90's Volume Pumping

Last night I saw the 1990 Christian Slater flick, "Pump Up the Volume." It was something that I was frantically trying to find but found it increasingly difficult as the days wore on.

Sometimes I get in these states of mind when I can't find something that I become sort of obsessed with it and have to find it. Usually the more obscure and unknown, the better… I know I could order it on the net with a click of the button, but there is something that is so much more fulfilling when you find something that you've been searching for (on foot) for days and days. I finally found the movie at a Media Play right down the road from my house. Incidentally it was the last copy and it was on sale (bonus!).

I'm not going to give it the full Reel Reviews treatment, but would like to tell you a bit about it. Essentially it's your typical early 90's teen angst movie (i.e. Breakfast Club (actually circa 1985 but of the same caliber), et al), only done the way that only Christian Slater could do it. He plays a pirate radio dj, who rains trouble upon his high school by spreading his rebellion on all the good little girls and boys. He uses the radio waves as a medium to attempt to start a revolution in his community where "truth is a virus". What ensues is the typical (typical in that you know what is going to follow in the story) mass chaos of teens "stickin' it to the man" (my dave slusher quote of the day) by revolting against all forms of authority to express the severe depression and trauma that are the teenage years.

Obviously this is not the most put together movie of all times (typical for movies of that era), but the premise is sort of inspiring in a way. I started to think of a correlation with the message that the writer was attempting to convey and with that of blogging and, more importantly, podcasting. I found that a comparison does exist, but only on a certain level. In the movie, it so happened, that as a result of the words spoken, sweeping changes began to happen in the minds of those tuning in. I started to think to myself, if this was possible today, in this time of extreme amounts of information (almost to the point of overload). It would seem that we live in the ultimate era of dissemination of information and in our ability to reach the masses for change and rebellion, yet very little of it seems apparent. It could be argued, and perhaps I agree with this, that change is subtle and rears its head after seemingly long periods of time. I could also be argued that with the amount of information freely available over this massive network, we should be world changers in a day. I think, though, that perhaps a crucial point is being missed. That is the point of the foot work I was referring to in the first portion of this post. I am as guilty of this as anyone, but I read something revolutionary and/or inspiring and think to myself, "Wow, that's really nice...I hope someday someone can do that." It's true. I am becoming that which I always promised myself I would never be. I go to my job and do my work to the best of my ability. I go to school and soak up every last morsel of information I can (sometimes I try too hard and miss so much). I become stuck in this cycle that I cannot break out of at times(let me say, here, that there is nothing more important to me in life than learning. Perhaps it is a control mechanism, but I cannot suffice to just knowing the status quo, but I have to dig deeper to the real reason behind things). Trust me when I say this, I am not crying on anyone's shoulder, nor am I asking for sympathy. I make my own bed and lay in it, as I am expected to. I am not going to make the age old argument that society is what makes me do it, because we all know that is complete and total bullshit. My problem is that I am lazy and refuse to get my hands dirty, as it were. For example, I made one podcast to get my stuff out there and haven't made another since. I can make every excuse in the book...my microphone sucks; I don't have the web space anymore, etc. If I want to be true to myself though, I am so afraid of rejection that I become paralyzed to action. Upon deeper reflection, I am afraid of the responsibility that becomes mine when I make comments of an important nature...responsibility to have something to back up my beliefs or, in the case of any scientific judgments I make, have an adequate amount of knowledge to make my assertions (of which I have some, but am unwilling, at the moment, to take that plunge). There is a certain amount of weakness in the way I am coming to terms with these feelings because I choose not to act. I have the tools at my disposal, but I make excuses all the same. Are there others like me who are plagued with the paralyses to action? Do you have something that you deem important to say and yet choose not to? The world is not all bad, but there are some things that require our action to change (war for oil or peace for mankind, as an example). Action begins with a voice, then is made complete with the foot work that is required to give that voice substance. Perhaps one day I will practice what I preach. Perhaps...

Too Long

I'm not sure if anyone is checking the blog or not. I noticed that quite a lot of people have downloaded the torrent file. Thank you so much for that. I am in a continual commitment to bring you quality information which is why I haven't produced anything as of late. I have something in the works that is a bit more raw than my last cast. I hope to have it out quickly. My links are broken as well, as you could probably tell because I was using a free hosting company and they decided to delete my account without notice (you get what you pay for unfortunately). So, I should be up and running again soon. I hope you have enjoyed the first and only cast of the time. Rest assured there is more to come...and I can only get better with age ;-) If you guys have comment please write them. I want to hear from you guys! Thanks again for downloading this little ol' cast.

