- 10:58 On a long boat on final leg of journey - the sun is setting its lovely and warm, think i might enjoy this holiday xx #
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- 10:58 On a long boat on final leg of journey - the sun is setting its lovely and warm, think i might enjoy this holiday xx #
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What are you hoping to find under the tree this year?
I'm hoping that it will bear fruit instead of gifts. Hope the tree will grow with hopes and anxiety to embrace the future. I don't celebrate Christmas so I don't have Christmas trees. But I'm on my holiday too and it's new year anyway, so why not wish for something good?
I wish for a better tomorrow. Peace to the world.
I wish for success in whatever that I do.
I wish for everlasting friendship.
I wish other people would share the same wish under their trees.
Happy holidays everyone =)
Sometimes when you read something thought-provoking examples pop up everywhere. For example, yesterday I heard this quote by Steven Colbert: "And folks, there is still time for you to get on Santa's "nice list" by going to Colbertnation.com and donating to US speed skating. It counteracts any naughty deed, from falsifying climate data to tagging anything that moves." Then Emmi talked about how she "tries to alleviate guilt", albeit in a light-hearted manner.
The catalyst for this grabbing-of-attention was this article in Slate, which stated:
In an experiment, participants were randomly assigned to select items they wanted to buy in one of two online stores. One store sold predominantly green products, the other mostly conventional items. Then, in a supposedly unrelated game, all of the participants were allocated $6, to share as they saw fit with an anonymous (and unbeknownst to them, imaginary) recipient. Subjects who had chosen items from the green store coughed up less money, on average, than their counterparts. In a second experiment, participants were again assigned to shop in either a green or conventional store. Then they performed a computer task that involved earning small sums of cash. The setup offered the opportunity to cheat and steal with impunity. The eco-shoppers were more likely to do both.
This is not a "hypocrital greenie" rant, the same results came from a lot of other experiments testing other aspects of our psyches:
Earlier this year, researchers at Northwestern reported that subjects who wrote self-flattering stories later pledged to give less money to charity than those who wrote stories that were self-critical or about someone else. In another recent study, participants who recalled their own righteous deeds were less inclined to donate blood, volunteer, or engage in other "prosocial" acts. They were also more likely to cheat on a math assignment.
There are some other examples as well. The general upshot is if we've just done something we consider to be virtuous -- or even if we're just reminded of something virtuous we've done in the distant past -- we are less likely to do another thing that is virtuous. It's not surprising that "I gave at the office" is a cliche.
I've encountered plenty of people like this across all spectrums: Environmentalists, religous people, feminists, atheists, political activists, social activists, and so on. I'm sure others have noticed this as well. Of course the question that comes to mind is: Do I do it? I'm not going to cast aspertions, ("I've just told everyone how selfish they are and to buck-up, that's my good deed for the day done"), I just think it is a valuable piece of information for people to know, especially people who are interested in becoming better people. Just knowing about it can work against it, kind of like the "suggestion bias" made famous by lawyers and Glenn Beck.
A couple of suggestions are put forward in the article to explain this: The "I just proved I'm a good person, so what I'm doing now must be okay" suggestion, an idea which works best in ambiguous circumstances; and the "heavenly scales" suggestion, where people have moral credits as a kind of currency we accrue and spend. The article also notes that it's not a linear relationship -- often doing something good inspires us to do something else good, and "if you think of yourself as generous or honest or environmentally responsible (and others see you that way too), it seems that you'd be motivated to affirm that image". So when does it go one way rather than the other? There still working on that, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a subconcious cost-benefit analysis going on.
A couple of other ideas also come to mind. There are some religions -- which I won't bother naming -- which promote humility and often remind their followers they are flawed, and they should recognise their failings. The main call is for the congregation not to feel morally superior and self-righteous, but another upshot is that it encourages people to do more good things: Apparently some studies have shown that when our moral self-image is threatened we want to restore it, by doing good deeds. Personally, I haven't noticed that banging on about everyone being dirty sinners achieves this, but a gentle reminder not to feel pleased with ourselves because we, for example, slipped five bucks into the collection plate, tends to work wonders.
