High-Frequency Dog

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS: Lou Reed's High-Frequency Dog Concert

Even for Lou Reed, this is pretty bizarre. This June, the former Velvet Underground frontman plans to perform a concert specifically for dogs. Most of the concert won't even be audible to humans ears. The "avant-garde" performance will be delivered at ultra-high, dog-friendly frequencies.

According to the BBC, Reed's wife, Laurie Anderson, got the inspiration for the show when she was backstage at a concert. She thought to herself: "Wouldn't it be great, if you were playing a concert and you look out and you see all dogs?"

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A Bill of Privacy Rights for Social Network Users | Electronic Frontier Foundation

A Bill of Privacy Rights for Social Network Users

Commentary by Kurt Opsahl

Social network service providers today are in a unique position. They are intermediaries and hosts to our communications, conversations and connections with loved ones, family, friends and colleagues. They have access to extremely sensitive information, including data gathered over time and from many different individuals.

#1: The Right to Informed Decision-Making

Users should have the right to a clear user interface that allows them to make informed choices about who sees their data and how it is used.

#2: The Right to Control

Social network services must ensure that users retain control over the use and disclosure of their data. A social network service should take only a limited license to use data for the purpose for which it was originally given to the provider.

#3: The Right to Leave

[A] user should have the right to delete data or her entire account from a social network service. And we mean really delete. It is not enough for a service to disable access to data while continuing to store or use it. It should be permanently eliminated from the service's servers.

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/05/bill-privacy-rights-social-network-users

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What is your pet peeve about a poor website?

LinkedIn Groups

Group: Albion College Alumni Subject: New comment (15) on "What is your pet peeve about a poor website?" The results are in! With over 30 respondents tallied, here is a collated version of the replies. If you'd like a doc version of this list to give to your company's web development team, just email me. (Note: there is some overlap in the Navigability/Information categories.) A. Navigability 1. When I can't find the information that I NEED!!! 2. Navigation that takes me 10 clicks to find the information I need. 3. Lack of a "Home" button on the menu. 4. Poor navigation 5. Landing pages where you have to click through to get to the home page 6. Lack of easy navigability 7. All comprehensive websites should have a USABLE search engine so I can find the content I'm looking for quickly and efficiently. Don't waste my time. 8. Useless search engines. 9. Sometimes you just need to send the company an email. Don't hide the contact information. 10. Corrupted or expired links to archival documents. 11. Like most, I want to grab and go. I hate it when the most obvious information is hidden or missing. Like store hours. 12. There's no search engine or there's a search engine that can't find anything 13. Vertical menu bars 14. Difficult to navigate 15. The inability to discover how to speak to someone ties in to poor navigability. 16. There is a flow that people are familiar with on websites telling us where to find contact information, where to look for job opportunities etc. Some site creators have the mentality that by moving things around they are creating a unique feel, but ultimately what this does is potentially prevent them from gaining business. Clients can miss important sections of the website, or become frustrated with the lack of ease and simply move on. 17. Need to be BlackBerry friendly.  18. Sites that lack consistent navigational tools. 19. Poor navigability! I see more and more sites without a link back "home." 20. It shouldn't take me 5 clicks to get to a phone number or address or other basic information! 21. Phone friendly is a must. 22. Every website should have a link to Home, along with one to Contact Us and one to About Us. Those are almost standard features today. No website should leave you wondering about what to do next or where to go next. You should be able to tell where you are at all times and how to get to where you want to go. Navigation takes planning and testing and thinking like the user, not like the maker.  23. Sites that show up in searches, but really have no way to find the information on the page. Posted by Alan Headbloom

Go to complete discussion »

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R.I.P. Peter Orlovsky

Peter Orlovsky

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peter Orlovsky (right) with Allen Ginsberg, 1978.

Peter Orlovsky (July 8, 1933 – May 30, 2010) was an American poet best known for his lifelong relationship with Beat Generation poet Allen Ginsberg.

