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Friday, September 16, 2011
MEET THE APP AND THE TEAM THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING.
When the founders of Terriblyclever Design LLC were students at Stanford University, they worked with the Associate Vice Provost of Student Affairs and Registrar, Tom Black, to create an application that would engage their campus community in a powerful new way—through their mobile devices.
They introduced their solution, iStanford, in a commercial that aired during the homecoming football game. By the end of the second half, there were already thousands of downloads. Just a few months later, iStanford had 40,000 downloads from the Apple® App Storesm, far more than the number of Stanford students. This rapid adoption demonstrated the impact iStanford had, not only on current students, but also on alumni, parents, sports fans, and the greater Stanford community.
GOING MOBILE UNLEASHES TREMENDOUS POTENTIAL.
SEE IT IN ACTION.
With 75% of the student body carrying smartphones, Northwestern University knew they needed a mobile presence. Once Blackboard helped them go mobile, their entire campus experience was transformed.
GOING MOBILE WAS THE RIGHT PRESCRIPTION.
The Medical College of Georgia (MCG) wanted to deliver a highly-integrated, technology-infused curriculum that fit their students' learning styles. Since laptops were too big for their students to carry around in a clinical setting, they knew they needed a solid mobile strategy.
MCG turned to Blackboard Mobile to create a suite of customized medical apps built using the Blackboard Mobile Software Development Kit (SDK), including an OB Wheel and Medical Abbreviations Dictionary to enable learning anytime, anywhere. With information on the go, students are able to respond faster and more effectively. And since customizing is so easy with Blackboard Mobile, MCG can continue to evolve their app suite with new functionality and has even dedicated head count specifically to app development.
FSU MOBILE MAKES HEADLINES.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Florida State was the first university in Florida to go mobile with Blackboard Mobile Central. Even before their official launch, FSU saw incredible interest in their app, FSU Mobile. Student response to the news flew through Facebook. The FSU Headlines TV issued a video showcasing the app. Excitement was so widespread among students and the community, FSU Mobile even made the evening news on local station, WCTV.
http://www.apple.com/iphone/business/profiles/university-washington/
Now with their mobile app, Northwestern Mobile, students and faculty have instant access to everything Northwestern. They use the app to find their way around campus, see what events are happening, locate books and resources, and so much more. With Blackboard Mobile, they're always connected, and always "on."
Below, students and administrators, including Harlan Wallach, Media Architect; Mort Rahimi, VP of IT; and Al Cubbage, VP of University Relations, show you just how much farther mobile has taken them.
EVEN THE IT GUYS TURN TO BLACKBOARD.
As a thought-leader in technology, Seton Hall spent more than two years trying to implement their own mobile solution before realizing that doing it on their own would limit their campus reach.
When Blackboard announced the availability of Blackboard Mobile Central, SHU jumped at the opportunity to work with the Blackboard Mobile team. The Blackboard Mobile Central native application suites for iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry and mobile web meant that Seton Hall could have the universal reach they were hoping for.
Today, Seton Hall's Blackboard Mobile Central app, SHUMobile, impacts the whole university community—students, faculty, staff, even alumni and parents. Now anyone with a smartphone can connect with the community, access resources, see what's going on, and experience Seton Hall in a new and engaging way.
Once Loyola Mobile went live in Fall 2010, Loyola University Chicago’s Marketing department created a splash for Loyola Mobile on the home page and the response was overwhelming; in the first semester the Loyola Mobile iPhone app was downloaded over 2,500 times, and averaged 70 to 80 downloads a week as they approached the end of the semester.
Now LUC is poised for the new release of Loyola Mobile, and it has some significant additions for users. For the first time, the Blackboard Mobile Learn app is incorporated into Blackboard Mobile Central for the iPhone and will sit on the springboard along with three other new apps. Mobile users no longer have to do two separate downloads, nor do they have to go to separate locations on their mobile device. Because Blackboard is so widely used at LUC, it is an especially nice convergence of the two applications.