I also wonder if there's the opposite effect. There's a lot of people who spend a lot of their time pointing out how no-one else is really doing anything, even though they have more. For example, "Kerry Packer didn't donate much to charity, and he had much more than me!", and "Why should we make sacrifices to save the planet when the Chinese aren't? They're much worse than us!". I've noticed that whenever someone makes some uplifting speech (or blog, or comment) about how with a little bit of effort we can make a difference these people come out of the woodwork, with comments like "get off your high horse" and "how do we know you're really doing anything?" Putting them down as self-righteous is an attempt to fit into the average morality scale by bringing down the good rather than improving yourself, and the second comment misses the point. Saying that you're not going to do anything until everyone else in the world does first is safe, because there's always quite a few people saying this. Also, there's all those times people justify bad behaviour by saying "everyone else does it" or "it's natural selection baby, deal with it". These people seem to put in a lot of effort to justify why they don't do good things, or do do bad things.
For those keen to become "better people", however you define it, there's a few more good points. One is that once something you do that's "virtuous" becomes habitual it ceases to weigh so much on the good side of the scale, it just becomes something you do. So you seek out something else to do that's good. Another one is to watch the company you keep -- people tend to slide towards the cultural norms, so hanging around with "good people" will make you a better person.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26497660-952,00.html
Cruise control driver runs down his critics
THE driver stuck on cruise control at 100km/h on the Eastern Freeway and EastLink has lashed out at those casting doubt on his story.
"You weren't in the car," Chase Weir said. "If anyone can fake a 000 call and all that screaming, show me how."
Readers swamped the Herald Sun website and talkback radio to also ask why the Ford Explorer driver didn't turn off his engine or shift the gear selector into neutral.
Click here to listen to the dramatic 000 call extract
Mr Weir told police the ignition key would not move and that he could not put the car into neutral.
On trying to brake, he could not slow below 80km/h.
The 22-year-old Queenslander's ordeal began at 12.40pm on Tuesday when he was unable to slow for his Eastern Freeway exit.
It ended just over 30 minutes later on the Moorooduc Highway at Frankston, when he finally managed to stop the vehicle using the handbrake and the brake pedal - on the wrong side of the road.
Police considered radical measures to stop Mr Weir.
But it was Sgt Marnie Goldsmith who in effect rescued him, talking him through his panic after he dialled 000.
Mr Weir thanked her in person.
Sgt Goldsmith said: "He shook my hand and I said 'I can give you a hug'."
Mr Weir said it was only her calm response that allowed him to keep his head.
"She was saying, 'the car won't stop but you're still OK'. I was panicky, but she kept me calm."
She explained: "I just said 'I'll tell you when it's time to panic and we're not there yet'."
Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority operator Jay Kemp, who co-ordinated the response, said: "There is no standard procedure to stop a car stuck on cruise control. It was extraordinary."
The first police unit to reach Mr Weir thought it would all end in tragedy.
Sen-Constable Steve Warr and Constable Stephen Glenk from Doncaster kept other vehicles away from him.
"We knew the traffic would bank up and we wanted to end it prior to Frankston," said Sen-Constable Warr.
"We discussed about 50 different options, from using our van or a truck to stop him, using the guard rail, or running him into a paddock.
"By the time the last 3km came up, it was too late. I thought there were going to be fatals. I said over the air - 'It's going to be bad'."
The Explorer will now be examined by police and Ford. Mr Weir claims six Australians have contacted him on Facebook to claim similar issues with their cars.
National Motoring Editor Paul Gover writes: If you are faced with a jammed accelerator, or a stuck cruise control, do not panic. Firstly, push down very hard on the brake. If it doesn't release the accelerator, don't panic.
If it's a manual, push down on the clutch, which should disengage a cruise control, or knock the lever into neutral. Do the same for an automatic, but go gently on the shifter.
Selecting neutral will disconnect the engine from the gearbox and allow you to brake to a stop.
If you cannot get into neutral, try turning the engine off (do not lock the steering). You should be able to steer and brake to a stop.
In the absolute worst case, do as Mr Weir did to stop.
As the pipe clamp blisters began to pop and heal on my hands, I knew I was in a race against myself to find my next gig in woodworking. I had just quit my job after I was put on a mandatory 72-hour work week schedule, which was neither safe nor necessary in the warehouse where I was a full time furniture maker. From my first taste of sawdust, I was hooked. I loved everything about it, especially the aches & pains associated with putting in a hard day of manual labor.
I had moved thousands of miles from my industrial Michigan factory roots, only to go to college and decide the blue collar life is what I wanted. I quit my job, only when it was obvious that it would either kill or permanently injure me...but it was still one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. Besides the fact that I love it, I realize now how wrapped up I was in the identity of being just one thing...In my working life, I have always had to have at least three side hustles going on and I've done everything from nude modeling, to being a maid, a well-paid executive assistant, an extra in movies, a make-up artist, to an apprentice sander in a woodshop.
