Washington D.C. Legalizes Medical Marijuana

Washington D.C. has joined the 14 states across the country that already allow qualified patients to use medical marijuana without legal repercussions, as the D.C. Council approved the law that was first passed in 1998.

Karen O'Keefe, directer of the state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project said, "Today marks a long overdue victory for D.C. voters and potentially thousands of chronically ill residents who will benefit from legal access to medical marijuana".

I feel like this is another positive step towards the legalization of marijuana across the entire country, and eventually the declassification of the plant as an illegal and dangerous drug altogether. I was reading an article the other day, which mentioned that if alcohol were to be invented and introduced into society today, it would be classified as a "schedule 1" drug.

It's time to realize that there are other substances out there, including alcohol, which deal a tremendous amount of damage to society. Our global society has continuously evolved, becoming more and more tolerant about things that were considered 'taboo' years ago; I think it's time that our minds followed.

How Apple sells their products

The recent release of the iPad has generated a lot of discussion regarding the 'want vs need' factor of Apple products, and lead me to want to explain Apple's marketing model that has proven to be quite successful over these years.

Step 1. Apple releases a new, 'absolutely revolutionary' product.

Step 2. Despite the launch of the product being a success, people begin to protest missing features, and generally whine about what they thought they were getting. However, this doesn't stop them from buying the product.

Step 3. Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, addresses the 'concerns' of the customers by explaining why those 'missing features' are useless.

Step 4. A year goes by, and Apple makes an official announcement for a product that will change the technology we know and love forever.

Step 5. Apple releases the new version of their product, which now includes the previously missing 'useless features', and calls the device 'revolutionary'.

Here is an image depicting these steps.

This is an on-going cycle, and unfortunately one that most people are not aware of. Once the new 'revolutionary' product is released, it makes the previous versions obsolete, and therefore people feel compelled to upgrade to the latest version of the device. But I guess most of us are guilty of suckling on Apple's teet.

Richard Dawkins vs Pope Benedict XVI

Atheist campaigner Richard Dawkins is planning to have the Pope arrested during his visit to Britain "for crimes against humanity". Richard Dawkins, along with atheist author Christopher Hitchens, believe they can apply the same legal principle used to arrest the late Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, when he visited Britain in 1998.

The Pope has recently been struck with a new wave of controversy over a letter he signed in 1985, arguing that "the good of the universal church" should come first before defrocking an American priest who committed sex offenses against two boys.

This doesn't come as a surprise to me, and is definitely not the first time the church has 'excused' or 'protected' priests involved in sexual offenses. The church needs to realize that they are not above the law, and anyone, disregarding their status in society, should be punished for the crime according to the appropriate laws. It's sickening to think that these kinds of acts go unnoticed and unpunished.

Ecologically Efficient Coke Bottle Design

I came across a clever and aesthetically pleasing coke bottle design that is ecological and thought up by freshman Andrew Kim. Here are the features of the design:

- 25% slimmer cap

- 27% more efficient

- 100% plant based (sugar cane)

- collapsible and stackable design

Here is his blog with a lot more pictures and further features of the design.

It's great to see the youth of this generation being actively involved in recycling and environmental preservation efforts. Who says we're not doing our part?

Want vs. Need

I happened to see this image while browsing the other day, and I thought, "it's funny because it's true". I'm usually pretty good at managing my funds when it comes to things that I really 'need' and things that I could do without, such as an iphone or whatever the latest craze might be. Whenever I go shopping, I find myself thinking, "do I really need this?", which can become pretty annoying at times for myself and whoever is unfortunate enough to have to wait on me at the time. But by asking that simple question, I have saved myself from countless 'impulse' buys, which I would have regretted a week, month, or a year down the line.

It's not like I haven't been thinking of getting an iphone, but I already own an ipod touch, which has all the functions of an iphone except telephony capability. So I can't justify spending a few hundred extra just to be able to call people, which I can already do perfectly fine from my current cell.

