google’s got a new feature for academic research: http://scholar.google.com
It brings up a couple of Kel’s papers.
Monthly Archive for November, 2004
I was having an IM or email exchange with JJ a while back about why some of the things that I think suck the most about the Bush administration are under-the-radar/hard-to-explain issues your average joe just won’t get fired up about. This makes it very difficult to even try to raise awareness about them, but that’s never stopped me before ;-)
One example that I threw out to JJ was the Bush administration’s elimination of the NSF’s government transparency program. Meaning, they yanked funding for any government initiatives to aggregate accountability data–or perhaps more accurately, they won’t flip the bill to make it easier for you to find out what they’re doing.
I think most of the issues I’m referring to are clearly visible on my radar because i’m what’s referred to as an early-adopter of technology. Folks that aren’t early adopters won’t have a chance to have input on the laws regulating these technologies because by the time the tech hits the streets, the law will be set in stone. These technology-related laws and their long-reaching effects warrant a much longer explanation but until then, here’s some info on a law being rammed through congress by the Bush administration that would make it illegal (and technologically impossible) for you to fast-forward through commercials; either DVD previews or on PVR/TiVO-type recordings.
Regardless of your political bent, please PLEASE read the above link. It will be totally clear to you that the omnibus intellectual property bill is the work of a retarded administration that doesn’t know the first thing about *the Internets* or any other technology that isn’t used for the purpose of maiming or killing. Once you’ve determined that this is in your best interest, please follow this link and let your elected officials know how you feel.
Nice read in the latest Scientific American (via BoingBoing)
Scientific American: Music and the Brain:
Why is music–universally beloved and uniquely powerful in its ability to wring emotions–so pervasive and important to us? Could its emergence have enhanced human survival somehow, such as by aiding courtship, as Geoffrey F. Miller of the University of New Mexico has proposed? Or did it originally help us by promoting social cohesion in groups that had grown too large for grooming, as suggested by Robin M. Dunbar of the University of Liverpool? On the other hand, to use the words of Harvard University’s Steven Pinker, is music just “auditory cheesecake”–a happy accident of evolution that happens to tickle the brain’s fancy?
Particularly interesting snip:
Until recently, scientists knew little about the brain mechanisms involved. One clue, though, comes from a woman known as I. R. (initials are used to maintain privacy), who suffered bilateral damage to her temporal lobes, including auditory cortical regions. Her intelligence and general memory are normal, and she has no language difficulties. Yet she can make no sense of nor recognize any music, whether it is a previously known piece or a new piece that she has heard repeatedly. She cannot distinguish between two melodies no matter how different they are. Nevertheless, she has normal emotional reactions to different types of music; her ability to identify an emotion with a particular musical selection is completely normal! From this case we learn that the temporal lobe is needed to comprehend melody but not to produce an emotional reaction, which is both subcortical and involves aspects of the frontal lobes.
Until recently I would order lunch everyday from one of two or three delis in NYC. It was understood but not regulated that we keep our orders under $10. Well as you probably guessed being that the process was unregulated I as well as many others would go over the limit everyday and order two orders of chicken fingers, extra sauce, three slices of pizza, and maybe a little dessert. Oh and of course a six pack of diet pepsi. Continue reading ‘CALL THE MEDICS!!!!’
Holy crap, I’ve been living under a rock and didn’t realize it until 11 minutes ago when I put on Ben Harper’s latest album. This guy rocks the fungal infection out of my toenails. And he’s been around since the 90’s apparently and this is the first time I’ve ever heard him. If you haven’t checked him out yet, his site has some clips. If you have heard of him, shame on you for not turning me on to this guy sooner!
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