DEC 07
There's still a ( small but significant ) chance
to win our ' spot the sample ' competition in 2007. No one has indentified it as yet, so we've easyfied it considerably by increasing the sample length to a fullsome 22 seconds . . .
clue : Escher
31 DEC 07 (late)
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Publications of the week.
Free AIR
The Annals of Improbable Research ( a.k.a. AIR ) has gone open access.
The magazine, which for thirteen years has existed solely on paper, is now putting its content online.
The publishers inform us :
" Our readers like to lock themselves in the bathroom. Therefore, the magazine will also continue to be available in the best of all possible forms: traditional on-the-toilet-readable paper-and-ink."
( the processed and re-constituted cellulose-fibre editions cost between $9 and $11 - but the online .pdfs are free ! )
The current issue includes penetrating articles on Sword Swallowing , the Gay Bomb, and Rent-a-leech™ .
The Book of Interruptions.
The
book is a compendium of essays from prominent authors, philosophers, poets,
and psychoanalysts - looking at the pros and cons of being interrupted.
It explores :
“ . . . how the idea of Interruption
constitutes our sense of ourselves, often without our noticing. Interruption
has become
part of the new order
of our lives, both a threat and a promise. “
31 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Short up North, and Long down South
Back in March last year, the Western Carolina University received a $1.7 million grant to initiate a five year study into spoken vowels.
And the investigation has already started to bear fruit.
The latest research results have just been published – outlining an acoustic investigation into the duration of five American English vowels.
The team have discovered that there are variations in the length of spoken vowel sounds in words such as hid, head, had, hayed, and hide – and, intriguingly, ( for as yet undetermined reasons *) the vowel-lengths are closely correlated with geographical latitude.
“ The results show systematic differences across all vowels studied, with the longest durations in the South and the shortest in the Inland North, "
" with the Midlands in an intermediate but distinct position.“
؟ ؟ ؟
* Notes :
Really Magazine’s suggestions for possible future research to account for the Latitudinal Vowel-Length Effect. Could the vowel-lengths be linked to :
Diet ? Geo-Magnetics ? Temperature ? Hours of sunshine ?
28 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
More on over-the-counterintuitivism
Surprisingly few scientific research projects have looked at the concept
of ‘ zero ’ within the context of consumer marketing.
Perhaps one of the reasons may have been outlined by Process Philosopher Alfred North Whitehead who famously pointed out :
“ No one goes out to buy zero fish “
Notwithstanding, the situation has been rectified to some extent with the publication – in the latest edition of Marketing Science -
which looks closely at the psychology of ' Free '.
“ [ consumers’] decisions about free (zero price) products differ, in that people do not simply subtract costs from benefits but instead they perceive the benefits associated with free products as higher. “
In a series of six highly complex experiments involving students, Hershey’s Kisses ™, Lindt Truffles ™ and Snickers Bars ™, the research team have distilled the combined results to show that :
“ . . . when people are faced with a choice between
two products, one of which is free, they overreact to the free product as
if zero price meant not only
a low cost of buying the product but also its increased valuation. “
The paper ends with some Managerial Implications.
“ When considering promotions at a low price, companies should experiment with further discounts to zero, which likely will have a surprisingly larger effect on demand. “
( Although, as the team point out, doubt still remains about BOGO promotions - ( Buy One Get One free ) – and the as yet unresolved enigma as to whether they are more effective than selling the product at half price )
؟ ؟ ؟
Really Magazine cannot
recommend too highly reading the full
paper .
( caution: appropriately 'sticky' 55 page .pdf )
21 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Callcentre concept of the day :
The same idea as Offshoring - but not as far away.
20 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
In their own writing.
Earlier in the week, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) showed us how the meanings of words can often be very fluid – now we turn to Iowa State University , which demonstrates how their construction isn’t necessarily set in stone either.
The university, which specialises in " creative writing, linguistics, literature, and [sic.?] communication and rhetoric " provides a number of examples via their website.
Words which show how ( on a large scale ) lexical constructions can – perhaps like quantum particles ( on a tiny scale ) – be governed by the laws of probability.
' Unviersity ' 60
examples
' Unversity ' 73 examples
' Universty ' 66 examples
Nevertheless, the clear winner, in probabilistic terms at least, is still :
' University ' 270,500+ examples
[ note : numbers correct at the time of writing - but, subject to change, hopefully, Ed. ]
19 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Was Sgt. Pepper lonely ?
A new research paper, just published in the January 2008 issue of the journal ‘ Popular Music ‘ may provide some clues.
The author points out that the lyric :
‘ Sgt. Pepper’s lonely ’, can also be read as
‘ Sgt. Pepper is lonely ’.
