February 2012
21 posts
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It's a state of mind
via youtube.com And the cello kicks ass!
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Microfinance - contribution on poverty reduction:...
Development agencies have promoted microfinance — the provision of small financial loans to poor people — because it is supposed to help poor people move out of poverty. After a comprehensive review of existing studies, with particular focus on recent randomized control trials, Roodman says that just isn’t true. “On current evidence, the best estimate of the average impact of...
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(no subject)
“Intelligence. Nothing has caused the human race so much trouble as intellignece.” ― Thelma Ritter as Stella in “Rear Window” via goodreads.com
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Cutie & nostalgia
via youtube.com bom bom bomfalleralla
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"Intangible religious benefits"
A statement indicating whether or not any goods or services were provided in return for the gift; receipts from religious organizations must include a statement indicating that “intangible religious benefits” were provided but they have no monetary value for tax purposes via nonprofitexpert.com If you have donated to a religious charity in...
The Gender Neutral Pronoun Debate
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WTF 4 days to go
It’s not fair.
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To a flatmate with good music taste
via youtube.com At 3:17 it really takes off.
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What's wrong with TED...?
The way TED talks fuse sales-pitch slickness with evangelical intensity leads to perhaps the most damming argument against the TED epistemology: It necessarily leaves out other groups and other ways of knowing and presenting ideas. As Paul Currion tweeted, TED seems “unaware of its own ideological bias.” Let’s take one example. Take a wild guess which gender is massively over-represented as TED...
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All cash transfers above Rs1,000 to be transferred...
Panel says all cash transfers above Rs.1,000 should be made electronically into #Aadhaar-linked accounts… bit.ly/xEUA9s #India #UIDAI— Shrey Goyal (@ShreyGoyal) February 24, 2012 Increasingly, the ability to prove your identity and citizenship through the universal ID scheme of the Indian government will become the main way to access benefits from the government. I can’t come to terms with...
Decriminalizing homosexuality in India
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The two sleeps or They myth of the 8 hour rest
Much like the experience of Wehr’s subjects, these references describe a first sleep which began about two hours after dusk, followed by waking period of one or two hours and then a second sleep. “It’s not just the number of references - it is the way they refer to it, as if it was common knowledge,” Ekirch says. During this waking period people were quite active. They...
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World Bank Chief Economist, 1991: Let's move...
DATE: December 12, 1991 TO: Distribution FR: Lawrence H. Summers Subject: GEP ‘Dirty’ Industries: Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs [Less Developed Countries]? I can think of three reasons: 1) The measurements of the costs of health impairing pollution depends on the foregone...
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Early this morning
Women hold the keys to sustainable development
https://twitter.com/inclusivecities/status/171670861168910336
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Shatabdi to Saharanpur
So pretty!
via youtube.com
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Aomame
Aomame, 1Q84, Haruki Murakami 5’6…Not once ounce of excess fat…The left ear much bigger than the right, and malformed, but her hair always covers her ears…Lips formed a tight straight line…Small narrow nose, somewhat protruding cheekbones, broad forehead, and long, straight eyebrows…[Face is a] Pleasing oval shape…Extreme paucity of expression. (Suggested by goya-galileo-vangogh ) ...
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Sundays
Haruki Murakami, 1Q84
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My container farm - phase 1
So, there’s this guy named Dr Doshi in Mumbai. Apparently he grows a ton of things on his terrace, and he’s written a couple of passionate books on the topic. When I got interested in how you could produce food, and especially how you could recycle your food waste and use it as a basis for growing your own food, I found his instruction manuals and figured I’d want to try his...
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The other story
From Nilanjan S. Roy, Listening to Rushdie:Midnight’s Children tears up the textbook version of Indian Independence; one of the ways to counter, for instance, the hagiography of the Gandhi family, those full-page ads featuring Indira and her progeny is to read Rushdie’s portrait of the Widow and what she did during the Emergency. But in these times, there are other writers who continue to write...
January 2012
12 posts
4 tags
Where the Mehrauli flower market ain't no more
I was told that this market had been there for 100s of years - in fact maybe one of the oldest in India. Thankfully, on my last visit to Mehrauli I was relieved to see that such a blotch on the face of the world class city of Delhi had been conveniently relocated.
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Mocha has some seriously strange mixes of music...
via youtube.com … and their waffles are kind of shit.
