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473 lines
18 KiB
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Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 18:39:20 PST
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Reply-To: <surfpunk@osc.versant.com>
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Return-Path: <cocot@osc.versant.com>
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Message-ID: <surfpunk-0053@SURFPUNK.Technical.Journal>
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Mime-Version: 1.0
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Content-Type: text/plain
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From: surfpunk@osc.versant.com (ol cerffvat qbja n fcrpvny xrl vg cynlf n yvggyr zrybql)
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To: surfpunk@osc.versant.com (SURFPUNK Technical Journal)
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Subject: [surfpunk-0053] DIGEST: MIDI Condom, Psyche (research on consciousness)
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Keywords: surfpunk, Psyche, Shannons, Paul Lyons
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+ + It reassures me that Time Magazine
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+ + completely misquoted me. -- hakim bey
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$ ls -l
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-- MIDI Condom -- details (long)
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-- Psyche: A new electronic journal
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-- [surfpunk Timothy Newsham] Re: [surfpunk-0052] DIGEST:
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-- [cypherpunk Peter Wayner] Convincing people the value of anonymity...
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-- [cypherpunk Phil Karn] Re: Compressed/Encrypted Voice using Modems
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$ cat *
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________________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________
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Sender: Jason Asbahr <Asbahr@UH.EDU>
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Subject: MIDI Condom -- details (long)
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Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.synth
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From: archer@elysium.esd.sgi.com (Archer Sully)
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Keywords: I'm not making this up
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Date: Mon, 8 Feb 93 20:17:57 GMT
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I came up with this idea a few months ago, but someone beat me to it.
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Presented with neither comment nor permission....
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>From the San Jose Mercury News, 2/7/'93
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SONG IN YOUR HEART ISN'T ENOUGH? TRY THE MUSICAL CONDOM
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by Susan Q. Stranahan
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Paul Lyons is a proud guy, a guy who had a dream, pursued it and
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trumphed.
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And while half of him wants the world to know of his
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accomplishment, the other half's not so sure.
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See, Paul Lyons also is a shy guy. And his triumph came in
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November when he was awarded U.S. Patent No. 5,163,447.
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For a musical condom.
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Or, as the patent reads, a "force-sensitive, sound-playing
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condom."
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With the exception of his brother, his attorney and a few close
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friends, Lyons, of Southbridge, Mass., hasn't told anyone of his
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invention.
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"Even if I made a million dollars off it, I probably wouldn't
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want to go around telling everyone I've succeeded in this area,"
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he said the other day. "It's enough just for me to know it."
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Keeping the lid on his succes may prove somewhat diffficult. His
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name and address were published with the patent certificate.
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He's already gotten calls from regular readers of the Patent
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Official Gazette, the federal register of patents issued.
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"Most of them were lawyers who wanted to know where they could
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buy the condoms, " said Lyons.
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Attention: Productions has yet to begin. Lyons is still looking
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for a manufacturer. So don't loook for the condoms until summer
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of fall -- at the very soonest.
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That hasn't deterred some other eager entrepreneurs.
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Lyons recently got a call from a company that -- for a price --
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would reproduce a copy of his patent certificate, complete with
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detailied diagram of the condom, on a lampshade.
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He declined.
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There's a part of Paul Lyons -- who politely declines to provide
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his occupation or even his age -- that chafes at this
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self-imposed anonymity. He sees himself fulfilling the American
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dream -- 1990's version -- of using his wits to get ahead.
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"What does a person have if he doesn't have millions of
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dollars?" he asked the other day. "He has his ability and his
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intelligence."
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MOTHER OF INVENTION
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"My motto is 'Find a need and fill it.' THat's what I did," he
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said.
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Frankly, Lyons marvels that somebody hadn't already invened a
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musical condom.
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"It seems so simple," he said. "I was sure somebody had already
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done it." Like other great inspirations, it grew out of a casual
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conversation.
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"A friend and I were talking about the recession and different
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ways of making money," Lyons explained. "I thought about it for
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a few days and made a list. The invention has to be something
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inexpensive, something the majority of people can afford and
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that the majority of people would find appealing in some way."
