Kaṭukassaratā

Steam Train

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:45:48 GMT

Passengers rescued by a steam locomotive after modern rail services brought to halt by the snowy conditions http://bit.ly/5LNe6S

Silent Monks Singing Halleluia

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:35:36 GMT

Beware humans bearing gifts

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:28:09 GMT

Beware humans bearing gifts - opinion - 20 December 2009 - New Scientist

I was wondering how long it would take for the basic theories of Marcel Mauss and Pierre Bourdieu to wander into more contemporary settings.

Edit: Seems either dns or new scientist is hacked. So I have disabled the link.

THERE'S a Latin proverb, per angusta ad augusta, which translates as "through trial to triumph". Literally speaking, "angusta" refers to a narrow passageway. It gives us the English word "anxious", signalling a place that presses against you, where the walls are tight, and you might be too big to get through. Anxiety is the feeling that you might not make it out the other side.

Small wonder then if people feel anxious at Christmas: Yuletide forms a narrow passage between one year and the next, through which all sorts of large and important things (seeing relatives, cooking a feast, buying presents, even going to church) have to pass. When you're crammed inside the Christmas tunnel, hemmed in by a 2-metre-high conifer, the wan light of January can seem a long way off.

What adds to the anxiety is that most of the things we do in this tunnel aren't done much during the rest of the year. After all, how often do you roast a turkey? So we're not that practised at them, and consequently more likely to feel stressed. There's a theory that what the psyche likes least is a change in its routine, and Christmas, for all its familiarity, marks a great annual convulsion. The psyche recoils from such intrusions into its steady state, then throws up its defences.

What the psyche loves, however, is being rewarded, and this is where Christmas can overcome the anxiety it creates - or at least offset it. The rewards come in the shape of presents, which the psyche interprets as tokens of love. You won't be surprised to be told that academics in cognitive psychology departments the world over are busy producing evidence about the power of reward and its connection to dopamine, because it's something we've all experienced directly - albeit without the technical description. To be rewarded with a gift is to be subtly told that someone loves you, and we love nothing better than to be loved. Even adults will be momentarily taken back to a warm, childlike feeling of deserving the treat that has been given.

Soothing as that sounds, gift exchange is rarely unequivocal, not least because we feel increasing guilt at the conspicuous consumption that comes with Christmas, and the carbon footprint of all those trips home to see family. What's more, from the late 19th and 20th century anthropologist Marcel Mauss to one of his most subtle critics, philosopher Jacques Derrida, there is now a full shelf of humanities research which tags this ancient practice of exchanging gifts as problematic.

The rub is whether a gift is or is not an economic object. When you give a gift you are, in theory, outside economic concerns: by definition, you don't ask to be paid for it so, to this extent, a gift constitutes a supra-economic or "aneconomic" phenomenon. A gift wants to pretend it wasn't bought and paid for, but conjured out of nothing.

To this idea, that gifts sit innocently on the edge of the economy, there is, of course, a robust retort. Pretending a gift doesn't belong to the economic system is to fall foul of that same environmentalist awareness that questions the ethics of winter breaks in the sunshine. We idealise the gift, ascribing to it semi-mystical qualities, when we turn a blind eye to where it has come from. Perhaps we should feel ashamed of the wilful ignorance by which, for example, we give socks at Christmas, airbrushing out the fact that real labour went into their making, labour far out of proportion with the wages received. To rip off the wrapping paper is to rip off the producers of the product it enwraps; presents abuse peasants.

Instead, we should recognise that we're part of a much larger system of producers and consumers. Gift-giving, apparently so humanising, creates a form of consumerist delusion, denying the economic reality of the many in remote places in favour of the illusions enjoyed by the privileged few. People like us. Or, if that sounds too much like the Grinch stealing the fun out of Christmas, there are less parsimonious ways of acknowledging the economic colouring of gifts.

Have you ever, for example, packaged up your gift with its receipt, in case the recipient wanted to exchange it? It's a practice which, while recognising that the present was paid for, hopes not to undermine its status as gift. Despite the slip of till roll, you still offer the gift as a free good, given as much from the heart as the high street or mall. Besides, including the receipt amounts to an extra gift because you are giving your recipient the gift of choice, the option of selecting an alternative.

