Rum Doings Episode 48
by John Walker on Nov.09, 2010, under Rum Doings, The Rest
For episode 48 of Rum Doings we don’t discuss whether it’s time to ban fireworks to protect our children. But we do attempt to guess what the internet and technology will look like in 2020. And look at the sad state of John’s Kingdom of America. Then the best thing ever: 10,000 Dreams And Their Traditional Meanings. (Which turns out to be by Gustavus Hindman Miller.)
John learns some Latin, we talk about the fight for the rainbow, and what it’s like to watch a podcast being recorded. Nick then announces that Rock, Paper, Shotgun is not a blog. And then we discuss the lack of corruption in the industry.
Many apologies for the very strange blippy nature of the recording. We’ve deemed it perfectly listenable, if a tiny bit annoying. If anyone knows what might be causing it, let us know. We’re using a Logitech USB mic in a Win 7 HP Mini 311C, recording on Audacity. (If it helps, there seems to be a fictional 8 seconds at the end that doesn’t exist, which is presumably the total time stolen by the blips.)
Tweet it, Facebook it, as strangers on Formspring about it. Do whatever it is that makes the internet work. And writing a review on iTunes makes us happy in our tummies.
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[audio: http://rumdoings.jellycast.com/files/audio/rumdoings_e48.mp3]
November 9th, 2010 on 15:04
John does a thing whenever he is effusively agreeing with something: he says “Mmmmm hmmm” as if he were a large black nanny wobbling her head from side to side in a production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
November 9th, 2010 on 15:06
By the way, I think your topics should segue from one topic to another more organically rather than simply halting one conversation and beginning another. I paid a pound.
November 9th, 2010 on 15:17
Oh, how I wish I had broadband internet. It’s not like I live on a farm or something, but I can get a measly 1.5MB if i’m lucky. Often less than that.
Yes yes, I should move into a big city and all that, but why can’t the internet come to me? Until then, i’ll keep my ridiculously huge DVD library.
November 9th, 2010 on 20:31
@Geetoo
Your first comment actually made me laugh so much. The best example is at 10:21 I think.
Also Alec describes himself as the “4th man of Rock, Paper, Shotgun” (though he may not regard that as the case now that Kieron is gone) so surely he shouldn’t have been that upset by your friend’s comments?
November 9th, 2010 on 20:55
6:10, Nick does it as well.
November 9th, 2010 on 21:37
@geetoo, indeed, I couldnt agree more with your first comment. YOu also have a point about them stoping conversations abruptly: More segways, lads! You can do it!
November 10th, 2010 on 00:05
I hope we do get to the point where physical media fall by the wayside and we’ll be able to just stream whatever content we like, but the telcos in Canada seem to be trying their hardest to keep that from happening. The cable monopoly in my city offers 2.5Mbps access for $25 a month, but has a 3GB data cap and charges an insane $4.50 per GB you go over.
There are a several packages, but to get to a more comfortable 60GB cap, you’d have to pay $55 a month.
November 10th, 2010 on 05:09
lol @ John as a big black nanny! Mmmmmmm-hm!
I don’t like the idea of a streaming-only media model. I’m fine with getting away from per-product media but I still want physical copies even they’re just wobbly electrons. I just don’t like the idea of publishers shoehorning us into perennially renting their media.
Streaming’s fine for most people but I’m silly about my music in particular. I just have a compulsion to own it, and to own a lossless copy at that. I have nice maggies hooked up to my HTPC which are properly driven and calibrated. They make apparent a quality-gulf between 128 AAC or 192 MP3 and FLAC. There’s less of a difference between, say, Amazon MP3 or iTunes AAC (both at 256 kb/s) and FLAC, but I still go out of my way to buy lossless copies if I can. Also, while I’m on this tangential spiel, I’ll suggest that owners of properly setup surround-sound audio systems check out iTrax. It sounds like they’re in the room with you. Literally eerie stuff — the first time I heard it I got chills.
On your prognostication-bit: supposing we fiddle with our genomes and physically augment ourselves, it’s not unreasonable to posit centenarians becoming commonplace soonish. It’s hard to predict watershed, paradigm-shifting technological revolutions, of course, but it’s certainly interesting stuff to ponder. The philosophical implications of, say, prosthetic bodies and technological mind-alteration are extremely interesting (to say nothing of the real advances in our knowledge which are pointing that way).
Not in ten years, surely, but in a hundred? What I’d give for a time machine.
November 10th, 2010 on 13:45
Uhm, could you link to that Kieron’s post you mentioned?
November 11th, 2010 on 10:36
I was a little surprised Nick chose to tell John to change the conversation consdering he hates it when someone else does that, but never mind.
On Richard Herring, I meant to post this in the older thread, but it was long ago, so I’ll say it here. While I agree that Herring is a flawed performer, I’m not sure a failure to deal with hecklers is a problem. If a heckler keeps going on, as in the famous clip, then it sucks for everyone- most comedians CAN make their show about that heckler, but actually the only people who want that are likely to be the heckler. I actually want to hear the prepared routine stuff.
November 11th, 2010 on 12:38
When did I tell John to change the conversation? Also, the point about a good performer is that he *can* deal with a heckler – even a persistent one. Herring clearly, usually, cannot.
November 12th, 2010 on 09:32
Where is this warmness at night? Over here in Wales its quite close to the low 3-6 degrees. Its bloody freezing at night.
Also it is surprising how the UK still isn’t connected fully and not everyone has the internet still.
November 12th, 2010 on 10:57
You told him to change the conversation because he was talking about video games too much, and didn’t want to turn into the other podcast. I would be greatly entertained if you started refering to rps podcast as “the other place”. But then you might have to start calling each other honorable gentlemen too…
I’m not convinced persistent hecklers can be dealt with other than being led out by security to be honest.
November 12th, 2010 on 13:30
Who is Nick’s colleague (re: blogging about Web 3.0)? I only properly heard that his first name is Jonathan but missed his surname.
November 12th, 2010 on 14:14
“I’m not convinced persistent hecklers can be dealt with other than being led out by security to be honest.”
The fact that plenty of good standup comedians are able nightly to handle persistent hecklers suggests otherwise.
I would suggest, in fact, that it be one of the necessary conditions of calling oneself a “standup comedian”.
November 12th, 2010 on 15:06
I guess the one’s I’m talking about literally won’t shut up over the entire show, to the point where they are basically dominating the performance. i.e. they are drunk enough to keep on going no matter what, and can’t sense that the entire audience detests them- e.g. the one in the famous Herring clip.
That said, I shall stop defending Herring as a performer. He is a bit embarrasing, although I must admit that this is actually only judged based on his performance on As It Occurs To Me, having not seen him do stand up outside of that
November 12th, 2010 on 15:07
that said, watching old fists of fun, a pre-recorded show, he has the same, slightly nervous air that undersells certain jokes that would have worked better handled by a confident performer.