You may be unaware, but Oakley, a popular sunglass company, has hoisted a campaign that limits consumers to hear music only at certain luminosities of polarized light. Even competitors have jumped into this hot market and are selling this product—so-called mp3 sunglasses—at discounted prices. The listener’s ability to choose music appropriate for their lighting environment—which effects mood and ambiance—is being threatened, and only blasé artists of ambivalent temper that are consistent with the light-grey luminance, such as Jack Johnson or Coldplay, will benefit.

This movement is limiting our fundamental multi-sensing capabilities that we, as humans, have a right to, and until now have taken for granted. As such, this product is moving to destroy our freedom of expression that we have so far enjoyed through the symbiotic light-sound relationship. For who can listen to A Perfect Circle in shades of yellow?! The Postal Service in muted grey—or The Polyphonic Spree, Light and Day without sun glaring into your eyes? These companies clearly have an evil agenda and I press you to join me in a fight to stop this mind-limiting madness.

As you may know if you are reading this it takes a lot to shock the usual vdov writing staff to a foray into the realm of politics. The rare instances that we have waded in those murky waters have usually been on fairly non-controversial topics for our little in-community. We can all get behind most of the EFF’s platforms, we share a loathing for Sony’s rootkit, denounce intelligent design, and none of us support the cyber jihadists with the backpack nukes. However, I am definitely wading into this one and I expect some lively commenting on the subject. First, a little background seems in order. My first encounter with Jessica Hopper was during a little debate between Bob Hammond and Julianne Shepherd about the nature of feminism and the new David Banner album “Certified.” After reading both of their arguments and some of the side commentary on both blogs (Jessica Hopper’s blog as well) I decided that it was time to weigh in with some logic and common sense here on vdov. I also posted a few counter points in the comment section of Shepherd’s blog. We will, sadly, never know what the contents of those comments were because they were immediately deleted by Shepherd and she blocked any further commenting. The worst part of this was that I was being very reasonable and tried really hard to disagree but politely, Bob also responded the in the same way. So I got a small look into the entrenched music critique blog world of the east coast and got a taste of Hopper’s sentiments as well (although purely in passing).

So imagine my surprise when her name crops up again in an article about emo. My limited experience with Hopper left me a little sour but I thought I should see what she had to say about my second least favorite genre (yet the one I am strangely drawn to). Her thesis seems to be to be that punk crashed and burned, dropping the political pretext and adopting the introverted shades of emo. Then from (or because of) that emo burst into the vacuum and now poses a huge threat to ‘the scene’ and feminism in the music community. The threat comes from the general vilification of women in the ‘break up, done me wrong’ genre of emo. First lets ignore the fact that emo (EMOtional) music is more than simply breakup songs (take The Weakerthans for instance) and let us reduce an entire genre to its weakest denominator. Let us also assume Hopper’s premise that there was a time when emo was substantive and more like punk with heart, beckoning a golden age of understanding between the sexes that is now forever lost, is true. Also we must assume that the MOP jewelry theft songs that Hopper refers to also have no connotations of demeaning attitudes towards women. Let us also throw causation to the wind and say that the musical politics of a select indie ’scene’ actually has a significant effect on feminism as a whole. Now that we are armed with assumption and suspension of disbelief we can dive right into the meat of the argument.

The truth is that the problem with emo has nothing to do with the same rehashing of the ’some woman done me wrong’ motif. Just look at how successfully that motif was employed by the blues. The problem is that self indulgent musings of underage white men can really only go so far before they become completely trite. What Hopper sees as an attack on women and a pernicious degradation perpetrated by a male musical hierarchy is really nothing more than the lame venting of men unable to cope with rejection. The truth is (despite what any feminist might say) that getting the short end of the relationship stick sucks just as much for men as it does for women. This is probably doubly true for men in tune with their feelings enough to write lame music about them. So perhaps the pervasiveness of the sentiment has less to do with a vast anti-feminist conspiracy and more to do with the emotional problems of people who feel the need to expose all of their thoughts and feelings to the music listening community in order to create some sort of strange parade of shame all sung over wonderful pop beats or morose guitar work.

