaks to the Rorschachian nature of Swift’s star image. Was Swift a teenage girl whose moment was ruined by an older man who couldn’t control himself? Or was she a white woman playing the victim to demonize an outspoken black man? Both are correct, which is why everyone’s spent so much time arguing about it. Unfortunately, Swift did herself no favors when she premiered “Innocent” at the next year’s VMAs, opening with footage of the incident, which couldn’t help but feel like she was milking it. (Fairly or not, the comparison to West’s own artistic response hardly earns any points in the song’s favor.) Stripped of all this context, “Innocent” is fine: Swift turns in a tender vocal performance, though the lyrics could stand to be less patronizing.

91. “Girl at Home,” Red: Deluxe Edition (2012): This Red bonus track offers a foreshadowing of Swift’s interest in sparkly ’80s-style production. A singsongy melody accompanies a largely forgettable lyric, except for one hilariously blunt line: “It would be a fine proposition … if I was a stupid girl.”

90. “A Perfectly Good Heart,” Taylor Swift: Special Edition (2006): A pleading breakup song with one killer turn of phrase and not much else.

89. “Mary’s Song (Oh My Oh My),” Taylor Swift (2006): This early track was inspired by Swift’s elderly neighbors. Like “Starlight,” it’s a young person’s vision of lifelong love, skipping straight from proposal to old age.

88. “Come in With the Rain,” Fearless: Platinum Edition (2008): An ode to a long-lost lover that follows the Swift template a tad too slavishly.

87. “Dancing With Our Hands Tied,” Reputation (2017): Reputation sags a bit in the middle, never more than on this forgettable ’80s-inspired track.

86. “Welcome to New York,” 1989 (2014): In retrospect, there could not have been a song more perfectly designed to tick off the authenticity police — didn’t Swift know that real New Yorkers stayed up till 3 a.m. doing drugs with Fabrizio Moretti in the bathroom of Mars Bar? I hope you’re sitting down when I tell you this, but it’s possible the initial response to a Taylor Swift song might have been a little reactionary. When it’s not taken as a mission statement, “Welcome to New York” is totally tolerable, a glimmering confetti throwaway with lovely synths.

85. “Tied Together With a Smile,” Taylor Swift (2006): When she was just a teenager with a development deal, Swift hooked up with veteran Nashville songwriter Liz Rose. The two would collaborate on much of Swift’s first two albums. “We wrote and figured out that it really worked. She figured out she could write Taylor Swift songs, and I wouldn’t get in the way,” Rose said later. “She’d say a line and I’d say, ‘What if we say it like this?’ It’s kind of like editing.” This early ballad about a friend with bulimia sees Swift and Rose experimenting with metaphor. Most of them work.

84. “King of My Heart,” Reputation (2017): Swift is fond of saying that “songs are what you think of on the drive home — you know, the Great Afterthought.” (She says it’s a Joni Mitchell quote, but I haven’t been able to find it.) Anyway, I think that’s why some of the love songs on Reputationdon’t quite land: Swift is writing about a relationship from inside of it, instead of with hindsight. It’s a different skill, which could explain why the boyfriend character here is less vividly sketched than some of her other ones.

83. “Come Back … Be Here,” Red: Deluxe Edition (2012): A vulnerable track about long-distance love, with simple sentiments overwhelmed by extravagant production.

82. “Breathe,” Fearless (2008): A Colbie Caillat collaboration that’s remarkable mostly for being a rare Swift song about a friend breakup. It’s like if “Bad Blood” contained actual human emotions.

81. “Stay Beautiful,” Taylor Swift (2006): Nathan Chapman was a Nashville session guitarist before he started working with Swift. He produced her early demos, and she fought for him to sit behind the controls on her debut; the two would work together on every Swift album until 1989, when his role was largely taken over by Max Martin and Shellback. Here, he brings a sprightly arrangement to Swift’s ode to an achingly good-looking man.

80. “Nashville,” Speak Now World Tour – Live; Target edition DVD (2011): Swift gives some shine to singer-songwriter David Mead with a cover of his 2004 ballad. (Listen to the screams during the chorus and try to guess where this one was recorded.) She treats it with a delicate respect, like she’s handling her grandmother’s china.

79. “So It Goes,” Reputation (2017): Unfortunately not a Nick Lowe cover, this one comes and goes without making much of an impact, but if you don’t love that whispered “1-2-3,” I don’t know what to tell you.

78. “You’re Not Sorry,” Fearless (2008): An unflinching kiss-off song that got a gothic remix for Swift’s appearance as an ill-fated teen on CSI. It shouldn’t work, but it does.

77. “Drops of Jupiter,” Speak Now World Tour – Live (2012): The best of the covers on the live album sees Swift commit to the Train hit like she’d written it herself. If you had forgotten that this song came out in 2001, she keeps the line about Tae Bo.

76. “The Other Side of the Door,” Fearless: Platinum Edition (2008): A bonus track saved from mediocrity by a gutsy outro that hints that Swift, like any good millennial, was a big fan of “Semi-Charmed Life.”

75. “Gorgeous,” Reputation (2017): In the misbegotten rollout for Reputation, “Gorgeous” righted the ship by not being completely terrible. Max Martin and Shellback pack the track with all sorts of amusing audio doodads, but the melody is a little too horizontal to stick, and the lyrics have a touch of first draft about them. (You’d be forgiven for preferring the actual first draft, which is slightly more open and real.)

74. “I Wish You Would,” 1989 (2014): Like “You Are in Love,” this one originated as a Jack Antonoff instrumental track, and the finished version retains his fingerprints. Perhaps too much — you get the sense it might work better as a Bleachers song.

73. “Cold As You,” Taylor Swift (2006): A dead-serious breakup song that proved the teenage Swift (with help from Rose, who’s got a co-writing credit) could produce barbs sharper than most adults: “You come away with a great little story / Of a mess of a dreamer with the nerve to adore you.” Jesus.

72. “Haunted,” Speak Now (2010): In which Swift tries her hand at Evanescence-style goth-rock. She almost pulls it off, but at this point in Swift’s career her voice wasn’t quite strong enough to give the unrestrained performance the song calls for.

71. “This Love,” 1989 (2014): Began life as a poem before evolving into an atmospheric 1989 deep cut. Like an imperfectly poached egg, it’s shapeless but still quite appetizing.

70. “Untouchable,” Fearless: Platinum Edition (2008): Technically a Luna Halo cover (don’t worry about it), though Swift discards everything but the bones of the original. Her subsequent renovation job is worthy of HGTV: It’s nearly impossible to believe this was ever not a Taylor Swift song.

69. “Wonderland,” 1989: Deluxe Edition (2014): A deranged bonus track that sees Swift doing the absolute most. This song has everything: Alice in Wonderland metaphors, Rihanna chants, a zigzag bridge that recalls “I Knew You Were Trouble,” screams. As she puts it, “It’s all fun and games ’til somebody loses their MIND!”

68. “Sweeter Than Fiction,” One Chance soundtrack (2013): Swift’s first collaboration with Jack Antonoff is appropriately ’80s-inspired, and so sugary that a well-placed key change in the chorus is the only thing that staves off a toothache.

67. “I’m Only Me When I’m With You,” Taylor Swift: Special Edition(2006): A rollicking pop-rock tune that recalls early Kelly Clarkson. As if to reassure nervous country fans, the fiddle goes absolutely nuts.

66. “Tell Me Why,” Fearless (2008): A bog-standard tale of an annoyingly clueless guy, but it’s paired with one of Swift and Rose’s most winning melodies.

65. “If This Was a Movie,” Speak Now: Deluxe Edition (2010): The mirror image of “White Horse,” which makes it feel oddly superfluous.

64. “How You Get the Girl,” 1989 (2014): The breeziest and least complicated of Swift’s guy-standing-on-a-doorstep songs, which contributed to the feeling that 1989 was something of an emotional regression. You probably shouldn’t take it as an instruction manual unless you’re Harry Styles.

63. “Don’t Blame Me,” Reputation (2017): A woozy if slightly anonymous love song that comes off as a sexier “Take Me to Church.” [A dozen Hozier fans storm out of the room.]

62. “The Way I Loved You,” Fearless (2008): Written in collaboration with Big and Rich’s John Rich, which may explain how stately and mid-tempo this one is. (There’s even a martial drumbeat.) Here, she’s faced with a choice between a too-perfect guy — he’s close to her mother and talks business with her father — and a tempestuous relationship full of “screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain,” and if you don’t know which one she prefers I suggest you listen to more Taylor Swift songs. Swift often plays guessing games about which parts of her songs are autobiographical, but this one is explicitly a fantasy.

61. “New Romantics,” 1989: Deluxe Edition (2014): Like “22,” an attempt at writing a big generational anthem. That it was left off the album proper suggests Swift didn’t think it quite got there, though it did its job of extending the singles cycle of 1989 a few more months. Despite what anyone says about “Welcome to New York,” the line here about waiting for “trains that just aren’t coming” indicates its writer has had at least one authentic New York experience.

60. “Sparks Fly,” Speak Now (2010): This one dates back to Swift’s high-school days, and was destined for obscurity until fans fell in love with the live version. After what seems like a lot of tinkering, it finally got a proper studio release on Swift’s third album. It’s like “True Love Waits,” but with more kissing in the rain.

59. “Me!,” Untitled Seventh Album (2019): Well, what did we expect? The run-up to “Me!” was preceded by a weeks-long guessing game about what precisely would be the nature of Swift’s April 26 announcement. Would she come out? Would she come out and reveal she had once dated Karlie Kloss? Cut to the fateful day, and the news was … Swift, who is a pop singer, was releasing a new pop song. After the Sturm und Drang of the Reputation era, “Me!” is a return to anodyne sweetness, a mission statement that says, “I’m through making mission statements.” The result is blandly inoffensive, emphasis on the bland.

58. “All You Had to Do Was Stay,” 1989 (2014): Just like the melody to “Yesterday” and the “Satisfaction” riff, the high-pitched “Stay!” here came to its writer in a dream. Inspiration works in mysterious ways.

57. “Delicate, Reputation (2017): With multitracked, breathy vocals, this is Swift at her most tentative. Would any other album’s Taylor be asking, “Is it cool that I said all that?”

