A Night Out With: Paul Oakenfold
58 minutes ago
Tuesday 22 March 2011
Jel & Odd Nosdam live improvs @ The Crosby 1/28/11
Born David Madson in Cincinnati, OH, in 1976, producer Odd Nosdam first began experimenting with looping as a teenager, which eventually led to the purchase of a Dr. Sample and eight-track player while he was a student at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Soon he was working with future labelmates Doseone and Why? (with whom he formed cLOUDDEAD), and in 2001 his debut, Plan 9: Meat Your Hypnotist, came out on Mush Records. Odd Nosdam then moved to California to become part of the Anticon team, producing albums for many of its members and releasing his own No More Wig for Ohio in 2003, Burner in 2005, and Level Live Wires two years later. Pretty Swell Explode, an album of remixes and rarities, followed in 2008, containing remixed versions of Boards of Canada, Serena Maneesh, and Black Moth Super Rainbow, as well as some of his own unreleased work. In 2009, Anticon reissued T.I.M.E. Soundtrack, a CD of Odd Nosdam compositions used to score a 2007 Element skateboarding video.
Although the first instrument young Jel (born Jeffrey Logan) played -- much to his chagrin -- was the cornet, as soon as he had saved up enough money he bought his first (and only) drum machine/sampler, the SP 1200, when he was in high school. He began to dedicate most of his time to beat-making, and while at college he worked at the Northwestern University radio station, where he was eventually put in contact with MC Adam Drucker, or Doseone, with whom he connected instantly. Jel dropped out of school in 1996 in order to better focus on music, and two years later Dose's debut, Hemispheres, which featured two tracks produced by Jel, came out on Dose's fledgling Anticon label. The following year the duo released Them as the band Themselves, and both, as part of Deep Puddle Dynamics, along with Alias, Sole, and Slug, began working on the record Taste of Rain...Why Kneel? That album didn't end up being released until 2002, the same year that Jel's solo debut, Greenball, came out, with 10 Seconds following a few months later. In 2003 the Meat and Oil EP was issued, and in 2006, after Jel moved from Mush, the label that had released most of his solo work, to Anticon, Soft Money hit shelves.
Marisa Brown
How Deaf People Think
Those who were born completely deaf and only learned sign language will, not surprisingly, think in sign language. What is surprising is those who were born completely deaf but learn to speak through vocal training will occasionally think not only in the particular sign language that they know, but also will sometimes think in the vocal language they learned, with their brains coming up with how the vocal language sounds. Primarily though, most completely deaf people think in sign language. Similar to how an “inner voice” of a hearing person is experienced in one’s own voice, a completely deaf person sees or, more aptly, feels themselves signing in their head as they “talk” in their heads.
For those deaf people who are not completely deaf or wear devices to allow them to hear somewhat, often represented in deaf circles with a “little d”, rather than “big D” as in those who are can’t hear at all, will often experience more vocal language in their “inner voice” in proportion to how much they can hear.
Interestingly, deafness is significantly more serious than blindness in terms of the effect it can have on the brain. This isn’t because deaf people’s brains are different than hearing people, in terms of mental capacity or the like; rather, it is because of how integral language is to how our brain functions. To be clear, “language” here not only refers to spoken languages, but also to sign language. It is simply important that the brain have some form of language it can fully comprehend and can turn into an inner voice to drive thought...
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Decade old unreleased David Bowie album leaks
Back at the turn of the century, David Bowie re-recorded a number of his lesser-known songs, and planned to release them along with some new material on an album called Toy. The album was slated for a mid-2001 release, but due to problems with Virgin, Bowie’s record label at the time, it never saw the light of day. A number of the songs from Toy were included on Bowie’s 2002 album Heathen and as B-sides to its various singles, but a large portion of Toy still remained unreleased.
Until now, that is.
Sunday afternoon, a decade after its planned release, a 256 kbps quality torrent of the full-length album was leaked online. Consisting of 14 tracks, and running a little over an hour long, the album is the closest we can get to “new” Bowie material.
