Hugh McGuire

publishing, technology, media, philosophy, a bit of politics.

Category: audio

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae. Read by Gord, Kristen, Kara, Mike, Randomdad, Mark, and me, for LibriVox. I believe it was our first “weekly poem,” and was Mike’s idea. These were all recorded around November 11, 2005.

Knitted Animation: Tricot Machine

Knitted animation, a music video of the song Les peaux de lièvres, from Montreal band Tricot Machine… wow: [via Knitguy]

LibriVox on O’Reilly

O’Reilly TOC blog has an interview with … me! …. about LibriVox: LibriVox is a volunteer effort with a big goal: record audiobook editions for every title in the public domain. In the following Q&A, LibriVox founder Hugh McGuire discusses the project’s beginnings, the organic development of the LibriVox community, and the distinctions (or lack [...]

Tolstoy and the iPhone

[Also published at Huffpo] I just came into possession of an iPod Touch, which is more or less the iPhone without the phone part (my friend Matt got an iPhone, so I inherited his Touch). I got the little gadget the night before a trip to San Francisco, and I loaded it up with audiobooks [...]

The Cognitive Life of Bacteria

The most fascinating bit of audio I’ve heard in a long while, The secret life of bacteria – small, smart and thoughtful, from Australian Radio National: We can´t survive without them — and we´ve long underestimated their prowess. Controversially, bacteria could even have cognitive talents that rival our own. Predatory behaviour, cooperation, memory — Jules [...]

iPod and Philosophy

Dylan Wittkower, LibriVox’s resident philosopher and reader of such gems as Schopenhauer’s Studies in Pessimism, and JS Mill’s Untilitarianism, has edited a new academic/popular text, The iPod and Philosophy. I have a blurb on the back of the book, getting the pole position ahead of Clay Shriky (!).

365 Days of LibriVox Audio

This past weekend, LibriVox reached an extraordinary milestone: our catalog now contains 365 days worth of free, public domain audiobooks. So, if you started to listen to the catalog today, spending 24-hours-a-day with your headphones, it would take you a full year to listen to our entire current catalog. By which time, you’ll have hours [...]

the intimacy of audio

I gave a semi-impromptu presentation/discussion yesterday at Podcamp Montreal* on “The Intimacy of Audio.” I’ve always felt that audio is the most intimate communication medium, and in the session yesterday I wanted to explore the idea of intimacy further. In particular, I wonder how we can build and use technology to help people become more [...]

Copyright on CBC’s Search Engine & Meeting

Canada’s copyright Minister Jim Prentice will be on CBC’s Search Engine this morn, at 11. If you miss it, you’ll be able to listen by podcast (I’ll post a link). UPDATE: here is the mp3. Have not listened yet. mp3. Here is the best primer on the issues I’ve seen yet, from Brendon Wilson. Also: [...]

buck-fifty librivox

We just hit 1,500 items in the LibriVox catalog. The lucky audiobook is: Four Great Americans, by James Baldwin. This was the 96th book published in May, and we are on track for a 100-book month, which would smash our previous record of 77 books set in July 2007.