Friday, August 14, 2009

Today’s Quote:

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart…. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.”

— Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Speech, 2005

Today’s Most Important Stories, Information & Links:

• Afghanistan Law Allows Husbands To Deny Wives Food If They Fail To Obey Sexual Demands (Guardian)
• Fee-Free Weekends In National Parks
• A Harsh Hello For Visitors From Space (NYT review of District 9)
• 7 Reasons Why You Should See ‘District 9′ (FilmSchoolRejects)
• Why Our Brains Love Twittering – And Why That’s Dangerous (Slate)
• Researchers Unravel Mystery Behind Long-lasting Memories (Science Daily)
• Squirrel Becomes Famous After Popping Up In Couple’s Wilderness Photo (Guardian)
• Robotics From Around The World (36 Incredible Photos) (Boston Globe)
• One Of Antarctica’s Largest Glaciers ‘Thinning Four Times Faster Than Ten Years Ago’ (Telegraph)
• If The Twitter Community Was 100 People (graphic on flickr)

• Online Translation of the Tao Te Ching
• Burning Man photos – from 2003, 2004, 2006 – by Scott Hess
• Poets.org

Today’s Recommended Book:

• Cartwheels In A Sari: A Memoir Of Growing Up Cult by Jayanti Tamm

New Additions To Website:

• Matthieu Ricard: Change Your Mind, Change Your Brain (video)
• Added @newscientist to Twitter Dynamos
• Dove Evolution (& Parodies) (videos)

Today’s Video: The Hubble Deep Field: The Most Important Image Ever Taken

In 2003, the Hubble Space Telescope took the image of a millenium, an image that shows our place in the universe. Anyone who understands what this image represents, is forever changed by it. Watch another breathtaking Hubble video.