Proceedings of the Sisyphian Society

About Proceedings of the Sisyphian Society

The Sisyphian Society for the Systematic Study of Useful Knowledge meets to discuss two kinds of topics, alternating between (1) those related to the optimization of everyday life and its tasks and, in order to entice the listening public, (2) those considered "fun" topics. For disclaimers, rules of discussion, and background information, please see the first issue, Vol. I, No. 1.

Publisher

The Sisyphian Society

Category

education · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

23 Jun 2020

Latest episode

24 Jul 2020

Latest episodes

4 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   24 Jul 2020

   Vol. I, No. 4. Best Ways to Find the Best, Part 1.

   A gavel is donated, the Society begins a new fundraising endeavor, listeners launch a “fan” group with transcription efforts. In the main discussion, this first of two parts lays the foundation for the Society’s main project of finding the best products, services, and methods—introducing and depicting the problem to be solved. N.B.: If you are using an inferior podcatcher, like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify, the following “show notes” will be truncated, missing links, missing formatting, or otherwise mangled. Please switch to a decent podcatcher or see this issue’s notes at http://www.sisyphiansociety.org/proceedings/v01n004. N.B.: For disclaimers, rules, and prefaces, see Vol. I, No. 1. N.B.: The Society might earn a commission for purchases using “buy on...” links below. Learn more. Minutes of the Meeting. For corrections to this issue, see errata of future issues. The meeting of the Sisyphian Society was held on Tuesday, 14 July 2020, remotely, the co-chairs pro tempore being in the chairs and the secretary being present. 0:00:38 Refreshments. Called again for Dunkin’ to sponsor Proceedings. Discussed Kyle’s potentially misunderstood comments about Dunkin’ in Vol. I, No. 2. Played interview clip, sent in by Mr. A., to serve as apology. Praised Dunkin’s definitionally freshly made donuts. Discussed Dunkin’s name change. 0:05:41 Meeting called to order with first rap of the Fraudulent Gavel. Gavel was provided by Sorkness Machine, “your first choice for custom manufacturing needs”, marking Society’s first tangible gift from a listener and first corporate patron since publication of Proceedings began. Discussed questionable Lincoln Logs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Logs)-esque audio profile of gavel and sounding block; authentic Apexstone gavel Kyle assumes Sorkness Machine purchased [buy on Amazon]; (non-Apexstone) gavel Kyle actually received [buy on Amazon (https://amzn.to/2OV9o7P)], (poorly) wrapped in Apexstone packaging. Considered investigating vast underground counterfeit-gavel industry. Discussed using hardcover copy of Robert’s Rules of Order [buy on Amazon (https://amzn.to/3eSXF4k)] as sound-deadening foundation. Called for other corporate patronage. 0:11:06 Introduced topic of main discussion, to occupy second half of this meeting. 0:14:30 Discussed duration of Proceedings. Discussed indulgence from Vol. I, No. 3, typical podcast formats and lengths, and lengths of most-popular radio show in America (The Rush Limbaugh Show) and most-popular podcast (The Joe Rogan Experience [which had been discussed with regard to Spotify in Vol. I, No. 3]). Cited analysis from JRE Facts (not to be confused with Java Runtime Environment). Mentioned longest episode of Rogan’s podcast (featuring Alex Jones), interdimentional vampires, old sense of apology. 0:19:29 Addressed elephant no longer in room: Matt’s audio. 0:20:35 Errata. Mentioned Tyler Compromise of 2020. [See Vol. I, No. 3.] 0:21:07 Vol. I, No. 2. Correspondence, Scooby-Doo, and Humor. 0:21:10 "two kudos to Mark" was grammatically incorrect, as kudos is an uncountable noun. Kyle asked whether Society should award merits (and demerits) or points instead. Matt will work on developing axiological crosswalk for differentiating three parallel structures for various sorts of praise (and condemnation). 0:23:08 Vol. I, No. 3. Talk Radio and Podcasts. 0:23:10 Audio continued to suffer problems, including chair noise. Kyle provided at least partial explanation for marble sounds. Kyle installed a second pop filter. 0:25:16 Matt called issue an “episode” multiple times. Kyle will attempt to correct that particular error in-place from now on. 0:25:24 “We’re goin’ real fast” should have been “We’re goin’ really quickly”. 0:25:37 For accuracy of quotation, “That’ll learn ’em” should have been “This’ll learn ’em”, and “That will teach them” should have been “This will teach them”. 0:26:07 “I don't have the notes that Kyle has, so I never know what’s happening” was libelous. Matt and Kyle are experimenting with a new color-coded shared agenda. 