This blog has moved; time for you to update your browser favourites or aggregator settings

Now online (MP3, 0.6 MB, 2 minutes 25 seconds) - an audio version of these instructions (for the benefit of those whose only interaction with this site is through a podcatching client).

As I wrote here some time ago, I have been migrating all of the content in this blog (and the audio show it contains) to a new location, running under new software. That migration is now complete. :-) Therefore, I will not be publishing any more content in this blog. Which means that if you wish to continue reading (or listening to) my work, you need to do one (or all) of the following:

• The new home of all my work is Multidimensional.Me - there is a frequently-asked questions (or "FAQ") page on that site, but basically, if you wish to read all of my blog posts in your web browser, or download my audio shows manually from there, then please update your browser favourites or bookmarks accordingly;

• If you read this blog in a news aggregator, you need to update your subscription to the new feed - I will not be continuing to use FeedBurner on the new site;

• If you're reading this because you're a listener to my audio show "CrossOver", then the new home of that show is here; if you use a podcatching client to download new shows automatically (yes, I know, there hasn't been a show since the beginning of May... I've been *busy*!) then you need to update your client to use the new feed - please note that, depending on the podcatching client you use, it *may* download the old shows again; please accept my apologies in advance if this happens to you, there's not much I can do to avoid it happening.

I hope the above instructions are clear; if you have *any* problems, please do not hesitate to send me an email at koanbremner {at} gmail {dot} com and I will do everything I can to assist you.

Comments are now closed on this blog; they will be enabled on the migrated version in a day or so

Much as I love receiving comments on this blog... I've closed new comments (but left the exisiting ones visible, in perpetuity). This is to ease the final stages of the blog migration to Radio Userland at http://www.multidimensional.me.uk All of the existing content and comments will be reproduced on the new blog; all I ask is a little forbearance for the next few hours while I finish the task! ;-)

I have put a tombstone notice on each post. Once I've copied the comments across, I'll update each tombstone with the URL of the corresponding post in the new blog. I'm having to fit this furniture-shifting around other matters, so it's taking longer in elapsed time than I'd hoped; c'est la vie!

CrossOver Session Eight: "Careful with that handshake, Eugene!"

Now online (MP3, 2.2 MB, 9 minutes 25 seconds) - a sneak preview of an upcoming episode of Tod Maffin's /Nerd podcast (which will also air, eventually, on CBC Radio in Canada) and which includes a contribution from yours truly. Tod's original (encoded at a higher bit rate) can be found (for now) here.

Hopefully my cold will soon subside, and I can return to our scheduled programming... ;-)

See the shownotes (HTML, OPML) for relevant links.

This blog has been migrated to new software on a different server (http://www.multidimensional.me.uk) and comments on this post on *this* blog are now closed. All existing comments have been copied to the equivalent post on the new blog. If you still wish to comment on this post, please use the equivalent post.

CrossOver Session Seven: "Choose Your Rights"

Now online (MP3, 3.6 MB, 15 minutes 30 seconds) - in which, gentle listener, you hear part of my homework from last week's session of speech and language therapy, i.e. a ten-minute piece of continuous, scripted speech. I've used as inspiration the BBC Radio 4 documentary I posted about here and have gone on to add one or two personal observations of my own. Any feedback or comments (whether about the content itself, or my, ahem, "performance") would be, as ever, most welcome!

See the shownotes (HTML, OPML) for relevant links.

This blog has been migrated to new software on a different server (http://www.multidimensional.me.uk) and comments on this post on *this* blog are now closed. All existing comments have been copied to the equivalent post on the new blog. If you still wish to comment on this post, please use the equivalent post.

CrossOver Session Six: "Whats in my bag?"

Now online (MP3, 2.8 MB, 11 minutes 50 seconds) - in which I discuss the contents of my make-up bag, and how I use them! :-)

I'm trying yet more new recording techniques in this session, in an attempt to improve the sound quality while keeping the file size down; I'd appreciate any feedback on that aspect, as well as the content.

See the shownotes (HTML, OPML) for relevant links.

This blog has been migrated to new software on a different server (http://www.multidimensional.me.uk) and comments on this post on *this* blog are now closed. All existing comments have been copied to the equivalent post on the new blog. If you still wish to comment on this post, please use the equivalent post.

CrossOver Session Five: "Why two check-boxes are simply not enough"

Now online (MP3, 4.4 MB, 18 minutes 55 seconds) - in which I discuss my perspective on why society's insistence on a strictly male or female view of the world simply isn't enough. This session includes a short excerpt from Dr. Moira Gunn's interview with Deborah Rudicille of Johns-Hopkins University, which can be downloaded from the "IT Conversations" web site (included under the terms of the Creative Commons Sampling License). See the shownotes (HTML, OPML) for relevant links.

This blog has been migrated to new software on a different server (http://www.multidimensional.me.uk) and comments on this post on *this* blog are now closed. All existing comments have been copied to the equivalent post on the new blog. If you still wish to comment on this post, please use the equivalent post.

CrossOver Session Four - "Post-Electrolysis Skincare"

Now online (MP3, 2.00 MB, 8 minutes 40 seconds, 32kbps) - due to my ongoing memory lapses, I completely forgot to talk in Session Three about the condition of the skin after electrolysis, and skincare recommendations. Consider this as Session 3.5... ;-)

As an experiment, I've encoded this session at 32kbps (rather than the 64kbps I've used previously); since this is primarily a speech-only show, I think the drop in audio quality is more than offset by the halving in the downloaded file size. Also, to improve the user experience of those who use iTunes / iPod to play their podcasts, I've changed the Song Name, Artist and Album ID3 tags to work more effectively in that environment. Please let me know (by email or comment) if you approve or disapprove of either (or both) of these changes.

