That Internet Thing – What’s that about?

“Human Bandwidth -
We have access to more information than at anytime in history. The question remains: How much information are humans able to process?”

It seems that the term “information overload” has never been as relevant as it is today. You can access hard news, weather, celebrity news, traffic updates and pointless little games all through a portable device (if you can afford one), any time of day, almost anywhere. Since the Internet really began picking up speed around 6 years ago, multi-tasking is now the norm, and anything else is considered a waste of time.
You can take your laptop and get free internet connections in coffee shops, trains, and in some cases even on street corners. You can buy a t-shirt that shows you if there are any Wi-fi networks in the area around you, and if so, how strong they are.

There are around 20 million words recorded on the Internet every day. It is believed that there has been more new information produced in the last 30 years than in the previous 5000.

Dr David Lewis wrote a report called “Dying for Information?” in the 90’s, based on the results of a worldwide Reuters survey which stated that an excess of information in the business world, mostly caused by the frenetic speed of technological updates, was resulting in mental stress and in some cases even physical illness in all levels of management.
He coined a term called “Information Fatigue Syndrome” or IFS, which includes sypthoms such as being unable to perform in-depth analysis, irritability, feelings of helplessness, fatigue, failing eyesight, headaches, forgetfulness, bad temper and something non-academics have named “computer rage”, all of which, according to Lewis, lead to “foolish decisions and flawed conclusions”.

It seems to me that the problem is that most of the information we receive is largely irrelevant. Personally I think that RSS feeds, which I wasn’t aware of until a couple of months ago, are a godsend – making the Internet work for you (finally!) instead of trawling through the same sites every day, looking for new headlines that may be of interest to you.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s went onto the Internet looking for research and ended up buying CDs through Amazon. How I end up in these (somehow embarrassing) situations I’m not sure, but it is an interesting topic. Why are we so easily distracted these days?

I don’t know, but I typed “information overload” into Google and ended up with 1,770,000 results.

There are believed to be more than 100 million webpages created every month.

People worldwide are being given choices that they don’t fully understand, or don’t have time to understand – when do you know when to stop reading/researching? And do you feel as though you’ve missed something important when you do stop?

In 1990, Neil Postman, the media theorist and cultural critic, gave a speech in Stuttgart called “Informing Ourselves to Death”, which was a play on a title of his previous (and most famous) book, “Amusing Ourselves to Death”.
In the speech, he references a quote by George Orwell, who said that the average person today is just as naive the average person in Medieval times. They lived their lives believing that religion was the basis of everything, and today, we live our lives believing that science is the main authority. Back then they thought that their religion gave them a purpose, a background and a fate, but now, with more people turning away from religion at a quickening pace, we’re left with no world view, no sense of meaningful existence, and are simply left wondering what is important in our lives and what isn’t. It’s all a bit depressing if you think about it.

In the end, though, it all seems like a act of balance. I’ve seen a few websites that offer tips on how to relax your mind, some of which include “be still”, “learn to flow” ( – make a checklist every day), and “drink water”(?). To be honest I don’t think you need to go as far as to meditate and start yoga, but just try to slow down. You can use books/magazines/newspapers/the Internet all you want, but the key is to ignore the consistent barrages of irrelevance (which I learnt today is called “Passive Information Intake”) that are thrown at you. Whether we can learn to do that, or whether we simply continue destroying our attention spans, I suppose only time will tell.

Links -

http://www.ilmarefilm.org/W_E_4.htm – trailer for a great documentary on Joseph Weizenbaum.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2007-06-14-internet-organization_N.htm

http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLTN.jsp?id=1200418106898&rss=ltn

http://www.acm.org/crossroads/xrds1-1/mnelson.html

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Reporting Just the Facts.

A reply to:

“We know there is a vast morass of information out there that our audiences want us to try to make sense of. The danger consists in trying to leap above it, not by getting more dramatic or salient or verifiable facts, but by analyzing, speculating, predicting, interpreting – by drawing definitive conclusions while the bodies are still warm.” Paul Knox, The Globe and Mail

In today’s Internet age, most people have easy access to as much information as they want (or don’t want) to absorb. You can read world-renowned newspapers views on events and stories, or read (or watch) everyday people’s opinions on the same story, most of which (that I’ve seen) don’t feel obliged to stay on the fence of a subject, a lot of the time simply descending into slagging matches if a commenter opposes their views. As bloggers and citizen journalists begin to find stories (and rumours) and run with them, without any training of an ethical journalistic standpoint, facts are becoming lost in the rush as the newsrooms try to get the information out first.
I’m not saying this happens all the time, and I’m not criticizing citizen journalism, which often does a good job of putting a different, sometimes more human, angle on a story or event.

