The Grand Theft Autofranchise of video games has been one of the most successful of any series ever. Collectively, it has probably grossed one of the highest revenue figures, and its influence These achievements are a testament of the creativity, talent and incredibly long hours of the Rockstar North development team. Each detail is intentional - from the soundtracks and sunset in Vice City, to the smirks and satire of Liberty City, to the phallic symbols scattered around, well, each of the games in the franchise. Today's Daily Quota is a tribute to the series put together by Gamer Spawn. In the video below, they go through the history of each game, noting improvements, critical and commercial reception and some general fun facts. A great video for anyone interested in learning more about one of my personal favourite gaming series' of them all. WATCH IT HERE
Fairness. This concept is entrenched in Western ideology, as well as in almost every rule of law Today's Daily Quota asks the question, 'Is the concept of fairness inherent, Are all people born with the concept of social fairness? Is selfishness an inherent part of our psyche? Do animals experience the concept of fairness, or its counterparts; jealousy, retribution etc.? Jenny Diski made a contribution to this month's NewStatesman with an article titled The Paradox of Fairness. She starts off by introducing us to the mindset of her mother-in-law - particularly her wails of self-pity. Phrases such as 'every dog has its day' and 'God, what have I done to deserve this?' best encompass her feeling if self-righteousness; particularly when she feels that she has been dealt an unfair set of life cards. So are we, as humans, inherently drawn to believe in, fight for, and pursue the concept of fairness? Or is it our liberal upbringing that has conditioned us to believe that fairness is an absolute right and injustice is an absolute wrong? Everything, from an early age, has taught us that fairness is a norm - books, movies, radio and fairy tales. She puts it this way:
Every child ever born has at some time or other wailed, "It's not fair." To which the adults answer, "Life isn't fair " and always, surely, with a sense of sorrow and a vague feeling of betrayal, but also an understanding that a vital lesson is being imparted.
The underlying tone of her piece is that fairness seems to be a concept inherited at birth. She notes how new borns cry for their mothers' breasts, progressing into toddler tantrums - is it a selfish trait, or rather out of their own inability?
Diski recounts the above experiment from Georgia State University where worker monkeys were given pieces of cucumber. Then, some were given grapes, which are far sweeter and far tastier. The 'victimised' monkeys became agitated and threw their cucumbers - some even going on a complete sooky strike. Diski toys with a great concept - one that, if researched further, could have some profound implications about our human psyche. READ IT HERE
Welcome back to the weekly cheat day - Superficial Sundays on The Daily Quota; where we pursue the trivial.
Today's petty post is a link to one of the funniest comic blogs I've ever had the pleasure of reading.
It's called Hipster Hitler and it basically revolves around an alternative, hipster version of Adolf Hitler. His newfound hipsterism compels him to buy uniforms that are in fashion (but not too in fashion), invade Azerbaijan because Poland is too mainstream, and break his non-aggression pact with Stalin because 'Ukranian soil is rich, and he can plant his organic avocados'.
One of my favourite moments was when he called Joseph Goebbels a 'Deutschbag'.
Arguably the best part of this blog is the collection of punny T-shirts that he wears in each comic. There are absolutely brilliant. Some exmaples are; 'You Make me Feel like Danzig', 'Save the Panzer', 'Back to the Fuhrer' and 'Death Camp for Cutie'.
My personal favourite - 'I ate the Battle of the Bulge at Klaus' House of Luftwaffles'. Two puns in one shirt - two!
Unsurprisingly, these guys have gotten into some hot water over this page - thus the huge disclaimer at the bottom of every comic.
Still, Adolf Hipster provides for some chuckles - especially for the history buffs out there.
Welcome, Daily Quoters, to another edition of Sardonic Satudays - where every silver lining has a cloud. Today's Daily Quota is a delightful little piece that, I believe, is a great anecdote for many things in society - approaches to science, approaches to religion, but most notably, society itself. Note that the image below was used to apply to 'Marine Corps' - but it's one of those things that can apply to many situations. Although the pretty little pictures outline the experiment, the link below is to the book where this experiment was initially conducted. There is, however, some uncertainty as to the book's sources - with one viable solution being that the entire experiment was hypothetical! Quite interesting, nonetheless. Have a read!
"When you're at a dinner party...sometimes you just want to stand in the corner and stare out the window, alone with your thoughts. The problem is, when you're not allowed to smoke, if you stand and stare out the window on your own, you're an antisocial, friendless idiot. But if you stand and stare out the window on your own with a cigarette, you're a fucking philosopher."
