From Demovibes Google Groups:
Hello, this is the Demovibes newsletter !
Demovibes 8 is now released, ready to be downloaded.
Here's the tracklisting :
01. Carlos & Norfair - Another kind of beauty
02. Irvin - Gamma
03. Gloom - D and B
04. Little Bitchard - Schooled in the methods of murder
05. Keito - Route 1066
06. Takomo - Projections
07. NF - Yellow rose of Texas
08. Amb - Emoparticle
09. Dixan - 80's
10. Reed - Dead ringer
11. Virgill - Elements (Willbe remix)
12. Kaktusen - Take a deep breath
13. Paniq - Barcode anxiety
14. Deetsay - Quarterna
15. Ronny - Debris
16. Blaizer - Starstruck
17. Neurokin - Tokyo
18. Moonove - Neja
19. Raytrayza - Weide 65
20. Looza - Exospect
21. Bay Tremore - Beats 2
22. Lug00ber - Out the exits
Get the full MP3 at : http://www.demovibes.org/dv8.htm
All the best,
Willbe
www.demovibes.org
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Thursday, March 06, 2008
values
I was just reading on Fortune where Steve Jobs speaks out about all things Apple when I realised what it is that I love about Apple so much - we share the same values.
Life is short, and too precious to expect anything less than beauty and perfection from how we invest ourselves in the things we do. That's not to say that as individuals we should expect to be perfect and never make mistakes, but we should strive for that little something more from ourselves.
Apple push the curve. They don't just make stuff to sell, they create things you can get passionate about, and passion is what drives us to not just do well, but to excel.
Life is short, and too precious to expect anything less than beauty and perfection from how we invest ourselves in the things we do. That's not to say that as individuals we should expect to be perfect and never make mistakes, but we should strive for that little something more from ourselves.
Apple push the curve. They don't just make stuff to sell, they create things you can get passionate about, and passion is what drives us to not just do well, but to excel.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
When will real estate agents get real?
There was once a time when lawyers were despised as the scum of the earth for their deceitful, contemptuous ways. It seems they may have been dethroned from dubious position by an even greater evil - the real estate agent.
Sydney city Australia is a beautiful city. Green and picturesque, with a booming cafe culture. It's also one of the most expensive parts of the known universe to own land in. While a re-enactment of the US sub-prime crash seems unlikely down-under, with interest rates hovering around 8-9% and average property values of over half a million dollars, it's definitely not a buyer's market.
In fact, the fallout of the decline in first-time home buyers has led to hugely over-saturated rental market. And the real estate agents hate it.
Gone are the days when they would spend their time romancing prospective property buyers with the promise of a sizable commission glinting in their eye. Today the average real estate agent is all but run into the ground opening rental properties up for 15 minute inspections, and attending vacating inspections as previous tenants flee in terror from how much their rent gets hiked-up between contracts.
All of this for a measly 7%.
They radiate contempt, exhaustion, and disinterest. It's clear when they arrive 5 minutes late to open a 15 minute inspection how much they loathe the work that will be created by the 30, 40, or 50 eager applications they will have to process for a tiny cut of the rent.
Phone calls go un-answered, emails get ignored, but the rent keeps steadily climbing up while the agents sit on the one month's bond paid in advance as a right of passage. Even still, the number of prospective tenants continues to increase, while the amount of available rental properties plummets down to 1%.
Here's a shout-out to Sydney's embattled real-estate agents: if your business card says "property manager", then prove your worth by demonstrating the ability to manage in a saturated rental market. Find your way clear to returning people's calls, or even answering emails with just a simple acknowledgment.
Or just kindly fuck off. Let the tenants talk to the strata and have them copy a key for us. Allow us to call a certified phone technician to fix our noisy line. Don't leave a bin full of garden refuse in the backyard and then refuse our offer to have it taken away.
Scratch the "property manager" off your business card and let us manage affairs ourselves. Let us send you a bill, or deduct it from our next rent payment. Don't treat us like shit from the moment after we sign the lease and pay the bond with nothing less than a bank cheque, lest your title as the new scum of the earth be forever associated with the lowly real estate agent.
