There is a persistent misconception in the English-speaking world that I have to every so often set right. It is this: because the numerals we use are called “Arabic,” the number system was invented by Arabs and by association, is Islamic in origin. This is as silly and illogical as claiming that potatoes originated in […]
Entries from November 2005
Shunyata, Nirvana, and Zero
November 30th, 2005 · 12 Comments
Tags: Random Draws
Funding Jehadis — Part 3
November 28th, 2005 · 31 Comments
Some time ago, I had lamented India’s funding of Pakistani jehadi groups and then posted a followup to that. In a comment to the former post, Tanveer wrote a comment:
Atanu: You are a Phd in economics, I am sure you know enough how the world works. There isnt always a meaningful reasoning to everything […]
Tags: Alternative Viewpoint · Rants (Warning: May cause offense)
The Prologue to Bertrand Russell’s Autobiography
November 15th, 2005 · 11 Comments
What I Have Lived For
Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a great ocean of anguish, reaching to the very […]
Tags: Quotes
Formula for Milking the Digital Divide
November 5th, 2005 · 38 Comments
They don’t really intentionally kill babies just to make more money, do they? They wouldn’t, would they?
Well, I don’t really know.
Infant or baby formula was developed in the developed world when women began to join the work force and did not have the time to breast-feed their babies. What a wonderful great invention […]
Tags: Digital Divide · Information and Communications Technology · One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)
Saturday Silliness: Bush and Blair
November 5th, 2005 · 4 Comments
If you have wondered what exactly Bush is after, here’s a possible answer. What’s Blair after? Click on “Blair” in the frame.
Most of us have read the transcript of Rice and Bush talking about who the leader of China is. Even if you have, check out the audio version–it is hilarious.
Tags: Random Draws
Saving Private Information
November 3rd, 2005 · 5 Comments
I just googled “information” and got 5,930,000,000 hits, or nearly 6 billion hits in 0.06 seconds.
Compared to someone sitting at home about 20 years ago, my access to information from within the comfort of my home is a few orders of magnitude higher. Hal Varian and Peter Lyman at UC Berkeley estimated that the rate […]
Tags: Information and Communications Technology
India Funding Pakistani Jihad — Followup
November 3rd, 2005 · 20 Comments
“India funding Pakistani jehadis” prompted Dan to comment:
Couldn’t you make the argument Indian charity and compassion during Pakistan’s time of need might make a positive impression on at least a few Pakistanis. Maybe the aid provided will change a couple of hearts and minds and they will be less likely to “throw a bomb over […]
Tags: Alternative Viewpoint · Rants (Warning: May cause offense)
