Saturday, October 14, 2006

The Corporation as Empire

The British East India Company was one of the most powerful empires in history. Chartered by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600, and granted a monopoly on all English trade east of the Cape of Good Hope, it operated for over 250 years. Around 1670, King Charles II empowered it to mint money, raise armies and navies, take land, and govern the acquired areas. The company was eventually given total control over India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Myanmar, and created Hong Kong and Singapore. The company wrote laws that are still in place in India. It developed it's own class of behemoth cargo-warships, clashed with other European traders, and was responsible for inciting the Boston Tea Party and several wars.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Human Flight Realized

Video from Russia of an urban acrobatic discipline called Parkour, or sometimes Freerunning. This is not fake. The goal is to achieve uninterrupted, efficient forward motion over, under, around and through obstacles in one's environment.
The sport was created in the late 80's in France, by 15 year-old David Belle, who's father and grandfather had been military and fire rescuers. His goal was to turn athletic ability into a useful skill, for use in conducting rescues, or escaping danger.
It gets really interesting about 2 minutes in....