Sydney city Australia is a beautiful city. Green and picturesque, with a booming cafe culture. It's also one of the most expensive parts of the known universe to own land in. While a re-enactment of the US sub-prime crash seems unlikely down-under, with interest rates hovering around 8-9% and average property values of over half a million dollars, it's definitely not a buyer's market.
In fact, the fallout of the decline in first-time home buyers has led to hugely over-saturated rental market. And the real estate agents hate it.
Gone are the days when they would spend their time romancing prospective property buyers with the promise of a sizable commission glinting in their eye. Today the average real estate agent is all but run into the ground opening rental properties up for 15 minute inspections, and attending vacating inspections as previous tenants flee in terror from how much their rent gets hiked-up between contracts.
All of this for a measly 7%.
They radiate contempt, exhaustion, and disinterest. It's clear when they arrive 5 minutes late to open a 15 minute inspection how much they loathe the work that will be created by the 30, 40, or 50 eager applications they will have to process for a tiny cut of the rent.
Phone calls go un-answered, emails get ignored, but the rent keeps steadily climbing up while the agents sit on the one month's bond paid in advance as a right of passage. Even still, the number of prospective tenants continues to increase, while the amount of available rental properties plummets down to 1%.
Here's a shout-out to Sydney's embattled real-estate agents: if your business card says "property manager", then prove your worth by demonstrating the ability to manage in a saturated rental market. Find your way clear to returning people's calls, or even answering emails with just a simple acknowledgment.
Or just kindly fuck off. Let the tenants talk to the strata and have them copy a key for us. Allow us to call a certified phone technician to fix our noisy line. Don't leave a bin full of garden refuse in the backyard and then refuse our offer to have it taken away.
Scratch the "property manager" off your business card and let us manage affairs ourselves. Let us send you a bill, or deduct it from our next rent payment. Don't treat us like shit from the moment after we sign the lease and pay the bond with nothing less than a bank cheque, lest your title as the new scum of the earth be forever associated with the lowly real estate agent.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Comcast suck balls
That's right, they suck testicles, short curlies and all. Comcast, and their co-conspirators in their quest to capitalize from restricting internet access are a bunch of soulless mother fuckers. Why? The internet must be unrestricted to all. But comcast paid people to cheer at a net neutrality meeting.
Fuck you Comcast, and your fellow would-be gatekeepers of information - AT&T, Verizon, and Time Warner.
Fuck you Comcast, and your fellow would-be gatekeepers of information - AT&T, Verizon, and Time Warner.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Multiple Mac power supplies
"Did Apple hire some MBA from Gilette who thinks the real money is in power supplies, not computers? The next time Steve buys a pair of New Balances, I hope his old socks don't work with them."
Into Thin Air: How I Spent $5,000 on Air and Made Fifty-Year Old Women Swoon, Guy Kawasaki
Into Thin Air: How I Spent $5,000 on Air and Made Fifty-Year Old Women Swoon, Guy Kawasaki
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Stephen Conroy is Kevin Rudd's Communist Cohort
Fuck me, turns out our newly elected Labour government is taking cues from China's internet censorship, citing some bollocks about child pornography as reason to encroach on our freedom of speech.
See article on TechCrunch
See article on TechCrunch
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Ted Dziuba is a douche bag
..based on no information or experience whatsoever, except that he slammed Zoho whilst talking bollocks in a Wired interview.
He accuses them of having "no engineering merit", and simply re-implementing office apps online "with no added merit". The man is talking out of his ass. Zoho's web apps were kicking ass long before Google or Microsoft bought their way into the online office space.
Zoho's retort is intelligent and non-confrontational. Kudos, Zoho. Fuck you Ted "douche bag" Dziuba, whoever the fuck you are.
He accuses them of having "no engineering merit", and simply re-implementing office apps online "with no added merit". The man is talking out of his ass. Zoho's web apps were kicking ass long before Google or Microsoft bought their way into the online office space.
