Sweden is moving steadily towards a general election. The Social Democrat Minister of Justice has during this last term been busy diminishing human rights by increasing the rights of the state to eavsdrop. This is a nice spoof poster. The Social Democrats have election posters showing people with the tagline “I build Sweden” The text under the minister is “I bug Sweden”
Despite the wonderful day with sunshine and blue sky I have been busy editing (with a bit of new writing). As a reward this evening I am going to see Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard at the Göteborg Stadsteater.
this version has had very good reviews and I am looking forward to it.
About the play: The family return home from Paris to find that their family estate is about to be sold at auction for debt. To all the family it is quite unthinkable that they should lose the wonderful cherry orchard whose white blooms are part of their childhood memories… (synopsis)
If you have not experienced the darkness of the northern winter it is hard to appreciate the joy of spring. Right now almost everyone in Sweden is optimistic and happy because the winter is passed. The days of darkness have changed and the days of light have begun. Frenetic plans are being made for the summer.
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
T.S. Eliot
But summer brings hope and the promise of the Göteborg Archipelago!
Building on the Skansen Krona fortress began in 1641 its main purpose was to defend the city against from Danish invaders. It was completed in 1695. The name means the Crown Fortress and takes its name from the crown on the top. A second fortress has a lion on top and is therefore called the Lion Fortress.
The Krona is on a central hill in the city and has great views of the city. Its main use is as a park for walking the dog, summer picknicks, views of the city and a place to celebrate new years eve.
A grey friday morning and a phone camera. But none the less views from my home town.
Using trees to form part of a political protest has almost been synonymous with the green movement. Protesters have hugged or chained themselves to trees to prevent them from being sawn down. Protesters have staged sit-ins in them to demonstrate their point. Part of the Swedish protest movement was staged around some Elm trees in a park in central Stockholm (Kungstrådgården). The Elm Battle (12-13 May 1971) was part of a civil disobedience act. To prevent the building of a entrance to a subway station activists (amongst other things) climbed up into the trees. The planned station entrance was moved.
In central Göteborg today this tree has been painted with the text â??think about the homelessâ?? this is not the first tree to sport this text. When the text on an earlier tree began to fade the notice appeared on this tree instead.
Most groups unable to make their voices heard in traditional media have turned to the Internet to attempt to publicise their cause. This protest is about homeless people and by using the tree as a mediun the message also manages to underscore the lack of technology and basic infrastructure homelessness entails.
My phd thesis goes to the publisher in May and I need a book cover for the work. My own attempts have been less than exciting so here is a competition for all you creative people.
Design a cover for my thesis and I will use it. Your work will appear on the 200-300 copies printed, you will naturally recieve full credit for your work and a copy of the book.
The title of the work is “Disruptive Technology” the undertitle (which should not appear on the cover) is “The Effects of Technology Regulation on Democracy”
All submissions need to be in by May 10.
Spread the word!
UPDATE (13 April)
Some questions about the competition & thesis.
Format: Not entirely fixed but approx: Height 23 cm, width 15 cm, length 260 pages.
Colours: No limitations other than the budget does not allow glossy photo-quality covers.
The basic argument of the thesis is: While governments talk about the advantages that technology may bring to the democratic process they are more concerned with streamlining administrative procedures rather than promoting true democratic interaction. When unconventional/innovative uses of technology appear the regulatory desire is to prohibit rather than promote. A draft version of the thesis is available here.
The thesis will be published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license
Banksy’s latest is a comment on the deregulation of state industries. In this graphic case it is an image of the change from the old to the modern British Telecom (BT). This is portrayed by a bleeding old style phone box in Soho (London)
A BT spokesman said: “This is a stunning visual comment on BT’s transformation from an old-fashioned telecommunications company into a modern communications services provider.” (BBC)
What the BT spokesman failed to mention is the reduction of universal service when follows in the wake of any deregulation. The transformation of a public service company into a modern industry player is not always something to be proud of. The mutilatd phone box has unfortunately already been removed.
Larger image on Banksy’s site.
Leonardo Fibonacci (c1175-1250) was travelled widely in Barbary (Algeria), Egypt, Syria, Greece, Sicily and Provence. In 1200 he returned to Pisa and used the knowledge he had gained on his travels to write Liber abaci in which he introduced the Latin-speaking world to the decimal number system. The first chapter of Part 1 begins:
These are the nine figures of the Indians: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. With these nine figures, and with this sign 0 which in Arabic is called zephirum, any number can be written, as will be demonstrated.
Besides this Fibonacci also took part in mathematical competitions and challenges (these were commonthen). For example, in 1225 Fibonacci took part in a tournament at Pisa ordered by the emperor himself, Frederick II. Competitions could include puzzles such as this:
Beginning with a single pair of rabbits, if every month each productive pair bears a new pair, which becomes productive when they are 1 month old, how many rabbits will there be after n months?
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987,…
Why the interest in Fibonacci today? I was walking down a street in my home town (a street I have often walked on before) and I noticed that someone had decorated a building with the Fibonacci sequence.
Was this art? or is there a deeper meaning? Perhaps even a conspiracy? Decorating buildings using mathematical formulas and principles was hardly the vogue since this house was built!
Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala wrote his 1200-page book in 1615 Nueva corónica y buen gobierno (New Chronicle and Good Government) to convince King Philip III of Spain to reform Spanish rule in South America. The book includes 398 full-page drawings. Its aim was to provide the Spanish king with an Andean perspective on colonial Peru.
The Royal Danish Library has digitised it and made it available online here. Some background about the manuscript by the editor Rolena Adorno can be found here.
The tenth Inka, Tupac Inka Yupanqui (p. 110)