0:26:51 Kyle apologized for not having explicitly extended invitation to wood-burn grandmother’s table to First Official Loyal Fan David. 0:27:43 Award of one kudo(s) to Matt will be grammatically corrected upon development of Matt’s new praise system. 0:27:50 David’s description of first-generation iPod contained numerous errors. See Wikipedia on 1st generation iPod. 0:27:07 Matt had said he never expected to receive “the new or cool thing in . . . in the realm of gifts”. Kyle pointed to the Christmas of knives as further counterexample. Matt disagreed. 0:30:02 Spotify does not truncate show notes. (It just creates every other possible problem with them.) 0:30:18 Kyle had said Spotify paid Joe Rogan $100 million. Exact amount is unknown. Source said it was more than $100 million. 0:30:30 “I actually did try to find any sort of open-source podcast app for iOS and I couldn’t” should have been “free and open-source”. Also, by “iOS” Kyle meant to refer to operating system on iPhones, iPods, and iPads, but Apple renamed operating system for iPad to iPadOS in 2019. Kyle requested new blanket term. Matt suggested “the family of operating systems formerly known as iOS”. 0:32:14 Minutes of the last meeting were approved. 0:32:23 Discussed renaming “Updates” to “Follow-Up”. Matt moved to “give into the modern fads and call this ‘Follow-Up’.” The motion was adopted. 0:34:07 Discussed whether and precisely when to rap gavel upon adoption of motions. Again cited Robert’s Rules of Order [buy on Amazon (https://amzn.to/3eSXF4k)]. To prevent men bursting through doors, will attempt to use gavel in this way. 0:35:36 Follow-Up. 0:35:39 Listeners have still not updated Scoobypedia, despite Kyle’s request in Vol. I, No. 2. Renewed call. 0:36:56 Society’s website now appears on first page of Google results, as first, second, and fourth result, for sisyphian society. Search term sisyphian still invisibilized. Set new goal of overcoming that. 0:38:39 Society’s call for gavel was heeded. [See above.] 0:38:45 No one (successfully) publicly shamed Matt for clicking. Kyle urged listeners to remain vigilant. 0:39:21 Follow-Up on Podcasts. 0:39:42 Kyle mentioned benefits of MP3 chapters: built into file, enables various compatibilities with players, more easily recalculated than timestamps. Nevertheless, Kyle believes they remain unusuable, due to length and formatting of chapter titles [as discussed in Vol. I, No. 3]. 0:40:33 When Kyle said Spotify could know one’s browsing history, he meant Spotify, not Web, browsing history. [Matt’s not listening to music was discussed in Vol. I, No. 3.] Kyle argued why this is nevertheless a significant problem. Matt suggested listeners should investigate domain of possible advertisements on Spotify. 0:43:16 Kyle discussed why the existence of a free-of-cost Spotify plan is no consolation. 0:43:53 Discussed problems of pointing listeners to website for show notes. Discussed disclaimer now appearing at top of Proceedings’s show notes. 0:45:09 Regarding worry about podcasts replacing human relationships, cited interview in which CEO of iHeartMedia described the podcasting business as one of “providing companionship”. 0:46:24 Kyle had to forego discussing worry about number of young women interested in true-crime podcasts. See “Social Psychologist Amanda Vicary and Spotify Reveal Why Women Are So Obsessed with True Crime—And Share 4 New Podcasts Coming in 2020” from Spotify, “True crime: Five reasons why women love it” from BBC Radio 4, “Why are women obsessed with true crime? Rachel Monroe has some answers” from The Guardian, or “Why Do Women Love True Crime?” from The New York Times, as examples of recent commentary on this phenomenon. 0:47:00 Mentioned painful technique for postponing agenda items. 0:47:20 Kyle mentioned in Vol. I, No. 3 that he could provide his podcast recommendations in that meeting’s minutes. However, he wants to provide commentary on them, so he is postponing those recommendations to future meeting. 0:47:51 As further evidence of Kyle’s arguments about benefits of transcripts, noted that after last meeting, Matt, David, and Kyle were able to find podcast episode David had discussed (about man discovering treasure) only because a transcript of that episode had been published online. 0:49:13 As David and Matt assumed in Vol. I, No. 3, listeners to Proceedings have in fact begun a collaborative transcription project. Listener Mark, whose correspondence had been read in Vol. I, No. 2, has started Sisyphian Society Podcast Forum Facebook group, for discussion about the podcast and transcription efforts. Cited description of group and inaugural post. Discussed benefits of group being fully listener-controlled. Group boasts four members. Called upon 39 other listeners to join group. Suggested members of group decide upon term for themselves. Kyle proposed referring to Mark as Benevolent Dictator. Cited “benevolent dictator for life” tradition. Matt attempted to declare Proceedings “an anti-Hitler podcast”, in violation of Society’s rule about discussing politics [see Vol. I, No. 1]. Disclaimed about myriad problems with Facebook, to be discussed at future meeting. Mentioned "friends of the library" groups as potential model. 