Spark

For our New Year’s show, we tried something a little different. Producer Jane Farrow put together a special episode chock-full of fresh ideas to inspire your own thinking in 2009.

And yes… I know we’re posting this episode well before its airdate. We finished this episode early and couldn’t wait to get it onto the web. So listen below (or download the MP3), and follow along.

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27 Ideas in 27 Minutes

1. Use the "voice memo" function of your digital camera to record bird calls
2. Preserve the colours of autumn leaves by scanning them with a digital scanner
3. Turn sunken ships into artificial coral reefs
4. Turn minefields into bird sanctuaries
5. Attach your digital camera to a telescope to digiscope wildlife
6. Sterilize wine barrels with a UV light stick
7. Users, not designers, are often the best at figuring out what technology is for
8. Turn up the brightness setting, and use your computer screen as light source when taking photos
9. No window in your office? Add a webcam widget to your desktop
10. Keep copies of your travel documents on a USB stick
11. Use your iPod screen as a flashlight
12. When running wires through a ceiling, remove a pot light, stick your cell phone in the hole, and take a flash photo to identify obstacles
13. WARNING: FIRE HAZARD! Use a server to raise the temperature of your basement for beer brewing
14. WARNING: FIRE HAZARD! Roast coffee in your popcorn popper
15. WARNING: FIRE HAZARD! Use your computer as a space heater
16. WARNING: FIRE HAZARD! Dry wood in the microwave
17. WARNING: FIRE HAZARD! Make jewelry from microwaved CDs
18. Take the taboo out of "condom" with a ringtone
19. Program your cell phone as a "boss alarm"
20. Avoid cell phone fees by "flashing"
21. Microcoordinate
22. Cell phones have taken away our ability to plan anything
23. Facebook friends are different than face-to-face friends
24. Head lice have the power to bring people together
25. Keep a list of movies and books you want to see or read on your iPod
26. Use the last 10 seconds of a song on your iPod to take your pulse
27. Replace your BIC lighter with a cell phone at concerts.

This episode features Creative Commons music and sound effects:

• Voice_of_Zonotrichia_albicollis.ogg
• Canon DOS D30 (single).wav by FreqMan
• Nikolai_Rimsky-Korsakov_-_Bumblebee.ogg
• “I’m Beginning To See The Light” by Harry James & His Orchestra
• “Catscratch” by Windom Earle
• “Naked (Scottz Sunday Snooze Edit)” by scottaltham

[Original image by Duy's Photo Shoots]

5038 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2008/12/episode-60-december-31-2008-january-3-2009/Episode+60+-+December+31%2C+2008+%26%23038%3B+January+3%2C+20092008-12-31+06%3A00%3A01Dan+Misener

This week on Spark, a feature interview with Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. Clay and Nora talk about the pros and cons of social media, new online business models online, and how big change comes from human motivation, not shiny new technologies.

Note: A shorter version of this interview aired on Spark 38.

You can listen to the show below, or download the MP3.

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This episode features Creative Commons music and sound effects:

• “1987″ by Windom Earle
• “talkin about practice instrumental” by airtone

[Original image by Joi]

50211 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2008/12/episode-59-december-24-27-2008/Episode+59+-+December+24+%26%23038%3B+27%2C+20082008-12-24+06%3A00%3A01Dan+Misener

“The Internet Age should be a golden age for bridge figures and for xenophiles.”

That’s what Ethan Zuckerman, a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society wrote in his blog post, Bridgeblogger and Xenophile, a tale of two bloggers. But just what is a xenophile, according to Ethan?

It’s been a challenge for me to define xenophiles as a category without falling victim to definitions that are trivial or superficial. It’s easy to dismiss the idea by suggesting that everyone who eats sushi and listens to world music is – or considers herself to be – a xenophile. Too loose a definition and “xenophile” ends up sounding like a synonym for “liberal”, “multicultural or even “politically correct”, which isn’t what I’m intending.

Xenophilia is about connecting with people, not with cultural artifacts or other things. Liking Japanese food or Senegalese hiphop doesn’t make you a xenophile – xenophilia is about making connections across language and cultural barriers motivated by your interest in making better sushi or translating Daara J lyrics. Xenophilia is broader than the love for a specific culture or an aspect of that culture – it’s a broader fascination with the complexity and diversity of the world. Xenophilia changes your behavior, especially your behavior in seeking for information, leading you to pay attention not just to the parts of the world that have caught your attention, but to others that you know little about.

This morning, Nora interviewed Ethan about the benefits of xenophilic thinking. A shorter version of their conversation will air on the January 7, 2009 episode of Spark, but you can hear the whole thing below, or download the MP3 (runs 31:37).

