Monday, January 26, 2009

1/27/09 - Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year! Or, gung hay fat choi!

In the Chinese calender, today officially marks the shift from the year of the Rat (2008) to the year of the Ox (2009). Which is actually great news. The President of the United States is an Ox, so according to Chinese astrology this year will be extremely lucky for him, and mark significant progress in his career.

For the rest of us the Ox represents hard-working, methodical, steady, logical, tenacious, and patient. Sounds like a good year to work on that career, and work on centering yourself. If you want to see what this year means for your particular sign check out this site

Anyhow, for today in honor of the occasion I would like to share one of my favorite Chinese proverbs:

The best time to plant a tree was twenty year ago,
the next best time is today.
~Chinese Proverb~

Monday, January 19, 2009

1/19/09 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day

What to say about such an incredible man? How can you encapsulate the supreme goodness that this man has bestowed upon this country? He's my idol, my hero, and a role model to all. 

Passive resistance is the most powerful, yet hardest form of rebellion. And when one man can inspire thousands to fight against injustice using such peaceful albeit arduous methods it should stand as inspiration to us all. 

What can you say about this man? I think one word is all you really need. For sometimes the simplicity of a single word speaks louder than a thousand poetic verses. 

The man is a hero. 


Monday, January 12, 2009

1/12/09

Scavenging the web for this week's inspiration I stumbled across a very cool website called Open Street Map. It's a wiki based online mapping system. In laymen's terms, it takes user based GPS and survey data to create an online map. They also use satellite maps and existing data as well, but this project proves to create the most comprehensive and accurate map of the existing world. So not only are your major freeways and streets on there, but so are dirt roads, bike paths, and even user generated hiking trails. Sites like these reaffirm my belief that the internet will ultimately bring this world together for the better. I think it's an incredible project. 

Anyhow, the video below is an animation which portrays the world map as it's edited by OSM users/contributers in the year 2008. Apparently they had four times the amount of edits in 2008 than they had received in 2007. The white flashes represent changes. 



Monday, January 5, 2009

1/5/09

First post of '09!

Your inspiration for the new year: slow life down and enjoy the little moments. The music between the notes...