Visualizing information – Can u digg it?

Check out what digg labs has goin’ on. Its perty cool. Its not so much how the information is visualized that is cool but being able to scan quickly what people are diggin’ is alot of fun (and often times surprising).

The “stack” option is interesting and shows how often someone is ‘diggin’ something but i wonder what happens when a new story ‘appears’ . The ’swarm’ one, I haven’t figured out at all. Not really sure what its supposed to show.

I would love that as a screensaver!! APIs available soon….

What’s up with Thailand?

So I talked to my mom in Thailand today. She told me about the new bomb warnings for tomorrow (or is that today with the time change) in Bangkok. Since the bombings this past New Year there hasn’t really been any new infromation about who is behind all this. Theories are that its Thaksin’s cronies (but seriously, what would he hope to gain from the bombings) or the Muslim insurgency which is very troubling to me as Thailand has always been a country where people of different faiths coexist side of side peacefully. That is what made Thailand a great country despite its many shortcomings. It has always been a peaceful nation…now I am not so sure anymore. Anyways the theories seem to change weekly. Right now its the islamic insurgents being blamed.

A month ago I recieved a very disturbing email from a long chain of emails. The subject was simply “soooo bad” I read the attachment (see the Email attachment in Thai). It was basically ways in which the Thai muslim community should act so that the influence of the muslim community grows within Thailand. One instruction advised muslims to have as many children as possible to enlarge the Muslim community, urging the buddhist monks to fight amongst themselves, ’stealing’ more buddhist children to train for bomb making (since apparently they only have a couple of hundred trained ones left) It made me very sad. Although I am not saying this is true, the fact that something like this is sent around really makes me wonder what is happening to Thailand?

Google: Have I died and gone to heaven?

Upon entering the lobby, I had my choice of more ‘Naked’ fruit juices than a typical Manhattan deli. The toilets had ‘bidet’ functionality that allows you to clean your ‘privates’ with ease (the Jasmin Washlet, a remote-control, computerized toilet seat with more functions than your VCR) If that is not relaxing enough, try the massage chair to calm your nerves before th ‘big meeting’

As I walked towards the meeting room, I passed an impressive cafeteria which had an open kitchen and chefs infront of open flames apparently willing to conjure up anything your heart desires. (We weren’t allowed to eat at the cafeteria and instead had filled our stomachs at Quiznos down the block) In the halls I saw tables with snacks, salads, drinks, sandwiches just sitting there begging to be eaten. Our meeting had plates filled with mini pavlovas (a dessert I hadn’t seen since I’ve left New Zealand) and mini gourmet cupcakes of various flavors.

In the staff entrance there were motorized scooters that you can use your key card to unlock, incase your overly FULL stomach gets in the way of walking from building to building or just down the hall. (Orange safety jackets also provided)

If I ever worked at Google, I am sure that I would gain atleast 20 lbs in the first week (food and lack of exercise) Eating at home must surely be such a drag…why would you ever want to leave (I guess that’s the idea) How can you possibly compete with all that? FYI one of the folks in the meeting admitted that since the last 6 months he’s been at Google, there are more people that have joined Google since that time, than there were when he started. I guess they will need to hire a lot more chefs for their ‘themed’ cafeterias.

RASH – hear it straight from the horse’s mouth

A colleague of mine has been putting on a few solos shows in the past months about her life experiences. Living in NY, 80% of your friends are either in a band, does stand-up, is an artist or engage in some other ‘profession’ that involves your participation (and door cover) Everyone gets at least one free pass. One gig, one reading, one art show, one class (whatever it may be) You tend to be able to pick up signs, when a ‘friend’ really sucks at his/her chosen ‘profession’ If NO-ONE talks about thier past gigs (but them), that is usually an indication.

So my friend and I decided to go to Jenni’s show RASH at The Tank What the hell, it was 8$. Even if it was bad, it was atleast cheap, lasted only an hour and involved drinking before and after the ordeal to mitigate any possible pain to come. I was very pleasently surprised. Its a GREAT show.

The stories that Jenni tells bring the distant stories of the Rwandan genocide to a personal level. Yes, we have all seen Hotel Rwanda. Perhaps you may have even seen the HBO movie ‘Sometimes in April’, but sitting in that room with 100 other people, you feel that Jenni is telling you about what happened to her as if you were the person sitting across from her chair watching her knit. As you satrt realizing that these humanitarian workers are just normal people like you and me, you begin to listen to her stories as you would be listening to a dear friend who just got back from a post.

She spends the hour telling you about how she went from Scotland to being a UN monitor in post Genocide Rwanda. She talks about how her family kept asking her to ‘come home’ and how a parent should never bury a child. She talks about a multicultural love affair and the daily struggles of being a humanitarian worker in a conflict zone.

The stories struck an especially personal chord for me as I have a friend who is pretty much walking down that same road. The pull of being on the front lines, in constant danger versus the compromise of settling in one place and trying to have a personal life is something she contends with. People who live in that world of constant fear and danger have their own mechanisms of survival. There is a reason why they drink so much, smoke so much and fuck so much. As my Isreali friends constantly tell me, you have to live today like its your last day and every day is a celebration. My UNICEF friend is visiting me this week after spending 6 months in OPT. I imagine I will be watching another ‘one man show’ …only this time we will all be drinking and it will last much longer than an hour.

The short of it is…if the show RASH by Jenni Wolfson is playing in your area, please see it. Its great. (REALLY) Here’s another review by Coolkids if you still aren’t sold.