Can perception be the key to a more logistically sound future? Or to a more qualitative approach to economics? Or even happiness? According to Rory Sutherland, "the power of reframing things cannot be overstated." Can we become happier by simply becoming relatively happier? After all, what is wealth but a concept relative to our neighbours? Today's edition of Filosophy Fridays introduces audiences to the notion that 'Perspective is Everything' in a TEDxAthens edition of the popular think-tank. He provides a few examples:
In classic economics, richer seems to be happier. Let us compare two demographics of equal time-to-wealth ratios; pensioners and unemployed youth. Pensioners have been shown to be far happier than their socio-economic reciprocals. Why? Well, pensioners have decided to be in their position, they have control over their lifestyle. This isn't the case for the unemployed, as they are out of control - rudderless in a bad economy.
One of the best examples provided was Eurostar's recent investment in the London to Paris train service. They had invested $6 bilion to cut the travel time by 40 minutes. Sutherland notes that for 0.01% of that price, they could have put WiFi on the trains, making the ride more enjoyable, even productive. For a few million, they could have celebrities or models attending to patrons. In that case, the 40 minute loss would be tolerated, even welcomed!
In South Korea, they have experimented with a timer on red lights, giving the driver an indication of how long they have left to wait. This has resulted in a significant drop in traffic accidents due to a parallel drop in road rage (the latter can obviously not be statistically backed). The rationale is there!
So could perception really be the key to a logistical haven, a happier populace and a psychologically sound approach to economics?
Definitely food for thought.
Watch this 18 minute talk and feel much the wiser for doing so. Another day, another cognitive exercise on The Daily Quota.
A month ago, we took a look at Paleolithic lifestyles and diets; comparing them to our own. That post was incredibly well-received, and remains the second-most viewed post in the history of this blog. Although I do believe that its popularity was mainly due
Source: Wall Street Journal
As we recall, we took a look at Prof. Marlene Zuk's book Paleofantasy. This book took a contrarian view to the hugely popular Paleo Diet and the supplementary exercise regimes (such as Cross Fit and Tough Mudder). She put forward half-hypothetical-half-academic arguments that humans evolve far more rapidly and efficiently than we give ourselves credit for. In summary, we aren't still in a state of Paleolithic inertia where our bodies now are still finely tuned to the lifestyles of our ancestors. Prominent blogger Mark Sisson, of Mark's Daily Apple, tends to disagree. Today's Daily Quota is Mark's negative review of Zuk's book. In this review, he goes over some of her main points, and either discusses them, or rebuts them with some of his own blog posts. Bear in mind that Mark is a huge Cross Fit and Paleo Diet advocate - so it's unsurprising that he takes an opposing view to her opposing view. However, he does try to be open-minded in his review. Although there are some parts where he clearly cannot hold himself back from lashing out. Whatever the case, a review such as his not only provides a good summary of Paleofantasy, but also outlines some counter-arguments. Definitely a great piece for those interesting in these topics, especially the argument-prone of you. READ IT HERE
I've been told that Wednesday nights are the best time to message a potential romancee - they are the middle of the week, when one is at their most vulnerable. The middle-class hump day. I've decided to employ this bit of wisdom. Today, we present something light on the ol' cranium. Something easily digestible; a quick hit of enlightenment to see you through till tomorrow.
Today's Daily Quota is a Flickr page titled From the Airplane Window which has crowd sourced the increasingly popular act of taking photographs of mind-blowing scenery from an airplane window. This page has grown from humble beginnings to an archive of over 16,000 amateur shots.
We all know that warm feeling of travel, and we can all relate to moments like these. Even though extensive time on this Flickr page may induce travel sickness, as well as nostalgia. Have a flick(r)! VIEW THEM HERE or 50 of some of the best photos can be found via Twisted Sifter here.
