I am so bad at this it's not even funny. Every time I visit my dashboard I tell myself I will start doing this right, but then things get in the way and I end up being away for months at a time. I wish this time were different but it probably isn't. So here I say it again, I will attempt to keep this log current.
What it boils down to is a lack of things to share, I am always searching for subjects that might entice, disturb or move my audience, until I realiz, once again, that I have no audience. Then comes the realization that I have no audience, because I have no content. Nobody follows my blog, becasue there is nothing to follow. I will take the time, once a day to expose, relate and discuss subjects of interest, but don't expect much.
Totally undisciplined.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Child Blogers
Today I help my son, who ten yrs old, to set up his own blog on Blogger.com. I signed him up for a gmail account and set him up with his first blog (you can find it at http://adrienlevy.blogspot.ca) His first post was about animal cruelty and he wrote a short (and badly worded) statement about his heartfelt concerns about the subject.
In all fairness, it was bad, very bad and I won't pretend it wasn't just because he is my son. But it was a courageous first step into the blogosphere and I encourage him to continue and sharpen his skills and devlop his ideas to get them out there. As his blog grows, I wil teach him about SEO and other way of getting his blog out there to the masses.
I am proud to see he is interested and engaged in a subject as deep and controversial as animal cruelty and look forward to reading and debating it with him. As he matures and comes into his own, I am cnfident he will have insight nd will bring a positive and intelligentdiscussion to the table on many subjects.
In all fairness, it was bad, very bad and I won't pretend it wasn't just because he is my son. But it was a courageous first step into the blogosphere and I encourage him to continue and sharpen his skills and devlop his ideas to get them out there. As his blog grows, I wil teach him about SEO and other way of getting his blog out there to the masses.
I am proud to see he is interested and engaged in a subject as deep and controversial as animal cruelty and look forward to reading and debating it with him. As he matures and comes into his own, I am cnfident he will have insight nd will bring a positive and intelligentdiscussion to the table on many subjects.
The twilght of social networking
Has the social eco-system peaked? In the digital age where everyone and everything can be found on Google(tm) or Facebook(r), has the internet reached it's culmination? What will be the next, new thing? With more than a billion users worldwide will "The Facebook" continue to innovate and engage users? I personally think not.
Her is my story; a long ride as a Facebooker.
I will start by putting you in context. I have recently deactivated my Facebook account. This decision was not made lightly, I spent years populating my "page" with photos, videos and notes. I interacted with thousands of others users on matters of politics, health, freedom and mundane day to day conversations. Throughout, my guiding principal has always been freedom of speech, mine as well as everyone elses. I debated, engaged and discussed with people I had never met and grew to enjoy hearing about their lives, concerns, fears and loves. My newsfeed was full interesting and intelligent commentary about matters far and wide.
That being said, I can honestly say I am suffering serious social withdrawl and I am struggling with thoughts of reactivating my account, bearing the pain, I have chosen not to. My travels across the digital social scene have led to places I would have never been in ordinary day to day life. Why, you would ask, did I quit the social network? If I had so reached a state of delight, why would I drop out and deprive myself of this wonderful tool of study and personal enlightenment?
One simple word: Family.
Some of you may wonder what I mean, it is simple. Social networking has destroyed family relations and burrdened relationships in a way I did not forsee and did not expect. In everyday life, we as humans, try to keep in touch with family; by phone, email and family get togethers. We communicate often and usually enjoy keeping in touch. Through the use of social networking we share pictures, videos and messages that would not normally be shared through traditional form. This is where things get complicated, we share too much. Family will undoubtedly judge and demean you, for stupid things. Below are a few examples that I personaly witnessed.
1. Videos
In the very first week on Facebook I posted a video of my son stuck in a mud puddle with his new bike, he was 5 years old. In the video you can hear me laughng as he struggles helplessly to pedal his way out, getting drenched and muddied in the process. It was hilarious, we both laughed (after he had cleaned off and dried his clothes). Once uploaded on facebook, the video garnered such negative comments that I removed it and uploaded a shortened version. I was accused of beingmean, bad spirited and some comments verged on calling me bad father. What was meant to show a great moment that will be remembered by us forever, became a venue for criticism, judgement and outrage. Needless to say I was shocked. I realized that our staged video, had offended everyone because it was completely out of context. The more I replied and explained, the more the debate got heated. I was accused trying to make excuses and turn the tables. I still have the video in question and we both (my son and I) laugh about it, it is great, funny and portrays a happy time in our lives.
