Behavioral scientists have become increasingly aware of the powerful effects of the social environment and personal interactions on human behavior. In terms of consumer behavior, culture, social class, and reference group influences have been related to purchase and consumption decisions. It should be noted that these influences can have both direct and indirect effects on the buying process. By direct effects means direct communication between the individual and other members of society concerning a particular decision. By indirect effects means the influence of society on an individual’s basic values and attitudes as well as the important role that groups play in structuring an individual’s personality.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

Mengembalikan Jati Diri Bangsa

Penting untuk memahami bahwa pencurian identitas adalah sebuah kejahatan yang tumbuh cepat. Hal ini juga penting untuk mengetahui bagaimana identitas Anda dapat dicuri dan bagaimana Mengembalikan Jati Diri Bangsa melindungi terhadap itu. Cobalah Mengembalikan Jati Diri Bangsa untuk tetap sebagai up-to-date mungkin dalam epidemi yang sedang berkembang Mengembalikan Jati Diri Bangsa ini dan untuk mengetahui siapa yang paling mungkin menjadi sasaran.

Pencurian Identitas statistik untuk tahun

Setiap tahun Federal Trade Commission menyusun daftar statistik tentang pencurian identitas. Sebuah rincian yang paling penting untuk mengetahui statistik berikut

Pada tahun terdapat setidaknya . kasus pencurian identitas dilaporkan. Penipuan kartu kredit dilaporkan sebagai jenis Jati Diri Bangsa yang paling sering pencurian dengan dari semua kasus yang dilaporkan. Merata di sekitar adalah utilitas telepon dan penipuan penipuan dan lain-lain pekerjaan kategori tersebut.

Menurut statistik transfer elektronik masih cara termudah untuk target seseorang untuk pencurian identitas meskipun cukup aman. Napa California dan Madera California adalah kota peringkat tertinggi untuk jumlah kasus pencurian identitas.

Metode yang paling disalahgunakan adalah transfer dana melalui kartu kredit dan transfer dan transaksi rekening bank Mengembalikan Jati Diri . Metode yang paling Mengembalikan Jati Diri tidak digunakan transaksi dan yang paling Mengembalikan Jati Diri Bangsa rentan untuk pencurian uang tunai dan uang pesanan.

Demografis yang paling bertarget adalah konsumen antara usia – . Menurut Federal Trade Commission koleksi statistik hampir seperempat dari semua kasus jatuh dalam demografis ini.

]]> http://sageswisdompages.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/happy-holidays-or-holidaze-how-to-be-present-this-month-10-tips/ Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:29:23 +0000 Sage http://sageswisdompages.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/happy-holidays-or-holidaze-how-to-be-present-this-month-10-tips/

“Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” — John Lennon

Swept up in the frenzy this month? Making lists and menus and plans? Shopping and shlepping and wrapping – Oh, my!

Stop. Why are you still reading this? I mean it. Just stop for a moment.

Breathe.

Be.

Ahhh. That’s better, isn’t it? Good.

As Eleanor Roosevelt so aptly put it:

“The past is history. The future, a mystery.

But the greatest gift of all is the present moment.

That’s why it’s called the present.”

In the present moment dwell peace, harmony, joy… all we desire. Some beings know and instinctively live this. Look at animals and little children. Is your dog still agonizing over last week, when you came home a half hour late? Does the baby worry about a college education – or about how quickly potty training is progressing? Ha!

Of course, we need to review the past in order to learn, to truly turn our wounds into wisdom (as I help people do with deep omnidimensional healing). And we need to set intentions for, visualize and practically plan for the future to manifest as well as to prepare. (That’s where Law of Attraction comes in.)

Yet so many people live their entire lives without ever really living. “What if?”ing and “If only”ing through their whole lives, living in the past or future, and usually through a negative lens. One psychological study actually found that 75% of people’s thoughts are a) negative and b) redundant, like a loop. Time to get off the cranky, creaky hamster wheel! No time like the present. Literally.

Renowned meditation teacher Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Wherever You Go, There You Are, asks, “Are you a human being? Or a human doing?”

