Writer & Geek

Note: This is not a sponsored episode. But do go check Headphone Zone if you are looking for premium quality audiophile equipment which are not available anywhere else in India.

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We have always been hardcore music enthusiasts since our childhood. We have had exposure to a variety of music styles, and it has influenced our daily lives a lot. But over the past few months, we realised we have not been listening to music the way it is supposed to. And in this episode, we talk about stuff related to audiophiles and our journey from being complete rookies to beginner audiophiles. We also talk about some of the equipment that we use.

"An audiophile is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction." - Wikipedia

DAC

A digital-to-analogue converter (DAC, D/A, D2A, or D-to-A) is a system that converts a digital signal into an analogue signal. Most of the listening devices that we use, such as laptops and smartphones have inbuilt DAC in them. But being multipurpose devices, it is equipped with sub-par DACs. So, to get the best quality from the audio, a dedicated external DAC is required.

Headphone Amplifier

A headphone amplifier is a low-powered audio amplifier designed to drive headphones worn on or in the ears. It helps increase the threshold of the maximum volume achievable on a headphone.

DAC vs Headphone Amplifier

A DAC help in the seamless conversion of digital signals to analogue. On the other hand, a headphone amplifier only helps to increase the maximum volume of a headphone.

A DAC removes the white noise from the headphone. But a headphone amplifier does not help with that as it still uses the listening device's inbuilt DAC.

Closed-Back Headphones

Closed-back headphones have a solid outer shell with no perforations of any sort such that the shell effectively cups the entire ear. This results in noise cancellation, reduction in sound bleeding but a reduced sound staging. These are mostly used by studio professionals while recording.

Open-Back Headphones

Open-back headphones are designed so that the outer shell of the ear covering is perforated in some fashion, typically with horizontal cutouts. Thus, resulting in sound bleeding but providing a better sound stage. These are mostly used by studio professionals while mixing and mastering.

True Wireless Earbuds

True Wireless Earbuds are earphones that are completely wireless and does not even have wires connecting the two buds. It is a revolutionary piece of technology that came along with Apple removing the headphone jacks from their headphones. The technology is still at its infancy but has grown tremendously since its inception in late 2016.

Sound Signatures

Extra Bass - It is in the name. These headphones have their bass boosted while the mids and highs suppressed. Most of the JBL and V-Moda headphones follow this sound signature. Suits for DJs.

Warm and Smooth - Here, the bass is emphasised with the high trebles cut to remove the harshness of the audio. Sennheiser is known for creating some great warm and smooth sounding headphones.

V-Shaped - It emphasizes bass and treble while cutting down on the mid-ranges. Apple's Airpod Pro is the best example of such earphones.

Flat - As the name suggests, these headphones do not emphasis on any frequencies. These are well-suited for studio professionals as it provides what is there in the audio.

Balanced - Balanced is similar to the flat signature but has all the frequencies tweaked a bit to give you a fun sound. The Jabra Elite 75t is an example of balanced sounding earbuds.

Bright - They have boosted treble and mid-ranges. These depend on the quality of the audio you listen to because if the audio quality is low, it can get quite jarring and uncomfortable. But at the same time, it exposes the imperfections in well-recorded audio.

Find all the products mentioned in the podcast below:

Headphone Zone

DAC - ifi Audio Zen

Closed-back headphones - Audio Technica ATH

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Kunchan Nambiar was an early Malayalam poet, performer, satirist and the inventor of the Kerala art form of Ottamthullal.

Kunjan Nambiar was born in Kerala on May 5 1705, in Palakkad, Kerala.

Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan and Cherusseri Namboothiri and Nambiar are known as the ancient triumvirate.

Nambiar learnt Kalaripayattu and Sanskrit before moving to the court of Marthanda Varma in 1748.

He had established himself as a poet by the time he reached the royal court.

He introduced Ottamthullal to the masses in the 18th century.

The motivation behind creating Ottamthullal is that Nambiar was made fun of by the Chakyar for sleeping while playing Mizhavu during a Chakyar Koothu performance.

He created Ottamthullal to parody prevalent regional prejudices and sociopolitical conditions.

Ottamthullal is a dance and poetic performance.

It is usually accompanied by a Mridangam or an Idakka.

The performances take popular folktales from the past and satirise it with a lot of comedy.

He parodied everyone in attendance and didn’t spare even the rich (Which was a big deal back then).

The Chakyar complained to the King about Nambiar’s performances and Ottamthullal was banned in some of the temple complexes.

The performer is draped in colourful clothes and green makeup. 

