30 Oct 2008 / Permalink
The Economist picks Obama. “It’s Time. America should take a chance and make Barack Obama the next leader of the free world.”
By the way, the magazine is called The Economist, not The Socialist.
29 Oct 2008 / Permalink
Karmacy with a viciously pro-Obama video. One of my favorite songs on the new album.
28 Oct 2008 / Permalink
Deepavali Redux
While Deepavali is popularly known as the “festival of lights”, a more appropriate significance is “the new year of luck and wealth”.
Central to Hindu philosophy is the assertion that there is something beyond the physical body and mind which is pure, infinite, and eternal, called the Atman. Just as we celebrate the birth of our physical being, Deepavali is the celebration of this Inner Light, in particular the knowing of which outshines all darkness (removes all obstacles and dispels all ignorance), awakening the individual to one’s true nature, not as the body, but as the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality. With the realization of the Atman comes universal compassion, love, and the awareness of the oneness of all things (higher knowledge). This brings Ananda (Inner Joy or Peace).
Diwali celebrates this through festive fireworks, lights, flowers, sharing of sweets, and worship. While the story behind Deepavali varies from region to region, the essence is the same - to rejoice in the Inner Light (Atman) or the underlying reality of all things (Brahman).
28 Oct 2008 / Permalink
Disney’s first Bollywood animated feature, Roadside Romeo, has been released.
During a trip to India about 12 years ago, I was shocked to see that Vanilla Ice and Samantha Fox were doing tours and selling music in India long after no one liked them in the rest of the world.
And, now that Pixar makes all of Disney’s quality kid movies, it seems they’ve decided to export their dated character and writing style to Bollywood.
For a conflicting point of view, the India Times thinks it’s ‘howlarious’.
27 Oct 2008 / Permalink
Touchscreen fun on SNL’s Weekend Update.
Our firm has developed a few applications on the HP Touchsmart, and recently, we are working as an early partner to Microsoft on the MS Surface (have a couple ‘big ass tables’ at our office in Berkeley).
We’re excited about touch and its relevance to the future of embedded computing, but, as SNL aptly points out, most of the apps still feel meaningless.