Show notes (in OPML format)

This blog has been migrated to new software on a different server (http://www.multidimensional.me.uk) and comments on this post on *this* blog are now closed. All existing comments have been copied to the equivalent post on the new blog. If you still wish to comment on this post, please use the equivalent post.

CrossOver Session Three - "Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow"

Now online (MP3, 9.06 MB, 19 minutes 48 seconds) - in which I give some thoughts on how to approach the challenge of permanent hair removal. Sadly, whichever method you employ, it won't be "gone tomorrow"... but it's desirable (and necessary) to do it, and hopefully this show will help someone else who has to face (no pun intended) this process.

Show notes (in OPML format)

This blog has been migrated to new software on a different server (http://www.multidimensional.me.uk) and comments on this post on *this* blog are now closed. All existing comments have been copied to the equivalent post on the new blog. If you still wish to comment on this post, please use the equivalent post.

CrossOver Session Two - "The First Time"

Now online (MP3, 8.8 MB, 19 minutes 11 seconds) - in which I give some thoughts on how to approach the challenge of telling someone for the first time that you are (or may be) transgendered; and why to try not to make too much of a deal about it.

Following on from a previous post, a new category, "Gender", has been added to the ipodder.org directory; to which I have now added CrossOver (so if you use a podcatching client that can select feeds from the ipodder.org directory, you can now select this show directly without typing in the RSS feed address). As it happens, the editor of this node of the directory is... me. ;-) Thanks, Adam; boing! The fine folks at GenderTalk are also listed, in the same category; double boing!

So, if by any chance you produce (or know of ) a relevant podcast that isn't listed elsewhere in that directory, then I'll be happy to add them to the Gender category (just fill in the form on the "suggest a link" page, which will send me the details). If there's a podcast that isn't in the directory, doesn't really fit under Gender, but might be appropriate in another category, then I recommend that you use the "suggest a link" on the appropriate category to send the suggestion to the appropriate editor.

Show notes (in OPML format)

This blog has been migrated to new software on a different server (http://www.multidimensional.me.uk) and comments on this post on *this* blog are now closed. All existing comments have been copied to the equivalent post on the new blog. If you still wish to comment on this post, please use the equivalent post.

GenderTalk radio now has a podcast RSS feed!

I mentioned in the first session of CrossOver that one of my favourite online audio shows is GenderTalk ("talking about transgenderism in the first person") but that technically it didn't qualify as a podcast (because you had to manually download the show from their site or the Internet Archive, rather than use a podcatching client) as they didn't have an RSS feed with enclosures. I also mentioned that I probably ought to email them.

Well, I did (remembering to follow up on something is quite a rarity for me, these days!)... and they have responded with just such a feed - respect! Currently, the feed only contains the latest show, coincidentally their 500th (to my mind, adding a podcast feed is a great way to mark that milestone) but more than 350 of the older shows are still available for download.

As I'm preparing my second session of CrossOver, a question that has been going around in my mind is, if I list the show in the ipodder.org directory, exactly *where* in that directory should I list it? If GenderTalk is listed, I would want to put CrossOver in the same place; my concern is that I'm not sure that, really, *any* of the current categories fit! ;-) I've emailed Adam Curry (in his capacity as overall maintainer of the directory) to ask for his thoughts and have suggested that, even though he's recently trimmed down the directory structure, a new node "Alternate Lifestyles" might be appropriate; general enough not to be restricted to just transgender issues, neutral enough not to be offensive (I don't see why anyone *should* be offended, of course, but, for example, I wouldn't want CrossOver listed anywhere under "Sex" for example, because it's not about sex). I've even offered to maintain that directory node. Anyway, we'll see what happens.

This blog has been migrated to new software on a different server (http://www.multidimensional.me.uk) and comments on this post on *this* blog are now closed. All existing comments have been copied to the equivalent post on the new blog. If you still wish to comment on this post, please use the equivalent post.

CrossOver - Session One

Now online (MP3, 4.25 MB, 9 minutes 15 seconds)

By popular demand, and against my initial reservations... welcome to the first session of CrossOver, my occasional audio show which discusses some aspects of my experience of living with Gender Dysphoria, and all the fun and games that follow as a consequence.

I've decided to record this show in response to feedback from readers of my blog and listeners to my other audio show, VoiceOver; for reasons that I've written about on my blog, and described in this short audio file (MP3, 1.89 MB, 4 minutes 06 seconds) I do not discuss anything to do with Gender Dysphoria in VoiceOver. This show, CrossOver, is intended to provide a forum for those topics which, therefore, I haven't discussed in audio before.

Confused? Join the club! ;-)

I'll state at the outset that I don't envisage continuing CrossOver much beyond my final surgery, around about a year from now; and I'm making no commitment as to how frequently (or infrequently) future sessions will appear until then; and if I don't receive much feedback from the initial shows (or rather, if I don't receive much *positive* feedback) then I may not feel sufficiently enthused to record further sessions. Which is a long-winded way of saying, if you like what you hear (or if you *don't* like what you hear) please leave a comment (without revealing your name, if you're shy) or drop me an email at koanbremner (at) gmail (dot) com - absolute discretion guaranteed.

Enough of the preamble; on with the motley!

Show notes to follow in a day or so (I have a habit of forgetting to put the show notes online after the event, so if I neglect to do so, please give me a nudge, someone...) (in OPML format)

This blog has been migrated to new software on a different server (http://www.multidimensional.me.uk) and comments on this post on *this* blog are now closed. All existing comments have been copied to the equivalent post on the new blog. If you still wish to comment on this post, please use the equivalent post.