Good Articles On The Net/ Newspapers

[kastor]

New Statesman - Gender and agendas

Its a review for a new book

The Sexual Paradox: Troubled Boys, Gifted Girls and the Real Difference Between the Sexes by Susan Pinker

, but nicely written .............

[soumicruise]

Very nice one!

http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/4795/4903/1/1/

[AnkitaKayal]

"Were the consequences of underestimating terrorists neither so grave nor so fresh, it would be tempting to look at the seven men indicted on conspiracy charges for plotting to blow up the Sears Tower and laugh. Not so much at the suspects--five American citizens, a legal immigrant from Haiti and an illegal Haitian national, all of whose hardscrabble bios make them seem more sad than sinister--but at those who considered them a real threat to wage, as Attorney General Alberto Gonzales put it, "a full ground war against the United States." FBI deputy director John Pistole conceded that the men, part of a Miami group called Seas of David, were "more aspirational than operational," and its aspirations reeked of ineptitude. When alleged ringleader Narseal Batiste, 32, presented an FBI informant he thought was an al-Qaeda operative with a list of materials necessary for jihad, it did not include explosives. Instead Batiste asked for $50,000, radios, uniforms and steel-toed boots. Was the plan to blow the Sears Tower up or kick it down?............"

Complete text:-
The Jihadi Next Door? - TIME

Another one on the same subject :-

"..... "Are we interested in finding terrorists or creating them?" says Joshua Dratel, who has defended a number of suspects in other terrorism cases. "Even in cases where people are found guilty, I'm not sure that [this strategy] is necessarily finding people who are a genuine danger. What it's really doing is finding people who — with enough inducement and encouragement — may do something. But whether they would ever do anything on their own, we'll never know........"

Complete text:-
Preemptive Terror Trials: Strike Two - TIME

[AnkitaKayal]

The Wall Street Journal Online - Leisure & Arts

This is a review of the book 'The Black Swan' by 'Nassim Nicholas Taleb'

About the book:-
"A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives.

Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and time and time again fail to take into consideration what we don’t know. We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate opportunities, too vulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, and not open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the “impossible.”

For years, Taleb has studied how we fool ourselves into thinking we know more than we actually do. We restrict our thinking to the irrelevant and inconsequential, while large events continue to surprise us and shape our world. Now, in this revelatory book, Taleb explains everything we know about what we don’t know. He offers surprisingly simple tricks for dealing with black swans and benefiting from them."

[AnkitaKayal]

This is the transcript of J K Rowling's Harvard Commencement speech.
".....
Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.
Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. I had no idea how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time, any light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality.
So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.......... "

Full text:-
J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement : Harvard Magazine

Also some words by the Harvard's President as she introduced J K Rowling as the featured speaker:-

Distinguished guests, graduates and your families, alumni and alumnae, colleagues and friends – witches, wizards, and muggles of all ages – it’s a pleasure to be with you this afternoon.
Looking out from this stage, I’m not surprised that our gathering today includes what I’d imagine to be a record number of audience members who have not yet reached the age when even the most precocious of young people might enter college.
So, I want to say a special word of welcome not only to the members of the graduating Class of 2008 – but also to all of you who may someday be members of the Class of 2018, or 2019, or 2020.
It’s painful to admit, but however hard we might try, I’m afraid that Harvard would be hard pressed ever to measure up to the magic of Hogwarts.
We have our beautiful elms – but no whomping willows.
We have Veritas as our motto – but, though it might come in handy at times, we’ve had no luck concocting a veritas serum.
We have our great residential houses, with their own storied traditions – but, I’m sad to say, no sorting hat to figure out who belongs where.
And, of course, we have a head of the school– but, I have to admit, someone who’s not quite a year into the job, who would not for a moment claim to have the wisdom, let alone the otherworldly powers, of the inimitable Albus Dumbledore.
Still, it falls to me as Muggle in Chief to say a few words about Harvard, before I turn over the podium to our featured speaker. As one of her many admirers here today, I want to thank her for reminding us that reading wonderful books may well be the closest we ever really come to experiencing true magic. J. K. Rowling, thank you for Harry Potter, and thank you for being with us.

