September 30, 2009 – 10:24 pm
–is the new home of Ruminating Out Loud.
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September 28, 2009 – 2:57 pm
Just watch. You’ll be amazed by the transformation that is taking place in the media landscape in such a short span of time with little fanfare or attention.
August 27, 2009 – 3:10 am
In honor of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, I’ll re-post and share a poem I wrote a while back, In the Sense of Time. As he said it best, the dream will never die… He lives on in the dreams he birthed and in the dreams he fulfilled.
In the Sense of Time
In the sense of time I [...]
August 23, 2009 – 5:08 pm
Do you want to know how far robots have come towards rendering us almost replaceable? Check out this video showing Ishikawa Komuro Lab’s high-speed robot hand performing incredible acts of dexterity and skillful manipulation. Indeed, an impressive demonstration of advances in robotics and A.I.
August 23, 2009 – 4:36 pm
President Obama continues to extend the unclenched fist forward to improve relations with the Muslim world by building on the Cairo speech and extending best wishes to Muslim communities here in the U.S. and around the world. A smart strategy of forging good relations based on respect and understanding.
August 22, 2009 – 3:02 pm
Dr. Michio Kaku discussing about the universe…
August 20, 2009 – 9:20 pm
Just look at the distance between him and the rest of the field at the finish line…
August 18, 2009 – 10:22 pm
Hands tied together, he looked up
As if to beg for a sliver of hope
Mercy maybe to a life short lived
Looked down to see the suffering and misery
To find, the hands which were thought to be tied
Free, but crippled and incapable of reach
For the hope dangling upfront to silence the hungry mind
He sensed, though, without letting [...]
August 18, 2009 – 3:25 am
Here is a distilled (<1000 words!) version of all the issues concerning the health care reform debate via Alec MacGillis of The Washington Post.
August 18, 2009 – 12:17 am
The crux of the matter about health care reform is that something needs to be done to address the exploding cost of care, which is incommensurate to the quality of care provided and makes the U.S. an outlier among all the nations. Atul Gawande et al. discuss this in a recent article. Here is an [...]
August 17, 2009 – 11:52 pm
Granted it would be great to have a bill that will magically half the cost of health care, to the level other industrialized nations spend per capita, and still provide universal coverage. It would be great if we could simply control the exploding cost that is pacing to bankrupt our country. It would be great [...]
August 17, 2009 – 11:21 pm
The concept of friendship is one that is being loosely applied in the advent of virtual inter-connectedness that social media is affording. However, is modernity stealing the honesty and intimacy out of relationships and filling the void with superficial means of interaction? Is the essence of friendship being lost? What does friendship mean and what [...]
August 16, 2009 – 5:14 pm
For all the hoopla and shameless hypocrisy of the opponents of health care reform, major change is on the way. And there is nothing the other side can do about it. Just look at this nice summary from Ezra Klein about what is already agreed upon and other pertinent issues.
“Here are the things that, broadly [...]
August 15, 2009 – 11:24 pm
Here is another glorious manifestation of fractal geometry to go along with a previous post on fractals in nature. This time it is dendrites in the cracking pattern of a sheet of ice.
August 15, 2009 – 8:08 pm
You had to know President Obama was simply not going to allow the opponents of health care reform continue to spread lies and scare people in an effort to throttle this necessary and much too delayed effort at change. This is the kind of inspired, passionate, and reasoned argument, which he has shown to be [...]
August 15, 2009 – 5:02 pm
Nate Silver has a great demonstration of and comparison between health care systems in Canada and the U.K., both of which are frequently vilified by the opponents of health care reform here in the U.S. Enjoy!
August 15, 2009 – 4:27 pm
Here is a recommender system that is clearly broken. Six to seven years back I purchased a book on graduate schools from Amazon. You can then imagine my surprise when I keep getting this type of solicitation to buy more of the same. Don’t they understand that this is a type of commodity you use [...]