“Yes, yes, I know all this,” you’re thinking. “I try to be present, yet something always seems to pull me off track. What can I do?”

As my gift to you this month, allow me to present you with:

10 Ways to Cultivate Being Present

Tip #1. Slow down. Every time you think of it, train yourself to just slow down. Literally, move slower. Or just stop. Observe. Breathe. Use daily routines as reminders. For example:

When the phone rings, I stop and breathe .

When I close the front door, I say, “I am here. I am home.”

Every time I get in the car, I affirm, “I am here. I am now.”

Whenever my foot touches the Earth, I think “Right here, right now.”

2. Find the beauty in this moment. I teach my students and clients to ask themselves, over and over, throughout each day: “How can this moment be a moment of love?” You may wish to rephrase this as “How can this moment be a moment of beauty?” (or peace or healing) Look, listen, touch, sense the beauty and love within you and around you. What is beautiful, what is loving, what is healing, what is joyful in this moment? Be present with it. Say hello. Say “Thank you” in your heart.

I love to do this one in traffic or when waiting in a line. Instead of indulging in useless mind chatter or frustration, I may notice a bird flying outside, the beauty of a leaf waving in the wind, or the rain on the windshield, smile at the bank teller, send love to the Earth… Or give myself a hug.

3. Schedule “being” time. I like to call it ME TIME, BE TIME.

This may sound crazy in our culture, but we need regular time to just BE. No agenda. No list (internal or external!). No activity at all. This is different from recreation, socializing, exercise, massage, or any other activity, even those that are healing. I’m talking about being in the spaces between. Dwelling in silence and stillness. Rediscovering your own blissed, blessed being. Taking a weekly Sabbath is one lovely way to do this. Taking time daily to meditate. Even just sitting and doing nothing counts and is actually quite productive because you will be far more effective, focused, pleasant and creative when you do come back to do/engage mode.

“How beautiful it is to do nothing, and rest afterward.” – Spanish proverb

4. “Present moment, wonderful moment” -Buddhist monk and spiritual teacher Thich Nhat Hanh shares this meditation breath in his book Being Peace. Breathe in “present moment.” Breathe out “wonderful (or beautiful) moment.” Or “moment of love.” Try different mantras like this. These really work.

5. First, Last. Imagine that any given moment in your life is either the very first or the very last time you will be able to experience that. How much richer! How much sweeter! How much more alive!

6. Tratakam (gazing)… An ancient yogic practice simply involves gazing at a candle. This practice calms the mind, and brings you into the present.If you gaze at the blue-indigo part of the flame, you will also open your third eye. You can also gaze at water, stars, clouds, a crystal or a flower.

7. Tree Meditation. Imagine you are a big, ancient tree. Send your roots down into the ground. Bring up all the nutrients you need from the Earth, drinking them deeply into your being. Release down what you no longer need, trusting that Mother Earth receives it as a fertilizing gift, and transforms that energy into something fresh and beautiful. Stretch your branches up to the sky. Feel the wind caress your leaves. Trees teach us stillness, patience, presence, and connection to the Earth plane. Hug a tree and listen.

8. Mountain Meditation. Sit cross-legged on a cushion. Center yourself. Now feel yourself as a giant mountain, timeless, wise, tall and strong. Picture a mountain in your mind and become one with the mountain. Ask the mountain, what medicine or message do you have for me? Listen.

9. Breathe. Sitting as in #8, place your hands gently on your abdomen. Gently relax your head so your neck is loose. Let go of any tension, and breathe deeply, slowly, fully, into your belly. Feel your abdomen expand. When you are full, be with the fullness for a moment. Now exhale, gracefully, until you are empty. Be in the emptiness. Notice what joy fills you in this emptiness! Adapted from The Art of Breathing by Frederick Leboyer. There is a whole branch of yoga called prana yoga that teaches dozens of deeply healing ways to breathe. Here are a few:: Follow your breath, simply observing it. Count the breath. Or listen to your own breath, “ajapna mantram.”