Why are human beings so inclined to cheat? I'm not talking about romantic cheating - I'm talking about the other kind of cheating; academic misconduct, doping etc. Aaaah the ol' bait and switch. I'm quite sure that half my audience has just tuned out. Today's Daily Quota is an excerpt from Why We Cheat by Ferric C. Fang and Arturo Casadevall via Delancey Place. This website works in a similar fashion to The Daily Quota - every day, they post an excerpt from a book; covering a wide range of topics one day at a time. I'd highly recommend setting up an email subscription. This excerpt samples a few opening paragraphs, and gives an insight into the kind of things that the reader may expect to learn. So apparently a majority of students and a large minority of researchers have admitted to cheating over the past few years - in one degree or another. Surprisingly, some studies suggest that the propensity to cheat is not, in fact, determined by a logical risk-benefit analysis. It is, however, greatly effected by the gravity of the cheating - the greater the gravity, the higher the guilt, and the lower the propensity to cheat. Interesting stuff. Perhaps this information can be applied to matrimony - but that reader base tuned out a long time ago didn't they? Joke's on them. READ IT HERE
There are some moments in history that can really restore one's faith in humanity. Sometimes the human spirit can prevail over troubled times, while in rarer circumstances, it can turn lemons into lemonade. Proverbial flowers growing from barren soil, candles in the dark. This is one of my favourites. In today's Daily Quota, we discuss the Christmas Truce of 1914. December 1914 marked the first year of the First World War. Anyone who has studied WW1 would know that the trenches of the Western Front conceived some of the most gruesome scenes of all time - aimless slaughter coupled with a stubborn insistence to do so. Unprecedented inhumanity, where the term 'Battle of Attrition' was an understatement.
On Christmas Eve, both sides declared a ceasefire so that the religious holiday could be celebrated. In one of the most touching stories of wartime, soldiers from bothsides not only laid down their arms, but ventured into the No Man's Land to exchange gifts, souvenirs, cigarettes and well-wishes. The same enemy soldiers who they were trying to kill, and avoid being killed by. In one account, they even shared a game of football (pictured above). Read more about it below, and identify the silver lining of one of the darkest clouds of our time.
Welcome back to another edition of Superficial Sundays on The Daily Quota - where we pursue the trivial. A friend of mine recently told me, in a disgruntled fashion, about how all the film students that she knows rave on and on about the scripting of The Simpsons. Upon discovering that she had never, in fact, given the show the time it deserved, I promptly told her that she should not do so, as it would be pearls presented before swine.
In today's Daily Quota, we offer a small glimpse into the grandeur that is The Simpsons - and a small glimpse into what makes this show so great. Each episode is abundant in historical and cultural references - a true testament to its remarkable scripting.
The folks over at TVOvermind have compiled a collection of allusions to famous photographs. Have a flick, and reminisce on the moments you couldn't appreciate as a child. VIEW THEM HERE
Welcome back, Daily Quoters, to another edition of Sardonic Saturdays
We have a very hands-on post for you all today. In fact, you could call it a workshop! Today's workshop is called It's True, it must be True - we Read it in the News!* * This catchy phrase was shamelessly taken from Knowthyself 2MM, a favourite radio segment of mine. However, it's appropriate.
Photo: brisbanetimes.com.au
The Sydney Morning Herald had recently reported some groundbreaking news - Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev had once 'liked' a YouTube clip from eccentric Australian Muslim cleric Sheikh Feiz Mohammed. Yep, there you have it folks. The link has been drawn back to Islam. Now it all makes sense. Lesson 1: He is innocent until proven guilty by the media. 'We've got him'. People are celebrating in the streets, and the headlines are promising sighs of relief. They're even declaring that 'justice has won' - without a trial or punishment? It's tragic that so many people these days do not place enough gravity in the term 'suspect'. A suspect has not been proven guilty - they have not even been trialed He has not even been questioned. In fact, some sources are reporting that the DOJ want to deny him the basic rights granted upon all US citizens (he is one). Also, the media never make mistakes. Especially multiple times in the one story. Trust them, because what they report is fact, not news. Lesson 2: This is not news. A person 'likes' something on YouTube, and they are branded a terrorist by association. Even though the videos did not advocate violence. The content was literally the ravings of an overly-zealous Muslim. However, his mistake is justified! No one in the US voices their extremist opinions online. It's easy to be attracted by such outlandish content. Lesson 3: Wait, how did they find out what he was liking on YouTube? So the YouTube account avatar was called 'Tamerlan Tsarnaev'. Chances are, there are more people around the world with that name. Chances are, I can probably find more on Facebook. Who was trolling through the internets to discover this information? Have they confirmed the account belonged to him? Is this default proof that Google had passed this data onto the US Government, or the media?