Most telling is the following conclusion by Hopper where she totally forgoes any kind of rational argument and just goes for broke.

Emo was just another forum where women were locked in a stasis of outside observation, observing ourselves through the eyes of others. The prevalence of these bands, the omni-presence of emo’s sweeping sound and it’s growing stronghold in the media and on the Billboard chart codified emo as A SOUND, where previously there had been diversity.

Examine the first sentence for a while. If it seems odd that she assumes that somehow the emo ravings of a few bands is the collective ‘inside description’ for all men then you are correct. Of course music often seems as if it is viewing you from foreign perspective. How do you think I feel when punk bands start raving about white middle class privilege? The second sentence is even more bizarre. Somehow emo is becoming a solid force of evil backed by Billboard that seeks to undermine all advances made by feminists in the last 100 years? The truth is that it is a passing fad that has a lot of traction with angsty teenagers and guys who just found out their girlfriend of 8 months is sleeping with a friend of theirs because they are too emotionally unavailable. It is true that you must fight for feminism wherever you can. However, at a certain point it is probably a good idea to step back for a minute and take a few deep breaths and imagine a world in which Conor Oberst isn’t trying to keep down an entire sex.

There is some more stuff coming but for now I would like to let you all know about vdov’s newest page. It is the podcast how to page. So for those of you that want to know how to sign up for podcasts you can find that out here and there is a link in the sidebar to the right. This is a pretty general overview and could probably be applied to any podcast… such as the WBOR podcast (althought they already have an instruction page). So enjoy the podcasting.

I have hidden a subliminal message in the text of this podcast update so by the end of the reading you should have no recollection at all of there not being a Friday podcast this last week. As Costa hinted at, there were mad mad Thanksgiving festivities that included us bombing all around Indiana freeloading in grand style. We kicked it with the Peach family on Thursday. On Saturday Costa got a mild taste of what Fischer family gatherings are like. He also got super wasted and tried to make out with one of my cousins (ok that was a lie… just seeing if you are paying attention). We also had a brief directions gathering interlude with Cpt. Dan Winn of the Hebron, IN police department. He seemed amiable enough and has an impressive biography that includes some chemistry! Deadly military chemistry!

This podcast includes a bizarre amount of remixes. There is a remix that I like quite a bit by Paul Epworth aka Phones. There are a couple of classics by T. Rex and Pixies whom you should all know and love. There is some new Futureheads which I think is a decent enough followup to their first album especially considering it is remixes and B sides. As far as the actual Monday podcast here it is:

1) The Concretes - Under Your Leaves - Layyourbattleaxedown
2) T. Rex - Mambo Sun - Electric Warrior
3) The Futureheads - Decent Days and Nights (Max Tundra Remix) - Decent Days and Nights
4) Annie vs. Phones - Heartbeat - (Internet remix compilation)
5) Annie - Heartbeat - Anniemal
6) Pixies - Holiday Song - Come On Pilgrim
7) Kams - Wouldn’t It Be Nice - Hippocamp Ruins Pet Sounds

Contact the Rt. Rev. Fischer: rtrev –AT– vdov –DOT– net

As it turns out, this Thanksgiving, I have much to be thankful for.

The Fischer household has been, as I think we all know, incredible to me — essentially they’re my adopted parents. This Thanksgiving was certainly no exception. Thursday I enjoyed a nothing-short-of-fantastic meal in Indianapolis courtesy of the Peach family (neighbors of the Fischers). After which we all went out to a movie (Good Night, and Good Luck), which was very enjoyable, and crashed at Andy’s place. Tomorrow, the Fischers will AGAIN be maintaining my free-loading grad-schooling self by picking me up here in West Lafayette and carrying me (in a car, one might hope) off to Valparaiso, where I’m sure to enjoy another incredible meal with the Tom Fischer-side of the Fischer family. I’m sure Andy and myself will have much to say about this event.

Yes that’s right kids, TWO Thanksgiving meals. Seriously. Awesome.

