tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-112416152024-03-07T06:59:28.922+00:00Light Switcher<i>“There are only two ways to live your life.<br>One is as though nothing is a miracle.<br>The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
</i> ~ EinsteinAnt...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.comBlogger203125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-82249577573742461512013-02-19T08:05:00.000+00:002013-02-19T08:05:45.166+00:00Can bitcoin change society?<a href="http://bitcoin.org/" target="_blank">Bitcoin</a> was launched in 2009 as an experimental digital encrypted currency with very unique properties that sets it apart from all other currencies in use today. Bitcoin is open-source, decentralized, impossible to counterfeit and rare, as the algorithm will only generate around 21 million bitcoins.
The short video below succinctly explains some of its properties and advantages. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="309" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Um63OQz3bjo" width="540"></iframe><br />
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If you research bitcoin enough at some point you'll wonder how you can start mining this new crypto-currency yourself. It was in this search that I stumbled upon, Geir Harald Hansen, the creator of <a href="https://bitminter.com/" target="blanket">bitminter.com</a> - a bitcoin mining pool made easy for beginners. Geir kindly and honestly answered a few of my questions regarding bitcoin. His thoughts on the potential success of bitcoin and comparison to current currencies, I thought were worth sharing below.
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Can Bitcoin change society?</b> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Take a look at the world economy. One financial crisis after another.
Venezuela recently devalued their currency. The US is printing money
faster and faster. Or rather they are creating crazy amounts of US
dollars by typing a number into a computer. Fractional reserve banking.
Banks too big to fail. The US and several other countries are
effectively bankrupt as they will never be able to pay their foreign
debt. Welcome to the circus. The entire world economy is just a giant
ponzi scheme. Whether you are a scammer depends not on what you do, but
on whether or not you work for a government. I can't decide whether it
is funny or sad. Maybe it's both. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Part of bringing sanity to the economy is to use things that are
actually in limited supply for currencies and stores of value.
Environmentalists may not agree, but there are plenty of trees to make
paper money from. Typing a number into a computer is not limited supply
either. Gold, silver and bitcoin on the other hand are in limited
supply. Perhaps something better than bitcoin will appear. But I'm
pretty sure fiat money is not the future.
I think society may soon be ready for a change. But most people still
just do what the masses do. Anything that is not mainstream is "not
real". </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Many think Bitcoin is monopoly money. Actually it is US dollars,
Euros, etc. that are printed en masse like monopoly money. Bitcoin is
nothing like monopoly money. But this thinking is based on emotion, not
logic. Fiat money is "real money" because this is how we've been doing
things for hundreds of years. Anything that is different from the
established way is wrong, silly, or not real. This way of thinking
greatly slows down bitcoin adoption. But at the same time an increasing
number of people are getting fed up with the current system, and
"banker" has become a swear word. As the global ponzi scheme nears
collapse and more people are adversely affected by it they will be less
inclined to cling to it just because it's tradition. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Whether buying ASIC-based Bitcoin mining equipment will be profitable is
anyone's guess. Anything related to Bitcoin is a gamble. Don't invest
more than you can afford to lose. But do get involved with Bitcoin in
some way or other. <u><span style="background-color: white;">Years from now when people laugh about fiat
currencies and how primitive the world used to be, you can say you took
part in changing it. This could be an important moment in history.
