Aural Contraception

Introducing e*: The blog is dead; long live the blog!

2006-05-23T16:18:00.000-07:00

OK, so I haven't posted here for almost two years. Still, my stats engine tells me that there are over 40 of you still subscribed to this feed. I apologise for not keeping the content current, but there are reasons for that. Aural Contraception was not just a way for me to learn how to podcast. It was also an experiment: How would it be to have an online forum that was somewhere in between my personal and professional lives? For various reasons, I don't think it is tenable for me. In particular, I became concerned with content quality control, which is very important in academia. Also, there was the sheer amount of time required to produce the thing. I could find the time before I got a girlfriend, but after that, no.

So I have now created a professional-only blog/podcast, e* (I mentally pronounce it "ee-star", but spell it "e-asterisk" when "e*" won't work -- file names for instance!). The rule of thumb will be: include only material that is good enough for me to present in a public, professional forum. That solves the quality control problem. And since I already prepare a lot of such content in the form of research talks and papers, there is relatively little extra time required.

An innovative (but not entirely unique -- see, e.g., Rick Grush's page, linked to on the e* site) feature of the site is the use of what I call PodSlides. These are videos (designed to be viewed on video iPods, but viewable on most computers) in which the audio content is a lecture (in my case, at least so far, an actual, public lecture in front of an audience), and the video content is is the visual material (i.e., PowerPoint slide show) used at that lecture. Since these presentations are more specialized than the typical vodcast or video podcast, I thought a term specific to this format would be useful; hence "PodSlides".

Here's the description of e*:

"Toward a view of consciousness and computation that is embodied, embedded, experiential, evolutionary, externalist: e*. Academic lectures and writings by Ron Chrisley, in a variety of media (audio, video, powerpoint, pdfs, txt). Featuring PodSlide technology that allows you to view lecture slides at the same time as hearing the lecture, automatically, in-sync, on any device that plays video files - even your video iPod."

The url for the blog is http://e-asterisk.blogspot.com. Check it out. And if it's your kind of thing, you can subscribe using the links below.

Ron

e* is featured in the iTunes Music Store Podcast Directory. To subscribe, either click on the icon above, or, in Mac OSX:

Go to the "Advanced" menu
Select "Subscribe to Podcast..."
Enter "http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/e-asterisk"
Click "OK"

That's it!

16 More on podcasts; entropy and prediction; and more

2005-08-26T22:33:00.000-07:00

A less political edition than the previous two, execept near the end.

Technical notes
A few remarks about podcast 15
Some responses to Phil's first podcast (I dare not link to it lest it be syndicated in my podcast, right?), found here.

"Reading" Audiobooks: What I've just finished (Destination: Void) and what I've just started (The Time Traveler's Wife)
Music copyright in podcasts
A podcast remix idea I might try
Implementing hyperaudio discussions with CAF, chapters and applescript?
The differences between aural and visual text: an example from The Da Vinci Code
Skinning spoken podcasts with ambient sounds: an example from David Sylvian
Podcast reviews: Voxmonitor

Phil: Markets as bonfires of reason
Oli as Carrie Bradshaw: "I couldn't help but wonder: should we keep striving to predict the unknown, or should we humbly give up on futurology?"
Tom: The Kyoto divorce between the two Americas, and Timothy Garton Ash and Larry Elliot on parallels between the USA's current situation and the decline of the British empire
Will the UK ban all fundamentalist clerics that advocate the violent overthrow of democratically elected leaders, or will Clarke make an exception for former Republican candidates for President of the USA? Pat Robertson this week:

"If [Hugo Chavez] thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think we really ought to go ahead and do it... It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war."
"I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out.' And 'take him out' can be a number of things, including kidnapping; there are a number of ways to take out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted by the AP [Associated Press], but that happens all the time."
"Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologize for that statement... I spoke in frustration that we should accommodate the man who thinks the U.S. is out to kill him."
From the Guardian this week: "The new powers announced on July 20 will give Mr Clarke [the British Home Secretary] the right to throw out of Britain or exclude from entering the country any foreign nationals who represent "an indirect threat" because they "foment terrorism" or justify or glorify terrorism by preaching, running websites or publishing material either here or abroad."