The finding came to light as a result of a Semiotic Analysis of the film ‘ Yellow Submarine ‘
Which also reveals many other interesting details which viewers of the movie may perhaps have missed the first time around. For example that a snippet of conversation between the Submarine Captain Fred and the Lord High Mayor, is
“ . . . an obvious extroversive reference to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address . . .”
But questions are raised too.
For example – from where did the musicians of Pepperland originally flee ?
“ The ‘ town where I was born ’ refers to Liverpool, the birthplace of the Beatles, and the narrative of the film implies that previous contact has been established between Liverpool and Pepperland. “
Thus it’s clear ;
“ Since the yellow submarine steered itself there,
Liverpool could be the land from which the musicians of Pepperland originally
fled. “
And deeper still :
“ The submergence of the travellers in the ship represents the ‘womb image’ . . . “
Until :
“ In this Sea of Nothing, the Beatles see a creature maniacally typing away at a manuscript, who ultimately becomes their ‘helper’ in the hero-quest model. . . The creature, Jeremy Hillary Boob, Ph.D., is termed a ‘Nowhere Man’ because of his short-sighted dedication to academia with no thought for the real world. “
There’s more, much more.
Read the full paper here in this completely free Jan 2008 issue of the journal Popular Music ( click on the .pdf link )
This issue also includes :
• Examining rhythmic and metric practices in Led Zeppelin’s musical style and
• Cliff Richard’s self-presentation as a redeemer.
[ That's Sir Cliff surely ? Ed. ]
18 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Unlikelier epistemics
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) isn’t just
about hardcore technology. Yes it’s true they do have their Lincoln
Laboratory ( 93% financed by the Department of Defense )
But, since its 1973 ‘ separation* ’ from the Draper Lab ( best known for its contribution to world-class intercontinental ballistic missiles guidance systems ) it’s no longer known as ‘ The Second Pentagon '
Nowadays, despite its name, it’s also concerned with less technological subjects - humanites in fact.
For example, the philosophy dept. has just published their latest research into ‘ Modals ' :
( words such as : might, must, possibly, necessary, have to, can, ought to, presumably, likelier etc etc )
Specifically, Epistemic Modals like ' Might ' and ' Must '
A complex mathematical and logical semantic examination by MIT's Professor of Linguistics Semantics & Syntax ( full paper here ) – has revealed that :
“ In general, unmodifed epistemic modal claims are variable in their interpretation, which gives rise to a variety of pragmatic subtleties.”
Despite Really Magazine's lack of grounding in Gibbarding and Presupposition Failure Failures, we think that implies that we can add Epistemic Modals to the long list of words that don't always have 100% solid meanings . . .
* Might we add ' separation ' ? Presumably.
؟ ؟ ؟
Also see : ( from the same author )
' Does Japanese Have a Word for “Water” ? '
( Answer : Yes, it does. )
17 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
' Guests ' - not ' Targets '.
Earlier this week, the Business for Diplomatic Action group (BDA) press-released details of their new film :
– which they have presented as ' a gift from the American business community ‘ to the U.S. Department of State.
“ . . . the film was produced to create a welcoming impression of the United States for international travelers applying for visas. It will run in the waiting areas of more than 200 American embassies and consulates around the world. “
The BDA is a consortium backed by several of the most successful, far reaching, and smartest PR and ad-agencies on the planet ( + McDonalds , Coca Cola, etc etc ).
Their stated mission :
“ . . . to enlist the U.S. business community in actions to improve the standing of America in the world with the goal of once again, seeing America admired as a global leader and respected as a courier of progress and prosperity for all people. “
The film was created for BDA by GSDM’s Idea City, an advertising and communications company which is part of the Omnicom group – the world’s largest ad-agency holding company.
BDA is keen to combat what they see as an alarming – and to some, very puzzling – international rise of anti-American sentiment over the last two decades. And as they are well-aware, bad-press is bad-for-business.
But, despite the best efforts of some of the sharpest minds in the PR & Ad business, the puzzlement might be set to continue for a while yet - because it seems that some Madison Avenue offices might have had an irony-bypass.
An example ?
Citizens of other countries thinking about applying for a visa can also check out these videos – which, Really Magazine can exclusively reveal, are hosted on the web-servers of the very same ad-agency - GSDM’s Idea City - which produced the videos and the website on behalf of the US Govt. . .