In addition to Blackboard Mobile Learn, LUC also has three new icons on the springboard: Alumni, Emergency, and 8-Ride (users can call for a ride in and around campus). This increases to 12 the total number of applications for the iPhone. Loyola Mobile will be deployed on Android shortly. Because smart phone usage on campus is only going to continue to grow exponentially, Loyola University Chicago is very excited to be able to provide this expanded service, and to be on the leading edge of smart phone technology!
Preliminary Results of a Study of LectureTools and Laptop Use
University of Michigan CRLT Study of LectureTools and Laptop Use
View more presentations from LectureTools
University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching
New Literacies for the 21st Century: Which Opportunities are Worth Seizing?
New Literacies for the 21st Century: Which Opportuntiies are Worth Seizing?
View more presentations from Douglas K. Hartman
So, how do we reach students when classes are overcrowded and students are at so many different levels? I believe technology is a tool that can help in this situation. Many have discussed new methodologies such as The Flipped Classroom where student's homework consists of viewing lectures at home so that the 'homework' becomes classwork where the teachers can facilitate a more hands-on model of instruction. Certain software companies have created Learning Management Systems that help to make this an easy transition.
I certainly do not believe that teachers are to blame. In fact, I believe teachers are the thread holding the system together. I do think that the system needs to change, though. Times have changed; however, much in our practice has not. In my opinion, teaching is evolving - and the field of education needs to catch up. Teachers are ready; they simply need the tools and the training to incorporate these new methods into their classrooms.
In closing, I pose a question: are we going to continue to prepare our students to become proficient at shading in bubbles, or are we going to prepare them to be able to use their resources, analyze information, think critically, and connect globally?
Thursday, September 15, 2011
MANU CHAO "Me Llaman Calle"
Me llaman calle
Pisando baldosa
La revoltosa y tan perdida
Me llaman calle
Calle de noche calle de dia
Me llaman calle
Hoy tan cansada
Hoy tan vacía
Como maquinita
Por la gran ciudad
Me llaman calle
Me subo a tu coche
Me llaman calle
De malegria
Calle dolida
Calle cansada
De tanto amar
Voy calle abajo
Voy calle arriba
No me rebajo
Ni por la vida
Me llaman calle
Y ese es mi orgullo
Yo se que un dia llegara
Yo se que un dia
Vendra mi suerte
Un dia me vendra a buscar
A la salida un hombre bueno
Pa to la vida y sin pagar
Mi corazon no es de alquilar
Me llaman calle
Me llaman calle
Calle sufrida
Calle tristeza
De tanto amar
Me llaman calle
Calle y mas calle
Me llaman calle
La sin futuro
Me llaman calle
La sinsalida
me llaman calle
Calle y mas calle
Las que mujeres
De la vida
Suben pa bajo
bajan pa arriba
Como maquinita
Por la gran ciudad
Me llaman calle
Me llaman calle
Calle sufrida
Calle tristeza
De tanto amar
Me llaman calle
Calle y mas calle
me llaman siempre
Y a calquier hora
me llaman guapa
Siempre a deshora
Me llaman puta
Tambien princesa
Me llaman calle
Y es mi noblessa
Me llaman calle
Calle sufrida
Calle perdida
De tanto amar
Me llaman calle
Me llaman calle
Calle sufrida
Calle tristeza
De tanto amar (x5)
They call me street
tile Walking
The unruly and so lost
They call me street
Street by night Street by day
They call me street
So tired today
So empty today
as little machine
For the big city
They call me street
I climb into your car
They call me street
In Malegria
street hurt
road weary
From time to love
I'm going down the street
I'm going up the street
I do not recess
Not for life
They call me street
And that is my pride
I know one day come
I know one day
My luck will come
One day I will come to look
A good man out
Pa to life without paying
My heart is not renting
Noir Désir - Le Vent Nous Portera
Black Desire - Wind In The Willows
Je n'ai pas peur de la route
Faudrait voir, faut qu'on y goûte
Des méandres au creux des reins
Et tout ira bien
Le vent l'emportera
Ton message à la grande ourse
Et la trajectoire de la course
A l'instantané de velours
Même s'il ne sert à rien
[Refrain] :
Le vent l'emportera
Tout disparaîtra
Le vent nous portera
La caresse et la mitraille
Cette plaie qui nous tiraille
Le palais des autres jours
D'hier et demain
Le vent les portera
Génétique en bandoulière
Des chromosomes dans l'atmosphère
Des taxis pour les galaxies
Et mon tapis volant dis?