But when (supposedly) reliable media outlets begin publishing information while having no idea whether it’s true or not, but publish it anyway to gain more readers and higher sales – this can bring the whole industry into a state of disgrace. A recent (and ongoing) example of this has ironically been brought into the headlines by the Madeline McCann case.
For anyone that doesn’t know the case, a young girl days short of her fourth birthday was abducted from an apartment while on holiday in Portugal, in May last year. Her parents said that they had left her with her two-year-old twin siblings while they ate at a restaurant about 120 metres away. After investigation by the Portuguese police, there seemed to be strong evidence that Madeline may not have been abducted at all, but may have died in the room. Meanwhile many possible sightings flooded in to support websites and news organisations.

Her parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, stated they didn’t want to leave Portugal until their daughter was found. But after an initial suspect was found, the police began to name the parents as suspects. In the end, the McCanns flew back to England in September, five months after the incident. Cue bedlam from the British media, who were waiting at the airport to watch the plane come in, and follow them back to their home. Fast forward to just last week, when four newspapers (from a single group) published front page apologies to the McCanns, after begin sued for publishing more than 100 articles claiming that the parents played a part in the disappearance of their daughter.

Personally (and I’m falling off the fence here, how I’m going to be a journalist I’ll never know), I think this is nothing short of a disgrace. For four (four!) national papers to underlie their reports with innuendo shows the length that the media can go to to gain a foothold in the sales game. These articles have (shock horror) been unscrupulously placed just to sell newspapers. Nothing more, nothing less. Of course, this is only four papers, but the damage has been done – journalists, and the British media in general, are now virtually labeled as liars.

Although the story has barely had any impact in North America, I think it’s an ongoing example that should remind us to check your facts (and names, and everything else we’ve been taught) before publishing it.
We’re (potentially) the ones that will be giving the public their information, whichever medium we end up in. In this age when there’s more information flying about quicker than ever before, we need to remember that the facts are the only bit that matter, and however you choose to interpret them, they still need to be there.

Some links –
http://www.gairrhydd.com/media/844/a-deceiving-web/

http://www.vernoncoleman.com/mccann.htm

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070512061804AAEUIiW

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/19/nmccann319.xml

http://truecrimemagazine.com/articles/399

CD Review – “Hold On Now, Youngster” – Los Campesinos!

Right, first things first. I’ve got to admit that the first time I heard this album, I looked at the CD case to see what the third song was, to find it was two songs away from ending. It’s a quick album.
But then time flies when you’re having fun, right? RIGHT? Right. And fun is what Los Campesinos are all about ( – have a look at their “Death to Los Campesinos!” video – they know what the press are saying – ) – imagine Belle and Sebastian on a trip to Disney with cappuccinos flying through their systems.
Determined to put an end to the miserable self-regarding posteuring seen in most indie clubs on a friday night, these seven former Cardiff University students are bringing back the idea of enjoying yourself. And they don’t seem to care about what sunglasses they’re wearing while they’re doing it.

After last year’s “Sticking Fingers Into Sockets” EP (which concluded with a 35 second song), they’ve just released their first full-length. Thankfully, they’ve avoided the trend of re-releasing all their demos (hello Vampire Weekend!) and recorded all-new songs, with only one old’un showing up here.

The first song is called “Death to Los Campesinos!” which is quite a sly way to open an album, and they’ve got another called “My Year In Lists”. They also have one called “This Is How You Spell “HAHAHA We Destroyed The Hopes And Dreams Of A Generation Of Faux Romantics”", which perfectly examplifies their boy-girl duetting vocals, which show up on every song but blend brilliantly here. However, lead singer Gareth seems to have a voice that spilts people right down the middle – it’s instant love or hate.

It feels like it’s all powered by a sort of sugar-rush burst of urgency. For all the light-heartenedness and facebook references of it, it’s surprising that could be seen as a tough listen – but the pace never gives up. The playing could sometimes be considered sloppy, and the singing isn’t the best you’ll ever hear. In all honesty, though, it doesn’t matter.

You’re almost waiting for the part where it all collapses, it’s going that fast. It gets you wondering how long they can get up this pace. They’ve already had a UK-North America-Japanese tour off a 6-song EP, so God knows how long they’ll tour off this. Whether they’ll find the energy to keep going ( – here’s hoping – ), or just burn themselves out, is a concern. It’s like a really good summer with your closest friends – you know in the back of your mind that it has to end sometime, it can’t go on like this – but while it’s here, you may as well have some fun with it.