0:55:46 Announcements. 0:55:53 Have not received any new Apple Podcasts/iTunes reviews. Renewed call. [See Support for instructions.] 0:56:03 Proceedings is now in Stitcher. 0:56:39 Called for reviews on Stitcher. See Support for instructions. 0:56:49 Read Stitcher review from listener “Definitely Not Kyle”. 0:57:39 Postponed Kyle’s rant on podcast directory/application “badges”. 0:57:58 Vol. I, No. 1 enjoys 122 unique downloads. No. 2 enjoys 98. No. 3 enjoys 73. Suggests both good retention and that doubling duration of issues had (slight) positive effect on listenership numbers. 0:58:33 Appealed to listeners who are not friends or family members of Matt or Kyle to leave voicemail message, for sake of demographic data. [See Correspondence for instructions.] 0:58:53 Treasurer’s report: Society has joined Amazon’s affiliate program. Society will earn small commission on qualifying purchases made, by listeners, using “buy on Amazon” links in minutes. Details available at Disclosures. 1:00:09 Discussed Kyle’s lifelong love of baseball, baseball cards, and baseball cards of Christy Mathewson in particular. Kyle requested a T206 Christy Mathewson HOF Portrait Piedmont 150 PSA 8.5 POP 1 NONE HIGHER slabbed baseball card [buy on Amazon] from listeners or (aspiring) patrons. 1:03:03 General Correspondence. 1:03:10 Kyle thanked those who sent unofficial personal correspondence to him but noted it must be passed over due to time constraints imposed by the Tylers. Discussed creating addtional patron-only program in which Matt and Kyle could respond to all correspondence. 1:03:53 Postponed voicemail message from Benevolent Dictator Mark. 1:04:11 Discussed voicemail message from Kyle’s mother, asking whether it is possible to listen to Proceedings over a telephone call. It is not. 1:04:46 Called for correspondence. 1:05:21 Main discussion, on best ways to find the best (Part 1). 1:05:33 Introduced topic. 1:09:30 Argued the need for a resource for finding the best. Mentioned Thesaurus.com (https://www.thesaurus.com), Apple Maps (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Maps), Kelley Blue Book (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelley_Blue_Book). 1:13:22 Discussed example of this need (mentioned in Vol. I, No. 1): best way to set, control, and monitor temperature of refrigerator. 1:17:47 Discussed further series of examples of this need: Kyle’s recent vehicular saga. Mentioned Yelp, Chick-fil-A, reviews on Google Maps, Angie’s List (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angie%27s_List), Reddit, risk of a cut brake line, discombobulator, Kyle’s “[free and] open-source computer”. (Matt requested listeners send him a Windows 8 (or higher) computer.) Mentioned Jiffy Lube, Firestone Complete Auto Care, John Mulaney on Delta Air Lines (https://youtu.be/ulT9JxfUGig?t=56), portable car jump-starters, 2006 Chevrolet Impala LS [buy on Amazon (https://amzn.to/30OwcM8)], other people complaining about Impala’s foolish trunk-opening design for same reason, Cash App, Venmo, PayPal. Postponed Kyle’s rant about imperial versus metric units. Mentioned car-battery charger Kyle purchased [buy on Amazon (https://amzn.to/3jCC4Ra) (but not recommended)]; need to schedule replacing of products that go bad over time, like batteries and food; inadequacy of word best; COVID-19 pandemic; Bonchon Chicken’s pen-disinfectant method. 1:49:40 Summarized takeaways from this Part 1. Finding the best is not a new problem, so humanity has no excuse for having failed to solve. Mentioned Farmers’ Almanac. 1:51:50 Introduced Part 2. Discussed what we are not looking for: being nitpicky for the sake of being nitpicky, over-systematizing, Sheldon’s obssessive particularity on The Big Bang Theory. Whenever a multitude of “guides to the best x” already exists, that is itself a sign of the problem and a source of further problems. Mentioned Consumer Reports, Wirecutter. 1:55:30 Called for listeners’ correspondence, especially regarding any sources they use to find the best products, services, or methods. 1:56:06 Next meeting’s topic will be Best Ways to Find the Best, Part 2. Hope to give listeners a “fun” issue after that. 1:56:42 Again thanked Sorkness Machine for patronage and called for more corporate patrons. Hope to provide method of non-corporate patronage soon. 1:57:13 Meeting adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Kyle, secretary *** “How do any of you have time for hobbies?! Isn’t your whole life just a series of discovering things that are broken that need you to go fix them?!”