[ these are Flash™ files : click links, videos will auto-load ]
• " F-16 Cluster Drop ' Pwap - pwap . . . blam - blam - blam - blam - blam x 10 ' "
• " B-1 Lancer launching a cluster bomb load "
• " An F16 Flying Falcon delivers the goods " ( more cluster bombs )
؟ ؟ ؟
Background notes :
• Despite five years of intense international pressure ( known as the Oslo Process ) cluster bombs have not yet been declared as illegal weapons - though a new ban treaty is scheduled to be signed in 2008.
As of 27 November 2007, there are 84 countries participating in the Oslo Process ( the US is not amongst them ).
• The BDA has identified the root cause of anti-American sentiment : " . . . the No. 1 cause would be US foreign policy . . ." ( source : interview with the chairman and founder of the BDA , in TheBite magazine issue #2 )
Trivia :
• The BDA's chairman is famous for penning the slogan “ You deserve a break today ” which was voted the No. 1 jingle of the last century by Advertising Age.
14 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Comp. #6
No one has guessed our Competition Audio Sample yet, so we've lengthened it considerably . . .
" Camera ! Action ! Fabulate ! "
It’s more than 70 years since Henri Bergson examined the idea of Fabulation ( the act of inventing or relating false or fantastic tales ) in his book - The Two Sources of Morality and Religion.
Now Fabulation Studies have been brought up to date with the publication of a new paper from the Philosophy dept. at Dundee University.
After an in-depth introduction to Bergson’s ideas, the article goes on to look at some modern-day fabulation events - by referencing to film.
Fabulative examples under the spotlight include Dante’s Peak, The Towering Inferno, Les Vacances de M. Hulot, and Mel Brooks’ Academy Award-winning animated short from 1963, The Critic
[ Note ; If you only click on one youtube link today, let it be this one – you won’t be disappointed. Ed. ]
Indiana Jones also features, showing how :
“ . . . the narrative of near disaster ( Indiana Jones is about to be crushed by a huge rolling boulder’ et cetera ), becomes a ‘ push-pull ’ machine, mobilising ‘… powerful mental motivational mechanisms [ based in our ‘ special frontal brain modules ’ ] used by humans to perform complex tasks’ “
But the main focus is on The Titanic.
In attempting to apply some social science to this investigation, the lead investigator showed a Titanic clip to a group of 31 film-studies students - and asked them :
“ On a scale of 1-10, to what extent would you agree with the following statement . . . ‘ when watching the sequence – especially as the ship nears the iceberg – I felt myself hoping that it might miss, and/or felt myself willing it to turn in time to miss ’.”
The results were positive, with an average score of 8.3
Note : It might occur to readers, as it did to the author, that The Titanic is perhaps a less than ideal choice of film – since the sinking is actually based on fact rather than fiction . . .
Undiscouraged though, the author sums things up like this :
“ In this way film offers itself to applied philosophy, not simply as an illustration of a philosophy of the event, but actually by making us think about events – asking us the question: ‘ why do we want to move the Titanic ’ ? “
؟ ؟ ؟
The paper, published in the latest issue of Theory Culture Society is ‘ subscribers only ‘ – but the author, Dr. Mullarkey has kindly made it available via his website.
13 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Roughly exercise
Readers considering ultra-high-rate metabolic physical exercise – perhaps in the form of Junkyard Training - might be advised to read this research article, ( from the penultimate issue of The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research )
Junkyard Training : “ involves heavy, cumbersome implements and nontraditional movement patterns for unique training of athletes. “
In this case, the heavy cumbersome implement was a 1,960-kg motor vehicle (MV) – which researchers asked six athletes to push and pull 400 metres in an all-out maximal effort.
Conclusions :
“ . . .a 400-m MV push or pull is an exhausting training technique that requires a very high anaerobic energy output and should be considered an advanced form of training. “
and / though :
“ All subjects experienced dizziness and nausea “
؟ ؟ ؟
Also see : from ( one of ) the same authors / same journal :
Steer Wrestling - Event Analysis and Conditioning Model
12 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Back to the sauce
The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Times, Channel 4 and the BBC
are all covering today's press
release from the University of Bath about the perils of Binge
Drinking.
The new research from the university ( along with the University of Birmingham and UCL ) will be published in a future edition of the
International Journal of Drug Policy
Oddly though, none of the news outlets gives a link to the actual paper - which Really Magazine has tracked down and which seems to have a quite different emphasis to the media headlines.
The paper suggests that the term Binge Drinking might be inappropriate for 18-25 year-olds in the UK - and, after examining several other possible descriptive phrases :
• ‘ bounded hedonistic consumption ’
• ‘ rational hedonism ’
• ‘ determined drunkenness ’
• ‘ heavy sessional consumption ’ and
• ‘ controlled loss of control ’
settled on :
• ' Calculated hedonism '
As the best description :
“ Their alcohol consumption is a form of calculated hedonism which allows indulgence but is contained by time, space and social situation “
The hedonism included . . . well, just read the paper to get a feel of a good night out in Birmingham and Weston . . .