[Refrain]
Ce parfum de nos années mortes
I'm not afraid of the road
Would see, we need to taste
Meanders in the small of the back
And all will be well
The wind will prevail
Your message to the Great Bear
And the trajectory of the race
A snapshot of velvet
Although it is useless
[Chorus]
The wind will prevail
all disappear
Wind In The Willows
Caress and scrap
This plague us feels tight
The palace of the other days
Yesterday and tomorrow
The wind will
Genetics shoulder
Chromosomes in the atmosphere
Taxis for the galaxies
And my flying carpet say?
[Chorus]
This perfume of our dead years
Je n'ai pas peur de la route
Faudrait voir, faut qu'on y goûte
Des méandres au creux des reins
Et tout ira bien
Le vent l'emportera
Ton message à la grande ourse
Et la trajectoire de la course
A l'instantané de velours
Même s'il ne sert à rien
[Refrain] :
Le vent l'emportera
Tout disparaîtra
Le vent nous portera
La caresse et la mitraille
Cette plaie qui nous tiraille
Le palais des autres jours
D'hier et demain
Le vent les portera
Génétique en bandoulière
Des chromosomes dans l'atmosphère
Des taxis pour les galaxies
Et mon tapis volant dis?
[Refrain]
Ce parfum de nos années mortes
I'm not afraid of the road
Would see, we need to taste
Meanders in the small of the back
And all will be well
The wind will prevail
Your message to the Great Bear
And the trajectory of the race
A snapshot of velvet
Although it is useless
[Chorus]
The wind will prevail
all disappear
Wind In The Willows
Caress and scrap
This plague us feels tight
The palace of the other days
Yesterday and tomorrow
The wind will
Genetics shoulder
Chromosomes in the atmosphere
Taxis for the galaxies
And my flying carpet say?
[Chorus]
This perfume of our dead years
Electrical Engineering 141
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 1
Introduction to Digital Integrated Circuits
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 2
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 3
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 4
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 5
Electrical Engineering 141 - Makeup Lecture 6
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 7
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 8
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 9
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 10
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 11
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 12
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 13
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 14
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 15
Electrical Engineering 141 - Makeup Lecture 16
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 17
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 18
Introduction to Digital Integrated Circuits
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 2
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 3
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 4
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 5
Electrical Engineering 141 - Makeup Lecture 6
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 7
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 8
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 9
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 10
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 11
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 12
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 13
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 14
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 15
Electrical Engineering 141 - Makeup Lecture 16
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 17
Electrical Engineering 141 - Lecture 18
Electrical Engineering 100
Electrical Engineering 100 - Lecture 6
Electrical Engineering 100 - Lecture 1
Electrical Engineering 100 - Lecture 2
Electrical Engineering 100 - Lecture 3
Electrical Engineering 100 - Lecture 4
Electrical Engineering 100 - Lecture 5
Electrical Engineering 100 - Lecture 1
Electrical Engineering 100 - Lecture 2
Electrical Engineering 100 - Lecture 3
Electrical Engineering 100 - Lecture 4
Electrical Engineering 100 - Lecture 5
Lecture 1A | MIT 6.001 Structure and Interpretation, 1986
Not about "computer"; not about "science", either.
How to .........................It's a method. It's a process.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Intel CEO: Era of 'ubiquitous' computing is here
A new era of “ubiquitous computing” is here, presenting huge new opportunities for Intel and developers worldwide, said Intel CEO and president Paul Otellini during the opening keynote of Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco on Tuesday morning.
