Tuesday 29 January 2008

Ten more interesting things I found

And it took me nearly a month to do so!!

No, these are, obviously, not the only things I found interesting but they are those things that interested me sufficiently to think that you might be interested too.

Lessons for bloggers from the "Death of 2007"
from ProBlogger Blog Tips by Darren Rowse
I like reading Darren's posts although the idea that I could make a living from writing a blog, as he does, is still something that I find difficult to comprehend. OK, as with any other field, there's those who do it for a hobby, those who cover expenses, those who make a reasonable living, and then there's David Beckham! Darren Rowse is the David Beckham of blogging!
I actually wanted to retitle the "lessons for bloggers" into "lessons for people" since it's not really about blogging it's about living, and balance and understanding yourself.
The guest post was submitted by Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian from Money.Power.Wisdom and is well worth reading in full.
Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian is a heart surgeon using his Internet marketing business to fund heart surgery for under-privileged children in India.

Musical Challenge
from Coffee Klatch by pfitz
Do you want a musical challenge? I just had a friend email me a link to some online music tests. There are three tests available at http://tonometric.com/.

High heels: tottery killers (infographic)
from Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
This scary-ass (and handsomely designed) infographic details the thousand and one ways that high-heels are incredibly bad for your health, posture, and long-term prospects. Link (via Lawgeek)

"I think religion is ineradicable," says Ian McEwan, "and I think it is a terrible idea to suppress it, too"... more
Thanks to Arts & Letters Daily

As mild anxiety and passing sadness are put under the ever-widening umbrella of "mental disorder," attention is diverted from real mental diseases... more
Thanks to Arts & Letters Daily

The Trouble With "Organic" Food
from 3quarksdaily by Robin Varghese Via Political Theory Daily Review, Bee Wilson in the FT
This is a tale of two pigs.
And if you have any interest in eating organic because a) it tastes better and b) it's better for the animals then you have to read this!

"At bottom," Martin Heidegger said, "the ordinary is not ordinary; it is extraordinary." And if not, poetry will make it so... more
Thanks to Arts & Letters Daily

Pitter-patter of raindrops could power devices
via New Scientist Tech - Technology on 23 January
Rain has been ignored as a source of electricity, but piezoelectric materials can generate charge with every drop.

Probability theory has much to say about amazing coincidences, "miracles," that people take as evidence for the existence of God... more
Thanks to Arts & Letters Daily

Moral principle vs military necessity. The problem is as old as the Greeks, but a history professor at Columbia was first to write a modern code of conduct in war... more
Thanks to Arts & Letters Daily
How to wage war whilst ensuring that peace afterwards is possible.

A final thought from me
Not only am I suffering from a gut disorder (very recent) but I'm realising that the lassitude that I appear to be experiencing is possibly post-operative depression -- which I thought I'd got away with. Onwards and upwards -- I am telling my mind that, with help from the chemicals prescribed by my GP, we can get through this. Recognise it and then deal with it, admit it and get help. It works for me and that's all I need to know at the moment.

And I've realised that I have what some might see as an over-reliance on A&LD for the interesting items this month.
1) I haven't read Edge since before Christmas.
2) I try hard to avoid the overtly politically-biased postings on the basis that politics, football and religion are topics that should be avoided in general conversation. This post definitely fits in the general conversation category!
3) Nothing on BoingBoing seemed to be more than "ah" rather than "woo-ee" (if you know what I mean by the difference).

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