[fera]

Nytimes article on True Blood of HBO


The following article in Newyork Times talks about the advertisment campaign for the HBO series-True Blood.
It also talks about the company behind the hugely succesful campaign for "Blair witch project"-Campfire

Intersting how they expanded on the theme of the series ,creating a fan base even before it starts airing!My kind of marketing

[frigid sapphire]

It is not an article exactly but an open editorial.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/op...hp&oref=slogin

Nuclear Bomb, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghan , pak looks like somebody is still making mistakes.

[no signal]

High-Aptitude Minds: The Neurological Roots of Genius

Researchers are finding clues to the basis of brilliance in the brain

By Christian Hoppe and Jelena Stojanovic

Within hours of his demise in 1955, Albert Einstein’s brain was salvaged, sliced into 240 pieces and stored in jars for safekeeping. Since then, researchers have weighed, measured and otherwise inspected these biological specimens of genius in hopes of uncovering clues to Einstein’s spectacular intellect.
Their cerebral explorations are part of a century-long effort to uncover the neural basis of high intelligence or, in children, giftedness. Traditionally, 2 to 5 percent of kids qualify as gifted, with the top 2 percent scoring above 130 on an intelligence quotient (IQ) test. (The statistical average is 100. See the box on the opposite page.) A high IQ increases the probability of success in various academic areas. Children who are good at reading, writing or math also tend to be facile at the other two areas and to grow into adults who are skilled at diverse intellectual tasks [see “Solving the IQ Puzzle,” by James R. Flynn; Scientific American Mind, October/November 2007].


read further...

[AlpeshChaudhari]

Look at the following post for the link to an article & a video.

A must read & watch for everyone.

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/chit-c...ml#post1202861 (Videos:Youtube and More,Videos You Wanna Share.!)

[aayush_badmash]

Keep the Spark Alive


Inaugural Speech for the new batch at the Symbiosis BBA program, Pune
23rd June, 2008


By Chetan Bhagat


Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to
you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the
comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in
your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when
one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you
were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would
the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new
classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement,
the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am
going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way,
how to be happy most, if not all the time.


Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old
twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump
on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from
daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party –
several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own
birthday cake.


I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older
people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark
fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless
and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second
half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the
spark?


Imagine the spark to be a lamp's flame. The first aspect is nurturing - to
give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against
storms.


To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and
achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible
for you. It isn't any external measure - a certain cost to company pay
package, a particular car or house.


Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks
is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints
force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement. But it
isn't the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show
up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve
Jobs won't be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for
billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to
work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because
it makes them feel alive. Just getting better from current levels feels
good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort
to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice,
your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become
Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next
level is important..

Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we
were born.. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature's
design. Are you? Goals will help you do that.


I must add, don't just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you
a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful.
Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in
good order.


There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There
is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if
your mind is full of tensions.


You must have read some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or
whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in
nursery school, where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your
mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life,
where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth
it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but
this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.





One last thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. One
of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student
asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice.
The teacher said - don't be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my
work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of
my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is
heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously,
how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken
seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card
with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And
50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up?
It's ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are
people, not programmed devices.


I've told you three things - reasonable goals, balance and not taking it
too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms
in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be
guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and
loneliness of purpose.


Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected
return. If things don't go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is
extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What
did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will
feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine
publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low
grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you. But
it's life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a
challenge. And remember - if you are failing at something, that means you
are at your limit or potential. And that's where you want to be.


Disappointment's cousin is frustration, the second storm. Have you ever
been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially
relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve,
sometimes things take so long that you don't know if you chose the right
goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought
they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years
to get close to a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns your
initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did
I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a
long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain
enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was
learning how to write scripts, having a side plan – I had my third book to
write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life
- friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to
be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too
seriously.


Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how
our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces,
pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere.
And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in
India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit
and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but
the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But
realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an
opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means
you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let's be grateful for what
we have and get the strength to accept what we don't. I have so much love
from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don't
get literary praise. It's ok. I don't look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have
two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It's ok. Don't let
unfairness kill your spark..


Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is isolation. As you grow
older you will realize you are unique.. When you are little, all kids want
Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot
like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What
you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from
even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may
not match with others. . And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains
in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their
second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it
for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that
compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.


There you go. I've told you the four thunderstorms - disappointment,
frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the
monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need
to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.


I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone
gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I
also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way
as they do today.. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through
college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but
my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more
than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying - I
come from the land of a billion sparks.


Thank You!