QUOTE OF THE DAY

From the artist all life springs it gives birth to the political and allows the corporate to exist. 

POTENTIAL FOR FORCE

The One

The primeval Source of Being is the One and the Infinite, as opposed to the many and the finite. It is the source of all life, and therefore absolute causality and the only real existence. However, the important feature of it is that it is beyond all Being, although the source of it. Therefore, it cannot be known through reasoning or understanding, since only what is part of Being can be thus known according to Plato. Being beyond existence, it is the most real reality, source of less real things. It is, moreover, the Good, insofar as all finite things have their purpose in it, and ought to flow back to it. But one cannot attach moral attributes to the original Source of Being itself, because these would imply limitation. It has no attributes of any kind; it is being without magnitude, without life, without thought; in strict propriety, indeed, we ought not to speak of it as existing; it is "above existence," "above goodness." It is also active force without a substratum; as active force the primeval Source of Being is perpetually producing something else, without alteration, or motion, or diminution of itself. This production is not a physical process, but an emission of force; and, since the product has real existence only in virtue of the original existence working in it, Neoplatonism may be described as a species of dynamic panentheism. Directly or indirectly, everything is brought forth by the "One." In it all things, so far as they have being, are divine, and God is all in all. Derived existence, however, is not like the original Source of Being itself, but is subject to a law of diminishing completeness. It is indeed an image and reflection of the first Source of Being; but the further the line of successive projections is prolonged the smaller is its share in the true existence. The totality of being may thus be conceived as a series of concentriccircles, fading away towards the verge of non-existence, the force of the original Being in the outermost circle being a vanishing quantity. Each lower stage of being is united with the "One" by all the higher stages, and receives its share of reality only by transmission through them. All derived existence, however, has a drift towards, a longing for, the higher, and bends towards it so far as its nature will permit. Plotinus' treatment of the substance or essence (ousia) of the one was to reconcile Plato and Aristotle. Where Aristotle treated the monad as a single entity made up of one substance (here as energeia). Plotinus reconciled Aristotle with Plato's "the good" by expressing the substance or essence of the one as potential orforce.^[7]

AI WEIWEI A STORM OF ARTISTIC LIBERTY

The artist and digital activist Ai Weiwei is currently under house arrest in his native China, according to the Guardian. Weiwei, who has embarrassed Chinese authorities on several occasions with his campaigns on sensitive issues, says he has been placed under house arrest until Sunday night because he planned to hold a party to mark the demolition of his newly built studio.

Earlier this week Weiwei, best known for his bird’s nest design for China’s Olympic Stadium, and his Sunflower Seeds exhibition,  was ordered to demolish his recently completed $1.2m studio in Shanghai, which had been built after a personal invitation from the local mayor two years ago. The studio was to form part of a new cultural area, where Weiwei was to teach architecture. Authorities now claim the studio had been erected without the relevant planning permission and has to be demolished. In response Weiwei said:

“I was very surprised because the whole process was under government supervision and they were very enthusiastic in pushing it,” he said.

“Two years ago quite a high official [from Shanghai] came to my studio to ask me to build a studio in this newly developed cultural district in an agricultural area. I told him I wouldn’t do it because I had no faith in government, but he somehow convinced me, saying he had come to Beijing from Shanghai, and so I said OK.

“Half a dozen artists were invited to build studios there because they wanted a cultural area. I’m the only one singled out to have my studio destroyed.”

DANGEROUSMINDS 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I realized I could always live in my art, but never in my life. 

YOUR FORMAL WAKE UP CALL

I wake up this mourning feeling compelled to share something with the rest of you in the hopes of providing some marginal sense of comfort or meaning.

I think I'll start with a coming of age story, I wager it's as good a place as any. It starts when I was 8 years old and made abruptly aware of the fact that I was adopted, this made me feel a lot of things not the least of which was fear. This quickly faded replaced by a certain sense of anger or rage that those closest to me were capable of keeping such a secret, or engaging in such deceit. Now at the time I didn't realize it but I was being taught a very profound lesson.