Zoho's retort is intelligent and non-confrontational. Kudos, Zoho. Fuck you Ted "douche bag" Dziuba, whoever the fuck you are.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Cash accumulation equation vs 25 year mortgage
Ripples can still be felt from the sub-prime mortgage crash in the States, lest we forget. Interest rates got too high, repayments became impossible, foreclosures took over, and we're all still feeling the pain. I wonder what the rates were actually at, what the average house price was, and the average payments in relation to the average income?
Here in Australia, interest rates are around 7-8%, "fixed" for a few years before they are legally permitted to shaft you up the ass by bumping it up to who knows what. Budgeting for it to be 10% would be prudent. Does that sound like a lot of interest?
At that rate, St George bank of Australia would give you about $225,000 cash in exchange for monthly repayments of about $2,000 over a period of 25 years, totaling about $400,000 just in interest payments alone. Right now you'd have trouble finding a one bedroom apartment for that in an area that doesn't have to be accessed by helicopter due to it's remoteness.
St George Mortgage Calculator
Meantime, interest rates on savings accounts are pointless, while on a Cash Management Trust (CMT) you could easily get 5.5%, compounded quarterly. Not much to combat rising mortgage rates right, or is it?
Consider what it would take using such a CMT to acquire the same amount as the above mentioned mortgage principle, $225,000, by depositing the same amount as the monthly repayments into an account earning about 5.5% interest, with an opening balance of $67,000:
Cash Accumulation Equation
A CMT earning 5.4% interest could turn an initial investment of $67,000 into $225,000 in 5 years.
Lets extend that projection out to the full term of the mortgage - 25 years:
That's right - 1.5 MILLION DOLLARS!
If you had $67,000, what would you do?
A: borrow $225,000 see what you could buy for under $300K, and spend the next 25 years paying for it
B: borrow nothing, put the same mortgage repayments into a CMT and wait 25 years, let it accumulate to $1.5M
A few points to consider about the cash accumulation technique:
A few points to consider about taking a mortgage:
A perfect world:
Average house prices down around $200-300,000, mortgage rates at about 5-6%. Not going to happen! We have the insatiable fractional reserve banking system to thank for that. Home prices and interest rates MUST rise to keep cash in the economy.
The solution:
Rent indefinitely, or move back to Japan where they learnt from this mistake 10 years ago when the Japanese bubble economy burst and houses are currently about half the price.
Here in Australia, interest rates are around 7-8%, "fixed" for a few years before they are legally permitted to shaft you up the ass by bumping it up to who knows what. Budgeting for it to be 10% would be prudent. Does that sound like a lot of interest?
At that rate, St George bank of Australia would give you about $225,000 cash in exchange for monthly repayments of about $2,000 over a period of 25 years, totaling about $400,000 just in interest payments alone. Right now you'd have trouble finding a one bedroom apartment for that in an area that doesn't have to be accessed by helicopter due to it's remoteness.
St George Mortgage Calculator
Meantime, interest rates on savings accounts are pointless, while on a Cash Management Trust (CMT) you could easily get 5.5%, compounded quarterly. Not much to combat rising mortgage rates right, or is it?
Consider what it would take using such a CMT to acquire the same amount as the above mentioned mortgage principle, $225,000, by depositing the same amount as the monthly repayments into an account earning about 5.5% interest, with an opening balance of $67,000:
Cash Accumulation Equation
A CMT earning 5.4% interest could turn an initial investment of $67,000 into $225,000 in 5 years.
Lets extend that projection out to the full term of the mortgage - 25 years:
That's right - 1.5 MILLION DOLLARS!
If you had $67,000, what would you do?
A: borrow $225,000 see what you could buy for under $300K, and spend the next 25 years paying for it
B: borrow nothing, put the same mortgage repayments into a CMT and wait 25 years, let it accumulate to $1.5M
A few points to consider about the cash accumulation technique:
- It would make you a millionaire in your 50's, but you wouldn't own a home
- House prices in outer suburbs of Sydney have doubled over the last 20-25 years
- The average house price in Sydney at the moment is about $500,000
- If house prices continue to double every 20-25 years, it would cost about $1,000,000 for an average house in the outer suburbs, BUT:
- You could buy it with cash and live on the interest on the $500,000 change.