Some of the performances similar to Ottamthullal are Parayanthullal and Seethankan Thullal.

Nambiar had written 64 works for the art form.

One of the most popular works of Ottamthullal is Kalyana Sougandhikam.

The main feature of the art was that it was conducted in Malayalam which most of the commoners could understand.

Back then, most of the performances included stylised or Sanskritised Malayalam which was not accessible to the common folks.

What we can understand is that art was used to spread a social message even back then.

Nambiar died of rabies in 1770.

May 5 is celebrated as Kunchan Day in Kerala.

Links to things Mentioned:

Our episode on vaccination: 090: How Does Vaccination Work?

Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here.

Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here.

Sources:

Curating Kunchan Nambiar for the masses

Kunjan Nambiar Wikipedia

Story of the birth of Kunjan Nambiar

Ottan Thullal Wikipedia

That Inexplicable Tenth Rasa From An Actor-Dancer Who Collapsed And Died On Stage

Image by Bobinson K B from Flickr | Source: Oh, my brother is coming!

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Correction - Shankar incorrectly mentions that Thomas Edison published the Theory of Relativity as opposed to Albert Einstein. Either he had a momentary lapse of reasoning or he is a complete idiot. You decide!

In the 100th episode of Writer and Geek Show, the lads discuss the origins of the numerical system and how Vishnu was poor in maths.

Tally marks were used as early ways of counting.

Roman numerals were an extension of primitive tally marks with the usage of alphabets as numerals.

A positional system with place value attached to digits was invented in India between 1st and 4th century AD.

Aryabhatta approximated the value of Pi during the early medieval period.

Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi popularized the Hindu numerals in the Arabian and Western world through his mathematical work.

Fibonacci used these Hindu Arabic numerals for his work and thus popularized it in Europe.

They came to be known as the Hindu Arabic system or as Arabic numerals.

In the 15th century, Hindu Arabic numerals replaced Roman numerals as the primary number system.

Wikipedia articles:

Number System

Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi

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After the Rebellion of 1857, nationalist movements cropped up across the country. The idea of a free India became prevalent during this time.

Indian National Congress (INC)

Inspired by AO Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji and Surendranath Banerjee founded INC in 1885

It was the first time an organisation recognised India as a country

The organisation initially did not have a well-formed ideology and was a debating society that met annually

The idea was to let Britishers rule India while obtaining some kind of rights for the Indian citizens

But it did not last long and the party was divided into two factions - Moderates and Extremists

Moderates and Extremists

Moderates were led by Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale who opposed the extremists led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai.

The extremists were forced out of INC and the Tilak was later arrested, which led to INC losing its credibility.

Aligarh University and the Muslim League

In 1875, under Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh was founded (renamed Aligarh Muslim University in 1920)

Bengal was divided into two in 1906 - East Bengal and West Bengal

The Muslim faction in the country did not feel INC is inclusive and they formed The Muslim League

The Revolutionaries

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919 was a turning point in the revolutionary movement

The work of the revolutionaries including Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki gained recognition

Both of them tried to assassinate British officials and were captured and executed

Jugantar was established in April 1906 by Aurobindo Ghosh, his brother Barin Ghosh, Bhupendranath Datta, Raja Subodh Mallik.

They collected and manufactured arms and explosives for revolutionary activities.

Ghadar Party and its movement to conduct a Pan-India rebellion in the British Indian Army.

All India Conference of Indian Christians was founded in 1914 with KT Paul as its first president

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Source:

Indian National Congress Wikipedia

Indian Independence Movement Wikipedia

Timeline of Indian History from 1857 to 1947

10 Events That Led to Indian Independence

Image courtesy Canva

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Welcome to the third part of Writer & Geek Unscripted. In this episode, we talk about our idea about life and death. Watch this episode on Youtube.

We touch upon our personal experiences of dealing with the death of near and dear ones and also how we rely on the principles of optimistic nihilism and stoicism to get through tough situations.

Find the video about Optimistic Nihilism mentioned in the episode here: Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell - Optimistic Nihilism

Find more about Stoicism here: The philosophy of Stoicism - Massimo Pigliucci

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Phones have progressed from just being an appliance to connect via voice to becoming an all in one device that keeps you connected with the world at all times.

Alexander Graham Bell is credited with inventing the phone back in 1876.

In the same year, the first two-way long-distance communication via phone was conducted.

First telephone exchange in India was set up in 1882.

Telephones were improved during the early 20th century

Early car phones appeared in 1946 in the United States

In 1947, Bell labs proposed a cellular network

Motorola built the first truly wireless phone in 1973.