Podcast 16: More on podcasts; entropy and prediction; and more (50 min 02 sec @ 48 kbps)

(Update 29/08/05: It's been three days, and the iTunes Music Store still hasn't updated their entry for Aural Contraception to include podcast 16, so I'm hoping that by adding this line, the resulting change in the RSS feed will prompt an update.)

15 The "History Test" and the Perils of Religious Profiling

2005-08-22T19:40:00.000-07:00

Another political edition. Here's a fairly thorough summary of the content:

Like many others, I recently received an email which contained a "history test" which was intended to justify profiling on the basis of religious belief. After reminding us of 13 incidents over a 34-year time span that were perpetrated by "Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40", the email, attributed to one Ed Ruff, concluded:

"Nope... I really don't see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you? So, to ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics intent on killing us, airport security screeners will no longer be allowed to profile certain people. They must conduct random searches of 80-year-old women, little kids, airline pilots with proper identification, secret agents who are members of the President's security detail, 85-year old Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor winning and former Governor Joe Foss, but leave Muslim Males between the ages 17 and 40 alone lest they be guilty of profiling."

Mr. Ruff reveals that he doesn't fully understand the issues involved when he suggests that the only reason to oppose profiling is to "avoid offending anyone", and by suggesting that those who oppose racial or religion-based profiling want Muslim males between the ages of 17 and 40 to be "left alone". Both of these suggestions are incorrect: there is much more at stake here than offending people, and no one is proposing that Muslim males be exempt from search, only that they be treated like males of any other race or religion. Furthermore, "random" searches are not the only alternative to racial or religious profiling; one can have profiling strategies that are intelligent (e.g., based on behavior), yet are blind to religion (and race).

One should not be persuaded by Ed Ruff's "history test". For one thing, it is a very selective list of atrocities, with all but three of them occurring outside the US. The three that he lists that actually occurred in the US are: Bobby Kennedy's assassination (Why single out that one? Perhaps because if Mr. Ruff had included all high-profile assassinations and intended assassinations in the US since 1960, the statistics would have indicated that we should profile white non-Muslim males, not Muslim males, which is not the conclusion Mr. Ruff wants.), the 1993 WTC bombing (5 deaths), and the 2001 WTC attacks. If one looks solely at terrorist or extremist-related events that have occurred in the US, then yes, the 9/11 attack caused by far the greatest number of deaths. But that is followed by Tim McVeigh's bombing in Oklahoma City (168 deaths), attacks on abortion clinics by Christian (or professed Christian) fundamentalist extremists (7 Murders, 17 Attempted Murders, 41 Bombings, 168 Arsons, 82 Attempted Bombings/Arsons) and others -- e.g., the Unabomber (3 deaths, 18 wounded); David Koresh (professed Christian extremist, 74 deaths); etc. If you just look at is doing the actual terrorist or related killing in the US, you won't find many Muslim men. So why profile them?

I wonder how anyone would profile on the basis of religion, anyway? Would Muslims be required to wear an armband saying "Muslim" (ala Hitler's Germany) for easy identification, or would the profiling be done instead on the basis of race? In fact, a study has shown that at least in some cases, racial profiling can result in catching fewer criminals than not using racial profiling; so racial profiling just isn't good sense: it would let more terrorists through!

I think the worst aspect of religious profiling is that it is a form of unpatriotic discrimination, and is contrary to our God-given right of freedom of religion, enshrined in the constitution. If someone has committed crimes, then sure, lock him up, profile him, whatever; if he has expressed an intent to commit violence: ditto. But if we start discriminating against people purely for what religion they espouse, then we also will be the "enemies of freedom". And who knows: you might be "profiled" just because you happen to embrace a version of the religion that abortion clinic bombers do.