56. “Stay Stay Stay,” Red (2012): Swift broke out her southern accent one last time for this attempt at homespun folk, which is marred by production that’s so clean it’s practically antiseptic. In an alternate universe where a less-ambitious Swift took a 9-to-5 job writing ad jingles, this one soundtracked a TV spot for the new AT&T family plan.

55. “Call It What You Want,” Reputation (2017): Many of the Reputationsingles aim at sexy; this airy slow jam about losing yourself in love after a scandal is the only one that gets there, though the saltiness in the verses (“all the liars are calling me one”) occasionally betrays the sentiment.

54. “Ours,” Speak Now: Deluxe Edition (2010): It’s not this song’s fault that the extended version of Speak Now has songs called both “Mine” and “Ours,” and while “Ours” is good … well, it’s no “Mine.” Still, even if this song never rises above cuteness, it is incredibly cute. I think Dad’ll get over the tattoos.

53. “The Best Day,” Fearless (2008): Swift’s parents moved the family to Tennessee so she could follow her musical dreams, and she paid them back with this tender tribute. Mom gets the verses while Dad is relegated to the middle eight — even in song, the Mother’s Day–Father’s Day disparity holds up.

52. “Everything Has Changed,” Red (2012): “We good to go?” For many American listeners, this was the first introduction to a redheaded crooner named Ed Sheeran. It’s a sweet duet and Sheeran’s got a roughness that goes well with Swift’s cleaner vocals, but the harmonies are a bit bland.

51. “Today Was a Fairytale,” Valentine’s Day soundtrack (2010): How much of a roll was Swift on during the Fearless era? This song didn’t make the album, and sat in the vault for a year until Swift signed on for a small role in a Garry Marshall rom-com and offered it up for the soundtrack. Despite the extravagant title, the date described here is charmingly low-key: The dude wears a T-shirt, and his grand gestures are showing up on time and being nice.

50. “Last Kiss,” Speak Now (2010): A good-bye waltz with an understated arrangement that suits the starkness of the lyrics.

49. “You Are in Love,” 1989: Deluxe Edition (2014): The best of Swift’s songs idealizing someone else’s love story (see “Starlight” and “Mary’s Song”), this bonus track sketches Jack Antonoff and Lena Dunham’s relationship in flashes of moments. The production and vocals are appropriately restrained — sometimes, simplicity works.

48. “The Story of Us,” Speak Now (2010): The deluxe edition of Speak Now features both U.S. and international versions of some of the singles, which gives you a sense of how fine-tuned Swift’s operation was by this point. My ears can’t quite hear the difference between the two versions of this exuberant breakup jam, but I suspect the U.S. mix contains some sort of ultrasonic frequencies designed to … sorry, I’ve already said too much.

47. “Clean,” 1989 (2014): Co-written with Imogen Heap, who contributes backup vocals. This is 1989’s big end-of-album-catharsis song, and the water imagery of the lyrics goes well with the drip-drip-drip production. I’d be curious to hear a version where Heap sings lead; the minimalist sound might be better suited for her voice, which has a little more texture.

46. “Getaway Car,” Reputation (2017): Another very Antonoff-y track, but I’m not mad at it. We start with a vocoder she must have stolen from Imogen Heap and end with one of Swift’s most rocking outros, and in between we even get a rare key change.

45. “I Almost Do,” Red (2012): The kind of plaintive breakup song Swift could write in her sleep at this point in her career, with standout guitar work and impressive vulnerability in both lyrics and performance.

44. “Long Live (We Will Be Remembered),” Speak Now (2010):Ostensibly written about Swift’s experiences touring with her band, but universal enough that it’s been taken as a graduation song by pretty much everyone else. Turns out, adolescent self-mythologizing is the same no matter where you are — no surprise that Swift could pull it off despite leaving school after sophomore year.

43. “The Moment I Knew,” Red: Deluxe Edition (2012): An epic account of being stood up that makes a terrible birthday party seem like something approximating the Fall of Troy. If you’re the type of person who stays up at night remembering every inconsiderate thing you’ve ever done, the level of excruciating detail here is like a needle to the heart.

42. “Jump Then Fall,” Fearless: Platinum Edition (2006): An effervescent banjo-driven love song. I get a silly kick out of the gag in the chorus, when Swift’s voice leaps to the top of her register every time she says “jump.”

41. “Never Grow Up,” Speak Now (2010): Swift’s songs where she’s romanticizing childhood come off better than the ones where she’s romanticizing old age. (Possibly because she’s been a child before.) This one is so well-observed and wistful about the idea of children aging that you’d swear she was secretly a 39-year-old mom.

40. “Should’ve Said No,” Taylor Swift (2006): Written in a rush of emotion near the end of recording for the debut, what this early single lacks in nuance it makes up for in backbone. I appreciate the way the end of each verse holds out hope for the cheating ex — “given ooonnne chaaance, it was a moment of weeaaknesssss” — before the chorus slams the door in the dumb lunk’s face.

39. “Back to December,” Speak Now (2010): At the time, this one was billed as a big step for Swift: the first song where she’s the bad guy! Now that the novelty has worn off “Back to December” doesn’t feel so groundbreaking, but it does show her evolving sensitivity. The key to a good apology has always been sincerity, and whatever faults Swift may have, a lack of sincerity has never been one of them.

38. “Holy Ground,” Red (2012): This chugging rocker nails the feeling of reconnecting with an ex and romanticizing the times you shared, and it livens up the back half of Red a bit. Probably ranked too high, but this is my list and I’ll do what I want.

37. “Enchanted,” Speak Now (2010): Originally the title track for Swift’s third album until her label told her, more or less, to cut it with the fairy-tale stuff. It’s a glittery ode to a meet-cute that probably didn’t need to be six minutes long, but at least the extended length gives us extra time to soak up the heavenly coda, with its multi-tracked “Please don’t be in love in with someone else.”

36. “I Know Places,” 1989 (2014): No attempts of universality here — this trip-hop song about trying to find a place to make out when you’re a massive celebrity is only relatable to a couple dozen people. No matter. As a slice of gothic pop-star paranoia, it gives a much-needed bit of edge to 1989. Bumped up a couple of spots for the line about vultures, which I can only assume is a shout-out.

35. “Treacherous,” Red (2012): Swift has rarely been so tactile as on this intimate ballad, seemingly constructed entirely out of sighs.

34. “Dress,” Reputation (2017): An appropriately slinky track that gives us an unexpected payoff for years of lyrics about party dresses: “I only bought this dress so you could take it off,” she says in the chorus. The way the whole song starts and stops is an obvious trick, but I like it.

33. “Speak Now,” Speak Now (2010): The rest of the band plays it so straight that it might take a second listen to realize that this song is, frankly, bonkers. First, Swift sneaks into a wedding to find a bridezilla, “wearing a gown shaped like a pastry,” snarling at the bridesmaids. Then it turns out she’s been uninvited — oops — so she decides to hide in the curtains. Finally, at a pivotal moment she stands up in front of everyone and protests the impending union. Luckily the guy is cool with it, so we get a happy ending! All this nonsense undercuts the admittedly charming chorus, but it’s hard not to smile at the unabashed silliness.

32. “22,” Red (2012): Another collaboration with Martin and Shellback, another absurdly catchy single. Still, there’s enough personality in the machine for this to still feel like a Taylor song, for better (“breakfast at midnight” being the epitome of adult freedom) and for worse (the obsession with “cool kids”). Mostly for better.

31. “Christmases When You Were Mine,” The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection (2007): The clear standout of Swift’s Christmas album, with an endearingly winsome riff and lyrics that paint a poignant picture of yuletide heartbreak. If you’ve ever been alone on Christmas, this is your song.

30. “White Horse,” Fearless (2008): You’d never call Swift a genre deconstructionist, but her best work digs deeper into romantic tropes than she gets credit for. In just her second album, she and Rose gave us this clear-eyed look at the emptiness of symbolic gestures, allegedly finished in a mere 45 minutes. Almost left off the album, but saved thanks to Shonda Rhimes.

29. “I Knew You Were Trouble,” Red (2012): The guiding principle on much of Red seems to have been to throw absolutely every idea a person could think of into a song and see what worked. Here, we go from Kelly Clarkson verses to a roller-coaster chorus to a dubstep breakdown that dates the song as surely as radiocarbon — then back again. It shouldn’t hang together, but the gutsy vocals and vivid lyrics keep the track from going off the rails.

28. “Teardrops on My Guitar,” Taylor Swift (2006): An evocative portrait of high-school heartbreak, equal parts mundane — no adult songwriter would have named the crush “Drew” — and melodramatic. It’s also the best example of Swift and Rose’s early songwriting cheat code, when they switch the words of the chorus around at the end of the song. “It just makes the listener feel like the writer and the artist care about the song,” Rose told Billboard. “That they’re like, “Okay, you’ve heard it, but wait a minute — ’cause I want you know that this really affected me, I’m gonna dig the knife in just a little bit deeper.’” (In a fitting twist, “Teardrops” ended up inspiring a moment that could have come straight out of a Taylor Swift song, when the real Drew showed up outside her house one night. “I hadn’t talked to him in two-and-a-half years,” she told the Washington Post. “He was like: ‘Hey, how’s it going?’ And I’m like: ‘Wow, you’re late? Good to see you?’”)

27. “Begin Again,” Red (2012): Swift’s sequencing genius strikes again: After the emotional roller coaster of Red, this gentle ballad plays like a cleansing shower. (It works so well she’d repeat the trick on 1989, slightly more obviously.) Of all Swift’s date songs, this one feels the most true to life; anyone who’s ever been on a good first date can recall the precise moment their nervousness melted into relief.

26. “New Year’s Day,” Reputation (2017): Like a prestige cable drama, Swift likes to use her final track as a kind of quiet summing-up of all that’s come before. Here, she saves the album’s most convincing love song for last: “I want your midnights / but I’ll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year’s Day” is a great way to describe a healthy relationship. The lovely back-and-forth vocals in the outro help break the tie with “Begin Again.”

25. “Shake It Off,” 1989 (2014): Swift’s second No. 1 was greeted with widespread critical sighs: After the heights of Red, why was she serving up cotton-candy fluff about dancing your way past the haters? (Never mind that Red had its own sugary singles.) Now that we’ve all gotten some distance, the purpose of “Shake It Off” is clear: This is a wedding song, empty-headed fun designed to get both Grandma and Lil Jayden on the dance floor. Docked ten or so spots for the spoken-word bridge and cheerleader breakdown, which might be the worst 24 seconds of the entire album.

