12 Mar 2009
Young People Prefer "Sizzle Sounds" of MP3 Format

This isn't that surprising, and goes a long way towards explaining the continued popularity of tube fired amplifiers and vinyl records.

Jonathan Berger, a professor of music at Stanford, tests his incoming students each year by having them listen to a variety of recordings which use different formats from MP3 to ones of much higher quality, and he reports that each year the preference for music in MP3 format rises. Berger says that young people seemed to prefer 'sizzle sounds' that MP3s bring to music because it is a sound they are familiar with. 'The music examples included both orchestral, jazz and rock music. When I first did this I was expecting to hear preferences for uncompressed audio and expecting to see MP3 (at 128, 160 and 192 bit rates) well below other methods (including a proprietary wavelet-based approach and AAC),' writes Berger. 'To my surprise, in the rock examples the MP3 at 128 was preferred. I repeated the experiment over 6 years and found the preference for MP3 — particularly in music with high energy (cymbal crashes, brass hits, etc) rising over time.' Dale Dougherty writes that the context of the music changes our perception of the sound, particularly when it's so obviously and immediately shared by others. 'All that sizzle is a cultural artifact and a tie that binds us. It's mostly invisible to us but it is something future generations looking back might find curious because these preferences won't be obvious to them.'

(link) [Slashdot]

08:39 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Pet store expecting fish gets man's body

Surprise!

A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pet store expecting a shipment of exotic fish this week found itself with a man's dead body instead.

(link) [CNN.com]

08:36 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

Consuming a little less salt could mean fewer deaths

Are we still trying to throw the book at salt? But wait: this was not a study of salt use at all:

These results were derived from a validated computer-simulation of heart disease among U.S. adults.

Where did the data used in this computer simulation come from?

For years, ample evidence has linked salt intake to high blood pressure and heart disease.

What evidence? I personally participated in a salt study in the 1980's that showed no evidence of any such thing! I've called bullshit on this before. And I'll keep calling it until they show me the data. But I must confess to being a bit puzzled: why on earth are these folks so obsessed over salt? Especially when so many studies have shown there's no real cause for alarm? What's the deal?

A moderate decrease in daily salt intake could benefit the US population and reduce the rates of heart disease and deaths. All segments of the US population would be expected to benefit, with the largest health benefits experienced by African Americans who are more likely to have hypertension and whose blood pressure may be more sensitive to salt.

(link) [EurekAlert!]

Update: This came across the wire this morning: salt is now an addictive drug!

Scientists suggest we add salt to our food, even though we know it is bad for us, because it is a natural antidepressant

(link) [BBC News]

08:34 /Politics | 1 comment | permanent link