Drumroll, please………………brrrrrrrrrrrrummmmmmmmmmm…

And my all-time favorite, you-won’t -read-this-anywhere-else, simple, fast, works-great way to be more present is:

10. “Stop and Breathe” signs. Whenever you see a stop sign, imagine that it says “Stop and Breathe” instead of just “Stop.” Then do it. (Ignore the frazzled driver behind you and send him or her a blessing.) You will be amazed how long one conscious breath can be, and how refreshing.

My children are wonderful teachers as they remind (or should I say “demind”?) me of this consciousness-shifter when we are driving around together. I love it!

When we choose consciously to create the space for ourselves to be present, many wonderful blessings unfold. We reconnect with our own center and joy. We feel healthier. We treasure every moment. Many of us feel guilty taking this time, as if we have to always be doing, producing something externally measurable, or giving to others. You don’t have to accept those unhealthy tapes. Reprogram that. Stop being a giveaholic and doaholic! (Can I just make up words like that? Dr.Seuss did, so I guess I can do it, too, although his are sillier.)

Recognize that you deserve peace, joy and health. Period. Also, anything that heals you is inherently productive, to that beautiful little piece of the Universe/God that is you, and also to all the world, for we are all interconnected.

In fact, as we replenish our own inner springs, we have more to give others, and we can give from a full place. Dozens more great ways to love yourself more in my book The Radical Self-Love Workbook, available at:

http://www.loveandspirit.org/book1.html

Cultivating being present also enables us to be better listeners, parents, siblings, friends, and lovers. Perhaps you could invite some of your loved ones to stop and practice some of these techniques for being present together this holiday season. Allow life’s cup of blessings to fill you. Slow down and drink it in.

Happy Holidays and may your every day feel wholly holy!

Which of these tips did you find most helpful?

Which will you commit to doing and sharing with others?

How can you stay present and balanced this month?

Please share your thoughts in a comment below. Thanks!

Love,

Sage

Thanksgiving has just past – my very first one here in America!

In Australia we don’t celebrate this holiday, as this is traditionally an American holiday based on American Indian appreciation and to give thanks to God for the harvest and express gratitude to others for our many blessings.

This is an interesting and very worthwhile thing to do – to give thanks to God for our many blessings. But what does it mean to give thanks to God? How do we show we our gratitude and appreciation all that we have been given in life? Do we think about God? Do we pray?

For me, to really show gratitude for this life and everything in it is to live in the present moment, to really live. By this I mean to open up all of our five senses and really take in all that is life.

For example; when we eat our meals (Thanksgiving or otherwise), to be present and conscious as we do so; savoring the flavor, the taste, the texture, and being present for all of it. How often do we eat on the fly? Quickly scoffing something down so we can move onto the next task. Perhaps we consume our food in a total daydream, completely unaware and sometimes even surprised when we find our plate already empty before we even knew it – or we find ourselves so full that we could burst, because weren’t present enough to realize we should have stopped long ago. Maybe we eat while we are doing something else, like watching TV or being in front of the computer, and do so in an unconscious mechanical fashion. Where is the gratitude in that?

Or when we walk down the street – to be present and aware, taking in everything around us – to see the trees and hear the sound the leaves make as the wind moves through them – to feel the wind and the sun against our skin, to look into the eyes of passers by and smile, feeling love for humanity. To me this is gratitude. How often do we rush from place to place, lost in our thoughts and paying no attention to the reality around us? How often is the destination more important than the journey? How often do we really look? Listen? Feel? Smell? Because if we don’t, where is the gratitude in that? We often take for granted these simple things, but these simple things are SO valuable and should be savored. Just ask the blind man, or the man in a wheel-chair, or the man confined to prison.

When we take a shower which can be such a wonderful pleasure, how present are we? To feel the water running over our skin, to take in the scent of the soap and to really feel the texture of the lather over us, to really enjoy every moment of this luxury… or do we spend our time thinking about all we have on for the day, about what we are going to wear, replaying conversations we had the day before, fantasizing about conversations we should have had or are going to have, stuck in a daydream of thoughts.

We are given this amazing life, but just how present are we for it? How are we living it?

For me, showing gratitude is to live in awareness, to be present and conscious of everything around us and of every precious moment; making the effort to break free of the perpetual daydream that clouds us from reality and to really live this precious life we have been given.