Before the Thanks commenced on Tuesday evening with the usual drinking at Emily’s place, I’ve been working on trying to understand my ion trap mass spectrometry (ITMS, not to be confused with the iTunes Music Store). Although I don’t feel it’s quite my place to be devulging secrets at this point, I’ve starting out on some pretty cool stuff in the rectilinear ion trap (RIT)/miniature mass spec world of the Cooks group. You’ll notice there aren’t many papers published on this joint subject (although much has been published on the field of mini mass specs). There’s a reason.

After returning to West Lafayette after crashing at the Fischer’s place, I was delighted to find out that the developers over at my favorite miniature Linux distrobution, OpenWRT, have been hard at work lately and have released WhiteRussian RC4, a staggering improvement over the previous RC3. Although I’ve always held this distrobution in high regard, it has certainly not been something your average Joe would want to run. Until now. They’ve really spiced things up not only on the backend but also on a brand-spanking-new web-based administration tool, which is in every way shape and form superior to any proprietary administration tool I’ve seen in the low-end router market. I encourage everone to check it out … it really has made my night. If you do go ahead and want to give this distro a whirl, I’d encourage checking out the specs/serial numbers on Linksys routers before you take the plunge.

In closing I’d like to say that I’m psyched Brian has decided to write some content for vdov. Any of you other kids (I know there are at least a few) who might have something to contribute to “the nerdiest site on the internet”*, please, let me know. I’m always looking to expand content.

Cheers.

*Personal Communication, Robert Peach, 2005.

I would like to first say Happy T-Give Day; a modified Thanksgiving. I think the last time I wrote on vdov was 13 years and 2 months ago, this doesnt mean I have not read the awe-inspiring blogs posted by much higher intellects such as yourselves since that time. I mean, JPL, Purdue Grad, Fischer’s Bio research (apologies if that is not what you are doing), I am happy to see you have continued to work in your fields studied in college; I have thought about posting on vdov for sometime, but have been so busy with work, squash, and sleeping, that my schedule has allowed no time to write. Soo… Thanksgiving is here and I am home in Bend with a little spare time.

The purpose of this “discussion” is to introduce a new series of blogs called….hmmm…. Copier Nerd. It is designed to inform the uniformed on everyday copier/printer/scanner/fax technology, as well as the working environment in an Office Solutions company. Copier Nerd is singular because I will bet that I am the only science-based employee working for Pacific Office Automation today and figure it is appropriate to label myself as a nerd being a physics major. You may ask why the hell is a physics major selling copy machines? EXACTLY. Well my intentions after graduation were to work for a medical device company installing joints or pacemakers. Apparently you have to have “sales experience” to work in that field. So here I am, working for POA selling multifunction machines throughout the greater Portland area, (you would be surprised how much money some of the people here make).

The focus of this new series is not to boast about my job or what I do on my spare time, because I’m sure you could care less. It is to tell you about technology that is developing throughout the office supply world and how some of that technology works. I may seep a few jokes here and there so kids, please, “ear muffs”. ALSO, I need to improve my writing skills so I figure what better place to do so. (I am very good at Halo, I do not read).

I guess… God speed!?

Just a tidbit of insight into the world of JPL nerds. Here are the personalized license plates I’ve come across at work in the last couple of days. I’m sure they are many many more even more nerdy than this, but did you really want to wait for me to investigate?

2 SATURN
2 SATRN (yes. this is a different one.)
MTY PYTHN (black cadallac)
MARS DOC
SHDWFX (black and silver mini)
NO PLUG (hybrid)
GOT MARS
DR MAG

There are also several very good bumper stickers. My favorites that I can quote off the top of my head are: “My other car is on Mars” (most probably true); and the same idea but more obscure: “My other spaceship is at L2.” Very clever. I will append more as I run across them.

