Look after

One of the first signs of being passionate something is when you begin to feel. I used to live with someone who told me that you have to see a motorbike as a person. I bought one end of last year and he told me that I need to get a better exhaust so she can breathe better. I need to service this and that, occasionally give her a good clean.

At first the mention of seeing this piece of steel as a person, made me wrinkle my nose in confusion. As he went on I began to see the relevance. Your important possessions you need to maintain and nurture. I’m no master of the motorbike, however put me behind a computer and my eyes light up much the same.

When I left school my parents bought me a computer as a good-luck-out-there present. That same motherboard lasted me four years. That’s an eternity in the PC world. Think of owning a pair of shoes for 5 years (i.e. ones you use everyday) and you’re on the right track. My mother used to utter a phrase to me, every time something more valuable came into my reach. She simply said, “Look after.” I used to roll my teenage eyes back in angst, when that phrase came out. Now I look at it I can see EXACTLY the meaning behind it. I no longer look like I’m having a small seizure either.

I’ve seen so many people throw down there laptops, or just leave it running down to the last morsels of cache. Here’s a better example… Ever owned a laptop and left it plugged into the charger over night? That’s bad. Very baaaad. If you’re nodding your head it’s time to repent and allow the lithium cycles in your battery to themselves. Every battery (in an ideal world) will run from a vibrant 100% charged to a pitiful 0-10%, every day. For arguments sake a battery comes with 1500 cycles. That means fifteen hundred chances at holding charge for you, while you scamper off to meetings.

The idea is to have as much of that as possible. If you leave your laptop plugged in all the time, you’re hurtling current at the dear battery when none is required, and more importantly you’re stunting its ability to be a battery (slowly lose charge over time). Think of it this way. Do you leave the stove on when you’re done cooking? Nope. It draws power, and keeping it on will burn the shit out of your stove plates. Same idea. Charge when needed, otherwise allow it to sleep like the rest of us (pun duly intended).

Now think of the computer as a human. You paid a couple of grand to get it, so for fuck’s sake give it some TLC. Go and get a comfortable bag for it, and research how to take care of it. This is not a rant at stupid people, but more a reminder at the end of the day all our equipments asks is that we “Look after [it].”

Treat your gadgets tenderly as you would a lover. Chances are they may even help to get you laid, at the end of the day.

PhilosopherPoet

Pulling the plug on ignorance

How do you explain the internet to someone? Or even something as simple as email? It’s been so engrained in our culture and our lives, to actually step back and look at the milestones is a sobering effect.

A few weeks back I was dealing with a lady of 77 years of age, let’s call her Margret. Her family was intent on getting her an iPad. The reason being she lives in a small old age home and needs to contact her family via Skype. Obviously a few people in the family are tech-savvy, and managed to gather together enough money to buy her one. I thought it was a great token of kindness, because now not only can she Skype (i.e. call her family abroad) but also she has access to tons of applications and data at her fingertips (on the internet).

So I activated her iPad and showed her how it all worked, and while I was setting up her Apple ID, the first thing that I asked her was, “What is your email address?” She gave me a blank look. I explained that her for an account of any kind we’d need an email address to get her account going. I told her that she would be able to write letters to her family instantly, that’s the best explanation I could give without overwhelming her further.

I felt sorry for her, and the way technology frightened her. It’s really a marvelous thing once you get your head around the basics of the iPad. Due to various circumstances, she was probably given the opportunity to learn (how to operate a computer) but felt too scared and inferior, and shied away from the opportunity. Now her family had dosed her with a bucket of water by thrusting an iPad in her hands.

This leads me to two topics :

• Why are we so afraid to learn?
• Technology is the key liberator of our time.

The Fear of Learning

When we start to learn it pushes out right out of our comfort zone into the realm of ignorance. Most of the time if you want to learn…you have to be receptive and be prepared to listen. Many people hate that feeling of vulnerability, and feel insecure (sometimes evening getting angry).

One of the better qualities in a teacher is patience. This is something that has poisoned many of us against certain subjects, since we had one cantankerous and moody teacher and scowled and berated us when asking a dumb question.