</span></u></blockquote>
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Bitcoins can be exchanged with all currencies. At the date of this post 1BTC = £17.64 = $27.30 = €20.34, could this be the digital gold rush? <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQvjjzf8J44yCaudwrsjcZxCdLLrYng_fFxkaiWdoY-vZ3H74yQ-dioUu79SKxlhwjQkAAGFCLSsXk7isPgXd18U_oxAoz5qRUD6nTKVo5XdUMjtSTJna9YnxnKEZKQIm7msDK/s1600/BTC.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQvjjzf8J44yCaudwrsjcZxCdLLrYng_fFxkaiWdoY-vZ3H74yQ-dioUu79SKxlhwjQkAAGFCLSsXk7isPgXd18U_oxAoz5qRUD6nTKVo5XdUMjtSTJna9YnxnKEZKQIm7msDK/s1600/BTC.png" /></a></div>
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If you want to find out more and/or get involved, check <a href="http://bitcoin.org/" target="_blank">bitcoin.org</a>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-89218220532416252392013-01-21T23:11:00.000+00:002013-01-21T23:11:03.802+00:00In memory of Aaron Swartz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHToQnehC22tUdDFMtkBSOUEBLP4BYbo6Lc-kLOR4NmpFVcwDIdjGzSRP1qQad9hYSNQ3DkAoUcRsrWdZW8P0kpTwnXHVsb-kNrEpdRWyc2MN_QD8QktguEvrlqImNl2PBhyphenhyphenQB/s1600/Aaron-Swartz-cartoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="308" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHToQnehC22tUdDFMtkBSOUEBLP4BYbo6Lc-kLOR4NmpFVcwDIdjGzSRP1qQad9hYSNQ3DkAoUcRsrWdZW8P0kpTwnXHVsb-kNrEpdRWyc2MN_QD8QktguEvrlqImNl2PBhyphenhyphenQB/s400/Aaron-Swartz-cartoon.jpg" /></a></div>
Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-16702143412593928402013-01-04T23:36:00.001+00:002013-01-04T23:36:37.476+00:00Time Banking<iframe width="545" height="410" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-3kJ5QB6Htk?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-13603325475413940882012-12-14T22:42:00.000+00:002012-12-14T22:42:05.893+00:00What will you do?<iframe width="545" height="307" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iXPf5tMvCsw?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-29665956204907593142012-11-11T22:41:00.000+00:002012-11-11T22:56:41.300+00:00Meditate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1Z5ZWMt_5-ccE59cT6p1ejPdMjejFARUokH1SNFtI2uC1hGSsTOCG8MSf-ChxK7eFG02L41QPZ68AkBXmJ7Z8UMeLycufTwYHudEJ9H-VHXFe1AAnx_YLJ2Uhy2_RqJyieIm/s1600/meditation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="92%" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1Z5ZWMt_5-ccE59cT6p1ejPdMjejFARUokH1SNFtI2uC1hGSsTOCG8MSf-ChxK7eFG02L41QPZ68AkBXmJ7Z8UMeLycufTwYHudEJ9H-VHXFe1AAnx_YLJ2Uhy2_RqJyieIm/s400/meditation.jpg" width="92%" /></a></div>
On my 200th post, here's a self-reminder.
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Painting by <a href="http://chapter-56.blogspot.co.uk/2006/01/meditation-my-progress.html">Goro Fujita</a>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-39942770260564061252012-10-29T09:24:00.000+00:002012-11-08T23:49:01.998+00:00Alt-j - Taro<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="306" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/43260073?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&badge=0" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="545"></iframe><br />Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-86997871443505124832012-09-27T19:00:00.000+01:002012-09-27T19:01:45.288+01:00The elite<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgneItBX9CTUyW7NY0skYpQn6Msk2qVy4bk3wTKoP4C7f9WImgpbYGlhq6Iev4D59xsID0e5ojVmabwbNcQcyMWToppSkxeKQN9OkUlJwfXI8afT05htsN-IvSnGvs7JM3Htjml/s1600/austerity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgneItBX9CTUyW7NY0skYpQn6Msk2qVy4bk3wTKoP4C7f9WImgpbYGlhq6Iev4D59xsID0e5ojVmabwbNcQcyMWToppSkxeKQN9OkUlJwfXI8afT05htsN-IvSnGvs7JM3Htjml/s400/austerity.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<blockquote>
There is a corporate elite, a banking elite, a political elite, an academic elite... yet none of these elites have done anything to address the underlying key problem of the global economy. The money profit capitalist market economy has been good to elites for the past 40 years, but has systematically gutted the underlying economy so that most people now have no buying ability, and GDP cannot grow. Central banks create State money... banks create bank money... now it is time there is an institution to create jobs money so that available people can go to work doing things that we really need... food for the hungry, homes for the homeless, medical care for the sick, education for children, infrastructure, environmental remediation, and so on. A value seeking market economy would deliver a very different global society than one where the only metric is money profit and growth of wasteful excessive consumption.</blockquote>
By Peter Burgess, comment from <a href="http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/spains-indignados-surround-parliament-0022352">Aljazeera.com</a>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-36570526203841733992012-06-23T13:09:00.000+01:002012-06-23T13:11:48.304+01:00LucidTree.com - Awareness resource<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The internet can be a place for entertainment, communication and commerce, but the most important role of the web, I think, is <b>education</b>. Never in history has so much valuable information been available to the masses but it's not always obvious where to find it.<br />
