Posted by Nora Young under
Audio,
Interviews
The Warbike is an unbelievably cool art project that I had a chance to try out recently. Here’s how artist David McCallum describes it in an online entry:
Did you know that almost anywhere that you go in a city you’ll be sharing space with someone’s private wireless computer network? All of their personal communication—e-mail, love messages, bank passwords, credit card numbers, and bizarre surfing habits—will be passing through your body without your awareness. Who are they, and how do you feel about sharing space with their personal life?
The Warbike turns this wireless network activity into sound. As you cycle the streets, you’ll hear the activity of this invisible communications layer that permeates our public spaces. Who knew that so much was going on?
Here’s what the Warbike looks like:
And here’s David with the guts of the Warbike:
Listen here for a sample of what the Warbike’s audio sounds like. I strapped a microphone on the carrier of the bicycle. David’s Warbike will be at Toronto’s Nuit Blanche all-night art festival this weekend, and his Warbike will then be available for the pedalling FREE until December 1st at Interaccess Electronic Media Arts Centre
Update: Check out the full interview with David McCallum on the October 10/13 episode of Spark. It’s the first story.
Posted by Dan Misener under
Episodes
On this episode of Spark:
This episode features Creative Commons music and sound effects:
You can download this episode as an MP3 or receive Spark automatically by subscribing to either of our totally free podcast feeds:
For more information (and instructions) visit cbc.ca/podcasting
Posted by Dan Misener under
Audio
Satisfaction is a crowdsourced customer service website. That means customers can answer questions about a company’s products in the same way the company can.
Lane Becker is the president of Satisfaction, and Nora interviewed him today.
Download the full interview as an MP3, then check out Spark’s page on Satisfaction.
Posted by Elizabeth Bowie under
Help Us Out!
I swear, the British keep statistics on everything. Recent research says that 850,000 cell phones are dropped in toilets in the UK every year. Wow, that stinks!
Have you ever dropped your cell phone in the toilet? Or the lake? Or a puddle?
We’re talking wet cell phones next week on Spark. Phone in your story to 416-205-8974, or leave us a Skype voicemail.
Photo by jurvetson
Posted by Dan Misener under
Uncategorized
2D barcodes (like the one pictured here) all all the rage in Japan. They appear almost everywhere — magazines, advertisements, food products — and they “hyperlink the real world with the virtual world.” A good example is clothing retailer H&M’s use of 2D barcodes in European advertisments.
Soon on Spark, we’ll ask Tokyo-based trendscout Michael Keferl why 2D barcodes are so popular in Japan, but haven’t caught on in the west.
In the meantime, we want you to keep your eyes peeled for 2D barcodes. If you see one, snap a photo, then upload it to Spark’s Flickr Pool. Include a note about when and where you saw it. One lucky barcode-spotter will win a spiffy Spark grocery bag.
Posted by Nora Young under
Modern Irritants
New Yorkers are set to welcome another flavour of modern life to their subway system: cell phones! The New York Times reports that the transportation authority has opted to enable cell phone service in all 277 underground stations. In the ‘thank heavens for small mercies’ department, you won’t be able to get reception in tunnels.
Meanwhile, a number of air lines are opting to try out cell phones and/or text messaging on in-flight planes this Fall. Airlines include Air France, Ryanair, Shenzhen Airlines in China, and Emirates Airlines, the Globe and Mail reports.
What do you think? I appreciate how boring it is to be on an interminable flight, but on the other hand, I think I’d rather have someone kick the back of my seat for three hours than listen to innumerable “Where am I? I’m on the plane! Yes, the airplane! Where are you?” one-sided conversations.
Posted by Dan Misener under
Episodes
On this episode of Spark:
This episode features Creative Commons music:
You can download this episode as an MP3, play it in a new window, or receive Spark automatically by subscribing to either of our totally free podcast feeds:
For more information (and instructions) visit cbc.ca/podcasting