For a long time I allowed this fact to cause a lot of havoc in my life and I increasingly took it to darker and darker places coming to a head in college. I seemed to be aware of a sort of fake-ness of life that I chose to frequently abuse and manipulate to get what I wanted. Now, I was exercising a rather high level function of our biology, that is the one thing that separates us from the other animals, our ability to lie. I figured I wasn't hurting anyone so whats the harm.


I see now though important it is a rather limited level of perception. See the whole time I was really just terrified of the fact that there was no real tying factor between us. We might grasp at things like family and friends because it gives us some sort of stable ground to stand on, but what is it really? I mean what is a father other than some made up term or title that someone long ago decided to coin; that we've chosen to associate today with a sort of meaning, but changes constantly as the years go by. 


For instance if I were to say that a father now means a single woman with only two toes and I convince enough of you of this well then that's what it becomes. My point is that we're all just alone, and there's really no hope of understanding each other or life for that matter. Imagine my surprise to learn of the tons of literature on the subject which states the closest we've managed to come to understanding ourselves and the world around us is through science and math, which manages to make us aware of  some broad boundaries or constraints, but nothing real concrete.


Now, this might sound trivial to some which would only prove my point that we're hopelessly misunderstood but I guess I've decided to make you aware of it because once known I find it incredibly empowering; your able to put a lot of things in perspective, everything really in a way I think few are able to understand.


For instance lets say you spend your days collecting data you have a really "important title" socially and you think you've achieved something, right. "Ah," you say well I know the numbers I collect them I organize them and I've managed to learn some truth about the world. And maybe you have for I don't know a minute or two, but the numbers never stop coming in or going out and there's no real way to constantly be aware of it, and as the population grows and technology gets better at processing data and the pace of life accelerates eventually the thing you were able to tell me in one minute becomes totally irrelevant in the next. Which begs the question what's the point other than some elaborate magic act. You know my ability to make you think the function I serve is some how meaningful or important to the point that you need it.


To take it one step further it can be said that there are only so many socially defined rolls or categories that people are capable of falling in to. Now, these are predetermined according to certain philosophical, astrological, sociological, psychological and historical guide lines which I'm choosing to selfishly indulge in at the moment, due to the fact that by these principles I fall into the most dominant archetype because of my acute sensitivity to the environment around me. Now it's my personal belief that in order to reach some ultimate level of understanding you would have to occupy and exercise each of the defined personality types simultaneously, but I'm giving myself some time to achieve that one. 


In all honesty I think the whole thing is rather funny and childish and the real pursuit of happiness that anyone can hope to achieve comes in our ability to be perfectly content to simply exist and experience life without moving or doing anything. To cease to want.


Now, I understand this might sound totally absurd to some and to those individuals I say venture down the rabbit hole of sociology, psychology, and philosophy and lets see if you don't come to the same conclusion by the end of it. You can consider it your formal wake up call. 

SOWING SEEDS

These are pretty interesting ideas our world is built on, I'm going to enjoy playing in the sand.  

QUOTE OF THE DAY

And were an epitaph to be my story I'd have a short one ready for my own. I would have written of me on my stone: I had a lover's quarrel with the world.

WEAKNESS BREEDS CONTEMPT

Overseeing a debate about the legalization of marijuana something struck me. A comment was made by a doctor I've come to respect very much who chose to refer to the number of people who showed an addictive quality to the drug as 1 out of 10.


Now, why do we do that, refer to people as numbers and ignore the truth. You know that there are only so many social rolls or positions one can play much like the number of jobs to people. See I think the sooner we start recognizing it and stop lying to ourselves and society the better we can address the issue. 


Rendering our population impotent doesn't make a whole lot of sense when it means robing it of greatness.


We live in a society today that tries to repress these 1 of 10's rather than educate them to the fact,showing the extra guidance and attention they require. Ignoring the problem doesn't work which is very apparent in our prison systems and inability to innovate in times of economic unrest. These individuals serve a very important purpose dare I say the most important and should be utilized rather than passed over out of fear.