24. “Safe and Sound,” The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 and Beyond (2012): Swift’s collaboration with folk duo the Civil Wars is her best soundtrack cut by a country mile. Freed from the constraints of her usual mode, her vocals paint in corners you didn’t think she could reach, especially when she tries out a high-pitched vibrato that blends beautifully with Joy Williams and John Paul White’s hushed harmonies. Swift has worked in a variety of emotional palettes in her career, but this is the only time she’s ever been spooky.

23. “Picture to Burn,” Taylor Swift (2006): Swift’s breakup songs rarely get more acidic than they do in this country hit. By the time she’s twanging a line about dating all her ex’s friends, things have gotten downright rowdy. The original lyrics — “Go and tell your friends that I’m obsessive and crazy / That’s fine, I’ll tell mine you’re gay” — show how far standards for acceptable speech in nice young people have shifted in the past decade.

22. “Fearless,” Fearless (2008): The title track from Swift’s second album has more of her favorite images — in one memorable twofer, she’s dancing in the rain while wearing her best dress — but she invests them with so much emotion that you’d swear she was using them for the first time. The exuberance of the lyrics is matched in the way she tumbles from line to line into the chorus.

21. “Tim McGraw,” Taylor Swift (2006): If you by chance ever happen to meet Taylor Swift, there is one thing you should know: Do not, under any circumstances, call her “calculating.” “Am I shooting from the hip?” she once asked GQ when confronted with the word. “Would any of this have happened if I was? … You can be accidentally successful for three or four years. Accidents happen. But careers take hard work.” However, since the title of her first single apparently came from label head Scott Borchetta — “I told Taylor, ‘They won’t immediately remember your name, they’ll say who’s this young girl with this song about Tim McGraw?’” — I think we’re allowed to break out the c-word: Calling it “Tim McGraw” was the first genius calculation in a career that would turn out to be full of them. Still, there would have been no getting anywhere with it if the song weren’t good. Even as a teenager, Swift was savvy enough to know that country fans love nothing more than listening to songs about listening to country music. And the very first line marks her as more of a skeptic than you might expect: “He said the way my blue eyes shined put those Georgia pines to shame that night / I said, ‘That’s a lie.’”

20. “Dear John,” Speak Now (2010): “I’ve never named names,” Swift once told GQ. “The fact that I’ve never confirmed who those songs are about makes me feel like there is still one card I’m holding.” That may technically be true, but she came pretty dang close with this seven-minute epic. (John Mayer said he felt “humiliated” by the song, after which Swift told Glamour it was “presumptuous” of him to think that the song his ex wrote, that used his first name, was about him.) She sings the hell out of it, but when it comes to songs where Swift systematically outlines all the ways in which an older male celebrity is an inadequate partner, I think I prefer “All Too Well,” which is less wallow-y. I’ve seen it speculated that the guitar noodling on this track is meant as a parody of Mayer’s own late-’00s output, which if true would be deliciously petty.

19. “Red,” Red (2012): Re-eh-eh-ed, re-eh-eh-ed. Red’s title track sees the album’s maximalist style in full effect — who in their right mind would put Auto-Tune and banjos on the same track? But somehow, the overstuffing works here; it’s the audio equivalent of the lyrics’ synesthesia.

18. “I Did Something Bad,” Reputation (2017): It’s too bad Rihanna already has an album called Unapologetic, because that would have been a perfect title for Reputation, or maybe just this jubilant “Blank Space” sequel. Why the hell she didn’t release this one instead of “Look What You Made Me Do,” I’ll never know — not only does “Something Bad” sell the lack of remorse much better, it bangs harder than any other song on pop radio this summer except “Bodak Yellow.” Is that a raga chant? Are those fucking gunshots? Docked a spot or two for “They’re burning all the witches even if you aren’t one,” which doth protest too much, but bumped up just as much for Swift’s first on-the-record “shit.”

17. “Forever & Always,” Fearless (2008): This blistering breakup song was the one that solidified Swift’s image as the pop star you dump at your own peril. (The boys in the debut were just Nashville randos; this one was about a Jonas Brother, back when that really meant something.) Obligatory fiddles aside, the original version is just about a perfect piece of pop-rock — dig how the guitars drop out at a pivotal moment — though the extended edition of Fearless also contains a piano version if you feel like having your guts ripped out. I have no idea what the lines about “rain in your bedroom” mean, but like the best lyrics, they make sense on an instinctual level. And to top it off, the track marks the introduction of Swift’s colloquial style — “Where is this GOoO-ING?” — that would serve her so well in the years to come.

16. “Mean,” Speak Now (2010): It takes some chutzpah to put a song complaining about mean people on the same album as “Better Than Revenge,” but lack of chutzpah has never been Swift’s problem. Get past that and you’ll find one of Swift’s most naturally appealing melodies and the joyful catharsis that comes with giving a bully what’s coming to them. (Some listeners have interpreted the “big enough so you can’t hit me” line to mean the song’s about abuse, but I’ve always read it as a figure of speech, as in “hit piece.”)

15. “Wildest Dreams,” 1989 (2014): Swift is in full control of her instrument here, with so much yearning in her voice that you’d swear every breath was about to be her last. For a singer often slammed as being sexless, those sighs in the chorus tell us everything we need to know. Bumped up a few spots for the invigorating double-time bridge, the best on 1989.

14. “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” Reputation (2017): Put aside the title, which can’t help but remind me of the time Hillary Clinton tweeted “delete your account.” The same way “I Did Something Bad” is the best possible version of “Look What You Made Me Do,” this is a much better rewrite of “Bad Blood.” Swift brings back the school-yard voice in the chorus, but also so much more: She does exaggerated politeness in the bridge, she spins the “Runaway” toast, she says the words “Therein lies the issue” like she’s been listening to Hamilton. The high point comes when she contemplates forgiving a hater, then bursts into an incredulous guffaw. Reader, I laughed out loud.

13. “Style,” 1989 (2014): The much-ballyhooed ’80s sound on 1989 often turned out to just mean Swift was using more synths than usual, but she nailed the vibe on this slinky single, which could have soundtracked a particularly romantic episode of Miami Vice. Despite the dress-up games in the chorus, this is one of the rare Swift love songs to feel truly adult: Both she and the guy have been down this road too many times to bullshit anymore. That road imagery is haunted by the prospect of death lurking around every hairpin turn — what’s sex without a little danger?

12. “Hey Stephen,” Fearless (2008): Who knew so many words rhymed with Stephen? They all come so naturally here. Swift is in the zone as a writer, performer, and producer on this winning deep cut, which gives us some wonderful sideways rhymes (“look like an angel” goes with “kiss you in the rain, so”), a trusty Hammond organ in the background, and a bunch of endearing little ad-libs, to say nothing of the kicker: “All those other girls, well they’re beautiful / But would they write a song for you?” For once, the mid-song laugh is entirely appropriate.

11. “Out of the Woods,” 1989 (2014): Like Max Martin, Antonoff’s influence as a collaborator has not been wholly positive: His penchant for big anthemic sounds can drown out the subtlety of Swift, and he’s been at the controls for some of her biggest misfires. But boy, does his Jack Antonoff thing work here, bringing a whole forest of drums to support Swift’s rapid-fire string of memories. The song’s bridge was apparently inspired by a snowmobile accident Swift was in with Harry Styles, an incident that never made the tabloids despite what seemed like round-the-clock coverage of the couple — a subtler reminder of the limits of media narratives than anything on Reputation.

10. “Love Story,” Fearless (2008): Full disclosure: This was the first Taylor Swift song I ever heard. (It was a freezing day in early 2009; I was buying shoes; basically, the situation was the total antithesis of anything that’s ever happened in a Taylor Swift song.) I didn’t like it at first. Who’s this girl singing about Romeo and Juliet, and doesn’t she know they die in the end?What I would soon learn was: not here they don’t, as Swift employs a key change so powerful it literally rewrites Shakespeare. The jury’s still out on the question of if she’s ever read the play, but she definitely hasn’t read The Scarlet Letter.

9. “State of Grace,” Red (2012): Swift’s songs are always full of interesting little nuggets you don’t notice until your 11th listen or so — a lyrical twist, maybe, or an unconventional drum fill — but most of them are fundamentally meant to be heard on the radio, which demands a certain type of songwriting and a certain type of sound. What a surprise it was, then, that Red opened with this big, expansive rock track, which sent dozens of Joshua Tree fans searching for their nearest pair of headphones. Another surprise: that she never tried to sound like this again. Having proven she could nail it on her first try, Swift set out to find other giants to slay.

8. “Ronan,” non-album digital single (2012): A collage of lines pulled from the blog of Maya Thompson, whose 3-year-old son had died of cancer, this charity single sees Swift turn herself into an effective conduit for the other woman’s grief. (Thompson gets a co-writing credit.) One of the most empathetic songs in Swift’s catalogue, as well as her most reliable tearjerker.

7. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” Red (2012): Flash back to 2012. Carly Rae Jepsen had a No. 1 hit. Freaking Gotye had a No. 1 hit. LMFAO had two. And yet Swift, arguably the biggest pop star in the country, had never had a No. 1 hit. (“You Belong With Me” and “Today Was a Fairytale” had both peaked at No. 2.) And so she called up Swedish pop cyborg Max Martin, the man who makes hits as regularly as you and I forget our car keys. The first song they wrote together is still their masterpiece, though it feels wrong to say that “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” was written; better to say that it was designed, as Swift and Martin turn almost every single second of the song’s 3:12 run time into a hook. Think of that guitar loop, the snippets of millennial-speak in the margins (“cuz like”), those spiraling “ooh”s, the spoken-word bit that could have been overheard at any brunch in America, and towering over it all, that gigantic “we.” Like all hyper-efficient products it feels like a visitor from some cold algorithmic future: The sense of joy here is so perfectly engineered that you get the sense it did not come entirely from human hands.

6. “Our Song,” Taylor Swift (2006): Swift wrote this one for her ninth-grade talent show, and I have a lovely time imagining all the other competitors getting the disappointment of their lives once they realized what they were up against. (“But nice job with that Green Day cover, Andy.”) Even at this early stage Swift had a knack for matching her biggest melodic hooks to sentences that would make them soar; that “’cause it’s late and your mama don’t know” is absolutely ecstatic. She’s said she heard the entire production in her head while writing, and on the record Nathan Chapman brings out all the tricks in the Nashville handbook, and even some that aren’t, like the compressed hip-hop drums in the final refrain.