Biography

Orlovsky was born to Russian parents Oleg and Katharina Orlovsky in the Lower East Side of New York City . Orlovsky was raised in poverty and was forced to drop out of high school in his senior year so he could support his impoverished family. After many odd jobs, he began working as an orderly at Creedmoor State Mental Hospital known today as Creedmoor Psychiatric Center.

Orlovsky was drafted into the Army for the Korean War in 1953 when he was 19 years old. Army psychiatrists ordered his transfer off the front to work as a medic in a San Francisco hospital.

He met Ginsberg while working as a model for the painter Robert La Vigne in San Francisco in December 1954. Prior to meeting Ginsberg, Orlovsky had made no deliberate attempts at becoming a poet.^[1] With Ginsberg's encouragement, Orlovsky began writing in 1957 while the pair were living in Paris. Accompanied by other beat writers, Orlovsky traveled extensively for several years throughout the Middle East, Northern Africa, India, and Europe.

In 1974, Orlovsky joined the faculty of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, teaching poetry. In 1979 he received a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to continue his creative endeavors.

In May 2010 friends reported that Orlovsky, who had been battling lung cancer for several months, was moved from his home in St. Johnsbury, Vermont to the Vermont Respite House in Williston. He died there on May 30, 2010.

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How (and Why) to Stop Multitasking - Peter Bregman

Peter Bregman

• On:
 
• Managing Yourself,
 
• Leadership Development,
 
• Communication

How (and Why) to Stop Multitasking

2:40 PM Thursday May 20, 2010 

First, it was delightful. 

Second, I made significant progress on challenging projects, the kind that — like writing or strategizing — require thought and persistence.

Third, my stress dropped dramatically. Research shows that multitasking isn't just inefficient, it's stressful. 

Fourth, I lost all patience for things I felt were not a good use of my time. 

Fifth, I had tremendous patience for things I felt were useful and enjoyable. 

Sixth, there was no downside.

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David Lehman :: Bravo!

French Movie
by David Lehman

I was in a French movie 
and had only nine hours to live 
and I knew it 
not because I planned to take my life 
or swallowed a lethal but slow-working 
potion meant for a juror 
in a mob-related murder trial, 
nor did I expect to be assassinated 
like a chemical engineer mistaken 
for someone important in Milan 
or a Jew journalist kidnapped in Pakistan; 
no, none of that; no grounds for 
suspicion, no murderous plots 
centering on me with cryptic phone 
messages and clues like a scarf or 
lipstick left in the front seat of a car; 
and yet I knew I would die 
by the end of that day 
and I knew it with a dreadful certainty, 
and when I walked in the street 
and looked in the eyes of the woman 
walking toward me I knew that 
she knew it, too, 
and though I had never seen her before, 
I knew she would spend the rest of that day 
with me, those nine hours walking, 
searching, going into a bookstore in Rome, 
smoking a Gitane, and walking, 
walking in London, taking the train 
to Oxford from Paddington or Cambridge 
from Liverpool Street and walking 
along the river and across the bridges, 
walking, talking, until my nine hours 
were up and the black-and-white movie 
ended with the single word FIN 
in big white letters on a bare black screen.

Brought to you by Poets.org Poem-a-Day: David Lehman

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What a Facebook Phishing attack looks like (SAFE YouTube video)

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Ya'll ain't from around here :: Where the Smart People Live

Where the Smart People Live

Link to Graph

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Richard Sweeney :: design, photography, craft and sculpture

Richard  Sweeney
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Senators Propose...

I wanted to write a scathing diatribe about the revocation of personal rights and freedoms.  I wanted to talk about the knee-jerk reactions of closing-the-barn-door politicians.  I wanted to rail against the addled If-you-disagree-with-this-you-must-be-a-terrorist-too mind set.  I wanted to escape the fear and paranoia perspectives of my fellow country men and women.