I'm not saying its right or wrong simple that it is what it is and if the quasi automatic system we've designed to be a sort of great equalizer starts to take a bias against these select few well than we're just setting ourselves up for failure which is no more apparent than right now.


I mean ultimately what do these psycho graphic characterizations crave? They crave relevance and the ability to make a difference IF and that's a big IF they are pointed in the right direction and the current means is doing a horrible disservice both to these individuals and the rest of society because they are capable of so much good and its only through neglect that we see these incidences like Jared Roughner or addiction and so on and so forth. 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

A man with one watch knows what time it is; a man with two watches is never quite sure.

My Dinner With Andre part 13

My Dinner With Andre part 12

My Dinner With Andre part 11

My Dinner With Andre part 10

My Dinner With Andre part 9

My Dinner With Andre part 8

My Dinner With Andre part 7

My Dinner With Andre part 6

My Dinner With Andre part 5

NEW EVIDENCE TO THE ORIGINS OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

The earliest rocks in our Solar System were more like candy floss than the hard rock that we know today, according to research published today in the journal Nature Geoscience. The work, by researchers from Imperial College London and other international institutions, provides the first geological evidence to support previous theories, based on computer models and lab experiments, about how the earliest rocks were formed. The study adds weight to the idea that the first solid material in the Solar System was fragile and extremely porous - much like candy floss - and that it was compacted during periods of extreme turbulence into harder rock, forming the building blocks that paved the way for planets like Earth. SCIGURU

CLOSE CALLS FOR O'HARE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS

The almost-completed first phase of O'Hare International Airport's expansion had close calls that could have resulted in fatal airplane crashes, according to a Tribune investigation of incidents filed with the Federal Aviation Administration.

As the Chicago Department of Aviation prepares to start the next phase of rebuilding at O'Hare next month, the reports on the incidents spotlight the challenges of conducting a complicated airport modernization program on a busy airfield. They also show how an ever-changing list of alerts to pilots, air traffic controllers and construction crews increases the opportunity for serious mistakes, including planes taking off and landing on closed runways. CHICAGOTRIBUNE

HUNGRY FOR A DAY

Imagine what it feels like to go hungry for a day. Now, imagine what it feels like to go hungry for two days, a week or more. Hundreds of millions do, you know.


On Monday, March 28, Heifer International's CEO, Pierre Ferrari, and its President, Jo Luck, plan to go a day without food as a way to speak out for the hungry people of the world and in alignment with a larger fast by Tony Hall, a former Ohio congressman and ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture (www.hungerfast.org). HEIFER

EHH...

Less than twenty years ago Julian Assange was sleeping rough. Even a year ago hardly anyone knew his name. Today he is one of the best-known and most-respected human beings on earth. Assange was the overwhelming winner of the popular vote for Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” and Le Monde’s less politically correct “Man of the Year”. If Rupert Murdoch, who recently turned eighty, is the most influential Australian of the post-war era, Julian Assange, who will soon turn forty, is undoubtedly the most consequential Australian of the present time. Murdoch’s importance rests in his responsibility for injecting, through Fox News, the poison of rabid populist conservatism into the political culture of the United States; Assange’s in the revolutionary threat that his idea of publishing damaging documentary information sent by anonymous insiders to WikiLeaks poses to governments and corporations across the globe. THEMONTHLY

8.75 MILLION COPIES OF FIREFOX 4 SETS UNOFFICIAL RECORD FOR SOFTWARE DL'S

Mozilla set an unofficial record for software downloads on the second day of Firefox 4's launch, the company said Friday.


In the 24 hours from early Wednesday to early Thursday, users downloaded 8.75 million copies of the new browser, an uptick from the 7.1 million logged by Firefox 4 its first day.


