What I am reading ... http://arif.amplify.com My Web Wanderings Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:47:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 en Super Bowl is most watched TV show ever, WOW http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/08/super-bowl-is-most-watched-tv-show-ever-wow/ http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/08/super-bowl-is-most-watched-tv-show-ever-wow/#comments Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:47:07 +0000 arif http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/08/super-bowl-is-most-watched-tv-show-ever-wow/

what does that say about contemporary American soceity? The reality TV is still the king? The sympathy factor is still the king?

Clipped from news.yahoo.com

The Super Bowl was watched by more than 106 million people, surpassing the 1983 finale of “M-A-S-H” to become the most-watched program in television history.

The Nielsen Co. estimated Monday that 106.5 million people watched the New Orleans Saints upset the Indianapolis Colts. That beats the “M-A-S-H” finale, which had 105.97 million viewers in an era when there were fewer television sets.

Compelling story lines involving the city of New Orleans and its recovery from Hurricane Katrina and the quest for a second Super Bowl ring for Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning propelled the viewership.

The game also obliterated the previous record viewership for a Super Bowl — last year’s game between Arizona and Pittsburgh in which 98.7 million people watched.

Read more at news.yahoo.com
 
]]> http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/08/super-bowl-is-most-watched-tv-show-ever-wow/feed/ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100208/ap_on_sp_ot/us_super_bowl_ratings news.yahoo.com Thought Update: How do you explain the... http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/07/464/ http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/07/464/#comments Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:45:58 +0000 arif http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/07/464/ http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/07/464/feed/ Social Media & Mobile Internet Use Among Teens and Young Adults http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/05/social-media-mobile-internet-use-among-teens-and-young-adults/ http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/05/social-media-mobile-internet-use-among-teens-and-young-adults/#comments Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:09:03 +0000 arif http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/05/social-media-mobile-internet-use-among-teens-and-young-adults/
Clipped from pewresearch.org
See more at pewresearch.org
 
]]> http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/05/social-media-mobile-internet-use-among-teens-and-young-adults/feed/ http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1484/social-media-mobile-internet-use-teens-millennials-fewer-blog pewresearch.org The “Soft Power” of India http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/05/the-soft-power-of-india/ http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/05/the-soft-power-of-india/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:50:17 +0000 arif http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/05/the-soft-power-of-india/

The superstar of Indian film industry, possibly the first one to ring the opening bell at Nasdaq. Promoting the world wide release of his movie “My Name is Khan”.

Slowly and gradually, India will take over through art and talent that transcends the boundaries.

Clipped from www.youtube.com
See more at www.youtube.com
 
]]> http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/05/the-soft-power-of-india/feed/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVtTe1KJS8M www.youtube.com Microsoft’s Creative Destruction http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/05/microsoft%e2%80%99s-creative-destruction/ http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/05/microsoft%e2%80%99s-creative-destruction/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:30:40 +0000 arif http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/05/microsoft%e2%80%99s-creative-destruction/
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/opinion/04brass.html?pagewan…
Why Microsoft, America’s most famous and prosperous technology company, has failed to bring us the future.Read more at www.nytimes.com
 
 

Unbelievably honest piece. A must read.

]]> http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/05/microsoft%e2%80%99s-creative-destruction/feed/ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/opinion/04brass.html?pagewanted=all www.nytimes.com World’s Oldest Christian Monastery Restored http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/04/worlds-oldest-christian-monastery-restored/ http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/04/worlds-oldest-christian-monastery-restored/#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:28:39 +0000 arif http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/04/worlds-oldest-christian-monastery-restored/
Clipped from news.discovery.com
Egypt’s antiquities chief on Thursday unveiled the completion of an 8-year, $14.5 million restoration of the world’s oldest Christian monastery, touting it as a sign of Christian-Muslim coexistence.
monastery

Egypt’s antiquities chief unveiled the $14.5 million project, touting it as a sign of Christian-Muslim coexistence.

Read more at news.discovery.com
 
]]> http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/04/worlds-oldest-christian-monastery-restored/feed/ http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/egypt-christian-monastary-muslim.html news.discovery.com Librarian builds self-checkout machine. Costs $1500 instead of $23000 http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/04/librarian-builds-self-checkout-machine-costs-1500-instead-of-23000/ http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/04/librarian-builds-self-checkout-machine-costs-1500-instead-of-23000/#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:27:55 +0000 arif http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/04/librarian-builds-self-checkout-machine-costs-1500-instead-of-23000/
Clipped from www.desmoinesregister.com
e circulation

Self check-out could have cost $23,000, but employee, found a solution for $1,500 and now lines are shorter to borrow books.

