Drunk Academic

No, you shaddup! ...

So I signed up for Last.fm Premium for a year. I was hesitant as there isn’t a reliable way to scrobble my tracks with Apple Music.

I was using an app called Eavescrob, but it only scrobbled music in my library. And I listen to a lot of music that’s not in my library but I want added to my Last.fm profile.

I found an old Reddit thread and someone mentioned QuietScrob. The big thing about QuietScrob is that it scrobbles non-library tracks. So I decided to try it. So far, it works well. It didn’t scrobble an obscure Hot Mulligan track and that concerns me.

But I think I’ll give it a try for now.

If anyone has a better way of scrobbling  Music to Last.fm, please let me know. My Mastodon handle is below, but here it is anyway: @caycepollard@appdot.net

(Also, trying the iOS WriteFreely app so apologies if there are issues in publishing this post)

#applemusic #ios #lastfm

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When I taught my English classes at the university, I taught my students critical thinking. I beat into them to question their sources and make sure the information they were presenting was factual and true. This was at the cusp of Wikipedia and the explosion of the internet. Smartphones weren’t a thing when I was teaching.

One of my favorite exercises was to gather my students into groups and have them read an official document about the dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide

Warning against Dihydrogen Monoxide

I would ask them to construct an argument why we should ban DHMO or why we should not ban it. The group members had to be unanimous in their decision.

I would always have the cocky science major raise an eyebrow at me, as if to say, are you serious? But most of the time the groups would vote to ban DHMO. They’d present perfectly logical arguments why; their presentation based on the information I gave them.

And every student would groan and be upset with me when I told them they effectively banned the usage of water. Many students would complain that I tricked them and made them feel stupid.

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In the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd—a catalyst that sparked a new civil rights movement—the prosecution and the defense are focusing intently on Floyd’s substance abuse struggle.

On the fourth day of Chauvin’s trial, the prosecution introduced Courtney Ross as a witness to George Floyd’s character. Ross dated Floyd for over three years and describes him as, “... a caring partner, a devoted father and passionate about exercise — a guy who loved to ride his bike and play ball with the neighborhood children.”

She also described their addiction to opioids. Saying, “Our story, it’s a classic story of how many people get addicted to opioids...”

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Top: New Apple Store in Singapore; Bottom: Westworld’s Deterministic AI Rehoboam

I’m obsessed with HBO’s Westworld. The show’s melding of philosophy and technology is something I’ve always followed and is always present in my writing. In fact, my first book dealt directly with the themes present in Westworld—a robot (or hologram in my story) programmed to be killed over and over, becoming sentient and exhibiting Free Will.

My book deals with an AI woman who is programmed to be killed. No matter what the user does, the program will run its course and the woman will be killed at the end. Except for one program that has a glitch and creates sexual desire. Self-destruction forming a new being. So, that's why I'm interested in all this.

Early last year, Reggie Ugwu wrote an extremely interesting article where he interviewed a Theoretical Physicist about the themes presented in Westworld and the tv show Devs. Both shows deal with Determinism and Free Will. I was absolutely absorbed by the article and it created a new obsession for me: researching philosophy on Determinism and Free Will.

You can read the article here: ‘Westworld’ and ‘Devs’ Asked Big Questions. A Physicist Responds.. Do it now. This instant. Don't read anymore of my drivel until you read what an expert thinks.

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