Lee Cronin: Making matter come alive
Lee Cronin
With his research group, Lee Cronin is investigating the emergence of complex self-organising chemical systems -- call it inorganic biology
What I'm going to try and do in the next 15 minutes or so is tell you about an idea of how we're going to make matter come alive. Now this may seem a bit ambitious, but when you look at yourself, you look at your hands, you realize that you're alive. So this is a start. Now this quest started four billion years ago on planet Earth. There's been four billion years of organic, biological life. And as an inorganic chemist, my friends and colleagues make this distinction between the organic, living world and the inorganic, dead world. And what I'm going to try and do is plant some ideas about how we can transform inorganic, dead matter into living matter, into inorganic biology.
So before we do that, I want to kind of put biology in its place. And I'm absolutely enthralled by biology. I love to do synthetic biology. I love things that are alive. I love manipulating the infrastructure of biology. But within that infrastructure, we have to remember that the driving force of biology is really coming from evolution. And evolution, although it was established well over 100 years ago by Charles Darwin and a vast number of other people, evolution still is a little bit intangible. And when I talk about Darwinian evolution, I mean one thing and one thing only, and that is survival of the fittest. And so forget about evolution in a kind of metaphysical way. Think about evolution in terms of offspring competing, and some winning.
So bearing that in mind, as a chemist, I wanted to ask myself the question frustrated by biology: What is the minimal unit of matter that can undergo Darwinian evolution? And this seems quite a profound question. And as a chemist, we're not used to profound questions everyday. So when I thought about it, then suddenly I realized that biology gave us the answer. And in fact, the smallest unit of matter that can evolve independently is, in fact, a single cell -- a bacteria.
So this raises three really important questions: What is life? Is biology special? Biologists seem to think so. Is matter evolvable? Now if we answer those questions in reverse order, the third question -- is matter evolvable? -- if we can answer that, then we're going to know how special biology is, and maybe, just maybe, we'll have some idea of what life really is.
So here's some inorganic life. This is a dead crystal, and I'm going to do something to it, and it's going to become alive. And you can see, it's kind of pollinating, germinating, growing. This is an inorganic tube. And all these crystals here under the microscope were dead a few minutes ago, and they look alive. Of course, they're not alive. It's a chemistry experiment where I've made a crystal garden. But when I saw this, I was really fascinated, because it seemed lifelike. And as I pause for a few seconds, have a look at the screen. You can see there's architecture growing, filling the void. And this is dead. So I was positive that, if somehow we can make things mimic life, let's go one step further. Let's see if we can actually make life.
But there's a problem, because up until maybe a decade ago, we were told that life was impossible and that we were the most incredible miracle in the universe. In fact, we were the only people in the universe. Now, that's a bit boring. So as a chemist, I wanted to say, "Hold on. What is going on here? Is life that improbable?" And this is really the question. I think that perhaps the emergence of the first cells was as probable as the emergence of the stars. And in fact, let's take that one step further. Let's say that if the physics of fusion is encoded into the universe, maybe the physics of life is as well. And so the problem with chemists -- and this is a massive advantage as well -- is we like to focus on our elements. In biology, carbon takes center stage. And in a universe where carbon exists and organic biology, then we have all this wonderful diversity of life. In fact, we have such amazing lifeforms that we can manipulate. We're awfully careful in the lab to try and avoid various biohazards.
Well what about matter? If we can make matter alive, would we have a matterhazard? So think, this is a serious question. If your pen could replicate, that would be a bit of a problem. So we have to think differently if we're going to make stuff come alive. And we also have to be aware of the issues. But before we can make life, let's think for a second what life is really characterized by. And forgive the complicated diagram. This is just a collection of pathways in the cell. And the cell is obviously for us a fascinating thing. Synthetic biologists are manipulating it. Chemists are trying to study the molecules to look at disease. And you have all these pathways going on at the same time. You have regulation; information is transcribed; catalysts are made; stuff is happening. But what does a cell do? Well it divides, it competes, it survives. And I think that is where we have to start in terms of thinking about building from our ideas in life.