Instead I guess I will just keep my mouth shut and take careful notes about my neighbors, and the other members of the congregation, and doings at the Rotary Club, not to mention the Chamber of Commerce...oh and that curious fellow that runs the QuickieMart.  Can't be too careful you know. 

Senators Propose Mandatory IDs For Prepaid Cell Phones

from InformationWeek - All Stories

 by W. David Gardner

Citing the Times Square bombing suspect, who used a prepaid cell phone, two Senators have proposed legislation that would end anonymous use of prepaid mobile phone service. 

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A case of Big Iron-ic

Innovation & Technology Weekly

Scientists devise algorithm to detect sarcasm

A computer algorithm capable of identifying sarcasm in written text has  been developed by Israeli researchers. The novel formula could pave the  way for more sophisticated communication between humans and computers.  Devised by computer scientists at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem,  the algorithm has been programmed to recognise sarcasm in lengthy texts  by analysing patterns of phrases and punctuation often used to indicate  irony. In tests on 66,000 product reviews posted on the Amazon shopping  website, the algorithm had an impressive 77 per cent success rate in  picking out sarcastic comments - arguably higher than some humans.  The researchers 'trained' the algorithm to recognise sarcasm by teaching  it nearly 5,500 sentences from Amazon reviews that volunteers had marked  as either sarcastic or non-sarcastic. From this list of phrases, the  algorithm was taught to recognise patterns of words commonly used by  writers to show that they do not mean to be taken literally.  The algorithm was tested on tens of thousands of other Amazon reviews  which had also been tagged for sarcasm, or otherwise, by human readers.  It produced accurate answers in 77% of cases.

Full story: Daily Telegraph Published: May 19, 2010 Reposted from UNU-Merit newsletter... UNU-MERIT is a joint research and training centre of United Nations University (UNU) andMaastricht University, The Netherlands. The joint Institute was created on 1 January 2006 following the integration of the former UNU-Institute for New Technologies (INTECH) in Maastricht , and the Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology, MERIT, at Maastricht University . Mission

 
UNU-MERIT provides insights into the social, political and economic factors that drive technological change and innovation. The Centre's research and training programmes address a broad range of policy questions relating to the national and international governance of science, technology and innovation, with a particular focus on the creation, diffusion and access to knowledge.

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Zappa Statue

Frank Zappa statue to go near Highlandtown library

So the Public Art Committee finally found a home forthat Frank Zappa statue: Outside the Southeast Anchor Library, a branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Highlandtown.

The bust of Zappa (who was born in Baltimore) will go up sometime next year, according to committee chair Anne Perkins.

"We think this is a great place for it -- a terrific neighborhood" Perkins said. "I think it will be the focal point for a lot of really fun festivals." 

Here's a link to the full story.

At first, I was a little surprised at the site they chose. Highlandtown might get a decent amount of foot traffic, but probably not as much as the other sites they were considering -- such as Fells Point.

And besides the Creative Alliance, Highlandtown really isn't known for its arts and entertainment..  

Then I spoke with Zappa's widow, Gail, who cleared things up for me ...

Gail said Zappa would have liked the location, because his mother, Rose Marie, was a librarian. Gail actually lobbied to have the bust placed near a city library.

"I'm thrilled," she said. "That's where he went to school, in the library. The library was a really important place for him in his teen years."

I asked her if Zappa would have even wanted a bust of himself anywhere, let alone in Baltimore, and she laughed.

"It's the ultimate bust, isn't it?," she said. "It's a beautiful, beautiful bust. I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome. It's stunning. It really represents Frank's character beautifully."

(Pictured is a Zappa statue in Lithuania, similar to the Baltimore statue. AP photo.)

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WOW! Just freakin' WOW!

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New Method of Pressure on Journalists

Russia: Taking Children as a New Method of Pressure on Journalists

by Gregory Asmolov

By Gregory Asmolov

Children of Galina Dmitrieva, an oppositionary journalist and activist, were taken by Russian police after she published an investigation about Russian car manufacturer Avtovaz [EN], Anatoliy Baranov reported[RUS]. After instant blog-campaign her children were returned. Blogger Marina Litvinovich suggests [RUS] this method was used before against at least one oppositionary journalist.

