October 2011
4 posts
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Obesity and Health in Cultures
I have often spoken about the idea of the body image and how it is shaped by a culture. In Asian societies in particular, the ideal size is a small framed slim woman who still has an S-line (50kg, but with curves). In stark contrast, the Western body type has taken on a different shape. In some respects it is of our own doing, as we shove a negative plate of rhetoric in front of people who...
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Higher Education
The expense of higher education rises with each breath I take. Even taking a course at the community college will probably set a person back around $800. Harvard and other private universities are surpassing many families incomes at $50,657 a year (this does not include personal amenities, school supplies, and even books which can run around $1500 a year). But even a degree at a public...
September 2011
10 posts
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WatchInteresting talk on your doppelganger
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Twitter to put ads in your feed
My understanding that business models are important for the success of the company flitters away when Twitter starts talking about putting adds into its feed. I’m starting to enjoy the platform, but perhaps the ads need to take on different placement. It is the way of the future for them when considering that the interface is relatively clutter-free.
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iPhone 5 →
Patiently awaiting the release of iPhone 5….
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Another world university ranking list →
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The Times stance on the future of education in... →
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Groupon+University →
I find this team up a bit odd, but indicative of the way universities are now built - commercial enough to encompass one of the most profitable ‘discount service companies’/annoying popup ads in the world.
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The Freedom Tower Commences →
It has been 10 years, and the Freedom Tower aka One World Trade Center commences, becoming America’s tallest building.
What news of the Trump Tower in Chicago?
August 2011
8 posts
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Korean woman arrested for selling N. Korean work →
It is increasingly difficult to determine the status of Korean relations, as not only 3 years ago the two were exchanging cultural goods. Now, it is obvious that relations are not amicable following the skirmish not too long ago, but it is a downfall for the art community to not be exposed to the Northern work.
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Denmark
After reading Phaidon’s Wallpaper* travel guide for Copenhagen, I am increasingly keen on visiting Denmark. Its design and architecture are inspiring. The language is equally enticing:
Hele livet har jeg ventet her mig og dig for altid.
Perhaps it will be the first present to myself in this new era.
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WatchI find this extremely creepy.
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Heat on the tube →
The car was nearly empty on my way home today - a result of offices closing early. But the temperatures climbed to exhorbatant levels and the air was more stale than gluten-free bread. A solitary drop of sweat landed on my hand from the person next to me. I could only try to wipe it off on the seat next to me and dream of washing my hands at home.
This article points to other disgusting factors...
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“He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and...”
– Friedrich Nietzsche
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Bycyklen →
Another demonstration of the beauty of Danish design.
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Henrik Vibskov →
It is no secret that I am a fan of Danish artists, and Henrik Vibskov is yet another example of why. His website is the perfect combination of visuals and effective text, and the icons are (let’s face it) just pretty darn cute.
July 2011
20 posts
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Solar Toilets →
Has anyone else noticed the current obsession with reinventing the toilet? Bill Gates just pledged a large sum of money to redesign the toilet for the 3rd world, and the New Scientist just revealed this solar toilet that turns sewage into power.
One of my personal favourite announcements: in the UK, extra large toilet seats have doubled in sales in the past 2 years.
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The price of free education
I’ve been mulling over the idea of ‘free’, a concept which Chris Anderson outlines in his book of the same title, and am particularly interested in the idea of free education. It seems to me, that there is a bit of a paradox when reviewing the specifics of the idea: education provides society with the means to pull itself out of poverty, as it gives the people the tools to build...
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Price of postgraduate degrees to increase →
I like this idea, because it makes the efforts of those that actually have received postgraduate degrees more valuable. But it should be noted that scholarship may also suffer as a result.
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Connect music with other services →
I like the idea of being able to connect content between platforms - such as your social network or your photos. It could become another new business model that allows musicians to stay in the game.
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Watch out Coursesmart, now rent textbooks from... →
With Amazon allowing textbook rental from 30 to 360 days, Coursesmart and VitalSource will have another major competitor to contend with. This will help Amazon to maintain its dominance in the industry, and will open up discussions at Google for new business models.
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Chicago's Marilyn Monroe Sculpture →
Pretty offensive sculpture of Marilyn Monroe erupts in Chicago - and I thought the bean was a bit strange.
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An Amazon Tablet! →
Looking forward to the unvieling of the product!
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Berlin →
It has been a while since I last travelled, so the post here is a vicarious post by Smashing Magazine. Berlin is in some respects like Detroit, as they were both dying cities and have been infiltrated by artists.
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Google eReader →
Google takes another shot at dominating the ebook market by launching its first ereader, as promised. Although technologically not a breakthrough, Google’s affordable ereader could prove a threat to the Kindle.
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Design sponge cover selection →
Loving this peek into the process of designing a book cover!
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South Korea - Slightly ahead →
South Korea gets tablets instead of textbooks. This will be great considering on top of being the most ‘wired’ nation, they are also some of the most studious. The tablets will reduce the weight of books they have to carry and will also teach the students responsibility for keeping tablets in working order. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes out of it! :)
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“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people...”
– Camille Pissarro
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Find a course near you →
I’ve been wanting to take a bikram yoga course, or a tennis workshop. This app would be the perfect tool if I lived in NYC. The concept, if expanded to include online courses and multiple cities, could be not only a time and money saver, but also an innovative way for a different kind of student to emerge: one that studies Western civilisation in London, anthropological advances in northern...
June 2011
16 posts
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Google flooding cyberspace with product
Google announced its very own version of Facebook today called Google+. Now, I understand the desire to capture more of the market and dominate the world, but Google’s attempts to delve into social media failed with Google Buzz. What makes them think that Google+ will be any different? With the oversaturation of social media, they would probably be more successful in attempts to capture a...
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Google Takeout →
A new tool from Google allows you to extract your data from Google products - at least a handful of them. But it would be more useful for this to work for Google Docs, where nearly everything I have uploaded to its servers as a backup has distorted formatting. Quite a bother considering the recent death of my Mac. I will be more impressed when Google offers cloud storage, similar to that of Yahoo...
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University of the People →
Online university challenges traditional higher education - promoting free education is truly admirable, and the composite of the increasingly business focused universities in the US and UK.
Great piece on illustrated ebooks
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Times Higher Education (THE) Top Universities of... →
Am surprised by many results, but the Times claims that they are measured by metrics as opposed to reputation. Georgetown University, for example, oddly ranks as 164, beaten by even Iowa State University. My alma matter, UIC, listed as 197, a mere afterthought in the list. However, I’m proud to have made the list at all.
The list for top 50 social sciences seems to resemble the widely...
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