The tracklist is as follows:
1. Uncle Floyd
2. Afraid
3. Baby Loves That Way
4. I Dig Everything
5. Conversation Piece
6. Let Me Sleep Beside You
7. Toy (Your Turn To Drive)
8. Hole In The Ground
9. Shadow Man
10. In The Heat Of The Morning
11. You’ve Got a Habit Of Leaving
12. Silly Boy Blue
13. Liza Jane
14. The London Boys
The torrent is quite easy to find.
Ad break #15 (2011 Australian Earth Hour)
Local advertising for Earth Hour has ditched green messaging in favour of comedy this year, with a story about three friends in the outback who are besieged by a swarm of moths after neglecting to switch their lights off. The spot, created by Leo Burnett Sydney for WWF, debuts tomorrow, six days before the event on March 26th at 8.30pm.
The end frame of the ad features a web address where visitors can “go beyond the hour” by sharing stories with people in other countries about what they are doing to tackle climate change.
The campaign press release assured that no moths were harmed during the making of the film.
Using humour contrasts the approach taken in the global 2011 Earth Hour ad, shot in Sydney in February by Leo Burnett Chicago, in which people holding coloured squares form shapes and words, with the message that “it’s time to go beyond the hour” and do more than turn the lights off once a year.
@'mUmBRELLA'
Vaughan Oliver’s selling some of his archive
Originally designed for Pixies: Minotaur box set
photography: Simon Larbalestier
10 SIGNED personal copies available as I open up my archives
£120.00 plus postage and packing
That’s one example, there’s more:
Vaughan Oliver on FacebookVia
Medvedev scolds Putin on Libya
Russia’s ruling tandem showed signs of an open crack for the first time as President Dmitry Medvedev publicly scolded Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for harshly criticising the U.N. Security Council resolution allowing military action in Libya.
Mr. Putin condemned the resolution as a “deficient and flawed” document that reminded him of “medieval calls for crusades.” Shortly afterwards Mr. Medvedev called Mr. Putin’s remarks “impermissible.”
Speaking at a missile factory in central Russia on Monday, Mr. Putin said the U.N. resolution “effectively allows interference in a sovereign state” and called the Western intervention a “foreign invasion.”
In response Mr. Medvedev defended the resolution as prompted by Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s crimes and stood by Russia’s decision to abstain in the Security Council vote rather than use the right of veto.
“Russia did not exercise [the veto power] for one reason: I do not consider this resolution to be wrong. Moreover, I believe that this resolution generally reflects our understanding of what is going on in Libya,” Mr. Medvedev said.
Mr. Putin also lashed out at the U.S. policy of intervention in other countries’ affairs. He described it as a “stable trend,” recalling the U.S. air strikes on Belgrade under Bill Clinton, as well as Afghanistan and Iraq under the two Bush administrations.
“Now it's Libya's turn - under the pretext of protecting civilians,” the premier said. “Where is logic and morality? There is neither.”
Mr. Putin made his remarks shortly after visiting U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates hailed Moscow’s siding with Washington on Iran, Afghanistan and Libya and called for the Russian military to join Western coalition forces.
“The ongoing events in Libya prove that Russia is right in strengthening its defence capabilities," Mr. Putin said.
Cornershop And The Double-O Groove Of (feat. Bubbley Kaur) (2011 - Albumstream)
Following up Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast in exceedingly timely fashion -- a mere two years compared to the seven that separated that 2009 effort from 2002’s Handcream for a Generation -- Cornershop capitalize on their Indian tradition, bringing in Bubbley Kaur for a collection of pop with a Punjabi punch. The vocals and flourishes are strongly Punjabi -- songs are often sung in the language, not English as they usually are on a Cornershop LP -- but these are essentially trappings for a collection of multicultural dance-pop not too dissimilar from the group’s albums since 1997. As on Judy Sucks, this is a blessing and a curse: Cornershop’s blends are still rich and flavorful yet they have the whiff of old fashion, still tied heavily to the post-rave years of trip-hop and Brit-pop, trends they fought and embraced in equal measure. Kaur’s presence gives The Double-O Groove just enough of a different tone to make a difference -- it doesn’t feel comfortably recycled as Judy sometimes did -- yet it doesn’t quite open doors to new avenues either. (Stephen Thomas Erlewine)
1. United Provinces Of India
2. Topknot
3. The 911 Curry
4. Natch
5. Double Decker Eyelashes
6. The Biro Pen
7. Supercomputed
8. Once There Was a Wintertime
9. Double Digit
10. Don't Shake It
ALBUMSTREAM
Monday 21 March 2011
BBC World Service to sign funding deal with US state department
The BBC World Service is to receive a "significant" sum of money from the US government to help combat the blocking of TV and internet services in countries including Iran and China.
