highlighting the future's bizzare as it transforms into the present's mundane
Posts tagged social
Change of guards and a return to the old
May 14th
Lee Kwan Yew the architect of modern Singapore announced his retirement after holding top positions since 1959.
The longest lived democratically elected Communist government lost elections after 34 years of being in power in West Bengal, India.
The legacy of these long lived popularly elected governments could not be more different ! West Bengal went from one of the most progressive and economically strong states in India to one of the worst performing states in spite of being blessed with enormous natural & human resources. Singapore on the other hand went from being a tiny island nation with no resources and a difficult initial history to one of the most prosperous countries in the world.
One of the best music bands of all time (I spent countless hours listening) Pink Floyd reunites after ages !
Add in all the revolutions in mid-East and North Africa and 2011 is shaping up to be an interesting year 
Steve Woz on our closed source education system
May 14th
A very succinct message from Steve Woz on how our education system(s) kills creativity in its quest for a one size fits all approach to education…
This is so true all over the world… the waste of human potential is the greatest waste
Via EEtimes and DangerousPrototypes
How do some kids go to school? Remarkable and humbling story of human endurance and the will to get an education
Apr 30th
If you live in the Zanskar valley, India it is a 5 day walk along one of the highest rivers, through some of the highest mountains, some of the coldest places on Earth.
Just saw this heart-stopping trip in ‘Human Planet’ on TV.
Human Planet- Zanskar River by BBCfanable
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhzfi8_human-planet-zanskar-river_shortfilms
This is the first someone has successfully filmed the journey that families have to undertake every year.
More here:
http://www.humanplanetblog.com/?p=1080
This one is a must read !
http://timothyallen.blogs.bbcearth.com/2010/02/26/the-school-run/
Going to school in Ladakh, India
On a side note I learned that ice sheets on frozen rivers / lakes is called ‘chaddar’ in Zanskari. In Hindi ‘chaddar’ means ‘sheet’ more like bedspread never knew that it also means ice sheet
If neurons talk using RFID…are we zapping our brains with our phone yapping?? !!
Feb 6th
I stumbled across this article today about how neurons in brains do not rely just on physical connections to talk to each other. They interact with each other with their version of electro-magnetic coupling similar to Near Field Communication (NFC)or RFID.
NFC or RFID type technologies can be prone to interference from various gadgets or devices. This new discovery about neural communication may bring into focus how electronic devices affect our brains and cognitive abilities. Is it time to think about how our society designs and uses the billions of cell phones ?
Here is the article from Caltech:
India vs. USA: A visual comparison
Sep 27th
Mint.com (now owned by Intuit) has put an interesting set of easy to understand visual comparisons of India vs. USA. Here are the charts / graphs
TED goes to India
Sep 27th
TED | Michael Pritchard’s water filter turns filthy water drinkable
Aug 9th
Turn any water into drinking water… $20 billion can provide safe drinking water for the entire world… this would an ideal stimulus plan…. healthier people can improve their own lives and contribute to their and society’s development
Fighting hunger with flood-tolerant rice
Jan 31st
CNN reports that scientists after over 10 years of research have successfully developed a new strain of flood-tolerant rice through precision breeding. Read the article to know more about the inspiring work being done to positively impact the lives of hundreds of millions.
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