@cydonian@vivaldi.net
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

cydonian

@cydonian@vivaldi.net

Professionally: AI, data strategy, aviation.

Personally: Interests in travel, languages, history, post-colonial narratives, multiculturalism and much more. Do tend to think that the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.

Also on Instagram, Flickr, Tumblr, Medium and other websites too numerous to name. Also post GenAI-tuned classical poetry at https://me.dm/@metamutator as an amusement.

🦈 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

On Sepia Mutiny: the only website ever that banned me from commenting, but later ended up writing posts on something I wrote elsewhere. 😊https://www.thejuggernaut.com/sepia-mutiny-south-asian-american-internet-history

(I don’t recall why Sepia Mutiny banned me, but I suspect I may have posted a long rant at some point. Didn’t complain then, not complaining now. Just an amusing reminiscence)

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

World looking at an average of at least 1.5 C increase in temperature. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/08/world-scientists-climate-failure-survey-global-temperature

That doesn’t necessarily mean a uniform 1.5C increase across the world. It’ll be severely more in the equatorial regions, particularly in South East Asia, where we potentially have already seen an increase of ~3C in April/ May. https://social.vivaldi.net/@cydonian/112335789047432896

cydonian,
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

@LanguageMan1 I would like to solve problems that are facing down my throat right now, and not solve the plot of a Bruce Willis starrer, thanks.

The average temperature has increased by more than 3C in these parts, and is likely to increase even more. This will cause disruptions for food and accommodation among other things. This is happening now, not in an imagined story universe.

skinnylatte, to random
@skinnylatte@hachyderm.io avatar

being from a country that's 31 miles at its widest, it'll never not surprise me that i can get in a vehicle and go many hours in one direction and still be in the same country

cydonian,
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

@skinnylatte Flying. You’ll reach Tokyo or Delhi if you fly for six hours from Singapore, after crossing seas and numerous islands. If you fly for six hours from San Diego, you’ll reach Portland Maine, still within continental US.

Blows my mind each time I think about it.

cydonian,
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

@timrichards @skinnylatte Oh yes, noticed exactly that when we visited MEL last.

But my favourite story about distances in Oceania was when the Indian cricket team complained of jet lag in one of their matches during the last cricket World Cup in Australia/ NZ. Which initially surprised me, as they had spent months in Australia on a bilateral tour before the World Cup. But I then quickly realised the trouble: they flew in from Perth to Hamilton in NZ, which is 6.5 hours away by flight or four hours ahead in terms of time zones.

Blew my mind.

divya, to random
@divya@sfba.social avatar

"Can it be this bad?"

"In an interview with Guardian Australia, Connolly says she has been stunned by the level of racist language used by children in Australia, as outlined in the Everyday Racism report, produced by her office."

Yes yes it is. Australia is one of the most racist places I have been to

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/08/can-it-really-be-this-bad-racism-in-schools-shocks-south-australias-childrens-tsar

cydonian,
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

@divya I keep thinking of Australia as a potential place to run away if things became difficult. And then I see house prices Down Under and read pieces like this.

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

BBC Telugu asks: what would you ask PM Modi if you had the chance?

Me: 🤮🤢🤦🏻‍♂️

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

The game is afoot. Baneshan mangoes from India and R2E2 from Thailand.

liztai, to Malaysia
@liztai@hachyderm.io avatar

I used to complain when city council cuts down trees but now I kinda get it lol

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/05/07/tree-falls-in-kl-city-with-cars-trapped-under-it

cydonian,
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

@liztai There’s also a question of how they trim the trees too, and how the soil around the tree is maintained. It’s quite complicated; used to get a headache reading reports by certified arborists back when I was in civil service.

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

Sending a bee signal to other Yellow Jackets here on Fedi. 🐝🤘🏾 😀 @evan @Riedl

cydonian, (edited ) to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

Gaté, gaté, paragāté, parasamgaté, Bōdhisvāha. 🙏🏾 https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/i-am-not-giving-up-thambi-magazine-store-owner-strives-to-continue-family-business-despite-closure
https://social.vivaldi.net/@cydonian/112371212835629959

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

“Sumitra Maurya did not withdraw from the Gandhinagar race. But Chauhan who had made the video did. An aspiring politician who runs a small painting business, he was born in Etawah in Uttar Pradesh and moved to Gujarat in 1998. “Two of my clients have already cancelled their contracts with me since my withdrawal,” he said. “They got scared. I’m afraid my business will shut down.”

[…]

On April 21, Chauhan alleged, four men from the Crime Branch followed him everywhere in Ahmedabad. “They even harassed four of my 10 proposers,” he said. “They told me, ‘Take care of yourself and your children. Politics is not your business.’ When I returned home, I felt like they wanted to put me under house arrest. That’s when I made the video that night and uploaded it on my Facebook page.”

World’s largest democracy.

https://scroll.in/article/1067398/in-amit-shahs-gandhinagar-three-lok-sabha-candidates-allege-they-faced-pressure-to-withdraw

cydonian,
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

@adnan Why does Trump still insist he won 2020 elections? Why did they block INC’s bank accounts or insert a murder charge into that Indore candidate’s 17 year old case in court? Or why jail Kejriwal?

Most don’t get it. There’s no logical reason other than absolute power corrupts absolutely. Sometimes you go overboard just because you can, not because you need to.

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

“Yatras have an evocative place in Indian political history. In 1930 Mahatma Gandhi – the ultimate non-violent alpha – walked nearly 400km over 24 days in what became known as the “salt march”.