(Or at least supplement your income with it) - It all tend s to point towards you owning a million dollar house in your 50's
A few points to consider about taking a mortgage:
- If you want to live in a major city in Australia, you'd have trouble finding anything other than a small apartment for under $300,000
- You'd be paying $2,000 a month for 25 years before you owned it (in your 50's)
- You would own your property, but it would be small, and at least 25 years old
- The bank would have acquired $400,000 of your money, leaving you with no cash reserves
- You will most certainly have to work well into your 60's to have any additional cash for retirement
A perfect world:
Average house prices down around $200-300,000, mortgage rates at about 5-6%. Not going to happen! We have the insatiable fractional reserve banking system to thank for that. Home prices and interest rates MUST rise to keep cash in the economy.
The solution:
Rent indefinitely, or move back to Japan where they learnt from this mistake 10 years ago when the Japanese bubble economy burst and houses are currently about half the price.
Friday, October 05, 2007
NeoOffice is shit
Sorry, but I have to say, of the last couple of times I've needed a word processor for work and I've used NeoOffice, it has crashed and lost work every time. Consistently. I'd buy Pages if it weren't for the fact that every time I send a PDF to people they ask me for the original Word document...
Bloody hell.
A solution I've been able to come up with is to use the excellent Scrivener (review) to draft the document, export it to RTF, then open it up in NeoOffice and quickly apply some formatting before it freaks out.
Desktop apps just should not be written in Java, period. Screw cross-browser portability, as a developer I believe that usability is more important.
Or is just that it's only trying to gain market share from Microsoft Office users, and they're used to stuff crashing and freezing up all the time?
Bloody hell.
A solution I've been able to come up with is to use the excellent Scrivener (review) to draft the document, export it to RTF, then open it up in NeoOffice and quickly apply some formatting before it freaks out.
Desktop apps just should not be written in Java, period. Screw cross-browser portability, as a developer I believe that usability is more important.
Or is just that it's only trying to gain market share from Microsoft Office users, and they're used to stuff crashing and freezing up all the time?
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Fractional Reserve Banking System
Banks don't lend money, they create it from debit. As debit is potentially unlimited, so is the supply of money. The opposite is also true: no debit, no money.
Just watched an interesting animation about the fractional reserve banking system, and how really money is debt.
moneyasdebit.com | On YouTube (while it lasts)
I'm well familiar with exponential curves, and this revelation terrifies me. Suddenly it all falls into place - the seemlingly endless appetite for the consumption of resources, the futility of "voting" one politcal party into power over another in a "democratic" government, the pull in society towards becoming indebted to banks in order to be able to provide a home for our families.
The presentation is definitely an eye opener. Admitedly, I was naive (or lazy) enough to believe tha banks mostly leant money they'd acquired from deposits and their own capital raising exercises. At the same time, it doesn't present any concise alternatives, but made hints at a few possibilities.
One sounded a lot like socialism, another reminded me a lot of Japan's "construction economy", where the government pours money into the economy in the form of public works like bridges, roads, infrastructure etc, and banks use these to only lend against value, as opposed to debit. Or at least I think that's what was suggested.
Renewable energy was presented as the most promising alternative to creating money from debit - only use, and re-use what limited resources we have. Maybe that's why in recent times most attempts to bring renewable energy sources to market have been suppressed.
Scary stuff.
Maybe this is part of the reason why the real estate situation here in Australia has gotten so out of hand - if people weren't taking on loans to buy houses, the banks would run out of money. At the same time, the amount being borrowed must increase infinitely and that's the point that's so easy to miss when ignorantly believing the misconception that money is leant against value and not debit. As most houses are bought with money borrowed against other debits, the average house price must allways rise, regardless of it's rate of change relative to the average income and cost of living.
Right now in Ausralia it is terribly askew, with the mean house price in Sydney of about $500K being about 10 times the averge income of maybe $50K, while a mortgage for that amount requires a combined income of $145K/year to pay off the interest and feed the insatiable appetite of the fractional reserve banking system.