Last week's one-day tally broke the record established by Firefox 3.0 in mid-2008 when that browser was downloaded more than 8 million times within 24 hours. Then, Mozilla ran a "Download Day" campaign that resulted in a certified Guinness World Record. CW

WRITING ISN'T THERAPY

“Writing for an audience is about narration and structure and voice; it’s about the situation and the story. It’s not about how good or bad things are in your own psyche. It’s not about airing your dirty laundry, and it’s not about your personal tragedy, however tragic…I’m not interested in strangers’ tragedies and I know: very few people are interested in mine. This is as it should be. Writing isn’t therapy. What I care about is writing.” RUMPUS

My Dinner With Andre part 4

HACKED LIKE A CHAMPION

MySQL.com, the official website of the database management system of the same name, was today subjected to an attack whereby hackers used SQL injection exploits to gain access to a complete list of usernames and passwords on the site.


News of the attack surfaced when the attackers posted details of the compromise on the FullDisclosure mailing list, publicly listing the contents of database tables used to store member and employee data, but also a small sample of user logins and password hashes. TNW

Historischer Machtwechsel in Baden-Württemberg: Erstmals seit fast 58 Jahren muss

Historischer Machtwechsel in Baden-Württemberg: Erstmals seit fast 58 Jahren muss die CDU in die Opposition. Und erstmals wird es einen grünen Ministerpräsidenten geben.


Es ist eine Zäsur: Zum ersten Mal wird ein Bundesland von einem grünen Ministerpräsidenten regiert werden. Grüne und SPD erreichten  bei der Landtagswahl in Baden-Württemberg die Mehrheit und lösen die bisherige schwarz-gelbe Regierung von Ministerpräsident Stefan Mappus ab. ZEIT

NATO TAKES THE REINS

BRUSSELS, March 27 (Reuters) - NATO agreed on Sunday to take full responsibility for coalition military operations in Libya, ending a week of heated negotiations over the command structure.


The decision, which could take up to 72 hours to implement, puts the 28-member military alliance in charge of operations to target Muammar Gaddafi’s military infrastructure and protect civilians, as well as implementing a no-fly zone and an arms embargo. CANADA

SENSELESS

VICTORIA — A British Columbia judge is set to decide whether to sentence two teens as adults for repeatedly sexually attacking and beating 18-year-old Kimberly Proctor until she suffocated, using a knife to mutilate her body and then dumping her body in a freezer before setting it on fire.


The teens, now 17 and 18, but 16 and 17 at the time of the extensively planned slaying — pleaded guilty in October to first-degree murder. THEVANCOUVERSUN

My Dinner With Andre part 3

A TINY CHARITY WITH BIG AMBITIONS

FATHER LOCKS 7 YEAR OLD BOY IN A WOODEN BOX AND FED CAYENNE PEPPERS

A man accused of locking a 7-year-old boy in a wooden box as discipline now faces up to 50 years in prison.


Christopher Leslie was found guilty Friday on five charges, including second-degree cruelty to children and false imprisonment, The Daily Tribune News. Leslie also fed the boy cayenne pepper and strapped him down in a sleeping bag with a rope. AJC

AT&T BEGINS ITS $39 BILLION COURTING OF T-MOBILE

IN this covetous town, the delicacies of the Georgetown Cupcake shop stand alone as symbols of wish fulfillment — heaping swirls of luscious confection atop rich, creamy pastry.


Therefore: Operation Cupcake. As the Federal Communications Commission debated final rules last December on how Internet service providers should manage their traffic,  AT&T delivered 1,500 of these opulent desserts to the F.C.C.’s headquarters here.   BUSINESSDAY   

AMAZON'S APPSTORE ROLL OUT

When Amazon's Appstore rolled out last week, we glossed over one detail that merely seemed neat. Today, we're inclined to say that Test Drive may be the most significant part of Amazon's announcement that day. Basically, Test Drive allows US customers to take apps for a spin at Amazon.com, with all the comfort that their tried-and-true desktop web browser brings -- but rather than sit you down with a Flash-based mockup of the app, Amazon is giving you a taste of bona fide cloud computing with an Android virtual machine. ENGADGET

SHED ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN TURNS A BARN INSIDE OUT