2. 

   6 Jul 2020

   Vol. I, No. 3. Talk Radio and Podcasts.

   First Official Loyal Fan David joins to discuss talk radio and podcasts. Kyle rants about inferior podcatchers, show notes, and Spotify’s attempt to destroy podcasting, and calls upon listeners to boycott Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and especially Spotify. N.B.: If you are using an inferior podcatcher, like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify, the following “show notes” will be truncated, missing links, missing formatting, or otherwise mangled. Please switch to a decent podcatcher or see this issue’s notes at http://www.sisyphiansociety.org/proceedings/v01n003. N.B.: For disclaimers, rules, and prefaces, see Vol. I, No. 1. N.B.: The Society might earn a commission for purchases using “buy on...” links below. Learn more. Minutes of the Meeting. For corrections to this issue, see errata of future issues. The meeting of the Sisyphian Society was held on Tuesday, 30 June 2020, remotely, the co-chairs pro tempore being in the chairs and the secretary being present. 0:02:02 Announced guest will be joining at this meeting. 0:02:45 Meeting called to order. 0:02:47 Noted this issue will be half “fun”. 0:04:09 Discussed experimenting with hosting a guest and with increasing length of meetings. Complained about those who complain about long podcast installments. 0:07:11 Granted indulgence to friends and family members. Called for correspondence. Invited listeners to pull hair and move heads. 0:09:37 Discussed experimenting with less-frequent publication. 0:10:30 Refreshments. Called for Dunkin’ Donuts to sponsor Proceedings. 0:11:59 Addressed ongoing audio problems. Kyle requested listeners publicly shame Matt. 0:13:30 Errata. 0:13:36 Vol. I, No. 1. Introduction.. 0:13:40 “I’ll eat my own hat” should have been “I’ll eat my hat.” Thanks to Mr. A. 0:14:18 Kyle called Proceedings a “show”. 0:14:35 Vol. I, No. 2. Correspondence, Scooby-Doo, and Humor.. 0:14:38 Personal correspondence to Kyle from Tyler gave slight compliment, recommended elimination of errata section, and complimented Kyle’s microphone. Tyler made into token “average listener”. Mentioned avocado-only diet, which had been mentioned briefly in Vol. I, No. 1. Warned average people against listening. Reminded about timestamps. Adopted Tyler Compromise. 0:19:48 Forgot to call meeting to order. Requested gavels. 0:20:09 “I edit it way too much” should have been “I edited it way too much”. 0:20:39 “lip smacking” should have been “tongue clicking”. 0:20:53 Noted that throat clearing is intentional. 0:21:09 Noted that overuse of “now” is intentional. 0:21:19 “low stakes for myself” should have been “low expectations for myself”. 0:21:28 Matt called issue an “episode”. 0:21:33 Hysterical laughter. Kyle suggested releasing full laughter as benefit for patrons. 0:22:19 First Official Loyal Fan David joined meeting at this point. Discussed slogan of Nebraska, Davidic longitudinal window, Matt’s unfounded mockery of Kyle’s international mindset, slogan of Ottawa. Kyle noted attempts to find meeting for Best Friend George to join, mentioning Reddit and 4chan. David corrected an error, noting “casual schizophrenia” should have been “casual schizophrenia”. Kyle corrected David’s correction, noting “casual schizophrenia” should have been “causal schizophrenia”, and “causal schizophrenia” should have been “casual schizophrenia”. Personal correspondence to Kyle from David complimented Proceedings and its hosts. 0:31:44 Kyle apologized for possibly implying beardedness to be David’s defining character trait. 0:32:53 Kyle apologized for distraction by agenda. 0:34:29 “national code” should have been “country calling code” or “country dial-in code”. Noted that, from now on, will frequently intentionally omit that digit, for fear of confounding Americans. 0:35:07 Kyle had said “we should make a couple quick announcements” but then made only one. Suggested this was possibly not an error. 0:35:24 Kyle called Proceedings a “show”. 0:35:29 Should have mentioned Chris is also musician. Called again for musicians to re-record theme song. 0:36:08 Clarified that Scooby-Doo Fandom wiki is titled Scoobypedia. 0:36:34 “interject quick” should have been “interject quickly”. 0:36:39 With reference to Looney Tunes, “Emmys” should have been “Academy Awards”. 0:37:06 “‘list of fun topics’” should have been “list of ‘fun’ topics”. 0:37:19 “in all the . . . the early Western tradition” should have been “in all the . . . the good and correct parts of the Western tradition”. 