Prayer is a wonderful thing, but if we just forget ourselves after we have given thanks to the Divine for what we have, and don’t pay attention to this precious moment we are in, then it seems to me we are not following through on our words, and our words are just empty.

I believe this is what giving thanks is all about – not just giving it, but living it too!

So I’ve had my iPhone for just over a week now. It’s been fun. I might even admit that I got an iPhone just so I could play with location based services, and to play foursquare. Well, not a week went by and another location based game came to my attention and has nearly stolen my fickle allegiance, and that’s up and coming Gowalla.

Without further ado, let’s get down to the FIGHT!

1. Name
When I first heard foursquare I thought of the Christian denomination, but it’s a different foursquare, obviously. Four square is a game played with a ball. The name “foursquare” evokes pictures of four corners, as in the four corners of the world (if the world was flat), and quadrants of a city. It also could sound like it’s ‘for’ squares, which isn’t a great association. No one wants to be a square.
Gowalla has no immediate meaning. It has the word ‘go’ in it, which immediately evokes action. It could sound like “go all out” or “go wallow”, both appropriate things to do on nights out.
Winner: Gowalla

2. Mascot
Foursquare has a two mascots. One is girl with purse and hair flying behind her. She seems to be playing the ball game foursquare. The ball seems to have bounced through her legs, which means she would be out, if she was playing the game. She looks as if she’s late for something, and she has a worried expression on her face. The other is a boy, also playing the ball game, looking like he’s missed the ball and has an ‘oh’ surprised look on his face. The ball forms a checkmark, drawing associations with checking in.
Gowalla uses a bouncy kangaroo, or perhaps it’s a wallaby, and hence the name ‘walla’. It’s drawn with a squiggly line, and it has the word Gowalla on it’s back, like a backpack. It speaks of travelling, going somewhere.
Winner: Gowalla

3. Mobile Platform Client availability
In terms of a native application running on your phone, and not access via a mobile site, foursquare is available on iPhone and Android, and are working on a BlackBerry client.
Gowalla is only available on iPhone.
Winner: foursquare

4. iPhone App awesomeness
Because really, iPhone is the leader of the pack when it comes to location aware phones, it’s important how good the user experience is on the iPhone.
Both apps have all the essentials, they allow you to check in, get notified when your friends check in, see your badges and prizes, and so on. In this respect they are about equal. Where Gowalla shines is in its ability to locate where you are via your GPS and allow you to check in without manually entering the name of the place you’re at. Particularly useful in new places, it allows for a much speedier check in process. In foursquare, if a place does not show up on the list of locations near you, to check in you must type in the name of the place you are, and often you will have to add the address as well.
Winner: Gowalla

5. Available locations
Foursquare is only available in select cities. They started with 12, and now it looks like you can choose over 100 cities.
Gowalla is not limited to any cities.
Winner: Gowalla

6. Number of users / traction
Foursquare has been around longer, and has had more time to gain users. Gowalla has been on the scene for a few months, but is picking up users quickly. According to Caroline McCarthy writing for cnet, foursquare has 146,000 registered users since launching in March, and Gowalla has picked up 50,000 users after ten weeks. Gowalla has also recently secured a new round of funding.
With a game like this, it’s more important whether your friends are playing with you or not, rather than the total worldwide installed userbase, but it is nice to know that a service has a large enough following to make it feel like a community.
Winner: Draw

Final Round
It looks like Gowalla is the up and coming contender in this fight. Launching after foursquare has allowed Gowalla to learn from their competitor and come out with a strong service, one that addresses most of the weaknesses of foursquare.
In the end, both are fun to play, and it really depends where your friends are at. And there’s no rule that you can only play one, right? So get out there and have some location based fun!
Winner: You!

Related:
Top foursquare players
SXSW: Foursquare Scores Despite Its Flaws
Gowalla vs. FourSquare: Who Will Win?

