June 2012 - Culture

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Photo: Flickr/Liv Unni Sødem

Technology Reaches Remote Tibetan Corners, Fanning Unrest

From The New York Times: "The technology revolution, though slow in coming here, has now penetrated the most far-flung corners of the Tibetan plateau, transforming ordinary life and playing an increasingly pivotal role in the spreading unrest over Chinese policies that many Tibetans describe as stifling."

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Language: At Threat of Extinction

From Al Jazeera: "Every 14 days, a language dies. It does so after a period of decline, as one speaker after another passes away until, eventually, only a sole keeper of thousands of years of knowledge and culture remains. When that person dies, a civilisation dies with them."

This article provides an overview of this issue, and accompanies a video series from Al Jazeera that explores language extinction in several cultures. The 22 minute video clip on the right is the segment on Australian Aborigines.

RELATED ARTICLE: To read more about language extinction, see another article in Seed Magazine: "In Defense of Difference."  

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Photo: Flickr/Death Disco

Swedish Lunch Disco 

From Slate: "When it comes to lunch breaks, the laissez-faire French like to take two hours out of their workday to savor their food in the company of colleagues while workaholic Americans prefer dining solo in front of their computers. Well, in Sweden we have a whole other vibe going. Here, more and more workers are forgoing both leisurely lunches and "al-desko" dining in favor of daytime raves."