DDR Info

My wonderful Seshat has been investigating DDR possibilities. Our friend Song has bought a DDR for her PS2 and it is so much fun. I am eager to own one so I asked Seshat to research it.

Here is the report that he sent me, which I thought would be interesting for others as well. You only get this much detail from a PhD graduate :-P

So I did some research about Dance Dance Revolution for the Gamecube and the reviews seem okay, However!! The music seems to suck!! They put mario-based music for dancing!! Anyways I have been searching for DDR and I think in general all games are the same (for non-aficionados, which I think we are) and thus the recommendation is just to select the version that has the better songs.

For the Ps2 there are 5 DDR games.
Dance Dance Revolution
Dance Dance Revolution 2
Dance Dance Revolution Extreme
Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2
Dance Dance Revolution Super Nova

The songs for the two last games released are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_Dance_Revolution_EXTREME_2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_Dance_Revolution_SuperNOVA_song_list (at the end of the webpage there is a version for the ps2)


For the Gamecube there is only one DDR game
Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix
with songs from Mario videogames!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_Dance_Revolution:_Mario_Mix

Brain Drain in Iran

I read an interesting article today regarding the brain drainage that is occurring in Iran. This is really an important issue I think and one that I often wonder about. If you think about it, at least engineering wise, most of the students from the top 4-5 universities in Iran go overseas to US/Canada/Aus for their graduate studies. They rarely return after finishing. I find this is for example unlike the trend in India or even China, where many return if not immediately, they work a couple of years and then return. This is a huge brain drainage and I wonder when the effects will become evident. The interesting thing in the article was that:

According to the IMF more than a 150,000 of the best young minds in Iran are leaving every year.
"They want to go abroad to find a decent job, well paid - that's the main purpose... A minority wants freedom and liberty, but the main point is jobs," explains Siavosh who's hoping to move to Australia.

It is interesting that it is the job situation that is the primary reason for the move and not the freedom and liberty. I wonder what the job situation is like in China or India for example. Anyone know?

Ashley's Treatment and an Open Question

Probably you have all heard in the last couple of days about the Ashley story, a 9 year old girl in Seattle who is severely handicapped (she has the brain of a 3 months old) whose parents have been giving her hormone treatment and also have opted for surgery to block breast growth and had her uterus and appendix removed, in order to stunt her growth. The parents also have a blog that explain their actions. The say that "because she will remain the weight of a child, it will be easier for them to move her around, bathe her and involve her in family activities - movement that will benefit her physical and mental well-being." But the operations is mostly for Ashley's sake herself and not so much the convenience of the parents. "Ashley has no need for her uterus since she will not be bearing children," they said, adding that the decision means she will not experience the menstrual cycle and the bleeding and discomfort commonly associated with it. The operation also removed the possibility of pregnancy if Ashley were ever the victim of sexual abuse, they said. The removal of the girl's breast buds was also done in part to avoid sexual abuse, but was carried out primarily so she would not experience discomfort when lying down, the parents said.

So that's the summary. What's my view? I think in this situation, there is nothing wrong with what the parents have done. Even if the operations were done for the benefit of taking care of her, I say it is ok. She would be forever 3 months old. Being a woman has so many extra bodily discomforts - getting your menstrual cycle itself is a mess that is difficult enough to handle when you are fully capable.
So I understand what the implications are. We are playing god to a great extent. Where do we draw the line? Can this lead to operations which are not justified as is the case here?

Maybe my opinions are too harsh. But I really dont see the point of living when you can't comprehend the world around you - I don't mean anyone who is mentally handicapped, but definitely include forever-3 months olds. I had a discussion recently - if a fetus is detected to have mental or physical disabilities, would its abortion be a justified? Is it fair to the child or the parents to be forever responsible for this new life - thus taking up resources of the world while weakening what the parents can give to the world because of the extra care it requires. I am being extremely blunt, not minding my language. But it is really of interest to me what the issues are here. So I would love to hear your thoughts.

Watermelons and 2007

Happy new year my cyber companions. It's been a long time since my last post, during which I have been enjoying the return of my absent dazband and my lovelie in laws. Oh and one fine fine dog names Layka. Damn I don't have good pics of her. Does anyone?

I will write more later but for now check out the incredible things you can do with my favorite fruit!

Oh and I have been tagged so at some stage soon I will make my response :-)

Funny Cats in the Universe

It has been such a long time since i updated my blog. I have been meaning to write about the fantastic flamenco concert I went to two weekends ago - it was marvelous. I am waiting for some of the photos to post.

Meanwhile, an article on PhysicsWeb about how the universe might in fact be finite sized - a cosmic hall of mirrors that trick you into believing the infinite. And the comments from /. about the article.

And finally, a hilarious cat video. Too funny by half!

Some articles

Here are some interesting articles that I read:

- this article claims that as salaries get higher and higher in Bangalore, outsourcing will move away from India (or at least Bangalore) and to China.

- the other interesting article was mentioned on digg here. It seems in Ukraine there is a scam where they declare babies to be still-born but then they kill healthy new borns to sell their organs. Also it seems they harvest them for stem cell. I didn't realize babies also had stem cells (i thought it was only embryos) but then I read the following comment on the digg page:

"The idea is to pretend that the babies are stillborn so that you can take their body. Then you can harvest stem cells from bone marrow (FTA), and trade their organs. It is supposedly easier than harvesting stem cells from embryos as there are in larger amount in the bones of a full-term babies than in aborted foetuses or in embryos (supposing it's not banned). But IMHO the primary goal is harvesting hard-to-find newborn organs, stem cells being a plus."

It's a scary world we live in.

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Oh and here you can buy some very cool shirts!

Why I love Firefly!

For you non-firefly fans out there (why?!!!) anyway here's another reason why i love the show. Forget that it is excellent and funny and has a lovely cast. Forget that. I am now going to go deeper and let us look at the character of the characters on the show. Seems a group organized a Firefly convention in LA, with tickets selling for $60-200 and it was sold out. Three days before the event the dodgy company that was organizing it, cancelled it and ran away with the money. However, the cast still turned up at the place and partied with the people. I mean seriously, how cool and nice would the cast have to be?

I want more fireflyyyyys!!!