All in all though, there’s nothing wrong with this album. It’s the most uplifting thing I’ve heard in months, and in 2008, from an (Welsh) indie band, it’s possibly the best debut album since Tigermilk.

Los Campesinos! are playing Lee’s Palace on the 23rd of May (and I’ll be there – weeee!). The album comes out in North America on April 1st.

last song i heard – “little black sandals” – Sia

CD Review – “Do You Like Rock Music?” – British Sea Power

In today’s music industry, it’s generally believed that in order to keep fans and radio stations interested, you can’t stray too far from the format you produced on your initial album. Look at The Futureheads – a great first album in 2004 that gained decent reviews and respect for the lagging music scene in the North of England. Then came their second album in 2006, which was a springboard for new ideas and directions. The reviews for that album were generally awful, with the band eventually getting dumped from their label later that year. The reason? Not enough sales – too different.
Not many bands can manage to get around this problem. Radiohead have somehow avoided the issue, as have bands like At the Drive-In, who spilt off into the Mars Volta, and now generally gain good reviews, even though they sound nothing like the music they were making a few years previous.
Then there are the bands that don’t stray too far from the money-grabbing concepts – usually songs about drinking, girls, clubs, girls, cities and city girls. Look at any British band from 2003 on – the year The Libertines hit peak – Arctic Monkeys, The Others, The Maccabees, The Fratellis, The Subways, and the dreaded Hard-fi. They all make money on their first couple of albums, then (sometimes) people realize that they’re not evolving in any way. Or sometmes they don’t. But can you really see the Arctic Monkeys being around in 10 years?
Then there are the bands that couldn’t care either way, regardless of bad reviews. British Sea Power are an example – a widely accepted first album, then a criminally underrated second album, which was canned by critics and fans for being too “radio-friendly” and “straightforward”. Thankfully, however, this didn’t seem to phase them.
Unlike 99% of their guitar twiddling contemptoraries, BSP take their inspiration from nature and literate matters. Their music contains sometimes obscure references to the assassination of Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich, the Larsen B ice shelf, birdwatching, the Kattegat and the Vistula river.

The album kicks off with “All In It”, possibly the most overblown opening track I’ve ever heard. It’s obvious from this one song that BSP have figured out how to fill space, something that seemed to be missing somewhat on their previous releases. As you start to get into the album you realize that having three producers (Howard Bilerman –Arcade Fire, Graham Sutton – Jarvis Cocker, and Efrim Menuck – Godspeed You Black Emperor!) is a benefit: instruments are clearer, vocals are crisp, and even in the moments of uncontrolled feedback and static (of which there are a few), the clarity of the recording comes through. It sounds like it should be a mess, but somehow it’s not.
“Waving flags’ stands out – a rolling singalong in praise of immigrants. On first impressions it seems a likely contender for a single release, even though, underneath the optimistic exterior, it gives off a sense of uneasiness with modern society. But then again, from a band that count Field Marshal Montgomery and Sir John Betjeman as their heroes, this shouldn’t come across as too surprising. They seem to be a band stuck permanantely in wartime England.
You might be lead to think that the whole thing is an example of the rebirth of art-rock, as more and more bands fill their songs with nonsensical “symbolic” lyrics and vampy interludes that go nowhere, all in the desperate effort to look all mysterious and deep (I’m looking at you, Trent Reznor). Thankfully, this isn’t the case here. This is music by genuinely intelligent people that know their subject matter, which, overall, is unusual these days.
However, this is not an album that rewards casual listening – it’s an “album” in the sense that it’s better taken in as a whole. It does take a few listens (with some decent headphones) to really get into it – it took me about 4 – but once you’re in, you’re in.
I don’t want to harp on, but British Sea Power are virtually unique, in a time of bland “new and exciting” indie. When most guitar bands move to the manky areas of cities to find their “inspiration”, hearing songs about ornithology, Doestoevsky and World War 1 are a refreshing change. I can understand bands wanting to be in London, but come on, songs about pubs have been done already. No-one needs to hear more songs about text-messaging and girls in stripy skirts drinking wine.

So to bring an end to this (longer than expected) review, I can say – it’s different. I guess it’s up to you to judge whether that’s a good thing or not. But if not, try finding another band that gives you songs about Einstein, the Scapa Flow and subatomic testing.

British Sea Power are playing Lee’s Palace on May 16.

last song i heard – “computer dating” – theoretical girls

Research Techniques Class – Peggy French Reflection Assignment.