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For a long time I intended to build a website that aggregated some of this valuable information and presented it in a clear format. This has finally materialized in the shape of a <b>free online movie library</b> called <a href="http://lucidtree.com/">LucidTree.com</a>. It is currently only a seedling but the aim is to grow it into a hub of relevant information for those of us seeking a better understanding of ourselves, this planet and beyond.<br />
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<a href="http://lucidtree.com" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvG5ytfBO21LCciRqRiWGCa2NrO2EbFLdp7cpNXwjR-PEzfxfc4h2mTwgIfJgGlNcFuFieovcPIs2PLrcN_TvDvp5GLGgxPIXMpQFb0Pu51c02RZDJcBad5mHZYGaoTEcEyxmI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-06-23+at+13.03.27.png" /></a></div>
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Check out <a href="http://lucidtree.com/">LucidTree.com</a> and share it with friends and family. Contribute by sending suggestions/feedback using the contact form on the website.<br />
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<i>Real revolution starts with learning...</i>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-45205475627307506012012-04-28T18:06:00.000+01:002012-04-28T18:06:03.872+01:00Must watch: Four Horsemen"23 leading thinkers – frustrated at the failure of their respective disciplines – break their silence to explain how the world really works." ~ <a href="http://www.fourhorsemenfilm.com/" target="_blank">www.fourhorsemenfilm.com</a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="307" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wLoB1eCJ93k" width="545"></iframe>
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Watch the full movie here:<br />
<iframe src="//widgets.distrify.com/widget.html#890" class="distrify-player" frameborder="0" height="339" id="distrify-player-890" scrolling="no" width="545"></iframe>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-78967670512159705542012-04-21T13:16:00.000+01:002012-04-21T13:19:15.080+01:00The bank for financial activistsIf you're pissed of at the current corrupt and opaque banking system, why not vote with your wallet and move your spare money to an ethical bank? Triodos is one of them (the only one I'm aware of) which is completely transparent and invests only in ethical businesses.<br />
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Become a financial activist and sleep better at night with the assurance that you're not indirectly supporting corrupt regimes, polluting technologies, greedy banks and corporations or even war.<br />
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<iframe width="545" height="307" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/devgHqVS14k?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-76581386137519895052012-04-17T22:27:00.002+01:002012-04-17T22:27:34.597+01:00The stars all gleam with possibilities<iframe width="545" height="399" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gHxEYDjMjXU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-28491708311577768612012-04-15T11:35:00.002+01:002012-04-15T11:36:10.894+01:00Little girl teaches economics to 600 peopleSomeone hasn't been doing their homework and it's not this little girl. Although she talks specifically about the Canadian banking system, this is a pretty accurate description of how every banking system in the world is set-up. So here's our homework for today, to listen and learn.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="307" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/axS-QdUkMqk" width="545"></iframe><br />
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To further research, check out <a href="http://www.themoneymasters.com/the-money-masters/" target="_blank">The Money Masters</a> or the <a href="http://www.moneyasdebt.net/" target="_blank">Money as Debt</a> three part documentary series. <span style="color: #999999;">(It appears that these were produced with fairly modest budgets, but the information contained in them is, in my view, crucial and very enlightening to the inner workings of the banking system.) </span>You should be able to find these in a video sharing site near you. <span style="color: #999999;"></span>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-64161208594102636642012-04-15T01:10:00.002+01:002012-04-15T13:07:49.091+01:00The Cloud forecast<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWHod0nrGGSlYHJS5W6tw3M_Zn_ZUoC4s71JOQP9kLn7J1kBwUg_rRna37jp6mgzOBf_US0Cq2VfM0qC7a5cZS2VCrhf-Jk4jYJsEXS32Yhjs7j3vgLu5czRrtIvPGOWE5ds88/s1600/thickWhiteCloud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWHod0nrGGSlYHJS5W6tw3M_Zn_ZUoC4s71JOQP9kLn7J1kBwUg_rRna37jp6mgzOBf_US0Cq2VfM0qC7a5cZS2VCrhf-Jk4jYJsEXS32Yhjs7j3vgLu5czRrtIvPGOWE5ds88/s200/thickWhiteCloud.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cloud</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The latest buzz word in today's tech world is "<i>the cloud</i>". The hype surrounding this (yet another) vaguely named technology is never ending. If we can learn anything from the past, the cloud alongside names such as Google and Macintosh (sure these sound familiar now but
remember when you first heard them?) is bound to become a winner. <br />
<br />
This kind of weather phenomenon is becoming more ubiquitous in our lives, without us even realising it. But what is it? What exactly does it do?! Well, in short, the cloud is made up of a (large) bunch of interconnected web servers scattered all over the world, making up one huge machine with humongous processing power and unthinkable data storage capacity. <br />
