staying.cool

genius involves nudity and censorship. sheer genius involves playing pong with them

some of the things that have struck me recently. and none of them via the many blogs i read

a 20 year research experiment on evolution has yielded its first results. a lot of analysis remains, but some truly shattering ideas have been formed as a results.

an interesting analysis of the tata nano and its repurcussions for a growing india. [via shiladitya]

wired has a bunch of articles on a recent ruling in the 1st ever P2P distribution case to come to court wherein the judge decided that no actual true proof of distribution of copyrighted content is required to prove guilt. this plaintiff had the genuis idea of using a consistent online identity everywhere including on kazaa. there are counterarguments, but it is to be noted that the off-chance of unauthorized distribution and making whole-sale copies for unauthorized distribution are essentially the same ‘crime’ for the MPAA, and should be classified together. one of my favorite cases is the one where the RIAA downloaded illegal songs from a guy to prove intent of unauthorized distribution, and are now facing an appeal as this means they implicitly authorized the download

as a side note i wonder why wired has a poll on whether mccain should learn to use a computer ? i further wonder why such a guy is being encouraged to lead the US. then i realize that the US is always, always going to be the zenith for stupidity.

to round it up, a highly inventive video: [via digg]

but then, be intelligent about it.

This is simply brilliant in terms of creativity.

However, it doesn’t seem to be actually selling the product…

[via VSL]

unlike of course, the nike ad for cricket. ah, we crazy indians..

the lack of options for watching the world cup live.. has meant i’ve to rely on esoteric means such as 3D cricinfo. please, tell me if you know of any such free options..
incidentally, the worst place to check the progress of the damned thing - and indulge in the discussions that we all have to have as to whether possibly the worst indian team to hit the world cup is going to win - is the official site. CRAPPY. and not even updated. nice.

and then, we have 3D photography. one of the things coming out of live labs. photosynth is a tech preview beyond any other.

and ai.. at a whole new level. 20q does a pretty decent job of playing ‘20 questions’. for any object/person. a little freaky.

and then we have google trends. and the random sets of searches that you can generate.

[there are some others lying around here. expect updates.. hopefully..]

the campaign for real beauty.. shows us all just where we screw up.

real beauty. does it even exist anymore ?