Can we read minds?

The question: the extent to which the mind can be used to control a computer. Neural signals are already used to control artificial limbs, for instance:  if you "think" walking, you send those control signals whether you physically walk or not.

I gather that this is the case for speech, too. So that it would seem feasible (if not currently practicable) for us to be able to "think" words onto a computer screen by monitoring neural speech control signals; the software would do a statistical analysis similar to that performed on audio signals for convention speech recognition, deriving the words but having no sense of their meaning. [follow source for more]

Poem from "Four Weddings and a Funeral" Lyrics & Recording

There's a beautiful poem by W H Auden from the film "Four Weddings and a Funeral" called "Funeral Blues" and read by John Hannah. It's amazingly powerful. I've read it here against an audio backdrop of "When Darkness Falls" by Secret Garden - which I felt made an evocative combination. 

mp3 of Funeral Blues / When Darkness Falls read by Nik Sargent

Funeral Blues

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, 
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, 
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum 
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. 

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead 
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead. 
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves, 
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves. 

He was my North, my South, my East and West, 
My working week and my Sunday rest, 
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; 
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong. 

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one, 
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun, 
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods; 
For nothing now can ever come to any good. 

W.H. Auden 

When Music-on-hold goes bad

The Avoid List

Born of Frustration - James

Hanging On The Telephone - Blondie

Heaven Knows I Am Miserable Know - The Smiths

Hold the Line - Toto

How Long - The Eagles

Hung Up - Madonna (“Time Goes By So Slowly”) 

It's So Funny How We Don't Talk Any More - Cliff Richard 

It's Yer Money I'm After Baby - The Wonder Stuff

No Rush - Josh Turner

Paper Planes - MIA (“All I want to do is ... and … and take your money”)

Patience - Take That

Relax Take It Easy - Mika

Ring Ring - De La Soul (“Hey you doing? Sorry you couldn’t get through. If you leave a name and a number … I’ll get back to you”)

Sam’s Town - The Killers ("Why do you waste my time? Is the answer to the question on your mind")

Say Something - James (“Say Something Say Something Anything Your Silence Is Deafening”) 

Shutt Uppa Ya Face - Joe Dolce

Still Waiting - Sum 41

Talk Dirty To Me - Poison

Things Can Only Get Better - DREAM

Under Pressure - Queen

We Have All The Time In The World - Louis Armstrong

You Don't Care About Us - Placebo

You Never Give Me Your Money - The Beatles

Utility Company no-no's

Back To Black - Amy Winehouse

Boom! Shake The Room - DJ Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince

Every Light In The House Has Blown - Cledus T Judd

Firestarter - Prodigy

Greased Lightning (“It’s Electrifying”)

Hot And Cold - Katy Perry

Lights Out - Santigold

Relight My Fire - Take That

Short Circuit - Daft Punk

The Light - Proclaimers (“A Light Shines On That Helps You To Steer, Makes Everything Clear, Well It Might In Your World But It Doesn't In Mine, Ive Been Stumbling In The Dark For Years”) 

Une Annee Sans Lumiere - Arcade Fire

Suggestions for a Utility Company

Darling Leave The Lights On For Me - Belinda Carlisle

Don't Stop (Wiggle Wiggle) - Outhere Brothers (Energy!  Energy!  Energy!  Energy! ) Nb: Only Listen To The Clean Version!

Energy - Earth Wind And Fire

Light My Fire - The Doors

Our Friends Electric - Gary Newman

Power Of Love - Huey Lewis And The News

She's Electric - Oasis

Telephone Line - Electric Light Orchestra

The Power - Snap

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths

Whatever You Want, Whatever You Need - Status Quo

You Are Not Alone - The Eagles

You Light Up My Life - Debby Boone

When the money printing presses roll...

