September 2009
66 posts
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WatchCloud Computing Demo. Gaikai. via IGN
Gaikai: Live Demonstration PC Games
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musicforyourcoffee:
Yann Tiersen – C’était ici
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Roots of the Decline of Middle East's Economy
Until the late Middle Ages, the Muslim Middle East was at least as economically developed as Europe. Then, beginning with the rise of the great Italian traders in the 14th century, Europeans pulled ahead, while the Islamic world gradually declined. By the 19th century, European economic influence had translated into political domination of the Middle East.
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What happened?
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christielouwho:
dsfincannon:
Adagio for...
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filmquotes:
You talk about the people as though you own them, as though they belong to you. As long as I can remember you’ve talked about giving the people their rights. As though you can make them a present of liberty, as a reward for services rendered. Remember the working man? You used to write an awful lot about the working man, he’s turning into something called organized labor. Your...
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Muslim's indifference toward Europe
But it is true that while Muslims established fruitful relations with Mongols, Greeks and Hindus, they remained utterly uninterested in the west. The great 14th-century traveller Ibn Battutah journeyed all over the known world, but never visited Europe. His contemporary, Ibn Khaldun, a historian and faylasuf (philosopher), dismisses the rumour that philosophy and science were developing in western...
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Overheard at the Baker Street tube station.
Two tourist-girls look at the tiles on the subway wall illustrated with the silhouette of Sherlock Holmes.
Tourist Girl 1: Look! Charles Dickens!
Tourist Girl 2: I think it's Sherlock Holmes.
Tourist Girl 1: Yeah, duh, Dickens wrote Sherlock Holmes.
Tourist Girl 2: Dickens isn't a writer, he's a painter.
Tourist Girl 1: Whatever, painted Sherlock Holmes.
It sounds fake, but this conversation is real. I overheard it about 5 years ago, and it's the basis by which I judge stupidity.
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Voice-Over and Narration
keithcalder:
A lot of people have problems with voice-over and narration in films. Countless screenwriting teachers and gurus council their students to avoid voice-over. That it is a crutch. That it is lazy. That it is bad.
I disagree.
I think voice-over is an incredibly powerful tool in the filmmaker’s toolbox. It can be used in a wide variety of ways and it can have a huge positive...
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A New Horizon for the News
“According to one study, of all the time readers spend with a newspaper, 96 percent of it is spent on print editions and barely more than 3 percent on the Web. Similarly, of the $38.5 billion spent on newspaper ads in 2008, just $3 billion was spent on the Web. With numbers like these, print is not going away anytime soon.
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There are two main models. The Financial Times uses a...
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“1. The Harry Potter novels 2. Cervantes’ Don Quixote 3. Barack...”
– The three most requested titles by Guantanamo prisoners
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Things Only a Republican Could Believe:
Parents who don’t want their children to pray in school are Anti-American zealots — parents who don’t want their children to listen to a speech by the President of the United States telling them to work hard and get good grades are noble patriots.
Peacefully demonstrating against the country starting an international war is treason — showing up with automatic weapons...
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“The Most Outrageous U.S. Lies About Global Healthcare”
– Foreign Policy
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inthemoodforlove:
Concerto for Violin in A...
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WatchLewis Black’s perfect opening for a stand up show.
Which part’s your favorite bit?
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A Letter of Advice to Queen Victoria
christielouwho:
This is the letter sent by Lin Zexu who was the Chinese Commisioner in Canton to advise the British Queen to stop its unfair exploitation of the Chinese people by trading opium in exchange for Chinese goods.
A communication: magnificently our great Emperor soothes and pacifies China and the foreign countries, regarding all with the same kindness. If there is profit, then he...
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Critics of Friedman's "flat world"
“In a 2007 Foreign Policy magazine article, Pankaj Ghemawat (professor at Harvard Business School), argued that ninety percent of the world’s phone calls, Web traffic, and investments are local, suggesting that Friedman has grossly exaggerated the significance of the trends he describes: “Despite talk of a new, wired world where information, ideas, money, and people can move...
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WatchHans Rosling presentation at US department of state.
Watch this one… you won’t regret it!
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WatchWireless electricity!
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WatchWhat is wrong with US media?
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