2. Personal interests
Through the use of Facebook I have discovered causes and formulated peronal opinions and interests that I debated and shared across the board. Friends and strangers engaged the discussion and I often had great engagements on multiple subjects; until family got involved. Snide remarks, judgemental attitudes and an overall superiority complex from my family turned interesting and intelligent discussion into a powerplay used to try and ridicule my views and led to behind the scenes arguements. Once again, the more I explained the less I was heard and he more the debate became one sided. This happened several times and turned many previously relatively good relationships, sour.
3. Punctuation and double entendre (multiple meanings)
I quickely realized that the frame of mind a person is in will affect the meaning that they will glean from a post or comment. This became obvious and true dozens of times. That persons opinion of you will also color their view and understanding of any post or comment. Therefore, an inoccuous comment with no negativity or malice will quickly be interpretted as being being malicious or or negative and despite satements to the contrary, once a particular opinion has been formed it is near to impossible to change that persons view. This became particularily true recently in a cross commentary with my mother. She is a wonderful person and i will not attack her here, but I want this to be clear; she misinterpretted a comment and was hurt and upset, but she was wrong. The particular comment revolved around a comment she made on a picture. Beyond uderstanding it has become custom for her to ask a question by simply saying "?????", this pisses me off to no end because I have no idea what the question is. It could mean a million different things, like : "where was this taken", "what does this represent", "why did you use this as a cover photo", "are you the one who took this picture", and many, many others. My response in this case was simple and yet created controversy which led to me dissabling my account completely; I said (translated) " hahaha oh you with your ?????, you don't get it because it doesn't concern you, those that get it will undertand :-P " of course there was no malice or insult intended but it was interpretted as "it's non of your husiness"; which is totally false and was met with a virulent message which accused me of being mean and attacked my common sense at posting such a comment, especially in public. The more tried to explain and correct her view the more it became an attack on me and my way of writing. Ultimetly what became clear was that I was being judged and insulted. It insulted my intelligence, social etiquette, common sense and eventually, she decided to back her assumption with the worst comment ever; " and I'm not the only one who says so." She basically involved unnamed and anonymous persons to strengthen her postion. My response was immediate and clear; "people who don't like what I have to say can stay off my wall or unfriend me, no loss to me." I was obviously speaking of those un-named and anonymous persons, but, in her frame of mind, it was jnterpretted as if I was speaking about her. So a stupid misunderstanding was made even worse.
4. Swearing
I swear. I do. I use "fuck", "asshole", "bitch", "moron", "retard" and several others in my daily life and online. Again, i consider my freedom of speech important as much as the freedom to use swear words. I might sometimes use "fük" or "azzwhole" instead, to avert insulting people but I am not shy about swearing. Many people are offended by swear words and I don't agree. The "f-bomb" is not a bomb at all, swearing is not a loss of self control or a lack of manners. I knew what I Was saying, considered my options and decided that it was the best word to use to express the feeling intended. So when I say "it is fucking snowing again" I portray the fact that I am sick of snow. If I remove the swear word it becomes a meaningless statement that it is snowing; again. Swearing emphasises a state of being and a state of meaning to a sentence.
In conclusion, I debated blocking my family completely, I have already blocked my sisters in several respects in my privacy settings by creating exclusion lists but this can only go so far. A complete block would also be judged and misnderstood, so the easiest way to avoid further deterioration of my famly ties, it was best to simply remove myself from the possibility. Without a doubt I will be judged for this also. I will either be considered a coward for shying away from controversy or a baby for hiding or some other judgement about me, my values, intelligence or maturity.
