Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Moritz von Oswald Trio - Horizontal Structures (Albumstream)
Since they debuted last year with Vertical Ascent, the Moritz von Oswald Trio have enjoyed cult status among electronic music fans. Despite the avant-garde sound of their music, the outfit were a staple of electronic festivals in 2010, nabbing slots at Mutek, Unsound (New York and Poland), Club to Club and Dissonanze to name a few. In concert they've occasionally picked up high-profile members like Carl Craig and Francois K, but the core trio consists of Max Loderbauer (of nsi.), Sasu Ripatti (aka Vladislav Delay, Luomo), and of course Moritz von Oswald, partner to Mark Ernestus in two of dub and techno's most influential groups, Basic Channel and Rhythm & Sound. (Resident Advisor)
ALBUMSTREAM
4chan founder: Zuckerberg is “totally wrong” about online identity
Zuckerberg has spent a lot of time talking about his stance on identity and privacy, especially recently, as Facebook has taken more criticism for its various privacy policies. (To get the flavor of his remarks, check out VentureBeat’s post about Zuckerberg’s privacy stance from last May, as well as David Kirkpatrick’s book The Facebook Effect.) He’s been pretty aggressive about advocating for users to have one identity wherever they are online, because that encourages them to be more authentic (and also means they can carry their social connections with them to any site).
Poole, who is also known under his 4chan username “moot”, said, “I think that’s totally wrong.” He’s had plenty of opportunity to observe the pluses and minuses of anonymity in action, since 4chan is well-known for its anonymous user base. (In fact, the activist hacker group that emerged from 4chan is known as Anonymous.)
Poole argued that anonymity allows users to reveal themselves in a “completely unvarnished, unfiltered, raw way.” One of the things that’s lost when you carry the same identity everywhere is “the innocence of youth.” (“Innocence” isn’t the first word that would come to mind when I think of 4chan, but okay, I’ll go with him here.) In other words, when everyone knows everything you’ve done online, you’re a lot more worried about screwing up, and you’re less willing to experiment. Poole compared this to being a kid, moving to a new neighborhood, and having the opportunity to start over. On the Internet, you don’t get that opportunity.
“The cost of failure is really high when you’re contributing as yourself,” Poole said.
In the case of 4chan, users feel a lot more comfortable trying to create funny images that can become memes, because content that doesn’t catch on disappears quickly, and they’re not weighed down by their failures. Poole said another benefit to 4chan’s anonymity is that content becomes more important than the creator, which is unlike virtually any other online community. Rather than prioritizing the most valued and experienced users, 4chan allows anyone to access the site and post something that might take off.
At the same time, it seems Poole’s attitude towards privacy has evolved. He’s working on a new community site called Canv.as, which actually integrates with Facebook Connect, although users can still post anonymously. Poole said the fact that “you know that we know” the user’s real identity, even if other users can’t see it, discourages people from indulging in the most obnoxious behavior.
The “Wild West” approach, while important for 4chan’s popularity, has had an effect on Poole’s ability to turn the site into a real business. Very few brands are willing to run their ads alongside content that’s so unpredictable and potentially offensive, he acknowledged.
Anthony Ha @'VentureBeat'
4chan founder forms a new outlet
Assange confronts Australian PM with video question
Assange, under house arrest in London, made a surprise appearance on video during the ABC's QA program on Monday to ask whether Ms Gillard had swapped information about Australians, particularly those who work at WikiLeaks.
Ms Gillard, just back from a trip to the United States, rejected the claim.
'I honestly don't know what he's talking about,' she said, adding that no-one in the US had asked her about Mr Assange.
'So I'm afraid I can't help him with a full and frank exchange about people who work with WikiLeaks.
'To my knowledge it hasn't happened.'
But she conceded that the exchange of information between countries happened often, in cases relating to drug or people trafficking.
@'Sky'
Brian Cox says BBC is wrong over show music
Physicist Professor Brian Cox has said the BBC made a mistake by agreeing to turn down the music volume for his scientific series Wonders of the Universe.
The BBC agreed to lower the sound after receiving 118 complaints about the background music on the first episode being too loud and/or intrusive.Speaking on Radio 4's Start the Week, Cox said he thought it was an error.
"We can sometimes be too responsive to the minority of people that complain."
"It should be a cinematic experience - it's a piece of film on television, not a lecture," he added.
In the BBC Two series, Cox reveals how the most fundamental scientific principles and laws explain the story of the universe and humanity. Each show this series has been watched by more than 3m people.
Pop career The four-part series tackles life's big issues, such as what we are and where we come from, as well as how gravity sculpts the entire universe.
The BBC has yet to respond to Cox's comments.
Cox began his career as a rock star, when his band Dare signed a deal with A&M records in 1986. Dare recorded two albums and toured with Jimmy Page, Gary Moore and Europe before breaking up in 1992.
Cox then joined D'Ream, whose song Things Can Only Get Better was famously used by Tony Blair as the Labour Party election song in 1997.
He studied at Manchester University while he was in the band, and in 2009, he became a professor of particle physics at the same university.
He has since gone on to become a radio and TV presenter. His credits include BBC Two's Stargazing and Wonders of the Solar System.
@'BBC'
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