Category: politics-social-racism

  • Pussy Riot Sham Trial in Russia

  • Information Flow & Digest

    Since I got an iPhone last March (my first smartphone), the way that I access and consume information has changed. While I’ve had an iPad for about 5 months, I hadn’t yet gotten a 3G card from my carrier. There is a big difference between having access to the Internet anywhere and just not being…

  • What’s in a Name Part 2 & 3

    Errol Morris’ What’s in a Name parts 2 and 3. It’s definitely an interesting series of essays, as people in Chinese cultures have a very different way of approaching names. While most of them never change their family name, a lot of them change their English name and Chinese first name, even at a very…

  • Errol Morris on Names

    Errol Morris is back with his latest series of articles in the NYT. This time around, he investigates what a name is. I found this particularly interesting, because Taiwanese people/children change their English names and Chinese first names (but not their family names) quite often.

  • The Totem Pole of Communication

    Like many viewers, who saw HBO’s Girls last week, one of the most intriguing parts of the show was when a girl instructed her friend on the totem pole of chat. That term has been in my mind for the last week or so and I’ve spent time thinking about the idea. In our modern…

  • Zen Navigation

    When lost, look around and try to find a person who looks like they know where they are going and follow them. I’m going to try this the next time I am lost since I don’t have satnav on my scooter. Subconsciously, we’ve all done this before. I’ve done it on the weekend when I…

  • NASA After the Space Shuttle Program

    I was pretty sad when I realized that when NASA retired its STS, their aging Space Shuttle Program, there would be no replacement since President Obama scrapped Project Constellation in October 2010. It opens the door for China and India to advance in their shuttle programs or develop their own. I also thought it was…

  • The Battle for London

  • The Streisand Effect

    The Streisand effect is a primarily online phenomenon in which an attempt to hide or remove a piece of information has the unintended consequence of publicizing the information more widely. It is named after American entertainer Barbra Streisand, whose attempt in 2003 to suppress photographs of her residence inadvertently generated further publicity. ★  

  • Rodrigo Rosenberg’s Murder in Guatamala

    Finally making my way through this Rodrigo Rosenberg article in the New Yorker. It’s a long-form, in-depth article, that clocks in at about 14,000 words, which is one of the reasons why the tab has remained open in my browser for the last few months. It’s an astounding story, told almost perfectly by David Grann.…