5. “Mine,” Speak Now (2010): As catchy as her Max Martin songs, but with more of a soul, “Mine” wins a narrow victory over “Our Song” on account of having a better bridge. This one’s another fantasy, and you can kind of tell, but who cares — Paul McCartney didn’t really fall in love with a meter maid, either. Swift packs in so many captivating turns of phrase here, and she does it so naturally: It’s hard to believe no one else got to “you are the best thing that’s ever been mine” before her, and the line about “a careless man’s careful daughter” is so perfect that you instantly know everything about the guy. Let’s give a special shout-out to Nathan Chapman again: His backup vocals are the secret weapon of Speak Now, and they’re at their very best here.

4. “Blank Space,” 1989 (2014): You know how almost every other song that’s even a little bit like “Blank Space” ranks very low on this list? Yeah, that’s how hard a trick Swift pulls off on this 1989 single, which manages to satirize her man-eater image while also demonstrating exactly what makes that image so appealing. The gag takes a perfectly tuned barometer for tone: “Look What You Made Me Do” collapsed under the weight of its own self-obsession; “Better Than Revenge” didn’t quite get the right amount of humor in. But Swift’s long history of code-switching works wonders for her here, as she gives each line just the right spin — enough irony for us to get the jokes, enough sincerity that we’ll all sing along anyway. Martin and Shellback bring their usual bells and whistles, but they leave enough empty space in the mix for the words to ring out. Who wouldn’t want to write their name?

3. “Fifteen,” Fearless (2008): For many young people, the real experience of romance is the thinking about it, not the actual doing it. (For an increasing number, the thinking about it is all they’re doing.) Swift gets this almost instinctively, and never more than on this early ballad about her freshman year of high school, which plays like a gentle memoir. Listen to how the emotional high point of the second verse is not something that happens, but her reaction to it: “He’s got a car and you feel like flyyying.” She knows that the real thing is awkward, occasionally unpleasant, and almost guaranteed to disappoint you — the first sentence she wrote for this one was “Abigail gave everything she had to a boy who changed his mind / We both cried,” a line that became exhibit B in the case of Taylor Swift v. Feminism — and she knows how fantasies can sustain you when nothing else will. “In your life you’ll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team / but I didn’t know it at 15,” she sings, even though she’s only 18 herself. That there are plenty of people who spent their teenage years making out, smoking cigarettes, and reading Anaïs Nin doesn’t negate the fact that, for a lot of us squares, even the prospect of holding someone else’s hand could get us through an entire semester. Virgins need love songs, too.

2. “All Too Well,” Red (2012): It’s no wonder that music writers love this one: This is Swift at her most literary, with a string of impeccably observed details that could have come out of a New Yorker short story. “All Too Well” was the first song Swift wrote for Red; she hadn’t worked with Liz Rose since Fearless, but she called up her old collaborator to help her make sense of her jumble of memories from a relationship recently exploded. “She had a story and she wanted to say something specific. She had a lot of information,” Rose told Rolling Stone later. “I just let her go.” The original version featured something like eight verses; together the two women edited it down to a more manageable three, while still retaining its propulsive momentum. The finished song is a kaleidoscopic swirl of images — baby pictures at his parents’ house, “nights where you made me your own,” a scarf left in a drawer — always coming back to the insistence that these things happened, and they mattered: “I was there, I remember it all too well.” The words are so strong that the band mostly plays support; they don’t need anything flashier than a 4/4 thump and a big crescendo for each chorus. There are few moments on Red better than the one where Swift jumps into her upper register to deliver the knockout blow in the bridge. Just like the scarf, you can’t get rid of this song.

1. “You Belong With Me,” Fearless (2008): Swift was hanging out with a male friend one day when he took a call from his girlfriend. “He was completely on the defensive saying, ‘No, baby … I had to get off the phone really quickly … I tried to call you right back … Of course I love you. More than anything! Baby, I’m so sorry,’” she recalled. “She was just yelling at him! I felt so bad for him at that moment.” Out of that feeling, a classic was born. Swift had written great songs drawn from life before, but here she gave us a story of high school at its most archetypal: A sensitive underdog facing off with some prissy hot chick, in a battle to see which one of them really got a cute boy’s jokes. (Swift would play both women in the video; she had enough self-awareness to know that most outcasts are not tall, willowy blonde girls.) Rose says the song “just flowed out of” Swift, and you can feel that rush of inspiration in the way the lines bleed into each other, but there’s some subtle songcraft at work, too: Besides the lyrical switcheroos about who wears what, we also only get half the chorus the first go-round, just to save one more wallop for later. The line about short skirts and T-shirts will likely be mentioned in Swift’s obituary one day, and I think it’s key to the song’s, and by extension Swift’s, appeal: In my high school, even the most popular kids wore T-shirts.

Vulture

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Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (9310) Review

With cutting-edge components and a sleek, sturdy chassis available in multiple color options and screen resolutions, the late-2020 reboot of Dell's XPS 13 2-in-1 (starts at $1,099; $1,499 as tested) sets the bar for premium convertible notebooks. Intel's latest "Tiger Lake" CPU and graphics options make the XPS 13 2-in-1 a top performer in its class. The battery life is impressive, as well. The starting configuration is a bit underpowered, but the premium for the well-equipped version reviewed here is reasonable. The system snags our Editors' Choice award for best premium 2-in-1.

A Standout in a Crowded Field

The market for premium Windows laptops is ultracompetitive, with Dell, Asus, Acer, HP, Lenovo, and other companies updating their flagship models frequently—sometimes more than once per year. The XPS 13 2-in-1 is up against similarly excellent convertible laptops with 13-inch screens, among them the HP Spectre x360 13 and the Asus ZenBook Flip S. Several of these have been updated with Intel's 11th Generation Tiger Lake Core processors or their AMD equivalents, the Ryzen 4000 series.

I'll get into why the XPS 13 2-in-1 rises to the top of this field below, but the first question shoppers should consider is whether they need a convertible laptop or the also-excellent conventional clamshell-style XPS 13. The main difference between the two is the 2-in-1's 360-degree rotating hinge. This lets you use it not only as a laptop, but it also allows you to prop it up on your desk like an easel or tent (with the keyboard folded underneath or behind the screen), or use the system in your lap as a tablet. In these modes, your main interaction with the laptop is via its touch screen. Fingers or Dell's optional digital stylus can be used to write, draw, and manipulate onscreen elements, while the pop-up virtual keyboard built into Windows 10 serves as a means of typing.

Not everyone needs this additional flexibility, especially seeing as the clamshell-style XPS 13 also offers a touch screen. But neither does the flexibility require many sacrifices. Both models share similar styling and physical dimensions. They're made from machined aluminum with carbon- and glass-fiber accents, and both offer sleek silver exteriors and two refined interior color options: black or white palm rests with matching keyboards.

Both are also quite compact, fitting their 13-inch displays into an area that was once reserved for laptops with 11-inch or smaller screens. The XPS 13 2-in-1 weighs 2.9 pounds and measures 0.56 by 11.7 by 8.2 inches (HWD). The XPS 13 is slightly lighter and shallower, since it doesn't need to incorporate the extra hardware for a 360-degree hinge, but the differences are negligible—it weighs 2.8 pounds and is 7.9 inches deep.

The XPS 13 2-in-1's dimensions are comparable to those of its HP archrival, the Spectre x360 13 (0.57 inch thick, 2.9 pounds). The Dell has a 13.4-inch display (an unusual size) in an uncommon 16:10 widescreen aspect ratio, instead of the more typical 16:9. This gives it a slight advantage over similarly sized convertible notebooks with 16:9 screens that measure 13.3 inches on the diagonal. You're not likely to immediately notice that tenth of an inch, but it does pack in nearly one million additional pixels, and its taller size can display a bit more of a vertical document like a web page.

A Rigid and Compact Body

The XPS 13 2-in-1's compact size doesn't leave it feeling flimsy. At just under the three-pound limit that typically defines the ultraportable laptop category, it feels solid, though not bulky. It's also quite well engineered. You can open the lid with one hand, instead of needing both pry open stiff hinges. Whether you're tapping on the touch screen or on the very comfortable touchpad, the laptop responds instantly. The screen bounces very little, and the touchpad doesn't suffer from the sluggishness or cheap-feeling clicks that are common on many Windows laptops.

With an 85% screen-to-body ratio, the XPS 13 2-in-1 is also enviably modern-looking. The borders around the display are vanishingly small, unlike those of the Apple MacBook Pro, which has a lower screen-to-body ratio that results in additional space around the keyboard and display.

The convertible's screen is gorgeous. On our review unit, it offers a native resolution of 1,920 by 1,200 pixels, which is a bit higher than full HD (1,920 by 1,080) because of the panel's 16:10 aspect ratio. Picture quality seems better than most other full HD screens I've used, with more vivid colors and a sky-high rated contrast ratio of 1,800:1. Brightness is rated at 500 nits, outshining the 300 to 400 nits of many competing laptops, and that makes for easy viewing in brightly lit rooms (though not outdoors).

When you're viewing the screen up close, however, text can be a bit pixelated, which is common to all full HD displays. Dell does offer a 4K (3,840-by-2,400-pixel) screen option, which should make everything appear much crisper, though lighting four times as many pixels will take a toll on battery life. The 4K screen adds support for the DCI-P3 color gamut, which could result in more brilliant and faithful color reproduction, but it has a slightly lower 1,500:1 contrast ratio.

I see only two drawbacks to the XPS 13 2-in-1's physical design. The most significant is the shallow keyboard. Both the clamshell and convertible XPS 13 models have used Dell's unique magnetic keyboard switches for the past few generations. Compared with Apple's old butterfly-style switches, which have almost no travel distance, Dell's implementation is slightly more comfortable. But now that Apple has switched to its Magic Keyboard design, with much greater travel, the XPS 13 2-in-1 offers a less comfortable typing experience by comparison. Keys are sturdy enough, but they travel just 0.7mm, and the overall sensation is more akin to tapping than typing.

The XPS 13 2-in-1's rather anemic port selection is also a drawback, but it's less problematic than it once was. A headphone jack and two USB-C ports, each with Thunderbolt support, are all you get. The Spectre x360 13, by contrast, offers a USB Type-A port for additional peripheral compatibility. More and more of the latest peripherals, such as external hard drives, now use USB-C, though, so the lack of ports is only an issue if you have lots of legacy devices to plug in.