Here's a bit of renovation cheer to get your weekend started. This beautiful project in Whidbey Island, Washington took an old barn and revamped it into something truly spectacular. Designed and built by the up and coming Seattle firm, Shed Architecture & Design, the barn was magically transformed into a unique living space and guest house. Shed actually spent some time living on site to learn more about the building in order to better facilitate the transformation. Old wood from the exterior is reclaimed and reused inside the home - so we guess you could even say that the barn was turned inside out during this amazing renovation! INHABITAT

WRITING ON THE WALL

CLICK

CRAZY HEART - Official Trailer

My Dinner With Andre part 2

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"My opinion is that in the world of knowledge the idea of good (the Good) appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and, when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light and of the lord of light in this visible world, and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual." 

COMPETING VIEWPOINTS

I had an interesting conversation with a friend about a recent request to conserve electricity for an hour at 8pm. Now she felt very adamant against it that it was somehow taking a step back to the middle ages or some silly thing like that. She raised her voice and said how dare they ask me to live like, like some person in a 3rd world country.


Now I happened to take a very different view and saw the request as a terribly compassionate thing. That this politician was challenging us to make a sacrifice for the greater good of everyone. A pretty reasonable request in deed, that in fact if we were able to see it and participate in such an act it wouldn't be a step back but a fairly large step forward as an individual, group, and society.


Sufficed to say there was no changing her mind which left me wonder how funny that two people could have such completely different views of the world. 

SILLY SUPERSTITION

I’ve never been prouder than the night I chose to come to this world under cover of moonlit skies; blessed with incredible vision and parents that took no part in my conception. My journey is tumultuous, but filled with love the most important part about me is the hand in which I hold my pencil. I look forward to fulfilling my role in which I am to play though it is not my own. 

JUPITER

CLICK

SATURNUS

CLICK

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"There is no gardening without humility. Nature is constantly sending even its oldest scholars to the bottom of the class for some egregious blunder."

My Dinner With Andre part 1

THE GREAT MARKET RISK: THE END OF FISCAL STIMULUS

http://video.ft.com/v/853130942001/The-great-market-threat-

CUTTING CORNERS: NINTENDO 3DS

Having played the majority of the first wave of games for the Nintendo 3DS, we can say one thing for sure: The glasses-free 3-D handheld, which hits U.S. stores Sunday, will be stuck in the launch doldrums for a while.


Yes, many of the 16 games that will be available at launch prove entertaining enough. And there's a lot of fun stuff to do with the hardware, even if you don't buy a single game.


But in the rush to make it out on Day 1, developers have cut corners. Some games last only a few hours, others lack the communication features that were supposed to make 3DS games special and some are rush-job ports from other hardware. It's not that there's anything particularly bad about them; it's just clear we're going to have to wait for games that fully exploit what 3DS can do. GAMELIFE

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about.
.

INTRO TO POLITICAL SCIENCE

A PULP FICTION PARTY

Julian Schnabel's Miral ( Trailer ) starring Frieda Pinto

QUESTIONING AUTHORITY

One thing I find both amusing and disturbing is the number of friends and colleagues that feel the need to complain about their "stupid" client base. Lets make something clear, each purposed position of expertise implements a series of verbiage, symbols, and rituals if you will not for the sake of communicating "better" but the very opposite. Lets face it any position reliant on asymmetrical information is flimsy at best. In essence we create a language or system unique to our own in an effort to confuse the rest of society to solidify our need or importance. Much like an adolescent middle schooler with a Lord of the Rings infatuation speaking elvish to his or her friends.

My question is when do you begin to associate one with the other because the real scary part is when these so called experts start to think he or she is some how smarter than those around them.

When it comes down to it if we wanted to communicate our message effectively we would teach and use language that any 8 year old is capable of understanding. Know that it is a key reason you remain employed, and be grateful any time a question gets asked of you. 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I alone of English writers have consciously set myself to make music out of what I may call the sound of sense.
.

A RECIPE FOR THE FUTURE

I find it odd that the half of the national budget that gets spent on the general public dispenses 40% to the elderly and 10% to the youth, and in tough economic times we find it wise to make deep cuts to the key structures and agencies responsible for the development of that 10%.