I will finish by saying; I have a 162 IQ, it's been tested, meaningless as that may be today. I consider myself a very conscientious, mature and intelligent person. I thrive on intellectual debate and discussion, but I am willing to forgo my adventures in the social eco-system to satisfy my desire for peace in my family relations. A fragile peace, since I've already been judged, condemned and executed in their eyes.
Her is my story; a long ride as a Facebooker.
I will start by putting you in context. I have recently deactivated my Facebook account. This decision was not made lightly, I spent years populating my "page" with photos, videos and notes. I interacted with thousands of others users on matters of politics, health, freedom and mundane day to day conversations. Throughout, my guiding principal has always been freedom of speech, mine as well as everyone elses. I debated, engaged and discussed with people I had never met and grew to enjoy hearing about their lives, concerns, fears and loves. My newsfeed was full interesting and intelligent commentary about matters far and wide.
That being said, I can honestly say I am suffering serious social withdrawl and I am struggling with thoughts of reactivating my account, bearing the pain, I have chosen not to. My travels across the digital social scene have led to places I would have never been in ordinary day to day life. Why, you would ask, did I quit the social network? If I had so reached a state of delight, why would I drop out and deprive myself of this wonderful tool of study and personal enlightenment?
One simple word: Family.
Some of you may wonder what I mean, it is simple. Social networking has destroyed family relations and burrdened relationships in a way I did not forsee and did not expect. In everyday life, we as humans, try to keep in touch with family; by phone, email and family get togethers. We communicate often and usually enjoy keeping in touch. Through the use of social networking we share pictures, videos and messages that would not normally be shared through traditional form. This is where things get complicated, we share too much. Family will undoubtedly judge and demean you, for stupid things. Below are a few examples that I personaly witnessed.
1. Videos
In the very first week on Facebook I posted a video of my son stuck in a mud puddle with his new bike, he was 5 years old. In the video you can hear me laughng as he struggles helplessly to pedal his way out, getting drenched and muddied in the process. It was hilarious, we both laughed (after he had cleaned off and dried his clothes). Once uploaded on facebook, the video garnered such negative comments that I removed it and uploaded a shortened version. I was accused of beingmean, bad spirited and some comments verged on calling me bad father. What was meant to show a great moment that will be remembered by us forever, became a venue for criticism, judgement and outrage. Needless to say I was shocked. I realized that our staged video, had offended everyone because it was completely out of context. The more I replied and explained, the more the debate got heated. I was accused trying to make excuses and turn the tables. I still have the video in question and we both (my son and I) laugh about it, it is great, funny and portrays a happy time in our lives.
2. Personal interests
Through the use of Facebook I have discovered causes and formulated peronal opinions and interests that I debated and shared across the board. Friends and strangers engaged the discussion and I often had great engagements on multiple subjects; until family got involved. Snide remarks, judgemental attitudes and an overall superiority complex from my family turned interesting and intelligent discussion into a powerplay used to try and ridicule my views and led to behind the scenes arguements. Once again, the more I explained the less I was heard and he more the debate became one sided. This happened several times and turned many previously relatively good relationships, sour.
3. Punctuation and double entendre (multiple meanings)
I quickely realized that the frame of mind a person is in will affect the meaning that they will glean from a post or comment. This became obvious and true dozens of times. That persons opinion of you will also color their view and understanding of any post or comment. Therefore, an inoccuous comment with no negativity or malice will quickly be interpretted as being being malicious or or negative and despite satements to the contrary, once a particular opinion has been formed it is near to impossible to change that persons view. This became particularily true recently in a cross commentary with my mother. She is a wonderful person and i will not attack her here, but I want this to be clear; she misinterpretted a comment and was hurt and upset, but she was wrong. The particular comment revolved around a comment she made on a picture. Beyond uderstanding it has become custom for her to ask a question by simply saying "?????", this pisses me off to no end because I have no idea what the question is. It could mean a million different things, like : "where was this taken", "what does this represent", "why did you use this as a cover photo", "are you the one who took this picture", and many, many others. My response in this case was simple and yet created controversy which led to me dissabling my account completely; I said (translated) " hahaha oh you with your ?????, you don't get it because it doesn't concern you, those that get it will undertand :-P " of course there was no malice or insult intended but it was interpretted as "it's non of your husiness"; which is totally false and was met with a virulent message which accused me of being mean and attacked my common sense at posting such a comment, especially in public. The more tried to explain and correct her view the more it became an attack on me and my way of writing. Ultimetly what became clear was that I was being judged and insulted. It insulted my intelligence, social etiquette, common sense and eventually, she decided to back her assumption with the worst comment ever; " and I'm not the only one who says so." She basically involved unnamed and anonymous persons to strengthen her postion. My response was immediate and clear; "people who don't like what I have to say can stay off my wall or unfriend me, no loss to me." I was obviously speaking of those un-named and anonymous persons, but, in her frame of mind, it was jnterpretted as if I was speaking about her. So a stupid misunderstanding was made even worse.
