Graph of y equals negative x squared

I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor

“I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor. That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible; Jew, Gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another.

Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

The Dark Knight's Dark Secret

During the closing credits of the summer's blockbuster film, The Dark Knight Rises, the screen displays the following title: "Based upon Batman characters created by Bob Kane." Similar declarations appear on every Batman film, TV show, video game and comic book. These statements are, at best, only half truths.

Batman was created by two men. One, Bob Kane, found wealth and fame in his creation and has subsequently been identified as the character's sole creator. The other, Bill Finger, has never received official credit for his role in the character's origin or shared in the wealth generated by the licensing it has produced.

Author Marc Tyler Nobleman hopes to change that. His recent picture book, Bill: The Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, is the first to focus on Finger's life story. Nobleman had previously written a similar illustrated book on Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and then turned his attention to the next great comic book superhero: Batman.

Following the runaway success of Superman in 1938, DC Comics (then known as National Periodical Publications) was looking for a follow-up superhero title. On a Friday in late 1938, DC editor Vin Sullivan asked artist Kane for help. Over the weekend, Kane got together with his friend, writer Finger, to work through ideas.

The details of who created which aspects of Batman's characterization remain murky, with Kane telling different versions at different times, and Finger only mentioning his involvement late in his life. Most accounts credit Kane with the original notion of a bird-like or bat-like character with wings and a red suit. Nobleman contends, however, that most of the central elements of Batman's mythos can be attributed to Finger: the gray and black costume, the bat-like cowl, the batmobile and many of the colorful villains that Batman faced. More significantly, Finger wrote the early Batman stories and created the tale of the character's tragic origin.

Finger received no credit as a writer in the original Batman comic books, a fairly common practice at the time. In addition to relying on Finger's scripting, Kane also used uncredited ghost artists. Although the details of the arrangement are a matter of speculation, at some point -- perhaps as early as 1946 -- Kane struck a deal with DC Comics to be identified as the creator of Batman.

The launch of the "Batman" television program in 1966 made Kane a great deal of money and turned him into something of a small-scale celebrity. Finger scripted one episode of the show, but otherwise saw none of the reward from the character's growing popularity.

Finger's role in the creation of Batman was finally brought to light during his appearance at an early comic book convention in New York in 1965. Later that year, comic book historian Jerry Bails published an article titled, "If the Truth Be Known or 'A Finger in Every Plot!'" in a relatively obscure fanzine that described Finger's contributions to Batman's origin. Kane wrote a response in another fan magazine contradicting Finger's claims, stating "I, Bob Kane, am the sole creator of 'Batman.'"

Finger died in 1974, a few weeks before his 60^th birthday, with his work on Batman still officially unrecognized and little known outside the insular world of comic book fandom. Kane passed away in 1998 at age 83.

When Nobleman set out to write an illustrated book about Finger's life, he sought photo references to allow the book's illustrator, Ty Templeton, to bring Finger to life. Industry insiders told Nobleman only two photos of Finger existed. He was also told that Finger had no living heir to receive any royalties from Finger's creations. During his research for the book, Nobleman discovered that neither of these points was true.

Knowledge@Wharton sat down with Nobleman to discuss Finger's life and legacy -- and what lessons his story has for creative artists today. An edited version of that conversation follows.

Read full article here

The Taj Mahal

Guest article by Prof Dawn Lovett

The Taj Mahal is undoubtedly one of the finest examples of architecture known to man. It is recognized all around the world as an engineering marvel. Construction began in 1631 but took many years to complete. While most people consider the Taj Mahal to be the white domed building and towers, it actually encompasses a large complex of buildings and gardens that stretches over 55 acres. It is located on the bank of the river Yamuna in the city of Agra, which is about 125 miles south of the capital, New Delhi. Here are some interesting facts about this world marvel:

'Edge of Darkness' trailer

Just thought to share this trailer [Mel Gibson’s new movie] with you for now as I will not be making posts till end of Nov. This is the busiest period of the semester. Hope you enjoy watching this trailer.