What makes people think that we can achieve a high level of sustainability if we steal from an already under funded future.


Now I understand that a lot of these key structures and agencies (education more specifically) become increasingly irrelevant with each passing day. That as the pace of growth and progress exceed educations ability to adapt and facilitate real learning things need to change.


If that's your argument to pull back funding to our high schools and higher education systems I sympathize, but what changes are being planned and hatched? My personal belief is that legislators and other influencing forces tend to think that less education breeds more consumers which stands to bring some level of relief to a mounting deficit.


The current discussions on the topic seem to center around better teachers as the win all solution; and though it might make for interesting conversation it fails to address the root of the problem. If we say that college is the new high school we have to make it every bit as accessible. College needs to be an expectation not a luxury and set up as such. That means requirements need to be lowered to simply proving your capable of graduating high school. With the spike in the number of people attending college the price of tuition suddenly drops. Allowing for more graduates to focus on pushing the edge of innovation and less on paying back debt. Masters and Doctorate programs can then be fleshed out and some level beyond such titles could be designed.


Yet another option would be to take full advantage of the one thing that is universally ubiquitous and free (yes I'm talking about the internet) as the primary point of interaction for students and learning. I may get a lot of heat from critics for this one, and to them I say show me the proof that it isn't just as affective as the current means of educating. I mean at some point we have to recognize that one is not better than the other merely different and with the growing number of people spending enormous amounts of time connected we have to meet them where they choose to congregate. The advantages in cost and flexibility in my opinion far exceed the negative and realistically can't be ignored any longer.


I guess at the end of the day I'm just surprised at the lack of creativity and courage.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Woman are mad, they're furious because men thought of it first; we aspired to be gods. 

NASA'S SPACE JUNK GROUND LASERS

It won’t prevent Armageddon, but a simple ground-based laser system could nudge small pieces of space junk away from satellites to prevent collisions, a new study suggests.


The proposed system uses photons generated by a medium-power laser and aimed into space through a 1.5-meter telescope. The photons exert pressure on space debris in low-Earth orbit, gently pushing the objects aside rather than vaporizing them. Researchers have applied the same idea, using the pressure from sunlight, to propel spacecraft (SN: 8/21/99, p. 120). SCIENCENEWS

SOLVING PHYSICS THORNIEST PROBLEMS

The universe may have started out with fewer dimensions than the three we live in, and could still collapse down to one dimension at extremely high energies.


The idea could solve some of the thorniest problems in particle physics and, unlike more popular models like string theory, can be tested with the next generation of space telescopes, according to a new study March 11 in Physical Review Letters. WIREDSCIENCE

IF YOU THOUGHT THE ANGRY BIRDS PHENOMENON WAS COMING TO AN END THINK AGAIN

If you thought the Angry Birds phenomenon was coming to an end think again. The surprisingly popular game for mobile devices, that challenges players to slingshot legless birds at funny looking pigs, has close to 100 million downloads. As those numbers continue to grow, its creator Rovio Mobile, continues to push the envelope.

For starters, the game has spread like wildfire to several other platforms already from its initial release on the iPhone: Android has a strong showing of Angry Birds games, and a $9.99 version of the game is downloadable on the PlayStation Network for PlayStation 3. Nintendo 3DS is getting a version of the game, as is Windows Phone 7. The company says it has already sold 2 million Angry Birds plush toys, and they’re talking about an Angry Birds animated series, among other things. The game has already seen a cultural explosion too – in case you missed the Conan O’Brien Show, they recreated the game in his studio, this time with life-sized birds; and to continue with the incredible growth and popularity, Rovio has partnered with the upcoming Disney animated film Rio to create a movie-themed version of the game. HSM

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Forget what critiques think... ya know did I want to please a bunch of old fat individuals stuck behind type writers or the 500 million chicks singing my song. 

Why we fight 1

Clips from the Fog of War

QUOTE OF THE DAY

As a district attorney I've been well schooled in the art of baiting, caging, and if necessary killing my prey. 