Support the troops: Defend democracy and freedom at home.

Podcast 15: The "History Test" and the Perils of Religious Profiling (32 min 51 sec @ 48kbps)

14 Terrorism, Iraq and Cultural Imperialism

2005-08-13T12:24:00.000-07:00

In this Sanctuary discussion between Oliver Sharpe, Tom Beament and myself, the focus is on political topics (this time). I point out that it's not really extremism and suicide bombing that we should fear, but our own leaders. Oli advocates a restricted form of cultural imperialism. Tom sets me straight on my implausible views on what constitutes coercion. Plus two news stories from this week that you might not have heard: An Al Qaeda operative is in the Iraqi government, and the mayor of Baghdad has been overthrown by a Shiite militia in a bloodless coup.

Podcast 14: Terrorism, Iraq and Cultural Imperialism (25 min 29 sec @ 48kbps)

13 More on Time Travel and Wormholes

2005-08-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

I respond to some comments made concerning my puzzlements about space-time rifts in Podcast 11. Do I have a point, or do I just not know what I am talking about? You decide.

Music played in this podcast:

Podcast 13: More on Time Travel and Wormholes (15 min 05 sec @ 48kbps)

12 Meta-podcast

2005-08-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

A podcast about podcasting; not very original huh? But I hope there are some original thoughts in this edition, as we hear from Oli Sharpe on podcasting by phone (on the train!), some proposals for how to conduct philosophical discussions by audio/podcast, jumping off the podcasting bandwagon, and why blogs, including those hosting podcasts, should be less like Memento and more like the flow of consciousness of non-brain damaged folk. The fidelity gets a little ropey in the middle, but it's worth it. And it's 100% commercial/advert free!

Podcast 12: Meta-podcast (21 min 45 sec @ 48kbps)

11 The Time Tourist Problem for Wormholes

2005-08-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

OK, now for a change of topic: time travel. In this podcast, I question Paul Davies' response to the "time tourist" objection to the possibility of time travel. In How to Build a Time Machine he says that "it is not possible to use a wormhole to visit a time before the wormhole was constructed". I think this explanation is incoherent. Can someone explain what he means, or am I right?

This podcast experiments with format a bit, using a musical theme to introduce and indicate the end of the podcast, and with an announcement of the podcast series, number and title at the beginning. I won't always be able to do this kind of production, perhaps, but why not do it when I can, if it can be done quickly?

Podcast 11: The Time Tourist Problem for Wormholes (9 min 47 sec @ 48 kbps)

10 ThoughtStormz Symposium - Postscript to Audio Tools Discussion

2005-08-09T18:20:00.000-07:00

Even though we drew the discussion of audio and podcasting to a formal close, we were still excited enough by the topic to continue discussing it for another 16 minutes, until the call of pizza became too loud to ignore. Fortunately, the recorder was still running.

Podcast 10: ThoughtStormz - Postscript to Audio Tools Discussion (16 min 01 sec @ 48kbps)

9 ThoughtStormz Symposium - Audio and Podcasting Tools

2005-08-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

The next discussion was about the advantages and challenges of using audio in general, and podcasts in particular, as a way of taking notes, organising thoughts, communicating, archiving, etc.

Podcast 9: ThoughtStormz - Audio and Podcasting Tools (32 min 34 sec @ 48kbps)

8 ThoughtStormz Symposium - Designing for Power Users?

2005-08-09T16:55:00.000-07:00

After everyone gave their initial statements of interest, the participants (Phil, Oli, Berkan, Graham and myself) engaged in a discussion of how to design tools that are appropriate for both the naive user and the power user. What does being a power user mean? Or is the distinction unhelpful?

