Spark

This week on Spark’s regular, over-the-air radio broadcast, you’ll hear an “encore presentation” of Spark 86: Digital forgetting, email salutations, and food pills.

Because we’ve promised no more podcast repeats, you won’t find this episode in our regular podcast feed. But if you would like to listen again, or check out any of the links mentioned on this week’s show, follow this link to the show notes for Spark 86.

We’ll be back with a brand-new episode of Spark on February 14, 2010.

Note: Eagle-eared listeners will notice that Pete Nowak’s net neutrality update from Spark 86 has been swapped out for Al Rae’s Facebook Mea Culpa story from Spark 72.

23072 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2010/02/an-encore-presentation-of-spark-86/An+%22encore+presentation%22+of+Spark+862010-02-07+13%3A00%3A43Dan+Misener

Here’s the thing: the Spark community is full of people who are experts, technologists, and über-geeks.

But, the Spark community is also full of people who aren’t experts, technologists, or über-geeks.

So, this week, we started an experiment: SparkExchange. The goal is to try and bring these two groups together, and have the Spark community connect in a meaningful, helpful way.

SparkExchange is a place to ask your nagging technology questions. No question is too basic or simple. And you can get started right now: ask a question, or view a list of existing questions to see if you can help someone out. You don’t need to register or login (though you can if you’d like).

So what are you waiting for?

23326 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2010/02/announcing-an-experiment-sparkexchange/Announcing+an+experiment%3A+SparkExchange2010-02-05+21%3A41%3A05Dan+Misener

Last Spring, Jason Paul graduated from college with a degree in communications. While in school, he interned at USA Today, The CBS Evening News, and theWashingtonPost.com.

After he graduated, Jason tried to get a writing job. He says he applied to over 180 publications, but got nothing but rejection letters back. So, Jason decided to try something different. Really different.

Jason had the idea of living his life off Craigslist. This means, he says, finding “jobs, housing, friends, food and other necessities entirely via Craigslist.”

Jason is writing about his experiences at his blog, LivingCraigslist, and for a book he’s working on.

A shorter version of this interview will air on Spark 102, but you can hear the full, uncut interview below, or download the MP3. [runs 16:25]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

If you like hearing these extended interviews, why not subscribe to Spark Plus? You’ll get regular weekly episodes, plus additional blog-only content like this. [Subscribe via RSS] or [Subscribe with iTunes]

[Original photo by acloudman]

2325No Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2010/02/full-interview-jason-paul-on-living-craigslist/Full+Interview%3A+Jason+Paul+on+Living+Craigslist2010-02-05+16%3A26%3A47Dan+Misener

On February 16th, I’m interviewing Jaron Lanier, about his new book, You Are Not a Gadget. In part, it’s a further development of an argument he made several years ago, in a widely discussed article at Edge.org. Lanier takes issue with some of the implications of Web 2.0, arguing that it prioritizes a kind of collectivism and abstracts information from the context of the human individuals who use and create it. He might even think it’s a problem for me to solicit questions from people who have not had a chance to read his whole book, and take in his full, individual perspective, but have instead just read interviews, or followed second hand media accounts.

For me, one of the most interesting points in the book so far is his observation that the design decisions built into these Web 2.0 tools create create a certain bias, they privilege certain uses and possibilities for communication of information. It’s a McLuhan/Innis stance, as opposed to the ‘neutral tools’.

I’d love to include some of your questions in the interview. Of course, we can also just have a good ol’ chin wag about Web 2.0, collectivism, and what will become of the individual. Please share your thoughts and questions!

Original Image by threemobilebuzz

23196 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2010/02/questions-wanted-jaron-laniers-you-are-not-a-gadget/Questions+Wanted%3A+Jaron+Lanier%27s+You+Are+Not+a+Gadget2010-02-04+18%3A17%3A07Nora+Young

Elizabeth, Dan and I just had a brainstorming session. We wanted to take a step back and look at Spark: what’s working, what’s not, what we can do better. Maybe it’s partly because it’s February, but we think the show, and our work lives, have been lacking a bit of their customary ‘zing’. As Peter Rukavina might say, we need to ‘zap our pram‘.

We have some ideas already, especially about organizational matters (e.g. getting items cut earlier in the week, so that there’s more time to play with transitions and the connective tissue of the show–what we call ’swivels’ here at Spark HQ).

We also need some help. From you.

We hope you’ll tell us what’s working on the show, what you miss, what you’d like to see more of. How do you feel about the longer form interviews we’ve done from time to time? Would you like to see Spark do public events? Is there a particular guest or topic you’re itching to hear about? What were some stories that really stand out for you from past episodes? Help kick start our creative spirit! Think broadly and dream big!

Thanks, and as always, thanks for your participation. We couldn’t make Spark without our wonderful community.

Original Image by -: pranav :-

231533 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2010/02/remake-remodel-whats-next-for-spark/Remake%2C+Remodel%3A+What%27s+Next+for+Spark%3F2010-02-03+19%3A20%3A11Nora+Young

Last week, Nora interviewed Rob Ennals. Rob is a Research Scientist at Intel Research Berkeley, and he’s one of the creators of DisputeFinder. DisputeFinder is a piece of software that claims to show the “the other side of the story.” As you surf the web, it identifies disputed claims (e.g. “marijuana is unhealthy” or “tax increases hurt the economy“). Then, it points you to different points of view.

A shorter version of this interview will air on an upcoming episode of Spark, but you can hear the full, uncut interview below, or download the MP3. [runs 12:05]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

If you like hearing these extended interviews, why not subscribe to Spark Plus? You’ll get regular weekly episodes, plus additional blog-only content like this. [Subscribe via RSS] or [Subscribe with iTunes]

23121 Commenthttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2010/02/full-interview-rob-ennals-on-disputefinder-bias-and-trust-online/Full+Interview%3A+Rob+Ennals+on+DisputeFinder%2C+bias+and+trust+online2010-02-03+15%3A31%3A43Dan+Misener

229714 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2010/01/spark-101-january-31-february-2-2010/Spark+101+-+January+31+%26+February+2%2C+20102010-01-29+21%3A39%3A43Dan+Misener