One should not forget that people may feel strongly about having their photos taken in public, and accept their feelings - no matter what they are. When I go to a public space with my camera, I consider myself a guest, and I should respect the wishes of everyone around me, as much as possible.
On a trip to Taiwan last year, I saw a charming small workshop where a woman with a very characteristic face was working. It was a perfect shot opportunity, so I asked for her permission to take a photo. She was very polite, but very firmly said no. Just the workshop and not her? No. Just her outside the workshop? No.
If this woman is photophobic at her private workplace, she has all the rights in the world to be so in public as well. I do not want the presence of my camera make her nervous when she goes shopping or crosses the street.
Taking candid pictures of private people can cause exactly that kind of nervousness, so I do not do it if I can avoid it.
Does that make me lose photo opportunities? Yes.
Does that make my portfolio poorer? Yes.
Do not other people take plenty of candid photos in public spaces? Yes, they do.
However, I think we own it to the respect for others, not to do to them what they may highly dislike, regardless of if we happen to share their dislike or not.
There are, after all, plenty of people who happily say yes to having their picture taken, when asked. And there are plenty of people in public situations, like parades, public theatre, concerts and demonstrations, who implicitly accept having their photos taken. They choose to be there to be seen.
17 July 2008
Limit the phone access
It may not be the biggest problem human civilisation has encountered, but is not all inclusive rates for mobile phones horribly annoying?
You may sit down on the train or in a bus to peacefully read a book or a newspaper, and it turns out that the person next to you has unlimited minutes on his/her phone, so they go on talking, talking, talking, just to be social with someone at the other end. It does not cost them anything after all.
I'm all for short useless messages like "We are just approaching the station. No, wait, not yet. But we'll soon be there. Just on time." However, when the discussion goes on for 30 minutes or more, it is torture. Sometimes what you eavesdrop is not even interesting enough to publish to the world on your blog.
You may sit down on the train or in a bus to peacefully read a book or a newspaper, and it turns out that the person next to you has unlimited minutes on his/her phone, so they go on talking, talking, talking, just to be social with someone at the other end. It does not cost them anything after all.
I'm all for short useless messages like "We are just approaching the station. No, wait, not yet. But we'll soon be there. Just on time." However, when the discussion goes on for 30 minutes or more, it is torture. Sometimes what you eavesdrop is not even interesting enough to publish to the world on your blog.
31 May 2008
The greater gift
I just forgot what I intended to write about. Luckily.
Could you imagine what our brains would be like, if we remembered all the clever ideas we ever had? What an incredible chaos there would be!
Forgetfulness is a much bigger gift to us from God than memory.
Could you imagine what our brains would be like, if we remembered all the clever ideas we ever had? What an incredible chaos there would be!
Forgetfulness is a much bigger gift to us from God than memory.
01 May 2008
Headline spin and bias
Our opinions are usually based on facts to a reasonably large extent. I guess that at least 15% of our opinions come from evaluations of facts we hear. The rest is based on the subconscious desire to share opinions with people around us, the desire to oppose the opinions of people around us, and repeated unsubstantiated messages in media. It has been claimed that "the fourth estate", media, are important in forming our opinions, as they select which facts to give us.
At least as important is the way they present those facts.
One striking example of this is a story presented at sina.com and AFP. Both articles build entirely on a story from China's state news agency Xinhua (新华). They do not use any other sources. All the facts are the same. However, Sina's headline is Policeman killed in pursuit of riot leader. Read no further. You learn that a policeman is killed, the poor fellow. AFP's headline is Police kill Tibetan during gun battle in China: state media. Again, read no further. You learn that a Tibetan is killed by nasty Chinese police, the poor fellow. If you read both headlines you may end up very confused. Was a policeman killed or did he kill? It turns out both are true.
The two news sites slyly ignore the death of one or the other of the two victims in the headline. This conveniently twists the opinions of the casual reader, who reads headlines but not articles.
At least as important is the way they present those facts.
One striking example of this is a story presented at sina.com and AFP. Both articles build entirely on a story from China's state news agency Xinhua (新华). They do not use any other sources. All the facts are the same. However, Sina's headline is Policeman killed in pursuit of riot leader. Read no further. You learn that a policeman is killed, the poor fellow. AFP's headline is Police kill Tibetan during gun battle in China: state media. Again, read no further. You learn that a Tibetan is killed by nasty Chinese police, the poor fellow. If you read both headlines you may end up very confused. Was a policeman killed or did he kill? It turns out both are true.
The two news sites slyly ignore the death of one or the other of the two victims in the headline. This conveniently twists the opinions of the casual reader, who reads headlines but not articles.
26 April 2008
Svarabhakti
As I grow older there are a lot of things from the past that I forget. Some things disappear completely. Some things hang around like very thin threads that make me almost remember them, but not quite.
For many months, perhaps years, I have wondered about one word that has been bouncing around like a rubber ball in my brain every now and then. I did not remember exactly what it sounded like, so it was impossible to search for it on the world wide thingummy.
Today, finally, the word became clear enough for me to find it: svarabhakti.