10 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Q. When is a problem an opportunity ?
A. When it’s Global Warming Climate Change.
“ In our view, the climate change challenge will create more economic opportunities than risks for the U.S. economy."
That’s according to the United States Climate Action Partnership, a multi-million dollar lobbying group backed by some of the most powerful and influential corporations on the planet ( think : BP, Dow Chemicals , DuPont, General Electric, General Motors, PepsiCo, Rio Tinto, etc etc [ list here ] )
Whose goal is to “ . . . enact an environmentally effective, economically sustainable, and fair climate change program consistent with our principles* at the earliest practicable date*." ( our asterisks )
[ * more research required. Ed. ]
08 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
The territoriality of park benches re-appraised using ANT
What is a ‘ territory ‘ ?
A nation ? An urban district ? A car-park, ? Or someone’s favourite park bench ?
All of the above, according to recent research from the Department of Architecture and Built Environment, at the University of Lund, Sweden.
Back in 2005, the document Territorial Complexity in Public Places was published – which looked in particular at park benches in public squares, and their possibilities for territorial appropriations. ( think : baguette-eating students , youths, alcoholics, addicts, people wating for buses etc etc )
To sum up, the bench " is a place consisting of several different territorial layers. "
Now the author has extended the study, with the publication of ‘ The Materiality of Territorial Production ‘ in the current issue of the journal ‘ Space and Culture ‘.
This fresh look at territoriality employs -
“ . . . actor-network theory to develop new ways of investigating the role of materiality and material design in the territorial power relations of urban public places. “
and finds that -
“ . . . public space can be seen as constituted by a territorial complexity, thus pointing to the relationship between materiality and public space, via territorial stabilization and production. “
؟ ؟ ؟
Note re. ANT
It should be noted that Actor-Network Theory (ANT ) is not without its critics. In fact one of the lead architects of ANT – Prof. Bruno Latour – once said himself that :
“ there are four things wrong with Actor-Network Theory: the words 'Actor,' 'Network,' 'Theory,' and the hyphen ! “
Though he later clarified things - e.g.
" . . . the ANT claims that modern societies cannot be described without recognizing them as having a fibrous, thread-like, wiry, stringy, ropy, capillary character that is never captured by the notions of levels, layers, territories, spheres, categories, structure, systems. "
Keywords :
Infralanguage : ex-plication : commensensical
07 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
A for Abbreviation
Many thanks to Stephen Fry, who reminds us, via his new(ish) blog, that
the abbreviation www. contains three times as many syllables
as the words it replaces . . .
There should be a name for such lexical foam – is there one ? Readers’ ideas welcome.
06 DEC 07 ( midday )
Reader Carmelita suggests :
" maybe it should be called hypersyllabification. The long short forms could be called protractonyms. "
comments | permalink | back
to the top
More-research-shtill-needed-surely ?
“ For many years it has been known that alcohol affects speech in a wide variety of ways . . . ”
Not just the ‘ acoustic form ’ of the speech, but also the ‘ content ' of what an alcohol-influenced person might say.
That was back in 1997, and to this day, surprisingly little scientific research has been carried out on the subject.
See :
Alcohol and Speech ( Academic Press 1997)
By Steven Chin , and David Pisoni
Note: There has been some research. From the same authors at the Speech Research Laboratory at Indiana University.
This study found
that ‘ male talkers ‘ ( students ? ) who had been primed to achieve
a blood / alcohol content of 0.1% ( more or less two stiff drinks ) tended
to talk
louder and longer.
06 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
The Emperor’s New QuBits
Quantum Computing is often hailed as the possible-next-big-thing in terms of computer power.
Enthusiasts claim that a Quantum Computer would be able, for example, to crack ‘ uncrackable ’ encryption-codes in a fraction of the time that a conventional machine would take.
But a new research paper, published in the current issue of
Philosophy
of Science asks whether Quantum HyperComputers are more Hype
than Computation.
The authors underline several problemettes with the quantum computing idea that are perhaps mentioned less often than they might be.
The first is that despite more than 30 years of theoretical pondering, so far only one alogorithm ( Shor’s Quantum Fourier Transform ) has been discovered for which a quantum computer would be significantly faster than any known classical one.
The second problem identified in the paper is that although a ( theoretical ) quantum computer could check all possible permutations of a problem at the same time :
“ . . . this quantum ‘ miracle ’ helps us very little since any measurement performed on the output state collapses it “.
ahhhhhhh . . .
