Photolurking, blog streaking and cheesepodding: The new Internet addictions

The Internet has given birth to a quirky range of modern addictions and maladies, the British weekly New Scientist says in its Christmas issue published this Saturday.They include these:

- EGO-SURFING: When you frequently check your name and reputation on the Internet. - BLOG STREAKING: “Revealing secrets or personal information online which for everybody’s sake would be best kept private.”

- CRACKBERRY: “The curse of the modern executive: not being able to stop checking your BlackBerry, even at your grandmother’s funeral.”

- GOOGLE-STALKING: Defined as “snooping online on old friends, colleagues or first dates.”

- CYBERCHONDRIA: “A headache and a particular rash at the same time? Extensive online research tells you it must be cancer.”

- PHOTOLURKING: Flicking through a photo album of someone you’ve never met.

- WIKIPEDIHOLISM: Excess devotion to contributing to the online collaborative encyclopaedia, Wikipedia. (Wikipedia even has a page where you can test whether you’re an addict: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Are-You-a-Wikipediholic-Test)).

- CHEESEPODDING: Downloading of a song “so cheesy that you could cover it in plastic wrap and sell it at the deli counter.” Cheesepodders are especially vulnerable to soft-rock favourites from the 1970s. – AFP/sh

Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason

 

This is a book written in the 1920s and is touted as a classic in the topic of personal wealth.  It’s a small book, just over 100 pages but it contains many gems of wisdom on personal wealth illustrated through avid storytelling. 

My views on personal finance have changed somewhat after reading this book.   Do check it out if you have not already done so. 

Why is a ship called ‘SHE’ ?

 

“Manure” (Believe it or not ?) – Origin of the S-word

 

In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything had to be transported by ship. It was also before the invention of commercial fertilizer, so large shipments of manure were common. It was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed a lot less than when wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, it not only became heavier, but the process of fermentation began again, of which a by-product is methane gas.As the stuff was stored below decks in bundles you could see what would (and did) happen. Methane began to build up below decks and the first time someone came below at night with a lantern, BOOOOM!

Several ships were destroyed in this manner before it was determined just what was happening. After that, the bundles of manure were always stamped with the term “Ship High In Transit” on them, which meant the sailors should stow it high enough off the lower decks so that any water that came into the hold would not come in contact with this volatile cargo and start the production of methane.  

Thus evolved the colloquialism for manure as we know it today having come down through the centuries.  You probably did not know the true history of this word. Neither did I – I always thought it was a golf term!

Source :- http://www.nauticalinstitute.ca/

Mukhtar Mai – Against all odds

Check out the blog of Pakistani gang-rape victim Mukhtar Mai on BBC.

It’s quite sad – the state that many women find themselves in some parts of the world. Even in our amidst, we often hear of women who are battered by their husbands or suffer in some way.

A male chavinistic culture is like a physical chain which ties her down, and women living in this kind of society do have much greater limitations to deal with.

What can we do ?  Chipping away at the roots of a culture is a massive task. Is it possible or not ?   Well I suppose only time can tell – but thousands of years have passed and the problem still exists.  On a practical level, I think education and financial ability are probably two areas which can have the most direct impact.

The purpose of purpose

“Now we have found that this is of paramount importance to progress. We absolutely must leave room for doubt or there is no progress and there is no learning. There is no learning without having to pose a question. And a question requires doubt.

People search for certainty. But there is no certainty. People are terrified – how can you live and not know ? It’s not odd at all. You only think you know, as a matter of fact. And most of your actions are based on incomplete knowledge and you really don’t know what it’s all about, or what the purpose of the world is, or know a great deal of other things. It’s possible to live and not know.”

– From “The Pleasure of Finding Things Out” by Richard P Feynman

Unfounded optimism or necessary motivation to go on ?

 

“We tell ourselves stories in order to live.”

– Joan Didion once wrote, to explain the unfounded optimism human beings display. Good stories make the world more bearable.  Inevitably, therefore, we want to tell – and be told – stories that make us feel better, even if that means that we don’t get as complete a picture we need.

B.S.

Can you believe this…  Someone has actually done an academic research on the topic of ‘bullshit’ and published a book on it.

I was at a bookshop the other day and chanced upon such a book.  I did not believe my eyes and had to blink a few times to confirm.  Yeah there it was.. B.S. staring squarely into my face.

The subject is given serious treatment, though, not some book written in jest. It contained the basics of an academic writing – definition, terminology, different types, schools of thought, etc… the author is a Professor of Philosophy in the University of Princeton.

Some of the discussion which I found rather amusing :

* bullshit is likened to hot air embodying empty talk
* talking bullshit is different fm lying. a person who lies does so with intent to deceive, while he who bullshits may not begin with such an intent.

To read more about B.S., visit your local bookstore, say ”philosophy” section and look for a small palm-sized black-covered book with the topic boldly printed.

Man on lamp post

This is a photo taken out of an apartment in Beijing. 

The man was doing maintenance work on the lamp post.  Relying only on a belt wrapped around his waist, he moved up and down the lamp post with ease.   It’s an ingenius method and quite an amusing sight.

J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter … on 60 Minutes

Amazing woman who persisted to achieve success against all odds.
She’s pretty talented – see her artwork of Harry Porter characters.
I find J.K.Rowling a humble person and just like any man-in-the-street.  Hers is a story which proves that ordinary people like you and I can achieve greatness.