Photo: BBC News
Lesson 4: In hectic times, do not read page 2, but rather page 9 for the real news. When something huge happens - a tsunami, a celebrity dying, this - it is important to skip the hoo-hah of the main story and see what else is making news. This is important because all of the real news is always rushed past the public amongst the noise of the main story. Something like, oh I don't know, this. Lesson 5: Cross-reference with other media outlets. This story was too tantalising for Fairfax to pass up. However, like any good historiographer, we must cross-reference. Hmmm. Yep. No other news outlet reported this news. Interesting. The article is below. Have a read, and employ these lessons liberally. READ IT HERE
Every action has an equal or opposite reaction. Every action also, evidently, has a human reaction - or more specifically, a human emotion. For instance, an unpleasant job may induce anything from boredom to disgust, while reading The Daily Quota will inevitably induce the opposite - ecstasy. Robert Plutchik spearheads today's edition of Filosophy Fridays for your Saturday mornings. Below, we have the 2D version of Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions. Here, he attempts to visualize a spectrum of primal emotions. He has even provided a spectrum of intensity, going from the outside inwards.
Long-time Daily Quoters might recall some past posts on socio-political magazine Vice. To celebrate their first season on the airwaves, we take a look at one of their most popular and distressing stories. Today's Daily Quota takes a look at China's One Child Policy and its effects on the lives of its female population. Some of the more distressing aspects of this extreme social reform are forced abortions and even corpse brides. Allow me to elaborate. China's One Child Policy was introduced in 1978 to curb foreseeable overpopulation. This, however, could not have happened in a worse place - given the traditional importance placed on the male offspring. Since families get one shot at a child, they'd rather it be male - often leading to abortions, abandonment and even infant dumping. Despite the prediction of 30-40 million fewer Chinese women than men by 2020, population does not seem to be slowing down.
This whole mess gets worse. Child-bride trafficking on all sides of the border has risen. Some families have been digging up female corpses and reburying them next to the graves of deceased bachelors so that they have a bridge in the afterlife. Some stories have even emerged in The Economist about families being penalised up to six-times their annual income for spawning multiple children. If that isn't enough, here's another hard-hitting statistic - Chinese women account for 56% of female suicides globally. That is a staggering statistic. This article goes on to cite many more examples of forced abortions, infants being run over my government vehicles and winners of compensation having to earn it by working for the government.Yes, it's a horrible, horrible mess. READ IT HERE
Friedrich Nietzsche once said, "Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." Today The Daily Quota ventures into deep, dark, and sensitive territory. We employ scientific method, quantitative and qualitative data and an open mind to tackle one of the big questions; Does size matter?
Last month, ANU researchers from the School of Biology tackled the issue of what women find most attractive in men. Methodology: They used three variables and got women to assess their attractiveness from 1 to 7 - body shape (shoulder to waist ratio), height and penis size (flaccid). Of those three variables, there were 7 sizes and/or types. So basically, 7 body types x 7 heights x 7 penis sizes = 343 different combinations. Then, they digitally created 343 male humanoids, and got the women to rank them from life-sized projections. These 343 combinations basically covered 95% of the male population. Findings: Unsurprisingly, body shape ranked significantly higher than the other two in what women find most attractive. Boys, start hitting those swimming lanes! However, height and penis size were almost equal in their importance. Even scarier, although penis size did experience diminishing marginal returns with every centimetre added, it never really dipped, or even plateaued...*gulp*. So yep, size does officially matter. Cheeky, controversial and somewhat demoralizing. Sounds like my sex life. Today's Daily Quota is a 10-minute summary of the findings from the head of the ANU School of Biology, Professor Michael Jennions. WATCH IT HERE
We are often told that someone with the know-how, or legal jurisdiction, is able to track our movements, or trace our phone calls, or do all sort of stuff that would make a civil rights activist sick to their stomach.
