Author Archives: scott ellis

Predictive beat processing

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A long time ago (a few years, I don’t know how many) I heard a story on the radio about beat perception. It was about how tempo perception changes in individuals depending on the size of the room.

In an effort to locate the article, I happened to run across this article. I am not a neuro scientist, so I leveraged chat gpt to provide a summary of the article so that someone with a decent reading level–but not a neuroscientist–could understand it. I sometimes think scientists use words that are common to their field in a way that usually renders their articles inaccessible to the layman. Whether this is intentional or unintentional? Who knows.

Here is the summary of https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4026735/

I fed the article to chat GPT and then had it write a 1500 word summary, written at the graduate level of reading comprehension of a non-neuroscientist:

The discussion revolves around understanding how the brain processes musical beats. A hypothesis called “action simulation for auditory prediction” (ASAP) proposes that beat perception involves simulating actions and predicting auditory events. It suggests that interactions between regions responsible for motor planning and auditory processing are crucial for beat perception.

In a study by Iversen et al. (2009), researchers investigated the role of beta-band neural activity in beat processing. Beta-band activity refers to a specific range of brainwave frequencies associated with motor processes and cognitive functions. The study found that induced beta-band responses, which are not directly driven by external stimuli, were synchronized with the imagined location of beats. This suggests that beta-band activity is involved in predicting upcoming beats in music.

Another study by Fujioka et al. (2012) explored the role of beta-band oscillations in beat processing. They found that beta-band activity gradually increased before the onset of the next beat in rhythmic sequences. This indicates that the brain uses beta-band activity to anticipate the timing of beats. The study also revealed synchronized beta-band activity between auditory regions and motor planning regions, suggesting that these regions work together during beat processing.

The discussion then focuses on the dorsal auditory pathway, a neural pathway that connects auditory regions with motor planning regions. This pathway plays a role in auditory spatial processing and identifying auditory objects. It enables communication between auditory and motor planning regions, facilitating the coordination of auditory and motor processes.

The dorsal auditory pathway meets certain criteria required for beat processing. It connects auditory and motor planning regions, allowing for the exchange of signals between these areas. It also supports precise timing of signals, enabling accurate coordination between auditory and motor processes.

Researchers have observed differences in the dorsal auditory pathway between humans and other primates. Humans, who have vocal learning abilities, exhibit stronger connections between auditory and motor planning regions compared to other primates. This suggests that the evolution of vocal learning in humans may have influenced the development of this pathway.

The discussion then touches on cross-species research on beat perception. While some animals, such as parrots and elephants, have demonstrated the ability to synchronize their movements to a beat, research with chimpanzees has shown limited synchronization abilities. Further research is needed to understand if beat perception is a widespread capacity among animals or if it is restricted to certain species.

The ASAP hypothesis offers several predictions for future research. For example, if beat perception is disrupted by temporarily deactivating motor planning regions using non-invasive brain stimulation, it would provide evidence for the involvement of these regions in beat processing. Additionally, investigating how the performance of individuals on beat perception tasks is affected by engaging in unrelated motor movements can shed light on the relationship between motor planning and beat perception.

In conclusion, the ASAP hypothesis suggests that beat perception involves simulating actions and predicting auditory events. It highlights the importance of interactions between motor planning and auditory regions in this process. The dorsal auditory pathway plays a crucial role in connecting these regions. Future research will help further unravel the neural mechanisms underlying beat perception and clarify the extent of this ability in different species.

How to Stifle Creativity

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This guide was NOT inspired by “How to Argue like an Idiot” guide. THAT guide is designed to destroy thinking of any and all types. This one targets only creative thought.

“One of the serious problems in planning the fight against American doctrine, is that the Americans do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligation to follow their doctrine…”
– From a Soviet Junior Lt’s Notebook