December 8^th:

• 9:45 to 11:30: Get up + Coffee + Computer
• 11:30 to 1:45: Breakfast (Omelet with sausage and cheese) + Schoolwork
• 1:45 to 2:30: Wrote email to my professors *
• 2:30 to 4: Lunch (Quizno’s Sub) + Work on my website
• 4 to 4:30: Shower
• 4:30 to 5:30: Groceries
• 5:30 to 6:30: Cooking
• 6:30 to 7:30: Dinner (Shepherd’s Pie + Milk)
• 7:30 to 8:30: Work on the website
• 8:30 to 10:30: DVD
• 10:30 to 1:30: Food (Shepherd’s Pie + Toast + Cereals + Baby Carrots with Ranch Dressing) + TV + Computer

Procrastination: I rate this category on both work accomplished and the items that were done. From now on, items which are on my procrastination list will be marked with a *. So I did one item on my procrastination list which took me 45 minutes and I did schoolwork for 2 hours 15 minutes. I would have to say that this was a very poor day considering the amount of time I spent working on my website, watching TV or browsing the internet. Overall, 3/10.

Bed Time: 1:30 isn’t too bad but it’s later than I would like. Also I stayed up watching TV and wasting time on the computer so it wasn’t really worth it. 6/10.

Wake Up Time: I didn’t put an alarm and I woke up at 9:45. Again, it’s not extremely late, but it’s later than I would like. 6/10.

Diet: TERRIBLE! 2/10. Binged before going to bed which is what I’m trying to work on the most. The rest of the day wasn’t too bad. I was careful with portions and calorie count. However, the Quizno’s Sub wasn’t ideal. On the upside I savored every single bite with immense pleasure, so it was totally worth it! I need to stop binging…

Other thoughts: Most important thing is not to binge at night. What’s worse is that on that day I weighed myself at my mom’s house and I was at 185 pounds. I’m usually closer to 170-175. I also thought I looked terrible in the mirror. In any case, with all that in mind, I still ate before going to bed. I feel disgusting. The second thing I really need to focus on is to make schoolwork more of a priority. I do have important procrastination problems and I put off a lot of things, but that’s why I’m trying to work on it and I need to make more of an effort. Otherwise, I think it’s unacceptable that I spend more time on my website than on schoolwork. Again, I never really was aware of how long I spent on it, but I now need to make sure that the most important activity during my day is catching up on schoolwork.

 Gotra is the lineage or clan assigned to a Hindu at birth. In most cases, the system is patrilineal and the gotra assigned is that of the person’s father. Other terms for it are vansh, vanshaj, bedagu, purvik, purvajan, and pitru. An individual may decide to identify his lineage by a different gotra, or combination of gotras.

According to strict Hindu tradition, the term gotra is used only for the lineages of Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya varnas. Brahminical gotra relates directly to the original seven or eight rishis of the Vedas. Later, the term gotra was expanded beyond Brahmin.

A gotra must be distinguished from a kula. A kula is a set of people following similar cultural rituals, often worshiping the same divinity (the Kula-Devata, god of the clan). Kula does not relate to lineage or caste. In fact, it is possible to change one’s kula, based on one’s faith or Iṣṭa-devatā.

It is common practice in preparation for Hindu marriage to inquire about the kula-gotra (meaning clan lineage) of the bride and groom before approving the marriage. In almost all Hindu families, marriage within the same gotra is prohibited, since people with same gotra are considered to be siblings. But marriage within the kula is allowed and even preferred.

Shudras also have gotras, and follow them in marriages. For example a weaver falls under Markandeya gotra. Markandeya was known be a Maharishi and had 60 sons. Marriages are held within Markandeya but never in same family name. So, every weaver falls under one of these gotra. The family name is given by the Brahmin or Guru’s name.

Origin of gotra

In Vedic Sanskrit, the word “gotra” originally meant “cow-pen.”  Cows were at the time the most valuable possession of a family group, so with time, the term “gotra” began to refer to the family group who owned a particular pen of cows. The term was associated eventually with just the family group and its lineage.

Gotra is the Sanskrit term for a much older system of tribal clans. The Sanskrit term “Gotra” was initially used by the Vedic people for the identification of the lineages. Generally, these lineages mean patrilineal descent from the sages or rishis in Brahmins, warriors and administrators in Kshatriyas and ancestral trademen in Vaisyas.

