Other Interests: pursuing your passion

The multi-touch driven computer screen

Wow! The multi-touch driven computer screen is real, not just a movie special effect! See the video

Fast Company has an interesting article on the people behind it and how it works.

Australia wins World University Debating Championships 2007

I had a personal interest in following Queensland A's progress (Erin O'Brien and Evan Goldman) but with 2 Australian teams (Queensland A and Sydney G) in the Grand Final of the World University Debating Championships 2007 in Vancouver (up against 2 English teams: Oxford and Cambridge) how could we go wrong? Congratulations go to the winners Sydney G!

Queensland A was a joint runner-up. No one can remember the last time Queensland got into the octo-finals let alone to the grand final so it was a fantastic achievement for Evan and Erin! There were a total of 339 teams competing!

It appears that the judging was very close (the judges requested extra time).

The topic for the final was: That this house believes that economic growth is the solution to climate change.

Other topics during the competition included:

• This House would ban websites that glorify eating disorders.
• That this house believes that people sentenced to life imprisonment should be allowed to choose the death penalty instead.
• That this house believe that developing nations should nationalise their energy resources.
• That this house would support regime change in Myanmar/Burma.
• That this house would Ban Cosmetic Surgery.
• That this house would grant citizenship in exchange for military service.
• That this house would criminalise the payment of Ransom.
• That this house Supports Independence for Quebec.
• That this house would abolish all taxes on inherited wealth.

via: Freedom to Differ

How hard is it to change?

Alan Deutschman has expanded his May 2005 Fast Company cover story into a full-length book, "Change or Die.

In this excerpt he argues that "Whether it's the average guy who has struggled with a stressful life for so many decades that he has become seriously ill, or the heroin addict who commits felony after felony, or the managers, salespeople, and laborers who try to make it through unnerving shifts in their business, or virtually anyone who comes up against unexpected challenges and opportunities, people can change the deep- rooted patterns of how they think, feel, and act."

He says that the negativity surrounding the health care industry's attempts to deal with our lifestyle diseases is misplaced, that people can change. 

New Year's resolutions

I was going to ignore this topic but Mad Kane's New Year's Resolution Agreement between Husband and Wife has hit the mark!

I liked  "Couple shall not feign incompetence in order to avoid certain tasks.  For example:

a. Husband acknowledges that he knows how to operate the dishwasher. 

b. Wife admits she knows how to pump gas."

Check it out. Via Blawg Review #89

If climate change is the question, is nuclear power the answer?

Australia's Prime Minister thinks that nuclear power is the answer to our climate change problems. His Taskforce's report Uranium Mining, Processing and Nuclear Energy – Opportunities for Australia? has now been released.

It appears that the Prime Minister views nuclear power as an economic issue more than anything else.

In respect of climate change, I note that An Inconvenient Truth is now available on YouTube.

See also Climate Ark.