SexGeeks

Where'd we go?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Aug 2005 12:24:00 -0700

This will come as no surprise to anyone who's been watching the dead space here for a while, but Lindsay and I have put SexGeeks on hiatus for now. We've both gotten super busy with other projects, and haven't even gotten around to record a message about not doing the show (lame).

Anyway, the support we've gotten has been wonderful. Thank you all for taking the time to send us your feedback!

When the weather turns cold and rainy here again, we may take a look at taking another stab at it if there is any interest (or even if there's not ;).

Stay subscribed to the audio feed (heck, it doesn't take any effort not to do anything) and you'll be the first to know if we can get our acts together and put out something new.

Thanks again!

Rob

SexGeeks: The Graydancer Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 8 May 2005 21:54:00 -0700

Sorry folks, due to an application crash, we lost the last show we recorded.

We'll be getting on a regular schedule soon, so you won't have to guess when the shows are coming out. In the meantime, here's an interview that was going to air on the lost show. It's with Graydancer from the Rope Weekly podcast. Graydancer agreed to sit down and answer some questions for us and at the same time be our guinea pig as we try remote interviews for the first time.

Here is the edited version of the interview (~20 mins, ~9.5MB) with a brief introduction by Rob. If you'd like to hear the full, un-edited version, you can find it here (~1hr, ~25MB).

We'll have a new show soon; thanks for hanging in there.

SexGeeks: SexGeeks Goes Indigenous

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 19:50:00 -0700

In this installation (~29MB, ~1hr), semi-pro anthropologist Jeremy Stone joins Lindsay and Rob to talk about sex and sexuality in other cultures. From cross-dressers that were required by Native Americans to build a particular lodge, to the sexual training of boys in another culture, to the concept of the "uncleanness" of women, join us for a peek at sex around the world.

Sexgeeks: Transgenderism, sex-related podcasts, and listener mail

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 08:32:00 -0700

I'm posting the newest SexGeeks installment (~37MB, ~1h 20m) without all of the supporting links et al because it's been a while since the last show and I'm not yet sure when I'll have gone through and found all of the links we mentioned and didn't want to delay the show any longer.

So, I'll update this post with notes as I complete them, meanwhile I hope you enjoy the show!

(PS, we're about to get on a regular schedule for making these shows so you'll better know when to expect them.)

Notes as they get updated:
Rob mentions the radio show Gender Talk which focuses on transgender-related issues. Gender Talk has recently become available in podcast form (the podcast feed is in the upper right corner of the home page).

We discussed a recent installment of Tech Nation (available in podcast form from the wonderful IT Conversations site, were Deborah Rudacille talks about the complexity of gender.

Lindsay mentioned Koan Bremner's CrossOver podcast, where Koan has occasional audio snippets about her experience being transgendered.

We opened a new delicious accout where anyone who listens can add links for everyone else to see. The user name is: imasexgeek. You'll have to listen to the show to get the password ;)

We had a wandering discussion of other sex-related (from gender to kink) podcasts. Here are the ones we had actually listened to:

Graydancer's Rope Weekly (watch for our next podcast which will have an interview with Graydancer in it)

Cunning Minx's Poly Weekly - Polyamory-oriented content

Rob get's diverted briefly and mentions a bit of news that's been circling the Internet about how abstinence programs appear to generate the same occurance of STDs in the programs' participants as non-abstinence programs. One article mentioning this can be found here.
More podcasts:

Violet Blue's Open Source Sex - Primarily readings of erotica so far

RebelDad's SexTalk - Gender Issues/Advocacy

TopBit's Fetish Radio - Bi and BDSM plus music!

While we were talking about podcasts we were browsing the sex and gender catagories of ipodder.org.

Here's the blog post from listener Hampton that we were talking about so you don't have to go find it (we're convenience oriented around here):

I'm a young gay male in a semi-open relationship with the intent to marry (at first opportunity).

