scotland Archives - The Sociable

Edinburgh opens innovation centre for startups named in honor of Peter Higgs

9.65K

Today the city of Edinburgh, Scotland inaugurates a new innovation centre offering startups direct access to world leading scientists, engineers, and...

Mobile

“Made for the iPad – 1,200 years ago” – the ancient Book of Kells is released for the iPad

Piers Dillon Scott9 years ago

6.46K

One of Ireland's national treasures, the 1,200 year old Book of Kells, as been digitised for the iPad for the first time. We were at the app's launch

Gaming

Dare to be Digital games development competition launches in Ireland

Darren McCarra10 years ago

2.94K

The Irish leg of the global Dare to be Digital games development competition has been launched today in Ireland by the Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA). Successful applicants will spend nine weeks in Dundee, Scotland this summer receiving mentoring from games experts like Sega, Sony and Rockstar while developing a prototype video game.

City level view for Ireland in Google Analytics

Web

Google engineers working on delineating Irish counties on Google Analytics location map

Darren McCarra11 years ago

3.24K

Location reports in Google Analytics will soon delineate Irish counties, replacing the current provincial overview that was introduced in June of this year. This news follows enquiries that we made to Google regarding missing location data for Ireland in Google Analytics last month.

Connaught is clearly missing from this map of Ireland in Google Analytics

Web

Mystery as Irish province disappears from Google Analytics

Darren McCarra11 years ago

3.11K

While trawling through Google Analytics earlier, as every self-respecting webmaster should, I noticed something slightly odd when viewing location data for Ireland; Connaught is missing. Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo, all gone! This is certainly a mistake on Google's part, although some have quipped that this may be yet another condition of Ireland's EU/IMF deal. Selling off Connaught should just about cover Ireland's debt, right?

Broch of Gurness: One of the most outstanding examples of Iron Age settlement

Technology

Google Earth imagery update helps uncover part of Scotland’s hidden heritage

Darren McCarra11 years ago

3.22K

The Google Earth and Google Maps team published an imagery update earlier today which, as usual, contains some really interesting sites. Ireland is not featured is this update, but large parts of Scotland and England, among others, are.

Science

Watch today’s Lunar Eclipse live on YouTube

Piers Dillon Scott11 years ago

3.28K

Google has begun live streaming today’s Lunar Eclipse live on its YouTube channel. The search giant has joined with SLOOH, a company that specialises in streaming live space events, to provide a live view with astronomer’s commentary.

Image of last total lunar eclipse which occurred in December 2010

Science

Longest total lunar eclipse in 11 years will turn moon blood red tonight

Darren McCarra11 years ago

3.03K

The longest total lunar eclipse since 2000 will begin to occur this evening and last until midnight, providing stargazers a rare opportunity to catch this prolonged wonderful spectacle. The eclipse begins at 6.24pm (IST) this evening, although it will not be properly visible until sunset at around 9.55pm tonight, at which stage the moon will turn blood red in colour.

Web

Icelandic webcams show Grímsvötn volcano ash cloud envelop Reykjavík

Piers Dillon Scott11 years ago

2.83K

The Grímsvötn volcano ash cloud has reached Iceland's capital, according to images from a meteorological webcam in Reykjavík.

Brains Byte Back

We explore how our brains, psychology, and society are impacted by the ever-evolving technology that surrounds us. If you want to be better prepared for the new information age, have a healthier relationship with technology, and get more out of life using top technology and psychology hacks, this is the podcast for you! Every other Friday we bring you interviews with leading experts in the fields of technology and psychology combined, with past guest speakers such as New York Times journalists, MIT Professors, and C-suite executives of top tech companies.

You may have heard of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his followers, commonly known as Rajneeshees or sannyasins, from the incredibly popular Netflix documentary “Wild, Wild Country.”

Well in today’s episode we speak with a former follower of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh cult to get a better understanding of how this society functioned, what it was like to live in normal society as a member of the cult, and what it was like on the famous Oregon ranch.

With our guest, Annie (who has asked to remain anonymous but showed her mala that she wore during her time as a Rajneshee to prove her affiliation with the cult), we find out how she first find out about Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and the Rajneeshees, and what inspired her to join their cult, where she goes into great detail about how she found them when she was 16 at an Alcoholics Anonymous event.

She also shares why life as a Rajneeshee was difficult off the ranch in normal society, as society often treated them with a mixture of suspicion, curiosity, and fear. In fact, she was fired from all of her jobs due to her membership in the cult, but she also explains how she saw this as a positive, “a trial by fire” as she claims.

Annie also goes into detail about what it was like visiting the ranch in 1983, when, she believes, much of the footage used in the documentary was filmed. She talks about the important role meditation played in being a Rajneeshee and what a normal day was like on the ranch.

She also shares her thoughts on how accurate the documentary was, how close she came to meeting Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and finally, how she left the cult in the end.

Overall, Annie explains why she doesn’t see the following as a religion or cult, but instead as a community and how this community had such an overall, lasting positive experience in her life.