Southern Comfort →

Published January 31, 2014  ·  All posts on Jan 31

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Don’t waste time →

Published January 29, 2014  ·  All posts on Jan 29  ·  

Be a good person, but don’t waste time trying to prove it.

~ unknown

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The NSA behemoth →

Published January 28, 2014  ·  All posts on Jan 28

The spate of new NSA disclosures substantially raises the stakes of this debate. We now know that the intelligence establishment systematically undermines oversight by lying to both Congress and the courts. We know that the NSA infiltrates internet standard-setting processes to security protocols that make surveillance harder. We know that the NSA uses persuasion, subterfuge, and legal coercion to distort software and hardware product design by commercial companies.

~ Yochai Benkler, from Time to tame the NSA behemoth trampling our rights

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Electricity usage continues to decline →

Published January 27, 2014  ·  All posts on Jan 27

Because of more energy-efficient housing, appliances and gadgets, power usage is on track to decline in 2013 for the third year in a row, to its lowest point since 2001, even though our lives are more electrified.

~ Jonathan Fahey, from Home electricity use in US falling to 2001 levels

slip:4upyne8.

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Refining the Spirit of Parkour →

Published January 26, 2014  ·  All posts on Jan 26  ·  

“Parkour is a movement discipline based on using only the body to interact with the environment and navigate one’s surroundings.”

It’s sort of long winded and it isn’t the kind of sentence that is going to sell parkour to an onlooker immediately, but I think that real philosophical grounding comes from strongly defined terms. Whether one’s style of parkour is efficient (fast), superfluous (flashy), direct (a to b), meandering (flow), applied (real situations), or supplemental (conditioning), I think that the above definition manages to cover the things that traceurs do.

~ Albert Kong, from «http://www.lethalbeef.com/blog/?p=193»

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USS Furse →

Published January 25, 2014  ·  All posts on Jan 25

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Interstellar →

Published January 24, 2014  ·  All posts on Jan 24

Our greatest accomplishments cannot be behind us, because our destiny lies above us.

~ Teaser Trailer for Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’ Starring Matthew McConaughey

Interstellar. November.

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Our numbered days →

Published January 23, 2014  ·  All posts on Jan 23  ·  

Here is a list of fearful things:
The jaws of sharks, a vulture’s wings,
The rabid bite of the dog’s of war,
The voice of one who went before.
But most of all the mirror’s gaze,
which counts us out our numbered days.

~ Clive Barker

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Sharks on Twitter →

Published January 22, 2014  ·  All posts on Jan 22

Government researchers have tagged 338 sharks with acoustic transmitters that monitor where the animals are. When a tagged shark is about half a mile away from a beach, it triggers a computer alert, which tweets out a message on the Surf Life Saving Western Australia Twitter feed. The tweet notes the shark’s size, breed and approximate location.

~ Alan Yu, from More Than 300 Sharks In Australia Are Now On Twitter

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Mercy does not exists without more severe options →

Published January 21, 2014  ·  All posts on Jan 21

I certainly don’t doubt for a minute that O Sensei could have devastated his training partners. Their ukemi demonstrate their respect for that potential. But I’m told that Saito Sensei opined that without mercy, ukemi is impossible. Certainly that is not to imply that practicing severe forms and injuring people has a place in the dojo. Practicing the severe forms short of injury, however, may be fundamental. Without that, how can you personally claim to be merciful? You, whatever your mental state or intentions, would be constrained by your limited technical knowledge.

~ Charles Warren, from «http://blog.aikidojournal.com/2012/07/15/on-mercy-by-charles-warren/»

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