But what else is life characterized by? Well, I like think of it as a flame in a bottle. and so what we have here is a description of single cells replicating, metabolizing, burning through chemistries. And so we have to understand that if we're going to make artificial life or understand the origin of life, we need to power it somehow. So before we can really start to make life, we have to really think about where it came from. And Darwin himself mused in a letter to a colleague that he thought that life probably emerged in some warm little pond somewhere -- maybe not in Scotland, maybe in Africa, maybe somewhere else. But the real honest answer is, we just don't know, because there is a problem with the origin. Imagine way back four and a half billion years ago, there is a vast chemical soup of stuff. And from this stuff we came.
So when you think about the improbable nature of what I'm going to tell you in the next few minutes, just remember, we came from stuff on planet Earth. And we went through a variety of worlds. The RNA people would talk about the RNA world. We somehow got to proteins and DNA. We then got to the last ancestor. Evolution kicked in -- and that's the cool bit. And here we are. But there's a roadblock that you can't get past. You can decode the genome, you can look back, you can link us all together by a mitochondrial DNA, but we can't get further than the last ancestor, the last visible cell that we could sequence or think back in history. So we don't know how we got here.
So there are two options: intelligent design, direct and indirect -- so God, or my friend. Now talking about E.T. putting us there, or some other life, just pushes the problem further on. I'm not a politician, I'm a scientist. The other thing we need to think about is the emergence of chemical complexity. This seems most likely. So we have some kind of primordial soup. And this one happens to be a good source of all 20 amino acids. And somehow these amino acids are combined, and life begins. But life begins, what does that mean? What is life? What is this stuff of life?
So in the 1950s, Miller-Urey did their fantastic chemical Frankenstein experiment, where they did the equivalent in the chemical world. They took the basic ingredients, put them in a single jar and ignited them and put a lot of voltage through. And they had a look at what was in the soup, and they found amino acids, but nothing came out, there was no cell. So the whole area's been stuck for a while, and it got reignited in the 80s when analytical technologies and computer technologies were coming on.
In my own laboratory, the way we're trying to create inorganic life is by using many different reaction formats. So what we're trying to do is do reactions -- not in one flask, but in tens of flasks, and connect them together, as you can see with this flow system, all these pipes. We can do it microfluidically, we can do it lithographically, we can do it in a 3D printer, we can do it in droplets for colleagues. And the key thing is to have lots of complex chemistry just bubbling away. But that's probably going to end in failure, so we need to be a bit more focused.
And the answer, of course, lies with mice. This is how I remember what I need as a chemist. I say, "Well I want molecules." But I need a metabolism, I need some energy. I need some information, and I need a container. Because if I want evolution, I need containers to compete. So if you have a container, it's like getting in your car. "This is my car, and I'm going to drive around and show off my car." And I imagine you have a similar thing in cellular biology with the emergence of life. So these things together give us evolution, perhaps. And the way to test it in laboratory is to make it minimal.
So what we're going to try and do is come up with an inorganic Lego kit of molecules. And so forgive the molecules on the screen, but these are a very simple kit. There's only maybe three or four different types of building blocks present. And we can aggregate them together and make literally thousands and thousands of really big nano-molecular molecules the same size of DNA and proteins, but there's no carbon in sight. Carbon is bad. And so with this Lego kit, we have the diversity required for complex information storage without DNA. But we need to make some containers. And just a few months ago in my lab, we were able to take these very same molecules and make cells with them. And you can see on the screen a cell being made. And we're now going to put some chemistry inside and do some chemistry in this cell. And all I wanted to show you is we can set up molecules in membranes, in real cells, and then it sets up a kind of molecular Darwinism, a molecular survival of the fittest.
And this movie here shows this competition between molecules. Molecules are competing for stuff. They're all made of the same stuff, but they want their shape to win. They want their shape to persist. And that is the key. If we can somehow encourage these molecules to talk to each other and make the right shapes and compete, they will start to form cells that will replicate and compete. If we manage to do that, forget the molecular detail.