Learning is also a process of stumbling.

A wise old woman, who is a homeopath put it to me in this gentle way, “I’d rather die a failure than never having tried.” Progressing in life is simply trying new things. To get better at something (i.e. more skillful), you simply have to try. you may not succeed straight away, but that’s ok. Do a little bit at a time. Once in a while we will stumble and fall. Make mistakes, maybe even injure ourselves…but then like my good friend said at least we won’t be dying a failure.

Once you’ve tried enough times, you explore on impulse.

Learning (as a teacher and pupil is a exciting and intoxicating feeling), once you’ve got the hang of the initial trying, you will goad yourself into finding new avenues. My father (who is a seasoned, and powerful educator) put it to me this way. “Learning is just about being curious.” You don’t have to be reading an entire library of books, or have ten degrees behind your name. Just get excited and your curiosity will teach you to explore and gain a deeper understanding.

Wrestling with the wires

The more I work in IT (either by myself, or by helping others), I’ve come to realize that it’s more than a skill. It’s a language and a tool, if you don’t embrace it immediately, soon it will fall away “like sand through your fingers”. If that didn’t make sense, allow me to use another example.

If you’re having a casual days with a few friends, then suddenly someone asks you “Hey let’s go to that pub I told you about?” The only catch being there are five people (including yourself), yet only two motorbikes to get you there. Now you’re stuck. Well, unless you’ve an wild caveman living in isolation…technology will always be this functional tool we require to alleviate the logistics we encounter.

Getting in a car the first few times, is darn nerve wracking. Once you’ve got the knack of it, you wonder how you managed without it. This is the dilemma I faced a while back with Margret. I had to rewind my thinking only a decade or two, so she could understand the advantages of embrace this digital beast we all face.

I’m glad that she tried, otherwise she would just be a failure, a figure, a statistic even. Perhaps embracing the depths of the unknown, and wrestling with it…will be the greatest challenge us homo sapiens face?

PhilosopherPoet

the workers prayer

Hey Bloggers

I must be honest it’s been ages since I’ve posted anything. The reason for this is that I’ve been in between moving house twice, and well as being employed in a full time capacity in my job. Anyway, I’ve decided to include a few poems I’ve managed to scribble down lately

the workers’ prayer

caffeine is my Shepherd i shall want
in the days when melancholy
covers me in its thick skin
and conjures up a conscience

i shall fear no evil
when i have sugar flowing
through my veins
my mouth will ramble on
like a child’s fingers
that fumble with the
wrapping of an exuberant toy
(writhing in the box)

the coffee beans and silver spoon
shall surely comfort me
all the days of my life

at four a.m. all you hear is
the cry of my kettle
the giddy ideas
punching
thumping
bruising
consuming
the holes in the keyboard

this mantra is the fuel
and stickiness that binds me
to the kiss of my Muse
she scampers out of the bed
(ahead of me)
washing the dishes
wresting the kettle
picking out the knots
(in yesterday’s events)

its time i smile and guffaw
maybe even frolic
in the gumption of Real Life
eating half my toast
slamming his fingers
to the beat of the clock

this morning the latte
cried a little when i slammed
its cap on too early
it leaves a small scar in the
center of my tie
i look at during work
between the pulse of my ballpoint
drawing fast cartoons
in the margin of minutes
where

clipped culture
freshly pressed men
remind me of the reluctant steam
creeping out
of today’s baked car tires
all chanting the workers’ prayer

 

 

PhilosopherPoet

Could ’social viruses’ ruin your company’s reputation?

Link: http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/business-brains/could-social-viruses-ruin-your-companys-reputation-how-to-build-resistance/8972/

Social networks, as the name says, are “social,” and thus subject to the shifts in behaviors, norms, and attitudes that affect any group of people. There are both constant negative and positive streams surging through these networks that can change minds and re-mold opinions.

Organizations attempting to harness the power of social networks need to be aware and prepare for the ways social networks — which can be notoriously fickle — can quickly impact brand perception, or sow fear, uncertainty and doubt.

