i picked up some new walking phones yesterday. i can't mix with these phones - they are too heavy in their bass. i am getting interference from them that is easily blocked with a blanket, but it's different - it's on the low end.

i think the interference is environmental, but that it's probably a short, too. fixing the short will probably fix the interference.

i'm going to finish the record with the tinfoil and get some new cables in the new year - nothing to lose from trying. no clear conclusion yet.

22-12-2015: new headphones

tracks worked on in this vlog:
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inriclaimed

i spent the last two days double-verifying everything and do not plan to make any further changes. but, i need a day or two more to finish it, and then probably a week to finish the peripherals.

new phones are likely tomorrow.

but, we have a holiday in canada called "boxing day" where everything is on sale. it might be worth waiting.

that's the day after christmas.

i'm extremely confident that i've worked the driver issue i've been having down to an issue of radio interference. i also believe that there is magnetic interference in the neighbourhood, likely emanating from the power lines. i believe that the issue is as follows:

1) there is a short in my headphones. this was one of the first things i checked, and rejected, because i got the same issue out of two sets of headphones. but, i believe now that there are actually shorts in both phones, against the odds.

2) the magnetic field in the neighbourhood is interacting with the short, which is charging the phones.

3) this is turning the phones into a radio antenna, which is picking up radio frequency interference from local broadcasters (and perhaps other random sources, as well).

i will need to purchase new headphones next week, because my walking phones shorted out entirely. i will be able to better understand the nature of the problem then, and likely confirm the above hypothesis.

in the mean time, i have been able to block the radio waves by shielding my phones with tin foil. as such, i expect to finally finalize this remix record by the end of the weekend. this will allow me to complete a large amount of filing over the next few weeks, and be ready to move into period 3 by the beginning of the new year.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inriclaimed

i actually shielded the phones with aluminum foil and it seems to have worked.

i'll have to go get some phones next week. that will tell me if i have a short in the cable, or if the interference in here is just really strong.

in the mean time, i think i can actually finally get some work done over the weekend. fingers crossed.

so, just trying to work things through a little...

i'm convinced that what i'm picking up is radio static. at the frequency level it's at - 5000-15000 hz - it pretty much has to be that. and, it seems too low to be wifi or cell or whatever. it's the frequency that a radio signal operates at, so it's gotta be a radio signal.

the questions i need to figure out are:

1) can i find a way to block the radio signals in the unit?
2) given that it seems to have something to do with the power lines or the streetlights as well, is it the case that these things are affecting my headphones and turning them into a receiver or is it the case that these things are affecting the radio waves and turning them into a relayer? that is, are my phones getting charged (and can i shield them?) or is the signal getting amplified (and then what?).

see, here's the thing: i seemed to be able to block it with a towel. you can't block a magnetic field with a towel. but you can block a radio signal with a towel.

that suggests to me that i may have a solution in building some kind of fort.

i'm hoping my landlord has a gaussmeter. that will help a lot.

but, i think i really just need to go ahead and get the new cords, already. i mean, the worst thing that can happen is that i'll have extra cords.

christmas deposits come in early, it'll be a next week thing.

my walking phones are also demoed, which will be a gst check thing at the beginning of january. they were a christmas present three years ago. i immediately knew that the connector on the noise cancelling unit would break. i didn't think they'd last three years, even. i can unscrew the unit, but the break is too high on the line - i'd have to cut and splice it. they're not worth it, really. i'd rather just get some cleaner phones. so, merry christmas to me...

or...

why don't i get some new phones next week, and then test to see if the interference is gone, then get some new cords if  it is?

yeah. that's more logical.

15-12-2015: compost run & determining the boundaries of the magnetic field

tracks worked on in this vlog:
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inriclaimed

yeah.

i did a compost run this morning, which was a long walk a good way from home, and it was interference free until i got a few blocks from home.

whatever the cause of this is, it's transmitting over several city blocks.  it's a bloody huge field.

short of getting the city or the utility or whatever else it is to get to the source, there is no way to stop the interference. that is now clear to me. it's not in my control. my only option is to try and block it.

i learned during the walk that my walking phones have a short. the initial logic was "either it's interference or both phones are shorted. it's unlikely that both phones are shorted. so, it must be interference."

and, it is clear that there is interference.

but, it might also be the case that both phones are shorted.

if i can prove to myself that my studio phones are shorted, and replacing the cord fixes that, then that's good enough for now.

but, i also need to figure out how to approach this huge multi-block field i find myself living in, too.