In what the BBC said is the first deal of its kind, an agreement is expected to be signed later this month that will see US state department money – understood to be a low six-figure sum – given to the World Service to invest in developing anti-jamming technology and software.
The funding is also expected to be used to educate people in countries with state censorship in how to circumnavigate the blocking of internet and TV services.
It is understood the US government has decided the reach of the World Service is such that it makes investment worthwhile.
The US government money comes as the World Service faces a 16% cut in its annual grant from the Foreign Office – a £46m reduction in its £236.7m budget over three years that will lead to about 650 job cuts. The money will be channelled through the World Service's charitable arm, the World Service Trust.
The deal, which is expected to be formally announced on International Press Freedom Day, 3 May, follows an increase in incidents of interference with World Service output across the globe, according to its controller of strategy and business, Jim Egan.
BBC Persian television, which launched in early 2009 and airs in Iran and its neighbouring countries, has experienced numerous instances of jamming. The BBC Arabic TV news service has also been jammed in recent weeks across various parts of north Africa during the recent uprisings in Egypt and Libya.
"Governments who have an interest in denying people information particularly at times of tension and upheaval are keen to do this and it is a particular problem now," said Egan.
Another area in which the BBC World Service is expected to use the US money is continuing its development of early warning software.
This will allow it to detect jamming sooner than it does currently where it relies on reports from users on the ground.
"Software like this helps monitor dips in traffic which act as an early warning of jamming, and it can be more effective than relying on people contacting us and telling us they cannot access the services," said Egan.
The BBC also expects to use state department money to help combat internet censorship by establishing proxy servers that give the impression a computer located in one country is in fact operating in another, thereby circumnavigating attempts by repressive governments to block websites.
"China has become quite expert at blocking websites and one could say it has become something of an export industry for them – a lot of countries are keen to follow suit," said Egan.
"We have evidence of Libya and Egypt blocking the internet and satellite signals in recent weeks."
Egan added that the battle against jamming is likely to be an ongoing one because repressive countries are likely to develop methods to counter any anti-censorship technology that is developed.
"It is a bit of a game of cat and mouse," said a BBC source.
Ben Dowell @'The Guardian'
In what the BBC said is the first deal of its kind, an agreement is expected to be signed later this month that will see US state department money – understood to be a low six-figure sum – given to the World Service to invest in developing anti-jamming technology and software.
The funding is also expected to be used to educate people in countries with state censorship in how to circumnavigate the blocking of internet and TV services.
It is understood the US government has decided the reach of the World Service is such that it makes investment worthwhile.
The US government money comes as the World Service faces a 16% cut in its annual grant from the Foreign Office – a £46m reduction in its £236.7m budget over three years that will lead to about 650 job cuts. The money will be channelled through the World Service's charitable arm, the World Service Trust.
The deal, which is expected to be formally announced on International Press Freedom Day, 3 May, follows an increase in incidents of interference with World Service output across the globe, according to its controller of strategy and business, Jim Egan.
BBC Persian television, which launched in early 2009 and airs in Iran and its neighbouring countries, has experienced numerous instances of jamming. The BBC Arabic TV news service has also been jammed in recent weeks across various parts of north Africa during the recent uprisings in Egypt and Libya.
"Governments who have an interest in denying people information particularly at times of tension and upheaval are keen to do this and it is a particular problem now," said Egan.
Another area in which the BBC World Service is expected to use the US money is continuing its development of early warning software.
This will allow it to detect jamming sooner than it does currently where it relies on reports from users on the ground.
"Software like this helps monitor dips in traffic which act as an early warning of jamming, and it can be more effective than relying on people contacting us and telling us they cannot access the services," said Egan.
The BBC also expects to use state department money to help combat internet censorship by establishing proxy servers that give the impression a computer located in one country is in fact operating in another, thereby circumnavigating attempts by repressive governments to block websites.