The lineage system, either patrilineal or matrilineal, was followed by the South Asian people. In present-day Hinduism, Gotra is applied to all the lineage systems. Many Hindu castes have lineages that do not follow Vedic classification.

Basically a Brahmin is not supposed to claim Brahmin status by birth. He must be reborn by learning and attain Brahminical status through the achievement of a mental and cultural status befitting a Brahmin. Any one born low could become a Brahmin by elevating his learning and conduct and similarly one who had achieved Brahmanical status could be pushed to a lower strata if his conduct came to demand such relegation. A Brahmin must be “Re-born” and that is why he is called “Dwija- twice born”.

The case of sage Vishwamitra is the example. Thus the gotra must have been of the lineage of the learning one chose rather than the lineage of one’s birth. Rama is stated to be the descendant of Ikshwaku, but the lineage was broken when Kalmashpada got his son through Niyoga of Vasishta with Kalmashapad’s wife Madayanthi, and not through a biological liaison. Yet Rama is said to be Ikshwaku’s descendant and not of Vasishta. Some claim of a continuous biological linkage with the moola purusha [or most significant personality] of the Gothra, where as it need not be the case. Some times, a Gotra is based on the Guru for the family or one of the ancestors. Many of the Niyogi Brahmins have descended from a Niyoga liaison, but not a marital liaison.

Marriages and gotras

Marriages within the gotra (“swagotra” marriages) are banned under the rule of exogamy in the traditional matrimonial system. People within the gotra are regarded as kin and marrying such a person would be thought of as incest. In some communities, where gotra membership passed from father to children, marriages were allowed between maternal uncle and niece, while such marriages were forbidden in matrilineal communities, like Malayalis and Tuluvas, where gotra membership was passed down from the mother.

A much more common characteristic of south Indian Hindu society is permission for marriage between cross-cousins (children of brother and sister). Thus, a man is allowed to marry his maternal uncle’s daughter or his paternal aunt’s daughter, but is not allowed to marry his father’s brother’s daughter. She would be considered a parallel cousin who is treated as a sister. This dubious explanation of gotra-based marriages has long been a source of discontentment and criticism amongst present-day iyers.

North Indian Hindu society not only follows the rules of gotra for marriages, but also had many regulations which went beyond the basic definition of gotra and had a broader definition of incestuousness. Some communities in North India donot allow marriage with some other communities on the lines that both the Communities are having brotherhood.

Most of us live most of the time in a dreamlike hypnotic state, unconscious and with our attention scattered between past and future, loosing out on the fulfillment and power that comes from being present in the moment. 

Being aware means to pay attention. This paying attention reflects care – I am here now for this or for you.

Awareness uses our senses to anchor us in life. When I am aware while washing the dishes, I feel the texture of the sponge, I see the bubbles of the suds, I hear the water and, I may even still taste the remnants of the foods from memory.

When we live out of awareness we tap into our power. We take empowered action from the place of self and every experience is then ‘full-filled’.

It is here that conscious co-creation starts. It is here that I start to challenge my reality. I become watchful, informed, knowing and guarded.

So I ask myself : ” In this time and space moment what seed am I planting? Am I coming from awareness or just re-acting to any given circumstance.”

64 Life Cards – Card 4 – I Am aware

www.sanctuaryofcreativity.com

www.64lifecards.info

I know what they are doing. 

But why.  What is the purpose?  Is it because the demand has to be created for the supply.  If you have weapons you must create war.  Drugs have to be sold to people. 

Nice body, show it to everyone.  Sweet children, exploit them.  Nothing is sacred.

Not preachin, just teachin…

This is the best connection I have ever had.  It is getting easier to hold on to this fequency.  I understand.

more like

contain the

hate and rage.

You know what they say…

lead to water

but cunt make them drink (typo, but it stands)

You cannot imagine, if you haven’t experienced it, the solace of an animal coming to keep you company when the gods have turned their backs. ~ E.M. Cioran, The New Gods

Visiting the graves,

the old dog

leads the way.

