Alterity | Jakarta and Bali

Him : Are you into hypermiling? Me: Hypemiling? What the fuck’s that? Him : You mean you don’t know?! Don’t you want to save the planet or not, dude? ----------------------------------------------------- So what is hypermiling? Well, basically driving in the most fuel-efficient way possible. But it doesn’t just mean driving like an old granny at 30 mph and breaking softly at the lights. Oh no. Cos hypermiling is a much more serious prospect than that. How serious? Well, how about tailgating some huge truck with barely inches separating you – and with the engine off . Now that’s serious by any standards. Most hypermillers don’t take it hard core like that, though, and just follow the basics: keep your tires pumped up, stick to known routes, and most importantly of all: maintain an even speed as long as you possibly can. This can result in some pretty crazy driving though. For example, I have a set of binoculars in my car so I can see a traffic light well before I reach it, and then I t...

There are few things that will shake a man’s religious resolve. But there is one thing. And that one thing is love. And this is probably the only thing – bar money perhaps – that can melt down those seemingly formidable icy walls of theist dogma… Now that’s all very well. Until they get divorced of course! Derrrr!!! clipped from www.telegraphindia.com New Delhi, Feb. 21: Several Muslim religious authorities have decided to instruct muftis not to sanctify any marriage involving recent converts to try and stop cynical conversions to Islam for polygamy. The move comes after the high-profile elopement and marriage of then Haryana deputy chief minister Chander Mohan and bureaucrat Anuradha Bali — who became Chand Mohammed and Fiza because Mohan already had a wife — and their subsequent break-up. “Conversion to Islam just to get married for a second time is nothing but sacrilege and will not be tolerated. These weddings of convenience will not be allowed any more,” Moulana Mufti Ehsan Has...

2 . 4 . 8 . 16 . 32 . 64 . 128 . 256 . 512 . 1024 . 2048 . 4096 . 8192 . 16384 . 32768 . 65563 . 131072 . 262144 . 524288 . 1048576 . 2097152 If you’ve ever studied maths or computer science, you’ll certainly recognize the above sequence of numbers. These numbers crop up all the time, and have a familiar air to them; heck, you may even have come to actually like some of the numbers. But take it further than that. A lot further. And imagine that you perceive numbers as “multidimensional coloured and textured shapes”; each one evoking a different emotional response such as joy or despair. Welcome to the world of the Daniel Tammet, one of only 50 prodigious savants worldwide. And what this dude can do with his brain is amazing. He once recited Pi to 22,514 decimal points in five hours and nine minutes. And when challenged to learn the Icelandic language, he appeared on Icelandic television conversing in Icelandic. After only one week!!!! This was simply not possible, said his Icelandic la...

Travel changes us, sometimes superficially, sometimes profoundly...It is a classroom without walls. > From On and Off the Beaten Track 1,000 Places to See Before You Die A Traveler's Life List by Patricia Schultz There was nothing worth watching on the box again last night – so I decided to watch the Motorcycle Diaries, a film I missed when it was released a few years back. It turned out to be a good choice. The film reconstructs the incredible journey by motorcycle across South America taken by a young and impressionable Ernesto Guevara and his best friend Alberto Granado. Ernesto Guevara, in particular, is profoundly moved by what he sees on their trip. His travels teach him to look upon impoverished Latin America not as a collection of separate nations but as one cultural and economic entity, the liberation of which would require an intercontinental strategy. Ernesto Guevara goes on to become one of the most famous revolutionary figures ever of course. Travel really did chang...

It’s the neighbors’ kid’s birthday and there are three of us: Me : Would you cut the cake into three equal pieces please? Him : I can’t. Me : What do you mean you can’t? You have a knife don’t you? Him : Yes, but I can’t cut the cake into three equal pieces. Me : Why not? Him : Because I can’t! Me : But of course you can! Him : No you can’t! Me : ( taking the knife from the kid, and then cutting the cake into three pieces ) Look! I’ve done it! Him : No you haven’t. That’s wrong. Those are not three equal pieces… It’s not fair one of us will have a piece larger than the others… This is the sort of conversation you can have with someone suffering from Asperger's syndrome (which most people call autism, but Asperger's syndrome is just one type of autism). In a way the kid is right of course – the cake cannot be cut into three equal pieces – well at least if you are only able to think in decimals and not fractions. After all, what is one divided by three? Well, it’s 0.3333333333333...

I don't think she's suitable for riding although midgets might disagree! clipped from news.xinhuanet.com "Thumbelinda", the world's smallest horse takes part in a toy fair with its trainer Michael Goessling in New York, Feb 15, 2009.The seven-year old horse received the title of "World's smallest horse" from the Guinness Book of Records in the autumn of 2006.(Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo Gallery>>>  

There is an excellent opinion piece in the Independent about how freedoms to criticize thesist ideas are gradually being removed in the west. The writer of the opinion piece, Johann Hari, also points out the increasing tendency for atheists to be rubbished as “racists”: Underpinning these "reforms" (in the UN) is a notion seeping even into democratic societies – that atheism and doubt are akin to racism. The allegations that atheists are racists are nonsensical of course. Because anyone can join a religion; the only requirement is that you believe. Simple as that. Membership is not based on race – even though many religious people do look down on certain ethic groups: just visit Saudi Arabia or some of the southern states in the US. And which racial groups are atheists supposed to be against anyway? All of them? Some of them? It just doesn’t make sense. And now Geert Wilders has been denied entry into the UK . And for what? Well, for the crime of holding “opinions”. Now I cer...