Anyhow, I was a bit taken back by the comments about swingers. I don't label our relationship as "swinging"... more "open". I often argue with myself about labeling, because I use the term "semi-open"...

To explain, we have yet to have sex apart from each other, but haven't barred it. We do have a threeway about once a season. We barely ever party or go out drinking. But we're mostly homebodies and completely in love. I'm often at a loss to really define us. Some in an open relationship fuck around daily. Some do it yearly. Some do it together, apart, etc.

I just didn't like the way that couples that play were portrayed. I don't really feel that you guys have personal feelings on it, but it was just not talked about a lot.

Personally, poly-amoury is something I'm not sure about. I like to be the only one in love with my fiancee. I'd be far more jealous of a date than a fuck.

That being said, I often wonder about the positive affect that romantic affairs (secret) have on straight marriages.

I don't know. I'm completely rambling. I spend an awful lot of time considering the philosophy and the social influences on how we see sex and love. I want to find the truth behind it, because I have a feeling a lot of social ideas force into our ideas of love and relationships.

I think this should be an entire show. I wish I lived in Portland.... wherever.... I'd so be on the show to talk about this. I swear I'm more logical when I'm speaking.

What about me recording an essay on my experiences with this, etc?

Here's the email we got from an engineer listener about Lindsay's call for a good cunnilingus toy:

Back on the February 13th 'cast, Lindsay asked specifically for a
gadget that simulates cunnilingus. It came up again March 22nd in the
discussion of machines, but I didn't hear that you had found anything.

The only thing remotely like an oral stimulator I've ever seen are the
"tongues" like these:
http://www.mypleasure.com/store/product.asp?dept_id=804&pf_id=0948 (Lily)
http://www.mypleasure.com/store/product.asp?dept_id=802&pf_id=0935 (mini-tongue)
which are essentially indistinguishable from vibrators. I don't have
the impression that either of these devices is remotely like the
experience of a partner, even to the extent that some of the machines
are remotely like a partner using a penis.

I started thinking about this problem from an engineering standpoint
(hey, that's what I do for a living, though I mostly build software
systems that run hardware) and I was struck by how constrained
existing machines are.

The machines at the website you mentioned are, mechanically, 1-D
devices, though the chairs move somewhat in 2-D. Using a good partner
is at least 2D with significant force-feedback, though an inept or
passive partner, particularly woman-on-top positions, can be
effectively 1-D with off-axis pressure controlled by the receiver.

My experience with cunnilingus (necessarily as the stimulator rather
than the receiver) is that it requires 3-D motion, is adaptive both
with regard to force and "cycle" speed, and relies on cues that
involve the recipient giving aural and manual feedback. I know I also
switch from a generally linear to more circular motion at various
times.

As a purely mechanical problem, this seems intractable. The desired
force and motion on the target, and even the location of the target,
varies over time and may not be detectable at the target site.
(Effective aural cues are nearly impossible; manual control probably
works for force, but not for motion control.) Particularly as the
onset of orgasm approaches, both force and the 3-D motion need to
change but quickly stabilize. (In some cases suction is also applied,
though reflecting on it, this is not always true.)

This seems the kind of problem that is complex, but at least
tractable, for a 4 or 6 degree of freedom robotic system with a
combination of force-feedback, perhaps a remote sensor system, and a
simple-to-operate (because you're distracted) user interface.

Of course, with a computer interface the control system can be
arbitrarily complex, and the techniques for controlling a motion base
are very well understood. (This makes me look at the Disney "Star
Tours" ride in a while new way, but it's the same problem.) Since I'm
a nerd, I'm of course thinking in terms of general purpose hardware on
which I can layer different software control laws and feedback
systems. A really good predictive orgasm sensor would be helpful.

But since I'm an engineer, I'm also interested in existing best
practices and reusable components. So, did you get any pointers from
other listeners?

Here's the artile discussing scent and attraction in greater depth and that mentions a possible relation between birth control pills and attraction.

