Re: [silk] Climate Panel Cites Near Certainty on Warming - NYTimes.com
On Sun, Aug 25, 2013 at 06:14:09AM +0530, Srini RamaKrishnan wrote: Crude Oil was $30 a decade ago, $110 now and likely $250 in a decade. India Won't happen due to demand destruction (assuming you account for inflation). Which is a bad thing, obviously, given that there are no alternatives to shift to. doesn't have the extraction capability, the military or economic might or the underground reserves to satisfy its population by a very long shot. China has more of everything and it's unlikely that even China will emerge with all its population intact.
Re: [silk] On self-improvement
On Mon, 2013-08-26 at 12:37 +0530, Kiran K Karthikeyan wrote: Perhaps I've just met the wrong demographic among those who read self-help books, but most of those who have pushed such books at me were fairly successful - and I wasn't aware of any failure that prompted them to read such books. Interesting observation and here is my explanation The person/s who pushed such books were fairly successful in your eyes, but they might feel that they are not successful enough. I have seen this among several colleagues of mine, who have, from time to time referred to self improvement books or courses they have attended. shiv
Re: [silk] On self-improvement
On 27 August 2013 19:02, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote: Why the dichotomy? Are you suggesting that personality/character is not trainable/malleable? Trainable - perhaps Malleable - absolutely Kiran
Re: [silk] On self-improvement
On 28 August 2013 18:19, SS cybers...@gmail.com wrote: Interesting observation and here is my explanation The person/s who pushed such books were fairly successful in your eyes, but they might feel that they are not successful enough. I have seen this among several colleagues of mine, who have, from time to time referred to self improvement books or courses they have attended. Either that or self-affirmation is the motive. Kiran
Re: [silk] On self-improvement
On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 6:48 AM, Kiran K Karthikeyan kiran.karthike...@gmail.com wrote: On 27 August 2013 19:02, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote: Why the dichotomy? Are you suggesting that personality/character is not trainable/malleable? Trainable - perhaps Malleable - absolutely I still don't understand why you say skill training is different from behavior training. There is increasing evidence showing that personality/character is trainable. See: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/brains/2007/04/train_your_brain.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness_(psychology) Thaths -- Homer: Hey, what does this job pay? Carl: Nuthin'. Homer: D'oh! Carl: Unless you're crooked. Homer: Woo-hoo!
Re: [silk] On self-improvement
On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 11:53 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote: Isn't improving one's life just a collection of individual life hacks? Some improvements can be achieved by a sequence of locally optimal smaller improvements, but not all. Which is to say, you may not be able to hack your way to happiness. -- Charles * * *In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few*.
Re: [silk] On self-improvement
On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 9:46 PM, Charles Haynes charles.hay...@gmail.com wrote: Which is to say, you may not be able to hack your way to happiness. I have personal experience that is very much to the contrary but I'm just a data point and not a representative sample size.
Re: [silk] On self-improvement
On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 9:16 AM, Charles Haynes charles.hay...@gmail.comwrote: On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 11:53 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote: Isn't improving one's life just a collection of individual life hacks? Some improvements can be achieved by a sequence of locally optimal smaller improvements, but not all. Which is to say, you may not be able to hack your way to happiness. may not is not the same as will not, right? I wonder why some people are more successful at this than others. I suspect debilitating conditions like clinical depression makes it difficult for some to achieve happiness. Thaths -- Homer: Hey, what does this job pay? Carl: Nuthin'. Homer: D'oh! Carl: Unless you're crooked. Homer: Woo-hoo!
Re: [silk] On self-improvement
When I say A hill climbing algorithm does not always find a global maximum and you reply But mine did! I have three replies. 1) That does not refute the original assertion (as I'm sure you know) 2) How do you know? (That you found the global maximum) 3) If the plural of anecdote is not data, then obviously the singular is not (as you know) -- Charles
Re: [silk] On self-improvement
Well for one reason, you may have the problem that all hill climbing algorithms are subject to. You may get stuck on a local maximum where every small change (hack) actually makes things worse. In which case you either have to completely change where you're starting from, or you have to use an algorithm that is not based on small continuous improvements. (or be happy with a local maximum!) :) -- Charles
Re: [silk] Myanmar siklisters/advice?