Dell also thoughtfully includes a microSD card reader on the left edge for easy storage expansion or transferring footage from a camera.

Tiny Webcam, Rich Audio

The XPS 13 2-in-1 shares the XPS 13's innovative webcam, which manages to fit IR sensors (for face-recognition logins via Windows Hello) as well as the 720p camera itself into the tiny border above the screen. Another password-free means of logging into your Windows 10 account is via the power button, which doubles as a fingerprint reader. The latter occasionally failed to successfully log me in, and the rectangular shape of the button made it difficult for my large fingertips to register their prints. Once I got used to placing my finger in the right spot, though, the reader's accuracy improved.

I found the webcam quality to be above average in a well-lit room, though it suffers from slightly distracting noise and pixelation in dimly lit conditions. Unfortunately, this is true of nearly all laptop webcams.

The Dell's audio quality is rich and full, but the placement of its stereo speakers on the bottom of the laptop makes sound a bit muffled in laptop or tablet mode. There are six separate grilles along the left and right edges of the laptop's base. Four of them are used for air intake, while two deliver audio. When you're propping the XPS 13 2-in-1 as a tent (with the speakers facing you) or using it as an easel (with the speakers facing upward), the audio quality is better.

Wireless connectivity includes a Killer Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) module built into the Intel chipset, as well as Bluetooth 5.1. Dell backs the XPS 13 2-in-1 with a one-year hardware warranty, a period that can be extended up to four years for an additional charge.

Testing the XPS 2-in-1: 'Tiger Lake' and Iris Xe on the Bench

The entry-level version of the XPS 13 2-in-1 includes an Intel Core i3 with UHD integrated graphics, 8GB of memory, and a 256GB solid-state drive. A Core i3-powered laptop that costs more than $1,000 is hard to recommend, but fortunately the price doesn't get out of hand as you add components that are more fitting for the money. Our review unit includes a Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD for a reasonable $1,499. As with the latest XPS 13, all of the XPS 13 2-in-1's processor options come from Intel's latest "Tiger Lake" family. While the Core i3 version uses UHD graphics, our Core i7-1165G7 unit features more powerful Iris Xe graphics silicon. The CPU also comes with four cores, eight threads, and a maximum boost clock speed of 4.7GHz.

Coupled with the 16GB of RAM, this Core i7 and Iris Xe setup should provide plenty of computing power for most of the tasks that XPS 13 2-in-1 users are likely to do. I compared the laptop's performance in our benchmark tests with a few comparable machines whose specs are listed in the chart below. Most are 2-in-1 hybrid or convertible designs priced in the $1,500 range.

The one exception is the HP Envy x360 13, which is a step down from the Spectre x360 13 and is priced just under $700. I chose this machine in part because we haven't yet tested the latest "Tiger Lake" version of the Spectre, and in part because the Envy comes with an AMD Ryzen CPU instead of the more common Intel Core ones. The latest Ryzen 5 laptops have been rivaling the performance of more expensive Core i7-powered ones on some tasks. (See how we test laptops.)

That turned out to be the case with the XPS 13 2-in-1, whose performance in the PCMark 10 productivity benchmark proved slightly inferior to that of the Envy x360. The margin is not significant, but the test is important, because it measures web browsing, word processing, and light multimedia editing, all of which are the XPS 13 2-in-1’s bread and butter.

Meanwhile, all of the laptops' speedy SSD boot drives performed roughly equally in our PCMark 8 storage subtest. (That is typical of late-model SSD-equipped laptops.)

In workflows that are more demanding, such as rendering a 3D image using the CPU, the XPS 13 2-in-1 is slightly superior. It scored 890 to the Envy's 841 in the Cinebench rendering test, which is fully threaded to make use of all available processor cores and threads.

Cinebench is often a good predictor of our Handbrake video-editing trial, another tough, threaded workout that's highly CPU-dependent and scales well with cores and threads. In it, we put a stopwatch on test systems as they transcode a standard 12-minute clip of 4K video to a 1080p MP4 file. It's a timed test, and lower results are better. In this case, the Dell convertible was slightly slower than the Envy x360 and the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga, but not meaningfully so.

We also run a custom Adobe Photoshop image-editing benchmark. Using an early 2018 release of the Creative Cloud version of Photoshop, we apply a series of 10 complex filters and effects to a standard JPEG test image. We time each operation and, at the end, add up the total execution time. As with Handbrake, lower times are better here. The Photoshop test stresses the CPU, storage subsystem, and RAM, but it can also take advantage of most GPUs to speed up the process of applying filters, so systems with powerful graphics chips or cards may see a boost.

The XPS 13 2-in-1 turned in an exceptional score in the Photoshop test, taking a bit more than two minutes to complete all of the filters and effects. This is not far behind the Asus' time, but significantly faster than any of the other three competitors.

Decent Gaming Performance

Integrated graphics processing has improved by leaps and bounds in the past two years, as Intel and AMD have significantly upgraded the capabilities of their Iris and Radeon silicon. In our 3DMark and Superposition gaming graphics tests, the laptops equipped with Iris Xe and Radeon graphics significantly outperform the ThinkPad X13 Yoga and Microsoft Surface Pro 7, which are both equipped with older UHD or Iris Plus Graphics.

3DMark measures relative graphics muscle by rendering sequences of highly detailed, gaming-style 3D graphics that emphasize particles and lighting. We run two different 3DMark subtests, Sky Diver and Fire Strike, which are suited to different types of systems. Both are DirectX 11 benchmarks, but Sky Diver is more suited to laptops and midrange PCs, while Fire Strike is more demanding and made for high-end PCs to strut their stuff. The results are proprietary scores. Unigine's Superposition benchmark also pans through a detailed 3D scene, using a different rendering engine for a second opinion on each PC's graphical prowess.

The XPS 13 2-in-1 is the clear winner in both of these tests, but the real achievement is not the small gains over the ZenBook Flip S or the Envy x360 13 but the nearly three-fold improvement over the Iris Plus and UHD systems. Hardcore gamers won't find much of interest here, since even a score of 16 frames per second in Superposition's 1080p preset is hardly representative of silky-smooth game play. But if you're a casual gamer content to play at lower resolutions and graphics detail settings, the XPS 13 2-in-1 could serve as a capable platform.

Class-Leading Battery Life

Lasting for more than 14 hours of video playback at 50 percent screen brightness, the XPS 13 2-in-1 offers a few extra hours of unplugged time compared with its rivals. This is an excellent result that suggests that the laptop will last through a full day of light work without visiting a power outlet. The Dell's 51-watt-hour battery charges quickly, taking a bit more than an hour to go from a 5% to a 90% charge in my testing.

While 14 hours is impressive, it's no longer in the vanguard. Several ultraportable laptops we've tested recently have topped 24 hours of battery life, including the Apple MacBook Air and the Lenovo Flex 5G.

Still Pole Position Among Convertibles

A few generations ago, the XPS 13 was nearly flawless, earning a five-star review. Both the 2-in-1 and the clamshell versions remain exceptional, offering class-leading performance and battery life in a sleek, compact, and sturdy chassis. But competitors have closed the gap significantly, even with models that cost less. This is especially true when it comes to performance, as is clear from the Ryzen-equipped Envy x360 13. The Dell's shallow key travel is also more of an issue than it once was, now that Apple has implemented a more comfortable keyboard design in its MacBook lineup.

Nevertheless, though it's not perfect, the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is the best premium convertible you can buy. It easily earns our Editors' Choice award.

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levaire · 6 years

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New Post has been published on https://levaire.com/22-ways-to-make-your-annual-report-remarkable/

22 Ways to Make Your Annual Report Remarkable

Ah, annual reports.

Awful things.

Full of stale, self-aggrandizing copy, dry pie charts, confusing bar graphs and committee-selected stock photos. This is 4-color, full-page bleed shredder-fodder at its finest.

Your annual report probably even has an opening letter from your Supreme Poobah, doesn’t it? And there they are, smiling away with that plastic, you-can-take-the-picture-anytime-now grin, their stiff image stuffed onto an entire page no one is ever going to read. Maybe even a chicken-scratch signature added for flair.

In fact—due to all the sub-par letters-from-the-chief we’ve seen over the years—you and I have actually been conditioned to skip that page entirely.

Tsk.

Oh, wait. Did I just describe your last year’s annual report?

I’m not asking you to feel condemned. I want you convicted. I’m trying to convert you.

What’s your plan to get people to actually read this typo-riddled train-wreck?

That is your intention, isn’t it? It should be.

Or are you just checking a box to please your board and trying to spend down this year’s print budget? (Now that’s stewardship. I see why they’re paying you the big bucks.)

What do you plan on doing about this year’s annual report, Sparky? I want you to consider turning over a new leaf. Or maybe not even printing any leaves at all. (Going completely digital is an option, you know.)

Here’s a not-so-novel concept: Your annual report is not a report; it’s a marketing piece.

I think it’s the word “report” that trips us up. When we hear the word “report”, we often think of things like driver’s license applications, tax forms and rows of numbers on spreadsheets with one-meeting lifespans.

If your annual report is a little slice of annual drudgery to produce, it’s time for a revolution.

In fact, your annual report can actually be leveraged as a springboard for your entire year’s marketing and outreach efforts. Sit with that for a moment.

The Annual Report 2-Step: Produce. Promote.

In this article, I’ve listed several ideas for improving your typical-fare annual report. My goal is to get you thinking out of the box.

Beyond that, you’ll find several fun ways you might deliver key information from your annual report to your anxiously awaiting audience.

Remember: You don’t have to stuff the whole report down their throats; just the important, most striking reveals.

Note: For these annual report ideas, I am targeting an industry we serve: homeless and humanitarian aid organizations. Obviously, if you are working in a different space, brainstorm on ways to adopt these ideas to your own niche.

Ways to Improve Your Annual Report

If you must print (and some do, appeasing federal, state or board requirements), here are 10 ideas for getting creative with your annual report format, design and content.

Produce the annual report as a newspaper. One of the smaller “articles” will be titled “Newspaper is Not a Blanket”.

Produce the annual report as a fold-out state map. Begin with a template provided by your state’s Department of Transportation.

Use the familiar. If the conventional booklet format is used, design one of the pages after the PIT count sheets provided by HUD (https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/Model-Service-Based-Count-PIT-Survey.pdf). As a subtle nod, this will be recognized by industry professionals but will pass unnoticed by most in the public square.