This is reprehensible!  Regardless of the influence, good or bad, on the adult journalist what does trauma like this to do children?  

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Lessons on Life

A Dying Father's Lessons on Life for His Teenaged Daughter

10:30 AM Tuesday May 25, 2010 

by Adi Ignatius 

A couple of weeks ago, my remarkable brother in law, John Tarbell, died in New York City.

John [didn't have] time to finish his most important project: a comprehensive guide to how to live a good life. It was something he spent years working on for an audience of one: his only child, a daughter, now 15

THE 8 CAREER LESSONS FROM JOHN TARBELL

1. Seek out a mentor — possibly someone who was involved in your hiring process. Learn what to expect two or three years ahead and prepare for it.

2. Assume the behavior and habits of the people at the next level, and you will demonstrate that you can get there.

3. Whatever you do, be sure your involvement and actions' ethics and results will look honorable and wise if they appear in the right hand column of the Wall Street Journal's front page. They just might.

4. ''Try to find out what you're good at, and have a passion for, and get someone to pay you for doing it'' — advice I was given early on, and it has always proved to be the path for success and, just as importantly, happiness.

5. The first job is rarely anything but a start. Do the best you can, try to work with people you like and admire, and hope for the best. In your lifetime, you may change jobs, if not your career path, many times.

6. Avoid bosses who promise promotions and advancement but who take credit for your work. They won't fulfill their promises to you.

7. Save for a rainy day and always be able to support yourself. You can lose everything in a flash, and scenarios of financial adversity do present themselves in life, even to the best prepared.

8. Avoid speculative ventures. If making money were easy, everyone would be wealthy. If someone can't answer all your questions and ''what ifs,'' there's something wrong.

Adi Ignatius is the Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Business Review Group.

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gapingvoid cartoon #91 - 'Thank You' May 25, 2010

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Iran: Student activist started hunger strike

Iran: Student activist started hunger strike

by Hamid Tehrani

By Hamid Tehrani

Majid Tavakoli, Iranian student actvist, started his hunegr strike in prison in Tehran. Sight writes [fa] “Tavakoli is not only a name. He is a legned. He started his hunger strike but the world does not pay attention.”

Hundreds of Iranian men have dressed as women in Hijab to support Majid Tavakoli, a student activist who was arrested on December 7, and express solidarity with women. Iranian authorities claim Mr. Tavakoli was dressed as a woman to escape after delivering a speech in Tehran on Student Day.

However, human rights activists in Iran have published a report from an eyewitness saying: “All the pictures published by the state media are false and a clear use of immoral means against student and civil activists in Iran.”

Hundreds of Iranian men are now dressed as women in their FaceBook profiles. Here is a YouTube video in support of Majid that has collected some of these photos (begins after 42 seconds).

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Zappos Values

Zappos Values as reported by Harvard Business Review

We eventually came up with our final list of 10 core values, which we still use today:

1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More With Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10. Be Humble

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Before the Deployment

Before the Deployment

by Jehanne Dubrow

He kisses me before he goes. While I, 

still dozing, half-asleep, laugh and rub my face 

against the sueded surface of the sheets, 

thinking it’s him I touch, his skin beneath 

my hands, my body curving in to meet 

his body there. I never hear him leave. 

[Read the rest, please...]

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Chrome Extension Of The Day (CEOTD): Frame Two Pages

Frame Two Pages - Once you click at the extension's icon, the current tab will be merged with the previous one (on the left) into a frameset with two columns (frames) or rows (options offer 3 buttons: rows/columns/ad_hoc). They'll be ordered in the same way as the tabs (left, right).

In other words, your physical screen will be split into two areas.

If the current window only has one tab, you'll be asked about the URL of the left frame.

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