It's also now the main reason why I never enrolled to vote, and will never be able to buy a house in Australia. Japan on the other hand...
Thursday, September 20, 2007
First Impressions - Altec Lansing mx5021
First impressions: Holy Shit!!!
My last stereo speakers were a pair of bar-fridge sized boxes made by Cerwin Vega with some cheap-ass replacement 12" drivers in them. Needless to say, my expectations were high, especially in the bass response department.
The mx5021 are a 2.1 stereo system consisting of 2 x 20 watt sattelites, each with 2 x 3" midrange drivers and one tweeter. The subwoofer is a 6" driver in a large, wooden, ported enclosure that is driven by a separate 50 watt amplifier.
The specs are deceptive though, the sound coming out of these things is HUGE! The bass especially, if anything it's a little overpowering on the default setting. I can't over-emphasise how massive the bass is, just unbelievable. The subwoofer does has a particularly large enclosure, but I never thought a little 6" driver could rumble like that. Just amazing.
It uses a digital controller with an infra-red remote for volume, bass, and treble which has the usual problem of not providing enough resolution at lower settings - there's a big gap between too quiet and slightly too loud. Also, there is a noticeable 50Hz mains hum coming from the subwoofer at all times which is really inexcusable for such an expensive system - I paid $AU290 because I couldn't be bothered ordering one from ebay - probably caused by the fact that the mains power cable is only a two pin, double insulated type. Hacking in a earth lead might cure the hum, or electrocute you in the process of trying.
Aside from that, the sound is increadible, I was definitely not expecting anything near as good. The mids are lacking slightly, or perhaps I still need to wind the bass back some more. Overall, completely awe-struck.
Update - a week later:
Still amazed by these speakers, but one thing lacking is any chest sensations. I'm not able to really crank these things in our little apartment, but one thing I've noticed is that when they are turned up loud enough to fear invoking the wrath of disgruntled neighbours there's still no floor-shaking, chest-rattling levels of bass. I mean, you can really *hear* the bass, but you can't really feal it. The one thing about my old 12" speaker boxes was that you could use them as a pace maker if you turned them up a bit.
Update - movie listening: earth shaking bass!
Well, a few weeks into my experience with the mx5021 I finally just had a chance to try them out with a movie and the volume up a bit. Keeping in mind that in our apartment building I'm afraid to turn it up past the second lowest volume setting, it seems that any volume settings after the second LED comes on is really where it comes to life. I'd previously mentioned that you can hear the bass but not feel it, but it seems this is really only true for music at reasonable listening levels. For movies where sound effects like explosions are loaded with low frequency energy, the THX certification demonstrates it's worth by punching your chest and shaking the walls and furniture without any trace of distortion. It makes for a truly exhilarating movie experience.
I'd imagine if you could get the third LED (of 5 total) to come on with a movie you'd experience a whole new world of rib cage rattling bass that is belied by the softer, more accurate bass produced at comfortable listening levels by music tracks.
My last stereo speakers were a pair of bar-fridge sized boxes made by Cerwin Vega with some cheap-ass replacement 12" drivers in them. Needless to say, my expectations were high, especially in the bass response department.
The mx5021 are a 2.1 stereo system consisting of 2 x 20 watt sattelites, each with 2 x 3" midrange drivers and one tweeter. The subwoofer is a 6" driver in a large, wooden, ported enclosure that is driven by a separate 50 watt amplifier.
The specs are deceptive though, the sound coming out of these things is HUGE! The bass especially, if anything it's a little overpowering on the default setting. I can't over-emphasise how massive the bass is, just unbelievable. The subwoofer does has a particularly large enclosure, but I never thought a little 6" driver could rumble like that. Just amazing.
It uses a digital controller with an infra-red remote for volume, bass, and treble which has the usual problem of not providing enough resolution at lower settings - there's a big gap between too quiet and slightly too loud. Also, there is a noticeable 50Hz mains hum coming from the subwoofer at all times which is really inexcusable for such an expensive system - I paid $AU290 because I couldn't be bothered ordering one from ebay - probably caused by the fact that the mains power cable is only a two pin, double insulated type. Hacking in a earth lead might cure the hum, or electrocute you in the process of trying.