0:38:12 Listener corrected “that’ll learn ’em”, but Society noted that intentional errors not to be corrected. 0:38:42 Kyle spent too long responding to George’s voicemail message. In future, will either respond to listener questions more briefly or add listener questions to list to be addressed at future meeting. 0:39:20 Minutes of the last meeting were approved. 0:39:36 Updates. 0:39:47 The æ ligature is often called ay ee. Traditional name is ash. 0:40:01 Listeners have not updated Scoobypedia, despite Kyle’s request in Vol. I, No. 2. Bodes ill for success of Society’s crowdsourcing aspirations. 0:40:19 Kyle noted he can endorse one more Scooby-Doo-related thing. 0:40:37 Asked whether Society’s website is still “invisible” to Google. 0:40:47 Announcements. 0:40:54 Proceedings is now in Apple Podcasts directory. 0:41:05 Received first rating and review in Apple Podcasts, from ninjavideo. Assumed this is the Ask a Ninja guy. Called for more ratings and reviews on Apple Podcasts. (See Support (http://www.sisyphiansociety.org/support) for instructions.) 0:43:35 Google invisibilization, cont. Search term sisyphian still invisibilized. Search term sisyphian society not invisibilized. Society’s website appears on third page of Google results for sisyphian society. Set goal of appearing first in search results. 0:44:06 Tyler asked about inclusion in Google Podcasts directory. Proceedings is now in Google Podcasts. 0:44:16 Proceedings is now in Spotify. 0:44:25 Vol. I, No. 1 enjoys 92 unique downloads. No. 2 possesses an illuminating 63 downloads. 0:45:30 Treasurer’s report: Continuing to drown in debt and desperately need donations. 0:45:42 General Correspondence. 0:45:44 Kyle thanked those who left unofficial personal correspondence via Facebook. 0:45:49 Listener sent in clip. Time constraints required it be postponed. 0:45:55 Due to time constraints, passed over email message, text message, and telephone call from listeners, hopefully to be addressed at future meeting. 0:46:12 Voicemail message from Sugar Bear’s grandma issued retort to Matt for willing participation in exposing her ignorance of computers and of podcast titles in Vol. I, No. 1. Related email message from Kyle’s mom expressed jealousy at mentions of grandma. 0:49:47 Text message from Kyle’s grandma complained about lack of chocolate-related discussion in Vol. I, No. 2. 0:50:53 Voicemail message from Matt inquired into Kyle’s MIDI-keyboard playing. One kudo granted to Matt. 0:53:07 Called for correspondence. 0:53:20 Main discussion, on talk radio and podcasts. 0:54:16 Discussed talk radio. Mentioned NPR, This American Life, The Moth Radio Hour. David regaled Society with story about man [Herman Pitcock] hoarding earthly treasure and meeting demise. Mentioned RadioLab, Adventures in Odyssey, Coast to Coast AM, Nineteen Eighty-Four. 01:05:00 Discussed podcasts. Mentioned Parable of the Prodigal Son, ἐκβάλλω, iPod (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipod), PlayStation 2 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_2), iTunes Store (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes_Store), LimeWire, BearShare, peer-to-peer file-sharing software, technical definition of podcasts, “CNN for GEICO interns” podcast, RSS, RSS feed readers, playing Proceedings on Society’s website, podcatchers, podcast directories. 01:16:28 Kyle ranted about how podcast directories and applications handle “show notes”. Discussed benefits of show notes, criteria of good show notes, transcripts, Security Now and its transcripts (https://www.grc.com/securitynow.htm), The Changelog (https://changelog.com/podcast) and its collaboratively written transcripts. Requested listeners inform Society of the collaboratively written transcripts of Proceedings doubtless underway. Discussed further benefits of show notes, regarding podcast discovery and search-engine optimization, Kyle’s problem with podcast/MP3 chapters, podcasts confusingly utilizing both show notes and chapters (https://thefeed.libsyn.com/). [Secretary unable to locate David’s show-note-related campaign.] Complained about those who complain about long show notes. Discussed developing a system to pass arbitrary condiments (see Vol. I, No. 1), personal correspondence to Kyle complimenting minutes, link to lifehacking video in Vol. I, No. 1, links to Scooby-Doo-related videos in Vol. I, No. 2, “No good deed goes unpunished”, Apple Podcasts website, Apple