Edge of Darkness Trailer

See you in December with some new posts.

Aussie writer says modern male inadequate

In his new book Manthropology: The Secret Science of Modern Male Inadequacy, Australian writer Peter McAllister shows that modern man is not what we claim him to be in terms of, how we men believe us to have evolved and developed into a more intelligent and better being than we were yesterday.

He utilizes scientific evidence derived from archaeology, anthropology and evolutionary psychology to prove that men from the past were smarter, stronger, faster and did everything better than men from today.

Some of his analyses shows that a Neanderthal woman would have beaten Arnold Schwarzenegger in an arm-wrestle. David Beckham would have come last in a Fulani tribesmen beauty pageant.

What more? He even claims that modern men are lying about their parenting claims. He shows an example of how the men from past carried out the task of parenting as the Congo Pygmy men carrying their babies for 47% of their time awake.

In another of his examples he says that some Pygmy dads developed lactating breasts to nurse their babies. Not a laughing matter!

I wonder what our condition would be after another one or two millennia assuming what this book says is true.

Most beautiful object in the world!

Believe me! As usual, I am not bluffing. 

The fireplace seen in the picture here, designed by Dominique Imbert in 1968  [founder of Focus] has won a public vote to be named the most beautiful object in the world. 

The voting was done in a beauty contest reportedly as the first of its kind organized exclusively for objects.

Why not a beauty contest for objects?

It is designed to be suspended from the ceiling. It can rotate freely around in a full circle illuminating the whole room, at the same time providing warmth.

It is truly a revolutionary object in terms of the innovative ideas applied to its simple but pleasant looking form and technology.

This beautiful and marvelous piece of work is manufactured by a French contemporary fireplace maker Focus and they call it the gyrofocus.

It is now a featured item in several exhibitions of modern art and design including the world famous Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Carefully chosen words make real differences

Never under estimate the power of words. Words can make real differences when chosen in the right combination.

Please watch this video which was voted No. 1 for the Special Award at the Cannes 2008 Film Festival. It demonstrates the power of words by means of a very touching movie.

I bet the memory of this video will last for a very log time if watched completely because of the strong sensation and feeling it gives to the viewer. I certainly had that kind of experience. Enjoy!

Please vote for Maldives

Give your vote while the nation still exists!

The small island nation of Maldives comprising of about 1,200 islands is said to be one of the first to submerge and disappear from the face of the earth into the sea due to sea level rise according to many climate and global warming experts and scientists.

It has a wonderfully friendly population of around 300,000. It so happens that I come from this fragile country with a proud people. We are proud because our beloved country has these characteristics completely  unique to it and we consider them as gifts of nature.

The beauty of Maldives may be categorized within one of the movements of Modern Art or often used interchangeably with Architecture and Art called Minimalism. Maldives’ scenery offers a pleasing sensuality of a perfect balance with just a few simplistic looking artistic shapes in colors of mainly Blue, White and Green. The land area is small cutting down the complexity of urban scenery as seen in most other countries making it a naturally existing minimalistic artwork by being less at the same time offering so much more.

Maldives is a true wonder of nature. And we the people of Maldives believe that it is our duty to give its rightful place as one of the wonders of nature in our world.

So please give the Maldives a vote and let it become one of the 7 wonders of the world.

Who says artwork is piece of cake?

This is a must see video showing pure genius artwork! I have no recollection of seeing anything even remotely like this. Please watch this video and get awestruck.

I found this video on the blog of a famous Maldivian blogger/journalist Hilath and couldn’t just resist posting it here.

Lost Renaissance masterpiece rediscovered

Renaissance master painter Ludovico Mazzolino’s work done in 1522 has been found stored by its owner for 60 years after it had been passed on to him through his grandmother.

Experts traced the history of the painting to an 1812 auction in London where it was sold for £20. Its current owner’s grandmother is said to have bought it in Italy in 1862.

Possible current value of the painting is said to be worth £40,000 to £60,000.

Another masterpiece by Mazzolino was sold in July 2005 for £350,000.

Original article and image source at BBC