[…]

In the eyes of party members and outsiders alike, [Rahul Gandhi’s] march had a number of political limitations. The young ex-Congress leader told me that the yatras had turned Gandhi into a foot soldier, rather than a general: “From the top you can cover much more ground than when you are on the ground itself.” Some supporters thought that all the love talk was ineffectual. “Politics is like jungle warfare, you can’t spread love while the bjp keeps winning. We’re out of touch!” Poonawalla, the exasperated commentator, said. One newspaper headline went: “A journey in search of a destination”.”
https://www.economist.com/1843/2024/05/02/rahul-gandhi-is-on-the-march-but-where-is-he-heading

Decency, apparently, isn’t popular in India anymore.

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

“Doctors meanwhile are scrambling to figure it out. Pregnancy in previously infertile women taking semaglutides including Ozempic may, some surmise, simply be a result of weight loss itself — obesity can lead to hormone imbalances that make pregnancy difficult to achieve or sustain. Mounjaro and Zepbound, on the other hand, are tirzepatide, which may interfere with how medications are absorbed, rendering birth control pills less effective.

“May” being the operative word; no one appears to know for sure.” https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2024-05-03/ozempic-babies-abortion-rights-birth-control-menopause-womens-healthcare-us

Feel quite strongly about this, but the amount of fatshaming and lack of insights on women’s health is ABSYMAL. Know this first hand from my experiences visiting the doctor with my wife.

cydonian,
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

@tecoholic I live very close to what’s considered one of the top 10 hospitals in the world. When I was admitted there for an accident, it was world class: immediate attention, excellent care, they looked my records up automatically, activated my insurance, even served me the best parathas I’ve ever had in Singapore.

When my wife and I went there for reproductive health, it was the exact opposite: uncaring, lacklustre, didn’t pay attention to details, implicitly blaming my wife for some difficulties etc. Very very painful for us, but particularly so for my wife. All made worse by the fact it was all women doctors.

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

“Even though Time’s reporter worked valiantly to push Trump, to get at the truth and pin him down, the overall effect is that virtually anything he says is unreliable. There’s nothing to hold him to—since nothing he says can’t be changed a day or a minute later if it serves him.

Never has our country suffered a man who lies so freely and who millions of voters have chosen to reward anyway. As if—in this upside down world—his rejection of factual reality is a badge of honor.”https://open.substack.com/pub/america/p/how-unfit-dangerously-unfit

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

“Indian children aren't learning as well as they should to face up to the world of artificial intelligence. A quarter of those aged 14 to 18 can't read simple text fluently, according to a report published by the non-profit Pratham Foundation.
[..]

"We will grow old before we grow rich" if growth isn't faster and more equitable, says Dr Rajan.”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-68823827

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

“AI surpassing humans on a benchmark that is named after a general ability is not the same as AI surpassing humans on that general ability.”

https://open.substack.com/pub/aiguide/p/ai-now-beats-humans-at-basic-tasks

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

“[F]act remains that youth unemployment is at an all-time high; according to the International Labour Organization, 83% of India’s unemployed are in this group. Hunger among the poor is chronic. As many as 800 million Indians rely on subsidised food rations. The number of billionaires in Forbes’s list of the world’s wealthiest people shows an increasing number of Indians, but inequality has worsened significantly, and India today has greater income inequality than during the British Raj” https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/29/india-election-narendra-modi-anti-muslim-rhetoric

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

Remember folks, if you’re feeling down, stay up late at night, find the best possible lobang, and buy yourself something nice and attas with all that bonus money your stat board/ GLC employer gave you.

It’s what the gahmen wants you to do. More importantly, it’s the only thing you can do.

So go forth, be merry. Swipe that card, earn your miles.

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

People already don’t believe me that, even as recently as four years back, you used to get everything from The Economist, Nat Geo, Monocle, FT, WSJ, IHT (later NYT) to yesterday’s Dina Tanthi, Eenadu, Swāti and other Tamil and Telugu newspapers and magazines on Singapore’s street corners. This is in addition to the local press: SPH and MediaCorp’s selections in Singapore’s four languages.

Sadly, one very large iconic roadside seller will close as soon as this Sunday. https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/living/thambi-magazine-store-holland-village-closing-389536

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

“U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that the operation targeting Pannun was approved by the RAW chief at the time, Samant Goel. […] U.S. spy agencies have more tentatively assessed that Modi’s national security adviser, Ajit Doval, was probably aware of RAW’s plans to kill Sikh activists, but officials emphasized that no smoking gun proof has emerged.
[…]

Asked why India would risk attempting an assassination on U.S. soil, a Western security official said: “Because they knew they could get away with it.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/29/india-assassination-raw-sikhs-modi/

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

"The spies developed targeted relationships with current and former politicians, a foreign embassy and a state police service," Mr Burgess said during his March 2021 speech inside ASIO's Canberra headquarters.

"They monitored their country's diaspora community. They tried to obtain classified information about Australia's trade relationships.

"They asked a public servant to provide information on security protocols at a major airport."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-30/modi-government-operated-nest-of-spies-in-australia-/103786892?s=08

cydonian, to random
@cydonian@vivaldi.net avatar

So more than 20 years back, a desi techie in the US decided to mix the twang of a single-string ektāra (traditionally associated with mendicants) with a reggae beat to unleash this song featuring traditionally clad girls playfully frolicking somewhere in the Krishna - Godāvari delta… “homeland” for me, if you will.
https://youtu.be/ZUdrwQQGFW8

Tollywood discovered the tune, ran the techie and his tune through its sausage making machine, and spit out this version: https://youtu.be/gWmc6YA4XJM

It’s been 24 years, but I’m still unhappy about how the Telugu film industry made a reasonably sweet music video creepy.

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