CommaFeed Bloat-free feed reader Try out the demo (some features are disabled) Login Forgot password? Register © CommaFeed - Sources on GitHub - REST API documentation Psychedelics Can Expand Your Consciousness It might seem as though we are all separate, and individual from one another and our environment. While that may appear true and could very well be true in some ways, we are also all connected at the deepest levels of existence. When understanding this, we can look at how we operate daily and begin to ask questions: Why are we so concerned with dominating one another? Why do we strive to be better than others? Personally I have not done psychedelics so it cannot be completely accurate for me to say exactly what you would feel while doing them. We are all connected. “Psychedelics are illegal not because a loving government is concerned that you may jump out of a third story window. As Terrence McKenna pointed out, psychedelics can lead to vast understandings and expansive changes to ones life that would push them to begin changing how they live life. I cannot sit here and advise you to take psychedelics, I am merely making a point.
How to Make Everything Ourselves: Open Modular Hardware A modular system unites the advantages of standardisation (as parts can be produced cheaply in large amounts) with the advantages of customisation (since a large diversity of unique objects can be made with relatively few parts). Modularity can be found to a greater or lesser extent in many products (like bicycles and computers) and systems (like trains and logistics), but the best examples of modular systems are toys: LEGO, Meccano, and Erector (which is now the brand name of Meccano in the US). LEGO, Meccano and Erector are composed of relatively few elementary building blocks, which can be used to build various objects. The parts can then be disassembled and re-used to build something completely different. All the building blocks in a set of LEGO, Meccano or Erector fit together because they are designed according to a set of specific rules. Grid Beam, Bit Beam, Open Beam, Maker Beam and Contraptor Most of these construction systems are limited to the design of frameworks. Cargo Cycle
Scientists Identify 27 Genes Associated With Asperger’s Syndrome: What Does This Mean? Asperger’s syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is part of a distinct group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by communication difficulties, social impairment, restrictive, sterotypical and repetitive patterns of behavior. Abnormalities in social interaction may include isolation, and a lack of ability to pick up on non-verbal forms of communication. It’s also characterized by clumsiness and poor communication skills. It is labelled as a disorder simply because there are observable differences with social interaction and behavior in social settings. Scientists have long suspected that there are genetic components to Asperger’s syndrome and other Autism Spectrum Disorders, but no specific gene has ever been identified. The research found that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 27 out of the 68 genes studied were nominally associated with either AS and/or with autistic traits/empathy. Sources:
De vrije markt versmoort het vrije woord Vandaag is het World Press Freedom Day, een dag die in België nooit werd gevierd. Toen in 1993 de Verenigde Naties 3 mei uitriepen tot internationale dag van de persvrijheid hadden ze vooral landen in gedachten waar de staat het vrije woord brutaal verdrukte. Maar dit jaar trekt PEN Vlaanderen aan de alarmbel: 3 mei moet helaas ook hier gevierd worden. Want wij, schrijvers van Vlaanderen, zijn ernstig bezorgd over de kwaliteit van de journalistiek. Rechtstreekse verstikking van de persvrijheid door de staat gebeurt hier eerder incidenteel. Het is hier China niet. De reden is eenvoudig. Tekenend in dat opzicht is dat Offshore-leaks, de grootste journalistieke onthulling in jaren, niet in de commerciële media maar in de nonprofit-sector ontstond. Bijna alle massamedia in Vlaanderen (kranten, radiostations, televisiezenders) zijn commerciële media: hun primaire logica is die van de kijkcijfers, de verkoopsaantallen, de luisterdichtheid of de unieke geregistreerde gebruikers.
Sacred Economics: Chapter 17, Summary and Roadmap | Sacred Economics | Charles Eisenstein The following chapter is from Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition, available from EVOLVER EDITIONS/North Atlantic Books. Return to the Sacred Economics content page here. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. –Mohandas Gandhi Before I explore more deeply the shift in personal economic thinking and practice that is part of sacred economy, I will summarize its key macroeconomic elements. The transition I map out is evolutionary. The reader may notice that, except where they are off the map entirely, most of these developments fall on the left side of the political spectrum. 1. Motivation: Negative interest on reserves, and a physical currency that loses value with time, reverses the effects of interest. Transition and policy: We were on the brink of a transition to decaying currency in 2009, as central banks pushed interbank interest rates to near zero and flirted with breaching the zero lower bound. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Sustainable Domes - Geodesic Dome - Aquaponics Domes :: Aquaponics Domes Eco Built Aquaponics Systems"Organic Aquaponics Systems built Bio-Friendly" Welcome to "Aquaponics": the combination of Aquaculture (culture of fish) and Hydroponics (culture of plants without soil) integrated into a single agricultural system that works in many climates. Eco Built Aquaponics is Organic gardening designed to produce fish and grow plants in an integrated prefab system that does not require fertile soil, reduces labor and provides a high standard of food that is incredibly sustainable! Eco Built Aquaponics are prefabricated systems that provide turn key solutions for sustainable production of organic food and aquatic life.
Robotics: Revitalizing American Manufacturing | Business By Theodore F. di StefanoE-Commerce Times Part of the ECT News Network 02/21/13 5:00 AM PT The advent of smart robots isn't just pushing the envelope in terms of the robotic sciences. It's also providing a possible tech-centric alternative to the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs due to outsourcing. Webinar: The New PCI 3.0 Standard Learn the steps to take to get your company ready for PCI DSS 3.0 changes coming January 2015. Much has been said over the last few years about the loss of American jobs to other countries. I wrote a 2006 article for the E-Commerce Times titled "Why Money Chases Cheap Labor -- The Outsourcing Phenomenon." Is there a way, however, by which industry can stay competitive -- especially with its labor costs -- without outsourcing jobs? Smart Robots Robots have come a long way. A leader in the field of modern-day robotics is a Massachusette company called Rethink Robotics. Rethink Robotics has succeeded in giving robots a "brain." Times inevitably change. Good luck!
How to Start a Housing Co-op During college, I lived at a 32-member student housing cooperative where I had more fun there than I did in all my other years of college combined and met lifelong friends. I saved money by living there so I didn’t need to work through school, as the coop was owned by a nonprofit (consequently rent would get cheaper relative to inflation). The activists, artists and thinkers who lived there brewed new ideas which planted seeds in me that sprouted years later. We seized the opportunity to use common spaces for political and arts events that as regular tenants we would have never been able to host. On the downside, I found it incredibly difficult to study there. Years later, volunteering for a nonprofit that develops cooperative (coop) housing, I discovered that when done properly, resident-owned coops can offer an affordable and more convivial alternative to single family housing. There are several different kinds of coops: The Sunwise Coop family (photo courtesy by Sunwise)