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There were other considerations.
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"You need something with a good amount of planned obsolescence,m
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something that';s not going to last 100 years or so, something
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that will have a quick turnover."
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In other words, something like a condom -- an item people will
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buy, use, throw away, and buy some more.
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The musical condom -- he's still working on a jcatchy name --
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wasn't Lyons' first invention idea. He actually wanted to patent
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small containers to house cladiolus bulbs to make them easier to
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plant in the spring and remove each fall after blooming.
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THree or four people already had that idea, he discovered.
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Nobody, however, had thought of assembling a "miniature
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piezo-electric sound transducer, a microchip which controls the
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operation of (the) transducer, a powersupplying dry-cell battery
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and a switch."
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When pressure is applied to the rim of the condom containing the
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tiny circuitry, the transducer emits "a predetermined melody, or
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a voice message," according to the patent.
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FLEXIBLE TIMING
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The patent continues: "The music or voice message may be played
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once, or it may be repeated continuously for several minutes to
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coincide with the duration of coitus.
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"A voiced message may be a warning about safe sex, or a
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compliment to the couple for using a condom. Suitable melodies
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-- if music is played -- may be `The 1812 Overture,' `Ode to
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Joy,' ... or any popular love song."
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Those are only suggestions, of course. Lyons said the number of
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condom tunes is mind-boggling.
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"Once you start thinking, you can't stop," he said.
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His attorney likes Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?" Lyons
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likes "Born To Be Wild."
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It has taken Lyons several years to get this far in his quest to
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produce the musical condom. It hasn't been easy.
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"What held me up for a long time was finding the musical
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component," he said. "You can't believe the phone bills I ran
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up. Finally, everyone said I had to go to the Orient to find it,
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which I did not want to do. I wanted to stay in America."
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But one call to a Hong Kong trade association and Lyons had the
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names of 10 Asian companies that could provide the tiny sound
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unit, similar to the type used in audio greeting cards.
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That wasn't the end, however. Consider the matmter of volume.
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"The speaker has to large enough and powerful enough to eb heard
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over the, uh, background noise -- but not heard in the next
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room," he said.
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"And you have to look at liability. The battery in it would be
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so low in terms of producing current."
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The, of course, there was the question of "prior art," as the
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patent office refers to it. That required extensive research to
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prove that nobody else had laid claim to the musical condom.
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The only apparent competition was an item in the 1990 Fredericks'
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of Hollywood catalog called the "Wedding Surprise," which the
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modest Lyons has difficulty describing in detail except to say
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that it was a musical undergarment.
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Patent examiners apparently checked the catalog and didn't regard
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the item as a threat to Lyons' claim.
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Lyons hopes his condom wwill sell for $3.50 to $5, and is
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confident there is a market.
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________________________________________________________________________
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Subject: Psyche: A new electronic journal
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From: X91007@phillip.edu.au
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To: future-digest@nyx.cs.du.edu
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Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1993 23:23 EST
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PSYCHE
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an interdisciplinary journal of research on consciousness
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Psyche is a refereed electronic journal dedicated to supporting the
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interdisplinary exploration of the nature of consciousness and its relation to
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the brain. Psyche publishes material relevant to that exploration from the
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perspectives afforded by the disciplines of Cognitive Science, Philosophy,
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Psychology, Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence and Anthropology.
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Interdisciplinary discussions are particularly encouraged.
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Psyche publishes a large variety of articles and reports for a diverse
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academic audience four times per year. As an electronic journal, the usual
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space limitations of print journals do not apply; however, the editors request
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that potential authors do not attempt to abuse the medium. Psyche also
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publishes a hardcopy version simultaneously with the electronic version. Long
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articles published in the electronic version may be abbreviated, synopsized or
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eliminated from the hardcopy version.
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The journal publishes from time to time all of the following varieties of
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articles. Many of these (as indicated below) are peer reviewed; all of them
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are reviewed by editorial staff.
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Research Articles___report original research by the author(s).
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Articles may be either purely theoretical or experimental or some
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combination of the two. Articles of special interest occasionally
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will be followed by a selection of peer commentaries. Peer reviewed.
