In case you ever wondered about how to subscribe to a blog or a website, and got confused about what feeds are and RSS means, here is help. Commoncraft produces fairly interesting little videos explaining things “in plain English”, and they feature one publicly available about RSS. All you feed to know, check it out.
I think for those of us fairly young who have not seen the struggles of the past we tend to forget how recent many changes have occured. We just take the current environment for granted. Why would a woman or a person with a skin color other than white not have the right to vote? Makes no sense, right? While watching the election with some friends we discussed this and it turns out, not too long ago the women did not even drive themselves, it was more then men driving them around. Crazy world, and we forget how recent things were changed.
It’s a bit like imagining a world without iPod’s and iPhone’s and without the Internet (what were people doing all day?). Technological advantage is one thing though, while cultural change usually needs more time to really get beyond the “accepted” or “tolerated” stage into the truly “normal”. So, my personal judgement is we have not reached the normal stage here, indicated by a rate of only 41% of white voters who voted for Obama.
On the ride home the other day I listened to NPR’s Fresh Air program and PBS’s Bill Moyers commented on the election and the society today. I have to say, even with just 41%, we have come a long way. It’s time to reflect and enjoy this moment and not rush to fast into the daily business. Who knows if this would have been possible in Western Europe. While they are all cheering now that the Bush era is over, are they all ready to vote for “their own Obama” in their country?
Wow, you might think about the U.S. one way or another, or you might consider yourself a democrat or a republican, but what truly amazes me is the never ending evolution within this country. People don’t take no for an answer, and always question the status quo. There is always a strive to advance and move forward. And yesterday, we could watch the results of this. Congratulations, Mr. President-Elect. See below Barack Obama’s speech in Chicago on the evening of Nov. 4th, 2008:
Congratulations, Mr. President-Elect Barack Obama!
You can also see John McCain’s concession speech, which was also very impressive:
Well said, it’s time for a new era now. I guess there are enough problems to be solved.
With the current financial crisis many people blame Wall Street and the “greed” factor for the fact that the economy seems to be hitting the wall. However, that’s only part of the picture. America has been living on the financial edge for quite some time. The federal government has accumulated $52,700,000,000,000 Dollars of dept and committed financial obligations, roughly US$455,000 for every household. The average household income is about 1/10 of that.
Total Federal Burden
$52,700,000,000,000
Every American’s Share
$175,000
So it’s time to save some cash. It has gotten so bad that, that more and more people are trying to create more awareness and do something about it. There is even a movie about it, supported by people like investor Warren Buffett.
Download yourself the citizens guide to understand more about this.
This is a website I wanted to feature for a long time. In case you have not checked out Ted.com yet, you should definitely do that.There are some awesome talks and ideas for you to watch.
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).
Here is one on the more entertaining side, but very fascinating and simply amazing from a Math perspective. In “MatheMagic”, in a lively show, mathemagician Arthur Benjamin races a team of calculators to figure out 3-digit squares, solves another massive mental equation and guesses a few birthdays. How does he do it? He’ll tell you. Sit back and enjoy: