Poverty Facts and Stats - Global Issues

Poverty Facts and Stats - Global Issues On this private blog of Anup Shah are presented some of the most impressive and organized statistics on the causes of poverty in the world I have seen. He has gathered from left, right and centre; from near and far; and across the centuries. It is balanced. It is efficient. It is moving.

Translated version of http://www.psy.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/

The Vision of the Complex
Akiyoshi Kitaoka is a professor in perceptual psychology at Ritsumeikan University, Japan, who shares the graphics illusions of motion, by himself and also his students. His site is in Japanese so I've posted the Google translation link. If that fails his url is www.psy.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka

The Bureau of Communication - Fill-in-the-blank Correspondence

On-line FORMs for all occasions. Here's a well done piece of fun. So far they've got: Declaration of Romantic Intent, Unsolicited Feedback, Observance of Holiday, Airing of Grievance, Formal Apology, Statement of Gratitude, Official Invitation, Acknowledgement of Occasion.

Press Releases 2008

14 April 2008 Here is a disconcerting report from the UK. The Soil Association documents here at length, over time and around the world, the failure of GM crops to increase food yields as Monsanto claims.

Joining 3.5 Billion Years of Microbial Invention | J. Craig Venter - FORA.tv

J. Craig Venter

Biologist, author and businessman Craig Venter discusses his work mapping and synthesizing genomes. Venter recalls his work mapping the human genome and expands on his current work.

The projects and equipment he describes are fantastic. He says it is not a matter of "creating life", but of engineering it. He is close to "booting up" a synthetic bacteria. He is intently aware of bio-ethics but listen close, he is no alarmist, and is working very hard to accomplish new things. Few are listening.

Most exciting is his plan to adapt a microbe he found on his world spanning ocean voyage on his boat. The microbe created methane with CO2 input and hydrogen for energy. He wants to make it create octane fuel directly from sequestered CO2 using sunlight for energy, and simply obsolete the need for global oil. He thinks it won't take very long either.

TED | TED Prize | Karen Armstrong | Wish: the Charter for Compassion

Charter for Compassion Karen Armstrong makes a wish to the TED conference. "I wish that you would help with the creation, launch and propagation of a Charter for Compassion, crafted by a group of leading inspirational thinkers from the three Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and based on the fundamental principles of universal justice and respect." Here is the link to her talk. Compassion

Armstrong is the scholar that has brought to the public awareness, the work of Martin Marty at Chicago on fundamentalism, showing us that it is entirely a reaction to modern inequalities, injustice and social change.

"I say that religion isn't about believing things. It's ethical alchemy. It's about behaving in a way that changes you, that gives you intimations of holiness and sacredness."

3arabawy

3arabawy Amy Goodman on Democracy Now was interviewing this chap about matters Egyptian while he was visiting the US. Hossam el-Hamalawy is a left-wing Cairo journalist. This is his blog and it seems rather representative of the new lines of communication that are threading the world today. Though his focus is the Egyptian conditions of oppression under Mubarak, his communication is to the world, and in this case in English. As for a long time, the problems in Egypt are still about cotton and bread and the politics that serve the rich. Review his blog a bit and be better informed.

Classic ScobleShow » Blog Archive » Advanced Photographic Research at Stanford with Prof. Marc Levoy

Classic ScobleShow Robert Scoble is perhaps the most prolific of the Silicon Valley podcasters. He interviews the inventors, the movers and the shakers of this very creative corner of the world. This is the archive of his work. I find him one of the most efficient ways of keeping in touch with the changes and inventions that matter, and subscribe to his feed on Miro. (getmiro.com now has nearly 4000 video feeds and is the modern equivalent of journal/magazine subscription.)

This episode is Scoble at his informal, brusque best. Marc Levoy shows where "graphics" is going in some most remarkable and useful ways. (and there isn't a single mention of the game industry) The most incredible reveal is a camera where the focus of a photograph after it has been taken can be changed. The demos are just incredible.

This is university at its best, where the mutual exchange of ideas is highly synergistic, and Levoy conveys his joy of research and teaching at Stanford.