Paraskevidekatriaphobia, or fear of Friday 13th, is probably the most widespread superstition in Western countries. But is it mere superstition? I always used to think so. But what is really interesting is that a study conducted by the British Medical Journal shows there is very good reason to stay at home on a day like today: "The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52%. Staying at home is recommended ." WTF! But why do we fear Friday the thirteenth anyway? Well, some believe that it is because 13 people attended the Last Supper, while Jesus’ Crucifixion took place on a Friday. All a load of tosh? Maybe. But I believe in it. Cos who needs a better reason to take the day off work and take it easy?!

Short of campaign funds? Or astute adverting?

Lots of political party posters up in Menteng at the moment. This is the first one I saw for the PPP: And this is the second one for PIB: No prizes for guessing which party the male folk in Menteng are gonna vote for!

Eyes I was told are part of the brain. Yucks – part of our thinking organ actually sticking out of our head! But our eyes are not perfect and many people are short-sighted (in the UK about five million). But why? What terrible thing have these people done to be cursed by the affliction of myopia – the inability to see clearly beyond one’s own nose? Nowadays short-sightedness is no big deal. We can always wear spectacles - or contact lenses if we don’t mind poking our fingers into our eyes every day. And it’s even possible to have short-sightedness fixed by laser surgery. But this wasn’t the case back when we were hunter gathers and living in caves and wearing sheep pelts to keep ourselves warm. Back then short-sightedness would have meant death - cos how can you spear an animal if you can’t see it? And how can you recognize friend from foe if you can’t tell them apart? So why then is short-sightedness so common? After all, it’s a very simple condition caused by a cornea which is simpl...

Her: She really wants to hear from you… after all these years… you know it would mean so much to her if you contacted her again. Him : Sure… is she on facebook? ------------------ Also on a virtual theme is the “newest breakthrough in sex technology", a device that sci fi writers were talking about 20 years ago but which now threatens the livelihoods of gold diggers anywhere where men have access to a computer. The rocket-shaped RealTouch device is "developed and tested by a former NASA engineer" and contains belts, lubrication jets, heating elements and other gadgetry programmed to give men the feeling of sex. One end of the canister-type devices sized to fit easily in one's lap is made of soft "Haptic" synthetic material akin to that used for nipples of baby bottles. The faux-flesh wall is slotted to allow the insertion of, er, a body part of a man's choosing. RealTouch devices connect to computers with USB cables and synchronize with adult movies st...

Are the fires of hell a glowing? Is the grizzly reaper mowing? Yes! The danger must be growing for the rowers keep on rowing, and they're certainly not showing any signs that they are slowing… > Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory I was watching this magic show last night and the magician does the usual trick of pulling the rabbit out of the hat. The hat is a Top Hat of course as its large dimensions make the trick look good. Whether the rabbit is actually pulled out of the hat or it’s just an illusion I don’t know. I’m not a magician. And just like magic, Top Hats are never worn anymore. But over 150 years ago they sold by the million. Now, though, they are only used by magicians to pull rabbits out of them. Change is relentless. Things come and things go. I’m not sure if there is any sort of overall plan or logic to the change. I suspect not. It all seems pretty arbitrary to me. I mean, if there really was a piece of clothing that we could have assigned to the scrapbook o...

There’s a new drug… According to the BBC it can: Be beneficial to sufferers of various medical conditions, including cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis, and glaucoma. And It has an effect on the heart, similar to the effects of exercise. It may be just as good for the heart as going to the gym. Its name? Marijuana. Okay, so it’s not new - marijuana has been used since time immemorial among some indigenous tribes across the world and it was perfectly legal in the UK up to 1928. So why is it still illegal to smoke dope? I mean is it really more dangerous to smoke the occasion joint than it is to either (or both!) smoke 20 Marlboros a day or drink half a bottle of whisky in the evening? And shouldn’t it be up for us to decide anyway? These are questions that British swimmer Michael Phelps might be asking right now after being “shamed” by the press for sucking on a pot pipe. But demonisation of marijuana is nothing new however. Back in 1936, the American Government released "Reefer Madne...

Captain Underpants has been unmasked! And he’s not a Yank like most of us expected but a religious wacko from the Republic of Indonesia who gives sermons to his followers in his underpants. So has Captain Underpants been putting his superhero gifts to good effect? Oh yes – you can bet he has: A gus, who is called Agus Imam Solihin or 'leader of the faithful' by followers, is alleged to have had sex with his disciples and instructed them to have group sex while he watched in the sect's mansion outside Jakarta. 'We're investigating him based on a report made by a female follower named Kartiningsih on 26Jan. She complained that Agus had asked her to massage him and touch his genitals,' Mr Zulkarnain said. 'She was also made to have sex with him, while her husband and followers watched,' he added. 'After several months, he told them he was God and that they didn't have to do that (pray) anymore.' Well, isn’t it amazing what people will do when t...