Another thing that has caught my attention is how adapt we've become at accepting the expected cost of items and monthly contracts. For instance, being an international student, I've been trying to find a cell phone plan that suits my needs and doesn't require me to part with all that money I could be spending on booze. But I'm forced to accept the fact that I'll be paying 20/50c for every text and call that I make or receive because I don't want to be locked into a contract.

Technology around is advancing rapidly, and enabling us to do more things, but we've also gotten used to accepting the increasing price tag. I wonder if it will ever get to a stage where we are willingly paying a couple of thousand for our cell phones, or could there be an era where our technology, like the fashion industry, becomes influenced by 'retro' trends and makes a return to simpler functionality? Will our brains be able to keep up with the advancing technology? Or will we grow tired of adapting to new ways of doing things and end up reminiscing of old times like the older generation?

Past and Present

Looking Into the Past, a Flickr group by Jason Powell, cleverly contextualizes the people, politics, and affairs of the past with the present day. It's interesting to compare the general atmosphere of the scenes, and the displayed technology, which gives a sense of how far society has come since then.

(Article inspired by '25 Nostalgic Photos Comparing Past to the Present')

Addiction Denial

Don Tapscott’s book, Grown Up Digital, generally has a positive and supportive outlook on the future of the latest generation, the ‘Net Geners’. However, as an indicator of fair research, the author has also included a list of concerns and critiques of this generation ; one of them being that these ‘screenagers’ are addicted to the internet, have degrading social skills, and lack the time for activities that support a healthy lifestyle. It is suggested that the combination of these attributes have lead, or will lead to the emergence of an age group full of awkward, over-weight people.

In response to the degrading social skills argument, there are two sides to the story. I would agree that advancements in technology, specifically the convenience of internet and mobile phone based IM (instant messaging) has drastically changed the format of our interaction with each other. While many of us 'net geners' use abbreviated words in our text messaging or while chatting online, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's lowering the standard of our social skills. In fact, many adults, parents, and perhaps even a few grandparents have adapted to this style of communication because they have realized that it's not inappropriate and gets the message across in a highly efficient manner.

But most of the critics, [who happen to be adults that don't want to change their comfortable old ways], don't realize that advancements in online social networking have actually increased the social activity of this generation - not a day goes by where I don't receive an invite on Facebook to some kind of social event. I've had friends who were shy, and liked to keep to themselves turn into party animals thanks to the awesome power of online social networks. So I'm not at all concerned for the well-being of this generation because believe it or not, we actually end up spending most of our time 'hanging out'.

Facebook Walking On a Thin Line

There is no doubt that Facebook has rapidly climbed the ladder of the competitive social networking market, more than doubling the user base of the previously popular MySpace since its debut in 2004. In fact, it has become popular enough to be a substitute to exchanging numbers with people we meet, and reason enough to call you a weirdo if you aren't on Facebook.

Being a user myself, I have noticed the growing amount of concern regarding issues of privacy, such as data mining, and potential monetizing of personal information. It seems that we now have evidence of the latter, as a Facebook user named Harman Bajwa had his vanity URL (facebook.com/harman) revoked two days ago, for apparently 'violating' the site's policies. Meanwhile, Facebook made a sales deal for the vanity URL with Harman International. Here is a sample of the official reason for the revocation by Facebook:

"A Facebook username should have a clear connection to one’s identity. In addition, impersonating anyone or anything is prohibited." (read the full article)

Loosely translated, that basically means, we are making money from your vanity URL and accusing you of some BS policy violation. As far as I can tell, Harman Bajwa had every right to be using the URL, since it's his real identity, and in no way attempting to impersonate anyone or anything.

It will be interesting to see whether Harman will get his URL back, or receive some sort of compensation. With over 300 million users world-wide, Facebook has adopted a lot of power over the social networking medium, and with that power, one would hope, comes responsibility.

First!

I'll be using this blog to write down my individual 'pro' thoughts and also draw attention to matters that I find important, and hopefully interesting. Check back soon for an update!