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Professor of Psychology at at Princeton University, Prof. Daniel Kahneman, has given an exceptional lecture at TED where he discusses the concept of ‘happiness’. Prof. Kahneman shines a light onto what happiness is and it is not what you may think. Watch the TED video of the lecture below and share your thoughts on happiness as your remembered self may allow, as the self of presence is limited to just 3 seconds!

Another year and yet another awards show.  Feeling wholly unchallenged I began watching the Grammy Awards anticipating cliched performances with its requisite stable of ‘Idol’ performing ‘Hall of Fame’ inductees.  Instead, I re-discovered Pink who presented in my opinion one of the most delicate and thoughtfully conceived performances that I have ever seen.

In an age of music where, much as everything else, commodity seems to matter most I feel musically more alive because of artists like Pink.  This single performance has endeared music to me as an art form once again.   What do you think?

Wired’s The Threat Level blog recently published a disturbing account of how two bloggers late December were subjected to governmental pressure to reveal a source. The Wired article centered around instructions that America’s Transport Security Administration (TSA) issued Christmas day in light of the latest attempted plane bombing by a suspected operative of the Al Qaeda, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

The bloggers, Steven Frischling and Christopher Elliott, travel journalists each wrote on their blogs about the advisory. A spokeswoman for the TSA, Suzanne Trevino, maintains that although the document was not a secure document it was not intended for mass dissemination.

Details from the document — guidance that passengers boarding flights for US bound destinations should be ‘pat-down’ with particular attention paid to the upper thigh and torso — were sent by the TSA to over 10,000 foreign airports and airline operators late Christmas day.

It seems that America is at a cross roads. On one hand there are the founding principals contained within the Bill of Rights and the 1st Amendment in particular which guarantees freedom of speech and of the press and on the other the passing of the USA Patriot Act in 2001 has undoubtedly produced shades of gray in how America protects herself.

When do these freedoms get overruled by the need of the State to protect the population and more importantly; who is the arbiter when presumed freedoms are crossed by the greater need of public good? What are you thoughts on striking this balance?

Further reading:
www.bordc.org/threats/speech.php

UPDATE: The TSA have withdrawn the subpoenas and offered a new computer to one of the Bloggers involved, read more at theconsumerist.org

Las Vegas is such a city of contrasts, the wealthy and those that are struggling to make ends meat somehow exist in this desert city of excess.

I feel very fortunate to be here attending the annual SEO pilgrimage that is Pubcon. I am reminded however that for my fortunes there are people that live in this place who can’t afford even the simplest of meals.  Who’s children do not have the opportunities that I would presume in America would be available easily.

If you are able to, If you are fortunate like me then maybe spare a minute of your time or a few of your hard earned dollars to help someone one day soon that is down on their luck!

One such place to send your support could be The Shade Tree.  This non profit organisation has been helping those that are homeless, abused women and children, victims of domestic violence, victims of elder abuse, victims of street violence, female veterans, homeless youth and the physically disabled since 1990.

www.theshadetree.org

Simply amazing performance by Nathan ‘Flutebox’ Lee and Beardyman at Googleplex London earlier this year.