Vorsprung durch Technik

I also hope that recent incidents do not reflect a general resentment of Indians in particular.  With education being a significant export earner, governments and universities have a significant incentive to inject their own spin, rather than insight.

In Letters to The Editor, The Age, June 3rd, 2009

Thugs don’t think

I COMMEND Akash Arora’s article (Comment, 2/6) and agree that it is general violence by street thugs that is the problem, not racism. It is incorrect to typecast Australia as more racist than any other nation. It is dangerous to get distracted by a supposed race issue.

Rather than focus on higher penalties, money needs to be spent on transport security and supervision of public areas, with a broad crackdown on violence. The thugs don’t generally think of consequences. They hardly think at all. They simply pick on anyone who is weaker or not part of their tribe.

Chris Peters, Eltham

Nigel Stewart Australia, Commentary Australia, higher education, india, racism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jvvcz58FPA

Nigel Stewart Graphics, Tech youtube

As mentioned over on I’ Been to Ubunutu:

The only netbook running Linux on Amazon’s Top 25 Netbooks list is the EEE 901, sitting at #19. The war is over, folks.

Two thoughts on this:

• If netbooks drifting towards laptops in terms of usage and cost, does the moniker mean much anymore?
• XP is familiar territory for a lot of computer users.  It is hard to imagine a Windows being faster and better than XP on low-spec (true netbook) computers.

I was actually shopping for a Linux netbook recently and was a bit shocked to realise that even ASUS seemed to have switched everything from Linux to XP.  Virus scanning slowdown and power consumption is one big reason I would be reluctant to have an XP netbook.  That and the importance of installing software updates every week or so.

Nigel Stewart Linux, Tech Linux, netbook, xp

Letters to The Editor, The Age.

Believers - or not?

SO 54 per cent of Australians believe Jesus rose from the dead. I am astonished that the percentage is so high. What surprises me even more is that these numbers have not translated into more people following Jesus.

If the resurrection of Jesus Christ happened in history, something I am convinced of, how is it that so many Australians believe it is irrelevant to everyday life? It’s like believing in the discovery of penicillin and yet refusing to use it.

Pastor Murray Campbell, Mentone

Nigel Stewart Australia, Commentary Australia, illogical, relevant, religion

A recent ABC Background Briefing radio documentary looks at the role of MBA education in the current financial crisis: MBA: Mostly bloody awful.

What we taught were very simplified and not necessarily accurate models of human behaviour, that over time become self-fulfilling. And so there was this model that in fact by basically being self-interested to an extreme, that was the appropriate way to behave and act. And what that does over time, because this is not an innocent exercise, it actually over time because it is a professional school, comes to shape the identity of those individuals. That is, they begin to see themselves in those views. And one of the consequences of that is that if you look with respect to executive compensation for example, and the incentives around that, the view becomes that I actually have to be compensated to do the job I was hired for, and on top of that you have to bribe me with stock options to make sure I do that job. In no other occupation or profession is that part of the modus operandi.

Nigel Stewart Australia, Commentary, USA business, education, leadership, mba, podcast

From:http://www.flickr.com/groups/austinstreet/pool/

Nigel Stewart Austin art, Austin, graffiti, street art, Texas

Japanese photographer and architect Hiroshi Sugimoto interviewed by The Japan Times regarding the album cover for the new U2 album “No Line on the Horizon“.

I was planning to buy the album as an mp3 download, but perhaps an “old fashioned CD” with some worthwhile artwork would be fun after all.

Nigel Stewart Uncategorized hirosh sugimoto, japan times, music, no line on the horizon, U2

• Tango Argentino Dance & Music Performance
• San Antonio Symphony - Sibilius’ First
• The Pajama Game
• The Mikado
• Elton John & Billy Joel
• Mission San José
• Mission Hike and Bike Trail
• Brackenridge Park
• Redline Cheer & Dance championships
• Tower of the Americas
• Mizummi Con San Japan

Nigel Stewart Austin San Antonio, Texas, Weekend

For the first time, Austin-based, Grammy nominated Conspirare and esteemed Artistic Director Craig Hella Johnson bring their exquisite sound to national television in A COMPANY OF VOICES: CONSPIRARE IN CONCERT, a one-hour choral concert produced for PBS.

Nigel Stewart Austin Austin, choral, concert, klru

Letters to The Editor, The Age:

No problems with atheists after all

CATHERINE Deveny (Metropolis, 23/2) seems to have formed a view of APN Outdoor based on incorrect information. APN Outdoor has run ads for a diverse range of religious organisations. We always have and will continue to work with religious and non-religious groups.

When the Atheist Foundation came to us in November, we welcomed its business. APN Outdoor recommended a range of roadside advertising sites. However, the AFA specifically wanted bus panels.

Bus, or “transit”, advertising sites are public property, owned by state bus authorities. These are regulated differently from private property. One regulation is that any advertisement, religious or otherwise, that may offend the community or represent an individual point of view is not permitted.

Deveny was right on the toing and froing. We went backwards and forwards trying to help the AFA find a creative line that would meet its needs and still fall within the regulations. We also presented the foundation with equally impactful outdoor advertising options on which it could advertise without changing its ads at all. For starters, there are 2200 premium roadside billboards in Australia that can be used for maximum impact. We were happy to work with the foundation then and we’re still happy to work with it now.

Paul McBeth, general manager — marketing, APN Outdoor, Ultimo, NSW

Nigel Stewart Australia, Commentary advertising, APN, atheism, Australia