When I call home to update my family, typically, whatever it is I describe is met with unconditional love & acceptance, even if there is a tinge of it not necessarily being understood. As a woodworker, I was finally able to align myself with an identity - one thing that I loved being and doing...and it was so much easier to explain that!
Predictably, when the job fell apart, I scrambled for any paying gig I could find on craigslist. As it turns out, it was a good time to be involved with film making and I even signed up for acting classes. Being involved in the process is as exciting as it seems like it would be - even the long hours of waiting, while being completely dressed to the nines for a 6:00 a.m. call time, shouldn't be exciting, but it still is.
Around this time I also found work as a fit model, working for a local design house. It's a job that pays very well but the work is inconsistent. Still, I am extremely thankful to have it, even if it is a bit weird for me to use it as an identifier at the dentist's office and have the receptionist squeal and ask me a bunch of questions about the job. That's a rock star moment, I'm not going to lie, but it's completely foreign to me to identify myself as "model" in any capacity...especially when "factory rat" was a closer signifier just weeks ago.
I'm not sure if all the discomfort in lacking a fixed occupation or identity squarely rests on my shoulders, or if I am reacting to other people's confusion when I try to explain, "Well, I'm actually a furniture maker, but I'm out of work, so I'm doing the acting and modeling thing, while looking for another woodworking gig." Who does that? I'm not sure if I even understand myself anymore.
In the long run, it's probably a good thing that I am so versatile & adaptable - I always have something relevent for any type of resume I'm creating for myself (and I have at least 3); but I long for the day when I have a short answer to the question, "So what do you do?"
- 20:24 Have had a stiff drink and now feeling much more mellow about tomorrow. #
- 20:47 @Glinner I thought it was brilliant. Gripping from start to finish. #
- 20:48 @_faeriequeen Cool I'll be tapping you for tips of where to go and what to do nearer the time #
- 20:48 @annaleeb Thanks. At the moment I'm fighting with the notion that I'm mad but I've got 3 months to conquer that. #
- 09:19 Blimey, 20 mins from stepping off tube to departures was expecting queue hell. More time for shopping #
- 10:21 Nice man at dixons is charging my new nintendo dsi for me so i dont have to sit with it. And why arent there clothes shops for the norma ... #
- 11:57 Flight delayed but leaving soon. Has just started snowing - shame i will miss the chaos or not. Have a great christmas everyone who cele ... #
- 13:26 Spoke too soon, waiting for the plane to be de-iced. Still i love sitting in cattle class on a plane for as long as possible. Love it. #
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DOMINO? YOU MEAN DOMI-YES
dominorecordco.com
You know, I honestly don't know how Ryan does it, keeping up with the various 'tweets'. I personally think twitter become absolutely useless if you have more than 50 friends. There's also so much spam on twitter!
So, I mostly just have it filtered to reading our own twitter to discover new freebies. So below was sent out a few days ago:
weheartmusicWe♥Music
Check out the @DominoRecordCo Xmas Sampler - http://bit.ly/53Thv0 - Final Fantasy, Wild Beasts, The Kills, Franz Ferdinand & King Creosote.
11:49 AM Dec 14th from web
I also really dig Joker's Daughter (for non-comic book nerds, yes the Joker had a daughter - I think she mostly fought the 70s Teen Titans). I love "classic" pop girl-group sound, and this band has the vocals and melodies. Although the subject of Gremlins and "Bouncing Liquorish Bears" may be on the weirder side.
OF DOVES AND FISH
harveysidfisher.com
Dovecote Records gathered three of their recording artists to do a mini-tribute to Harvey Sid Fisher. While I don't know much about Fisher, based on hearing the three covers by Mason Proper, Tim Williams, and Trevor Giuliani, I have concluded that Fisher was a bit of a strange songwriter and has a bit of an interesting "older" man's vocals... each of the modern artists do try and emulate the singing style.
My personal favorite is Tim Williams' rendition. Nice backup vocals and the repetitive "hit another wall" refrain.
If you want to hear these songs for yourself - head over to dovecoterecords.com and click on the "Download Now" link. There's no catch either, none of that "give us your email" thing. Just a nice little free EP.
OLD WAVE MIXTAPE
nouvellesvagues.com
Cover lover band of approval, Nouvelle Vague, made a 10-track free mixtape at whenyouawake.com.
