Libraries Should Include Ex-Gay Books, Group Says
Updated 12:36 PM CDT, Fri, Oct 23, 2009
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A Chicago-based group called Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays is urging libraries to carry literature about reformed homosexuals.
The national non-profit organization is arguing that the alleged successes of their "gay reversal" movement are not being heard because libraries refuse to carry their books, such as You Don't Have to Be Gay and A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality.
One has to wonder just what genre those books would fall under, exactly.
"According to Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the [American Library Association's] Office for Intellectual Freedom, ALA policy recommends diversity in book collection development by libraries, regardless of partisan or doctrinal disapproval. However, Caldwell-Stone refuses to state whether that diversity policy includes ex-gay books," PFOX executive director Regina Griggs said in a press release.
"Books about leaving homosexuality are censored in most high school libraries, although gay-affirming books for youth are readily available," she continued.
However, the American Psychological Association, along with most mainstream medical groups, has said that mental health professionals and parents should avoid telling young people that they can change their sexual orientation.
In 2008, the American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, and National Association of Social Workers stated in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of California:
"Sexual orientation has proved to be generally impervious to interventions intended to change it, which are sometimes referred to as 'reparative therapy.' No scientifically adequate research has shown that such interventions are effective or safe." (PDF)
Libraries may have limited shelf space, but they should still carry a well-rounded collection of books that represent various points of view. Just because books are inaccurate or provide insufficient evidence for their claim, that doesn't mean they don't provide anything of value to potential readers, right?
Along with ex-gay books, libraries should start carrying science books that argue that the earth is flat, and tabloid magazines that interview women who claim to be impregnated by Martians.
Why don't more libraries have shelves labeled 'Pseudoscience' or 'Discredited Theories'?
If people are truly seeking these titles, we can't expect them to just visit Amazon or Borders or Barnes & Noble or one of the hundreds of bookstores online. No, libraries should be required to carry all documents, accredited or not.
After all, how else will our youth learn self-loathing?
Matt Bartosik, a "between blogs" blogger and Chicago native, attends group therapy in hopes of changing his hair color.
Copyright NBC Local Media / NBC Chicago
First Published: Oct 23, 2009 12:45 AM CDT
Friday, October 23, 2009
A new technique identifies versions of the same song
A new technique identifies versions of the same song
A team of researchers from Pompeu Fabra University (UPF, Spain) has developed a system to identify common patterns in versions of songs, which will help to quantify the similarity of musical pieces. The technique, which appears in the New Journal of Physics, could be applied to analyse time series of data in other fields, such as economy, biology or astronomy.
"What we propose is a measure to quantify cross recurrences between two songs, that is, to be able to analyse repetitions of different musical patterns that have previously been identified from the tonal or harmonic content of the audio recording" Joan Serrà, co-author of the technique and researcher of the Musical Technology Group (MTG) of UPF in Barcelona, explains to SINC.
Serrà and his team have developed this method, based on mathematical equations, which makes it possible to identify the concurrent presence of tonal events on two song tracks (taken from a CD or other device). The results can be visualised using Cross Recurrence Plots (CRPs).
For example, therefore, the researchers have taken the tonal profile from the song Day Tripper by the Beatles and have compared it with the version performed by the group Ocean Colour Scene, as well as with a different song, I've Got a Crush on You by Frank Sinatra. In the first case, the CRP shows oblique lines that reveal matches between the two versions, but in the second this pattern does not appear.
Serrà indicates that "The identification of versions of the same song (whether or not it is by the original artist, with the same instruments, with the same or different lyrics or language, in the studio or live) may be very interesting for scientific, commercial and intellectual property reasons, or simply for the interest of the end user".
The researcher points out that the cross recurrence plots and their quantification measures are "powerful tools for analysing and comparing time series of any type of data", which means they can be used in disciplines such as astrophysics, biology, engineering or the economy. For example, it would be possible with this technique to analyse over a period of time the correlations between the Ibex and the Dow Jones or with other stock exchange indexes.
The possible applications of this study in different fields have led to its publication in the New Journal of Physics, a journal of generalist and multidisciplinary physics.
More information: J. Serrà, X. Serra y R. G. Andrzejak. "Cross recurrence quantification for cover song identification". New Journal of Physics 11: 093017, 2009.
Source: FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology
A team of researchers from Pompeu Fabra University (UPF, Spain) has developed a system to identify common patterns in versions of songs, which will help to quantify the similarity of musical pieces. The technique, which appears in the New Journal of Physics, could be applied to analyse time series of data in other fields, such as economy, biology or astronomy.
"What we propose is a measure to quantify cross recurrences between two songs, that is, to be able to analyse repetitions of different musical patterns that have previously been identified from the tonal or harmonic content of the audio recording" Joan Serrà, co-author of the technique and researcher of the Musical Technology Group (MTG) of UPF in Barcelona, explains to SINC.
Serrà and his team have developed this method, based on mathematical equations, which makes it possible to identify the concurrent presence of tonal events on two song tracks (taken from a CD or other device). The results can be visualised using Cross Recurrence Plots (CRPs).
For example, therefore, the researchers have taken the tonal profile from the song Day Tripper by the Beatles and have compared it with the version performed by the group Ocean Colour Scene, as well as with a different song, I've Got a Crush on You by Frank Sinatra. In the first case, the CRP shows oblique lines that reveal matches between the two versions, but in the second this pattern does not appear.
Serrà indicates that "The identification of versions of the same song (whether or not it is by the original artist, with the same instruments, with the same or different lyrics or language, in the studio or live) may be very interesting for scientific, commercial and intellectual property reasons, or simply for the interest of the end user".
The researcher points out that the cross recurrence plots and their quantification measures are "powerful tools for analysing and comparing time series of any type of data", which means they can be used in disciplines such as astrophysics, biology, engineering or the economy. For example, it would be possible with this technique to analyse over a period of time the correlations between the Ibex and the Dow Jones or with other stock exchange indexes.
The possible applications of this study in different fields have led to its publication in the New Journal of Physics, a journal of generalist and multidisciplinary physics.
More information: J. Serrà, X. Serra y R. G. Andrzejak. "Cross recurrence quantification for cover song identification". New Journal of Physics 11: 093017, 2009.
Source: FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
facebook, myspace, and twitter users MUST SEE THIS VIDEO .....
facebook, myspace, and twitter users MUST SEE THIS VIDEO .....
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
PXP-2000
Keepin' it real fake, part CCXXXVII: PXP-2000 aspires to little more than playing NES games, a host of video formats
If we were tickled by how quickly the PSP Go was hacked, we must say that we're surprised at how long it took for this bad boy to get KIRFed. And as most shanzai manufacturers do, they packed as many features into this portable as they could: 4.3-inch display (compared to the PSP Go's 3.8-incher), all kinds of retro gaming support (including NES/Famicom, Gameboy / Gameboy Color, SNES, SFC), a camera of some sort, FM radio, microSD card slot (the device's only form of storage), TV out, and generous video codes: RM, RMVB, AVI, WMV, ASF, MPG, MPEG, MPE, MP4, DAT, and MOV. Not exactly "aspirational" at $84, but we'll take it nonetheless.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
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