However, most of the information available to these parties, and sometimes the public at large, are our own doing. Check-ins, lax privacy settings and default settings all play their part. This information is easy enough to obtain by an able individual, and much, much easier with an algorithm that was built for that very purpose. Today's Daily Quota is a very brief video from The Guardian that talks us through Raytheon's Rapid Information Overlay Technology (Riot) software. This is used by data miners (minors?) and other investigatory bodies to find out as much about you as you have been willing to subliminally disclose. Raytheon's 'principal investigator' Brian Urch guides us through how this technology works, how it searches for every byte of available data on an individual, and how much our Facebook photos and check-ins can really tell us about our own habits. This raises an interesting question, Daily Quoters; do you want to know exactly what can be deduced about you, or would you rather stay in the dark... WATCH IT HERE
A quick one for you today, Daily Quoters. A combination of exams and the nursing of injuries means an expedient post! Today's Daily Quota is a time-lapse video titled Alchemy by Henry Jun Wah Lee under the alias of Evosia. It's a beautiful, high definition labour of love, capturing the ever-changing nature of, well, nature. He describes it best in the accompanying blurb;
Alchemy is a short film about transformation. In nature, everything is constantly changing: the earth, the sky, the stars, and all living things. Spring is followed by summer, fall and winter. Water turns into clouds, rain and ice. Over time, rivers are created, canyons carved, and mountains formed. All of these elements, mixed together, create the magic of nature's alchemy.
What I love most about this video is the juxtaposition between the rapidly changing day and night skies, and the seemingly timeless landscape itself. For me, it seems to evoke this conundrum: If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? An inspiring accumulation of some real natural beauty. WATCH IT HERE
Welcome to this week's edition of Superficial Sundays on The Daily Quota - where we pursue the trivial! Today's Daily Quota is a collection of 50 vintage photos of Playboy bunnies (SFW). Take yourself back to a time when hips were baby-bearing and class came before ass. One of the things I had found most interesting about this collection is the comparison between the bodies of 'perfect' models then, and those of 'perfect' ones today. We see the classic 'hourglass' figure in full force in these black-and-white shots - a very, very rare occurrence in today's world of silicon and <12% body fat. Ironically, the general consensus amongst males of any age today is that the classic dimensions above seem to be a favourite! I know I, for one, prefer the feminine features of the fairer sex - not a 'decrapitated monkey skeleton' (to quote Monty Burns). Whatever the case, it's still a fun collection to go through - especially when you see a spot of Rick James here and there! VIEW THEM HERE
Another edition of Sardonic Saturdays on The Daily Quota - where every silver lining has a cloud! Today we take it back a few years, and revisit one of the greatest songs to ever come out of one of the greatest artists. Dazed and Confused is one of their deepest pieces; A sift through the lyrics, accompanied by the chilling sound of a very strained guitar string. It's been famously played on-stage with a violin bow. It conveys, quite eloquently, his deepest grievances about a woman who is making him lose his mind. Have a quick look at the lyrics: Been Dazed and Confused for so long it's not true. Wanted a woman, never bargained for you. Lots of people talk and few of them know, soul of a woman was created below.
You hurt and abuse tellin' all of your lies. Run around sweet baby, Lord how they hypnotize. Sweet little baby, I don't know where you've been. Gonna love you baby, here I come again.
Every day I work so hard, bringin' home my hard earned pay Try to love you baby, but you push me away. Don't know where you're goin', only know just where you've been, Sweet little baby, I want you again.
Been dazed and confused for so long, it's not true. Wanted a woman, never bargained for you. Take it easy baby, let them say what they will. Will your tongue wag so much when I send you the bill?
Another Friday, another Filosophy Friday for your Saturday morning! Today we provide a nice cheat sheet of the Western philosophical heavyweights - complete with strengths, weaknesses and 'secret weapons'. It comes from the 'Philosophers' section of a playful website called Dead Philosophers in Heaven. This blog is dedicated to uploading comics strips that detail some humourous interactions between philosophers in the afterlife. For instance, one is called Plato is Not Good with Chicks, and another is titled Kant Fight the Moonlight - where Kant and Machiavelli are embroiled in a game of Connect Four. A very light-hearted take on philosophers and their little foibles. Have a flick through the archives and have a chuckle - who knows, you may even learn a thing or two! READ THEM HERE
Today we take a page out of Angela's successful contribution last week about Knowing Thyself. Today's Daily Quoter contribution comes from George, a long-time Daily Quota advocate, and a close personal friend of mine. He is a great source of useless information, and when he applies himself on occasions, useful information! Heed his words:
The Art Of Love, Expression, and a Deeper Understanding.
Marina Abramovic had, what she calls, a“fucked up childhood”. It occurred at a time when her native Serbia was enduring genocide, civil upheaval, and stoic communism. It involved Partisan parents that were strict about her 10pm curfew until the age of 29. And it made her arguably the most important performance artist of the 20thcentury.
If life is a canvas, then we are the brush. If we are the brush, then love is the paint. For no human has ever lived that has not sought love, whether it be in the form of Storge, Philia, Eros or Agapeor, most likely, all of them. We thus arrive at an inevitable connection – that between love and art.