In case you also go around and wonder what it is about, here is what I found out:
A svarabhakti is a vowel that is inserted between two consonants. One example would be if you pronounce blue really slowly: be-lueue. The e between b and l is a svarabhakti. In many languages a large number of words have svarabhakti, like German, Dutch, many Celtic languages and Icelandic. It is difficult to find an Icelandic text without any words with the suffix -ur, and the u in -ur is a hundreds of years old svarabhakti. The word maður used to be maðr, but the Icelanders gave up pronouncing the tricky consonant combination ðr and added the u to make things easier.
The word svarabhakti comes from Sanskrit. Svara (स्वर) means sound, vowel. The word bhakti (भक्ति ), on the other hand, belongs to those words that can mean about anything: devotion, fidelity, order, part and division. The logic of the full word is "a vowel that divides" [two consonants from each other].
Other words for the same thing are epenthesis (ἐπένθεσις, from επι, on + εν, in + θεσις, placement) and anaptyxis (ανάπτυξής, growth).
At least that's what the internet tells me. However, it is unable to tell me where and when in the past I had seen the word before.
For many months, perhaps years, I have wondered about one word that has been bouncing around like a rubber ball in my brain every now and then. I did not remember exactly what it sounded like, so it was impossible to search for it on the world wide thingummy.
Today, finally, the word became clear enough for me to find it: svarabhakti.
In case you also go around and wonder what it is about, here is what I found out:
A svarabhakti is a vowel that is inserted between two consonants. One example would be if you pronounce blue really slowly: be-lueue. The e between b and l is a svarabhakti. In many languages a large number of words have svarabhakti, like German, Dutch, many Celtic languages and Icelandic. It is difficult to find an Icelandic text without any words with the suffix -ur, and the u in -ur is a hundreds of years old svarabhakti. The word maður used to be maðr, but the Icelanders gave up pronouncing the tricky consonant combination ðr and added the u to make things easier.
The word svarabhakti comes from Sanskrit. Svara (स्वर) means sound, vowel. The word bhakti (भक्ति ), on the other hand, belongs to those words that can mean about anything: devotion, fidelity, order, part and division. The logic of the full word is "a vowel that divides" [two consonants from each other].
Other words for the same thing are epenthesis (ἐπένθεσις, from επι, on + εν, in + θεσις, placement) and anaptyxis (ανάπτυξής, growth).
At least that's what the internet tells me. However, it is unable to tell me where and when in the past I had seen the word before.
23 April 2008
The clear message
Occasionally one can hear people asking for a "clear message" to this or that person or country about this or that issue. Clarity is a nice thing. A clear summer day is much nicer than an unclear summer day. Clear vision is nicer than blurry vision. A clear mind is better than a confused mind.
So let's have a look at some of the clear messages given in history:
Serbian nationalists gave Archduke Ferdinand a very clear message the 28 June 1914.
Germany gave Poland a very clear message 1 September 1939.
Japan gave the US a very clear message the 7 December 1941.
George W. Bush gave Saddam Hussein a clear message 20 March 2003.
The results of these messages may not always have been what the sender intended, but they were undoubtedly clear.
Have I made myself clear in this blog entry? No? Good!
So let's have a look at some of the clear messages given in history:
Serbian nationalists gave Archduke Ferdinand a very clear message the 28 June 1914.
Germany gave Poland a very clear message 1 September 1939.
Japan gave the US a very clear message the 7 December 1941.
George W. Bush gave Saddam Hussein a clear message 20 March 2003.
The results of these messages may not always have been what the sender intended, but they were undoubtedly clear.
Have I made myself clear in this blog entry? No? Good!
22 April 2008
For a good cause - or two
A friend of mine lives in Lyon. He is sick of the continuous anti-Chinese bias in Western press, so he will join the boycott of Carrefour that some Chinese bloggers plan for the 1st of May. Carrefour is the target, as it is the most visible French retailer in China. So my friend will shop at Auchan instead the 1st of May. This may be tricky, as it is not yet clear if Auchan will be open on the 1st of May, which is a public holiday in France. Carrefour may not be open either, but my friend claims this will just diminish his temptation to abort the demonstration.
Just in case, he will go twice to Carrefour in advance, the 29th and 30th of April, to pile up things he usually buys there, so he will not risk missing anything the crucial day.
Note that this is a protest against the French insensitive handling of the crisis in Tibet and a protest against the biased Western press. At the same time, my friend is a big fan of Tibetan culture, so the weekend before the 1st of May, he will participate in a manifestation for Tibet - especially for momo (མོག་མོག་).
I do not know if my Lyon friend fully understands the issue, but we live in a democracy, so even people who do not understand things are allowed to say what they think.
I also have some Chinese friends living in Shanghai. They have obviously heard a lot about the proposed boycott the 1st of May, and they are completely aware of the consequences. Therefore they will exceptionally go shopping at Carrefour 1st of May, as it hopefully will not be as crowded as usual.
Just in case, he will go twice to Carrefour in advance, the 29th and 30th of April, to pile up things he usually buys there, so he will not risk missing anything the crucial day.