Show maps of declining/inclining numbers across the state or country. Compare against 10-year averages.

Illustrate the numbers. For key statistics, give real-world examples to give concepts of population sizes and impact as illustrative equivalents.

Use comparisons. While providing state-based statistics, contrast against national numbers for larger context.

Provide testimonials, case studies and success stories. Point to your website for additional stories.

Interview your partners. Conduct an interview and highlight best practices from service partners. Ask them to speak to the impact those efforts have made in their communities.

Include ways for the public to get involved at the local level (CTA). Ideas for getting more involved may include recurring volunteer opportunities like serving meals, fundraising, event support, board participation, lending creative services (photo, video, design, web), setting up recurring donations, etc.

Ask for commitment. Perforated tear-out sheet containing homeless veterans pledge card or some other “get involved” or “get connected” message, form or survey. (If the newspaper format was used, this could simply be an insert.)

Ways to Promote Your Annual Report

As you may have guessed (or experienced), though you have produced this glowing gem of a report, there is still work to do. This is where you can allow all the work that went into your annual report to inform your ongoing marketing. If you did your homework in producing a thoughtful report, you should now be well-positioned to broadcast those golden nuggets of wisdom uncovered by your research. Here are some promotional ideas to consider:

Public Service Announcements. Launch a PSA campaign, sharing vital stats with illustrative equivalents.

Signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs. Use paid graffiti, stencil or reverse graffiti, or stickers to raise awareness around key stats. (Secure permission from local authorities.) Deliver on the sides of buildings or across high-traffic sidewalks. Develop and deliver yard signs. Ask local shops and restaurants with foot-traffic to display sandwich boards. Buy billboards. Scale to budget.

Blogger/influencer outreach. Offer influencers advance copies of the annual report so they can scoop to their audiences on the day the report is released. Engage whatever positive or negative commentary comes your way.

Make it into a video. Create a short video telling select pieces of the annual report story. Promote the video across the website and social media channels. Link back to your website.

Use maps. Is there a way to illustrate the impact on a map? Would it make sense in a GIS application?

Undercover marketing. Pay actors to approach people, strike up conversation and eventually deliver key stats and invitations to get involved. Caution: When revealed, this one could be seen as deceptive. It may be better to conduct a…

Street survey. Less “undercover” than undercover marketing, street-level, face-to-face surveys across the state could be conducted to poll minds and hearts toward the homeless issue while educating participants at the same time.

Road rally. Construct a road rally treasure hunt where participants are led across participating cities with clues that educate on key homeless issues as they go. The finish line ends with a meal in a soup kitchen and a brief interview to collect experiences and revelations.

Youth poster contest. Conduct a poster or infographic contest across high schools and/or colleges zeroing in on key report takeaways. Posters are reproduced and posted across cities to raise awareness. Winning designs earn students a monetary award and bragging rights.

Gamify the experience of becoming homeless. Players select their characters who are becoming homeless (financial instability, drugs, mental health, domestic violence, etc.) The game moves players through several scenarios in choose-your-path manner, forcing decisions on what to do, where to go, how to take care of children (or losing children into the system), how to find meals, lack of safety on the streets, bureaucracy, etc. Players are exposed to real-life accounts, testimonies and/or key statistics along the way. At the end of the game, players are presented with a brief message/video along the lines of “Homelessness is not a game. Get involved.” and ideas for getting involved locally.

Shareable graphics. Develop and employ simple, shareable social media graphics and infographics containing key stats and a link back to your website. Use #(your state), #(your city), #(state-cause), #(country-cause), #homeless and other popular, relevant hashtags across social media channels.

Make it easy for the media. Establish a media kit for housing the report, shareable graphics, quotes, links to new releases and all other pertinent marketing assets. Send to media outlets.

Conclusion

Well there you have it: 22 ways to revive your annual report experience, with a dash of guerilla marketing to taste. I encourage you to press in on your next annual report. Why settle for the standard, blasé, check-the-box annual report when you can enjoy the whole process from start to finish and come away with a much better product and a much bigger impact.

In support of your efforts,

References

Marrs, Megan. December 18, 2017. 20+ Jaw-Dropping Guerilla Marketing Examples. WordStream. Retrieved from https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/09/22/guerrilla-marketing-examples .

McCauley, Jim. January 30, 2018. 10 beautiful paper portfolios to inspire you. Creative Bloq. Retrieved from https://www.creativebloq.com/portfolios/paper-portfolios-5132559 .

Please follow and like us:

#homeless #marketing

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jccamus · 4 years

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Journalism Schools, relevance vs. cost

Journalism Schools, relevance vs. cost https://ift.tt/32l0M0a

Should students pay $30,000 or even up to $100,000 to attend a journalism school in the United States? Is it realistic considering the starting salaries in the profession? Is teaching journalism schools actually needed?

An interesting discussion was prompted last week by Anita Zielina, director of innovation and leadership at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY (and a former JSK Fellow at Stanford, class of 2012). Anita tweeted the table below. It is lifted from the tuition comparison calculator of the Craig Newmark school) which sums up the cost of some of the best J-schools in America:

On average, a student will pay $57,000 per year to attend one of these J-schools (living expenses not included). Compared to that, the SciencesPo Journalism school where I teach in Paris looks like a bargain at $16,500 per year. For that price, you get the best journalism school in France, which also offers a dual degree with the Paris School of International Affairs — end of our commercial break.

Rafat Ali, creator of Skift and a pioneer in digital journalism and media entrepreneurship, joined the discussion by tweeting:

“Well, please don’t go to journalism school, the debate is settled for something this expensive. If you have to go, pick the cheapest school, it is your own initiative that matters most in “learning” journalism skills”.

During my years as a JSK Fellow, some of my classmates at the Stanford Graduate School of Business incurred $100k or $150,000 in student loans. When asked about it, most of them were not utterly concerned given the expected starting salary for the Stanford MBA: $200,000+ a year. For 2019, it amounted to $216,000, including a base salary of $152,000, a signing bonus of $28,000 and an expected performance bonus of $66,000.

That’s for the stellar word of MBAs.

Back to Earth with journalism salaries. According to Glassdoor, it looks like this:

Yep, an American journalist makes almost five times less than a junior Stanford MBA hitting the job market. Worth mentioning also is the rise of freelancing. Many Columbia graduates won’t even get a real contract for several years and will be either pure freelance or “permalance” where they work a regular gig but without the security or benefits.

It’s a double whammy for a young journalist attending Arizona State or Columbia: they will pay the equivalent of an MBA or a law school tuition for a salary that will make the burden of their student loan almost unbearable.

That’s my first point: top universities are making a huge margin on tuition and they should better align their fees with expected salaries of their students.

There is room for it. Look at this chart: in ten years, higher education costs grew at a rate of 184 percent vs cumulative inflation of 56 percent:

The longer the period, the wider the gap between inflation and tuition fees: between 1970 to 2018, the Consumer Price Index in the United States has been multiplied by 6.5x. During the same period, the average cost of higher education grew 19x for private institutions (to $30,282/year) and 22x for public education ( to $7054), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Center for Education Statistics. Again, we are talking about averages here. No wonder why outstanding student loans have soared to $1.41 trillion in 2019, a 33% increase since 2014.

There are several consequences: first, journalism curriculums are less likely to attract people as they see their future financial condition — high cost of education met by low salary — degrading. Two, they are less likely to in journalism as the trade mingles with multiple commercial streams: production of branded content, all forms of “corporate journalism” and the various flavors of communication, all of them hungry for genuine editorial talent. As a senior business writer who crossed that Rubicon told me once: “Look, I’m 45, I have worked at Reuters and The Economist, do you know how much I need to live in Brooklyn with two kids? Now I’m doing fine, I have more time and more access for my reporting… But yeah, I can’t bash the client…”

Now let’s talk about how relevant it is today to join a journalism school. I still believe that it is necessary to give to those who will collect and shape information proper training and methods. I’m writing this from France where we are still squabbling with the Yellow Vest movement, which recently morphed into violent opposition to the pension reform. One of the key features of this populist unrest is the emergence of a new self-labeled “journalist” category, halfway between political activists and agitators, a banner in one hand a GoPro in the other. They present themselves as authentic reporters, bringing up an ethic that knowingly blends journalism and activism. In such a context, I think journalists taught with all the fundamentals of the trade are more necessary than ever.

Having said that, I think journalism teaching is in need of a profound change on two counts. One is bringing more expertise into the profession by making it attractive for people who have already accumulated a solid experience in a field that is particularly hard to cover (economics, science, law, medicine, you name it). Two, I don’t think organizing a curriculum around one or two years makes sense anymore. In the next decades, the media market will call for numerous qualifications that no one can even fathom today. New forms of teaching would, therefore, encompass flexible, lifelong-learning modules, certified “nano-degrees” corresponding to skills in demand at a given moment of a career, taught online or on short bursts of in-class courses, and fostering communities of learners.

My prediction is that in less than five years, the majority of journalism teaching will have made the switch to life-long, segmented learning. That future makes way more sense than asking someone to commit for a $60,000 or $100,000 tuition bill to be paid back with a $50,000 a year salary.

— [email protected]

Ask Deepnews (part 3): “How far can you go in terms of accuracy of your deep learning model?”

[Here, we reply to readers and users questions, a few weeks after the launch of Deepnews.ai’s professional newsletter system (the Distills).]

— The short answer is: we will reach an asymptote that will be below absolute accuracy. I can’t think of a Natural Language deep learning model that is 100 percent accurate.

The way we currently measure the accuracy of our main model (the Deepnews Scoring Model or DSM), is comparing the score of an article returned by the DSM to three evaluations made by humans. We did it for about 10,000 articles, a process that was important for the calibration of our model. But taking into account the law of diminishing returns, we would need to do many more comparisons to jump from, say, 86 percent to 90 percent accuracy.

Eventually, though we will. It would be great to have a batch of 100,000 or 300,000 articles tested in parallel by humans and the machine. Ideally in several languages… But it is a costly process (we need to pay qualified people to assess the stories, it can’t be done by Mechanical Turks), and we could easily consume half a million dollars in doing just that.

We also have so much on our plate right now, like testing new breeds of model, trying to understand what the neural networks “sees” in a story, transferring the DSM to other languages and the uncertainties that go along with that, adapting the Deepnews algorithm to specialized content, launching a new series of Distills in a few weeks, plus maybe doing some bespoke verticals for corporate customers as described last week.

