Image Time magazine
Archive for the ‘Trivia’ Category
7 years on, 20 years older
January 14, 2016Image Time magazine
What’s so special about finding the panda?
January 1, 2016There have been a number of pictures posted on the net and in newspapers recently with “crowd” pictures (animals and people) where a panda is “hidden” somewhere within the crowd. I have been more than a little surprised to find that these are supposed to have “gone viral”. Generally I have found the panda in a few 10s of seconds and always in less than about a minute.
What’s so special about these?
The latest picture has been touted at HuffPo as The Most Legit ‘Find The Panda’ Photo Yet
It took about a minute to find the panda and I am still wondering why finding it is anything special? My eyesight is adequate (with spectacles) and my ability to focus and concentrate is no better than average, I reckon. How many people, I wonder, have any difficulty?
BBC website down — silence suggests incompetence or external hacking
December 31, 2015Here in Sweden the BBC websites are all down. At 0730 the radio sites (and iplayer) went down. Now 4 hours later even bbc news is down.
About 2 hours after the failures the BBC finally tweeted:
BBC down
The comprehensive failure (seems to be worldwide) and the long silence about it (2 hours to acknowledge a problem and another 2 hours since) suggest that either
- the technical issue (and they admit to only one) is embarrassing (due to an internal cock-up), or
- it has been an external attack and they haven’t yet found the problem to be solved.
The only reason I’m posting this is because I need the radio on in the background and – as is usual for my statements – I will be very quickly proven wrong. I remain addicted to the BBC – in spite of all their biases and prejudices (which can anyway easily be discounted).
The very act of my posting this could be what solves BBC’s problems and brings them back before withdrawal symptoms set in!!
UPDATE: 2 minutes after posting this, the site was back!!!!!!!!!!!
Apparently a DDOS attack.
Western sky before sunrise
December 31, 2015At our latitude the sun rose at 0848 today.
But even before sunrise on a clear day, as today, the few clouds in the western sky turn pink.
This was taken at 0838, about 10 minutes before sunrise and looking due west.
western sky before sunrise 31st dec 2015
The milk dance of Braj
December 26, 2015Posted by Mukesh Garg on Facebook
Braj is a region mainly in Uttar Pradesh of India, around Mathura-Vrindavan. Braj, though never a clearly defined political region in India, is very well demarcated culturally. It is considered to be the land of Krishna and is derived from the Sanskrit word vraja.
It’s not difficult to see the connections to the “yard of coffee” in South India.
2016 and the Year of the Red Fire Monkey
December 21, 2015The year of the Red Fire Monkey does not start till 8th February. But this year as a libertarian according to my definition, I choose to wish – all those who deserve it – the best of success and health and happiness and fortune in the name of the auspicious, scarlet primate. Christmas is just the birthday of the Sun but the fiery nature of the monkey this year 2016 takes care of my lauds to Sol Invictus.
But it should be noted that year of one’s birth sign is the most unlucky in the 12 year Chinese cycle, and requires all “monkeys” born in 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, or 2004 to be especially careful during 2016. But 2016 should be the most fortunate time of the cycle for those born in the Years of the Tiger or the Rabbit.
Monkeys can be of “wood”, “fire”, “earth”, “gold” or “water”. Those born in 2016 are Fire Monkeys.
Monkeys should be particularly compatible with those born in Ox or Rabbit Years but should avoid those born in Tiger or Pig Years like the plague.
Whether the 12 year cycle of Chinese Astrology applies or not, certainly 2015 has demonstrated many of the baser instincts of humans.
If only evolution had direction.
Democracy in Malaysia: “In Islam, it is mandatory to obey the ruling leader”
December 11, 2015
You have to laugh when politics and religion get together. Otherwise it would be hard to stop crying.
This is from The Sun in Malaysia today.
Loyal and Obedient The Sun
Of course Najib has been divinely appointed.
Now if only St. Jeremy Corbyn could rely on a similar loyalty and obedience, it should not be too difficult to make Islam the State religion also in the UK. As Donald Trump points out that’s not too far away in any case. Of course the position of the Queen, who is anointed by a quite different divinity, might be a little uncertain.