Podcasts’s 4,000-character limit on show notes, RSS Advisory Board’s statement that there is no length limit for RSS elements, article whose author studied lengths of show notes, show notes for Vol. I, No. 1 (http://www.sisyphiansociety.org/proceedings/v01n001) and for No. 2. Called out Apple. Discussed Apple Podcasts application’s “really stupid” and problematic treatment of show notes and its display of more than 4,000 characters, line breaks, various important functions of italicization, Apple Podcasts application’s inability to utilize timestamps, Apple Podcasts’s “summary” field, Google Podcasts (directory, website (https://podcasts.google.com/), and application), Google Podcasts’s problematic treatment of show notes, Google Podcasts application’s inability to utilize timestamps, Spotify, Spotify’s problematic treatment of show notes, Spotify’s lack of fitness for podcasts, The Verge video on Spotify taking over the podcasting world, Richard Stallman on problems with Spotify, Parks and Recreation on privacy-invading technology companies, Accidental Tech Podcast on Spotify’s potential to wreck podcasting (https://atp.fm/379), complaints about YouTube’s control over online video. Called on 43 listeners to boycott Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and especially Spotify. Mentioned other reasons to boycott Spotify; other reasons to boycott Apple, including also Apple’s recent complicity in Chinese censorship and Stallman’s reasons; and other reasons to boycott Google (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Google), including Stallman’s reasons. Kyle recommended AntennaPod podcatcher for Android and gPodder podcatcher for desktop and laptop computers. Kyle could not find open-source podcatcher for iOS, so recommended, with caveats, Overcast as perhaps lesser of available evils. Noted new Subscription page added to Society’s website to guide listeners in subscribing to podcast. 1:50:07 Kyle briefly ranted about why there ought to be a definitive guide to various applications’ and directories’ rendering of show notes. Mentioned article with spreadsheet on this topic. Ranted that applications and directories should agree to standard concerning show notes. 1:51:22 Discussed podcast-listening habits and recommendations. Matt listens to only Proceedings. David enjoys only Proceedings. Kyle listens to legions of podcasts and listens daily, but time constraints prohibited him from sharing recommendations. [Rather than note them here in minutes, Kyle will attempt to make those recommendations at future meeting.] [Secretary did not receive anything from Matt about crocheting-miniature-Greek-gods-underwater podcasts.] Mentioned Serial and “audioblogging”. 1:54:05 Time constraints required discussion of audio books be postponed. 1:54:51 Discussed benefits and detriments of podcasts, Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle [buy on Amazon (https://amzn.to/2Cn5Et4)], “how it feels to listen to podcasts” “meme”, constantly consuming media to avoid facing devil dogs inside oneself. 2:01:05 Next meeting’s topic will be “how to find the best x”. Called for correspondence regarding how listeners find the best products or best ways of doing things. Mentioned Consumer Reports and Wirecutter as examples (for products). 2:03:28 Kyle moved “to thank our guest David”. The motion was adopted. 02:04:03 Meeting adjourned. 02:04:08 Called for correspondence about length of issues and publication frequency. Respectfully submitted, Kyle, secretary *** “I’m hurt, but I understand.” *** What follows is a test of various HTML tags. Last word in this sentence should include Unicode accént. Last word in this sentence should include HTML entity accént. Last word in this sentence should include numeric code accént. This is a test of the p tag. This is a test of the em tag. This is a test of the i tag. This is a test of the strong tag. This is a test of the b tag. This is a test of font-weight:bold applied to a p tag. This is a test of the ul and li tags. This is a test of the ol and li tags. This is a test of the blockquote tag. This is a test of a naked HTML link: https://www.example.com. This is a test of an a href link: this should be a link. This is a test of whether raw email addresses are clickable: example@example.com. This is a test of the code tag. This is a test of the center tag. This is a test of the small tag. This is a test of a rel="payment" link. Directly above this line of text is a test of the hr tag.