While we were talking about female circumcision, Lindsay mentioned the extensive Wikipedia entry on the subject.

Mark Savage's silicone-enhanced member was mentioned again.

We again sing the praises of scarleteen.com.

Finally, Rob mentions the fascinating and wonderful McGraw-Hill Human Sexuality Image Bank.

SexGeeks: Anal Stimulation for the Straight Man

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 07:55:00 -0800

Here's another installment of SexGeeks (~23MB, ~50 mins)

This week we had a guest, Anthony, with us.

Here are some of what we talked about in the show:

Hetro/Homo male love

An awful swingers movie
May have been "The Lifestyle"

RealDolls, Fucking Machines, and sex with inanimate, or semianimate objects
RealDoll.com
Violet Blue's Delicious links
RealDollDoctor
FuckingMachines.com
Elena Dorfman's photos of dolls and their owners

Lindsay wonders if there is such a thing as an escort service of women for women.

Anal stimulation and the straight man

Age of consent and sodomy laws
AgeOfConsent.com

SexGeeks: Horny Monkeys, Divorce, and Penis Injections

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 5 Mar 2005 14:42:00 -0800

Here's the newest installment of SexGeeks (~47 mins, ~22MB).

We have some new equipment, so hopefully things are sounding better than last time.

Here are the things we referenced throughout today's show.

The Scientific American article on gay population distribution (link to summary, the full article is available for purchase only).

The Morning Wood and their discussion of genital shaving, among other things.

Scarleteen.com, a good resource for teens (and adults) on sex and how the sex organs work.

"The Four-Year Itch" by Helen E. Fisher. Published in the October, 1987 edition of Natural History.

Violet Blue tries Viagra.

Koko and breasts (on Yahoo.com).

Mark Savage's giant, enhanced penis
SiliconeFreak.com
FAQ
Photos from ExtremeCock.com (explicit).

Update: Almost forgot that Rob also mentioned the gender issues podcast Sex Talk

SexGeeks: The "Inside Deep Throat" Review

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 25 Feb 2005 08:48:00 -0800

In this special edition of SexGeeks (35 min, 16.7MB), we talk about the documentary "Inside Deep Throat" about the making, and aftermath, of the movie Deep Throat.

The sound is crappier than usual, as we were using a more portable setup, so we appologize for that. We should be upgrading our equipment soon, so hopefully things will sound much better in the near future.

I think the only thing we mentioned that needs a link is Michael Geoghegan's very excellent Reel Reviews podcast, which Rob mentioned in passing.

SexGeeks: Pheromones, Risky Behavior, and Vaginal Depth

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Feb 2005 07:43:00 -0800

Here's the latest installment (1hr 3mins, 29.5MB).

Here are all the links to things we talked about.

Rob mentioned an interesting study that was conducted in 1996 relating partner selection to immune systems that seems to have at least a mild effect on humans.

Rob talked about a study done on a high school that ultimately produced some cool maps on the sex links between people attending the school. Rob commented on how there were fewer bisexual and gay relationships reported than one might expect.

Rob also talked about an article that indicates a treatment for helping
post-menopausal women to have "normal" sex drives seems on the horizon (a testosterone spray), but that it's initial uses may go towards bringing young women with low sex drives because of low testosterone levels, back up to "normal".

Rob mentioned in passing a Wired article that indicates that a female equivalent of Viagra may be more difficult to create.

We talked about an op-ed piece in the New York Times discussing how
the focus on children in the US interferes with the sex lives of parents.

Lindsay brought up another New York Times article that discusses the rise of risky sex behavior, a new strain of HIV, and how it is
becoming increasingly difficult to target those engaging in risky behavior.

Lindsay mentioned the Seattle Erotic Art Festival, running from April
15th to the 17th in Seattle, Washington.

