October 6, 2005
Occasionally I think Judiasm is mundane, especially when I find out about festivals like Vishwakarma Puja.
"The month of September brings with it an essence of the forthcoming festivities. The pleasant weather of early autumn, with cloud scattered across the sky looks more colourful with the numerous kites floating side by side on Vishwakarma Puja, the festival of the God of Architecture and engineering, Vishwakarma.
Vishwakarma Puja is celebrated with full enthusiasm on 17th of September every year. The celebration is mainly done in factories and industrial areas. Shopfloors in various factories wear a festive look on this occasion. In beautifully decorated pandals the image of Vishwakarma and his faithful elephant are inaugurated and worshipped. "
Too bad I missed it.
Next year I fully intend to a) wrap my computer(s) in garlands of flowers, b) fly a kite and c) do some kind of industrial picnic-ing on the banks of the lachine.
Oh, and d) I could go try and ride an elephant because apparently this one of Ganesh's holidays.
On a more serious note, and though I guess appropriating other peoples religions can be interpreted as offensive. I think some kind of technological feast day needs to be established in this oh-so-technological culture of the west. It can be non-denomintaional like say, secretaries day, and would require us all to reflect a little on the technology we use daily and what it really means to us.
I know I sound tongue in cheek here, but I do mean what I say.
I think there is a definite sort of "praise the lord and pass the cheque book" going on around Web 2.0 and before everyone gets really hot under the collar about how it's going to revolutionize society it might be a nice idea to lay some wreaths around the old monitors and take a moment to really think about what might happen in the world of on-line communications et al, in the next 10 years. (...And what, in everyones disparate humble opinions, *should* happen.)
That being said here are my meditations if I were to celebrate Vishwakarma Puja late...
- How can I make a project to get people to start thinking about the life span of their machines?
- Should gender and class analysis be factored into usability tests?
- Has the word community become bankrupt from overuse and if so, what can I replace it with?
That's it for me, happy late Vishwakarma Puja.
Continued from main page..
Posted by Miriam at October 6, 2005 7:48 PM
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I was at the apple store in london the other day. it was a temple.
so strange.
In terms of techno-utopism (sp?) I think we're headed for a lot of trouble. We have business people building the on-line world for profit, and when it's not done by them, it's done by asspergian (sp?) geeks. I mean, they can do a lot of good, but I don't want to live in a world designed by them.
I think it's spelled aspergers,
although Evan and I like to think of it as Ass-burgers.
we're funny that way. this realted to that post of your I haven't entirely read about raising the socially conscious geek I think.
the apple store in san fran was also very utopian. It had a bar on the second level that was for getting your old powerbook rejuved or something, i accidentally tried to order a coffee and one of the hipper-than-thou apple employee's laughed in my face.
I am so not down with this Asperger's Syndrome trashing, sorry... it's not a fun syndrome to have and let the first among us without a blemish on our minds or souls cast stones as much as they like. I'm not sure who precisely I would like to design the world, but I am absolutely sure I don't want to live in a world designed by people who pass judgement on others with syndromes they can't even spell, let alone describe.