This is certainly one of Issa’s best.  There’s a strange connection between those the visitor of the graves, those who have died, and being led by the old dog—the inevitability of death.  This is not a morbid thought at all, but certainly one filled with sadness and an intense awareness of the transience of all things.

~ ~ ~

Robert Hass (editor), The Essential Haiku: Versions of Bashō, Buson and Issa, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1994, pg. 182.

]]> http://rogerpoh.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/aware-saga-straits-times-was-fair-and-unprejudiced/ Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:44:43 +0000 rogerpoh http://rogerpoh.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/aware-saga-straits-times-was-fair-and-unprejudiced/

Today ST carried a long report by a researcher who claims that, except for one photograph, the paper was fair, balanced and unprejudiced in its coverage of the AWARE saga.

It’s an interesting article except that I am not convinced.

At the height of the saga, ST gave it extensive coverage. Throughout the controversy I failed to see the urgency and significance with which ST attached to it. In fact, as its coverage grew in intensity and other news became sidelined I became increasingly irritated.

As a neutral observer, I could see very clearly which side ST was throwing its weight behind.

No matter what spin you put on the controversy, most neutral people I spoke to at the time also wondered at ST’s extensive coverage.

And there’s an interesting footnote here: the researcher was a former ST journalist.

Come over, come over the deepening river,
Come over again the dark torrent of years,
Come over, come back where the green leaves quiver,
And the lilac still blooms and the grey sky clears.

Come, come back to the everlasting garden,
To that green heaven, and the blue heaven above.
Come back to the time when time brought no burden
And love was unconscious, knowing not love.

John Freeman

Today’s suggestion is about avoiding chocolate that is made with input from child slavery. This was something I wasn’t aware of and is something I will be taking personal action on.

Don’t buy chocolate made by companies that buy their cocoa where there is child slavery. How can you do this? Check the web site below:

http://vision.ucsd.edu/~kbranson/stopchocolateslavery/

A response to reading ‘365 Ways to Change the World,’ by Michael Norton

We are now on the Twin Val’kyr.  You can find the Northrend Beasts here and Lord Jaraxxus here.

Twin Val’kyr

This fight confuses me most of the time, but I usually start off with the Dark Essence.  Of course, tehre are times when I start off with Light Essence.  It all depends on my assignment.  I do not change unless DBM- or a very knowledgeable raid leader- tells me to do so.  DBM will usually flash as a raid warning “Change Color.”  You will usually get this as a boss begins casting Dark Vortex or when you get hit with the Touch of Light or Touch of Darkness debuff.  These debuffs will hit random members and start ticking damage.  You can heal through them.  Just make sure you have that debuff programmed in Grid or Healbot so you can see it quickly.  Some groups would rather heal through it than have the DPS running off to click an essence.

I am either assigned raid heal or tank heal.  Either way, you have to stay mobile to avoid orbs.  I usually start off dark and then go stand by the light portal to wait for the switch.  And then, once the switch does happen, I run back to the dark portal (with the speed buff form the Body and Soul talent) using any instant cast I have at my disposal to keep the raid and tanks up.

As I said earlier, you have to dodge opposite color orbs.  I usually pop a renew and a PW:S on myself so I can concentrate on the others.  Don’t forget Binding Heal will help a lot here.  You may also find your self using your AoE heals quite a bit as the raid’s health starts ticking down immediately.

Of course, this all depends on which strategy you are using.  If you are all standing in the doorway to avoid all orbs, this fight can be very intense for healers.  I mean seriously intense!  We have done it successfully in my 10-man group only once.  That takes massive group heals during the vortex!  I like to save my Divine Hymn for then.  If by chance you have another priest, they can take the second and just pray there is not a third.

The best advice I can give for any fight is to remain Raid Aware. LOL.  Simple but true and very valuable here.  There are a lot of things to deal with in Trial of the Crusader.  Who knew Blizz would incorporate dodge ball into a boss fight?  Wait until we get to Anub’arak.  It’s like playing tag with a big scarab.  That final boss fight in Trial of the Crusader is up next.

Happy Raiding,

Exxy!