Boris Pluskowski in a recent post, raises the possibility that some companies may attempt to manipulate social networks to undermine competitors. In considering this really dark side of social networking, there is a possibility that competitors may purposely attempt to plant “social viruses” to attack or convert the social networks of competitors. Imagine one company proliferating negative statements and accusations about a competitor’s products and services within a network. It happens in sales circles all the time, right?

Yes, social networks have innate self-policing and self-editing capabilities to put the kibosh on such behavior, but still, damage can be done in the meantime. And, unlike a situation in which a sales representative disses a competitor’s product in the privacy of a customer’s office, the diss goes viral across the globe.

Pluskowski references the work of James Fowler, co-author of Connected, who demonstrates the powerful influence social networks have on attitudes and behavior. (”Your colleague’s husband’s sister can make you fat, even if you don’t know her. A happy neighbor has more impact on your happiness than a happy spouse.”)

“I can certainly envision ways in which companies could manipulate a few key individuals to enable them to corrupt a competitor’s user community,”Pluskowski explains. “Sowing seeds of discontent, and setting up the consumers to be virally vulnerable to the possibility of alternative realities.  Could we then be on the verge of a new weapon in the corporate strategic arsenal?”

The best defense against such lowly tactics to to develop a strong, social virus-resistant social network. Pluskowski provides this advice:

“Engender a strong goodwill and feeling within your community, and you’ll find that it’ll be resistant to negative vibes… Cross your community though, and that bad feeling will spread far and wide like wildfire.”

The iPhone 4 is a great example of a community resistant to negative vibes, Boris illustrates: “Despite all its difficulties and problems, people are still buying it –- not because it’s that much of a better phone than anything else on the market (nor even its previous version the 3GS) –- but rather because Apple’s conditioned its community to be resistant to negative viruses by ensuring that they not only respond, but also try to over-satisfy the customer whenever possible. As a result, the community of Apple buyers continues strong, and continues to grow in number.”

Pluskowski also recommends that organizations nurture a new skillset – that of the “social doctor, able to diagnose potential viruses prior to them taking effect and injecting the corporate social world with the virtual equivalent of vitamins to re-enforce it.”

Business leaders also need to be eternally vigilant about showing sensitivity and concern for customer communities, Boris adds. Unfortunately, this sensitivity and concern “is currently alien to the majority of companies who still treat their social networks as a sales and marketing tool rather than a living, breathing symbiotic organism.”

PhilosopherPoet

Facts about the internet

Via: Medical Coding Certification

Underneath the wires

 

“Software is everything!”

 

This is the first thing that I heard come out of my lecturer’s mouth. My immediate reaction was… how could this possibly be true? Prior to hearing that, I’d spent hours fixing family computers, installing motherboards, restoring hard drives, and tossing in a variety of electronic organs into this electronic being. If you are an average computer user and you see another guy with a toolkit, screwing stuff in the right place and building up a computer…you are impressed.

 

When I first started my journey into geekdom the most obvious thing was to learn how it worked. If you want to learn to help cure people, that general consensus is that you should study medicine, get to handle a few organs, and soon enough knowing the majority of the body…should mean that you can help people master their troubles. Instinctually I thought the same way about computers. Surely the guy with the cables in his hands, is better off than the guy that’s sitting behind the computer typing?

 

–>By the way this isn’t a picture of my room…although it’s good to dream

 

 

It took me a while to realise that my logic, although correct to some degree, lacked a different approach. Somewhere along the line, in the computer world, we’re going to encounter software. If you’re into networking, learning to build up a motherboard may be useful however, at some stage even a cable monkey has to learn to flick through computer diagnostic screens and check everything is hunky dory. A doctor can give you good advice, but somewhere down the line he’ll encounter a patient with a bodily abnormality that is a result of something in her psychology (or software), rather than in the torso.

 

I’m using the human comparison for those of you reading this who aren’t familiar with computers on a technical level. Early on in life I did a few years of therapy to correct my internal software (psychology or thought patterns). This doesn’t mean I’m sorted for the rest of my life (i.e. there will always be updates I need, and new paths to explore.) When I started to first work with my head for a while, I began to realise that problems can get fixed faster. If you’ve been to a therapist of some kind and are prepared to change, sometimes you will find the strength in yourself, to correct a few errors.