August 15, 2009 – 3:07 pm
The essence of viral spreading of information is one that can surprisingly be explained by quantum mechanical concepts, as discussed in a previous post, “Why Some Ideas Go Viral and Others Do Not.” Now, here comes a real world example, in fact one of ROL’s own escapade into the viral realm thanks to “The Little Imperfections.”
Below [...]
August 15, 2009 – 1:44 pm
Here is an intriguing quote:
“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” – JK Galbraith
August 15, 2009 – 1:20 pm
Working to address the inefficiency, waste, and unsustainable cost in the dysfunctional health care system (if there is one) is hard enough a task to bring about reform without having to deal with such hypocrites. How do they sleep at night?!
August 15, 2009 – 12:40 pm
I bet you didn’t know August 15th is a special day unlike any other. Yes, it marks the National Relaxation Day. It says a lot about the breakneck speed at which our everyday life unfolds for us to need a reminder to take time and relax. In any case, if you are not the relaxing-type [...]
August 14, 2009 – 2:58 am
What is happening to us, America?
Unable to listen, screaming at each others’ throat
Quick to affirm our rights, in a shouting match of sound bites
Denying the right of others, are we growing intolerant of the other
Who appears foreign, forgetting that this land we call home
Is a gift to all, to the peasant off the boat generations [...]
August 14, 2009 – 2:19 am
At the fulcrum, hangs the balance between I and we
Defining the equilibrium of love and belonging.
Does she worry about asserting of her right
Or her happiness, her body, or her income
All used to define the essence of an independent woman
Does he care just about his needs
Gratification of self, stroking of ego
Being the center of attention, effusion [...]
August 14, 2009 – 1:58 am
They claim thousands of years of glory
A civilization unlike any other
The foundation of humanity and being
Philosophy, architecture, art and history
But, where is civilization now
In a population, tied down to the barrel of a gun
Where is the glory now
In the millions of people suffering everyday
Poor, sick, illiterate, and hungry
Where are the marvels of architecture
In the home-less, [...]
In a previous post, a comparison of per capita spending and life expectancy for some of the developed countries in the world was compared. In it, the incommensurate cost to the quality of care being delivered to the population was discussed. Then (at the beginning of the year), the post was more of an exercise [...]
Feeling ill, dysfunctional and sick
Lack of interest reaching the peak
Like a fruit wasting away; nearing harvest pick
Uncovered by fashion, which normally sleak
Hiding the rote, masking the stink
Frustration, disgust, and hate; piled like a rick
All matters of cure, unable to break
The vicious cycle, stuck in a wreck
Soul dripping away, essences of being leak
Left a flying zombie, [...]
Like a bird in the sky
With wings spread out to fly
My thoughts sit above clouds
Textured and smooth, fluffy and light
Separating earthly life from heavens
Entrapped in a thin can
With a comfort of air conditioned home
Bound to a seat, in a moment of liberation.
Oh! The cruelty of creation
Delivering Adam and Eve to a land
Dry and sea [...]
Speckles of sand flow
From one side to the other
In obedience to gravity
Marking the timeless evolution of time
In symbolism of a body figure sculpted at the waist
Into a proportion of man-made beauty.
The narrowness of the neck dictates
The flow of time in the hourglass
Separating the present from the past
Or is it a testimony to the depravity of [...]
The ups and downs rendered in formation
Like a marching band befitting of a dawn
The oneness of rhythms and the imbalance of movement
Up and jumpy, happy and limitless at once
Down and thumping, deafening and hardened in instant.
Where is the sigh when it is sought
Where is the melody when one dances
Fickle it is flowing between fingertips
Tangible in [...]
This is the kind of priceless picture that really says more than a thousand words.
As the president said: “I do so recognizing that change cannot happen overnight. No single speech can eradicate years of mistrust, nor can I answer in the time that I have all the complex questions that brought us to this point. [...]
They ask why; why are you not jovial?
Alone, pensive, and distant
They ask why; why are you so banal?