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Businesses are all eager to jump onto the cloud. This makes sense, specially for small businesses, as never before has such a large and easily scalable computer resource been available at such (relatively) low price. But what are the advantages for the individual folk like you and me? What's the fuss all about, what do we get from the cloud? <br />
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The cloud aims to store all our data, so that we can access it from any internet enabled device from anywhere in the world. For example, why carry your music with you when you can pay a monthly subscription to access millions of tracks from from your computer at home and your phone on the go?<br />
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The cloud wants to provide you with all the applications you require. Be it an office suite or any other software, instead of buying or downloading it for free and installing it on your computer, you'll be paying the cloud for a monthly/yearly subscription to use it. I already hear you saying - "Great! This is so convenient. Where do I sign up?" <br />
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Not so fast, lets look at the bigger picture. With every service this technology provides we see a transfer of ownership from the user to the hazy mist of the cloud. Be it pictures, videos or documents who knows what prying eyes will scan our private digital creations? Privacy is starting to become a thing of the past. Someone, somewhere will have the power to run detailed diagnostics, statistics and trends on our habits, locations, likes/dislikes, connections, opinions, etc. - not only on an individual level but also on whole populations. Even if you think <a href="http://lightswitcher.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/you-are-all-screwed.html" target="_blank">you have nothing to hide</a>, based on history, would you not agree that the larger a power is, the bigger the risk of corruption and abuse of such power?<br />
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For long it has been said that information is power. I wonder what kind of power cloud we are creating by allowing such an unprecedented centralization of information in the hands of a few large corporations. Hopefully not a black cloud that comes back thundering down on us.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU0Wg8YuNUf4b0O1kRv930335lDrPn4k3akzv9Spvpop7MT-9ZMVoFPKVK9d-23nYC9ADJPJdPBAp-phkq2iQBLwqMH9egMAHLhTLI_htzxb60BdbZ0IQRcjSJSa0mXGDRAFhc/s1600/thunderCloudNight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU0Wg8YuNUf4b0O1kRv930335lDrPn4k3akzv9Spvpop7MT-9ZMVoFPKVK9d-23nYC9ADJPJdPBAp-phkq2iQBLwqMH9egMAHLhTLI_htzxb60BdbZ0IQRcjSJSa0mXGDRAFhc/s400/thunderCloudNight.jpg" width="520" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another kind of cloud</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-70416161665021511962012-03-18T21:00:00.002+00:002012-03-18T21:00:48.873+00:00Deep thought of the dayCourtesy of <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/questions_no_one_knows_the_answers_to.html">TED.com</a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="307" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7SWvDHvWXok" width="545"></iframe>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-40549582192549696392012-03-14T19:25:00.000+00:002012-03-14T19:33:13.464+00:00Introverts, you are OK.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJDT2qCoACiPguW7L2Y3tUJpvSkXN_LOGCrxWpSqUf6ElWKRe-VlN2c0r2Vgg9sJ5Ho5gbhlT76Bkr3VmBfLXZ7nn4_QeGozyfrWm4NRpOClmTdnndLsn2-iCmptI292YiulFX/s1600/5973178430_3db38595f4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJDT2qCoACiPguW7L2Y3tUJpvSkXN_LOGCrxWpSqUf6ElWKRe-VlN2c0r2Vgg9sJ5Ho5gbhlT76Bkr3VmBfLXZ7nn4_QeGozyfrWm4NRpOClmTdnndLsn2-iCmptI292YiulFX/s320/5973178430_3db38595f4.jpg" width="221" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An introvert being erm... introverted!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After the TED talk I posted a few days ago, this is the second article I find this week about introverts. This time The Guardian discovers that being quiet, shy and a "what if" thinker is not all bad. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We live with a value system that I call the Extrovert Ideal – the
omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha and
comfortable in the spotlight.</blockquote>
Don't say!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
Introversion – along with its cousins sensitivity, seriousness, and
shyness – is now a second-class personality trait, somewhere between a
disappointment and a pathology. </blockquote>
QUICK! Pass one of those extroversion pills before it's too late!<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Velocity of speech counts as well as volume: we rank fast talkers as more competent and likable than slow ones.</blockquote>
"And then he was like 'Uh...' and I was like 'Duh!'"<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Without introverts, the world would be devoid of Newton's theory of
gravity, Einstein's theory of relativity, WB Yeats's The Second Coming,
Chopin's nocturnes, Proust's In Search of Lost Time, Peter Pan,
Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Cat in the Hat, Charlie Brown, the
films of Steven Spielberg, Google (co-founded by introvert Larry Page) <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/cookarama/cbcint_1.html" title="">and Harry Potter</a>.</blockquote>