The public started using wireless phones in the 80s

First mobile phone communication happened in India on July 31st, 1995.

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INS Viraat was India’s flagship aircraft carrier before INS Vikramaditya was commissioned in 2013. It was completed and commissioned in 1959 by the British Royal Navy (as HMS Hermes) and was the last of Centaur-class aircraft carriers. It served the Royal Navy for 25 years before being sold to the Indian Navy in 1987. The carrier was decommissioned in 2017 and is currently on its way to be scrapped at the port of Alang, Gujarat.

Largest Aircraft Carrier

USS Gerald R Ford

Length: 337 metres

Displacement: 100,000 tons

Speed: In excess of 30 knots (56 km/h)

Range: Unlimited (20-25 years)

Cost: $12.8 billion + $4.7 billion R&D

Smallest Aircraft Carrier

HTMS Chakri Naruebet

Length: 182.65 metres

Displacement: 11,486 tons

Speed: 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h)

Range: 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 kilometres)

Cost: $285 million in 1993

History of Aircraft Carriers

In 1806, the Royal Navy used a ship to launch kites with propaganda leaflets. These leaflets with propaganda against Napoleon in French were dropped in France.

Ballon Carriers

On 12 July 1849, Austrian ship SMS Vulcano tried to drop incendiary balloons in Venice. But the wind blew most of the balloon incendiary back to the city.

Gas-filled balloons were used during the American Civil war for the reconnaissance of Confederate positions.

Ballon carriers were used during World War I by the navies of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Sweden mostly as observation posts. Their ships were mostly decommissioned or turned into seaplane carriers.

Seaplane Carriers

In 1910, seaplanes were invented. These led to the development of ships which could carry these seaplanes. It was the first form of aircraft carriers.

The first seaplane carrier, Foudre, was developed by the French in December 1911. A 10-metre flat deck was developed in 1913 for launching the seaplanes.

HMS Hermes was temporarily converted to a seaplane carrier by the Royal Navy in April-May 1913, making it the first British seaplane carrier.

The first seaplane carrier of the US was USS Mississippi, which was converted in December 1913.

The first naval launched air raids that happened in 1914 during World War I. The Imperial Japanese Navy seaplane Wakamiya lowered four Maurice Farman seaplanes using a crane, which went on to bombard German forces.

The naval raid on the Zeppelin base at Cuxhaven on 25 December 1914 demonstrated the ability of seaborne air raids to the Europeans.

Many ships used catapults to launch seaplanes for reconnaissance and later retrieve it using cranes. This method was popular even during World War II.

Flat-Deck Carriers

The first successful launch of a plane from a stationary ship took place in November 1910. The pilot was Eugene Ely. A structure was fixed over the armoured cruiser USS Birmingham.

The first landing took place on 18 January 1911 on the structure fixed on USS Pennsylvania. It used an improvised braking system of sandbags and ropes.

On 9 May 1912, Commander Charles Rumney Samson became the first pilot to take off from a moving plane. He took off from the battleship HMS Hibernia.

World War I

HMS Ark Royal was the first aircraft carrier. It was launched on 5 September 1914. It was part of the Gallipoli campaign. It was a merchant ship modified to be a carrier.

The first ship to be designed as an aircraft carrier was HMS Furious in 1916. At first, it had separate flight decks but was rebuilt in 1925 with a full-length flight deck. It took part in combat during World War II.

Squadron Commander EH Dunning landed his plane on a moving HMS Furious on 2 August 1917, becoming the first person to land on a moving ship. But he tragically died five days later while trying to land another plane on the same carrier.

The first-ever carrier-launched airstrike took place on 19 July 1918 during the Tondern Raid. Seven planes were launched from HMS Furious with two 23-kilogram bombs to attack the German Zeppelin base in Tondern. As the carrier had no recovery system

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Correction - Vishnu incorrectly mentions that Tor stands for ‘Tor Onion Router’ and that it is a recursive acronym. He’s an idiot As Shankar mentioned, it actually stands for ‘The Onion Router’.

The early form of the Internet was invented by the Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) in the form of ARPANET, which was a group of computers connected together and sharing resources.

In 1990, Sir Tim Berners-Lee developed the first website with an address info.cern.ch and was available within the CERN network. This site is accessible at http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html

IP addresses help identify a computer on the network and Domain Name Service (DNS) helps assign meaningful web addresses (like writerandgeek.com) that direct to these IP addresses. This makes remembering websites easy. Integrated Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a non-profit controlling the DNS.

