source - Seth Godin on the tribes we lead | Video on TED.com

Some of the most basic things regarding change is being able to influence small groups of like minded people towards a cause. these small groups can multiply the efforts towards change provided that the tribal leader steps up to the role and drives the vision.

This video perhaps tells nothing new, but today's society and technology makes the possibility of tribal changes become a lot more effective.

source site - Observing Ramadan - The Big Picture - Boston.com

Muslim faithful throughout the world are currently observing the holy month of Ramadan. Observant Muslims participate in fasting (sawm), one of the five pillars of their faith, this entire Lunar month (this year it extends from September 1st to the 30th). Eating, drinking, smoking and sexual activity is prohibited from dawn until sunset, when the fast is broken with the evening meal called Iftar. Local customs define varying traditions, including differing types of food used to break the daily fast. The fasting is meant to teach a person patience, humility and sacrifice, to set aside time to ask forgiveness, practice self-restraint, and pray for guidance in the future.

the site has some truly excellent photos of the faith.

I am in a cultural analysis mood today.

One other cultural phenomenon often cited is the moral degradation of our youngsters. The topic that brought me to think about this was a facebook discussion thread titled "Lelaki Melayu Bermasaalah" by a girl called Akmal Fairuz who complained that young malay boys are uncouth and describes them as "tidak bertamadun".

whilst the misbehaviours described by akmal fairuz is not confined to one race, i think the root causes are similar.

The recent tragedy of Nurin Jazlin Jazimin, 8 years old (al-fatihah) gave me cause to think about the society we are becoming today.

Being a self-analyst deep down, i pondered long about the tragedy: how can somebody commit such a heinous crime on such innocent children? what motivates them? what are the external factors? has the police profiled such crimesters? why do they become the monsters today?

This is an interesting experiment on subliminal messaging. Check out this video as it speaks for itself.

Here is a collection of things that Google does in the office. Well, i need not tell you that Google is one of the most successful companies in the last decade. But how do they do it? From time to time i like to take a peak at the Google-culture and try to understand what makes them tick...

So her goes:

First, they have this rule or motto - "Don't be evil". This was revealed in a playboy interview of the Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Some excerpts:

Are we truly bad when it comes to toilet cleanliness?

Regardless this, it would appear that some quarters believe that we need to have special courses to ensure that we understand how to keep toilets clean. An article from chron.com highlights this amusing... and rather embarassing i must say article.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — It's never too late for toilet training. Some Malaysian colleges may soon offer courses on how to keep public restrooms clean, the national news agency reported Thursday.

A friend of mine shared the following link.

http://www.netevents.tv/docuplayer.asp?docid=75

It is an interesting coverage of the one laptop per child project entitled "No lap un-topped - the bottom up revolution that could re-define global IT culture". The presentation was made by Nicholas Negroponte, who is a Motorola Director and Chairman Emeritus MIT Labs & Chairman One Laptop per Child. The presentation was dated 2 December 2006. More on Nicholas.