Links – Just Jo

Just sharing

I’m just posting the interesting videos or other tit-bits that I gather from my social media accounts into this space. Once a week. You could share the interesting ones you get too.

FaceCake’s Kinect Dressing Room
(Shared by Ashik in Google +)

This one is truly awesome! At the Microsoft booth in CES 2012, they demonstrate how you can try out different clothes and accessories without even wearing them. All you gotta do is just stand in front of a Kinect camera and try out new clothes. You can even move along to see if the dress fits you right in all angles, as if you just wore them. Truly amazing stuff!

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A Violinist in the Metro
(Shared by Thulasi in an email)

Washington Post ran an experiment in a metro station at Washington DC. What they were trying to find out was whether we perceive and appreciate beauty in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour. They had a best musician playing one of the best pieces of music ever written on a very expensive violin. And the result? Read on… 🙂

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I Think You’re Fat
(Shared by Ashik in Google chat)

When I read the title of this article, I asked Ashik if it’s yet another fitness piece. It’s not just the title, but the names of magazines like Esquire, Cosmopolitan etc. puts me away because I never could relate to or enjoy the content printed in those magazines (not that I have checked out a lot of them). Ashik did not explain what the article was about than asking me to read it, and since it is him who recommends, I saved the link to to read later. And it was one funny, thoughtful piece though it spans over 5 long pages. To give you a brief idea of what it is, this one is about Radical Honesty. As it says in the beginning, “This story is about something called Radical Honesty. It may change your life. (But honestly, we don’t really care.)” Read more at the Esquire page.

Linkaholic

Beat of India is a website that popularizes the traditional folk music of India. They cover a vast variety of regions in India. A wonderful effort indeed.

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Here is an inspiring story of a laborer boy passing the entrance exam for IIT. Don’t know how the elitists of the institution would treat him, but let us hope for the best and cheer for him.

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And a spot-on ad for the new season of Kaun Banega Crorepathi. 🙂

The mid-day meal

“..but more importantly, while the governments in the west agonize over what to do about nutrition for kids, India has actually gone ahead and done something about it.” (From the docu film “India’s Free Lunch“.

As Madhukar Shukla said in Facebook while sharing this video link – “mostly noted when a report of a lizard comes in news, the funds get diverted, or scam hits the scheme, India’s Mid-Day Meal scheme has gone largely unnoticed for the positive impact it has made to many young lives.”

Linkaholic

Last week, I listened to an episode of Radiolab on the Placebo effect. It particularly made a lot of sense as I am going through the Homeopathic medication for sinus, which is accused of making just a placebo effect, and I enjoyed this podcast thoroughly. After you listen to this episode, you will be left questioning almost everything that is known to comfort us – medicines, religion, devotion etc. And we would realize how powerful we are by ourselves and how weak we are too, for not seeing what we can do to ourselves. Listen to Placebo.

The second one is from a TED show, where a politician demonstrates the best way to get in touch with our politicians. He says, we need to use the analog tools such as a pen and paper to do that in this digital world. And he talks about how. Listen to Omar Ahmad‘s TED talk.

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Over at Muziboo, I am continuously playing this cover version of Way Back Into Love, a song from the movie Music & Lyrics. I loved the song and movie (even though it was kind of soap-ish) and now this cover version too has become my favorite. It is done by Sunny and Mitalee. Go there and check it out. I’m sure you will love the song, particularly the beautiful voice and crystal clear rendition of Mitalee.

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Over at Mutiny, Kima points at our perceptions about the North-East of India. Worth a good read.

Two. The insurgency in Mizoram, which many experts claimed to be the biggest revolt in the Northeast, was all started because of a rat. After the bamboo trees in Mizoram flowered, millions of rats reproduced and they ate up all our food stock. Hence there was a HUGE famine in the Lushai Hills (now Mizoram) and India didn’t give a shit about our plight.

The MNFF (Mizo National Famine Front) was formed where every Mizo looked after another with NO help from the Indian Govt. Soon the MNFF became the MNF (Mizo National Front) under Pu Laldenga and the entire Mizo community rebelled against India because of the neglect and it became so intense that it was the bloodiest battle in the North East so far. But do Indians know about this story? No. Do Indians even know that Aizawl is the ONLY city in Indian history where the Indian Air Force bombed the city day in and night out? Yes, we are talking about a possible genocide here, where entire generations of Mizos were completely wiped out because of this.

But no. People are oblivious to this and we are criticized for not being Indian enough and jeered as a “Chinese” or “Nepali” wherever we go in India. Seriously, tell me, can you blame those who were fighting for autonomy back then?

Three. I have come across numerous posts where fanatics say they want to take back Mizoram from the clutches of evil Christianity. They want to revive Hinduism back there, which is really absurd because Mizos were never Hindus before the missionaries came! We were war-mongering animists fighting with each other to the death, and headhunting was an intrinsic part of our culture. Sure, if you want us to disown Christianity and go back to our roots, I really don’t mind – May I please chop off your head?

Five. Seven of my cousins are serving in the Indian Army and Navy. And yes, a large number of people from the Northeast are in the Armed forces protecting this great country and ready to sacrifice their lives in the line of duty. Why must we always be asked to prove our patriotism in spite of that?

Linkaholic

Arun G S, a fellow music blogger, has composed a very nice song called “Pranayam“, which has come out with the beautiful voice of Balqis. You should not miss it.

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Love in Bangalore is an original Kannada song, composed by Vijay Krishna, composer of Kannada flick Auto, and sung by music blogger Sunil Koshy and Diana. Check out this song in their blog dedicated to this song.

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Slogan Murugan has a photo post that captures some beautiful shots from Bengaluru. Check it out.

This is a country where a majority lives for about a dollar or two a day. A dollar is worth about 50 Indian Rupees. And if you are a farmer or petty trader on a business trip to Benglur and you miss the last bus home, where would you sleep? Hotel Footpath? No. I suggest the Taj (Minus the mustachioed doorman), on Hayath Road, just off the main City Market Square.

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Sreeni Sreedharan has captured some colorful shots from Fort Kochi. Also check out rest of the photos in his photoblog.

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Sandeep has posted some breathtaking pictures from his trek to Vavul Mala. He also has a write up of the trek in his website.

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(Linked from Blogbharti as well)