Podcasting Has Landed

The podcast of Defenestrate Your Mind Edition 1 "Introductions and Why Things Work the Way They Do" is up for the masses to consume. I am listed on the ipodder.org directory and podcast.net.
Here are the show notes for this cast:
Introduction to cast
Discussion of "The Computer and The Brain" by Jon Von Neumann
Closing with song by Canton called "Bassomatic" www.ontology.com

Thank you for listening to the cast. There will be more in the coming weeks. Please leave feedback here or email me dymind at gmail dot com.

First for Always

Presumably, this will be an entry that will serve as an introduction to me as it is my first post to this blog (my first post to any blog, really). I guess I will keep with expectation and attempt to impart my person to you.

I like to think of myself as having a simple yet complex personality. Simple, in that I enjoy mostly simple things in life (ie nature, hiking, etc). Complex, in that I enjoy a gamut of complexities (ie puzzles, Go, computer programming, poetry, literature, etc). I label myself (if be such a need) as a thinker and observer mostly. I am not the loudest person in the room, and yet I am not quite the quietest. Often times I find myself listening rather than talking.

This brings me to an interesting deviation, in that I am writing about myself and my interests in this blog. I would, on the shallow end, say that it is the opposite of my persona to attempt to share my opinion on certain subjects. However, if one digs to the complexity that lies underneath (as is such in a seemingly simple system) it is there that through my observation, the overflow of such pours to the pages.

I have written poetry for most of my life, but have never formally published it (probably out of fear of rejection, another topic altogether). This seems to be the next logical step to a semi formal place to lay my thoughts down. Albeit that most of what I say here will more than likely be the shallower end of the pool in context of deeper ideas that I may have, simply because I will probably save those for my personal journal. However, certain entries of that may end up here as well (in copy of course).

I consider myself by no means an authority on any subject(in that I am an "elitist"). I am eager to learn new things and to master everything that I can that this life will give me time. Even if I am learned well in an area of particular interest to me, I try to approach critique with humility, as there are always things that one can learn that they didn't know at the beginning. I am, in the end, not above reproach. I will present certain facts that will border on truth (I say border because most truths can be reinterpreted by the reader into something completely unintended by the author. In any event that I feel strongly that something is a complete truth, I will state it with certainty and give facts to backup my analysis) but can always accept viewpoints other than mine. That is one reason I decided to do this. Peer review. I have several ideas about the world around me and, rather than live inside a safe bubble where I am always correct, I want to present them in the open for others to comment on (perhaps getting good dialog along the way). The format may at times be scattered and informal and at other times quite formal and given quite a bit of thought. As such, I may not update on a daily basis if I do not feel it worthy of note until my thoughts are better collected.

I am a fairly technical person and interested in all things technical. I am not interested in technical topics simply for the sake of them being technical, however. I am interested in all things beautiful and that which has potential and balance. I like to think of discovery and innovation (technical or otherwise) as a subtle dance between man and the physical nature of our universe (the physical nature being the laws that govern it). In this dance sometimes we lead and sometimes it leads, guiding us with its clues to the hidden mysteries of the unknown. I am mostly interested in the interrelation of technology with biological processes in that in application one can see the potential for extensions of one self into the technological realm. I am not really speaking of science fiction with biomechanical bipeds walking the earth wreaking havoc on the "weak". Mostly I view technology as a tool that can be used for our further success. I do not believe that this should be at the disadvantage of natural processes such that we begin fabricating (ie mass producing for our capatalistic consumption) multitudes of super intelligent beings that slowly begin to displace other lifeforms available today. I think that all things technological should be held in moderation, so as to not loose focus on reality. I, personally, do not wish to live in a William Gibson nightmare of Japanese metropolis gone wild with revolting artificially intelligent technology (although I do find the symbiotic closeness with technology and biology explored in his text fascinating). I am extremely fascinated with Artificial Intelligence, for the simple fact that therein lies the secrets to intelligence waiting to be found. Do with it what we may, they are there for us to discover. I am not so much interested in creating a synthetic human being (my wife and I can flawlessly create a perfect being with little effort), but I would like to pursue further the search for the subtle nuances of that which is the oldest of frontiers, that of intelligence. For I feel that in it lies the very nature of life itself, or rather perhaps the potential to know those things (for that is the largest thing about intelligence, being the potential to learn as opposed to the end product as such).

I must say with enthusiasm that I am quite excited about this subculture of blogging and more fascinating: podcasting. I am a huge fan of The Evil Genius Chronicles, In The Trenches, and IT Conversations. I am experimenting with this medium myself and hope to produce a few along the way. When I do begin producing shows this will be an addendum to those shows, a place where one can come and receive notes and various errata pertaining to particular topics presented. I hope that the readers will be interested in what it is that I consider good subject matter (as much of a nice as that might be).

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I hope that you will return for more in the coming days, weeks, and months.

Paul