3. 

   25 Jun 2020

   Vol. I, No. 2. Correspondence, Scooby-Doo, and Humor.

   Matt and Kyle respond to correspondence, answer a listener question about Scooby-Doo, and address the place of humor in these meetings. N.B.: If you are using an inferior podcatcher, like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify, the following “show notes” will be truncated, missing links, missing formatting, or otherwise mangled. Please switch to a decent podcatcher or see this issue’s notes at http://www.sisyphiansociety.org/proceedings/v01n002. N.B.: For disclaimers, rules, and prefaces, see Vol. I, No. 1. N.B.: The Society might earn a commission for purchases using “buy on...” links below. Learn more. Minutes of the Meeting. For corrections to this issue, see errata of Vol. I, No. 3. The meeting of the Sisyphian Society was held on Tuesday, 23 June 2020, remotely, the co-chairs pro tempore being in the chairs and the secretary being present. 0:00:51 Meeting (naturally) came to order. 0:01:09 Apologized for poor audio. 0:02:17 Refreshments. 0:05:14 Announced that podcasts will be topic of next meeting rather than of this one. 0:06:00 Errata for Vol. I, No. 1. Introduction. Audio and editing quality was poor. Kyle cannot edit that heavily from now on. Apologized for plosives, lip smacking, and overuse of brilliant. Discussed Kyle’s additional recording rules for himself, to prevent some such errors in future. When Kyle said “golden coins”, he should have said “gold coins”. When Kyle said “I was a group of ... it was like, two or three people”, he should have said “I was in a group of . . .” Public credit to listener David for reporting error. When Matt said lifehacking had become about “how inefficient you can do something”, he should have said “how inefficiently you can do something”. When Kyle said “you can hover your mouse over the comic and . . . title text pops up”, he should have said “you can hover your cursor or your pointer over the comic and . . . title text pops up”. When Kyle said, “I’ll list you some of these things”, he (probably) should have said, “I’ll list for you some of these things”. At this point in the errata, Matt requested someone donate The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language [buy on Amazon] to Society. When Kyle said, “the second category are fun topics”, he should have said “the second category is fun topics”. When Kyle gave Society’s telephone number, he forgot to give first (international) digit. Full number is +1 805 538 2382. When Matt said, “we might as well motion to adjourn”, he should have said “we might as well move to adjourn”. 0:20:49 Minutes of the last meeting were approved. Cited Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised (11th edition) [buy on Amazon (https://amzn.to/38PnVuU)] (p. 354, l. 23 – p. 355, l. 6). 0:21:36 Announcements Vol. I, No. 1, which was published just earlier today, already enjoys 43 unique downloads. 0:23:02 Treasurer’s report: Treasurer reported coffers remain steady. Kyle informed treasurer of not-yet-reported expenditures. Society is actually in poor financial health. Society should set up online donation system posthaste. 0:23:56 General Correspondence. 0:24:41 Personal correspondence to Kyle from Mark complimented Vol. I, No. 1 (http://www.sisyphiansociety.org/proceedings/v01n001). Two kudos given to Mark. 0:25:22 Personal correspondence to Kyle from Tyler expressed excitement for Kyle’s brother to be guest. 0:25:55 Personal correspondence to Kyle from David told Society to consider him “a loyal fan”. 0:26:21 Personal correspondence to Kyle from Hannah expressed offense at not having been invited to help form podcast. 0:27:25 Personal correspondence to Kyle from Jenn inquired into Kyle’s marital aspirations. 0:27:56 Personal correspondence to Kyle from William invited Hannah to start rival podcast. Secretary recorded William as first enemy of Society. 0:28:46 Personal correspondence to Kyle from Hans, John, and Nathan expressed provisional interest in Proceedings. 0:29:13 Personal correspondence to Kyle from Nathan recognized Kyle’s famously bad MIDI-keyboard work. 0:29:55 Personal correspondence to Kyle from Chris provided either praise for Vol. I, No. 1 or cleverly disguised grammatical criticism. 0:30:09 Voicemail message from George, self-described “best friend” of Matt and Kyle, criticized Looney Tunes, praised Scooby-Doo, and asked whether Matt and Kyle would allow their hypothetical children to join the Scooby-Doo “gang” on mystery-solving adventures. Matt answered in the negative, raising various lifestyle concerns about gang. Kyle began with a long digression on poor quality of Scooby-Doo animated series, citing Jamie Malanowski’s criticism of franchise’s mystery, humor, and animation, and plot “formula” as described by Wikipedia article for Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!. Kyle endorses only Season 1, Episode 10 Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? and Season 2, Episode 25 of Batman: The Brave and the Bold (featuring cast of Scooby-Doo). (At this point in published issue, editorial audio comment was inserted, to discuss clips that were played, sufficiently enough to warrant “fair use” claim. Kyle requested listener add accordion/concertina error to “Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities” section of entry for Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? episode in Scoobypedia. Kyle also cited Season 4, Episode 13a of Johnny Bravo, Scoobypedia note on questionable canonicity of Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode, and Scooby-Doo characters’ brief cameo in Season 2, Episode 22a of Duck Dodgers.) Debated merits of Scooby-Doo. Kyle said he would not allow children to watch any of the shows, briefly praised Looney Tunes in comparison and reaffirmed desire to discuss those theatrical shorts at future meeting, and said he would not allow children to join gang either, citing Wikipedia article on Scooby-Doo with regard to “presumed subversive themes”. 0:50:53 Personal correspondence to Kyle from George expressed willingness to serve as guest or co-host. 0:51:52 Voicemail message from Kyle’s mom requested definition of Sisyphian, requested technical support, and expressed well-wishes. Kyle and Matt discussed being blocked by Google’s overzealous spelling correction and coined terms invisibilization and Sisyphianed to describe said phenomenon. Discussed original (and correct) spelling of Sisyphian from Oxford English Dictionary (subscription required to view). Cited The Silkewormes, and Their Flies by Thomas Moffett. 0:55:52 Voicemail message from Joel criticized Matt and Kyle for being unlike “great artisans or inventors of the past“ (see Vol. I, No. 1 (http://www.sisyphiansociety.org/proceedings/v01n001)), “like Thomas Edison”, and offered conflicting sentiments about Proceedings. 0:59:58 Discussed impropriety of humor. Cited The Rule of St. Benedict (other formats). Discussed strategy with reference thereto: proselytizing gradual move to sobriety. 1:03:35 Next meeting’s topic will be podcasts. Called for collaboration and peer review, especially regarding the topic of podcasts or any previously published issues. See Correspondence for instructions. 1:05:17 Meeting adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Kyle, secretary * * * “I’m a well-known bad MIDI keyboardist.”

4. 

   23 Jun 2020

   Vol. I, No. 1. Introduction.