Some might argue that this strategy masks a more devious motive whereby we enclose the receipt to show how much we've spent, but most of us behave like the three wise men approaching Jesus with gold, frankincense and myrrh - the ritual on which Christmas gifts are based - and scrub out the price well in advance. In any case, we all know that gifts have economic value, so we don't need to labour the point.

More importantly, it is, as they insist on saying, the thought that counts, and that, if anything, lies outside the economy. Even if you may realistically expect gratitude for your thought, the thought transcends the market, making it a gift proper. For to give a gift in good faith is to give absolutely, that is, without anticipating payback, economic or otherwise. According to Derrida, it is this that makes the gift an apparently "transcendental" phenomenon.

Giving with an almost spiritual selflessness, the giver of gifts thus becomes if not holier than Christ, at least holier than thou. But one person giving involves another person taking, and being on the receiving end of such goodness can translate as a burden. At least when the receipt is enclosed you can see what you owe, and how you might level things up, whereas being given to can result in a feeling of helplessness. The giver has more power than the taker, and in Anglo-Saxon societies, for example, the alpha male was known as the mathum gifa, or gift-giver (mathum being "treasure"). It's a concept that J. R. R. Tolkien revived in The Lord of the Rings. Paradoxically, when you dispense your wealth, you gain in status; the one who bestows gifts is the one who holds sway.

But the converse is also true: he who receives is impotent, a condition that led the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche to recommend "avenging the gift". For if power comes from giving gifts, and you're unfortunate enough to be given them, you should even them up as soon as possible, and so restore your status. After all, when you're given something you're immediately indebted, and when you're indebted, you're bound. Unlike economic transactions, which are clean and allow both parties to walk away afterwards, gifts create a bond.

Indeed, according to Mauss's disciple, the late Claude Lévi-Strauss, they signal relationship and connection. Where economics is about a symmetry of give and take, of supply and demand, gifts depend on asymmetry, such that when you give you always give more than you expect in return or it's not a gift. This imbalance is what fosters interest between the two parties involved: being asymmetrical, gifts create or preserve relationships. We know this especially from giving presents at Christmas: it reinforces the closest relationships we have.

5 Questions Meme

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:05:46 GMT

Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."

* I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity.
* Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
* Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions

1) What was the first book you read that connected you with "adult" feelings or emotions? Could be sex, could be tragedy, could be whatever - just the first book that reading it made you feel like a grown-up.

I honestly never had a book that made me feel like I was a 'grown-up'. I certainly had emotional feelings and reactions, but I never thought of them as being adult or something I shouldn't be feeling at that age, it was just simply how I reacted.

That said though my parents bought me a copy of The Ninja By Eric V. Lustbader as a Christmas present for me when I was a sophomore in High School. I remember reading it and thinking 'wow...they must not know what's in this book if they bought it for me.' I had never read a book that had such intense sex scenes or violence in it before. So it was the first book that elicited strong emotions out of me including arousal, but it didn't make me "feel like a grown-up" or that I was experiencing adult emotions. I was just sure my parents didn't know what they had bought me and all I ever said to them was "yeah it's an awesome book". I adore the Nicholas Linnear series to this day and was thrilled to find out Lustbader picked up the Bourne books too.

2) What drew you into doing infosec stuff in the first place? I know you don't do that anymore, but I'm always curious about how people get into it.

I stumbled into it really. I didn't know what to do when I graduated with my bachelors degree. I had picked up some unix skills my senior year so I applied to the University of Michigan as a system administrator and was hired in. I really wanted to finish the masters degree I was working on at Wayne State, but phawkwood and I agreed I needed to work and support myself and get out on my own away from my parents. So I was hired in to UofM as a Unix admin and was miserable. Intimidated as hell by the people I worked with, uncertain and self-conscious about everything coupled with nasty university politics.

After a while the user advocate position opened up and since I had experience at Wayne State tracking down folks causing trouble on the system there and I really enjoyed it I thought I would be good at the job. It really appealed to me. I applied and got the position. I really enjoyed it and discovered I had an intuitive sense for security and user issues. The problem was I wanted to do more with the security aspects as a whole and not just hunt down hackers or such. My boss decided that was not part of my job description and it shouldn't be expanded. She had another person she was trying to put in that role not to mention that centralization of things was being fought there. So when I left and went to Sprint I was able to expand my experience into working with firewalls and intrusion detection systems and more.

3) I know you're "multi-cultural" or however you want to say it. How often does this affect your life on a day to day basis? I have a lot of friends who are bi-racial or bi-cultural, and I am curious about the experience, because I care about you. Being mono-cultural myself, it's a mystery to me.