Myrna Brayton, director of the Kirkendall Public Library in Ankeny, knew the library was in need of a self-checkout kiosk to relieve crowds at the circulation desk and help patrons be on their way quickly.

The problem: Such a set-up would cost $23,000 - money the library didn’t have readily available for such a project.
Brayton didn’t have to wait long. One of her employees, librarian Eric Melton, came up with an alternative and the price was right.

“When Eric came to me and said he could download the necessary software and set up a kiosk for $1,500, I couldn’t believe it,” Brayton said. “He got it up and running quickly, too. He’s a hero around here; talk about job security.”Read more at www.desmoinesregister.com
 
]]> http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/04/librarian-builds-self-checkout-machine-costs-1500-instead-of-23000/feed/ http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100202/NEWS/2020311/-1/AMES/Enterprising-Ankeny-librarian-builds-money-saving-kiosk www.desmoinesregister.com Twitter.com inspired by Amplify.com ideas? #hovercards http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/03/twittercom-inspired-by-amplifycom-ideas-hovercards/ http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/03/twittercom-inspired-by-amplifycom-ideas-hovercards/#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:57:46 +0000 arif http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/03/twittercom-inspired-by-amplifycom-ideas-hovercards/

Hmm, I just stopped myself from saying ’stealing’.

Clipped from blog.twitter.com via Google Reader
Because many of you use twitter.com to read and write tweets, we’ve been spending some time focusing on ways to improve your experience on the site. Today, we’re introducing a feature called Hovercards that will be a handy way to interact with the folks behind each tweet.Read more at blog.twitter.com
 
]]> http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/03/twittercom-inspired-by-amplifycom-ideas-hovercards/feed/ http://blog.twitter.com/2010/02/flying-around-with-hovercards.html blog.twitter.com Vegetative brains show signs of awareness http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/03/vegetative-brains-show-signs-of-awareness/ http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/03/vegetative-brains-show-signs-of-awareness/#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:57:01 +0000 arif http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/03/vegetative-brains-show-signs-of-awareness/

Incredible

Clipped from news.yahoo.com
Vegetative
Scientists have detected glimmers of awareness in some vegetative brain-injury patients and have even communicated with one of them — findings that push the boundaries of how to assess and care for such people.
The new research suggests that standard tests may overlook patients who have some consciousness, and that someday some kind of communication may be possible.
In the strongest example, a 29-year-old patient was able to answer yes-or-no questions by visualizing specific scenes the doctors asked him to imagine. The two visualizations sparked different brain activity viewed through a scanning machine.
“We were stunned when this happened,” said one study authorRead more at news.yahoo.com
 
]]> http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/03/vegetative-brains-show-signs-of-awareness/feed/ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100204/ap_on_he_me/us_med_vegetative_brain news.yahoo.com How can you link poor to growth and growth to poor? http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/02/how-can-you-link-poor-to-growth-and-growth-to-poor/ http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/02/how-can-you-link-poor-to-growth-and-growth-to-poor/#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:25:52 +0000 arif http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/02/how-can-you-link-poor-to-growth-and-growth-to-poor/

I liked this headlined quote. AKDN for those who may not know was the only delegate in the recent London Conference on Afghanistan who is not a country.

Below clipped portion is from the head of this organization discussing experienced ideas on how to help Afghanistan move forward.

The list of delegates here: http://afghanistan.hmg.gov.uk/en/conference/participants/

Clipped from ismailimail.wordpress.com
AKDN is applying a regional approach to health, education, energy and infrastructure between the Badakhshans of Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Indeed such an investment would connect China to Kabul through Tajikistan, opening new trade corridors. That will inevitably have social and economic fall-out benefits for the communities and the country as a whole. Of our programmes and investments, we ask, how can we link the poor to growth and growth to the poor through subregional and regional investments? We submit that this requires willingness to support small-scale and middle-level investments in the short term that may not immediately be considered financially sustainable, but which our experience has shown would have the necessary medium to long term returns and economic benefits.Read more at ismailimail.wordpress.com
 
]]> http://arif.amplify.com/2010/02/02/how-can-you-link-poor-to-growth-and-growth-to-poor/feed/ http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/his-highness-the-aga-khans-statement-at-the-london-conference-on-afghanistan/ ismailimail.wordpress.com