Why is it that art is so devoted to love? Music, film, literature, painting, and every artistic medium in-between has, since its inception, been in love with… well, love.
Why?
The answer is a paradox of utter simplicity and boundless complexity. We love art, because it teaches us to love. We love to express ourselves, to understand deeply each other, and the reasons why we feel the way we do. And when we do so at the highest levels, we create art. We also create love. Hence, love isart.
When Marina Abramovic met Ulay, a prominent performance artist from West Germany, she embarked with him upon a spiritual journey which saw them creating various performances based on the energy of their love for one another. Together, they dressed and behaved like twins, referring to themselves as “a two-headed body” in order to represent a perfect relationship of complete trust. In one act, they stood opposite each other, naked and in a narrow hallway, forcing passer-by to feel the awkwardness of walking between a man and woman in love. In “Breathing In/Breathing Out”, the artists took turns breathing each other’s oxygen while kissing, until no oxygen was left; they fell unconscious, their lungs filled with carbon dioxide, having just made a powerful statement about lovers’ tendency to eventually cannibalise one another.
Alas, like any performance, the love between Abramovic and Ulay had to come to an end, and it did so twelve years after their relationship began. Abramovic and Ulay felt that a love so powerful, so deeply explored as theirs, deserved a conclusion nothing short of utter hyperbole. And so, in 1988, they each set about a 2,500km journey, walking from each direction along the entire Great Wall of China, before meeting in the middle and bidding each other one final goodbye.
“And they never saw each other again?”
If you’ve read this far, this is, inevitably, the question you’re wondering. Yes, Marina Abramovic and Ulay did indeed intend to never see each other again. To them, love represented a journey; a story, which they were able to craft, and one to which their masterful brushes owed an ending, rather than a depletion of oxygen. Like art, love needed meaning – and when they had explored it enough to attain a deep understanding of themselves and of each other, their love made them respect that they could both now continue expressing themselves better alone.
However, Ulay did see Abramovic again. He saw her recently, at The Museum of Modern Art, during her retrospective entitled “The Artist is Present”. Lady GaGa was also there, as were 15,000 other people. Today’s Daily Quota is the video of what happened… twenty-two years after saying their famous farewell.
Everyone has seen Jurassic Park - and if you haven't, you are missing a significant chunk of cinematography. The unique use of wax figures instead of early 90's CGI has ensured that Jurassic Park stood the test of time, and hadn't ended Have you ever thought about how the dinosaurs' sound effects came to be? Contrary to popular belief, they weren't synthesised. They were all hybrids of various animals and objects. Today's Daily Quota is an interesting piece from Vulture, where they interview sound designer Gary Rydstrom. A lot of information was disclosed... The funny bit is that most of the sounds were when the respective animals were on heat. For instance, the Gallimimus' howl was a mare on heat, while the Velociraptor's hiss was turtles having sex. The T-Rex was based almost entirely on one of the Lydstrom's pet terrier, while the Brachiosaurus' sneeze near the end was 'a mix between a whale blowhole and a fire hydrant'
Yes, enlightening stuff. Definitely a 'fun fact' Daily Quota for today. For ease, the article breaks it down into each species of dinosaur, with accompanying videos embedded into the text. READ IT HERE
Fresh off a controversial start to the week, today's Daily Quota is far less strenuous on the ol' cranium. Recently, I've purchased tickets to an upcoming Aerosmith and Van Halen tour. In my giddy excitement, I had dug up this little gem from my ReadItLater archives. Today's Daily Quota is a collection of 50 Rock'n'Roll Quotes assembled by Clash Magazine. Here are some highlights: “We believed that anything that was worth doing was worth overdoing.”Steven Tyler - 1990 “I used to jog but the ice cubes kept falling out of my glass.”Dave Lee Roth of Van Halen - 1979 This stands as my favourite, from the increasingly senile Axl Rose: “I’m not God but if I were God, ¾ of you would be girls, and the rest would be pizza and beer.”Axl Rose of Guns n Roses - 1989 Rock n Roll! READ THEM HERE
Welcome to another week on The Daily Quota - where we guarantee* that you satisfy your daily cravings for enlightenment and brain activity. *The Daily Quota makes no such guarantee. Today we start with the famous story behind Jonas Salk and the invention of the polio vaccine. In 1955, he was asked by a talk-show host, "who owns the patent on the vaccine?" "Well, the people", he replied, "there is no patent. Could you patent the sun?" Ah, how the times they have a-changed. Recently, the Australian Federal Court upheld a decision from by US Supreme Court, allowing Myriad Genetics Inc. to patent the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes - both of which have strong links to the development of breast cancer. Cancer Voices Australia brought the action against Myriad in an effort to prevent Australian companies from gaining exclusive control over genetic material. The consequences of such a decision is best summarised in this extract from the article below:
Anyone conducting an experiment on them without a license can be sued for infringement of patent rights. This means that Myriad can decide what research is carried out on those genes, who can do that research, and how much any resulting therapy or diagnostic test will cost. The same holds true for other genes and for any pharmaceutical company, scientist, or university that holds patents similar to those held by Myriad.