A somewhat experimental video I made for my ambient project, Murmur.  This is dedicated to someone, a place and a time that I miss very, very much…

Apple (s aapl) has posted details on a new full-time position at its Cupertino headquarters for an iPhone Software Engineer who will join its newly created Maps team. On the job description web page, Apple says it wants to “…take Maps to the next level,” and “…rethink how users use Maps and change the way people find things.”

The current Mapping technology in the iPhone relies heavily on Google Maps (s goog), but some tech-pundits think that’s a relationship Apple is keen to see come to an end. After all, Apple and Google aren’t exactly on great terms any more. In fact, Apple’s relationship with former best-buddy Google has been demonstrably deteriorating over the last 12 months. So, on the surface at least, it seems Apple is distancing itself further from the search giant both with the creation of its own in-house Mapping team and, back in October, the acquisition of PlaceBase, a rival mapping service to Google Maps.

A little more from the job description highlights how Apple wants to implement creative new functionality in Maps as well as its desire to include its partners in the process.

The iPhone has revolutionized the mobile industry and has changed people’s lives and we want to continue to do so. We want to take Maps to the next level, rethink how users use Maps and change the way people find things. We want to do this in a seamless, highly interactive and enjoyable way. We’ve only just started.

As an engineer on the Maps team, your responsibilities will range from implementing low-level client/server code to implementing high-level user interfaces. You’ll be responsible for implementing new and innovative features, fixing problems and enhancing the performance of Maps. You will work closely with the other engineers on the Maps team, other iPhone and iPod touch teams as well our partners in other companies.

So how might PlaceBase and a new in-house Maps team change how users use Maps on the iPhone?

PlaceBase offers far richer aggregation and visualization of geo-specific datasets than is currently available on Google Maps. For example, imagine you’re planning on buying a house and have a property already in mind. Like Google Maps, PlaceBase can show you the usual aerial views you’re accustomed to seeing but can also display other valuable data, too, such as local crime reports over the last five years, or the demographic distribution of the neighbourhood, or perhaps the latest performance scores of local schools. What’s more, the datasets can be customized.

Some have interpreted the PlaceBase acquisition — and this job posting — as evidence that Apple is taking definitive steps to distance itself from Google. It sounds plausible; Google’s Android OS for mobile phones definitely treads on Apple’s toes, and that whole Voicegate fiasco isn’t over yet. Google’s forays into web browsers and operating systems doesn’t exactly foster amity between the two companies, either.

I suspect Apple wants to bring PlaceBase data visualisation to its already-exemplary Maps application. Yes, it uses Google Maps, but it works. And as it says in the job posting, Apple thinks it’s “…the best mapping program on any mobile platform.” If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?

Let’s return to the example from above; imagine you’ve viewed the property but you’re not impressed. Back in the car your real estate agent tells you he has another place in mind he thinks you’ll like. So you reach for your iPhone and fire-up Maps. You do a quick search on the new address and, using a filter you customized earlier, you see the neighbourhood overlaid with color-coded blobs indicating crime rates in that area. You switch to another filter; now you’re looking at the average home-insurance costs for the area, and they’re all way too orange and red for your liking.

There’s no reason this sort of Map “filtering” can’t be monetized, either. The Maps application itself could ship with some basic “fun” filters but offer specialized plug-ins via the iTunes store. Third-party developers would jump at the chance to exploit rich data visualization by plugging-in to a native API, freeing them from the expense and difficulty of building similar functionality from scratch.

While this job posting is specifically for an iPhone developer, there’s no reason to suspect the lessons learned here in the coming months won’t influence other geo-aware software from Apple; iPhoto and iMovie spring to mind, but OS X itself also exploits some (basic) geo-awareness when selecting the appropriate time zone in the Date & Time preference panel.

As social networking services get more geo-savvy (Twitter, Brightkite and FourSquare are obvious examples, but Facebook can’t be far behind) and as mobile devices and laptops start packing-in GPS chips as-standard, it makes sense for Apple to offer a world-class geo-aware range of products that exploit our desire to not only locate ourselves but also discover meaningful, customizable data about our surroundings. That, to me, is the most likely “next level” of Map usage Apple is talking about.