Aside from that, the sound is increadible, I was definitely not expecting anything near as good. The mids are lacking slightly, or perhaps I still need to wind the bass back some more. Overall, completely awe-struck.
Update - a week later:
Still amazed by these speakers, but one thing lacking is any chest sensations. I'm not able to really crank these things in our little apartment, but one thing I've noticed is that when they are turned up loud enough to fear invoking the wrath of disgruntled neighbours there's still no floor-shaking, chest-rattling levels of bass. I mean, you can really *hear* the bass, but you can't really feal it. The one thing about my old 12" speaker boxes was that you could use them as a pace maker if you turned them up a bit.
Update - movie listening: earth shaking bass!
Well, a few weeks into my experience with the mx5021 I finally just had a chance to try them out with a movie and the volume up a bit. Keeping in mind that in our apartment building I'm afraid to turn it up past the second lowest volume setting, it seems that any volume settings after the second LED comes on is really where it comes to life. I'd previously mentioned that you can hear the bass but not feel it, but it seems this is really only true for music at reasonable listening levels. For movies where sound effects like explosions are loaded with low frequency energy, the THX certification demonstrates it's worth by punching your chest and shaking the walls and furniture without any trace of distortion. It makes for a truly exhilarating movie experience.
I'd imagine if you could get the third LED (of 5 total) to come on with a movie you'd experience a whole new world of rib cage rattling bass that is belied by the softer, more accurate bass produced at comfortable listening levels by music tracks.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Social vs Anti-social: torrents & recording "industries"
Just had a small revelation:
P2P file-sharing networks encourage social behaviour by the nature of download speeds being improved by larger numbers of people "seeding" after their downloads have completed rather than just getting what they want and then closing the transfer.
The RIAA on the other hand dictates how, when, and where you will make your acquisition, and exactly how much you must pay. If you break any of their terms, they will sue.
Fair's fair, but I know who I'd rather play with...
P2P file-sharing networks encourage social behaviour by the nature of download speeds being improved by larger numbers of people "seeding" after their downloads have completed rather than just getting what they want and then closing the transfer.
The RIAA on the other hand dictates how, when, and where you will make your acquisition, and exactly how much you must pay. If you break any of their terms, they will sue.
Fair's fair, but I know who I'd rather play with...
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
A word on un-capped bandwidth
I just realised, in Japan where bandwidth is cheap and unlimited, the thought is never on your mind that you have to try to get your money's worth. You pay a reasonable, flat rate per month, and as such you don't feel compelled to try and squeeze every last MB out of your monthly plan.
Here is Aus, where bandwidth is expensive, and limited, we employ bandwidth throttling in out bittorrent clients, and install dahsboard widgets that meter our usage down to the MB to make sure we don't get speed throttled, or let any of our precious, pre-paid MBs go to waste.
And come to think of it, I don't think I've ever download more stuff in my life. I mean just yesterday was the last day of our billing cycle, and I found myself on YouTube with one eye on the bandwidth meter trying to make sure that Optus only got to keep the minimum of bandwidth which I've already paid for. They only ended up with a few MB in their pocket in the end.
If it was uncapped, I'd only download stuff when I really had to, as opposed to actively seeking out things to download in order to utilise the last of my bandwidth. Another example of corporate fear and greed causing more harm than good.
Here is Aus, where bandwidth is expensive, and limited, we employ bandwidth throttling in out bittorrent clients, and install dahsboard widgets that meter our usage down to the MB to make sure we don't get speed throttled, or let any of our precious, pre-paid MBs go to waste.
And come to think of it, I don't think I've ever download more stuff in my life. I mean just yesterday was the last day of our billing cycle, and I found myself on YouTube with one eye on the bandwidth meter trying to make sure that Optus only got to keep the minimum of bandwidth which I've already paid for. They only ended up with a few MB in their pocket in the end.
