Bernie Krause has spent 40 years recording nature’s sounds. But such is the rate of species and habitat loss that his tapes may become our only record of the original diversity of life
via ‘A great silence is spreading over the natural world’ | Environment | theguardian.com.
Funny how these are so crazy popular here and in Europe, whereas on my recent trip to Washington and Virginia, I didn’t see even one. Also, on my last check, the new generation of electric bicycles hadn’t yet reached India – apparently not even in Auroville, which once led the way with electric vehicles.
Despite appearances, the technological map is still very uneven. What’s popular in one place is relatively unknown in another. I first noticed this a few years ago. Five years ago in Delhi, huge capacity usb thumb drives were available – it’s true that they used some sort of compression technology that depended on MS windows. But I hadn’t seen these anywhere else.
I deactivated my personal Twitter account two or three weeks ago because I did not like the direction the company seems to be moving in. I suppose I didn’t want to become angry with a company whose service I have often found to be rewarding and useful, and wished to part on amicable terms.
I enjoyed Twitter more than Facebook or Google+, whose accounts I’ve kept. But as a rule do not participate much in those networks. For now, besides WordPress, GNU Social is where I put stuff. I’m thinking to set up either a personal instance of GNU Social, or a Friendica or Red instance, on my new Raspberry Pi.
Installed Debian Testing (Jessie) Linux on my Dell Vostro V130. This is the first time I am trying a “plain vanilla” Debian distribution. I found that everything works before adding Debian’s non-free sources, so this means essentially that the only thing that is non-free about this laptop is the Bios. I’m not so strict personally, and I did eventually install the non-free repositories and additional software. I need things like Flash and Skype in order to work.
I find Debian Testing to be quite polished – as much as Ubuntu 14.4, which exists along-side it on another partition. I installed the Gnome 3 desktop. Unfortunately this is not quite as fast on my Intel i3 / 4 GB RAM machine as Ubuntu’s Unity interface, not to speak of XFCE or the even more lightweight desktops. However it is serviceable. I think Gnome 3 is more elegant than Unity, though I know some people still despise it. I’m a little tired of that aging Windows 95 look and the Mac knock-offs. I might try replacing Nautilus with PCMan, for greater speed.
I came around to this installation after working quite hard to find a Puppy Linux style RAM distribution that I can use on both my laptop and Netbook. Puppy itself is a shade too clumsy for permanent use, but it’s still the best distribution of its kind. I will be leaving Puppy Slacko on my netbook. I treated the latter to a new battery during my recent state-side visit, as well as an antireflective screen protector. I installed the latter rather clumsily, but it beats staring at my own reflection.
I’ve decided not to do any computer purchases when visiting my parents in the US this time. My 3 year old Dell Vostro V13, which came with and still runs on Ubuntu, is still fine. It has an i3 processor and is quite fast enough for my needs. It’s just that this machine has a very poor battery and is a bit large for traveling, though last year I took it both to India and the US. When in the US last year i did replace the battery, but it didn’t help much, and it’s back to about half an hour on a full charge.
I also have a four-year-old eeePC 1005PE, and that’s the one I’m going to take to the US and probably for my 2 months in India this year. It has a slow Atom processor, a 1024 x 768 pixel 10 inch screen, and is actually quite heavy for its size. That machine impressed reviewers at the time it came out with its long battery life – it lasts 8 – 11 hours on a full charge. Now my battery is down to about a third, so I’ve ordered a new one at $35.
The eeePC, which I originally got for my wife, runs on Windows 7 starter, though I hardly ever use that. I run it on Puppy Linux (Slacko) on USB. I’ve customized the distro quite a bit, adding LibreOffice, GIMP, Emacs and many other programs. On Puppy, the eepc is still fast enough. For email, modern AJAXy interfaces are a bit slow so it’s better to use Sylpheed. The 1024 x 768 screen and cramped keyboard are still annoying, but it’s a matter of using the machine wisely.
I can also use the Puppy on thumb drive on my Vostro, and do that sometimes instead of Ubuntu.
Israel’s wars are usually a time of reflection for me. Other than follow what’s going on in the news, via Twitter and news sites, there isn’t a lot I feel I can do. I’ve given up trying to influence public opinion. I share stories and comments that disturb me or I find interesting. But that’s more a matter of keeping a log – as is is this post.
“One year ago, we learned that the internet is under surveillance, and our activities are being monitored to create permanent records of our private lives — no matter how innocent or ordinary those lives might be.
Today, we can begin the work of effectively shutting down the collection of our online communications, even if the US Congress fails to do the same. That’s why I’m asking you to join me on June 5th for Reset the Net, when people and companies all over the world will come together to implement the technological solutions that can put an end to the mass surveillance programs of any government. This is the beginning of a moment where we the people begin to protect our universal human rights with the laws of nature rather than the laws of nations.
We have the technology, and adopting encryption is the first effective step that everyone can take to end mass surveillance. That’s why I am excited for Reset the Net — it will mark the moment when we turn political expression into practical action, and protect ourselves on a large scale.
Join us on June 5th, and don’t ask for your privacy. Take it back.”
Fighting for the Future is encouraging everyone to download the tools in the Reset the Net Privacy Pack at: http://pack.resetthenet.org
Lately, from inside my little sandbox view of the universe, I’ve been thinking that left or right might not matter so much in the Israeli context. The Zionist left had its chances to make peace and failed, miserably. They didn’t even manage to to make Palestinian Israelis feel at home. The anti-Zionist left only managed to scare people. But the Israeli right are doing a wonderful job of winning more and more votes while competing with one another over who can be more nationalistic. Their greedy vision of one big Emmental Jewish nation with smaller and smaller air holes for anyone else to breathe will surely win. But when we peel away the covering, the cheese inside will turn out to be one solid, pungent blue-veined Gorgonzola, rather than the mild tasting product they were hoping for.
There will be a lot of thwarted expectations and pain, but in the end, Jews and Palestinians will get the nation they didn’t know they wanted, and learn to live in it together. Whether right-wing or left-wing politicians offer the shortest route to that inevitable point, it’s becoming harder and harder to decide.
GNU Social is a fairly mature federated Twitter-style network based on (and merged with) Status.Net – the free open source network devised by Evan Prodromou. Prodromou and his company E14N has gone on to create yet another network called Pump.io, but remains involved with GNU Social too.
“The supreme Shastra of the integral Yoga is the eternal Veda secret in the heart of every thinking and living being. The lotus of the eternal knowledge and the eternal perfection is a bud closed and folded up within us. It opens swiftly or gradually, petal by petal, through successive realisations, once the mind of man begins to turn towards the Eternal, once his heart, no longer compressed and confined by attachment to finite appearances, becomes enamoured, in whatever degree, of the Infinite. All life, all thought, all energising of the faculties, all experiences passive or active, become thenceforward so many shocks which disintegrate the teguments of the soul and remove the obstacles to the inevitable efflorescence. He who chooses the Infinite has been chosen by the Infinite. He has received the divine touch without which there is no awakening, no opening of the spirit; but once it is received, attainment is sure, whether conquered swiftly in the course of one human life or pursued patiently through many stadia in the cycle of existence in the manifested universe.”
Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga
All his writings are available for PDF download at:
http://www.sriaurobindoashram.org/ashram/sriauro/writings.php
(By using Calibre, you can re-format these for any device.)
