Noisy People
LATEST ADDITIONS
Rats Are So Meta!
Rats—like people—experience metacognition. To paraphrase Clint Eastwood, a rat's smart enough to know its own limitations.
Poaching Yucks
Stealing jokes is serious.
Toxoplasma gondii
Try to wrap your mind around the stats involving <I>Toxoplasma gondii</I>. The parasite makes rats seek cats, but is it also altering the cultures of entire nations? Skewing the sex ratios of affected populations? Doubling the chances of traffic accidents?
Hail, Hail Patti Smith
Tom Watson picks the greatest cover versions of rock'n'roll and comes up with Patti Smith's "Gloria." Interesting choice. I might have gone with "Respect," myself.
What percentage of music in your collection is both great music and sounds great?
And now the important question: What percentage of music in your collection is both great music <I>and</I> sounds great?
Industry Update
<B>Wireworld:</B> Wireworld has "completely redesigned" its Series 5<SUP>2</SUP> (pronounced "five squared") audio cables. Chief engineer David Salz says they deliver the "highest fidelity the company has ever offered."
The Nerve!
<I>(This article has been edited to reflect factual changes and comments from our learned colleague, Dr. Kalman Rubinson, Associate Professor at NYU's Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, who is careful to point out that he is commenting, not on the research, which he has not read, but only Heimburg's and Jackson's criticisms of current understanding and terminology—areas with which he has more than a passing acquaintance.)</I>
The Return of Orion Classics
<A HREF="http://www.marquisclassics.com">Marquis Classics</A>, a Toronto-based CD label specializing in classical, jazz, world, and crossover recordings, recently issued its second batch of "<A HREF="http://www.marquisclassics.com/orion.html">Orion Master Recordings</A>." Drawn from the large classical catalog of the defunct Orion LP label, the CDs include prized rare recordings by Robert Silverman, Steven Staryk, Joel Krosnick, Leonid Kogan, and other fine artists.
Pioneer S-1EX loudspeaker
One of the highlights of such annual events as the Consumer Electronics and Primedia Home Entertainment shows has been the demonstrations of loudspeakers from TAD, the professional division of Pioneer Electronics. Designer Andrew Jones is always generous in using recordings brought by visitors, and enthusiastic in explaining the technology behind these beautiful behemoths. Among these speakers' unique features are a beryllium dome tweeter mounted concentrically inside a beryllium midrange cone, and a cabinet built of stacked, carved horizontal sections, for incredible rigidity without using exotic materials or excessive mass. The concentric upper-range driver is a reminder that, some time back, Jones worked for KEF, where the coaxial UniQ driver was developed, but the materials and details of the TAD drivers are all new. While the TAD Model 1s are always good for musical and audiophile thrills, their price is in the upper five figures, which put them out of serious purchase consideration.