Podcast 8: Designing for Power Users? (49 min 05 sec @ 48kbps)

7 ThoughtStormz Symposium - Ron

2005-08-09T15:40:00.000-07:00

Before the Symposium, I sent around this "abstract" of what I was going to talk about:

I'm a consumer of technology rather than a producer of it, so my role will mainly be reacting to others' ideas and demos. Nevertheless, as Phil suggests, I'll say a few words about podcasts/audiobooks and text-to-speech (dare I say that audio is the new video?), the interesting technological problems they raise, and some related pieces of kit that I would like someone to invent.

Some other interests of mine, which I probably won't get to, include:

Why blog? (e.g., in the age of Google, blogging is more efficient than posting to newsgroups/message boards)
The PDA continuum, from phone to IPAQ to Laptop: The problem of synchrony, and the semantics of "delete"
Home automation: How SLink-E could have saved the music industry
Doing away with (some) intellectual property rights

I was right: I didn't get to any of those bullet points.

Podcast 7: ThoughtStormz - Ron (12 min 20 sec @ 48kbps)

6 ThoughtStormz Symposium - Phil

2005-08-09T07:27:00.000-07:00

Phil responded to Berkan, drawing upon examples from wiki practice, among other things. (It's the end of an all-nighter for me, so I'll let Phil post his own summary.)

Podcast 6: ThoughtStormz - Phil (9 min 01 sec @ 48 kbps)

5 ThoughtStormz Symposium - Graham

2005-08-09T06:59:00.000-07:00

Graham agreed with much of what Berkan had to say, and also with Ted Nelson on a few points; specifically, computers need to get away from the paper/office metaphor, and one shouldn't let programmers design software (or at least webpages). Perhaps we overdesign, and should instead design for emergence.

Podcast 5: ThoughStormz - Graham (3 min 43 sec @ 48kbps)

4 ThoughtStormz Symposium - Berkan

2005-08-09T06:06:00.000-07:00

Berkan dissented with some of what had been said before:

Tools are not media.
The "naive user/power user" distinction is not a good one.
Tools should be made to fit the user's life, not the other way around.
Goal-driven design is the way to approach the subject, and the needs of the user should be the starting point.
Problems such as the semantics of delete should be resolved by evaluating tools in terms of how they reduce cognitive uncertainty.

Podcast 4: ThoughtStormz - Berkan (8 min 19 sec @ 48kbps)

3 ThoughtStormz Symposium - Oli

2005-08-09T05:18:00.000-07:00

Next up at the symposium, Oli talked about the empowerment that programming skills can bring users in the information age, and the synchronization problem: What are the semantics of "delete"?

(Perhaps each speaker should listen to their contribution and come up with a better summary to post here?)

Podcast 3: ThoughtStormz - Oli (3 min 41 sec @ 48kbps)

2 ThoughtStormz Symposium - Introduction

2005-08-09T04:26:00.000-07:00

On August 2nd, 2005, part of the Sanctuary Group held the first ThoughtStormz symposium on "New Tools". From left to right: Phil Jones, our organiser; Graham Lally; Berkan Eskikaya, our host; Oli Sharpe; and myself.

This first podcast from the event is Phil's introduction to what the event is about: the tools we use, link together and create, to organise our lives and information; and how this process changes our lifestyles and modes of communication. Of particular interest is the "naive user/power user" distinction, and its impact, if any, on these issues.

Podcast 2: ThoughtStormz Introduction (10 min 03 sec @ 48kbps)

1 Introducing Aural Contraception

2005-08-09T03:12:00.000-07:00

This first podcast is an introduction to Aural Contraception, and is more an excuse for me to get used to podcasting more than anything else. Nonetheless, it covers:

Copyright and permissions
Intended audience: The Sanctuary group (you know who you are!)
Nature of these podcasts (low-fi and gonzo)
Some geeky technical notes, equipment used, etc.
Convention: Will always sign off with "podcast ends", so that you'll know whether or not you have downloaded the whole file OK.
Topic of next few podcasts: Some extracts from the recent ThoughtStormz Symposium!

Enjoy.

Podcast 1: Introduction (7 min 48 sec @ 48kbps)