Wow. Great photos. jrs On Aug 28, 2013, at 2:38 PM, Thaths wrote: On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 9:21 AM, Charles Haynes hay...@edgeplay.org wrote: I'm leaving for Myanmar in three days, are there any silklisters in Myanmar that would like to meet? I was in Myanmar earlier this year. Photos from my trip: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thaths/sets/72157634459216225/ Alternatively, are there any silklisters about things to see or do while in Myanmar? Our basic plan is to land in Yangon, spend a very small amount of time there, then make our way overland to the Inle Lake area and then to Bagan. Am hoping to take the slow train for some of the journey, and busses and boats for other parts. General * Have hotel reservations. At a minimum for the first few days of your stay in Myanmar. Medium- and high-end hotels are very heavily booked. If possible, have reservations for your whole trip before you go. But if that doesn't work, check into your first hotel and ask for their help in finding you reservations for the rest of your trip. * Myanmar is expensive compared to Thailand/Cambodia/Laos Yangon: * Definitely try the food and beer on 19th street in Yangon * In terms of beer, my favorite was Dagon draft * Try the spirulina beer if you can find it (I tried it in someplace near Mandalay) Inle Lake: * IMO, this is overrated and crowded with tourists. I completely skipped it. YMMV. Bagan: * Stay in Nyaung U or Old Bagan * Rent a horsecart or taxi to take you to sunrise (they know the few remaining temples where you can clamber on top of the temples. Most temple towers are closed these days) and show you the lay of the land * Rent a bicycle for another 2 days and look around the temples at your own pace * My favorite temples were: Shwezigon Paya, Ananda Pahto, Upali Thein, Sulamani Paya Slow trains: * Except for a long boat trip and a couple of bus rides, I almost exclusively went by trains. * There are two beautiful, memorable slow train journeys (both into the Shan hills) in Burma: * Mandalay - Pyin Oo Lwin - Lashiohttp://www.seat61.com/Burma.htm#Mandalay - Pyin Oo Lwin * Thazi - Kalaw http://www.seat61.com/Burma.htm#Yangon or Mandalay to Inle Lake * Among the two, the Thazi-Kalaw line is less crowded (and more scenic, IMO) * If you arrived in Thazi from Yangon (or Mandalay), you may have to end up spending the night in Thazi. The train from Thazi to Kalaw departs at 6 am in the morning. There are only a couple of hotels in Thazi (one of them run by the military) and they are both not very good. Haven't decided if we should go to Mandalay or not, and am not entirely sure I want to stick so closely to the main popular tourist route. Sadly, half the country is still closed to tourists (through travel restrictions or expense). There isn't that much outside of the Yangon-Bagan-Mandalay-Inle Lake circuit. One thing you could do is go South East of Yangon towards Mawlamyine. Mrauk-U would be great to visit, but is closed to tourists at the moment. Thaths -- Homer: Hey, what does this job pay? Carl: Nuthin'. Homer: D'oh! Carl: Unless you're crooked. Homer: Woo-hoo!
Re: [silk] Myanmar siklisters/advice?
On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 9:51 PM, Charles Haynes hay...@edgeplay.org wrote: Alternatively, are there any silklisters about things to see or do while in Myanmar? Our basic plan is to land in Yangon, spend a very small amount of time there, then make our way overland to the Inle Lake area and then to Bagan. Am hoping to take the slow train for some of the journey, and busses and boats for other parts. I did pretty much the same thing. Got a visa in Bangkok. Spent a day or so in Yangon - and chunks of time in Bagan and on Lake Inle. Stayed in a bb in Bagan - and hired a car / driver for that stay. There's simply no other way to get to see everything that's there. There are thousands of temples. And darn it if all of them actually seem worth stopping at to see and take pictures. Stayed on the water in a stilt-room at Lake Inle. Hired a boat, spent lots of time on the water going to temples and markets. You get sunburnt easily in both places. As Vonnegut apparently said, take sunscreen. And yes, it's a load of fun.
Re: [silk] Meet up.
Current confirmed attendees: Rashmi V Naresh Andy Deemer Udhay Amitha Singh Vandana Abraham Meera K Shoba Narayan Mark Bergen (+1?) Julian Philips Vinay Rao Samuel Mani Maybe: Chandrachoodan G Venkat Mangudi Deepak Misra Lahar Appaiah Saritha Rai Sunil Abraham Kiran Jonnalagadda Ashwin K Biju Chacko Surabhi Tomar Vinit Bhansali Deepak Shenoy -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
Re: [silk] Meet up.
Tomorrow, Naresh's office, 7? Still a maybe, but will try to come. Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone -Original Message- From: Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com Sender: silklist silklist-bounces+thewall=gmail@lists.hserus.netDate: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 07:53:38 To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Reply-To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Subject: Re: [silk] Meet up. Current confirmed attendees: Rashmi V Naresh Andy Deemer Udhay Amitha Singh Vandana Abraham Meera K Shoba Narayan Mark Bergen (+1?) Julian Philips Vinay Rao Samuel Mani Maybe: Chandrachoodan G Venkat Mangudi Deepak Misra Lahar Appaiah Saritha Rai Sunil Abraham Kiran Jonnalagadda Ashwin K Biju Chacko Surabhi Tomar Vinit Bhansali Deepak Shenoy -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
Re: [silk] Meet up.
On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 7:53 AM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote: Current confirmed attendees: Rashmi V Naresh Andy Deemer Udhay Amitha Singh Vandana Abraham Meera K Shoba Narayan Mark Bergen (+1?) Julian Philips Vinay Rao Samuel Mani Maybe: Chandrachoodan G Venkat Mangudi Deepak Misra Lahar Appaiah Saritha Rai Sunil Abraham Kiran Jonnalagadda Ashwin K Biju Chacko Surabhi Tomar Vinit Bhansali Deepak Sheno I notice Alpha B. T. Kellorder does not attend