Although Australian patent law excludes 'human beings, and the biological processes for their generation', the court found that this patented gene was not biological per se, but rather a 'manner of manufacture'. So basically, the court took the view that the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes aren't part of our biology, but rather human discoveries, and were means to ends. Myriad's lawyers compared it to the extraction of minerals from the ground - the minerals themselves cannot be patented, but the processes for extraction can.
Today's Daily Quota poses the question; should we be allowed to patent human genetics? Now ethically, the answer seems obvious. However, the entire point of patents are to protect an entity's investments, efforts and commercial interests in their area of practice. Should corporate entities be allowed to patent If these 'genes' are patented, and no one else is allowed to touch them, would that stifle research? Open sourced research and crowd-sourcing have produced some great results. Is that about to change? This debate will inevitably arise once again in the future - in court rooms, parliamentary hearings and around the water cooler. Below is a New Yorker piece discussing the original 2010 US Supreme Court judgement. READ IT HERE
What a week on The Daily Quota! Paleo diets, April Fools and North Korean propaganda! Wind down with today's edition of Superficial Sundays - where we pursue the trivial! Today's post would strike a nostalgic chord with anyone born in the early 90's or beyond - a Buzzfeed list of 7 Reasons why Space Jam was Totally Realistic! Yes, Space Jam - one of the best movies to come out of the 90's. It was a Who Framed Roger Rabbit? for Looney Tunes and basketball fans alike. At the time, Michael Jordan was probably one of the most famous people in the world - it only made sense that he would star in his own flick alongside cartoons and wacky space aliens. Some topics discussed include:
Michael's employment of the Placebo Effect
Michael's real-life gambling habit
Bill Murray's knack of making random cameos
The fact that Michael Jordan was actually pretty unbeatable in 1996
Pretty cool list. A light snack for your Sunday night.
To celebrate the recent developments in the Korean peninsula, we have a very special North Korean post for you today. Recently, a South Korean journalist known as 'Sabine' was approached by two North Korean defectors in possession of a North Korean propaganda video.
Today's Daily Quota is a link to the full, translated video. This appears to be the real deal. Here is the full video breakdown (total length: 136mins);
0:00 Introduction 6:54 Creating Ideas & Illusions 16:48 Fear 19:35 Religion 25:00 Beware the 1% 28:10 Emulating Psychosis 31:21 Rewriting History 41:15 The Birth of Propaganda 45:49 Cover Ups and Omissions 54:10 Complicity 58:05 Censorship 1:01:50 International Diplomacy 1:06:14 Television 1:08:11 Advertising 1:14:36 The Cult of Celebrity 1:22:34 Distraction 1:28:01 Terrorism 1:35:00 The Revolution Starts Now The particularly interesting bit about this video is not the absurdity or hyperbolic stabs at the West. Rather, it's the accuracy of some of the stuff that is said! Sure, you have some of the wild conspiracy theories, and most of it is out of context, but most of it is actually quite accurate. For example, the video shows an Oprah crowd crying tears of joy, jumping in ecstasy. The narrator reads, "these people did not have a life-altering experience, they did not find God...they have been given a free pair of shoes...".
I am in no way legitimizing its content, but it amuses me immensely at just how right they are in some sections. They seem to express disgust at the same Western quibbles that we all do - excessive greed, income inequality, mindless entertainment and dishonest leadership.
WATCH IT HERE Fun Hint: If you are unable to watch the entirety of it now, get to know the Watch It Later feature on your YouTube account. Watch it at a more convenient time, or simply skim to a random part and 5-10mins should be enough for a laugh/moment of sobriety.