   Matt and Kyle provide disclaimers, rules, prefaces, rationales, and background information concerning the Society and this podcast. N.B.: If you are using an inferior podcatcher, like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify, the following “show notes” will be truncated, missing links, missing formatting, or otherwise mangled. Please switch to a decent podcatcher or see this issue’s notes at http://www.sisyphiansociety.org/proceedings/v01n001. N.B.: The Society might earn a commission for purchases using “buy on...” links below. Learn more. Friends of the Society have begun transcribing this issue in their Facebook group. Minutes of the Meeting. For corrections to this issue, see errata of Vol. I, Nos. 2 (http://www.sisyphiansociety.org/proceedings/v01n002) and 3. The meeting of the Society was held on Tuesday, 16 June 2020, remotely, the co-chairs pro tempore being in the chairs and the secretary being present. 0:00:46 Meeting called to order. 0:01:40 Disclaimer: This meeting has been held several times. 0:02:44 Apologized for jocularity. ["Conflicted and interesting thoughts on humor" were indeed discussed in Vol. I, No. 2.] 0:03:09 Apologized for poor audio. Solicited advice from audio editors. Mentioned NPR (National Public Radio) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPR), PRI (Public Radio International), This American Life, All Things Considered, The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Ben Shapiro Show (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ben_Shapiro_Show), Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wait_Wait..._Don%27t_Tell_Me!), Serial (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_(podcast)), (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Things_Considered) How Did This Get Made?, 99% Invisible (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99%25_Invisible), A Prairie Home Companion (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Prairie_Home_Companion). 0:10:01 Pleaded for money to hire an audio editor, voice actors, and the like. Pleaded for musicians to re-record theme music. 0:11:53 (Global) pandemic has required meetings be convened online. Society decided to begin publishing proceedings. Cited definition of pandemic from Lexico by Oxford Dictionary. 0:14:26 Rule of discussion: Only topics not in members’ areas of competency. 0:15:36 Rule of discussion: Only one hour may be spent in preparation. 0:16:12 Why the Society is publishing these proceedings: to facilitate the “workshopping” of ideas, to facilitate others developing ideas discussed here, to “crowdsource”; and cooperate for mutual benefit. 0:23:17 Disclaimer: Proceedings might be unpublished in the future. Mentioned broadcast restrictions of NFL (National Football League). 0:24:56 Disclaimer: Anything said in these meetings deemed problematic intended as ironic. 0:25:03 Disclaimer: Members do not necessarily endorse each other’s views. 0:25:24 Rule of discussion: Only first names. 0:26:11 Matt and Kyle introduced themselves and their interest in systematic improvements. 0:27:56 Pleaded to not listen to this. Pleaded to not listen to this. Mentioned Homer, Augustine, Bach, Bible (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible), Quran, Vedas, Plato, Kant, Nietzsche, Marx (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx). 0:33:19 Only reason to listen to this. 0:33:38 First category of discussion topics: “the boring topics”. Discussed “lifehacking”, what lifehacking has become (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZibq5t0TC0), xkcd comic “The General Problem” and “master artisans of great foresight”. These topics focus on finding “the best x”, optimizing, and improving the day-to-day components of life via useful knowledge. Examples of possible topics in this category mentioned were Esperanto; fixes to the United States postal system; parliamentary procedure; linguistic style guides, vocabularies, grammar, and how to fix language; productivity methodologies, including the Getting Things Done system [buy on Amazon (https://amzn.to/2DpVYhI)]; “quantified self”; the ideal diet and Soylent; time tracking; documenting things for oneself; the best men’s clothing, possibly the best women’s clothing, and possibly Amish clothing; book summaries; indexes; documentaries; making music; reading and marking a book; organizing and cataloging books; genealogy; 24-hour time, daylight-saving time, and time zones; the great books; language scripts; journaling; “everyday carry”; the best wristwatch; indoor plants; an application for finding parking; food tracking; sleep tracking; cursive and the best way to write; how to set and maintain and monitor the temperature of a refrigerator; the best car; the best car emergency kit; the best sunglasses, the best glasses, and computer glasses; the best sizes of paper; the best pens; gardening; personality tests; heraldry; interior decorating and architecture; modes of personal transport; reading and writing poetry; the best backpack; why everyone should go by full names; the best wallet; and a technology subcategory covering all things technology-related, hardware and software. 0:46:27 Second category of discussion topics: “the ‘fun’ topics”. Examples of possible topics in this category mentioned were podcasts, The Beatles, Looney Tunes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looney_Tunes), geocaching, xkcd, ASMR, CouchSurfing, Megabus, YouTube, video games, TV shows watched as children and the differences between networks, and stand-up comedy. 0:48:45 Discussed length of meetings. 0:49:57 Discussed frequency of meetings. Pleaded again for money. 0:50:16 Discussed target audience. 0:51:03 Called for co-host and guests. Mentioned the Borg. 0:52:58 Explained meeting minutes (comparable to “show notes”). Mentioned all-avocado diet. 0:53:53 Disclaimer: Nothing said to be construed as medical, legal, or financial advice. 0:54:38 Meeting minutes, cont. Discussed Subscribing to the Proceedings as a “podcast” or viewing issues on the Society’s website (http://www.sisyphiansociety.org/proceedings/). Mentioned Kyle’s grandma having a fax machine. 0:56:07 Peer review: Encouraged listeners to correspond with Society by calling its telephone number, +1 805 538 2382, and leaving a voicemail message. (This number routes directly to voicemail.) Success of Society’s endeavors depends upon cooperation and peer-review of listeners. Please correct errors, contribute expertise, or provide general feedback of any kind. Note that Society will not return any calls but might play your message at a future meeting (and so also include it in Proceedings). If you do not wish your message to be included in Proceedings, please note so in message. For updates to these instructions or other methods of correspondence, see Correspondence. 0:58:10 Matt and Kyle shared hope that this project fails. 0:58:58 Refreshments. 1:00:08 Meeting adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Kyle, secretary * * * “Well, the second elephant chronologically but the first elephant logically.”

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Apple Podcasts (US)

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