Why Discourage Creativity at Work? The new economy demands it. Global competition and world wide technological stagnancy in fields such as automotive and medicine have left many of us scrambling. If your business is a moneymaker, and profitable, STATUS QUO is the order of the day. DO NOT INNOVATE. STICK WITH WHAT WORKS! After all, things like toilet paper and umbrellas have not changed significantly in thousands of years, and they work great! If people really had a voracious appetite for ideas and innovation , they would change things themselves, not wait for you to do it!
Punish Failure. If anyone dares to try something risky or creative and fails, be sure to let them know you “told them so.” Make them regret it for the rest of their days there, which should be few, because you need to use them to set an example. The biggest success stories result from the one guy that knew absolutely what he was doing and was a super genius without compare. Remember Edison and the light bulb?
Eliminate Ambiguity. Something either works, or doesn’t. You. Are. The. Boss. Stamp out uncertainty. If you think it won’t work, it probably won’t. Why try if failure is even a possibility? FEAR FAILURE! Straight A students didn’t get straight ‘A’s because they were smart, they got them because they were terrified of failure!
Interrupt your Inferiors and pull them away from what they are doing without asking. Don’t ever let them build up enough steam to do anything worthwhile that might improve working conditions or threaten your job.  Periodically, even the best employees begin to work up come creative mind-flow which must be disrupted. Preferably, wait until you see them furiously intent on what they are doing. If they are working with power tools, so much the better because there is nothing better than when the “Days Without An Incident” sign reads “0”. Remember, productivity decreases by as much as 40% when people “multitask”, and if people are 100% productive then that is less productivity for you to steal.
Don’t Pay Attention to Others when they say things you don’t understand. How dare someone have an idea in your magnificent presence? When someone comes to you with an idea, or you hear an idea, interrupt them with an idea of your own, yawn, grimace, frown, sneer, look at your email, look at your blackberry, start a side conversation, do ANYTHING but pay attention to them. And DON’T make eye contact! It will only encourage their rambling. Be sure to write their idea down, though, so that you can claim it as your own later on.
Censor EVERYTHING. Stifle the creative juices by monitoring employee communications. Correct employees on everything from grammar to punctuation. If they send a funny email out to the entire company that is relevant, pertinent, and thought provoking, call them into your office and chew them out. “’Everyone’ is for HR only!” Make sure they understand that all of their ideas must come from you first. The added benefit to this is that if you run across an idea that actually has merit, you can take it.
Sleep During Meetings. If you don’t hear the idea happen, then it didn’t. Long, unnecessary meetings, full of boring graphs and charts that berate and belittle every department, including your own, are fantastic sleep induction devices.
Create Rules and Boundaries. People are supposed to toe the line, not cross it! Punish violators severely. Promote at least 50% of your staff to some sort of management responsibility so that the rules may be enforced most effectively. Post inspiration slogans on the wall like these time honored axioms:
• “Stay Within The Lines”
• “Follow Procedures!”
• “Watch the Bottom Line”,
• “Quarterly Profits are not everything, they are the ONLY thing!”
Remember, a demoralized staff is a hard working, obedient staff.
Don’t Ask Questions. People ask questions when they are interested in something. You can’t maintain conformity and status quo if things are being questioned. Things are going just fine the way they are. Why mess with your perfect world?
Happiness is the Enemy. Foolishness, silliness, storytelling, imagination, etc… these are all things that distract from productivity. Nip them in the bud on sight. Begin your correction of the wayward employee with phrases like :
• “Well THAT won’t work.” (or any variety of “it can’t be done”)
• “Let me tell you what we’re not going to do…”
• “Be Serious”
• “Think before you speak!”
• “Sit down and shutup.”
• Get back in your box?”
• “Who let you off your leash?”
• “We don’t do that here.”
• “Wipe that smile off your face! If you are smiling, you aren’t working!”
Procedures Must be Followed. In the military, there is an entire command of officers and non-com’s who exist for the sole purpose of approving any changes to procedures. It takes months, if not years, to change even a simple procedure. And look at how successful they are! In some countries, they are the ruling body! Establishing a rigid command structure will guarantee your corporation a place in the annals of history.

Some day, I will release a book that is a tell-all about all the shitty bosses I have been plagued with in my life.  For now, though, this will have to do.

P.S. If you have read this far and don’t realize it is satire, then you just might be a shitty boss.  Good luck with that.

Remotely viewing the Internet activity on another computer

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As long as you have an account on the computer, and the computer is linux or Mac (unix), and it is an admin account, this is what you can do:

First, you will need to be on the computer and enable remote access. On a mac, it is not enabled by default.

STEP 1 : Enable Remote Login on subject computer

Hit Splat (⌘) -spacebar, type ‘terminal’, and hit enter.  A bash shell will open.  Welcome to command line 🙂  Enter the following command (the ‘>’ denotes a prompt.  Don’t type that):

> systemsetup -setremotelogin on

 

STEP 2 : Figure out its IP address

While you are in terminal, get the IP address:

> ifconfig | grep ‘inet ‘

This will get you the IP address of the machine.  It’s not 127.0.0.1.  It’s the other one 🙂

If it changes later, from your terminal window on your own mac you can scan the network and find it with this:

> sudo nmap -sP 192.168.2.1/24

NOTE: 192.168.2.1 might not be your IP address range.  Whatever the IP address is that you located earlier, change this so it’s right.  

STEP 3 : Access the subject computer remotely

Now, from the terminal window on your mac, open a shell to the other mac, the one you are surveilling, using the ipAddress that you discovered in step 2:

> ssh yourUserNameOnOtherMachine@ipAddress

Next you will be asked for a password.  It won’t see the usual Password: •••••••• where a bullet appears with each keystroke.  You’ll just see Password:•  But don’t worry, your keys strokes are going in.

Monitoring

Now that you are connected, there are a few interesting things you can do.  When it comes to the tcpdump command, these commands are simplistic and just the tip of the iceberg of what it can do.

DNS Requests

This command will get you DNS calls.  Whenever the subject opens a new page or browses to a new website, you will see stuff here:

> tcpdump -vvv -s 0 -l -n port 53

control (^) – c to quit

 

HTTPS Requests

This one will get all HTTPS headers so you can see what websites are being accessed, as they are accessed, and basically every request sent out (somewhat noise).  Since it is HTTPS, you won’t be able to see the exact request, you’ll only see the site being accessed.  Google and Youtube properties all look like they are from 1e100.net.

> sudo tcpdump dst port 443

HTTP Requests

> sudo tcpdump dst port 80

You can open multiple windows and run both.  

Good luck, and don’t forget:  accessing a system that you neither have permission to access nor own is ILLEGAL.  Spy on your SO at your own risk. I won’t go into the morality of spying on your children or employees.  It’s too murky and really depends on the situation.