2020 will be a busy year.

— [email protected]

https://ift.tt/37Nx4SM via Medium February 23, 2020 at 09:42PM

#IFTTT #Feedly

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theyarebangtan · 7 years

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BTS Embody K-Pop's Present and Future Crossover

K-pop lyrics tend to play it safe but BTS’ songs tackle themes of online harassment, suicide, alongside critiques of police brutality.

K-pop band BTS symbolize not only the globalization of music but also the internet's impact on pop success at large. Last month they became the first K-pop act to win a Billboard Music Award, breaking Justin Bieber 's six-year streak of collecting the Top Social Artist award. The honour was well-earned; they topped the Billboard Social 50 for 31 weeks in the past year, and their fans tweeted the #BTSBBMAs hashtag more than 320 million times.

Since their BBMAs appearance, BTS' names have been splashed over major media outlets with primers about the group. The boyband's members include Jeon Jungkook, Jung "J-Hope" Hoseok, Kim "Jin" Seokjin, Kim "Rap Monster" Namjoon, Kim "V" Taehyung, Min "Suga" Yoongi and Park Jimin. BTS translates to Bulletproof Boy Scouts, and they are also known as Bangtan Boys. Not unlike other supremely popular K-pop outfits, their A.R.M.Y. fanbase is hugely responsible for their global recognition. It was all the fans' promotion of the group that earned them the Top Social Artist award, and they even rallied for them to be invited to attend the BBMAs. The fans' petition received over 100 000 signatures, and one tweet later their wishes were granted. BTS' first American award and the success of their Wings album on the Billboard charts signals new heights for the group.

For all the comparisons people make to other groups, there is no Western equivalent to BTS—they're an entirely new phenomenon. The septet's success is breaking not only records but stereotypes and boundaries, as well as finding success worldwide without embodying the Anglo-pop star ideal. While some Western listeners' ethnocentric attitudes lead them to regard K-pop stars as "random Asians in makeup and face masks", BTS' presence at the BBMAs exposed audiences to new faces. Their track "Not Today" blocked the likes of Harry Styles and Niall Horan from the top of the Billboard Twitter Top Tracks chart, claiming the #1 spot for the third consecutive week. They've had 43 hits in the World Digital Song Sales chart with four of them being #1s, tying them with PSY. They're also the only K-pop act to score a top 40 album on the Billboard 200. Currently, BTS are on the last leg of their international Live Trilogy Episode III: The Wings Tour in Japan—the tour's USA dates sold out in minutes.

K-pop seems to be a vacuum tight industry ruled by big players like YG and SM Entertainment, but BTS are the unlikely golden boys of a smaller independent record label and management company called BigHit Entertainment. They're shifting expectations in the K-pop industry with their unconventionally personal approach. They came together when producer Pdogg was discovered by Bang Si Hyuk (aka "Hitman" Bang), the CEO and Executive Producer of BigHit, and the producer later met a teenaged Rap Monster through Sleepy while he was still in the underground scene. Suga and J-Hope joined through nationwide auditions, and three remained out of 30 trainees with other members being added later. BigHit fully embraced the unpredictable world of social media; the guys directly communicate with their fans through logs, BANGTAN BOMB videos, and Twitter and Instagram updates from one group handle (they have no plans to make separate accounts).

BTS haven't had to pander to Western audiences to find success here. "I'm not a believer in releasing full English songs to the U.S. market, like many K-pop artists have," Bang told Billboard. The group's most popular songs may have easy to remember English titles, but their lyrics flow smoothly in Korean save for a few English phrases. Rap Monster taught himself English by watching Friends, so he covered the group's BBMAs Magenta Carpet interviews and delivered their acceptance speech (which he closed off in Korean) as fans screamed in support. In spite of an American award being seen as a quantifier of international success, BTS stay true to their Korean roots in a world where America is the centre of the global music market. This is not to discount their many awards in Korea and elsewhere, but it demonstrates the shifting requirement for English songs to be the only ones on Western charts.

BTS' sonic roots lie in hip hop music, and their lyrics lean heavily on the struggles and excitement of youth. Each member is involved with co-writing, composing, and producing their tracks, and their latest album Wings (re-released as You Never Walk Alone) includes solo songs that reflect their individual musical style. Rap Monster is influenced by Nas and Drake while Suga named Kendrick Lamar, and Jungkook's vocals are influenced by Charlie Puth and Justin Bieber. Jungkook has covered the former and latter's (1, 2, 3, 4) songs alongside fellow maknae line (youngest in the group) member Jimin. "N.O" targets the competitive education culture in Korea, and "Blood, Sweat, Tears" illustrates the pains of addictive love. In "Change", Rap Monster breaks down online harassment, South Korea's rigid hierarchies, and high suicide rate, alongside Wale's critiques of police brutality and the American government. Throughout his fierce Agust D mixtape, Suga openly reflects on his struggles with anxiety and depression. "We try, to be honest to ourselves and it helps us be more flexible in terms of censoring our music somehow. Music speaks for itself and we believe people would empathize with our music if we stay true to lyrics by writing how we think and feel," they explain. K-pop lyrics tend to play it safe because of conservative societal values, but BTS' songs follow themes of personal growth as they try to be as true to self as possible.

NOISEY: Congratulations on winning Top Social Artist. How are you feeling about all this new attention since the BBMAs? Rap Monster: The official stats are in and it's reportedly 320 million votes, which is amazing. We're so grateful for all the attention we're getting since the BBMAs and trying to realize it is actually real! It's good to be noticed worldwide, and we feel honored to be nominated and win the award.

Who were you most excited to meet or see at the BBMAs? BTS: Drake and John Legend. But to be honest, literally, everyone on the stage and in the seats was our dream-list to meet or see anyway.

Suga, in " Agust D " you predicted, "next up is Billboard." What's your next prediction for BTS? Suga: I must say our next stop is Billboard stage to perform a BTS song.

Because K-pop is so global, it's helped make both fans and artists more culturally aware. What are some lessons you've learned while visiting different countries and interacting with international fans? Rap Monster: It is very important to learn the language of that specific country, and you need to speak the truth from your heart.

You've talked about "Spring Day" being a moment of recovery, using a seasonal metaphor. As a group, what do you feel you are recovering or moving on from at this point in your careers? V: I do regret over missing opportunities of learning many things, but we move forward no matter what. Jimin: I feel like I'm moving on from personal regret over my music since I want more. Rap Monster: I'm kind of recovering from being disappointed in myself

What is your goal for your music to accomplish? Jungkook: My goal is to write and sing a song I like on my own. Jin: Making people listen to BTS music without prejudice. Jimin: I want to have a voice I love.

What kind of rituals do you have while composing music? J-Hope: I have to listen to really good music to start composing my own music. Rap Monster: I always turn on a neon sign for my studio, 'Monstudio' V: I got to see a whole movie of my choice. Suga: I do it whenever I feel like it.

While your music videos incorporate elaborate choreography and styling, they are also heavy on metaphors and symbolic storylines. What works have you been into lately that might inspire your next project? J-Hope: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea. Rap Monster: This movie called A Silent Voice. Suga: Get Out.

What did you most enjoy about touring America? BTS: Meeting so many different people around the country and visiting interesting places like museums and parks. And of course, you cannot leave out huge, juicy steaks.

What are your goals for next year? BTS: Billboard stage and more, bigger shows worldwide.

You have a special connection with your fans, and your music is very inspirational to them. What would you like to say to them right now? BTS: Our honors and delights at the BBMAs are 100 percent yours. We'll make you proud as much as you've made us proud for the last 4 years. Love Yourself, love myself!

cr: noisey

#bts #bangtan #bangtan boys #interview #2017 bbmas

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jeffrmayhugh · 4 years

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WOW!!! BITCOIN MUST CROSS THIS PRICE TO STAY BULLISH!!! ELON MUSK REVEALS BITOIN HOLDINGS!!!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