"China has become quite expert at blocking websites and one could say it has become something of an export industry for them – a lot of countries are keen to follow suit," said Egan.
"We have evidence of Libya and Egypt blocking the internet and satellite signals in recent weeks."
Egan added that the battle against jamming is likely to be an ongoing one because repressive countries are likely to develop methods to counter any anti-censorship technology that is developed.
"It is a bit of a game of cat and mouse," said a BBC source.
Ben Dowell @'The Guardian'
Warning:
Subject: Possible threat to MCBQ
Ladies and Gentlemen,
There are substantiated indications and warning of possible denial of service attacks on MCBQ by supporters of Wiki-leaks and PFC Manning. It is possible that these attacks will be timed to coincide with protest activity that is scheduled to take place in the vicinity of MCBQ on 20 Mar. Possible threat courses of action could include denial of service attacks on phone, email, and internet services, and could include harassing phone calls (i.e. bomb threats) and mail disruption (i.e. suspicious packages). Additionally, though there is no direct threat, it is possible that actual physical penetrations onto MCBQ property may be undertaken to cause infrastructure damage, vandalism, or harass USMC personnel.
The Base has been involved in detailed response planning with local, regional, and national authorities and is appropriately postured to minimize/mitigate likely threat activity. Because the exact intent of the protest groups is not known, nor the form of attack they may undertake, MCBQ commands and activities should carefully review their OPSEC and physical security posture.
Recommended actions for MCBQ tenant commands and organizations:
1. Develop alternative communication plans (i.e. installation command net and cell phones) to ensure the ability to communicate with MCBQ emergency services during a denial of service attack.
1. Develop alternative communication plans (i.e. installation command net and cell phones) to ensure the ability to communicate with MCBQ emergency services during a denial of service attack.
2. Review MCBQ bomb threat procedures (attached).
3. Review MCBQ procedures for suspicious packages (attached).
4. Area commands shall ensure Installation Command net radios are fully charged and accessible.
5. Ensure Command Duty Officers are briefed on the threat and know the proper response to threatening/harassing phone calls
6. Ensure non-essential fax machines are turned "off"
7. Remind all personnel to be alert for suspicious activity and report it immediately to the MCBQ Security Battalion using the Eagle Eyes hotline (703-432-EYES).
8. Building managers should ensure building perimeters are regularly inspected and that all unmonitored exits are locked when not in use (consider limiting access to a single entrance and mandating ID checks).
9. Remind personnel to avoid posting or discussing aspects of any MCBQ response on Face-Book or other social media forums.
10. Remind personnel, to be aware of phishing (both email and telephone) attempts to gain information about MCBQ personnel or operations.
Additional information concerning protest activities, to include any gate closures, changes to Force Protection Condition, excepted traffic delays, etc., will be distributed via a MCBQ FROSTCALL later this week.
Pete Streng
Director of Operations
3250 Catlin Avenue
Quantico, VA 22134
703-898-9875
Whistleblower slams Japan nuclear regulation
A nuclear industry whistleblower who helped design protective containment vessels for reactors has attacked the Japanese government, its nuclear industry and regulators over their safety record.
Dr Masashi Goto, a nuclear engineer, resigned from his job at the Toshiba Corporation over safety concerns.Toshiba supplied two of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant that was stricken by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11.
Dr Goto criticises his country's record on nuclear safety.
"We have the government commission overseeing nuclear safety standards and in my opinion they are not doing their job," he told ABC correspondent Eric Campbell last Thursday in Tokyo in an exclusive interview for Four Corners.
He says the Fukushima crisis shows Japan has not yet learned the lessons of history.
"At Three Mile Island the nuclear fuel melted. Fuel is melting here now," he said.
"We have to design reactors to withstand melting fuel rods. Right now the reactor will break down due to the heat generated by the melting rods."
Dr Goto alleges that in Japan's nuclear industry profits take precedence over safety standards.
"No-one says it officially or openly. When setting standards for future earthquakes, the thought is of money - how much is it going to cost?" he said.
"This underlies the government's decision making. They are thinking the costs could have a bad repercussion on the economy."
Dr Goto says one of his special research interests at Toshiba was how to make containment vessels stronger.