Let's zoom out to what that could mean. So we have this special theory of evolution that applies only to organic biology, to us. If we could get evolution into the material world, then I propose we should have a general theory of evolution. And that's really worth thinking about. Does evolution control the sophistication of matter in the universe? Is there some driving force through evolution that allows matter to compete? So that means we could then start to develop different platforms for exploring this evolution. So you imagine, if we're able to create a self-sustaining artificial life form, not only will this tell us about the origin of life -- that it's possible that the universe doesn't need carbon to be alive; it can use anything -- we can then take it one step further and develop new technologies, because we can then use software control for evolution to code in.
So imagine we make a little cell. We want to put it out in the environment, and we want it to be powered by the Sun. What we do is we involve it in a box with a light on. And we don't use design anymore. We find what works. We should take our inspiration from biology. Biology doesn't care about the design unless it works. So this will reorganize the way we design things. But not only just that, we will start to think about how we can start to develop a symbiotic relationship with biology. Wouldn't it be great if you could take these artificial biological cells and fuse them with biological ones to correct problems that we couldn't really deal with? The real issue in cellular biology is we are never going to understand everything, because it's a multidimensional problem put there by evolution. Evolution cannot be cut apart. You need to somehow find the fitness function. And the profound realization for me is that, if this works, the concept of the selfish gene gets kicked up a level, and we really start talking about selfish matter.
And what does that mean in a universe where we are right now the highest form of stuff? You're sitting on chairs. They're inanimate, they're not alive. But you are made of stuff, and you are using stuff, and you enslave stuff. So using evolution in biology, and in organic biology, for me is quite appealing, quite exciting. And we're really becoming very close to understanding the key steps that makes dead stuff come alive. And again, when you're thinking about how improbable this is, remember, five billion years ago, we were not here, and there was no life. So what will that tell us
about the origin of life and the meaning of life? For perhaps, for me as a chemist, I want to keep away from general terms; I want to think about specifics. So what does it mean about defining life? We really struggle to do this. And I think, if we can make inorganic biology, and we can make matter become evolvable, that will in fact define life. I purpose to you that matter that can evolve is alive, and this gives us the idea of making evolvable matter.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)
Chris Anderson: Just a quick question on timeline. You believe you're going to be successful in this project? When?
Lee Cronin: So many people think that life took millions of years to kick in. We're proposing to do it in just a few hours, once we've set up the right chemistry.
CA: And when do you think that will happen?
LC: Hopefully within the next two years.
CA: That would be a big story. (Laughter) In your own mind, what do you believe the chances are that walking around on some other planet there is non-carbon-based life walking or oozing or something?
LC: I think it's 100 percent. Because the thing is, we are so chauvinistic to biology, if you take away carbon, there's other things that can happen. So the other thing that if we were able to create life that's not based on carbon, maybe we can tell NASA what really to look for. Don't go and look for carbon, go and look for evolvable stuff.
CA: Lee Cronin, good luck. (LC: Thank you very much.)
(Applause)
Raghava KK: Shake up your story
Raghava KK
Raghava KK's paintings and drawings use cartoonish shapes and colors to examine the body, society, our world
Why you should listen to him:
Raghava KK began his career in art as a newspaper cartoonist, and the cartoonist’s bold line -- and dead-on eye for truth -- still powers his art. His work spans painting, sculpture, installation, film and performance, always linked by his challenging opinions on identity, conformity, gender, celebrity, ceremony. (He even views his lavish Indian wedding as a piece of performance art.)
His early work as a painter made a complete break with his cartoon career -- he painted watercolors on canvas using only his hands and feet. Since then, his work has grown to knit together aesthetics from both worlds, as collage and complication play against flat color and precise lines. He shows in galleries and performance spaces around the world. Among his latest work is the adorable children’s book A New Friend for Rudra -- see it in his Flickr set.
Hi everyone. I'm an artist and a dad -- second time around. Thank you. And I want to share with you my latest art project. It's a children's book for the iPad. It's a little quirky and silly. It's called "Pop-It," And it's about the things little kids do with their parents.
(Music)
So this is about potty training -- as most of you, I hope, know. You can tickle the rug. You can make the baby poop. You can do all those fun things. You can burst bubbles. You can draw, as everyone should.