Trans-oceanic cables help provide internet to every continent except in the world except Antarctica. Any damages to these cables can result in disruption of the internet over a wide area or a country.

Deepweb is the part of the internet which is not indexed by search engines and websites in the deep web cannot be viewed by normal browsers. Browsers like TOR browser are used to access these websites. A subset of the deep web is called Darknet where usually activities that are illegal take place. Like drug trade, etc.

Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here.Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here.

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The Revolt of 1857 is also known by other names such as The Sepoy Mutiny, The Indian Mutiny, The Great Rebellion, The Indian Insurrection, India’s First War of Independence.

Political Causes:

Doctrine of Lapse

Cancelling of Nana Sahib’s pension (Bajirao II)

Not letting Rani Lakshmi Bhai rule Jhansi

Abolish the Mughal Emperor title after the death of Bahadur Shah II

Economical Causes:

India was turned into a colonial economy to serve the British capitalist interests

High taxes, eviction of people, discriminatory practices, and destruction of traditional handicrafts

Social and Religious Causes:

Sati, infanticide, re-marriage of widows were considered to be interference by the Indians

The work of the Christian missionaries and the introduction of English education

The change of the Hindu law of property to accommodate conversion to Christianity

Military Causes:

The Indian soldiers were considered inferior

The high ranks in the army were exclusively reserved for English men

Sending Indian soldiers overseas

Immediate Cause:

The introduction of the Enfield rifle and the greased cartridge

Timeline:

On 29th March 1857, a sepoy called Mangal Pandey killed his superior English officers during a parade in Barrackpore, Bengal.

It spread to Berhampore on 24th April 1857 where the cavalrymen refused to accept the greased cartridges.

On 10th May 1857, Mutineers killed their superiors in Meerut and started marching towards Delhi.

On 12th May, Bahadur Shah was proclaimed the Emperor of India. He was 81. But the real command was in the hands of Bakht Khan who led the troops in Bareilly and moved them to Delhi.

Nana Sahib led the troops in Kanpur. He proclaimed himself to be the Peshwa and governor of the region. It was Tantya Tope who did most of the fighting there.

Hazrat Mahal, the Begum of Awadh led the revolt in Lucknow. She proclaimed her song Birjis Qadr as the Nawab of Awadh.

It is in Lucknow where Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence (the British resident) was killed.

Rani Laxmi Bai was defeated in Jhansi, but she captured Gwalior with the help of Tantya Tope.

In Bareilly, Khan Bahadur Khan Rohilla led the revolt and proclaimed himself as the Nawab.

Banaras, Allahabad, Nasirabad, Indore, Aligarh and Kota where the other centres of the battle were the mutineers killed their superiors, not even sparing women or children, burned the land records, plundered the treasury.

Bahadur Shah II proved to be a weak leader and the Britishers were able to suppress the revolt soon enough. He was arrested and deported to Rangoon where he died in 1862.

They recaptured Delhi on 20th September 1857 under the leadership of John Nicholson.

General Havelock defeated the rebels in Kanpur.

After his defeat, Nana Sahib refused to surrender and escaped to Nepal.

Hugh Henry Rose suppressed the revolt in Jhansi and Rani Laxmi Bai died on the battlefield.

Banaras, Bareilly, and Gwalior were recaptured by the Britishers.

Why did the revolt fail?

It was a highly localised revolt mainly restricted to North India.

It was poorly organised and the leaders lacked coordination.

Scindia of Gwalior, the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Holkar of Indore, the Nawab of Bhopal, the Raja of Jodhpur, the Rulers of Kashmir, Patiala, and Sindh, and the Rana of Nepal actively support the British during the revolt.

The British had way better and advanced resources and also proven generals leading their troops.

There was no common cause for the rebels, they had different goals.

Impact of the Revolt:

The Queen’s Proclamation of November 1858 announced the policy of the British Government to be followed in India.

It abolished territorial extension, the native rulers were assured of their title, land and rights, and honour if they cooperated with the British.

The ruler's right to adopt a child in the case of the absence of a natural heir was accepted.

The policy of divide and rule was actively pursued to keep the Hindus and Muslims separated leading to the gro

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Welcome to the second part of Writer & Geek Unscripted. In this episode, we talk about the series’ we have binged on during the course of the lockdown

Series’ mentioned in this episode:

Netflix:

Mad Men

Fauda

The Good Place

History 101

Snowpiercer

100

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Amazon Prime Video:

The Family Man

The Office (US)

Suits

Apple TV:

The Morning Show

For All Mankind

Curiosity Stream:

Forensic Files

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