a couple of interesting talks

Noam Chomsky was at Google - Boston a few weeks back. It was without doubt one of the most impressive orations -- Dr. Chomsky was at his best with his dry humor and often controversial opinions.

Dr. Chomsky did not present on any particular topic as such. Instead he just had people ask him questions at the outset. Therefore, the entire discourse was characteristically impromptu. Here is a list of questions that were asked,.. just to give you an idea about the range of issues that he addressed:

How have your ideas on universal grammar changed over the years? Are you more or less convinced of the theory now than you were initially?

You are well known for your criticism of our current generation's lack of insight and sense of history. What do you see in the younger generation that you personally find energizing and encouraging? (FF to around 16 mins)

Back after a while

Yeah its been a while.

There was so much to think about that nothing could be thought.

I remember an interview with Joan Didion on her book, The Year of Magical Thinking on NPR's Fresh Air. I never read the book, but it was about life after a member of the family passes away. I forget how I heard it, but it was probably when I was driving back from work. It just stuck with me.. there was a tremendous amount of sadness in her voice although she had probably thought about it on countless moments and even written a whole book about it.

One thing I realized though was how resilient we can be. Life does find a way to live on, but everything just feels more ephemeral.

retelling the wonder years with gmaps

Google released a new feature in its Maps, allowing users to create and share customized maps. At first, I did not realize its versatility,... then I saw some examples... route 66, googleplex, olympic host cities. I decided to take the leap and create my own. It took me a few hours, but I was actually proud of what I created by the end.