During our Research Techniques class on March 14, we had a presentation from Peggy French, a librarian from the Fennell campus. The basis of the presentation was finding new ways to use the Internet to find information that is relevant to our studies.

One of the first points she made was her explanation that in order to find distilled information, you need to use keywords in a more specific sense. She showed us some links from the college’s main site to various databases, where you can choose to search e-books, newspapers articles and magazines, as well as seeing which college libraries hold which books.

One point of the discussion was when she explained that, when searching for information, we’re practicing a balancing act between “perfect precision” and “reasonable relevance”.
She went to to say that you can’t be too exact in your searches, as you run the risk of missing out too much information. Although if you’re too broad with your keywords, you may end up with too much information to manage.

I’ve found this to be especially true on Google. While researching for my politics class report, I searched “Greenbelt legislation” and ended up with 138,000 results. Use the word “Greenbelt” by itself and you get 4,840,000. This can be a problem when you’re looking for specific information, as it’s practically impossible to check all those websites (unless you’re really dedicated). Some of those only pick the words you use too – the article may have the searchwords in the text, but may be overall on a different topic altogether.
To try and solve this problem, she showed us some different search engines we can use, which offer different results that Google. These included dogpile, clusty, and kartoo, which is an interesting visual metasearch site, that “maps” your results, then links them all together.

She ended with explaining that the Internet is only as rewarding as you tell it to be – it’s up to you to find your information, and if you’re too broad when you’re looking for it, you may have a tough time.
Overall I think it was quite an interesting presentation, I can see myself using the search websites she showed us – I’m impressed with clusty – and the databases we were shown seem very helpful.

Chris Cocker Back To Annoy Us All Again.

Last year was a strange year for media releases. There was No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Control, and then there was Epic Movie and Meet the Spartans.There was also a whiny little twat with a blanket over his head screaming about Britney Spears.

That’s right folks, Chris Cocker, the 20-year old that gave the world the masterpiece that was him crying and ranting and looking like a girl for two minutes, has now turned his videoblog post into a “song”, under the name of Double J.

In a perfect example of 15 minutes of fame being extended to breaking point, and another perfect example of a person not realising their own age and growing the hell up, the “song” was released on itunes a few days ago. It’s had more than a million plays since it’s release on youtube.

His initial video was voted the number one online video of 2007 by Time Magazine.

I’ll give you a minute to take that in.

Ready?

Good. Now if you’re like me, you may have noticed that you were crying from laughter/grief. But wipe those tears away! I’ve provided the link to the “song” here. Now might be a good time to replace the tears that were in your eyes with screwdrivers.

So there you are.

I can’t even think of a comment on that, so I’ll stop now.

last song i heard – “bees” – animal collective

David Byrne Article

Good read.

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne

last song i heard – “capoeira do brasil” – sergio mendes

Amy Winehouse In Non Drug-Related News Shocker.

It’s hard to go a day without hearing more earth-shattering, mind-altering news about Amy Winehouse, whether it’s ground-breaking reports that she’s been wandering around the roads without any socks on or been seen doing crack in an oppurtunists camera-phone video or been seen drinking a normal coke instead of a diet coke, the swine.

But now something else has happened.

Turns out she’s been diagnosed with impetigo, a lovely looking infectious skin disease. (I’m going to test your curiousity here – after you’ve read this, don’t search for pictures of the disease for at least 6 hours. If you can manage this without going mad, you’re a stronger person than me.) It seems that there’s something else wrong with her face other than her strange eyeliner-wings.

The disease is usually found in children aged 2-6 years old, especially those in “unhealthy living conditions”, which adds another sinister level to this news that I can’t grasp.

But anyway, it’s been confirmed by her rep:

“Amy has been diagnosed with impetigo, which she has been told can be highly contagious. Because of that she has been put on antibiotics and may have to stay home alone for the next few days.’

So there you go. We now have the blissful potential of not having to see photos of her walking from her door-step to the corner shop in the papers for a few days. Thank Christ.

last song i heard – “laughter in the dark” – hawk and a hacksaw

Slideshow Thingy.

last song i heard – “ready for the floor” – hot chip

Music News (For A Change.)

In what must be the most interesting news in a few months, The Libertine’s Carl Barat and Pete Doherty have announced that they will be heading to Doherty’s Wiltshire home next week to begin writing “20-something” songs for a musical. The first show is rumoured to be early 2009.

Cue countless Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs and Pigeon Detectives musicals in 2010.

last song i heard – “fly me to new york” – cassetteboy