This podcast is a bit historical. It inlcudes tracks by The Cramps and an artist that The Cramps covered (Dave Diddle Day). This is from the album Songs The Cramps Taught Us which is an amalgamation of original artists doing songs The Cramps covered. I highly recommend the album (all three volumes). It is like an accessory to the Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas soundtrack and that movie is something that should be required watching for all high school students and the soundtrack should be equally enforced. The historical perspective is that The Cramps were key players in the CBGB’s American punk explosion but they borrowed heavily from the 50’s and 60’s “trash rock” sound. You can hopefully hear the connection in the tracks I chose for the podcast. I also go in for two songs by the Jeff Mangum fronted Neutral Milk Hotel which is a huge player in the indie genre. The amount of information on indie bands in the Wikipedia is truly staggering. There is also music by Ed’s Redeeming Qualities and P:ano (oh the witty spelling of the name). I hope you enjoyed this one because I kind of like it.

1) P:ano - Ghost Pirates Without Heads - Ghost Pirates Without Heads
2) Ed’s Redeeming Qualities - Bad Coffee - It’s All Good News
3) Dave Diddle Day - Blue Moon Baby - Songs That The Cramps Taught Us
4) The Cramps - Human Fly - Psychedelic Jungle/Gravest Hits
5) Neutral Milk Hotel - Ghost - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
6) Neutral Milk Hotel - Song Against Sex - On Avery Island…
7) The Briefs - Getting Hit On At the Bank - Steal Yer Heart
8) The Brakes - I Heard About Your Band - Give Blood

8 SONGS in 30 minutes! Whoa nelly!! I am just on fire.

The truth is I am slowly running out of new ‘hip’ music because of my non affiliation with a radio station. I am pretty sure that I cannot get new releases from record labels based solely on my Indie Sermon. In spite of this disadvantage I still try to bring you high quality broadcasts. This sermon contains songs by Listing Ship. Destroying France is a glorious testament to childhood and children. I also mention that Lions Eating Wildabeasts by The Lovely Feathers relates to this gallery that acts as a record of the sweetest parts of my recent trip to northern Tanzania. Despite the delay in this podcast I am pretty happy with it. I am also very impressed with the enormous amout of posts that have been happening on vdov.net. Expect a surprise podcast this weekend… just enough to melt your minds. Until then:

1) Listing Ship - Destroying France - Time To Dream (I hate France… I like this song)
2) The Lovely Feathers - The Lion Eats The Wildebeast - My Best Friend Daniel
3) Tilly and the Wall - The Ice Storm, Big Gust, and You - Wild Like Children (shortened)
4) XTC- All of a Sudden (It’s Too Late) - English Settlement
5) Man Man - Zebra - Man Man (EP)
6) Roky Erickson - I Love The Blind Man - Never Say Goodbye

In an effort to keep the music side of vdov alive amidst this near demonic onslaught of science related posts I will drop a couple bits of new on you, the reader. I would also like to point out that

The first bit of news is that the Friday podcast will most likely actually occur on Friday tomorrow. I know that many of you have become accustomed to my largess and timely podcasting. I don’t want to encourage these kinds of expectations so I will be witholding. This means that instead of getting on top of things and having the podcast done by minight to one am sometime I will force you all to wait until Friday proper before you are sermonized. Hell, I have become such a well connected man about town that you may left hanging for days, compulsively checking vdov waiting for the pure aural heroin fix that is the Rt. Rev. Fischer’s Indie Sermon while I am out painting the town red. That, or the alternative which is I will be sitting at home alone for days in my underwear drinking beer, reading bizarre hipster books, and abusing my friends and family via email all in an attempt to deny you the one thing that I enjoy making… perverse isn’t it? Truthfully, the podcast will be delayed but will hopefully get done sooner rather than later. There may be a suprise coming up as well.

The next bit of news is a quick review of the Lovely Feathers (EP) by none other than The Lovely Feathers. This album has four demos and four new songs that appear on their original demo album “My Best Friend Daniel.” I really haven’t been able to dig up too much on these guys so I really can’t tell you too much. What I do know is that they are another band from Monetreal. I know that you must be scratching your heads in wonder as to how the hell Montreal can have output this high. If we use Occam’s Razor the explanation becomes that it is a psychological warfare experiment by the Canadian government. It is something in the water. The band consists of:

1. Ted Suss, 21 -Drums
2. Noah Bernamoff, 23-Bass
3. Mark Kupfert, 23-Vocals, Guitar
4. Richard Yanofsky, 23-Vocals, Guitar
5. Daniel Suss, 23-Keyboards, Vox

As succinctly labeled on their Wes Anderson-esque website. The songs I have from them are good. There are a couple whispy losers like Cadillac and Wrong Choice. They never really pick up well. Cadillac just sort of drags along without really going anywhere and Wrong Choice has the opposite problem of building up to something that just isn’t very good. From what I can hear they are still trying to find a sound because this EP is all over the place. My two favorites on this one are Rod Stewart which is almost new wave teen ska. It sounds like something that would adorn the Empire Records sound track. It definitely has a different effect that Pope John Paul which is more crazy and “indie” if you will. I am excited to hear them polish their sound. They do have a new album that will be emerging this coming April but for the curious in the southern sections of the US they are wrapping up a monster tour with Metric.

So I’ve recently decided (today) that I’ll try and post a geeky-cool science article once a month. Complete with a physicist of the month, because everyone should know certain physicists in today’s world.

One thing I heard about today that peaked my interest had to do with spy satellites and polarization. Regardless of what the spy satellites may be used for, and whether I do or don’t agree with those uses, this is a pretty cool spy technique. The basic idea is that natural objects like plants and wood and hunks of stone reflect light that is more or less randomly polarized, whereas manmade materials (metals, plastics, aerosols, other funky chemicals) usually have some polarization consistent with their characteristics (Wikipedia has a blurb on this). Using this technique, objects that are as good as invisible in visible-light satellite images stand out severely when you look at their polarizations. So, go ahead and camouflage your tank Osama, we will be able to see it clear as day. (reference of abstracts on the topic, article)

Along the same topic of trying to find things that don’t exist…er, I mean things you can’t see, I was revisiting some of my old dark matter stuff the other day. There are various ideas and explanations for the dark matter problem (which isn’t new, by the way, we’ve known about it since like 1930, what’s surprising is that we haven’t figured it out yet), a lot of which I’ve looked into because I’m interested and most I don’t understand. The main topics of discussion are among:

1. Believers
2. Alternativists
3. Fundamentalists

Group 1: Most physicists believe there to be some kind of dark matter in the universe. This group is looking to find the mystery flavor. (Candidates include axions, axinos, weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPS–go Oxy!), neutrinos, neutralinos, photinos, zinos, Higgsinos—then they get really creative: wimpzillas, Q-balls, and Z-balls. Among others, I’m sure.)

Group 2: This group is smaller, but includes people looking for theoretical alternatives to the dark matter problem. One of these alternatives is Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND), which alters our laws of gravitation in the limit of low accelerations in much the same way that Einstein’s special relativity alters Newton’s laws of motion for high velocities. MOND, however, has nothing to say about nucleosynthesis. Another alternative comes from playing with string theories and/or brane theories, which sometimes include dark matter caveats as bonuses. (See physicist of the month, below.)

Group 3: Recently discovered. A paper was published in July by a group of physicists who claim to have solved the dark matter problem solely using the laws of General Relativity (also slashdotted). Seems to me as though somebody ought to have checked that already…but who knows, the thing involves 4 dimensional tensors, and hasn’t actually been solved for many cases.

So there’s dark matter in a nutshell. And that brings us to our physicist of the month: Dr. Lisa Randall who was previously at MIT and is now at Harvard. She is one of the leaders in the field of brane theory. Here is a very understandable and badass interview on the topic with Dr. Randall (2001).

Before proctoring the CHM 115 exam last night, a number of us went out for a couple (few) drinks. Although you may find this unethical, there are no words to describe how utterly boring a 115 exam is, and so a little liquid anesthetic goes a long way to making the experience more tolerable.

During the exam, Victoria wrote a little limerick that I’ll share with you all now.

There are some students in chemistry
Who know what a drag TAing can be
So before an exam
They drink all they can
To solving their boredom they found a key

In other news I’ve added a new ‘Science’ category, because I think we all know that all of the major contributors are huge nerds and will be posting as such. ‘Technical’ will be reserved for network/systems stuff.