12/13-12-2015: a clear conclusion that the source of the interference is outside the apartment

tracks worked on in this vlog:
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inriclaimed

suspected interference problem

jessica
hi.

i'm just wondering how i go about the process of investigating a possible interference problem, and possibly having it fixed.

i'm an electronic musician, so i spend a lot of time listening to unusual effects collages and i consequently have very sensitive ears. i've been noticing strange audio behaviour out of my system since july, and it has taken me a very long time to go through the process of checking various causes and ruling various things out.

after checking driver conflicts, os settings, ground issues, cords and everything else you could imagine, i've finally settled on interference as the root cause because it seems to be unpredictable. it will be fine for a few hours, then distort for a few days. the interference seems to fade in the early morning, and especially on saturday mornings.

the interference i'm getting is relatively high frequency. it's in the radio spectrum. it's a distortion roughly between 5000-10000 hz, maybe a little higher, and often a functional low pass somewhere around 10,000 hz.

i get this interference from multiple pairs of headphones out of multiple systems on multiple circuits. in fact, i even get it from a standalone pocket-mp3 player. but, i've been assuming for the last few weeks that the source was indoors and trying to locate it.

today, i took that pocket mp3 player for a walk around the neighbourhood and noticed that the interference was actually even worse outside, in the immediate vicinity of my dwelling. if i walk a few blocks in any direction, it seems to mostly dissipate.

there was some intense jackhammering in my neighbourhood over the summer, as the sewers were replaced. i'm slowly coming to an understanding that something may have been damaged at that time and it's been feeding out signal ever since, in a way that is proportional to how much electricity is being pulled into the neighbourhood.

do you have a process to deal with this sort of thing? how do i get it started?

hydro one
Thank you for contacting us to bring this issue to our attention.

Please provide your property address, meter number and/or Hydro One account number in a reply email and we will be happy to investigate further.

For more information on Hydro One, visit: www.hydroone.com. 

jessica
hi.

i'm a renter, so i don't have the account information. but, i'm located at

805 marion ave,
windsor ontario,
n9a 2h8

i also have some more information to provide you with.

i went for a long walk with my mp3 player and headphones around the city yesterday. i've determined that there is no interference south of erie or east of ouellette.

i believe i'm actually picking up radio frequencies in the phones, but that there must be some environmental factor - likely related to the power lines or the streetlights - that is amplifying it when i walk through the affected area, which is north of erie and west of ouellette, at least as far as where i live (i haven't determined exact boundaries to the north or west of the affected area).

what i think is that some kind of maintenance in the area has disrupted the lines, which has created a large magnetic field that is proportional to the amount of current running through the lines. this magnetic field is then messing with my phones, turning them into a receiver for the normal radio frequencies running through the area.

i may be able to get some readings on a gaussmeter over the next few days and will forward them to you if i do.

hydro one
Dear Ms. Murray,

Thank you for your reply.

Unfortunately, Hydro One Networks does not service this area. Please contact Windsor Utilities at 519-255-2727.

so...

i took a walk around the neighbourhood and the source of interference appears to be the power lines. it fades if i walk in any direction.

the city did some sewer replacements over the summer. much jackhammering. possible cause.

i *think* i can contact the utility company about this...

yeah. i may have wasted six months due to broken fucking power lines.