"Wassup with this list?! Steven makes cool movies, yeah? But the others didn't go to gigs not even nearly often enough. Specially that Chopin dude!"<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
"The glory of the disposition that stops to consider stimuli rather than
rushing to engage with them is its long association with intellectual
and artistic achievement. Neither E=mc<sup>2</sup> nor Paradise Lost was dashed off by a party animal."</blockquote>
"Booooriiing!!!"<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A few things introverts are not: the word introvert is not a synonym for
hermit or misanthrope. Introverts can be these things, but most are
perfectly friendly.</blockquote>
Oh really?! Disturb my <i>blog-ing</i> time and you'll see.<br />
<br />
<br />
In conclusion, we can all breathe a breath of relief - it's ok to be introverted as introverts are not sick people after all. Phew! I'll cancel my operation then.<br />
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Read the full article: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/A%20few%20things%20introverts%20are%20not:%20the%20word%20introvert%20is%20not%20a%20synonym%20for%20hermit%20or%20misanthrope.%20Introverts%20can%20be%20these%20things,%20but%20most%20are%20perfectly%20friendly." target="_blank">Why the world needs introverts</a></div>
<div style="color: #666666;">
Are you an introvert, extrovert or do you swing both ways? Do the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/quiz/2012/mar/13/quiz-are-you-an-introvert?INTCMP=SRCH" target="_blank">Quiz: are you an introvert?</a></div>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-71108775133515947512012-03-05T22:40:00.000+00:002012-03-05T22:46:46.085+00:00Susan Cain: The power of introvertsSo this one is about introverts and suitcases. Yeah I know, go figure. Apparently we should open them up and share their contents - the suitcases, that is. Ah, after years of persecution, I wonder how many of us managed to keep the key.<br />
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</object>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-90746271022234341882012-03-05T22:16:00.001+00:002012-03-05T22:16:42.287+00:00Carl Honore praises slownessAh, apparently slow sex is better! Who knew!<br />
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</object>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-25560804573568339262012-02-26T00:21:00.000+00:002012-02-26T00:32:24.841+00:00Chris Hedges: "I don't believe in atheists"Interesting argument put forward in this speech. Journalist and author, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hedges" target="_blank">Chris Hedges</a>, points out the dogmatic similarities between religious extremism and new atheism. The externalization of <i>"evil"</i> beyond the self; simplistic, binary, us versus them, white and black, point of view of the world; and a sense of superiority, are some of the characteristics of both these philosophies, which pave the way to dangerous extremism that knows no empathy.<br />
<br />
Hedges comes across as very lucid and well researched intellectual with always <i>extremely</i> powerful arguments backed by facts. I guess we're all <i>extreme</i> in one way or another ; )<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="399" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0NypIYCASV4" width="545"></iframe><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I certainly understand that there is nothing intrinsically moral about
being a believer or a nonbeliever, that many people of great moral
probity and courage define themselves outside of religious structures,
do not engage in religious ritual or use religious language, in the same
way that many people who advocate intolerance, bigotry and even
violence cloak themselves in the garb of religion and oftentimes have
prominent positions within religious institutions."</blockquote>
~ Chris Hedges <a href="http://www.salon.com/2008/03/13/chris_hedges/singleton/" target="_blank">interview to Salon.com</a><br />
<br />
PS: Chris has also written a book entitled <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Believe-Atheists-Chris-Hedges/dp/141656795X" target="_blank">I don't believe in atheists</a>.Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-5878912207319890792012-02-25T20:37:00.000+00:002012-02-25T20:38:52.300+00:00We are all leadersThis was sent to me recently by a good friend. I thought it was important to share, if you can spare 6 minutes.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="307" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hVCBrkrFrBE" width="545"></iframe>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-23993325430175773082012-02-25T20:15:00.000+00:002012-02-25T20:19:28.978+00:00Dilige et quod vis fac.<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I thought I would share something profound that I (re) discovered last night. I was reading about the law of attraction and came across this
book which claims that only 1 in 1000 people are able to manifest their
wishes using the law of Attraction, and those who do it doesn't appear
to be the law that manifests them. The book claims that the law of
attraction as it's being taught is incomplete. There's one crucial
ingredient missing for successful manifestation of all our desires. And
not surprisingly that thing is Love. Not the feeling or emotion of Love
but love as a state of being. When I read this I had a aha moment and
several pieces of my truth seeking puzzle came together in my head.
