Lately I’ve been encountering some cool flash puzzles. Some, like Continuity are modern takes on the traditional game, while others like this one are more of an interactive story.
@fru was sad after playing this one. I think it’s pretty apt for a Monday—even if we are on holiday.
/via metafilter
It’s amazing to think that one political figure has been around for 12 U.S. Presidents (although she was unable to officially meet one). For that alone—God Save the Queen!
/via metafilter
A 24-year old stay-at-home mom has a hobby of gaming. And by gaming I mean spending a ridiculous amount of time and money on the achievement points that Xbox Live offers. I have about 5,000 points; she has over 165,000. Wow.
/via @eastwestpage
I think, like Jodi, my initial feeling about this is “yet another nutjob… and why is the media making note of this?”
But by removing the religious extremist element from the picture, I find myself really admiring this guy’s courage and willingness to sacrifice himself for change—something that I’ve written about before. His action, in this light, is the epitome of true protest.
So here’s something to ponder: How many Korean Americans (nutjob or otherwise) would it take to do this before it influenced the situation in any way whatsoever? How many Korean Americans would need to go before it was picked up (and most likely supported) by those protest-loving South Korean activists? How many South Korean and Korean American activists would it take before North Korea was forced to respond—even if the US or South Korea did not?
All my life, I’ve been sensitive to how people perceive me. In fact, much of my personality can be attributed to one habit I’ve had as long as I remember: wondering what other people saw when they looked at me.
My self-esteem has been completely built on the success of this calculated presentation. And while everyone makes a few false judgments on how they are viewed, In general I’ve found myself happy with the consistency I’ve had at providing others with what manifestation of me works best for them.
2009 sent me reeling from some pretty heavy blows regarding my public image, and ultimately I have come to question who in this world is worthy of my trust—myself included. Am I really all that I present myself to be? Are the opinions of others really who I am? Where does opinion become fact, and how does objectivity apply in something as subjective as self?
As a result, I am seriously considering generating a separate method for receiving input about myself, in the hopes that it will reinforce or call into question my existing system of evaluation. If that works well, it could prevent some of the nasty blindesides I’ve gotten in the past year or so.
To be honest, I am coming to terms with who I am. I am smart, but I am slow; I am insightful yet forgetful, and I’m an open-minded skeptic. I think these traits, when recognized, become some of my most defining features. I hope to build my future improving myself based on external data rather than placate the world with a popular mask.
How do you go about auditing your street cred? What tools or activities give you insight to your public reptutation?
A fun read. It would seem the more things change, the more they remain the same.
/via @dgroundsel
Image by Rooey202 via Flickr
Even in the most mundane things, we can discover so much about a culture, a person, a way of thinking. So before you think this post completely useless: what question above would not be useful to improving user experience—not just in product design but specifically in website/interface improvement and application development?
A music video with a scathing (though valid) assessment of society. History repeats itself; yesterday’s bread and circuses have resurfaced as today’s cut-throat capitalism and reality television.
Probably would not have ever seen this, but found while cruising juststuffifind and clicked because anything that has table tennis (and especially women’s table tennis) I’m watching. :)
Today some old(er) dude I know stopped by during his daily wanderings and randomly started talking about nothing in particular (anyone who works with me should immediately know who this is). This dude may or may not be the first boss I had in this building, just about a decade ago. Outside of the usual banter, we happened across an interesting discussion.
What life experience do you look back upon that signaled your transition from childhood into adulthood?
He asked me if turning 30 was hard, and I said no. I've always sorta felt like an old man anyways, so every year I become more comfortable and at peace with self. He found that interesting, so he told this story (I'm paraphrasing):
I grew up in Florida, and where I lived was near this canal--called Haulover Cut--that connected the bay and the ocean [...] there's a bridge there where people committed suicide--we used to jump off that thing for fun!--and we'd fish and swim there when I was a kid... I'm sure it's changed a lot since then but anyway... If you swam out of the canal a bit the ocean current would catch you pull you out [...] so we'd swim parallel to the current and got out on the shoreline a ways down and make your way back up.
[...] I remember I was just about to go to junior college, I had gotten a job working at the local paper. I drove over and put on my snorkel and fins [...] I swam out and the current took me and I just cruised along--you didn't even need to swim the current was so strong--over the rocks and around the jetty until I got onto the shore, took my gear off, walked back, and did it a couple more times. Then I threw my gear into the car and left; but for some reason, after all these years, I still look back at that as maybe my last childhood action. After that I went to work, went to school, did other grownup stuff. But I always think back to that as my last childhood experience.
Obviously, this made me wonder: what was my last childhood activity? I'm still not sure. It's hard to even be certain now that I'm really acting as an adult.
Sofar, the closest I've come is to an experience that I constantly think back to as my realization and acceptance of human mortality.