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Survey Articles___report the state of the art in some area(s) of
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research. These may be done in the form of a literature review or
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annotated bibliography. More ambitious surveys will be peer reviewed.
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Discussion Notes___critique previous research. Peer reviewed.
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Tutorials___introduce a subject area relevant to the study of
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consciousness to non-specialists.
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Letters___provide an informal forum for expressing opinions on
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editorial policy or upon material previously published in Psyche.
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Screened by the editorial staff.
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Abstracts___summarize the contents of recently published journal
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articles, books, and conference proceedings.
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Book Reviews___give an indication of the contents of recent books
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and evaluate their merits as contributions to research and/or as
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textbooks.
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Announcements___of forthcoming conferences, paper submission
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deadlines, etc.
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Advertisements___of immediate interest to our audience will be
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published: grants available; positions available; journal contents;
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proposals for joint research; etc.
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Notes for authors
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Unsolicited submissions of original works within any of the above
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categories are welcome. Prospective authors should send articles directly to
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the executive editor. Submissions should be in a single copy of plain (ASCII)
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text if submitted electronically or four (4) copies if submitted by mail.
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Submitted matter should be preceded by: the author's name; address;
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affiliation; telephone number; electronic mail address. Any submission to be
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peer reviewed should be preceded by a 100-200 word abstract as well. Note
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that peer review will be blind, meaning that the prefatory material will not
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be made available to the referees. In the event that an article needs to be
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shortened for publication in the print version of Psyche the author will be
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responsible for making any alterations requested by the editors.
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Any figures required should be designed so as to be in screen-readable
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ASCII. If that cannot be arranged, figures should be submitted as separate
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postscript files so that they can be printed out by readers locally.
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Authors of accepted articles assign to Psyche the right to publish the
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text both electronically and as printed matter and to make it available
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permanently in an electronic archive. Authors will, however, retain copyright
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to their articles and may republish them in any forum they want so long as
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they clearly acknowledge Psyche as the orginal source of publication.
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Subscriptions
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Subscriptions to the electronic version of Psyche may be initiated by
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sending the "SUBSCRIBE PSYCHE-L Your Name" one-line command (without quotes)
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in the body of an electronic mail message to LISTSERV@NKI.BITNET (or
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LISTSERV%NKI.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu). For general information on LISTSERV send
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the command "INFO PR" or "INFO ?" Subscriptions to the print version may be
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initiated by contacting the executive editor; a nominal fee will be required to
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cover printing and mailing costs.
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Archival
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Electronic back issues of Psyche will be availabe by anonymous ftp at
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(location to be determined). Back issues of the print version are available
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for a nominal fee from the executive editor.
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Assistance
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Anyone who wishes to participate in the production of this
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journal whether volunteering subject matter expertise or helping with layout
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or proofreading please contact the executive editor.
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Book Reviews
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Please send books to be considered for review to Kevin B. Korb, Dept. of
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Computer Science, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia. Fax:
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(03) 565-5146.