Most of the tracks are by American artists, some classic from Roy Orbison ("You Got It"), Louis Armstrong ("We Have All The Time In The World"), Johnny Cash ("Ring Of Fire"), etc. There are a few weird ones (weird as in didn't fit in) like Sufjan Stevens and Rolling Stones... however, I will admit tapping my feet when I heard the intro to "Let's Spend The Night Together". There is the token French artist Serge Gainsbourg on the mixtape for good measure.
While I'm not entirely sure about the legality of this free download, I think it's good promotions for the bands mentioned on the tape. Plus, it's a nice boost of ego, you know?
daffodilpublicity.com confirms these are their forth-coming North American tour dates:
|
Friday, Jan. 22, Philadelphia, PA, World Café Saturday, Jan. 23, New York, NY, Webster Hall Sunday, Jan. 24, Boston, MA, Somerset Tuesday, Jan. 25, Montreal, PQ, Metropolis Wednesday, Jan. 27, Toronto, ONT, Opera House Thursday, Jan. 28, Detroit, MI, Crofoot Ballroom Friday, Jan. 29, Chicago, IL, Logan Square Monday, Feb. 1, Denver, CO, Bluebird Tuesday, Feb. 2, Salt Lake City, UT, Urban Lounge Thursday, Feb. 4, Seattle, WA, King Cat |
Friday, Feb. 5, Vancouver, BC, Venue Sunday, Feb. 7, San Francisco, CA, Regency Monday, Feb. 8, Sant Cruz, CA, Rio Theater Tuesday, Feb. 9, Los Angeles, CA, Henry Fonda Friday, Feb. 12, Dallas, TX, Granada Saturday, Feb. 13, Austin, TX, Mohawk Sunday, Feb. 14, New Orleans, LA, Republic Tuesday, Feb. 16, Miami, FL, Revolution Wednesday, Feb. 17, Orlando, FL, Firestone Thursday, Feb. 18, Atlanta, GA, Loft Saturday, Feb. 20, Washington DC, 9:30 Club |
YOU HAVE TO SPEND MONEY TO SAVE MONEY
I don't work for Best Buy, but I wanted to pass along this deal, since it is almost a crime to not buy it. It is $140 for HANNspree 23" HD LCD 16:9 Widescreen Monitor. That's cheap, considering the same monitor would've cost at least $700 a few years ago.
I did buy it and setup was very plug-and-play easy. It came with a disc for a Windows Vista driver, but if you just have XP, it would just recognize the monitor. Hooking it up on the PS3 using the HDMI cable (not included) was also easy - however I did not like the long pauses as PS3 auto adjust when it plays bluray discs (I suspect this has to do with determining that it's a compliant display since HDMI is notorious for anti-piracy junk).
Compare to the old CRT monster monitors, this 23" is superlight - even Mr Burns can easily move the monitor around. The product page lists 9.9lbs, but it feels like it's only one or two pounds.
The monitor does have built-in speakers, but it sounds tinny. Not exactly awesome audio, but for $140, that's just a bonus. I recommend buying monitor headphones and plugging it in the monitor for clearer audio. And speaking of audio, since this is marketed as purely a monitor - there is also no remote control access. If you need to turn down the audio, you have to adjust it on the monitor itself.
Despite my complaint, this is one of best image display I've own. It's native 1920x1080 is pretty sweet when I'm playing Dragon Age (since now I can have more items in the "quick" slots at the bottom).
* practically free
12/16/2009 11:25:14 ♥ vu (
) ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
Random stuff. Watch in order. This is the original remastered version:
I just bumped into a link of an event organised by cyberview involving a 40-hour-online gameplay to set for a world record. In my opinion, this is better than setting world records for wasteful and irrelevant event such as the largest cake, the highest roti canai and the longest bread (unless people will eat it!). They are things that even ordinary people can do if they have the money. It also questions the role and status of the record adjudicator. Games can also help people's brain to work effectively, depending on which type of game they are playing.
But having to sacrifice 40 hours for the record can be absurd too. Unless you are provided with the necessary things to keep you survive, I think it should not be a problem. This is better than loitering every night doing stuff that makes parents worry.
I'm still hoping to see Malaysians who become record breakers in athletic and adventurous stuff, like hiking Everest or sailing around the world. This is something that not everyone can do. However we could hardly see that now. It's all about spending money to break records.
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