Small, shallow, and trite
Their wills live on parallel universes
Governed by rules disparate and diverging
Unbeknownst to them the gulf widens
Like the parting of the sea, only to come
Together at last up on the awakening
On the emotional journey bridging the [...]
What do Asian-Americans, Jews and West Indian blacks have in common? Well, these groups are considered to be relatively successful in the U.S. Nicholas D. Kristof provides, yet again, another insightful opinion piece on the connection (or lack thereof) between genetics, intelligence, I.Q., and success. He debunks the myth of the connection between genetics and [...]
Many things can be said of the speech (I would say it is more of a lecture and a lesson in smart diplomacy than a speech) President Barack Obama gave to the Muslim world in Cairo, Egypt. One thing is certain; the president believes in truth telling and partnership built on mutual respect and appreciation. [...]
Here is a fascinating video of art by Phil Hansen. Enjoy!
Here is a picture of the flying White House gracing the New York City sky.
The Little Imperfections has become a Hawt Post. Thanks to all visitors who have found it to be interesting enough to be shared with others. Keep spreading the good message…
That is what Wolfram|Alpha hopes to get to. The brainchild of Mathematica and other projects, Stephen Wolfram, is aiming at delivering a more relevant and accurate information than current day search is not capable of achieving , according to a reporting by The Independent and Wolfram’s blog. Frequenters of this space know that I have [...]
There is a lot that has been said about what the U.S. needs to do or not do to win the over the hearts and minds of locals in either Afghanistan or Iraq. I believe it ultimately boils down to the alignment of ambitions and goals; to get locals to realize that you’re on their [...]
Posted in Pieces of Information
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Tagged 10th Mountain Division, 3rd Brigade, Afghan, Afghanistan, AP Photo, iraq, Kabul, photograph, Rafiq Maqbool, soldier, Taliban, U.S.
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When you think the odds are stacked up against you, when you feel like giving up, when the going gets really tough; just watch this and be inspired.
You be the judge.
Apparently “13,500 people spontaneously sang Hey Jude together in Trafalgar Square. Everyone involved arrived thinking they could be dancing – no-one had any idea how the event would unfold.”
An insightful and impressive information on the ingredients necessary for the making of a successful venture in the social media space. It is regarding Stack Overflow, a free question and answer site built by developers for developers that has fostered a strong and committed online community in under one year. It was founded by Joel [...]
Posted in Pieces of Information, Science and Technology
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Tagged badges, building blocks, critical mass, editing, google, Google is UI, Jeff Attwood, Joel Spolsky, karma, null information, performance, pre-search, Q&A, search, social networks, Stack Overflow, tags, voting
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Magnificence is the only way to put. Below is an example of photographs taken during the collusion of extreme forces of nature. The one shown “here in the form of a bolt looking to lock horns with lava issuing from Mount Rinjani in Indonesia. When volcanic gasses and materials are thrust high into the air, [...]
It was only a matter of time before we saw this development. NewScientist resports (World’s tiniest lamp spans quantum and classical physics) about the worlds first incandescent lamp that made using a carbon nanotube filament.
The smallest ever incandescent lamp, made using a single carbon nanotube, has been created by physicists in the US. At 1.4 [...]
Not long after my previous post stating that the number of visitors coming through this information domain has passed 10,000, I am now back to report to you that ROL surpassed more than 21,000 visitors mark! Below is a comparison of the graph then and now…
Now:
Then:
Here is the the story of this “stunning upset” win according to SI:
There have been plenty of long shots to win the Kentucky Derby, most recently Giacomo at 50-1 in 2005. But Mine That Bird (who also went off at 50-1) is one of the most obscure of them all — certainly more than any [...]
Posted in Pieces of Information
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Tagged 50-1, Bennie (Chip) Woolley Jr., Bob Baffert, Calvin Borel, Churchill Downs, Kentucky Derby, Mine That Bird, Phil Simms, Sunland Park, The Online wire, upset win
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