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A little bit desperate and a trifle horrified
When there’s no Kindle for quotes in physical texts here comes the offline version:
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How long is thirty days?
via youtube.com Now, this is a movie I can’t wait to see!
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Oh noes!
via xkcd.com
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Begumpur Masdjid take 2
Begumpur used to lie in the middle of the city called Jahanpanah which was one of the many capital cities founded around Dilli. The village, which is now integrated with colonies like Malviya Nagar, still feels separate from the urban sprawl of modern South Delhi in the way that Shahpur Jat, Hauz Khas, Mehrauli and other villages around are. On the road between Mehrauli and Shahjahanbad it has...
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How many parrots?
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23 & 1/2 hours & the best thing you can do for...
via youtube.com
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Children of the Night
via youtube.com Dilli Kids at Night
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Begumpur Masdjid
The garden on the roof
See the full gallery on Posterous Oranges, salad, special spice and begun!
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My Very Own Futuristic Townships
The Times of India Property, January 7, 2012:“Real estate firm Ireo also claims to be developing some townships which are futuristic in nature. ‘As one of India’s largest private equity FDI investors in real estate development, we have always had a very clear vision of resetting the bar in terms of quality of life provided to homebuyers in India, bringing it on a par with the...
December 2011
4 posts
Two Babies on A Plane
From http://m.npr.org/story/144123663?url=/2011/12/22/144123663/have-pacifier-will-travel-babies-on-board&sc=fb&cc=fp# by Simon Rich The holidays are a busy time, particularly for those people who travel far to see relatives and spend time with friends. Sitting on an airplane can be a frustrating experience, especially when there’s a crying baby on board. Author and comedian Simon...
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Vacation in Kendall Family
The revenue generating diaspora
Not sure, but my flight sure has a lot of less than rich looking people, like the Ryanair flight from eastern europe here are the money makers for places with lots of gulf workers like Kerala. Of course, as soon as the gate opens there’s a rush and crush and everybody queues up as close to each other as they can. Feels like home.
Oh no I shrunk the world pt 13
Sitting in the airport ng for my flight to start boarding, somewhat amazed that in my hand I have a device that allows me to blog for free from 80 odd countries (my Kindle). Take that as an excuse for any misspelling. Sao Paulo felt like Dilli in the way that it is probably a city you dont quite get if you just visit and learn to like if you live there. I had low expectations and enjoyed the...
November 2011
30 posts
purchased “Secrets” for $2.99 from iTunes *http://bit.ly/uSSGC1
purchased “Chupacabra” for $2.99 from iTunes *http://bit.ly/u6KSe5
purchased “Dirty Little Secrets” for $2.99 from iTunes *http://bit.ly/vYtuhR
purchased “SomaFM Radio Player, v1.2, Developer: http://t.co/Hnh7JGSP, LLC (12+)” for $8.00 from iTunes *http://bit.ly/vxrnAQ
purchased “Cherokee Rose” for $2.99 from iTunes *http://bit.ly/tJNirP
Autocomplete http://t.co/nfQhMKGa *http://bit.ly/tYEbww
Autocomplete
My sister googles “why b” autocomplete suggests: ”why boys are better than girls” My sister googles “why g” autocomplete suggests: “why get married” or “why god why” I google “why b” autocomplete suggests: “why buy an ipad” I google “why g” autocomplete suggests: “why gluten free”,...
BBC World Challenge Finalist makes Biogas from Trash http://t.co/YaLxYT3L #biogas #india *http://bit.ly/uK6uCS
No more sexting in Pakistan… http://t.co/o0hSLY5t #censorship #pakistan #sex #sms *http://bit.ly/umB1WG
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No more sexting in Pakistan...
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has banned 1,795 expletives on SMS, ordering telecom companies to filter out SMS-es containing these offending words with effect from 21 November 2011. The letter includes a list of 1,109 English words, more pornographic terms than expletives, and another 586 Urdu words which are more colourful sexual expletives of the standard South Asian kind rather...
Why worry about what happens in Burma, when these things go on in the universities in the Land of the Free? htt… *http://bit.ly/so3kMI
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Why worry about what happens in Burma, when these...
via thelede.blogs.nytimes.com Apparently, posting tents and sitting on lawns is such a threat to law and order that mace, oodles of mace, is required?
Science makes things beautiful http://t.co/J5xMeVPx *http://bit.ly/vvqRRL