Rob wondered about men's obsession with penis length, and decided to
do a quick search to see what the average vaginal depth was. It turns
out that it is between 3 inches and 5.5 inches (the latter when
aroused), so the fact that the average man's penis is between 5 and 6
inches, it would seem, should mean that most men should feel
comfortable about being sufficient for most women. Lindsay pointed
out that obsession with length is really focusing on the wrong aspect
of sex. A good partner will overcome any perceived shortcomings of
his apparatus. While on the topic, Rob looked up the average
circumference of a man's penis and found that it's about 5 inches.

Rob found the information about vaginal depth in a strange place, on a transexual site discussion sexual reassignment surgery, where it appears that men considering becoming women suffer from some of the
same issues that unmodified men do, wanting deeper vaginal cavities much the way some men want bigger penises.

We've started a del.icio.us account for bookmarking things we are thinking of talking about on the show as we run across them. If you'd like to see what we're reading, you can check out the list at
del.icio.us/sexgeeks.

We talked about the idea that for single women who choose have sex,
that their married counterparts may feel that coming down with an STD
may serve them right.

Thanks for your emails so far! Keep 'em coming!

SexGeeks: Sex Drives, Pedophilia in the Catholic Church, and Polyamory

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 13 Feb 2005 09:49:00 -0800

Here's the newest SexGeeks show (1h 5m, 31MB).

Last week we talked about Good Vibrations, a store in San Francisco, for a little while, but forgot to leave a pointer to their web site. You can find it at: http://www.goodvibes.com.

Amy Gahran gave us a nice entry in her "Women in Podcasting" list (in case you are wondering, Lindsay is female ;).

This week, we talked about how the stereotype of the horny male may not be valid for most men after their 20's.

We also touch again briefly on sexuality in different cultures. We'd love to hear more people's experience with sex and sexuality in different places in the world.

Lindsay wondered aloud why pedophilia appears to be so prominent in the Catholic church, so Rob takes a stab at a possible explanation.

At the suggestion of a listener, we take a first stab at talking about polyamory. We were referred to the LovingMore site as a resource. Rob points out that an interesting analogy for polyamory might be the Creative Commons licensing, and suggests we all get cards indicating what the rules of our committed relationships are. Don't know how feasible that is, but interesting to think about anyway.

Finally, we put a call out for reviews of any interesting sex gadgets you might have run across. If you've had any experience (positive or negative) with the gadget in question, all the better. Lindsay's especially interested in a gadget the simulates cunnilingus. In an upcoming show, we'll talk about different gadgets we've run across, and would love to hear about things we might have missed.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for things to talk about, please feel free to send us an email, or leave a comment here.

Sex Geeks Repost: Good Vibrations, The L-Word, and Finding Love on Amazon.com

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 3 Feb 2005 08:23:00 -0800

Had some trouble creating the initial RSS feed with enclosures, so I'm reposting the original article with the first link removed so that Feedburner recognizes it correctly.

If you've already received the first SexGeeks installment, you can ignore this one.

Here it is:

Lindsay and Rob are geeks about sex the same way other people are geeks about technology.

In this series we will be talking about all aspects of sex and relationships.

In this installment (51 mins, 24MB) we talk about:
Why Good Vibrations is a wonderful place
Expectations of personal sexuality in different cultures
The L-Word
Finding love on Amazon.com

We'd love to hear your feedback. You can either leave it here, or send an email to sexgeeks@gmail.com

Good Vibrations, The L-Word, and Finding Love on Amazon.com

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 2 Feb 2005 19:22:00 -0800

This is a repeat of the posting on Rob's blog. Sorry for the duplicate, but now SexGeeks will have it's own feed!

Lindsay and Rob are geeks about sex the same way other people are geeks about technology.

In this series we will be talking about all aspects of sex and relationships.

In this installment (51 mins, 24MB) we talk about:
Why Good Vibrations is a wonderful place
Expectations of personal sexuality in different cultures
The L-Word
Finding love on Amazon.com

We'd love to hear your feedback. You can either leave it here, or send an email to sexgeeks@gmail.com.