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

[Original photo by whiteafrican]

50111 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2008/12/full-interview-ethan-zuckerman-on-xenophiles-and-cultural-bridge-figures/Full+interview%3A+Ethan+Zuckerman+on+Xenophiles+and+Cultural+Bridge+Figures2008-12-23+18%3A04%3A08Dan+Misener

On this episode of Spark: Memory, Wikipedia,and Sewing 2.0

• Angela Troyer explains why ballroom dancing can help improve your memory (full interview)
• Gary Small says you can teach an old brain new tricks (full interview)
• Cathi Bond explores sewing’s resurgence (pun intended). Links:
• The Workroom
• Spoonflower
• Chris Jensen assigns his students Wikipedia homework (full interview, view the class’s Wikipedia contributions)

This episode features Creative Commons music and sound effects:

• "The Incredible Joyfulness of Sentience" by DJ Rkod
• "Wadidyusay?" by Zap Mama
• "Record Crackles and Pops 1.wav" by hello_flowers
• "45 rpm needle off.wav" and "45rpm needle drop.wav" by FreqMan
• Charlie Barnet & his Orchestra – Make Believe Ballroom
• Clips from Pattern for Smartness (1948)
• "Trust Pizz/Spic Strings" by audiotechnica
• "Disappointment" by Slizzard

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You can download this episode as an MP3, or receive Spark automatically by subscribing to any of our totally free podcast feeds:

• Free weekly podcast (Subscribe in iTunes)
• Free weekly podcast + additional blog-only content (Subscribe in iTunes)
• Free weekly podcast (low bandwidth version)

For more information (and instructions) visit cbc.ca/podcasting

[Original image by machaon-dance]

5002 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2008/12/episode-58-december-17-20-2008/Episode+58+-+December+17+%26%23038%3B+20%2C+20082008-12-16+21%3A28%3A53Dan+Misener

Last year, Nora interviewed Jay Baydala about ChristmasFuture, a charity that wants to redirect holiday spending toward the eradication of extreme poverty.

Starting today and running through December 24, ChristmasFuture is running a new Twitter-based campaign called TweetmasFuture, which takes a cue from the highly successful TweetsGiving. We thought this would be a good opportunity to repost Nora’s original interview:

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[MP3 download]

What do you think? How can charities best use Web 2.0 tools like Twitter?

499No Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2008/12/tweetmasfuture/TweetmasFuture2008-12-16+20%3A13%3A38Dan+Misener

Original Image by Marcin Wichary

Recently, I interviewed Gary Small, a neuroscientist, and co-author of iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind. He argues that there is much about our use of digital technology that stimulates brain activity, but also that an over-reliance on digital technology has significant down sides. One of the most interesting parts of his research, to me, is how plastic our brain function is. So-called ‘digital immigrants’, who didn’t grow up using digital technology, can train their brains to respond in a similar way to ‘digital natives’.

I’d love to hear what you think, and in particular, I’d love to hear from parents with thoughts about their kids’ use of digital technology. Do you limit how much computer time they have? Do you notice that they are better at toggling between tasks than you are?

A shorter version of this interview airs on the Dec. 17th and 20th episode of Spark, but you can hear the full, uncut interview below, or download the MP3.

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

498No Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2008/12/full-interview-gary-small-on-ibrain/Full+Interview%3A+Gary+Small+on+iBrain2008-12-16+19%3A14%3A59Nora+Young

Over the past several weeks, Merlin Mann of 43Folders.com has appeared on Spark to present a special series all about blogging. His series goes beyond tips and tricks, and gets at some of the underlying principles of creating quality work online.

We know some Spark listeners have blogs, and we also realize that many don’t. If you do have a blog, we hope you’ll find some helpful suggestions and guidance here. And if you don’t have a blog, we hope you might be inspired to give blogging a try. And if you know someone who might benefit from hearing this series, send them a link to this post. They’ll thank you.

We’re pleased to present Merlin’s entire series below. You can download and listen to individual segments, or you can get them all as a .zip file (Note: you will need a software program to un-zip this file). Enjoy!

Prelude: What Makes a Good Blog?

Based partly on his 43Folders.com post What Makes for a Good Blog?, Merlin talks about voice, obsession, and the importance of trying.

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[MP3 download]

Homework: Think about what your obsession is, and write a short 2nd post for your blog. Don’t write the introductory post. Write 500 words that lay out your excitement about your obsession, and explain why your perspective is different.

Part 1: Consider Your Audience

Merlin says that one of the keys to writing a good blog is identifying your audience, and asking, “Who is it that I think is going to be following what I do, and who specifically do I want to reach with this?”

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[MP3 download]

Homework: Identify 10 humans beings whose names you know that you wish read your blog. Then imagine, imagine if only one person in the entire world read your blog. Who would that be?

Part 2: Manage Expectations

Merlin looks at one of the most overlooked aspects of having a sustainable blog: managing expectations about tone, post length, frequency, etc.

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[MP3 download]

Homework: Look at your favourite blog or community site, and ask yourself, “What do I hope never changes about this?” Then, ask yourself, “What do I hope never changes about my blog?”

Part 3: Get Better

Merlin takes things to the next level to talk about getting better: writing better to think better, becoming a great editor, and the importance of spelling and grammar.

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[MP3 download]

Homework: Go back to something that you’ve posted in the past (a blog post, or photo, or video), and think about how you could improve it through a bit of editing.

Part 4: Attract an Audience

In a sea of advice on how to “supercharge your blog,” Merlin offers some wholesome and ethical ways to organically attract an audience to your online presence

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[MP3 download]

Homework: Consider getting outside your URL. Meet some real people who share your interest.

Part 5: Q & A

Merlin answers your questions about starting a second blog, citing other blogs, and if it’s worth blogging at all.

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[MP3 download]

Homework: Just get out there and try it. Blogging has never been easier.

[Original photo credit: Jeremy Harris]

49712 Commentshttp://www.cbc.ca/spark/2008/12/full-merlin-mann-series-how-to-blog/Full+Merlin+Mann+Series%3A+How+To+Blog2008-12-12+15%3A00%3A00Dan+Misener