I friend of mine has brought up the topic of open-source textbooks on his weblog [The Ruminant] and then, today I came across a new site that indexes open-source journals [DOAJ][via MetaFilter]. I think this is going to turn out to be a great source of information and content that may rival weblogs. Certainly the information will be more authoritative than many weblogs are. 8:15:35 PM    comment []  

This 360^o panoramic view from the top of Everest is awe inspiring [Panoramas]. Though I'm not interested in risking my life to climb the world's highest peak, I can certainly see why it might be appealing to people. The physical and mental strain is paid with a major sense of accomplishment and the opportunity to see what other people can only dream about. I climbed El Pico de Orizaba, Mexico a few years ago and it was an amazing experience. Everest would be 10 times harder and 10 times more satisfying. 3:17:21 PM    comment []  

About three weeks ago, I started doing yoga. Since I play soccer twice a week and I am a referee for soccer three times a week, I do a lot of running. My physical fitness and stamina are very good as a result, but I have found that my body's flexibility has been deteriorating. Realizing that I was ignoring an important aspect of myself, I decided to give yoga a try in order to have a more holistic approach to physical fitness.

If you know me, you know I don't care for New Age concepts. Yes, I did use the word "holistic" above, but I don't take that to the extremes that the New Age adherents do. I think that a holistic view of your body and mind is good, but I don't attribute it with mystical or spiritual properties. So, as I begin to do yoga, I enter with a certain degree of skepticism, but also with an open mind.

Yoga is a technique ideally suited to prevent physical and mental illness and to protect the body generally.... By its very nature it is inextricably associated with universal laws: for respect for life, truth, and patience are all indispensable factors in the drawing of a quiet breath, in calmness of mind and firmness of will. -- Yehudi Menuhin [Jai Ma Yoga]

Okay. This is essential New Age flowery talk and I just can't go to that level. But, my experience in Yoga has been eye opening.

First of all, the physical elements have been very intense. Like I said, my main focus is flexibility and yoga is definitely pushing me beyond anything I could have imagined. However, it isn't just about flexibility. In my limited experience, I would say that only 1/3 of the focus is on flexibility. Another 1/3 is on muscle tone and strength. Many of the poses are physically strenuous and I feel its effect in my muscles even a day or two later. The last 1/3 of yoga focus is mental; breathing, relaxing, focusing.

I'm hesitant to use the word "meditating" because there are so many different ideas attached to this word, some of which don't necessarily represent my point-of-view. However, "meditation" is a good word to describe the last 1/3 of yoga focus. When I say "meditation", I mean it in the sense that your are bringing your mind into yourself. You make yourself aware of things that you normally ignore; breathing, balance and mind state. While still avoiding New Age exaggeration, I will say that these are important things for a person to be aware of.

Finally, the whole experience has had an emotional effect that I found completely surprising. For those of you who don't know me, I am usually very even keeled and rarely emotional. Yoga has brought out emotions in me in the most unusual ways. For one, I have felt bursts of emotion while doing yoga. This is completely inexplicable to me and I can only liken it to the way the Christians will invoke the Holy Spirit to describe feelings they have while practicing their faith. Furthermore, these emotional effects have lasted well into the day after doing yoga and have made me feel more at ease and more aware of people and the world around me.

I find it amazing that such a seemingly simple thing could have such an overall effect far beyond the purely physical. I don't know how it will affect me in the long run; that remains to be seen. However, the short term effects promise an overall long term benefit and I am looking forward to see how it might change my worldview and my outlook on life. 1:34:15 PM    comment []  

"Microsoft is working on a version of its DRM software that supports expiration of files on portable devices" [Slashdot]. 12:57:50 PM    comment []