Wow...that's not an easy question. It actually affects me on a daily basis. There is always something that challenges me or I have to stop and think about the situation before I react. Some of it extends from the combined Buddhist and Anishnaabe traditions/beliefs and some of it is just simply that I am a Northerner living in the Midwest. Which presents some unique challenges too. I don't feel at home in MO socially or culturally. The way people here perceive and think about their world in general and interact is very much beyond me. Then again the way a lot of people outside of the reservation I grew up with interact has been a foreign concept to me. The other thing on a daily basis is I do not like to display my spiritual practices in front of others who do not share my viewpoints. Which means in MO I am pretty much stuck. I am not in a land of others who are of the Long House tradition and even in my Buddhist practices there are very few of us out here that practice in a more traditional sense. So I practice when I am alone most of the time.

4) If you had a huge supply of money, say you won the lottery, what would you do with yourself? Would you continue working? Doing what?

What I would want to do...

Pay off all our bills, pay the student loans my parents took out for me off as well, set up a long term plan to provide for extra retirement and maybe even out last pahwkwood and I so that it could provide scholarships for children in the future, buy land and have a house built that was large enough the mil could live in there and we could live there and yet not feel like we were living in the same house. Maybe it would be two houses near each other. I don't know. One requirement is a large room that is a library with a ladder that goes around the room, a nice office, and a studio for filming. If there is enough money after that then I would like to pay my parents mortgage off and buy them a decent car. Then they would be at square one and hopefully could manage their finances decently enough from there.

I would also want to sink about 5K more into advertising the clinic. I would not stop working. That would kill me. No matter how long I live I need to work at least part time somewhere. I am a social creature and need the human interaction and I need to be creative in some way. Working provides that for me to a point.

5) What's your favorite setting for RPG, broadly speaking? Why?

Oh wow...I don't know. I truly adore the Star Wars universe for RPG because of the concepts you can really dig into and play with, but I think that is just because I have a comfort level with it really.

Amber is just as awesome because you can do anything given that everything else is a shadow reality so absolutely anything can go. You can play with any concept you want to. It leaves you with a lot of freedom.

I adore Tekumel and love it, but it is very constrained in my view. Not a bad thing, just that you have to do a lot of research and gain a lot of knowledge on how things should be before RPing in the universe. But at same time it is very detailed and I that is absolutely what I love about it. If I could RP in the universe as regularly as I do in the SW universe I would.

I'm actually going through a streak right now that I want to start creating my own universes to RP in.

Poetry Against Cancer

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:50:15 GMT

Reposted from: Poetry Against Cancer Blog

They would like to have your submissions no later than December 15th:

It’s coming up to Christmas. It’s a happy time of year in Dublin. Everyone is smiling, almost.

For many, the holiday season can be a horrible experience; young children are admitted into St John’s at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin. They suffer from one of the many types of cancer. For them and their families, Christmas is completely different. They may not be at home, especially when one considers that St John’s is the only children’s cancer ward in the country.

Starting this year, something will be done to help the ward make a difference to the lives of these children, with one publication – Poetry Against Cancer. As part of a movement started by Sophie Goldsbury, my friend and collegue, we’ll be taking in poems from the public. The very best will be published in a volume designed by Rachel Dooley, with all the proceeds going to St John’s.

We’re asking for your help. Submitting a poem, spreading the word, buying the book when it eventually comes out – each move will help change the lives of the children of St John’s.

Poems can be sumbitted under the following headings:

* Poems for Children
* Love Poems
* Poems about Friendship
* Sad Poems
* Seasonal Poems
- Spring
- Summer
- Autumn
- Winter

That’s eight areas in which your poem can fit. Eight areas in which you can help the poor individuals and their families.

Submit your poems or offer your services by emailing poetry.against.cancer(at)gmail(dot)com

Thriller Acapella via filkertom

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:07:56 GMT

I can't even begin to imagine how long it must have take to figure out the right vocal lines, record, and then edit this.

To my fellow veterans

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:56:26 GMT

Happy Veterans Day!

The making of a Dalek Cake

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:00:02 GMT

Moving Dalek cake by Cake and Empire. Awesome pics of each step on their blog.

Brave Font

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 02:00:36 GMT

Suitcase Fusion 2 Ad; approved for all audiences by the Typography Association of America

In a world torn apart by so many fonts....