If it was uncapped, I'd only download stuff when I really had to, as opposed to actively seeking out things to download in order to utilise the last of my bandwidth. Another example of corporate fear and greed causing more harm than good.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Mobile Marketing
I just started a blog on mobile marketing at http://smallbuismobilemarketing.blogspot.com titled Mobile Marketing for Small Business. Someone else registered the mobilemarketing subdomain over the weekend...
I'm not an authority on the subject, but it's something I've been watching closely and needed a public forum to discuss relavent news and share some loud thinking.
I'm not an authority on the subject, but it's something I've been watching closely and needed a public forum to discuss relavent news and share some loud thinking.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Dalai Lama in Sydney
Today we had the privilege of seeing the Dalia Lama speak about compassion at The Domain in Sydney. There seemed to be even more people there than I'm used to seeing at a Homebake concert in the same venue, it was increadible, especially considering the poor weather.
The key points I picked out of his talk were that everyone, no matter what race, religeon, or creeed, needs compassion in their lives, and that showing compassion for others makes the world better for everyone. To that end we should all work seriously towards putting an end to hatred and anger and the conflict they result it, particularly war.
When asked "What is the meaning of life" (seriously!) he simply answered "I don't know" to the applause of the many thousands in attendance. He then went went on to elaborate on that, saying that we should all strive towards happiness.
I loved that he considered compassion from the perspectives of other theistic religeons, atheism, and even science, and demonstrated how compassion can benefit us all.
As he left in his motorcade he was applauded by the enamored crowds and even followed down the street, but not in an idolistic way as you'd associate with a pop or movie star. People were smiling happily but besides the applause were otherwise silent. It was more like a gesture of appreciation.
Notice the hands clasped together in the photo of the Dalai Lama leaving in his motorcade? I thought I'd just captured someone clapping at the moment when their hands were pressed together. Actually, I had my camera in burst mode as he drove past and looking at the sequence of images I realised that the owner of those hands actually held them pressed together like that the entire time the Dalai Lama drove past.
The key points I picked out of his talk were that everyone, no matter what race, religeon, or creeed, needs compassion in their lives, and that showing compassion for others makes the world better for everyone. To that end we should all work seriously towards putting an end to hatred and anger and the conflict they result it, particularly war.
When asked "What is the meaning of life" (seriously!) he simply answered "I don't know" to the applause of the many thousands in attendance. He then went went on to elaborate on that, saying that we should all strive towards happiness.
I loved that he considered compassion from the perspectives of other theistic religeons, atheism, and even science, and demonstrated how compassion can benefit us all.
As he left in his motorcade he was applauded by the enamored crowds and even followed down the street, but not in an idolistic way as you'd associate with a pop or movie star. People were smiling happily but besides the applause were otherwise silent. It was more like a gesture of appreciation.
Notice the hands clasped together in the photo of the Dalai Lama leaving in his motorcade? I thought I'd just captured someone clapping at the moment when their hands were pressed together. Actually, I had my camera in burst mode as he drove past and looking at the sequence of images I realised that the owner of those hands actually held them pressed together like that the entire time the Dalai Lama drove past.
iPods to blame for total eclipse of the art, says Hockney
iPods to blame for total eclipse of the art, says Hockney
"I think it's all about sound. People plug in their ears and don't look much..."
"You notice that on buses. People don't look out of the window; they are plugged in and listening to something."
Maybe because the scenery outside the bus is dull and boring? Not much art to see in modern architecture, wheras our iPod's are loaded up with audio AND visual expressions from both commercial artists, as well as from indiviuals around the world.
Wake up to the 21t century and get a copy of PhotoShop or iMovie, post something on YouTube, put out a podcast, but don't go crying to printed newspapers because kids listen to music.
Arse
"I think it's all about sound. People plug in their ears and don't look much..."
"You notice that on buses. People don't look out of the window; they are plugged in and listening to something."
Maybe because the scenery outside the bus is dull and boring? Not much art to see in modern architecture, wheras our iPod's are loaded up with audio AND visual expressions from both commercial artists, as well as from indiviuals around the world.
Wake up to the 21t century and get a copy of PhotoShop or iMovie, post something on YouTube, put out a podcast, but don't go crying to printed newspapers because kids listen to music.
Arse
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