There is a lot of media attention about the UK Government now "printing money". Various articles say this does not mean physically, but involves buying up various assets and even though I knew this didn't mean I'd have a new wad of fifties in my wallet tomorrow, I hadn't found a satisfactory explanation of the process until I found the following:

For those who wonder how a central bank creates money, the process is shockingly simple. If they decide they want to increase the money supply they simply buy something (normally some kind of government securities), and do this by simply doing the equivalent of writing a cheque for it. This means that a credit appears in an account of whoever accepted the cheque and money has appeared. The trouble is that central bank has not actually used anything to pay for the securities - it just creates the credit, and the money supply has increased by the amount of that credit. Money from thin air....if a central bank wants to decrease the money supply, it simply sells the asset, and the money simply disappears...

What's going on here?

I make no apology for the fact that over the years I have been quite a prolific content producer. I say "content" because my output is everything from songs and music to photos and art and writing in general. Oh, and of course unfinished websites by the dozen. Ever since I could coordinate my fingers I've been bashing them on various bits of gadgetry in order to create stuff.

This hasn't been helped by the fact that I first started publishing to the web roundabout 1993, which is actually before most people had heard of it. (Such is the privilege of working in telecoms). Consequently I have a virtual ton of material rather loosely assembled and scattered carelessly around cyberspace. It's got to the point where not only is it confusing for my audience, but even I am starting to wonder if I have multiple personalities.

So, I'm using this new website as a vehicle to try and draw some of it together, at least some of the better bits that are not going to make me blush (too much) - with the possible exception of my Loch Ness Monster story. One problem I do have is that the content I have produced on easypeasy.com has become quite popular, and to move it to this site would do some of my readers a disservice; so while I ponder on this, I'm leaving that material where it is.

Some of the most popular material there is my commentary on mental health and since this is something I am deeply passionate about, I don't intend to disrupt it. However, I expect that any new ramblings will appear here. Or both. As a temporary kind of solution, you can try this mixed RSS feed of both sites. 

It would seem that google has finally solved everything...

We knew Google/Google Calculator was powerful, but did you know it now answers the ultimate question?

Service Creation vs. Service Assembly

When I originally started at BT, working on their Network-Embedded voicemail service (“CallMinder”) it took three years to bring the project to fruition – which included developing the application and the high-availability platform to run it on. (Bear in mind, these were the days when a 1Gb disk in your server was bleeding edge).

The dream now is to do it in three weeks. Could we?

Full article in italkspeech

Stigma still very much in evidence at Management Today

Given the recent high-profile campaign by ReThink, I was saddened, disappointed and perhaps even slightly disgusted to read an article in management today that demonstrates - with textbook accuracy - the prejudice and stigma towards mental health issues that still exist today. It's not clear whether it is the result of ignorance or arrogance on the part of the author, in an attempt to be humourous - but for me, it doesn't work. It's embarassing. It's a publication that you think could do better.

The article is a commentary on a BT Tradespace survey that suggests Stephen Fry would be the small businesses'  dream employee. Unfortunately Management Today doesn't show the same insight and understanding as those small business, as it goes on to say:

But Fry has managed to trump them all, and by some distance too. Our only alarm is that – judging by his much-publicised walk-out from the West End a few years ago – he doesn’t have a great track record for dealing with pressure.

False Alarm. Whatever judgement is being exercised here, it is wrong. Fry's "much-publicised walk-out" was not a failure to deal with pressure - but by his own frank and moving admission, a result of a deeply dark period manifesting from his bi-polar disorder. Bi-polar is an illness, a malfunction - like a broken leg -  not a character weakness, as the author implies. Hey, but never let the facts get in the way of a good story?

In fact, anyone following Fry's life in detail through his twitter "tweets" will be staggered at the man's ability to cram twice as much as the rest of us into his day - not only responding to the thousands of followers who "tweet" to him daily, but jet-setting left, right and centre between TV sets, riding stubborn mules up mexican mountains, amidst writing and recording and everything else he does. The man is an inspiration.

Thankfully UK small businesses seem to recognise this - while the hand that feeds them - Management Today - should know better.