Why yes, it's one of those Dragon Eggs

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:33:39 GMT

Verde Canyon HDR Image

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 05:10:04 GMT

Many years ago I fell in love with High Dynamic Range lighting. Mostly for my animation purposes. I always wanted, but just never took the time to work with it on images. So tonight I decided to finally work on an HDR image from a single file.

This is the end result and I am fairly happy with how it turned out. The original image is on the right.

Corn Gluten Application

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:35:29 GMT

Spreading corn gluten inhibits the formation of root hairs through which a seedling absorbs water. Without these root hairs, a seed will die before it pushes above the soil. A natural product, corn gluten is what’s left of corn after the sugars and starches have been extracted to make syrup, cornstarch, and other food products. One application of corn gluten can suppress successful germination by 80 percent. A second application 30 days later can increase suppression to 90 percent. That’s on a par with highly toxic postemergents like Roundup. A third application after another 30 days will produce nearly complete suppression.

for anyone in NJ area looking for work

Wed, 27 May 2009 01:48:20 GMT

garyvee on twitter is Looking for a Php and rails dev for Wine Library must work in NJ looking for someone good and awesome human email me garyv@winelibrary.com

This is Broken

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:47:31 GMT

Not necessarily SFW

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:07:01 GMT

22 Creative Ads you May not Have Seen Before

A meme of sorts....

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:56:53 GMT

There are many things in my life that I look back and go...huh...how in the world did I get involved with that...or manage to do that. An experience that I would imagine runs through all our lives...so...I am curious...what things do you look back on and go wow...how did I manage/get involved/etc...?

Here are my top 3:

Worked on 3 political campaigns one of them being my own
Part of a firebase freedom "concom"
I have been finger printed 26 different times in my life

Best Zombie Movie

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 03:25:02 GMT

and it seems no one has heard of it: Fido

Lionsgate presents "FIDO", starring Carrie Anne Moss, Billy Connolly, Tim Blake Nelson, and introducing K'Sun Ray. What begins as a small town story about a boy and his best friend becomes a biting satire about our world, the price of fear, and the rewards of risking love. FIDO will rip your heart out.

I watched it when it came out and really enjoyed it. Short live in theaters and no one ever remembers it when I bring it up when the conversation turns to zombie movies. Which is too bad, especially with the cast they managed to pull together.

ARC Massage on twitter

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:58:33 GMT

Well I created a twellow for Arc Therapeutic Massage and that means, of course, that we had to create a twitter account

World Builder

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:27:58 GMT

Only the actors are real. All else is CGI. Shot entirely green screen in 2005. Finished in 2007.

Six Words of Tilopa

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 01:22:55 GMT

Don’t recall: Let go of what has passed
Don’t imagine: Let go of what may come
Don’t think: Let go of what is happening now
Don’t examine: Don’t try to figure anything out
Don’t control: Don’t try to make anything happen
Rest: Relax, right now, and rest

Kundun Theatrical Trailer

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:11:10 GMT

GateHouse sues Globe's parent over websites

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:09:00 GMT

This is going to be interesting to see how it pans out.

By Todd Wallack
Globe Staff / December 23, 2008

GateHouse Media Inc., the owner of 125 local newspapers across Massachusetts, sued The Boston Globe's parent company yesterday for linking to GateHouse articles on the Globe's new local websites.

In a lawsuit filed in US District Court in Massachusetts, GateHouse argued that The New York Times Co. violated copyright law by copying "verbatim" headlines and the first sentences from articles in the Newton Tab, Daily News Tribune of Waltham, and other GateHouse papers on the Globe's own websites, along with links to the full articles.

Read the entire Article from boston.com

Break the Cycle, Stop Thinking.

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:28:46 GMT

It is very simple
to eliminate suffering.
Accept everything with ease,
And let go completely.

----- By Venerable Master Shen Kai

Poll

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 00:58:33 GMT

View Poll: Monthly News Letter Topics

Arc Therapeutic Massage Site Live

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:45:14 GMT

The site is now live with active online appointment scheduling

Arc Therapeutic Massage

I still have to add the services, contact us form, and other things. So really it's the main page and Make an appointment page. LOL. But it's good for why I want those two active. I have the content for the rest. I just need to get it done and put up.

Career Fair tomorrow at the school. We'll see how that goes. Then immediately head up to work after.