SETI Institute: DONATE
I know that between earthquakes and tornados there are plenty of worthy causes out there right now, but for what it’s worth, this is where I put my money.
Giving Taxpayers Choice Could Boost Satisfaction With Big Government And Boost Social Spending
This is a brilliant idea. The short summary I’ve linked above is definitely worth reading, and if I can get my hands on the original paper I’d love to read it as well, but in short, the idea is:
Well, you know when you’re filling out your taxes, you have that box that says, “would you like to contribute to a political campaign?” In Poland, you can give 1% of your taxes to a charity of your choice, so every year in April there are billboards all over the country with sad pictures of sick or poor children asking for your 1%. And you know what? It works. It’s not much, and a lot of charities without the funds for billboards get left behind, but it’s a start.
So the idea here is to expand on that. What if you could choose how part of your taxes are used - say, 10%, or even 25%? The majority of your taxes are still handled by the government and dedicated to what it deems necessary (or what the most powerful lobbyists have decided, but that depends on the country, of course). But even 10% of the taxes of a nation of people is a significant amount, and can directly influence spending decisions much more efficiently than a Congress full of representatives being pushed around by special interests.
I would love to see this implemented in a small, progressive country like Sweden or the Netherlands, and see if it could be used as a model for larger countries down the road.
glasgow-kiss asked: Hej Ania,
Sto lat z okazji urodzin ten-ten. --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_KB5nA9iMg
Ja za miesiąc obchodzę 29-te eleven-eleven a za rok 30-te eleven-eleven-eleven! AAAAAA! :-)
Cudownie, że miałaś okazję pojechać na Islandię. Z tego co czytam musiało być MAGICZNIE. Mam kilka pytań (jeśli nie masz nic przeciwko). W jaki sposób organizowałaś cały wyjazd? Tanie bilety lotnicze? Ktoś znajomy na miejscu? Couchsurfing? Wybacz moją ciekawość, ale sama będę chciała zorganizować podobny wyjazd i zbieram wszelkie potrzebne info.
Z góry dziękuję za odpowiedź.
Sabina xoxo
Sorry it took so long to answer (and that I’m answering in English because I’m too lazy to run a grammar/spell check if I write in Polish =)
Ok, I flew there on Icelandair, the one cheap airline that goes there from KRK. I contacted some people on couchsurfing.com, but that didn’t pan out so we ended up staying at this apartment, which was quite affordable and nice and the location was great, even if it was a bit of a walk to the very centre of Reykjavik. In general, you can get a nice central apartment for under 50 euro per night in the off season, which is good considering how expensive Reykjavik can be.
We hadn’t planned on renting a car, so we didn’t have anything organized, but the apartment had some information about car rental and when we asked the manager he actually booked a car for us that was quite cheap. I think that was the best way to see Iceland, as hitchhiking is great if you have a lot of time, but if you don’t the buses may end up costing you more than renting a car, and you have a lot more freedom and can see more on your own.
One of the coolest things we did was spend a night on a horse farm, and then went riding the next morning. It wasn’t cheap but if it’s something you want to do it’s worth saving up for, and the hospitality (and homemade Icelandic food) are totally worth it. There are tons of horse farms with guesthouses in the south of Iceland where we drove through, with flyers advertising them at just about every tourist spot and gas station.
Basically, I did some early research online, asked the advice of a couple of friends who had been there, and booked and planned everything myself. It’s totally doable, and better (and cheaper) than any packaged trip out there.
And happy very belated birthday to you too!
I have at least six different to-do or productivity apps on one laptop, two on the other. I have three on my phone. And what do I use on a mind-numbingly busy day like today?
openwings-deactivated20111018 asked: I just read your "About Me" section on your website :)
I heartily concur. Haha.
So does XKCD =)
openwings-deactivated20111018 asked: I'm unsure of biological immortality, but aiming for artistic immortality is rather hubristic. The most any one of us can hope for is to find purpose within our lives, to give meaning to our lives, and contribute something to civilization. Any of the greats that have left humanity shaken: Einstein, Gandhi, Picasso, Mozart etc. were never intent on gaining immortality, they were driven by madness and by passion so wild that it consumed them. If they could not do what they loved to, they would have died trying. To aim to be put on a pedestal by your fellow human beings is the mark of an unlearned and unwise person. (This is not directed at you, but all of the millions that try to do it on a daily basis)
I agree wholeheartedly, and I should have clarified by saying that what I wrote is not something that lingers on anyone’s consciousness, but rather how the world is divided in hindsight. Anyone questing for immortality for immortality’s sake is leading an empty existence.
I mean, have you ever met anyone who introduced their new baby as their “Vehicle for genetic immortality. That poops.”?
On Immortality
As creatures of flesh that crumbles and consciousness that fades, we only have two roads to immortality, and one is easier and thus chosen by most, and one is infinitely more difficult and even the ones who choose it, inadvertently or not, usually fail. Some may try both, but in the end one will always be sacrificed, whether through lack of attention or logistical failings. We have two choices: genetic or artistic immortality.
Genetic immortality is self-explanatory. You reproduce, have a kid or a dozen, pass on not only your genes (though, biologically, that’s really the only purpose of our existence) but your ideas, teachings, and the traditions of your family and your language and your nation, and hope your kids live on to do the same.
Artistic immortality is much trickier. You must give birth to an idea so potent, so pivotal it becomes part of the human story, and is passed on from generation to generation. Perhaps there’s a better name for it than “artistic” immortality, as I don’t mean just creating a visual or auditory masterpiece a la da Vinci or Beethoven (though that’s certainly one way); Einstein, Heisenberg, Darwin, Copernicus, Satre, Curie, Marx, Rand, Newton… all of them did this, for better or for worse, and that’s the level of ingenuity each and every one of us is competing with for immortality.
Perhaps that’s what separates humans from the rest of the animal kingdom: our belief that we are more than our genes, that ideas can live on just as organisms do. Ideas evolve, adapt, and sometimes die out, but once they’re out there they become separate entities with fates no longer bound to their originators.
Of course, the word “immortality” is misleading itself, as unless we make contact with intelligent beings from other worlds or the robot singularity occurs or a new, even more intelligent species evolves on Earth, both types of immortalities are tied to the mortality of the human race. But since we’re a part of that closed group labelled “human”, we can’t see past the event horizon anyway, so this simulated immortality will just have to do.
Thoughts?
Polish feminism? Count me in, darling | Aleksandra Szyllo | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
I’m going to apologize for my absence from this blog by declaring my continued absence from this blog until things settle down, and sharing some links.
First of all, the above article mirrors my experience in Poland so well I literally could not have written it better. Enjoy, then get pissed off.
Second, some friends and I started an ambient record label, which partly explains my absence. Enjoy: Preserved Sound.
Finally, after over a month of stuffing my face with tacos and beer in Texas and averaging maybe one run a week, I’m starting a serious strength training routine, partly because I have a Kung Fu exam at the end of the month, and partly because I’m inspired by this.
In short, it might be a while before the blogging bug bites me again (and you get to see such stellar examples of alliteration again), but in the meantime, I’ll be leveling up physically and financially, and hopefully mentally as well.