Everything makes sense The Law of Attraction, Deepak, Echart and all of
the spiritual books that I have read say the same thing. When you love
unconditionally you're able to manifest what you want because you no
longer have egotistical desires. What you want becomes what the Universe
needs and that is always what's the best for the Universe as a whole.
And so the Universe's force creates the circumstances to manifest its
needs. Although this seems quite obvious now that I write it, last night
I felt like the meaning of life was for the first time being revealed
to me. And now every time that I think about it, I marvel in amazement at
how simple it all is and how it could not be any other way. The quote
<b>"Love and do what you will"</b> never made so much sense as it does now.
This is I think the most
beautiful and meaningful quotation that I have ever read. So I thought
that I would share this with you... </blockquote>
~ AL 01/04/2009Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-64837343778705337432012-02-25T16:56:00.002+00:002012-02-25T17:02:40.220+00:00The sound of springToday while walking in the park I noticed the birds are starting to get erm, amorous.<br />
<br />
Spring is just around the corner and so is that feeling that nature is about to explode. Easy, I'm referring to the plants here! And so, while wanting to be somewhat part of this momentous annual awakening, many of us have already started to get our hands smelling of delicious soil as we sow for the upcoming season.<br />
<br />
What better choice to do this than at the sound of <a href="http://www.penguincafe.com/">The Penguin Café Orchestra</a>. Dig, sow, smell... smile.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="399" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2prFlYYd-KE" width="545"></iframe>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-9301156144350756412012-02-22T21:42:00.000+00:002012-02-22T21:46:29.953+00:00Censorship: Internet vs "Real life"<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2508#comic" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank" title="SMBC Comics - Funfact: People are citizens while on the internet too"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIaFO6CEQbNw1qdifkN2ZS9oPbB51wdryeTnGNnicGquxvWrGZQhPC3aJ1-8jaOLEF91sCoFaoPp2uvaffF-BdRorfmwIe_zuJh5tKydtv9rpVStyRUBSBZrLqgqgCP4IA_BqE/s1600/20120202.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Internet censorship and privacy by SMBC Comics</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-10399929042490755902012-02-19T02:28:00.000+00:002012-02-19T02:51:32.324+00:00"You are all screwed."Julian Assange warns users of mass spying systems being employed by governments on their citizens. Dictatorships and democracies alike spy on users of the most popular technologies, such as iPhone, BlackBerry and Gmail.<br />
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<br />
"What's wrong with surveillance? If you have nothing to hide, why do you care?", someone said looking at me as if I was some sort of terrorist. If you don't see the fallacy with this train of thought, first ask yourself why do you close the toilet door, then read <a href="http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/the-data-trust-blog/2009/02/debunking-a-myth-if-you-have-n.html">Debunking a myth: If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear</a>. Finally, have a leisurely stroll through this list of real life examples of <a href="http://ukliberty.wordpress.com/data-abuse/">Data Abuse</a>... it might be quite a sobering experience.Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-21666210766165604712012-02-14T20:24:00.001+00:002012-02-14T20:28:23.557+00:00Ride to the edge of the UniverseThought I had already posted this video about a year ago but can't find it in the archive so here it is; a three dimensional animation of the currently mapped Universe up to the cosmic horizon. Each object is represented to the correct scale and location according to scientific research... including the size of your ego after watching this. : )<br /><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="436" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/10210743?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="545"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/10210743">Size of the Universe</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user969186">Paul Eyler</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11241615.post-48799015750105594072012-02-14T19:46:00.000+00:002012-02-14T19:46:09.759+00:00Happy Valentine's day from EarthTime lapse footage of the planet that enables your existence. Shot from the International Space Station in 2011 at an altitude of 350km. Isn't <i>she</i> awe-inspiring?
<br/><br/>
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/32001208?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="546" height="307" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/32001208">Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/michaelkoenig">Michael König</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>Ant...http://www.blogger.com/profile/14399585433053367955noreply@blogger.com0