Monday, October 31, 2005

Einstien's was Nationless

"My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities. I am truly a 'lone traveler' and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude..."

~ Albert Einstien

<Einstien's Essay on Life>

Friday, October 28, 2005

San Francisco superballs


<really-slow-loading-but-worth-it-video>

San Francisco in Jello


<link>

Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction

Whether long range weapon or suicide bomber
Wicked mind is a weapon of mass destruction
Whether you're soar away sun or BBC 1
Misinformation is a weapon of mass destruc
You could a Caucasian or a poor Asian
Racism is a weapon of mass destruction
Whether inflation or globalization
Fear is a weapon of mass destruction

My dad came into my room holding his hat
I knew he was leaving,
he sat on my bed told me some facts, son.
I have a duty, calling on me
You and your sister be brave my little soldier
And don't forget all I told ya
Your the mister of the house now remember this
And when you wake up in the morning give ya momma a kiss
Then I had to say goodbye

In the morning woke momma with a kiss on each eyelid,
Even though I'm only a kid
Certain things can't be hid
Momma grabbed me
Held me like I was made of gold
But left her inner stories untold
I said, momma it will be alright
When daddy comes home, tonight

[CHORUS]

Whether long range weapon or suicide bomber
Wicked mind is a weapon of mass destruction
Whether you're soar away sun or BBC 1
Misinformation is a weapon of mass destruc
You could a Caucasian or a poor Asian
Racism is a weapon of mass destruction
Whether inflation or globalization
Fear is a weapon of mass destruction

Whether Halliburton or Enron or anyone
Greed is a weapon of mass destruction

We need to find courage, overcome
Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction
Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction
Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction

The skin under my chin
is exploding, again.
I'm getting stress from some other children.
I'm holding it in, we taking sides, like a politian
an if I get friction we get to fightin.
I defend my dad he's the best of all men
an whatever he's doin he's doin the right thing.
Its frightenin but it makes me mad, why do all
of these people seem to hate my dad?
an if that ain't enough, now I've got these spots.
I go to sleep every night with my stomach in knots.
and whats more I can hear Mama next door
explore the radio for reports of war.
and all we ever seem to do is hide the tears,
seems Daddy been gone for years.
But he was right, now I'm geared up for the fight
an he would be proud of me if Daddy came home tonight.

[CHORUS]

My story stops here, lets be clear
This scenario is happening everywhere
And you ain't going to nirvana or farvana
You're coming right back here to live out your karma
With even more drama than previously, seriously
Just how many centuries have we been
waiting for someone else to make us free
And we refuse to see
That people overseas suffer just like we
Bad leadership and ego's unfettered and free
Who feed on the people they're supposed to lead
I don't need good people to pray and wait
For the lord to make it all straight
There's only now, do it right.
Cos I don't want your daddy, leaving home tonight

~ 'Mass Destruction' by Faithless
<the video>

Thursday, October 27, 2005

InterestMap, A Cultural Fabric of Identities & Interests



Over recent years, social network communities (e.g. inter alia, friendster, contact lists, weblog communities, newsgroups) have been steadily building up in the online world. There is now sufficient critical mass of such infrastructure to postulate things about identity and the Self, as reflected in the social fabric of the online world.

How might we sense identity from the online social fabric? Semiotician Jacques Lacan has argued that words and concepts carry meaning primarily by what they signify. Roland Barthes proposed that the particular mappings between signifier and signified originate in cultural systems of semiology. Such cultural systems of signs have grown in importance as mass consumption has replaced subjective culture as the dominant contemporary cultural paradigm. Because the signifying value of possessions associated with the Self serves an important social function in signalling identity, it is possible to view identity and the Self as a collection of consumption decisions (cf. Social Constructionist Theory of Identity).