But you know, I have a problem with children's books: I think they're full of propaganda. At least an Indian trying to get one of these American books in Park Slope, forget it. It's not the way I was brought up. So I said, "I'm going to counter this with my own propaganda." If you notice carefully, it's a homosexual couple bringing up a child. You don't like it? Shake it, and you have a lesbian couple. (Laughter) Shake it, and you have a heterosexual couple. You know, I don't even believe in the concept of an ideal family.
I have to tell you about my childhood. I went to this very proper Christian school taught by nuns, fathers, brothers, sisters. Basically, I was brought up to be a good Samaritan, and I am. And I'd go at the end of the day to a traditional Hindu house, which was probably the only Hindu house in a predominantly Islamic neighborhood. Basically, I celebrated every religious function. In fact, when there was a wedding in our neighborhood, all of us would paint our houses for the wedding. I remember we cried profusely when the little goats we played with in the summer became biriani. (Laughter) We all had to fast during Ramadan. It was a very beautiful time.
But I must say, I'll never forget, when I was 13 years old, this happened. Babri Masjid -- one of the most beautiful mosques in India, built by King Babur, I think, in the 16th century -- was demolished by Hindu activists. This caused major riots in my city. And for the first time, I was affected by this communal unrest. My little five year-old kid neighbor comes running in, and he says, "Rags, Rags. You know the Hindus are killing us Muslims. Be careful." I'm like, "Dude, I'm Hindu." (Laughter) He's like, "Huh!"
You know, my work is inspired by events such as this. Even in my gallery shows, I try and revisit historic events like Babri Masjid, distill only its emotional residue and image my own life. Imagine history being taught differently.
Remember that children's book where you shake and the sexuality of the parents change? I have another idea. It's a children's book about Indian independence -- very patriotic. But when you shake it, you get Pakistan's perspective. Shake it again, and you get the British perspective.
(Applause)
You have to separate fact from bias, right. Even my books on children have cute, fuzzy animals. But they're playing geopolitics. They're playing out Israel-Palestine, India-Pakistan. You know, I'm making a very important argument. And my argument [is] that the only way for us to teach creativity is by teaching children perspectives at the earliest stage. After all, children's books are manuals on parenting, so you better give them children's books that teach them perspectives. And conversely, only when you teach perspectives will a child be able to imagine and put themselves in the shoes of someone who is different from them.
I'm making an argument that art and creativity are very essential tools in empathy. You know, I can't promise my child a life without bias -- we're all biased -- but I promise to bias my child with multiple perspectives.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Misha Glenny: Hire the hackers!
Misha Glenny
Journalist Misha Glenny leaves no stone unturned (and no failed state unexamined) in his excavation of criminal globalization
Yasheng Huang: Does democracy stifle economic growth?
Yasheng Huang asks us to rethink our ideas about China and other large emerging economies. Lately he’s been asking, Does democracy hinder or promote economic growth?
Why you should listen to him:
MIT and Fudan University professor Yasheng Huang is an authority on how to get ahead in emerging economies. The China and India Labs he founded at MIT's Sloan School of Management specialize in helping local startups improve their strategies. His book Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics (2008) chronicles three decades of economic reform in China and documents the critical role that private entrepreneurship played in the Communist nation’s “economic miracle.”
Huang believes that China is moving away from Marxism (public ownership) but not Leninism (ideology of state control) -- and that strong social fundamentals are the key reason for its growth. He is a vocal critic of US foreign policy in China, calling on American leaders to rethink their messages, which often do not resonate with the Chinese public, and to use technology to broaden their reach, overcome stereotypes and quash conspiracy theories.
He says: "For too long the US has not paid attention to an important force in the Chinese economy: the rise of indigenous entrepreneurs. This is in sharp contrast to the US approach in India."
"It’s rare to hear such frank talk from someone born in Beijing, a person who goes on to say that the near-empty skyscrapers in the world’s third-largest economy are “time-bombs” India shouldn’t copy."
Hindustan Times
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