Note that this is a protest against the French insensitive handling of the crisis in Tibet and a protest against the biased Western press. At the same time, my friend is a big fan of Tibetan culture, so the weekend before the 1st of May, he will participate in a manifestation for Tibet - especially for momo (མོག་མོག་).
I do not know if my Lyon friend fully understands the issue, but we live in a democracy, so even people who do not understand things are allowed to say what they think.
I also have some Chinese friends living in Shanghai. They have obviously heard a lot about the proposed boycott the 1st of May, and they are completely aware of the consequences. Therefore they will exceptionally go shopping at Carrefour 1st of May, as it hopefully will not be as crowded as usual.
20 April 2008
Democratic action against democracy
This is perhaps a cheap observation, but at the same time as the French propagate for democracy in China, the Chinese use the democratic rights they have to demonstrate against France for that same reason.
19 April 2008
Side effect of fighting crime
The pirates who seized a French luxury yacht a few weeks ago have now been charged by a French court.
This is of course excellent news. The innocent civilian crew on the ship, who were all taken hostages, can now feel that they are better protected on future trips outside Somalia, and so can thousands of other sailors. Pirates will now know what awaits them if they attack French ships, and probably ships from other rich countries as well.
However, they are likely to face no worse consequences than before, if they attack Somali ships - and perhaps Eritrean, Yemenite, or ships of many other Arab and African nationalities. If the innocent crew had been North Korean or Cuban, would the French have taken so swift action to liberate them?
It is difficult to demand of the French or any other country to spend as much resources on protecting and liberating foreign nationals as their own. But, surely, it is an unfortunate situation.
Pirates outside Somalia now risk concentrating on ships from countries that are too poor to protect their nationals efficiently.
This is of course excellent news. The innocent civilian crew on the ship, who were all taken hostages, can now feel that they are better protected on future trips outside Somalia, and so can thousands of other sailors. Pirates will now know what awaits them if they attack French ships, and probably ships from other rich countries as well.
However, they are likely to face no worse consequences than before, if they attack Somali ships - and perhaps Eritrean, Yemenite, or ships of many other Arab and African nationalities. If the innocent crew had been North Korean or Cuban, would the French have taken so swift action to liberate them?
It is difficult to demand of the French or any other country to spend as much resources on protecting and liberating foreign nationals as their own. But, surely, it is an unfortunate situation.
Pirates outside Somalia now risk concentrating on ships from countries that are too poor to protect their nationals efficiently.
13 April 2008
Kunlangeta - mon amour
This is a conditional truth: there are few people who are so nice to be with as psychopaths. A psychopath tries to manipulate you. He lies to you. He does everything for himself, even if he has to crush you. And he is really charming, when he does this.
The psychopath is like a glass of wine - it is very pleasant if you only know when to stop. You need to be able to back out, go away, hang up and cut off at any moment. And you need to be aware, to think of this at every instance: this is not just a glass of water; this is not a decent person. Keep the distance.
If you get to depend on a psychopath, you are toast.
Kunlangeta is allegedly an Inuit Yupik word for psychopath. It is mentioned by a Jane Murphy in an article in Science from 1976 to illustrate that there are psychopaths in all cultures. It is very easy to make that kind of vocabulary claims for small languages without being contradicted. There are less than 20,000 people speaking any dialect of Yupik, and it is unlikely that many of them are aware of all the clinical symptoms of psychopaths. How many of them will read that article from 1976 and verify or deny the claim? Let's not forget that one of the most ridiculous linguistic claims ever has been made for Inuit languages: that they should have hundreds of words for snow.
The same article claims that arankan is the Yoruba word for psychopath. However, Yoruba is a big language with more than 20 million speakers, and there are actually dictionaries available. The word simply means "malice" or "evil". It is hardly surprising that there is a word for nasty in Yoruba, and that does not prove that there are psychopaths in Nigeria. It is very likely that there are some there as well as elsewhere, but the mere fact that Yoruba has a word for nasty is no proof.
The psychopath is like a glass of wine - it is very pleasant if you only know when to stop. You need to be able to back out, go away, hang up and cut off at any moment. And you need to be aware, to think of this at every instance: this is not just a glass of water; this is not a decent person. Keep the distance.
If you get to depend on a psychopath, you are toast.
Kunlangeta is allegedly an Inuit Yupik word for psychopath. It is mentioned by a Jane Murphy in an article in Science from 1976 to illustrate that there are psychopaths in all cultures. It is very easy to make that kind of vocabulary claims for small languages without being contradicted. There are less than 20,000 people speaking any dialect of Yupik, and it is unlikely that many of them are aware of all the clinical symptoms of psychopaths. How many of them will read that article from 1976 and verify or deny the claim? Let's not forget that one of the most ridiculous linguistic claims ever has been made for Inuit languages: that they should have hundreds of words for snow.
The same article claims that arankan is the Yoruba word for psychopath. However, Yoruba is a big language with more than 20 million speakers, and there are actually dictionaries available. The word simply means "malice" or "evil". It is hardly surprising that there is a word for nasty in Yoruba, and that does not prove that there are psychopaths in Nigeria. It is very likely that there are some there as well as elsewhere, but the mere fact that Yoruba has a word for nasty is no proof.
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