 

I’m not trying to sound too idealistic and unreasonable either. Hard work and determination play a huge role as well…although back to the computers now.

 

 

The layers

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Nothing is what is seems.” This is a very paranoid and poor judgment to make. Instead of getting worried, take a second to think of it in terms of technology. We look at websites every day; we click on links, download photos, Google research topic and so forth. Behind it all is code. Endless amounts of words and numbers, directing the flow in information to the right place (waiting for sometimes a single mouse click from a user). This should be a frightening prospect to those who delve into other academic fields. If you look deep enough into the human body, you no longer see obvious foibles like emotions, veins, organs, or blood. You start to see cells and atoms…and beyond that chromosomes and DNA. These attributes we all carry help us to stay alive, to catch criminals and invent even greater technology.

 

This is how I’m starting to feel about software. There are people who spend years behind the computer coding, building and sculpting. They are (for the most part), the people responsible for when a new gadget or computer is released. If software wasn’t around we would stop emailing each other, watching cable, TV adverts would be non-existent, and life would feel pretty dull and uneventful all of a sudden.

 

So what is my point behind all the examples, and computer loving? Embrace technology. I often say to people that ‘there is a program for everything’. You might be able to think of something that hasn’t been made, to contradict me. Well, in theory I’d put a word in a programmer’s ear about it, and within a week you’d need to find a new argument. Now I’m not trying to act like some sort of genius, and come across as if I can build anything, but we have the tools are out there.

Apple is emerging as one of the leaders in the computer industry. One of the reasons for this is because when you buy an apple, you get a lot of software given to you to use, before you need to throw down another credit card. The whole point is they want to use software, to give people a boost. Why should a user buy a computer, and waste time gathering together bits and pieces of extra software, to start using?

I like that idea. Put some tools in the customer’s hands, and teach him to build!

 

 

PhilosopherPoet

Embedded Personalities

Today I was watching the first part of a BBC documentary called Visions of the Future : The Intelligence Revolution. It was all about how virtual reality is slowly turning into augmented reality. Well what is that exactly? Augmented Reality is the ability to make the technology (through the medium of the internet) part of our lives. At the moment it’s limited, by slowly growing. For example if you own an iPhone, with a specific application installed you can walk into a store (at a shopping centre) and hold you phone up to the music that’s playing at the time. This app will tell you the song that is playing, the artist, and gives you the option to download it. Another example is that some high-end motor vehicles have computer chips embedded in their bumpers, so if you car approaches another too rapidly the chip will automatically activate the brakes, and will stop you from a near collision. Folks this is just the start of machines enveloping our world…

As a teenager I could sense this Artificial Intelligence debate, coming and immediately deny that we can’t be replaced by machines, although I’m starting to think otherwise. We’re living in an online culture and it’s starting to become far more apparent than simply a few bumpers on cars. For example there are computer games such as World of WarCraft (WOW) and Second Life, whereas the latter suggests, you can create your own world, and interact with other people in an artificial world. WOW is more of a fantasy based game, where you running around joining guilds (groups of other online players that have their own village), slaying creatures, journeying on new quests, buying better clothes and weapons for your character, and stumbling across other new players.

To those people who aren’t really into computer gaming, it may sound like a feeble attempt in re-creating ourselves, however, the number of people devoting their time to conversing behind the computer rather than in real life is growing quickly. You can’t see the other characters that you relate to and therefore players find that they are free to say what they like. Friendships are made, hearts are broken, and people get married…all online. By married I’m referring to one couple who were playing Second Life. They met each other there and decided that they liked one another. Eventually this lead to hours of chatting, and getting married in real life. (For more information on this couple, you should go and check out the documentary that I mentioned earlier.) IRL is a piece of slang I’ll use that many devoted WOW players use occasionally when speaking to each other. It stands for ‘in real life’, when referring to activities that occur away from the computer.

