Sailing in London

Today the city is full of wind and water patterns, slicing up the air and slashing people's faces as they struggle up the streets as though they had turned into currents to swim up against. Umbrellas swarm the streets like birds, bend and twist, not being able to withstand the forces of the wind, which seem to be playing a game of hit-and-run. The wind strikes you from around the corner, pulls on your umbrella, rearranges your hair, and blinds you with the rain as you turn your face away. It seems as though everyone was taking sailing lessons, stuck under their little umbrellas and desperately trying to navigate the gusts of wind and the geometry of the streets. Though irritating, there is something incredibly attractive in the rain's calm permanence and force, which doesn't seem to retire day or night recently.

Tecktonik

I have two French boys staying in my flat for this month and one of the things I keep hearing about is Tecktonik. It's a fairly new style of dance that started last year in Paris. Just thought I'd share...

Think Think?

BigThink is a new platform of an intellectual exchange of ideas worldwide. At first glance it seems like a YouTube, except instead of random clips and music, it's filled with interviews with experts in all kinds of scientific and humanistic areas. If this idea sprawls like intended, it may become a very interesting source of opinions and information for all curious. The discussions vary from cloning to agriculture, so you're pretty much bound to find something for yourself. Except for providing information and opinion the site actually aims to include the opinions its members hold. You're free to create new ideas to discuss, rate the ideas of others and contribute to the general feeling on how ideas stand.

Postchristmasartum

I know it's after Christmas, but they say it's never too late for reflection...

Have you done your homework?

MIT has opened its gates to people all over the globe with its Open Course Ware initiative! You can now access courses online and take advantage of lecture notes, readings, tests, and sometimes even watch video lectures. I've downloaded a few courses already, but haven't explored their structure. Finally we'll all be able to explore a little bit more than what's in the bookstores in areas that we've perhaps wanted to study or wish we studied in the past.

Here's a glimpse at where the users are from:


Obviously taking these courses won't get you anywhere as far as scoring credit points, achieving a degree, or networking, but by the sound of it will give you just about all of what's fleshy in the sector of intellectual self-development. MIT is the pioneer, but with more than 100 universities worldwide joining the initiative, the choice is astounding. You can download the courses straight from the Open Course Ware webpage or use iTunes with its iTunes U, which automatically directs you to podcasts from several different sources. All curious unite!



Oh yeah, Happy New Year everyone!

The Cane of Cold

I'm in Krakow. Everything is frozen and walking in the evenings feels like gliding through a thick mass of a cold white substance. Breathing has become a whole new activity where you have to be careful not to give away too much of yourself to the outside. It's as though everything has become a whole new game of math: you carefully measure how much warmth inside you need to the next destination and try to foresee how cold your destination may be. It's constantly taking measurements of temperature, steps, surface slipping risks, and of the ever decreasing range of colors you get to see. Perhaps this is the underlying cause for Christmas lights and the undecided liking for the strangely colored socks and sweaters we all seem to agree to wear at this time of year?

I see the increasing hunger in people's faces as I ride the tram over the steel gray slopes of the city's curves. They all rush to shop, to see, to catch the sun, even if all it offers are the white canes of its winter rays. The hunger of warmth and light combines with the implicit requirement for the Christmas joy, which is to be felt despite the biting cold and the sly drafts inside the city walls. Waking up has become a race of its own, with the first thought - how much longer before the sun goes down? Will I have enough time to get dressed; how much time do I have this morning? Lured outside to feed your lungs and eyes, you still get hit at the back of your neck with the cane of cold. 'Ah, yes,' we sigh as we breathe out. We stand relieved, fooled again, and still amazed with the small offering of light we all long for.

The saga continues...

My friend Mark just posted a link about another move by Apple, this time to shut down the famous Fake Steve Jobs blog!

Apple is now intimidating Fake Steve Jobs (Dan Lyons, Forbes journo), who I think can look after himself.

http://tinyurl.com/2276ko

I really wonder if this is true or whether it's yet another move by Fake Steve to stir up more drama in the Apple buzz world as Scoble and a crowd of others claim it is?