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Executive Editor:
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Patrick Wilken
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Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
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Bundoora, Victoria 3083
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AUSTRALIA
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x91007@phillip.edu.au
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(03) 388-2347
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Associate Editors:
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George Buckner
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GRB%NCCIBM1.BITNET@ncsuvm.cc.ncsu.edu
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Adam Burns
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adamb@peg.pegasus.oz.au
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David Casacuberta
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Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona
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Barcelona
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SPAIN
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ILFF3@ccab1.uab.es
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Kevin B. Korb
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Dept. of Computer Science
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Monash University
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Clayton, Victoria 3168
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AUSTRALIA
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korb@bruce.cs.monash.edu.au
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(03) 565-5198
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Evelyn Mitchell
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Dept. of Philosophy
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University of Saskatchewan
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CANADA
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mitchelle@sask.usask.ca
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Juan A. Siguenza
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Instituto de Ingenieria del Conocimiento
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Universidad Autonoma de Madrid
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Madrid
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SPAIN
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siguenza@emdcci11.bitnet
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Stuart Watt
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Human Cognition Research Laboratory
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Open University
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Walton Hall
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Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA
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UNITED KINGDOM
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S.N.K.Watt@open.ac.uk
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Editorial Board:
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Ben Bradley <bhbsb@marlin.jcu.edu.au>
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________________________________________________________________________
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From: Timothy Newsham <newsham@wiliki.eng.hawaii.edu>
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Subject: Re: [surfpunk-0052] DIGEST:
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To: surfpunk@osc.osc.com
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Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 11:18:28 HST
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> ...On real-time voice encoding:
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>
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> I was thinking of this tonight, before reading about it in the SurfPunk
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> Journal. Must be some type of synchronicity. Anyway, Macintoshes
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> support 4.4kHz as a standard recording rate-not good, but about the
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> bandwidth of telephone lines, correct? The Mac also supports a number
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> of standard compression ratios, up to at least 6:1; this would drop the
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> data volume to about 750 bps- below v.32. Add in a custom compressor
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> (perhaps Quicktime can do this right now-they have some impressive
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> compression ratios for video for near-real-time
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> compression/decompression, based mostly on disk access time than on
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> anything else) and a very simple encoding scheme (I don't think that
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> with a non-standard compression scheme that even a very simple code
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> could easily be broken to create a recognizable file, perhaps the NSA
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> with their huge computers could but it's probably beyond the reach of
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> most local/state/national government agents.) and I think the
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> technology is either here today for this, or will be within the next
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> year. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see modems with
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> this capability coming on the market RealSoonNow, if it is indeed legal
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> under the Digital Telephony Bill (I'm not sure about the details of
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> this bill.)
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the bandwidth of a fone line (and most voice signals) is about
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4khz, this corresponds to a "recording rate" (sampling rate) of
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8000 samples/second. Each sample is a full word, probably 8 bits
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(maybe 16 on mac?) wide. The voice line uses a sampling frequency
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of 8 kHz and 8 bit (companded) samples . They also "throw-out"
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a few bits here and there to use for other purposes (effectively
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just adds some more noise to the channel). I dont think the
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samples on a mac are companded (amiga's samples are not).
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Companding has the effect that the SNR of small signals will
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be almost the same as the SNR for larger signals. On an Amiga
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you will have very poor SNR for small samples. Best SNR is
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achieved by using the full range of the digitizer on such systems.
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At any rate, 8 bit non-companded will not sound nearly as good
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as companded.
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________________________________________________________________________
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From: wayner@cs.cornell.edu (Peter Wayner)
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Subject: Convincing people the value of anonymity...
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Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 08:20:54 -0500
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To: cypherpunks@toad.com
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I would think that many people who hang out on technical
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newsgroups would be very familiar with the anonymous review
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procedures practiced by academic journals. There is some value
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when a reviewer can speak their mind about a paper without
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worry of revenge. Of course everyone assures me that the system is never
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really anonymous because there are alwys only three or four people qualified
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to review each paper. :-)
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Perhaps we should go out of our way to make anonymous, technical
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comments about papers and ideas in the newsgroups to fascilitate
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the development of an anonymous commenting culture in cypberspace.
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-Peter Wayner
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________________________________________________________________________
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From: Phil Karn <karn@qualcomm.com> (Phil Karn)
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Subject: Re: Compressed/Encrypted Voice using Modems
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Cc: cypherpunks@toad.com
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Date: Mon, 8 Feb 93 09:46:42 -0800
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Sounds like we need a new unit that specifically means "bits/sec" but
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is easier to say. How about "Shannons", as in "I just bought a 14.4
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kiloshannon modem". :-)
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Phil
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________________________________________________________________________
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The SURFPUNK Technical Journal is a dangerous multinational hacker zine
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originating near BARRNET in the fashionable western arm of the northern
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California matrix. Quantum Californians appear in one of two states,
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spin surf or spin punk. Undetected, we are both, or might be neither.
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________________________________________________________________________
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Send postings to <surfpunk@osc.versant.com>, subscription requests
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to <surfpunk-request@osc.versant.com>. MIME encouraged.
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Xanalogical archive access soon. Beam ourselves into the future.
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________________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________
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