CLEANING UP CANADIAN TOILETS

Canadians say they appreciate the vast amount of fresh water that exists in this country, but are quite willing to waste much of it by unnecessarily disposing of things through toilets, according to results of a new study.



A survey — commissioned by the Royal Bank of Canada and diversified product maker Unilever, with the endorsement of the United Nations Water For Life Decade project — had 72 per cent of respondents saying they dispose of things such as hair, bugs, cigarette butts and food by flushing them down the toilet.



"We should stop using our toilets as garbage cans," said Bob Sandford, chairman of the Canadian Partnership Initiative of the UN Water for Life Decade. THEVANCOUVERSUN

@katiecouric: "Waiting for 'Superman'"

wrecked Trailer 2011 *NEW*

A Film Unfinished Trailer (HD)

October Country, Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher

The Next Three Days Trailer (HD)

Opie and Anthony - Ray Kurzweil - Transcendent Man

Transcendent Man: Accelerating Technology

THE GOOD THE BAD THE UGLY

Often times I find myself wondering whether criminals are the refuse of society or the only honest parts. Barred and neatly tucked away like the best lie as if to signify our shame. 


But if we are all comprised of the same parts; connected by our biological and fatalistic limitations aren't then the worst of us merely some representation of a deep longing or want to exists within the bowels of each in every one of us? And if my presumption is accurate the ones we deem as outcasts or "criminal" the most human of us all. 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

As I say, there was this movement to try to bring philosophers and mathematicians together into an organization where they would talk to each other. An organization wasn't effective unless you had a journal. That's about all I know.
.

WEEKEND LIES

Weekendvy : What it means: That niggling feeling that everybody else is having a wild weekend of fun and frolics, while your weekend consists of watching X Factor , mowing the lawn or mooching around Mothercare in search of baby bibs.


You’re so ashamed of your boring life that when colleagues ask you what you did over the weekend, you decide to embellish the truth: “Well, Friday night we checked out that new fetish club in town, then on Saturday we helicoptered down to Electric Picnic and hung out backstage with Arcade Fire all day, then we had a nice, romantic dinner at Ashford Castle, and on Sunday we headed down to the K Club just in time to cheer on our good friend Padraig Harrington at the tee-off.”


A recent survey by Travelodge found that 27 per cent of Britons lied to work colleagues about what they did on the weekends, pretending they went out to dinner parties, had romantic meals or took mini-breaks when all they did was clean the house and catch up on their sleep. So next time your workmate boasts about their dirty weekend in Paris or pampering day in Monart, ask to see the receipts. IRISHTIMES

RELATIONAL AESTHETICS TAKES GAVIN BROWN'S VOLVO FOR A JOY RIDE

On Wednesday, two young artists took the movement known as Relational Aesthetics for a joyride. The artist Rirkrit Tiravanija, whom I've discussed before, has long explored the rich terrain of giving things away for free, of making interactions with art and other people possible, and of sharing. In his current show, he has upped the ante. Setting up a soup kitchen that provides soup for a dollar a bowl, he’s removed all the walls and windows of Gavin Brown's gallery, thus doing something Relational Aestheticians have been carrying on about for decades: He's rendered indoors and outdoors the same thing — in this case leaving the gallery open to anyone who wants to do anything, anytime.


That’s where artists Patricia Silva and Eric Anderson come in. When they visited, while perusing the soup kitchen and open walls, they spied Brown’s own 2009 Volvo parked inside the gallery — with the keys in the ignition. Anderson explains that “We didn’t know much about the show beyond the usual 'do as you please' side.” Silva adds, “The absence of authority made it feel so fresh.” How fresh? They spontaneously decided to go for a drive. “We were really impressed at the boldness of the artist and gallery for having such an anarchic level of interactivity. So we jumped in, pulled out, and took the Volvo up the West Side Highway. Hell yeah!” VULTURE

ICANN FINALLY APPROVES THE XXX RED LIGHT DISTRICT TLD

Can you believe it! There’s porn on the Internet!