He says Japan's nuclear safety standards have been based on an insufficient acknowledgment of the potential severity of natural disasters.
"What's wrong with the standards is that the anticipated level of the worst-case-scenario earthquake is not correct," he said.
"Seismologists have different opinions and predictions. Some say bigger quakes are coming. Others say a big one is unlikely.
"Decisions have been made based on the opinion of the more optimistic seismologist and the opinions of the pessimistic ones are ignored."
The earthquake that shook Japan on March 11 was magnitude 9.0 - the strongest recorded earthquake in Japan, and far stronger than the country's nuclear industry had anticipated.
Despite this, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the Fukushima plant, boasted in its corporate publicity that its nuclear power stations were "designed for the largest conceivable earthquake" and that "all designs provide margins of safety capable of withstanding even natural disasters".
Grim warnings
Further grim warnings are given in tonight's Four Corners by nuclear experts and activists who have been interviewed over the past week.
American Damon Moglen, director of Friends Of The Earth's climate and energy project, points to the presence of as much as a quarter of a tonne of plutonium in Fukushima's No. 3 reactor, which suffered an explosion last Monday.
"The problem there is, if that plutonium fuel is melting inside the core, if it's being vented out or if an explosion were to break the containment open, we could have - and we have as much as a quarter of a tonne of additional plutonium in that reactor - we could have radioactive releases containing plutonium, which would be just yet another horror to have to deal with," he said.
Dr Ziggy Switkowski, former chairman of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), warns the crisis at Fukushima has done a "great deal of damage" to the industry.
"The nuclear industry has, over time, worked as well as it has because of people's confidence in the integrity of reactors and acceptance that many of the issues associated with the management of spent fuel and waste were properly handled," he said.
"But we've always understood, and we saw this happen in Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, that if the community trust is breached by whatever development, it will take a long, long time to recover it.
"I think this is a turning point for the industry."
Quentin McDermott @'ABC'
Protein found in brain cells may be key to autism
Scientists have shown how a single protein may trigger autistic spectrum disorders by stopping effective communication between brain cells.
The team from Duke University in North Carolina created autistic mice by mutating the gene which controls production of the protein, Shank3.The animals exhibited social problems, and repetitive behaviour - both classic signs of autism and related conditions.
The Nature study raises hopes of the first effective drug treatments.
Autism is a disorder which, to varying degrees, affects the ability of children and adults to communicate and interact socially.
While hundreds of genes linked to the condition have been found, the precise combination of genetics, biochemistry and other environmental factors which produce autism is still unclear.
Each patient has only one or a handful of those mutations, making it difficult to develop drugs to treat the disorder.
Shank3 is found in the synapses - the junctions between brain cells (neurons) that allow them to communicate with each other.
The researchers created mice which had a mutated form of Shank3, and found that these animals avoided social interactions with other mice.
They also engaged in repetitious and self-injurious grooming behaviour.
Brain circuits When the MIT team analysed the animals' brains they found defects in the circuits that connect two different areas of the brain, the cortex and the striatum.Healthy connections between these areas are thought to be key to effective regulation of social behaviours and social interaction.
The researchers say their work underscores just what an important role Shank3 plays in the establishment of circuits in the brain which underlie all our behaviours.
Lead researcher Dr Guoping Feng said: "Our study demonstrated that Shank3 mutation in mice lead to defects in neuron-neuron communications.
"These findings and the mouse model now allow us to figure out the precise neural circuit defects responsible for these abnormal behaviours, which could lead to novel strategies and targets for developing treatment."
It is thought that only a small percentage of people with autism have mutations in Shank3, but Dr Feng believes many other cases may be linked to disruptions to other proteins that control synaptic function.
If true he believes it should be possible to develop treatments that restore synaptic function, regardless of which protein is defective in a specific individual.
Carol Povey, director of the National Autistic Society's Centre for Autism, said: "Animal research can help advance our understanding or the role of genetics and their influence on behaviour, however it is only a small part of the picture when it comes to understanding autism.
"Human brains are far more complex than those of other mammals, and it is believed that a variety of factors are responsible for the development of the condition."
@'BBC'
Reuters Reuters Top News
FLASH: Brent crude rises $1.57 to $115.50/bbl after Western forces pound Libya
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