01-12-2015: blood test results

tracks worked on in this vlog:
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inriclaimed

i got some blood test results back today.

the real reason for the blood test was to check my estrogen levels, which was actually done on my request. i've been thinking for a while now that i should get my dose boosted. but, i was running around from doctor to doctor and just didn't really get a chance to get an empirical test done to determine what the levels were and whether they should be boosted. as expected, they're a little low.

that's actually pretty normal. it's an expected part of transitioning to increase dosages after a while. i'm actually way past due on this. so, i've been boosted from 4 mg/day to 6 mg/day. but, i'm going to wait until i quit smoking first before i do it.

i've been stuck on this remix project for months because my machine just won't behave, and have been waiting until i'm done the project before i give myself a few weeks of filing to occupy myself with. for me, quitting smoking is primarily a problem at the mental level. basically, i find myself unable to focus on anything. it's a huge problem for me because i'm always focusing on something or other. the only way i'm going to get over the smoking is by giving myself something menial to do for, like, weeks. i just have to throw that time away. that's really hard for me - even if i get the long term benefits of it - because i interpret time as the only meaningful quantifiable in the entire universe. the filing is the perfect opportunity for this. but i can't get to it because i can't get the machine to co-operate.

i've been getting impatient, anyways. i only budgeted myself $60 for cigarettes this month. that needs to be a hard limit, now. smoking ends when that budget runs out, whether i'm done the project or not. the hormone switch is just an added incentive.

first, nicotine is an estrogen suppressant. second, smoking on estrogen can cause blood clots. i shouldn't be smoking at all, really - well, *at all*, but at all when i'm taking hormones. it's a risk for people on birth control, which is something like 100 mcg/day. i'm about to jump to 6 mg/day. i'm hesitant about the safety of this. i should really be hesitant about the safety of it at 4 mg/day.

but, he also told me that i'm the "healthiest person he's ever seen". he's "never seen lower blood cholesterol". it seemed obvious to him to ask me about my diet, but he seemed rather disappointed in my responses.

in the 96 hours before the blood test, i had consumed 5 rockstar vodkas, several pots of coffee, several packs of cigarettes and had even smoked a couple of bowls. ten hours previous to the blood test, i had a large meal that included a giant plate of pasta with a third of a brick of cheese, caesar dressing (not light.) as an alfredo sauce, eight slices of crumpled salami, tomatoes and green peppers. i also had a smoothie with a banana, five strawberries, two scoops of ice cream and about 500 ml of soy milk. i've actually had exactly that meal almost every day for the last two months - although i got a pizza one day, and have had some doritos in between as well.

i'll post the link to the culinary series in my vlog as a comment.

that doesn't come off as a particularly healthy diet. he liked the soy smoothies, and didn't like the salami and the cheese. he thought i must be eating some kind of miracle foods like quinoa or something.

while my diet is consciously designed to ensure i get sufficient nutrients (the soy smoothies are key to this, but i also would normally eat a lot of eggs to get my amino acids), it is really not designed to minimize so-called harmful foods - except in the sense that i do not eat a lot. i eat, at most, once a day - most days. once in a while, i won't eat at all.

the correct way to interpret the test results is as confirmation of my approach to food, which i've posted here a few times over the last few years. that is, the important thing to realize is that it isn't the content of the food that is important, but the quantity of it that you consume.

basically, your body stores everything almost exactly the same way. it may not be the most politically correct thing to say, but the actual hard reality of it is that if you're too fat or you have too much cholesterol then you simply eat too much. the way to minimize excess fat storage in the various ways that your body stores fat - which includes blood cholesterol - is to ensure that you're not giving your body too much fuel, because it will then store it as some kind of fat.

my blood cholesterol is not low because of what i eat. it's low because of how much i eat.

but, even that said, there is an even more dominant factor, and it's lifestyle. i walk everywhere. i walked about 40 minutes to the doctor's office today, in fact. i then walked to the grocery store to get some more very high fat caesar dressing for my high fat pasta diet. the reason i do this is that i don't have a car.

that is the actual takeaway: i am the healthiest person the doctor has ever seen because i do not have a car. and, if you want to be that healthy, too? then, stop using your car on a day-to-day basis. walk as much as you can.

i'm proof of it. most nutritionists would claim my diet is terrible (but they're wrong, because the quantity of what i consume is low). i smoke two things. i don't drink a lot of alcohol, but i had consumed some within a few days of the blood test. and, i drink at least a pot of coffee a day.

but, my heart is in pristine condition!

and, it's simply because i don't have a car.