Cue Avenue Q’s The Internet is for Porn.


What really happened was that after a decade-long fight, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), at the close of its 40th public meeting in San Francisco finally approved the .XXX top-level domain 
(TLD http://www.icmregistry.com/news/welcomeapproval.php). According to a PC Magazine report, Peter Dengate Thrush, a New Zealand lawyer and chairman of ICANN, announced today, March 18th, that ICANN had finally approved this red-light district TLD. PRACTICALTECHNOLOGY

ENCHANTMENT THE ART OF CHANGING HEARTS, MINDS, AND ACTIONS

In the past, I've owned my own business. Also, I've worked for a Fortune 500 company and I worked for a little Ma & Pa place. Over that time I've read several business books but Guy Kawasaki's book Enchantment is the best book I've ever read on business. Actually, it's one of the best books I've ever read on LIFE.


No, Guy isn't going to tell you what to look for in an accountant or how to find a web-designer. This book is much more existential. Guy tells you how to create a foundation for your business, promote it and operate it with the highest ethics and standards and how, when doing so, you'll enchant anyone who crosses your path. GADGETDAILYNEWS

IS THERE A NEED FOR AN AWARENESS CAMPAIGN FOR ONE OF THE WORST NATURAL DISASTERS OF THE MODERN AGE?

Is there a need for an awareness-raising campaign for one of the worst natural disasters of the modern age, heading every front page and topping every news bulletin? Following the horrific events and resulting humanitarian crisis in Japan, writes Alexander Ecob, a number of designers have trained their skills upon the relief effort and come up with support – in the form of posters. But is this the best use of their time and talents? EYEMAG

SIGNS OF COOLING AT FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI

Japanese nuclear officials reported that temperatures have been lowered at the troubled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant as emergency workers continue to try to stabilize the facility to prevent the release of dangerous radioactive materials.


Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the plant’s No. 3 reactor unit – the primary focus of local workers -- has probably become relatively stable after firemen dumped sixty tons of water upon an overheating spent fuel pool at the unit just after midnight. IBT

QUOTE OF THE DAY

And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.

A FASCINATION IN SACRIFICE

Combinations have always been the most intriguing aspect of Chess. The masters look for them, the public applauds them, the critics praise them. It is because combinations are possible that Chess is more than a lifeless mathematical exercise. They are the poetry of the game; they are to Chess what melody is to music. They represent the triumph of mind over matter.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

We are all but recent leaves on the same old tree of life and if this life has adapted itself to new functions and conditions, it uses the same old basic principles over and over again.  There is no real difference between the grass and the man who mows it.

A CURE FOR WRITERS IN DESPAIR

The writer was in despair. For a year and a half, he had been trying to write a script that he owed to a studio, and had been unable to produce anything. Finally, he started seeing a therapist. The therapist, Barry Michels, told him to close his eyes and focus on the things he was grateful for. The first time he did this, in the therapist’s office, there was a long silence. “What about your dog?” Michels asked. “O.K. I’m grateful for my dog,” the writer said after a while. “The sun?” “Fine, the sun,” the writer said. “I’m grateful for sun. Sometimes.”

Michels also told the writer to get an egg timer. Following Michels’s instructions, every day he set it for one minute, knelt in front of his computer in a posture of prayer, and begged the universe to help him write the worst sentence ever written. When the timer dinged, he would start typing. He told Michels that the exercise was stupid, pointless, and embarrassing, and it didn’t work. Michels told him to keep doing it. THENEWYORKER

RSA SECURITY BREACH

SAN FRANCISCO — The RSA Security division of the EMC Corporation said Thursday that it had suffered a sophisticated data breach, potentially compromising computer security products widely used by corporations and governments.


The company, which pioneered an advanced cryptographic system during the 1980s, sells products that offer stronger computer security than simple password protection. Known as multifactor authentication, the technology is typically based on an electronic token carried by a user that repeatedly generates a time-based number that must be appended to a password when a user logs in to a computer system. NYTIMES