cool. the folks over at slashdot are discussing an interesting visual analysis of mp3 encoders:
posted by e3
9:51:41 PM
"Chris Johnson writes: "I've just finished an interesting scientific analysis of several mp3 encoders and have my findings up on the Web. The process involves differencing a 'sonogram' image from an encoded test signal with the image of the original signal, and then producing response curves showing the disparity in direct signal volume, and over time. Umm . . . which is just to say this is probably the most rigorous analysis of any encoders anywhere on the web, and very geeky (in a good way). LAME carries the day, but BladeEnc shows that it has a completely distinctive sonic approach- and Fraunhofer proves unacceptable (in the version I tested) for audiophile use, though it's unbeatable at very low bit rates."
oye! truer words have never been spoken.
posted by e3
9:39:53 PM
""Really, all hell has broken loose," said Douglas Eymer, the creative director at Partners & Simons, a Boston-based marketing communications firm that works with many startups. "It used to be that designing a business presentation was a slow, deliberate process. Now anyone can create a PowerPoint presentation very quickly, and the design standards have really been dulled down.""
interesting follow-ups to my previous post on the rationality of voting. first, there's an older article from discover magazine that argues for the benefits of the electoral college:
posted by e3
9:35:32 PM
"When you cast your vote this month, you're not directly electing the president--you're electing members of the electoral college. They elect the president. An archaic, unnecessary system? Mathematics shows, says one concerned American, that by giving your vote to another, you're ensuring the future of our democracy."don't agree? then check out the center for voting and democracy which "studies how voting systems affect participation, representation and governance and disseminates its findings to civic organizations". in particular see the section on instant runoff voting:
""Experts, scholars, deep thinkers could make errors on electoral reform," Natapoff decided, "but nine-year-olds could explain to a Martian why the Yankees lost in 1960, and why it was right. And both have the same underlying abstract principle.""
"Instant Runoff Voting is a winner-take-all system that ensures that a winning candidate will receive a majority of votes rather than a simple plurality. In plurality voting -- as used in most U.S. elections -- candidates can win with less than a majority when there are more than two candidates running for the office. In contrast, IRV elects a majority candidate while still allowing voters to support a candidate who is not a front-runner. IRV is a sensible method in single winner elections.[electoral college article via rc3 | instant runoff voting link e.mailed from kelly at shinybluegrasshopper, but also on rc3 ]
IRV allows voters to rank candidates as their first choice, second choice, third, fourth and so on. If a candidate does not receive a clear majority of votes on the first count, a series of runoff counts are conducted, using each voter’s top choices indicated on the ballot."
maybe i'm a luddite, but i just don't want a 3d web. not now. not even if i don't need those funny glasses.
posted by e3
10:36:02 PM
i've never met zeldman, but that isn't going to stop me from wishing him well through what is, no doubt, a very difficult time.
posted by e3
9:38:59 PM
i admit it, i've wondered. you have too. is voting rational?
posted by e3
9:17:39 PM
" It's a dilemma many voters face whenever there's still a serious third or fourth candidate for president after the primaries. This year, let's say your first choice would be Ralph Nader or Pat Buchanan. But is voting for a candidate with no serious chance of winning just "throwing away your vote"? Worse, is it in effect a vote for the less desirable of the two realistic candidates? Is it wrong to vote for Nader if you would prefer Al Gore over George W. Bush? Or for Buchanan if you would prefer Bush over Gore?
The answer is ultimately subjective, but objective analysis will take you further than you might have thought."
i'm a sucker of extending biological models to domains where they have little value, but hey - there's probably no harm done with darwin, linux, and radiation.
posted by e3
10:50:53 PM
sometimes i forget to visit the register and i'm the worse for it:
posted by e3
9:26:30 PM
"A year ago, few would have predicted that a simple software application written by a college Freshman would capture the international media main-stage. Fewer still would have anticipated that this modest computer-science project would quickly swell to grotesque proportions, terrifying the mighty Titans of Hollywood's entertainment industry, taxing the best wits of US judges and high-priced legal teams. But all this, and more, it has managed to do.
Stunning performance for a Freshman project to be sure; but a perverse complex of acrimonious and absurdly convoluted political contests in Washington, in which a conservative Senator has aligned himself against his own legislation, and of which Napster forms the raw core, has outshone even these considerable achievements."
not only is the spiral logo meme not dying its well-deserved death, it is actually alive, well and thriving - at least enough to justify grant's update of the wall of shame.
posted by e3
12:27:16 PM
just in time for summer - look snazzy and support the site at the same time by buying some snowdeal schwag!
“The stranger has been a fundamental touchstone of cultures at least since Abraham and Sarah invited weary road travelers into their tent only to find out that they were angels in disguise. The Odyssey, too, is a meditation on strangers and hospitality: Odysseus experiences different ways of being a stranger on his way home while the suitors abuse every rule of hospitality in his own house. It's easy to see why strangers are so important: a culture's attitude towards them expresses its understanding of its position in the world of social groups. In our culture, we're suspicious of strangers. They're a threat. They lurk in shadows. On the Web, however, strangers are the source of everything worthwhile. Strangers and their utterances are the stuff of the Web.”
the hyperlinked metaphysics of the web
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shifted librarian / libtech / handheldlib / jessamyn / researchbuzz /
802.11b / sifry / reiter / mostly harmless / dailywireless / 802.11 planet /
qmacro / stpeter / dizzyd / durand /
blogzilla / mike's blog / mpt / hyatt / asa / blake ross / chris nelson /
simon fell / sam ruby /
webvoice / saltire / websense / bblog / poelog / bizquick /
forwarding address:osx /
bekkers / burkhardt / pope / hugh /
zeldman / rosenfeld / peterme / xblog / soapbox / design weenie / antenna / blackbeltjones / cognitive architects / arts and farces / noisebetweenstations / eleganthack / brad lauster / brushstroke / webword / signals vs. noise / uxblog / iaslash / nooface / lucdesk /
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