InterestMap mines online social network communities to create a rich influence network of interests and subcultures. Some of the interests represented in the network are, inter alia, television and films, foods, geographies, music, sports, hobbies, activities, objects, and people. The strength of connections between interests are learned from the digestion of on the order of one hundred thousand user profiles from online social networks. For example, a person who likes X may also mention Y as an interest on her homepage. Identity and tastes emerge as patterns of intersection on InterestMap.

by Hugo Lui and Pattie Maes

<movie>
<link>


fourteen years

So I turned twenty-five the other day and the sudden realization came to me that I only have five more years left to take over the world. No, wait, you don’t understand. I’ve been trying since I was eleven and now time is really running out. Cause, frankly, if you don’t achieve world domination by thirty you might as well give up. In fact, right about now I’m getting pretty desperate. I’d even settle for partial world domination. Perhaps even a single continent would suffice.

You see, its not that I’m being arrogant or anything. It’s a matter of childhood dreams. When I was young I always imagined being something truly exceptional at a global level. It seemed clear that I deserved world recognition and all I had to do was do something amazing to start people noticing. So the evident thing to do was to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. Many an evening was filled trying to stuff as many gobstoppers in my mouth as possible, or standing on my head for hours (or minutes – logic says minutes but my memory says hours). But I never did becoming a ninja, or a robot. No radioactive spiders ever bit me. My great novel remained unspellchecked and unfinished (I had a tendency, even then, to make up words and write without looking at the screen). But I knew, as I know now, all these things were merely setbacks. My Wiley E. Coyote mind still kept the heart of the idea beating. The roadrunner could be, nay would be, caught. Inside the eleven year old inside me stands still in a lit doorway all ashadowed. One day… One day my lovelies. All your bases shall be mine.

~ riaz


plotting...


Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Inside the British Indian Mind

Faulty Multi-Culturalism

As I entered the Barbershop at Brudenell Road at Headingley on a quiet Sunday morning, the last thing I wanted was anything or anyone to disturb my piece of mind. Things went as per plan and my hairdresser was about to finish his job when a group of young men entered the shop wanting to get done what I was just about to finish. My barber was chatting nineteen to the dozen with me and I was constantly reminding him that I didn’t have much to say as I was only three months old in England. The conversation revolved around his curiosity to know if I was enjoying my stay in the UK. <read on...>

- submitted by Nirali


Chris Jordan



Chris Jordan likes to take photographs of garbage dumps.
It often ends up looking like art though. ; )

<dirty link>

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Post Secret



PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail-in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.

<secrets revealed>

Chowk Attack

Our very own miss Aruna Rangarajan has published something over at chowk.
<go over and check it out>

~r

Miniature Earth



<miniature link>

Belonging

Someone not to long ago asked me to define my sense of belonging. In that case, perhaps, purely in regard to why I didn’t belong to them. But regardless it is a subject I often end up thinking about. So here are some thoughts.

It is my belief now (after thinking and evolving this in my head for a number of years) that belonging can be thought of in two different ways. Both of which are slightly more complicated that the simple nationalistic model.

The first, less complicated one, is that you belong where family is. Family, of course, extending beyond your immediate family to a closely nit set of friends. Essentially, people that are going to look out for you no matter what happens. People with whom it doesn’t matter how much you mess up. They will still be there and be involved. They may not like you much, or make your life any easier. But they will always be there. Home is a fortress of people to protect you and give you solace from the world outside. You belong to the area around your family protecting that fortress of core people inside.

The second idea of belonging I have is the concept that the change or impact you have on a particular culture makes you part of that culture and societies structure. Becoming part of a culture is a direct result of the effect you have on that culture. Conversely, someone who has no effect on a culture, that they are part of, do not, in perspective of the culture, really exist.

My last thought has to do with ‘wandering’ between these different forms of belonging, societies, cultures and subcultures. I think that it is not only acceptable but desirable because then you become a bridge or a beckon. Both very important faces for any society to have.

InstaOffice

I love that $2.35 and a cup of coffee and I have an instant office. Wireless access and a semi-comfortable chair and it’s so much better than any cubicle, regardless of how many cute plush animals you nail to the soft cushiony walls. Even better, my ever roaming office sprouts around wherever and whenever I need it in various different locations. Email, Instant Message and a couple of equally caffeinated friends and we have a team, a network, and a filing system.

