Posts without categories.
The World Today – Montreal: a tale of two cities
The only problem is actually working out where I am. I’ve been working for about 10 minutes and I’m too ashamed of my French to ask anybody. None of the signs seem to make much sense either.
En fait, il aurait probablement pu demander en anglais…
Jon Stewart interviews Rick Santorum
From the perspective of a cultural anthropologist, some intriguing bits in that interview, including interpretations of the history of “natural marriage” and notions of the State’s involvement in people’s lives.
A lucky thing is that despite a wide gap in point of view (which we might be able to intepret throught the so-called “Culture Wars”) the participants in the interview managed to hold a respectful honest debate. Nice to see such a thing, even if it has to come from a fake news show.
Playlist: Apple changes podcast rankings
Thing is, the very notion of ranking podcasts (or voting for them) seems to run against one of podcasting’s most interesting feature, related to the Long Tail principle. Specialized podcasts with few subscribers are as much part of the “success story” as those so-called “mainstream podcasts” which often attempt to mimmic the ways attitudes of mainstream radio from the US.
When you add the problem with bandwidth for small popular podcasts, it seems that being an obscure podcast only catering to a few like-minded people is the way to go as opposed to having the podcast with the most buzz.
Oh, but, yes, right, they’re thinking in this mindframe of eyeballs and eardrums. “The more listeners you get, the better your advertising revenues will be.” “What? Don’t have advertising yet? Well, this is your chance, got a great deal for you!” Talk about reification…
The Register: Olive conducts Symphony for classical music fans
Quite interesting concept. Let’s hope it doesn’t deceive and/or that other companies will offer similar products.
Was talking to a composer friend a couple of months ago about audio technology and sound quality. It can be a fascinating subject.
“Fidelity” or audio quality isn’t simply about “resolution” (as in sampling rate and bit depth). Fans of Western Art Music are probably more likely than other music listeners to be attracted to this type of technology but not all audiophiles are restricted to Western Art Music.
There might be a more general principle about taste, these days. Refinement in taste that doesn’t necessarily go with condescension. Actually, open-mindedness and refined taste can make a very powerful mix. In music, in food, in life.
Le «Grand Dérangement» ou la «Déportation» de 1755 a été un événement extrêmement marquant de l’histoire de l’Acadie et des Cajuns.
Rock Paper Scissors /// Publicity for the World – Resources: A word to the wise
Some interesting advice for pro musicians.
Business 2.0: Podcasting’s Nonstar System
Really, some of it isn’t uninsightful. Yet, it’s overly simplistic.
Playlist: Indie podcasts face challenge from mainstream
The clueful stuff is near the end.
News & Analysis: The killing of Jean Charles de Menezes
En fait, avant de connaître l’identité de la victime, certains journalistes ont parlé d’un «individu d’allure indienne ou pakistanaise» (ou quelque-chose du genre). Incroyable à quel point la perception des gens est conditionnée par leurs idées.
Le coup de la tenue vestimentaire, c’est aussi assez fort.
CJR November/December 2004: Blinded by Science
Well, this piece pinpoints a few of the issues in the gap between “journalism” and “science” including incompatibilities of requirements from one end or the other. What’s perhaps more interesting, though, is that it remains very close to a rather shallow perspective on the very notion of science which, caricatured, runs something like “Science is the accumulation of knowledge from credentialed Scientists who have published in well-known peer-reviewed journals” as opposed to “science is a method used to understand different phenomena.” Carl Sagan and others have very interesting pieces on science and the fringes. More thoughtful and very “current.” But they probably wouldn’t sell subscriptions to journals or papers…