To sum up : the fundamental fly in the quantum ointment -
“ . . .. is related to the lack of our understanding of what makes a quantum computer quantum. “
Read the full paper here:
Also see this, from the N.Y. Times earlier this year.
05 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Link of the day
More risky
Researchers from Pennsylvania State University have just published the results of their study into the question :
' Why Do High School Seniors Drink ? '
They point out that understanding the motivations behind high school seniors’ alcohol-use could indicate ways to reducing risky-drinking.
Using data from the 2004 Monitoring the Future survey, they were able to determine that there are four distinct types of student-drinkers :
• Experimenters ( who drink to experiment with alcohol )
• Thrill-seekers ( who drink to experience the thrill of drinking )
• Relaxers ( who drink just to relax )
and also, possibly the most at-risk group, the
• Multi-reasoners ( who drink for other reasons, such as to " get away from problems " , to " deal with anger and frustration issues ", and for " reasons related to coping with life " etc etc )
The research is published in the Dec. issue of Prevention Science.
؟ ؟ ؟
Note : Penn State’s weekly www info-page for students : '
The Bar Scene ' is no longer available.
04 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
A phenomenological break.
The Department of Performance Studies at Sydney University sets out with the premise that :
“ performance is not limited to those forms traditionally marked as ‘ artistic ‘, and that any theory of performance must, accordingly, be capable of being general-ised to a wide range of performative practices, across and between cultures, history, and conventional social categories. “
For a flavour of the department’s work, take a look at a recently presented doctoral thesis which examines the concept of ‘ Audience ‘ : a far more complex subject than it may appear at first glance :
Performance as Subject _ Performance as Object
Audience as Subject _ Audience as Object
Performance as Subject _ Audience as Subject
Performance as Subject _ Audience as Object
Performance as Object _ Audience as Subject
Performance as Object _ Audience as Object
Performer as Subject _ Performance as Object
Performer as Subject _ Performance as Subject
Performer as Object _ Performance as Subject
Performer as Object _ Performance as Object
Audience Member as Subject_ Performance as Subject
Audience Member as Subject_ Performance as Object
Audience Member as Object_ Performance as Subject
Audience Member as Object_ Performance as Object
Audience Member as Subject_ Performer as Subject
Audience Member as Subject_ Performer as Object
And so on . . .
For example, at an event where :
“ 36 men kick, punch and catch an oval shaped ball with each other, scoring points by kicking it between long sticks planted in the ground. “
a.k.a an ‘ Australian rules football match ' – which could be as good a place as any to begin an examination of :
There-ness, We-stratum, and Aloneness.
“ Being alone is merely the absence of another person, a lack or insufficiency, which, as such, merely proves the primordial givenness of being-with. Being alone is merely a deficient mode of being-with. “
And then onto ‘ Audience ’ itself :
“ Audience offers proof. An audience says yes, even if that yes is a no. Yes this God is truly there for-all-of-us. This is our team. This is not a good game. “
Intriguingly ( though for reasons too subtle for Really Magazine to
follow ) the thesis ends with a phenomenological description of coffee.
“ What is the contextual role of coffee. It is a liquid. Within a general notion of liquids we can distinguish it from certain liquids, such a hydrochloric acid in that it is drinkable (by human beings), and not (fatally) toxic. It is a beverage. “
؟ ؟ ؟
Here’s the full thesis : ( caution : 411 (!) page .pdf )
Comment from KafirCake
- who took the time to read the whole paper :
" For more than an hour the entire 411 pages hovered at and flirtatiously ignored the boundaries of sense. "
finding :
“ Being alone is merely the absence of another person, a lack or insufficiency, which, as such, merely proves the primordial givenness of being-with. Being alone is merely a deficient mode of being-with. “
03 DEC 07
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Previous month
comments | permalink | back
to the top
advertising
|
Editor's picksThe territoriality of park benches re-appraised using ANT
|
|
|
 |
BBC Radio 4
"the world's best radio station"
We are currently looking for syndication outlets for the following weekly columns. . .
www and/or print.
If your publication could use them, please get in touch !
De Cecco
"the world's best commercially produced pasta"
The Big Tie Shop
"the world's best Big Ties"
New Scientist
"the world's best weekly science magazine"
OFFER CLOSED
Crooke's Radiometer (virtual)
Duvel
"the world's best beer"
"the world's best Sciencebase"
The "DoDo"
( Cassina )
"the world's best chair"
Firefox
"the world's best web-browser"
Bösendorfer
"the world's best pianos"
! Ltd.
"the world's best
! company"
