The Curious Autodidact

December 15, 2011

Cool Visuals

Filed under: cool internet stuff,helpful hints,media related,social justice — Honilima @ 9:39 pm

The visual display of information when well done can be an awesome way to display data. One such illustration is one that shows “Why Apples are Better than Oranges” sure to warm the hearts of the many people in Washington State’s international apple growing industry.

Another is one that shows the differences between the decades 2000 vs 2010 called “A Decade of Change“

Our lives can go in different directions, here’s one that shows ‘the incredible savant brain‘ and another that illustrates a time line of ‘the real cost of prison.‘ Here’s another that shows the amount of student loans state by state called “Graduating from IOU“. Here’s another that shows you how to “Build a Work Wardrobe from Scratch“

What’s not to love about these creative ways to display information? Perhaps they will inspire you to come up with your own visual display of information and let your talent shine.

December 1, 2011

Infographic: Poverty on the Rise in America

Filed under: cool internet stuff,media related,social justice — Honilima @ 11:10 am

November 16, 2011

Infographic: What is a Stock?

Filed under: cool internet stuff,helpful hints,media related,money saving ideas — Honilima @ 11:02 am

November 8, 2011

7,000,000,000 Nine Zeros…

Filed under: cool internet stuff,environmental ideas,media related,social justice — Honilima @ 2:25 pm

It was said that Halloween marked the day that the world population reached seven billion.

Many people I surveyed had no idea how to get their heads around that number and didn’t have any idea how many zeros that really was. We can comprehend ten, hundred, and thousand easily and routinely but then the numbers get to move into more zeros they are less familiar.

Population control is one of those taboo topics I have always been interested in, along with prison reform and end of life choice. There was an excellent New York Times opinion piece by  this week called the “Birth Control Solution” urging us to look more realistically at controlling family size vs. listening to religious people many of whom have taken a vow of chastity.

If you are interested in exploring various countries and their birth rates here’s a link that will ring your bell.

If you would like to see an estimate where you fall in the population of the world based on your birthday give this a whirl.

Take a moment this week to talk about population by posing the question to your friends and family if they know how many zeros there are in a billion and use it as a starting point to discuss the world’s resources and the growing strains population puts on Mother Earth.

October 16, 2011

Are you Part of the 99%?

Filed under: cool internet stuff,helpful hints,media related,money saving ideas,social justice — Honilima @ 10:33 am 


	


	







August 15, 2011



	 

			Commonwealth Club of California Talks
		 

	
Filed under:  book related,cool internet stuff,media related,social justice,women heroes — Honilima @ 6:36 pm 


	

		


If you are scoping out some good podcasts to listen to and have spun through the TED Talks and want something else to sink your teeth into check out the many lively talks that take place at the Commonwealth Club of California.You can listen to Les Hinton, the CEO of Dow Jones & Co (May 2011)and hear his take on the changing landscape of journalism or hear author and activist Alice Walker (December 2010). These are great hour-long talks some of which include a lively question and answer period.

	


	







July 27, 2011



	 

			Hearing Voices: a Radio Series Worth Finding
		 

	
Filed under:  cool internet stuff,media related — Honilima @ 6:04 pm 


	

		
Delicate Tulips


Hearing Voices is an NPR program that I have in my podcast feed that brings together stories that have been produced for their various stations that are brought together by a narrator and a theme. Here’s what they say on their website about the series ” Each episode mixes broadcasts, podcasts, sound-portraits, slam poets, docs, radio dramas, features, and found-sound. One-hundred+ stations all already on board”  


You never know quite what you may find but I recently listened to one called “Hippies: Flying our Freak Flag  ” that was about Haight Ashbury, in San Francisco, circa 1960s that gives you that “you are there” feel and reminds us of another time and place. “Mormon Fringe: Life with Latter Day Saints” is about the fundamentalist sect of the Church of the Latter Day Saints and tells about their feelings about Native Americans that I never had any understanding of until this program. “Elvis Aaron Presley: Birthday Party” will introduce you to fans of Elvis and tell about how many have no believe he is still alive living in seclusion. The story of the family, from the UK, that saved for years to pay to go to Memphis will remind you how this hound dog still has tons of fans in this country and internationally that will go to great lengths to walk through the gates of Graceland. 


This is a great series, perhaps you will not want to listen to every episode but if you do you will hear stories you likely never heard before or would never likely hear were you not listening to this program, they get people to speak candidly and their selections are well done indeed. 

	


	







July 17, 2011



	 

			Warren Watch: July 2011
		 

	
Filed under:  cool internet stuff,media related,social justice,women heroes — Honilima @ 1:46 pm 


	

		
Photo from Harvard Bulletin


Anyone who knows me, or reads this blog with regularity, is painfully aware of how I deeply admire Elizabeth Warren. Her willingness to speak intelligently and work hard for the working people of our country against great odds is amazing. 


This weekend the New York Times is featuring a short three plus minute video with this trailblazer who deserves our respect for her bulldog like devotion to what she believes in. Go Elizabeth go!

	


	







June 21, 2011



	 

			Podcast Worth a Listen: Chris Anderson Curator of TED Talks
		 

	
Filed under:  cool internet stuff,media related,women heroes — Honilima @ 5:56 pm 


	

		


Chris Anderson  is the curator of TED Talks  and he gives an outstanding interview on the radio program called “On Point Radio” about his job in this role. For those of you unfamiliar, TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, and the talks are a maximum of 18 minutes long on various topics. You can imagine trying to get some of these broad thinkers to distill their ideas down to this period of time. TED’s mission statement begins: “We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we’re building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other.” There are over 850 available for free on-line including talks by Jane Goodall, Melinda Gates, Sunitha Krishnar, Kiran Bedi, Sir Ken Robinson, Steve Jobs, Sherwin Nulan, and Lewis Pugh.


This interview with Mr. Anderson  features some behind the scene stories and highlights from some of his favorite talks. These are outstanding presentations and his insights make for a lively program worth a listen.

	


	







June 5, 2011



	 

			Make Your Plans Now to Celebrate “Loving Day”
		 

	
Filed under:  cool internet stuff,social justice,women heroes — Honilima @ 12:21 pm 


	

		


Okay, now you’ve been given ample time to make plans to celebrate the legalization of interracial marriage on Sunday June 12.


Plan a celebration in your neighborhood, of America’s diverse citizenry, and the U.S. Supreme Court case settled Jun 12, 1967 Loving vs.Virginia that struck down 16 state laws that disallowed “the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the equal protection clause…”




According to the lovingday.org site ” Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving grew up in Caroline County, Virginia. They fell in love and decided to get married. Unfortunately, getting married was not as simple in 1958 as it was today. Mildred was black and Richard was white. There were laws that forbade people of different races to marry each other. This was true in many states, including Mildred and Richard’s home state of Virginia. However, interracial marriage was legal in Washington, DC at that time. Therefore, they decided to drive to DC, get married, and return to Virginia to begin their life together. This proved to be a short term solution. The law in Virginia not only forbade interracial marriage ceremonies, but it also forbade interracial couples from getting married elsewhere and returning to Virginia. One night, while they were asleep, the newly-married Lovings were awakened by the police in their bedroom. The Lovings were taken to jail for the crime of being married.”


According to the Pew Research Center 8% of all existing marriages in the US are interracial.  You have a week to plan your celebration and you will find plenty of ideas on the LovingDay.org site
Take Time to Dance June 12th


Here’s a posting“Mildred Had a Dream” that appeared on this website in 2008.


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