It’s not the paperless office, or the home office that that I really desire. After all, the immediacy provided by paper is invaluable, and I really like the idea of having a distinction between work time and home time. I desire an ever roaming, always connected, coffee driven (or lemonade $1.90) office that lets me access and do work anywhere and anytime I desire.

Imagine, if you will, a chain of coffee shops where you can walk in twenty-two hours a day (two hours to clean up and restart – forced nap time for the workers). You walk inside and pick up some sheets from a stack of paper and a pen from the donated library area. You also pick up a copy of Ultimate Style : Rules to Writing someone left behind. You then order a double shot cafĂ© mocha and sit down on your small red desk. The table has more than enough plug points and a hook underneath it to hang your bag. From there you can get print outs at the counter or you can photocopies made. You can take phone calls on your cell phone. Drop my mail at the mailbox outside when you are about to leave. You can have all the amenities that help you work and maybe more. A critique wall where you can get a critical analysis of your work. A discussion sofa where you can absorb and share new thoughts and ideas.

Then again, perhaps a simple quiet coffee shop, a cup of mint tea, classical music, strangers sitting next to me and friends across is enough. Much like this place right here, right now.

Monday, October 24, 2005

Sculpture's Adventures Across America



<the adventure>

moving troubles...

some of you may have noticed (all 3 of you infact)... that nationless has been kinda sick lately. I think its something Ragav gave to the site (dirty ragsboy). But regardless, its all well now. More streamlined and sexier. Play responsibly kids. ;)

~riaz

It's called football silly

Can soccer save the world?

This document looks into the cross-cultural meaning soccer holds, it's value above and beyond sportsmanship, and how it affects people.

My first memories of the game are of the startling awakenings I experienced due to my mother's screams coming from the other room: a missed opportunity for a goal. Her pleas to the television were so full of frustration and grief, it seemed impossible for me to resist the drama unfolding on the field, even if it was just on TV.

What is it about soccer that can produce such excitement and delight around the world? Soccer is often referred to as the world's game because of its popularity among so many nations. It has also been known as the people's game for its popularity among the working class and poor. It seems that the more oppressed a a country, the more soccer seems to matter. Soccer means so much to people, for many the possibility of a better life. For others, a chance to forget about their problems and suffering, if only for just a second.

<pdf document>

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Curry Rock

For many Indians, getting a visa is a dream come true. But living and working in the US can be harder than expected and a group of Indian-born engineers has put the H-1B experience to music.

It all started, as these things often do, at a party. It was a house-warming party in the Washington DC area to be precise.

An Indian computer engineer with a yen for Jethro Tull was throwing the shindig. Among the guests were a couple of other Indian hi-tech workers with musical backgrounds.

<curry rock>

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

when driving coast to coast....


... you see a lot of this


and sometimes some of this...


But mostly a lot of this...

..... its like the sky is trying to entertain

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Design Continuum and MIT Media Lab -- $100 Laptop




Massachusetts based multidisciplinary design consultancy Design Continuum in conjunction with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab present the design and configuration of the $100 laptop intended to revolutionize education for children all over the world. Regardless of national wealth, a goal has been set to reach as many children worldwide, distributing the laptops just like textbooks. In order to prevent the laptops from being hoarded, stolen, or sold in poor countries, the distribution is planned to be well organized and extremely wide-spread with the design being so distinctive that it would be easily spotted in the wrong hands.

These remarkably light, slim and portable laptops are powered by an AC adapter that also acts as a carrying strap. When electricity is not available, an integrated hand crank provides sufficient energy to power the machine. The laptops are extremely durable with a tough rubber outer casing, expected to withstand a plethora of unfavorable conditions. The proposed devices will be 500MHz, 1 GB, 1 Megapixel and Linux-based with a generous full-color screen, plentiful USB ports and WiFi and phone capabilities. The laptop is extremely flexible thanks to a rotating hinge that enables usage as a normal laptop, writing pad, drawing tablet, and presentation screen. The $100 laptops are projected to ship by the end of 2006 or early 2007.

<link>

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