What’s up, guys, and welcome back to another video. So in today’s video, guys, we’re going to be talking about the Bitcoin price and how it needs to cross this 10K level again soon. If we are to remain bullish now, bitcoin, the Bitcoin price kind of tested this 10K level. We rejected backdowns, this nine-point two K level, which is a known level of support. But we really need to get back up and test and break this 10K level and then go on to break that 10K ten point five K level. That is going to be coming up in today’s video, guys, as well as J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk talking about Bitcoin on Twitter, which is absolutely amazing. We are also going to be taking a look at how Visa’s digital fee will potentially be using a theorem and what that may have an effect on what effect that may have on the theory and price. So all that good stuff coming up in today’s video, guys. As always, sit back, relax and get ready for the video. Guys, so welcome back to another video. Thank you very much for joining me again. I do really appreciate that. If we can hit that like the target of one K likes on this video, that will be absolutely amazing. You guys know I appreciate every single like. Also, guys, if you’re all watching my channel and you haven’t already subscribed. What are you doing? Just go down below and subscribe and take that notification. Will she get notified about my upcoming videos? As always, guys. Drop your comments down below right now and you can comment literally anything down below to be entered to win that legit nanotech storage device or the equivalent in Bitcoin. So a comment, literally anything Downbelow and you could be entered into that giveaway. So without any further ado, guys, let’s get on with the video and let’s get on with a bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin price analysis. So, guys, Bitcoin, basically, we came out to around about this 10K level. I was as I was talking about in yesterday’s video, we then came down to about this nine-point two K level, which is a very, very well-known level of support. Thankfully, we did, in fact, hold somewhat on this level. We did cross a little bit below it, down to about nine point one K. However, we did quickly work above it and start again on this nine-point two K level on this candlestick. Then we came up and tested this around nine point five K level. We can’t really come up and tested just above it at about nine point six K as an attempt to probably go up and test that 10K level again. However, we got a fairly large you ejected definitely on the four-hour chart. If we actually go over to the one, our chart will be able to see this and a little bit more detail. So you can see again, it’s been quite choppy, the price being moving like crazy on the one hour chart. And we did actually come up to this level, this nine-point five K level. We did breach above it to about nine point six K, which is right here. Unfortunately, we then did get rejected. Now, this is only on the one hour charge, guys. So this rejection is only in the very, very short term. We could easily go on and test this breakout and go up to that 10K level. That wouldn’t be anything out of the norm. I do really, really want us to break this 10k level, guys. I know I’ve been saying this a lot, but if we do break this 10k level, we then have another level to worry about, which I talked about in yesterday’s video. I do really want us to break this ten-point five K level guy. So this is the main crucial level we need to break. Yes, of course, we have to break this 10K level in the immediate future. I really would like us to break this week or next week or most likely next week as it’s the end of this week. However, once we do break, that 10k level is not all happiness there, because we really do have to break this ten-point five K level. And if we can actually break that ten-point five K level, well, it’s gonna be very nice to Bitcoin because once we do break that, it’s a rather large level of resistance, which we’ve seen in the past that would be very, very beneficial for Bitcoin if we go on and break that level. So Bitcoin’s pretty much been having a really nice increase in price over the past pretty much a month, even more even. It’s really nice to see. Yes. These pullbacks that happen here and these are fairly normal pullbacks. You were not just going to get a straight moon at price. I would rather wait. Rather the price went up. We had a small pullback. We continued. We had a small pullback. We continued. I just don’t like seeing these somewhat lower weeks on the lows compared to here. That’s a little bit interesting. And also the high here, which we saw here, this high is a little bit lower than that high, which definitely isn’t a great sign. However, if we can, in fact, go up and break this 10k and form a new recent high above around about ten thousand one hundred dollars, that’ll be very nice for Bitcoin like we did here previously. It’s not the end of the world if we don’t make a more recent high. So you can see here back on the 30th of April, we came up to about nine point five K. We then sold off to about eight-point four K. We then came up and tested this and nine-point five K level again here. We got rejected. We had a small pullback and then we absolutely blasted through it all the way up to 10 K, which was very, very recent. So it’s not the end of the world. We could just be doing the same thing. Testing coming back down, maybe testing again, even getting rejected and then coming up, something like that, that would be perfectly normal and it would be perfectly well expected for something like that to happen. So that’s pretty much the Bitcoin price because we are still way above the 200 days moving average as well, which is very nice to see. But this 10k level guys needs to go. It needs to go soon. Along with that ten-point five K level, I’m looking at support. We have this 90 to 100 dollar range, which is held fairly nicely in the past. If that breaks, we could potentially go down to about eight points five, eight-point six K somewhere in this range down here. And that should work as a reasonable level of a resistor of support. Sorry, of course, guys, this is Bitcoin and it’s very volatile. Sorry. And so these support levels, if a massive whale wants to dump a load of bitcoin, they can be broken. Just keep that in mind. If you guys were interested in actually going ahead and trading the Bitcoin price, pretty much. One of my number one recommended exchanges is Phoenix. And if you deposit only zero points to Bitcoin, you actually get one hundred and twelve dollars for free using specifically miling. They’re really cool features, and they just added an even more interesting feature. They actually have spot trading with zero fees if you go ahead and get a trial with them. I think it’s like ten dollars. But then you don’t pay you pretty much have zero fees, which is very, very innovative. And I think a lot of exchanges are going to be following suit and doing the same kind of method that females are doing. So my team excellent will be Downbelow guys if you did want to join. Of course, that leverage the trading side of it is more for the advanced traders. However, if you were into spot trading, which is pretty much normal trading like you know, and love on violence or Coinbase, and then there’s zero fees option is there, if you were interested. So, guys, let’s move on now and talk about the J.K. Rowling tweet. Basically, she was tweeting about Bitcoin. It got a lot of people a bit angry. But also Egholm Mosque actually chimed in and had a bit to say about Bitcoin. And this is very interesting. So we can see she’s quoting this tweet here from Bitcoin. Bitcoin wizards still need to trust Gringotts bank. Bitcoin fixes this. So if you don’t know what Gringotts Bank is, it’s pretty much the banking system in Harry Potter. And if you don’t what Harry Potter is, then, yeah, maybe you’re too young. I don’t know. You should know what it isn’t. J.K. Rowling actually wrote the book Books of Harry Potter, which then turned into the film. So that’s a brief bit of basic information if you don’t know. So basically she’s saying, I don’t think I trust this. And then she’s saying people are now explaining Bitcoin to me and honestly is blah, blah, blah, collectables, My Little Pony, blah, blah, blah. Computers got one of that blah, blah, blah. Crypto sounds creepy. Bob Barr, understand the risks. I don’t know. Then Elon Musk actually chimed in. And we all know eLong is a somewhat crypto on Bitcoin supporter. He does hold a bit of bitcoin. Yeah, pretty much. Or although massive currency issuance by government, central banks are making Bitcoin Internet money, Bitcoin, Internet money looks like solid by my comparison. So he’s basically talking about the Fed printing billions of dollars on Bitcoin is a limited supply at 21 million. That’s basically what he’s talking about. And he goes on to say, I still only own zero points to five bitcoins, by the way. And that’s what Elon Musk actually said, said in reply, Let me no doubt in the comments below. Guys, though, also ended to enter you two in that legit nano X device. Let me know, Downbelow if you think Elon Musk only owns zero points to five Bitcoin. Keep in mind, the guy is extremely wealthy. He’s a billionaire. He owns Tesla Space X Solar City. He was one of the founders of PayPal, sold it. He has got a lot of money and he does believe in crypto and bitcoin. We’ve seen it in the past. Let me know dumble of you think it’s reasonable that he only owns zero points to five Bitcoin? If you think he’s being truthful in that, or do you think he just got the decimal plate decimal plate’s decimal points in the incorrect order and he actually owns like two thousand five hundred bitcoin, something like that. Let me know down below. This is really, really interesting and it’s a whole massive thread. If you go to J.K. Rowling’s Twitter, you can see all it goes on forever. So, guys, moving on now. Let’s take a look. Visa’s digital fiat will use theory in a recent patent by visa hints on the use of a theorem, a blockchain or a similar network. Now, this is not confirmed. Guys, don’t go buying a theorem in the thousands. This is definitely not confirmed. It’s just something that people are found so less than a day ago. A new patent application from Visa emerged from the US Patent and Trademark Office. The document elaborates on how the payment processing company aims at accrediting, crediting a digital fiat currency or currencies using blockchain technology. And I did actually cover this in more detail in yesterday’s video. If you want to go ahead and see that. So a theorem is mentioned several times in the patent and the description of the patent theorem network is mentioned several times. One instance where a theorem has been mentioned can be found below. It gives a hint visa using the network to issue digital fiat currency. Digital fiat currency and this is a quote from the Exa Digital fiat currency may be implemented using a theorem. Accounts are established for the transaction processing network. The central entity. And for users such as Alice and Bob, each entity, a theorem account is defined by a public address. Which all sounds very, very familiar. And then people were going crazy on Twitter tweeting about it. Visa likely to launch a digital currency after filing a patent to create a stable coin on the Etherial Network. Visa applied for a patent that directly uses a theorem as the protocol layer. Now, this doesn’t mean they are definitely going to use it. Yes, it shows good signs that they could be using it. However, they just filed the painting. It doesn’t mean that they’re definitely going to be using it. Of course, I definitely want to know your thoughts down below. Do you think if this comes out that they are using theory and based stable coin for a full visa? Will this absolutely skyrocket the price of a theorem and also the cryptos like Bitcoin as well? Let me know down below in the comments. So a theorem. We all know a theorem needs to cross this 200 dollar range to, in fact, stay bullish. A theorem did recently cross at about 230. And we all on the daily chart right now, guys, if they look strange, we are currently just below 200 dollars. We have crossed above to about two oh five in the past couple of days. However, this 230 dollar mark, we really need to see a theorem cross if we do want to remain bullish. I do potentially think that this could be good news. A theorem people may be following into this news and they could actually be buying it based on the back of that. That’s not what I do. Personally, I don’t buy. I don’t usually buy the news. A lot of people say to buy the news, sell the rumour or buy the rumour, sell the news. Sorry. So this could potentially be the buy the rumour case and you could sell the news when it does officially get launched. However, I’m not going to do that. I already hold a theory and I’m very happy with my position in a theory and I don’t really plan to add any more in the future. I’ve pretty much said before, guys, in many videos, if you can manage to buy theorem under a hundred dollars. History proves it. Most likely you will be profitable. If we’d just taken a line here and have done this in previous videos before, even below, like one hundred and ten dollars. If you can buy a Thiering below a hundred and ten dollars, most likely over the course of a few years, you will turn out to be profitable, of course, here and you will turn out to be profitable. And that’s what I’ve done. A lot of my theorem is actually bought under one hundred dollars, which is really nice. And I’m very happy in my position in theory. I do really want a theorem to cross this 230-day level, which is around about here for us to remain bullish and go on and test this to eighty to potentially testing the upwards of three hundred dollar range, which will be up here. So leave your comments down below if you think this is going to have an impact on the theory and price. It’ll be really interesting to see what you guys think. So, as always, guys, that is it for today’s video. If you were interested in joining feme X, depositing zero points two, Bitcoin gets you one hundred and twelve dollar bonus using specifically Miling Downbelow. So thanks. Watching today’s video, guys, and I’ll catch you in the next one.

source https://www.cryptosharks.net/stay-bullish-elon-musk-reveals-bitoin-holdings/ source https://cryptosharks1.tumblr.com/post/618505608052801536

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heatherrdavis1 · 4 years

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WOW!!! BITCOIN MUST CROSS THIS PRICE TO STAY BULLISH!!! ELON MUSK REVEALS BITOIN HOLDINGS!!!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Via https://www.cryptosharks.net/stay-bullish-elon-musk-reveals-bitoin-holdings/

source https://cryptosharks.weebly.com/blog/wow-bitcoin-must-cross-this-price-to-stay-bullish-elon-musk-reveals-bitoin-holdings

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scottmapess · 4 years

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WOW!!! BITCOIN MUST CROSS THIS PRICE TO STAY BULLISH!!! ELON MUSK REVEALS BITOIN HOLDINGS!!!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

source https://www.cryptosharks.net/stay-bullish-elon-musk-reveals-bitoin-holdings/ source https://cryptosharks1.blogspot.com/2020/05/wow-bitcoin-must-cross-this-price-to.html

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cryptosharks1 · 4 years

Text

WOW!!! BITCOIN MUST CROSS THIS PRICE TO STAY BULLISH!!! ELON MUSK REVEALS BITOIN HOLDINGS!!!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

source https://www.cryptosharks.net/stay-bullish-elon-musk-reveals-bitoin-holdings/

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