Tag: culture

NYC trustafarians

The high-price trend is further exaggerated by the large concentrations of “trustafarians,” or those with large amounts of inherited capital, in these areas. Many of these people have multiple residences — in some Manhattan buildings as many of half of the owners are non-residents — but can still drive up prices. Together with top-end business types, they can create what Mr. Gyourko describes as “the Vailization” effect: that is, turning part of the city into something akin to a high-amenity resort area, a “scarce luxury good” for a relative few and those who must remain behind to service them

makes the case that B-cities have the best value for money, and are not as homogenized

True Mutations

Interviews on the Edge of Science, Technology, and Consciousness looks at the wild changes that may be coming to the human species during the 21st Century. In a series of interviews, author/host RU Sirius explores a series of (r)evolutions in disciplines ranging from the evolution of clean energy to the possibilities of endless neurological ecstasy; from open-source free access to nearly everything under the sun to self-directed biotechnological evolution; from psychedelic culture mash-ups to the possibilities of a technological singularity that alters not only humanity but the entire universe

popularizing the singularity

Beirut and contradiction

I believe that the photo is stunning in the metaphor it creates about war photography. It tells us about the voyeurism of the photographer, of the act of taking photos in tragic situations: if there is a contradiction, it is in the encounter between art, beauty and tragedy. Covering a disaster in order to create a striking image is what Robert Capa did best, he became an icon for it and we, the viewers are becoming addicted to this art form.

Chinese Is Damn Hard

The first question any thoughtful person might ask when reading the title of this essay is, “Hard for whom?” A reasonable question. After all, Chinese people seem to learn it just fine.

  1. Because the writing system is ridiculous.
  2. Because the language doesn’t have the common sense to use an alphabet.
  3. Because the writing system just ain’t very phonetic.
  4. Because you can’t cheat by using cognates.
  5. Because even looking up a word in the dictionary is complicated.
  6. Then there’s classical Chinese (wenyanwen).
  7. Because there are too many romanization methods and they all suck.
  8. Because tonal languages are weird.
  9. Because east is east and west is west, and the twain have only recently met.

The Art Of War

There are, obviously, no police inworld. Sometimes, self-defense is all you’ve got. Before now, I’ve had to draw a weapon and blow people off my land to discontinue attacks. Look at that sentence again. It makes me sound like I’m living on frontier land, or, perhaps, like I’ve become a mad farmer with a shotgun. Is there a case to be made for Second Life as the lawless digital Wild West, where sometimes a man has to slap leather to defend his person and his homestead from the badmen and the road agents? It’s more than a little absurd. On the other hand, being ejected out of the world is a little more inconvenient than some freak running his mouth on a messageboard.

the state of SL weaponization

Japan racism

“good old fashioned racism” in Japan is pretty deep rooted and held by people in high places in government and corporate Japan. I believe this is one of the most important and fundamental ailments of Japanese society today

what is it with the xenophobic & racist japanese?