Due Up

Due Up Here is the blog of a lucky fellow who shares his carefree travels in his piper cub. The photos he takes are not only of spectacular places, but he is an artist with the camera. Add to that his sense of adventure and you get pictures of landing on Alaska glaciers and the top of mountains. Enjoy

Paul Saffo: The Secret to Effective Forecasting - FORA.tv

Paul Saffo: The Secret to Effective Forecasting - FORA.tvJan 11th, 2008. As part of The Long Now Foundation's Seminars About Long-term Thinking, technology forecaster and strategist Paul Saffo presents Embracing Uncertainty: The Secret to Effective Forecasting.

Found this delightful lecture because it contains the notion of "common sense". Here's a forecaster that actually explains his craft with examples that help. He wants us all to become our own forecasters and use more common sense. His ideas are both sensible and intriguing - like the increasing power of city states.

Hegemony of Common Sense:Interview Of Dean Manders

Hegemony of Common Sense:Interview Of Dean Manders This excellent interview of the professor/author gives great insight to "common sense" in the context of citizenship.

Accuracy&Aesthetics » Spiral Model

Spiral Model An interesting tapestry of interwoven threads of ideas and images. As you regard any theme, related ones show. I was searching images of spirals and then found many extravagant and inspiring images, including this one
Rapidly Changing vs Fixed where a teacher and artist examines the perennial tension between student and teacher.

Joost - What's Joost?

Internet TV for Free Here is another source of the new internet tv. Full Screen size. Not by subscription as MIRO, but by browsing their content menus. They are just passing out of their experimental phase, and being new, their presentation is rather friendly and their downloadable interface is easier than most. They offer a mix of the small independent video blogger, and the professional videographers. These include entertainment and documentary sources. And some actual archived tv shows. Check it out. An example. A 25 minute film from Amnesty International Ten Videos That Will Change Your Mind About Human Rights.

Big Think - We Are What You Think

New Video AggregatorThese folks want to participate in the new internet with it's sharing of serious comment. The idea here is to gather conversations around ideas. They divide the categories into physical and meta-physical. Experts interact with netizens. The formats of participation are unique. It's only a few days old but they are starting with 3877 ideas. Check it out.

Pop!Casts

Chris Anderson. What happens when material things become free? Long Tail author and Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson examines new models of wealth distribution and claims we’re moving from economies of scarcity to an age of abundance. A Pop!Tech lecture informing us how Media and Internet are shifting places and individuals not corporations have influence.

My Favorite Free Software | philipmorgan.net

Philip Morgan This chap is a photographer in this new tech age, and very much a participator and a sharing fellow. His photographs of the Lone Fir Graveyard are just excellent. That's all I was doing, was tracking down the source of a neat photograph. It led to this, his eclectic blog. This post is a listing of some of the most useful opensource or free software of the sort that facilitates the operation of computers for personal use. These are all intermediate or higher programs, but he's found some new ones well worth sharing. I took a few hours to plow through the list and downloaded a half dozen.

The West Banksy | Arts | Guardian Unlimited

Guerilla Graffiti on the Wall British "guerilla graffiti artist" Banksy's work is showing up on the infamous wall dividing Israel from Palestine. Here is a photo essay by the Guardian with links to background.

Jimmy Wales on Wikipedia - FORA.tv

Jimmy Wales Jimmy is the founder and chief behind wikipedia. He describes "behind the scenes". but also explains how wikipedia is not a technical but a social phenomena. These are new and radical ideas very well expressed.

By the bye, fora.tv is another aspect of this new social side of internet. Do examine the wealth of their video talks.

SOLIDARITY, SUSTAINABILITY, AND NON-VIOLENCE ~ V3 N12 DECEMBER 2007

Newsletter This newsletter is an exceptional work and this issue one of the best. It is an exhaustive review of the UN 2007 State of the Future Report with its 15 summary concerns. Further, Gutierrez integrates this report with the progress towards the 2015 Millenium Development Goals. It rather efficiently presents summarys and links to as much more information as you have time to read. An excellent view of the present and future state of the world - of where we are winning and where losing.

redhat.com | One Laptop Per Child

redhat.com | One Laptop Per Child
This imaginative project is now delivering. It has transformed from a charitable idea of helping the poor where the technology proposed was minimal. Now the technology is at the leading edge. How remarkable that the children will get the best, and not hand-me-downs! Do check in with the project and see how it will change the world for the better. It is as they say, an educational, not merely a technical project.