Now what if computer gaming isn’t your thing? Is there something else that is proof of augmented reality? Well, you just need to look for it. In Japan there are robots that will greet you and bring you something to drink at a restaurant if you are thirsty. They’ve also created robot puppies. That will bark and respond to you when you rub them on the back or under the chin. There are also depressed patients who have had computer chips inserted into their brains to allow the neurons to fire more rapidly and increase their mood. According to one patient it’s helped far more than any other form of therapy included anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, electric-shock therapy and many others. If I am misquoting you’ll have to forgive me and go and watch the film.

Now these interesting and profound experiments leave me with a question. What happens when we embed a chip into ourselves? OR… What happens if we ‘embed’ our minds into a computer game environment for 80% of our day and spend the other 20% IRL? Can it affect our choices and our mood? I would love to see an experiment that takes a child and allows them to spend their teen years behind a computer screen. Take another child and give him only a cell phone and no computer. My question is will the child on the computer become bored and frustrated and get out of the house more? OR… Maybe the computer-less child will spend an increasingly more amount of time on the internet, talking to people. Maybe he’ll eventually nag his parents to buy him a computer, and delve into the world he isn’t part of.

Personally I’ve been on the web in many different aspects whether is to do research, chat to people, share poetry and writing, or simple hunt for interesting articles to get boredom out of the way. I’ve done a bit of online gaming as well, although I’ve never really got myself involved in games like Second Life or WOW. The reason is that any RPG (role-playing game) sucks a lot of my time. I’ve played other non-online RPGs like Diablo 2, Titan Quest, WarCraft 3 (dota) and so on. I try to avoid it like someone might avoid a good bottle of wine. Because, unlike the wine, I know that it might end up lasting a few days and maybe even weeks and I don’t want to be apart of that right now.

I’m part of facebook; I have a blog, and subscribe to a few writing forums, as well as IRC (Internet Relay Chat). My personal feeling is to keep the internet as a tool, when I need it. I would still prefer to meet people face-to-face for the time being and see a real kind of emotion wash over their face.

Maybe I’m just old-fashioned!

PhilosopherPoet

Predictions from the Past

Here’s some interesting quotes i came across on the web. Feel free to to leave a comment if I’ve misquoted someone

 

PhilosopherPoet

Source: http://www.fiction.net/tidbits/religion/predictions.html

“Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.”

Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

 

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”

Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

 

“I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won’t last out the year.”

The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

 

“But what … is it good for?”

Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.

 

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”

Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

 

“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.”

Western Union internal memo, 1876.

 

“The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would payfor a message sent to nobody in particular?”

David Sarnoff’s associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.

 

“The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C,’ the idea must be feasible.”

A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith’s paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.

 

“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”

H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.

 

“I’m just glad it’ll be Clark Gable who’s falling on his face and not Gary Cooper.”

Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in “Gone With The Wind.”

 

“A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make.”

Response to Debbi Fields’ idea of starting Mrs. Fields’ Cookies.

 

“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”

Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

 

“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.”

Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.

 

“If I had thought about it, I wouldn’t have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can’t do this.”

Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M “Post-It” Notepads.

 

“So we went to Atari and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we’ll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we’ll come work for you.’ And they said, ‘No.’ So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, ‘Hey, we don’t need you. You haven’t got through college yet.’”

Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and H-P interested in his and Steve Wozniak’s personal computer.

 

“Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.”

1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard’s revolutionary rocket work.

 

“You want to have consistent and uniform muscle development across all of your muscles? It can’t be done. It’s just a fact of life. You just have to accept inconsistent muscle development as an unalterable condition of weight training.”

Response to Arthur Jones, who solved the “unsolvable” problem by inventing Nautilus.

 

“Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy.”

Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.

 

“The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives.”

Admiral William Leahy, US Atomic Bomb Project.

 

“This fellow Charles Lindbergh will never make it. He’s doomed.”

Harry Guggenheim, millionaire aviation enthusiast.

 

“Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.”

Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.

 

 

 ”Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.”

Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.

 

“Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances.”

Dr. Lee De Forest, inventor of the vacuum tube and father of television.

 

“Everything that can be invented has been invented.”

Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.

 

“Louis Pasteur’s theory of germs is ridiculous fiction.”

Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872

 

“The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the instrusion of the wise and humane surgeon.”

Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria, 1873

The Age of the iPod

Nowadays we’re living with a huge amount of noise. This is a very loose way of saying that we’re bombarded with technology, and let’s not forget the advertising and subcultures that go with it. It’s hard and confusing, but if you can master the technology of today, then you and I are open to endless possibilities.

Ever since the iPod and various other media devices became a norm, people have been obsessed with music and now anyone from a teenager to a middle aged father is listening to music. It’s a great thing to know that you can carry your whole cd wallet in a little pouch that is lighter than your actual wallet where more crucial information is stored. But also your wallet has become a little less relevant to how you want to feel about life. Your wallet has now become a product of the noise of our generation.

Balancing noise and narcissism

A while ago I was talking to a Doctor at my work. He told he doesn’t like technology at ALL. He told me that it’s made us removed from the world and with what’s going on. Although he’s not entirely correct, I’m forced to wonder how much of what he’s saying is actually true. One tragedy about an iPod is that it can cause us to introvert. One out of every ten customers I deal with, I don’t approach and ask them for help since they’re glued to the music on their belt, and simply want to waft in and out of the shop, in their music and their own thoughts. It gets on my nerves because I’m unsure if they want help, or they want to just be left alone instead.

I also understand them, because I’m a natural-born metal head and some days I enjoy the idea of simply plugging into a great album and forgetting about everything else for a while. So is this Noise (in the positive sense of the word) or blind Narcissism that’s provoking us?

It’s both to be honest. I don’t see life as an ultimatum, because that would be cruel and unfair to my own morals. The Greek legend of Narcissus is still a powerful one, so here is the story:

“[Narcissus] in Greek mythology, the son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Leiriope; he was distinguished for his beauty. His mother was told that he would have a long life, provided he never looked upon his own features. His rejection, however, of the love of the nymph Echo or of his lover Ameinias drew upon him the vengeance of the gods. He fell in love with his own reflection in the waters of a spring and pined away (or killed himself); the flower that bears his name sprang up where he died. According to another source, Narcissus, to console himself for the death of his beloved twin sister, his exact counterpart, sat gazing into the spring to recall her features.

The story may have derived from the ancient Greek superstition that it was unlucky or even fatal to see one’s own reflection. In psychiatry and especially psychoanalysis, the term narcissism denotes an excessive degree of self-esteem or self-involvement, a condition that is usually a form of emotional immaturity.“

- Narcissus. (2009). Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica.

In short we have a man who is forced into a period of water-gazing because of external factors in the environment. Our fallen hero has now become blinded by what he sees. In my opinion you could replace the harmless bowl of water, with an iPod, for our generation. It would seem absurd to argue that an iPod could actually kill someone. I won’t even make that statement for fear of living with the consequences and court cases. It is a strong example of how too much of a good thing could be detrimental to what we are unaware of.

An iPod at best can make us look antisocial, angry, happy, relaxed, meditative and internally engaged with ourselves. How then can we listen to music without breaking social barriers? My advice is to keep your life (and what you listen to) to two big containers.

The Two containers

The first is labeled ‘Online’ and the other ‘Offline’. These terms can be translated as Public and Private Life. Although society may try and merge these two categories, I think that is important we keep them (for the most part) separate.

So when you are at home, or in your car, or any other private space, that would be a good time to listen to your iPod. Although if you are in any kind of public place I would suggest that you whip it out of your ears, and engage with your external environment. This may seem like a massive shock to an introvert who is terrified of talking to people, although I still think it’s important. The only small exception I’ll add to this list is if you use an iPod for exercise. So if you are running down the road or going to the gym with an iPod plugged into your head, you should keep it there so you can continue pumping iron and jogging. If you don’t (when you’re in a public space) and you keep listening to a song of yours, it may seem fine, but you would be missing out on an opportunity to talk to your external environment.