My grandparents lived about 5 miles from where I grew up, and my grandmother's sister lived next door to her. I grew up calling her "aunt Lula" and her husband "uncle Scotty." Uncle Scotty was strong had cool hats and was always so smooth; he was funny and very charming. They were always together and ate in the same booth at the local diner every night--the diner had a plaque placed there in honor of them.
When Lula died, uncle Scotty still went to the diner, but slowly started to get feebler, weaker. He started forgetting things; my grandma started looking after him more and more. He started losing vision; he got sick and my grandparents took him to the hospital.
By the time he got out of the hospital, he was rail thin and too weak to walk. I went along with my grandma to pick him up. We helped him out of the hospital wheelchair and into the car, but when we got home there was no ramp. At 15, I put uncle Scotty's catheter on his lap, then picked up my childhood hero and carried him into the house. That experience always haunts me and reminds me of my first full understanding of inescapable death.
Now that I think about it, if someone had told me Siddhartha Gautama's story at that moment, I might be a Buddhist today.
I'm doubtful that's my last moment of childhood, though it did mature my thinking a bit. I'll have to keep thinking and place my story in the comments. What's your story?
Excellent animated video by Kousuke Sugimoto. Great fun. Do yourself a favor and watch this at full screen.
found via metafilter.
I don’t believe in teaching kids to believe in lies, but I’m also not a fan of stealing imagination from the youth. Well played, The Sun; well played.
/via @dgroundsel
In trying times, our greatest hope resides in the compassion we share. found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nedward/4177340772/ via @sethw
Several things here:
Image via Wikipedia
Marriage is overblown. Trust me; I’m a happily married guy, and I know from experience. Allow me to explain.
The experience I’ve had has been one I’d never change, and I hope lasts my lifetime. Fru is all the good things in me, and without her I question their existence. We’ve been together for over a decade, so the possibility of having a live devoid of her is hard for the imagination to conjure.
That said, two months after we were married we moved to the other side of the globe. A dozen time zones and thousands of miles away from any kind of support, we were forced to rely on each other—which, of course, is what we promised to do in our vows. When we returned a year later, we were inseparable.
I think that, given the right intentions, and the right environment, any partnership can last a lifetime. There is nothing fantastical about marriage that makes this happen, for it is only the two people joined can make a marriage work. Those two people can make it work without a marriage license, and often I think those who try that often turn out as good or better.
Image via Wikipedia
So, as I told the person threatening to marry: if that’s what you’re wanting to do, fine. But do it for the two of you—not for your parents, or for your social circle, or because you’re getting older, or because all your friends already have or any other reason. If you’re already sleeping together (or even living together) and your life is decidedly secular, marriage is not the reason nor the way to introduce religious tradition to your relationship. Fight the pressure and be happy; it’d be better to live a happy life of questionable morals than to suffer under rules you never truly committed to. I’ll say it again: I’d rather my daughter live with her lover and be happy all her life than to marry for my sake and be miserable—“just ok,” even.
I’d love for all people to feel the relationship more important than the marriage. To the person whose engagement ring silently disappeared: I am more concerned about your feelings and well-being in the loss of a relationship than I am the cancellation of your wedding. You are what matters most. I find it a travesty that broken hearts must hide from public exposure when they most need support and reinforcement.
Finally, to those who have gotten their hearts aligned: congratulations. Continue in the path that you’ve started: building, and growing, and loving. A medical journey does not end with an M.D., and your journey is nowhere near complete with a wedding. Treat your wedding as “day 0” of the real thing, and you’ll help yourself when you’re faced with learning experiences later on.
Marriage is overblown. It’s being with the one you love for the rest of your life that’s awesome.
Now that I’ve bored you with my attempt at eloquence, something totally different (but important!):
yours truly, my uncle, and my cousin @froggyjumps
thanksgiving weekend was great. :)
Image via Wikipedia
While I was in Korea, I made it a point to buy glasses. Glasses are cheap in Korea, and I bought three trendy frames for about $15. I had one pair's plastic lenses taken out and replaced with tinted glass, changing them to sunglasses; the others stayed as is.
That's right, none of these glasses are perscription; all are completely cosmetic.
I first started wearing fake glasses when I lived in Korea. I've talked about this before.
This time around I felt a lot less concerned about them appearing real. These glasses are straight up ridiculous, and I know it. As soon as someone new mentions them, I mention they're fake. Why? I guess I'm comfortable with being phony.
Admit it--there are so many things we do that are completely and truly hollow fronts to portray something that we are not. We put on nooses ties, we user our blinker when a cop is nearby, we call out ideologies and mantras on twitter and like things we don't care about on facebook.
Maybe I've taken influence from The Comedian, who saw life's hypocrisy and wore it out for all to see. Perhaps I've just become more confident in self independent of appearance. At any rate, I'm wearing my phoniness on my sleeve.
And by "sleeve" I mean my face.
You CAN change behaviors by making things fun, because fun is a value and people want to add value to their lives. Where can you add value to the world around you?
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