#056 -- Sony Reader -- In which the etch-a-sketch comes of age... and becomes the first cool new display technology in years. Sony, however, is not content with being the first mainstream company to make this new technology available to Americans, it's also starting yet another standards war by intoducing one more proprietary ebook format into an already crowded field. Is the result totally lame? The future of reading? Is this the gotta-have tech of the 2006 Christmas season? What will it take to win the reader wars?

<b>#055</b> -- Season 2 / Google Office -- Overclocked returns with season 2. Bluejack re-introduces himself, and the concept of Overclocking the human being. Concludes with a brief introduction of Google's evolving online office suite. Music by Gomez and Hallucinogen.

#054 -- Simulated Life and Other Topics -- There's more than one kind of artificial life out there, as fans of Second Life are well aware. Also: NASA decides to launch regardless of the risk. Also: Spy Planes just aren't for Iraq anymore. Also: Network Neutrality, compromised. Also: Legislating honesty? Finally: what's Bluejack up to these days. Music by Scratch D. v. H-Bomb; Beck; Tom Waits; Ruby Shuz; Eat Static.

#053 -- Artificial Life -- A quick overview of Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life, inspired by the New Ties project. (https://www.new-ties.org/mambo/) Bluejack stumbles his way back into podcasting, but clearly it's a fairly shaky effort. Might be a good lead in to more in depth topics about Artificial Intelligence. Music by Shostakovich, Moby, Tricky, Amon Tobin, and VNV Nation.

#052 -- Network Neutrality -- Beginning with an interesting update on space-based weapons, this show represents Overclocked's return to active production. The main topic -- Network Neutrality -- covers proposed changes to the architecture of the internet to give major telcos more control over the content that is delivered to your machine, and in particular to make more money off content producers (such as podcasters, to name one small example).

#051 -- Getting Back to Cool -- Hey, this is a miscellaneous little show! Quick commentary on the slip of Microsoft's Windows Vista; a quick look at the Babelcast podcast/vodcast (http://www.flexatone.net/podcast.html) which is a sort of a cool multimedia update on the old http://www.jodi.org concept. Then we launch into conversations with listeners. Thanks for your emails, and keep 'em coming! Music is Khan (Cube 40), Doof (Home on the Strange), Hedningarna (Grodan Widergrenen), Tricky (Stay).

#050 -- NASA's Orbiters -- Overclocked returns, and checks in with NASA to see what's going on with the space shuttle, the CEV, but more particularly the new Mars "Reconaissance" Orbiter, which has recently made orbit without mishap -- no English-Metric conversion mistakes, no software glitches, and only the usual amount of lame NASA sound-bites. Music from Pink Floyd: Echos.

#049 -- The Chemistry of Love -- Love is arguably more fundamental to human nature than intelligence, and one of the unique experiences that (while pet owners may disagree) is thought to separate us from other species on Earth. But scientists understand much about the chemical nature of love. This show is a brief introduction to the life-cycle of love chemistry, with divergences into natural selection and spirituality. Music by Bob Dylan, Concrete Blond, Siouxie and the Banshees, Hoyt Axton, and Richard Thompson.

#048 -- Tech -- The Destination of Technology. Where is technology going? Are humans going to be uploaded into a virtual reality? Will technology become so ubiquitous that it is in fact part of the human body? What is the role and function of technology in our lives now, and where is that going? Music by the Art of Noise (Beat Box), Hedningarna (Hoeglorfen), Fatboy Slim (In Heaven), Aegis (Phaselift), Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (In Like the Rose).

#047 -- Tech -- Apple to Buy Palm? Bluejack considers the merits of the case, discusses the disadvantages of corporate acquisition, evaluates the buyability of Palm, and considers the destination of the digital assistant market. With music from Front 242 (Masterhit), Afro Celt Sound System (Hypnotica), the Sugarcubes (Cold Sweat), and the Pogues (Tombstone).

#046 -- Cold Fusion! -- Bluejack takes a look at the (pseudo?)scientific theory of cold fusion, touching more on the dynamics within the scientific community than the technical particulars, with comparison to the theory of intelligent design, and an unfortunate failure to bring in perpetual motion machines, which he fully intended to. Music includes Shpongle (Vapour Rumors), Red Hot Chili Peppers (Give it Away), Violent Femmes (Lack of Knowledge), Gillian Welch (One Monkey), Kaki King (Close Your Eyes and Burst into Flames), Simon Rattle (Once More into the Breach).

#045 -- Life -- Time in the Zone. Bluejack hunts for some news worth reading and comes up with a rather shoddy article in the New Scientist. Researchers are trying to understand how the brain perceives time. Bluejack improvises on this theme to compare and contrast "the zone" as known to athletes with other forms of highly efficient modes of working within time.

And back to 200 pixel images. I don't like that 300.

#043 -- Life -- A meandering discussion of the difference between working for Corporate America, and being part of an indie start up. Music by Michelle Shocked, Tom Waits, P.J. Harvey, Ani DiFranco, Cat Power, and Richard Thomson.

PS: If you're viewing this on the website, you'll notice I expanded the size of the accompanying image from 200x200 to 300x300. Frankly, this looks too large; but there's something in iTunes about 300x300. I'll have to see if all these things are coupled.

#043 -- Tech -- The advent of the E-book. For years the E-book has been a killer app that's just around the corner. But until now, nobody has ever made an ebook that even comes close to a product that will please readers. Will 2006, at last, be the year of the EBook? A discussion of the technology and the trends that will drive the first successful EBook. Background music by DJ Cheb-i-Sabbah (Raju Vedalu), Laurie Anderson (Speak My Language), Juno Reactor (Silver), Gillian Welch (Ruination Day, Pt 2).

#042 -- Science -- The Pandemic Panic: how dangerous is Avian Flu? How likely is it that Bird Flus will be the way civilization ends? Recent deaths in Turkey indicate that the H5N1 virus isn't just in asia anymore. But does that mean that the fourth horseman of the apocalypse is about to ride us all down? Quick answer: No. Music by White Stripes (No Faith in Medicine), Tricky (Car Crash), Nirvana (Stay Away), Beck (Nicotine and Gravy), Morphine (Murder for the Money), Concrete Blonde (Little Conversations).

#041 -- Science -- Human stem cells have been injected into foetal mouse brains, with the result that these cells have differentiated not only into neurons, but into mouse-like neurons. Bluejack considers the science, the implications, and (to a lesser degree) the ethics of this experiment. Efforts to interview actual scientists, sadly, come to naught. Music by Portishead, The Swans, Jethro Tull, P.H. Harvey, Melissa Sheehan, and Richard Thompson.

#040 -- Life -- Corporate Evil. Most of us have had the misfortune to work in a toxic environment where office politics results in unethical behavior that is (A) no fun to be part of, and (B) bad for the company. Where does low-level corporate evil come from? Is it a trickle down effect from corrupt leadership? Or is it a grassroots evil that climbs the ladders like a strangling vine? Music by Devo, Hallucinogen, Underworld, and Juno Reactor.

#039 -- Science -- Bluejack revisits some earlier topics. First, back to the space program again with a brief discussion of robotic versus manned space programs, jumping off from a more in-depth Quirks and Quarks show analyzing this topic. Secondly, another look at Intelligent Design in its guise as Panspermia: the notion that life, or at least genetic material, may have originated on some other planet and been transported to Earth, either by random action of meteors or, possibly, the not-at-all random action of super-intelligent spacefarers. The music? All Shpongle: Vapor Rumours, Flute Fruit, Once Upon the Sea of Blissfull Awareness, and -- inevitably -- Shpongle Spores.