Next you get the internet which is an equally vital part of our culture. So should we allow ourselves to become Offline with regards to the internet? Well, I’m afraid that the ball is in your court on this one. With software like Facebook and MySpace, we feel a great deal safer to be open about what we think and feel. Tread with caution, for once you have stuck your feet into the electronic river of information, is virtually impossible to get away from it.

If you are, like myself, addicted to burrowing into the corners of the internet, then for goodness sake research exactly what you are burrowing into! I have a very active mind, and I’ve always made it a habit of mine to investigate my own behaviors. For example in high school I started listening to heavy metal, much to the horror of my parents, and from then on I decided to read numerous articles on the internet. Some would be album reviews, while others would look at metal as a whole (from its birth with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath) right up to the present day (with names like Metallica, Slipknot, Cradle of Filth and Korn) swarming the charts.

On the same topic I’ve read books and articles on the blogging and Facebook so I feel satisfied with what I’m getting into. If in doubt of what to do next, research your subject in question.

The River of Creation and Chaos

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus argued that you cannot step into the same river twice. The reason is that he argued that river is in flux. So try to picture the Greek symbol for infinity which is our numerical symbol for 8, which has been pushed on its side. The river, like the symbol for infinity, is never-ending…hence the word ‘flux’. The river we may swim in may last longer than our existence on earth does. The reason for this is because that’s just the way it is. It’s a form of energy that never stops.

What does the saying mean then? Well, every time you dip your foot into the river, you are in different particles of water, because the river is constantly flowing. You can then argue that we experience the river differently every time we immerse ourselves in it, because some time has passed since when we last dipped our foot in, and at the same token, we may be older people (if even by a few minutes) compared to our initial encounter with the river. Now consider the internet…

In philosophy there are three questions we start off asking ourselves, to stimulate our minds.

- Why are we here?

- Where have we come from?

- Where are we going?

It’s a tough one to consider; now if you ask the internet those same questions (by replacing ‘we’ with ‘you’) then the outcome is equally flabbergasting. The internet is an unknown river to most of us. We will just find one small spot where we enjoy swimming and make use of it! So as an ‘iPod generation’ I think that we should choose to embrace this river that, like it or not, we’re bound to come into contact with.

It may not always be what we’re expecting, but it gives us a sense of peace and solace in a strange way. So even if you haven’t read up on the river you’re dipping into, and are feeling a little nervous about it, just be aware of it, and a little research is always a good idea.

PhilosopherPoet

my war on iTunes

Today marked the first day of being bored at work on my first day. I’m glad that I got the job, however playing chess can only amuse you for so long until the evil clutches of the internet grab you and your soul. I was pretty lucky because halfway through my shift the manager decided to go home, and that left me to my own devices.

Enough about you…what do you think of Apple?

Well I’m a gamer so any non-Microsoft normally would cause me a lot of concern…although its gradually growing on me. I never thought I come to love this new subculture in the computer industry…but my knees get weaker everytime I see a Macbook. They just LOOK so damn sexy…something that Microsoft couldn’t achieve. Microsoft is a technician’s tool which is why I initially liked it. It made me look clever and smart, and I learnt to fix things that newbies struggled with. now I’ve reached the point, where I’m pretty tired of fixing things and just want something that won’t break in a hurry.

Let’s not forget my pet hate with mac…iTunes. When the iPod came along every teenager got a bit giddy and decided to give it a go. As a result they ended up crashing their Mum’s precious computers (non Apple ones of course) and spending tons of money of the next best iPod gizmo to hit the shelves. When the same teenagers turned around to their iTunes they realized that their music had gone, and they were now having numerous glitches with song names, albums titles, and album artwork. This was the first time that I really hated Mac. A friend of mine got all psyched about them and told me to use ITunes. After a while I realized the iTunes made up its mind that I was no good at organizing things and decided to move around my music.

Anyway I got a bit down in the dumps about the whole thing and decided to give up on Apple for a while. Now back in the deep end, and have to put on a valiant smile and tell customers that a Mac is the best thing since since brass door knobs. I think I should manage, just got to keep my focus on all the other great applications that Apple offers and bury iTunes in the back of my mind;)

PhilosopherPoet