Loyal and Obedient
Åsa Romson and “the tears of a Green”
November 26, 2015Åsa Romson’s “tears” for taking the decisions she took have received much attention. But it is not about the decisions this post is concerned with. It is about the behaviour of a politician who wishes to escape responsibility when making unprincipled decisions. It is about crying for a credit where none is due.
The Independent: Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister broke down into tears as she announced the Government’s U-turn over the refugee crisis to reduce the number of people fleeing war and persecution from seeking asylum in Sweden. ……
“In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been convinced that this is the best way to help the local green party politicians actually do something,” she went on, before bursting into tears.
I note today that she gets some sympathy for taking a decision which goes stick and stone against what the Green party is supposed to stand for. As if the tears wash away her responsibility for her own decisions. As if the tears somehow mean that her principles are uncompromised or excuse her remaining in government. Doing something “wrong” by her own standards and then crying about it does not make it any the less wrong or alter the fact that she took the “wrong” decision.
It is a trick that politicians should remember and bring out whenever they need to take an unprincipled decision but avoid the consequences. A few tears can then absolve them of any feelings of guilt for violating their own principles. It is having the meal and bursting into tears when the bill is presented.
I am reminded of “Tears of a Clown” by Smokey Robinson.
Well ther’e some sad things known to man
But ain’t too much sadder than
The tears of a Green
who, to pay the bill, is not too keen
with apologies to Smokey Robinson
A “doubtful” God of the Anglican Church who needs advertising
November 23, 2015I thought this was an interesting, and somewhat amusing, juxtaposition
The Archbishop of Canterbury has said the terror attacks in Paris made him “doubt” the presence of God. The Most Reverend Justin Welby told the BBC’s Songs Of Praise the killings had put a “chink in his armour”.
He said his reaction to the attacks had been “first shock and horror and then a profound sadness”, heightened because he and his wife once lived in Paris. ….. The archbishop said: “Saturday morning, I was out and as I was walking, I was praying and saying: ‘God, why – why is this happening? Where are you in all this?'”
“He said ‘in the middle of it’ and also in answer from Psalm 56 – ‘he stores up our tears in a bottle, none of our sufferings are lost,'” he added.
2. Lord’s Prayer cinema ad snub ‘bewilders’ Church of England
The Church of England has said it is “disappointed and bewildered” by the refusal of leading UK cinemas to show an advert featuring the Lord’s Prayer. The Church called the decision “plain silly” and warned it could have a “chilling” effect on free speech.
It had hoped the 60-second film would be screened UK-wide before Christmas ahead of the new Star Wars film. The agency that handles adverts for the cinemas said it could offend those of “differing faiths and no faith”.
The advert features the Christian prayer being recited or sung by a variety of people. They include refugees, a grieving son, weightlifters at a gym, a sheep farmer, a gospel choir and the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby.
I heard Justin Welby on radio yesterday and he seemed to get his theology and his philosophy terribly mixed up. I can’t say that the archbishop comes across as anything more than a feather-weight theologian and philosopher. I note that the CoE has a Facebook page, but with just 10,453 “likes”. Is their God so “unknown” as to require a cinema advertisement? Of course I expect that UK cinemas will also refuse to show any advertisements from ISIS (ISIL, Da’esh).
I quite like listening, occasionally, to BBC’s Songs of Praise. I expect that the BBC pays the CoE rather than the other way around. And this programme then really ought to be preceded by the statement “This programme is for the aid and succour of the Church of England”.
High jinks for Modi in London
November 13, 2015At least it allows him to forget (temporarily) the debacle in Bihar.
Best buds: David Cameron,narendra Modi and Boris Johnson – photo AP via Daily Mail
I don’t suppose he would have given his RSS salute while in London (which in terms of comic value always reminds me of Peter Ustinov in Romanoff and Juliet).
Modi RSS salute
Even though the RSS salute is ludicrous enough it must be said, in his defence, that I do not recall that he has ever been photographed in khaki shorts and bearing his danda.
The k2p blog 