4. Swearing
I swear. I do. I use "fuck", "asshole", "bitch", "moron", "retard" and several others in my daily life and online. Again, i consider my freedom of speech important as much as the freedom to use swear words. I might sometimes use "fük" or "azzwhole" instead, to avert insulting people but I am not shy about swearing. Many people are offended by swear words and I don't agree. The "f-bomb" is not a bomb at all, swearing is not a loss of self control or a lack of manners. I knew what I Was saying, considered my options and decided that it was the best word to use to express the feeling intended. So when I say "it is fucking snowing again" I portray the fact that I am sick of snow. If I remove the swear word it becomes a meaningless statement that it is snowing; again. Swearing emphasises a state of being and a state of meaning to a sentence.
In conclusion, I debated blocking my family completely, I have already blocked my sisters in several respects in my privacy settings by creating exclusion lists but this can only go so far. A complete block would also be judged and misnderstood, so the easiest way to avoid further deterioration of my famly ties, it was best to simply remove myself from the possibility. Without a doubt I will be judged for this also. I will either be considered a coward for shying away from controversy or a baby for hiding or some other judgement about me, my values, intelligence or maturity.
I will finish by saying; I have a 162 IQ, it's been tested, meaningless as that may be today. I consider myself a very conscientious, mature and intelligent person. I thrive on intellectual debate and discussion, but I am willing to forgo my adventures in the social eco-system to satisfy my desire for peace in my family relations. A fragile peace, since I've already been judged, condemned and executed in their eyes.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Snowfall, Winter and Christmastime
The title of this post describes perfectly the tenure of this post, and Yes, for me it's Christmastime. It's not "the holidays" it's Merry Christmas. I will not suffer the absurdities of political correctness, my country was built on the back of Christianity; more precisely, Catholisism and the Holy Roman Catholic Church. I am not a practising Catholic and I definitly don't believe most of the teachings of the Holy See, but I won't ignore tradition and history. Regardless of the bad press and abhorrent thing the Church has done, my ancestors believed in Christ and they followed the teachings of the church in building this country and applied their faith in their daily life and traditions. So it's Christmas, period. For you it may be the holidays or Kwanza or Hanukkah, whatever you may call it, for me and my family it's Christmas, regardless of religion.
This morning we have the first real snow of the season. A thick, fluffy white blanket cover the trees, the ground and "my car". I won't pretend to live winter, but the beauty is undeniable. A certain calm and warmth takes over, every year at this time and I must admit, it's a great time of year for me. Would rather be on the beach sipping Mojitos, but I chose to live in the great white north and have to make due with the life I have chosen.
Many of my neighbors and acquiantances live the winter life to the fullest. I see them outside snowmobiling, playing hockey, etc... For me the snow brings snowboarding and skiing. One of the only joys I get out the 4-5 months of cold and snow is hitting the slopes. My parents taught me to ski at a very early age (seriously, I could barely walk). We lived in the mountains and skiing was a second nature to my sisters and I quickly became quite a good skier. In the early '90's I took up snowboarding and I now alternate between skiing and snowboarding, depending where I go for some downhill runs. Obviously, with my bad back, I have to limit my outings and although being a great, fun sport it is very expensive. First, there are no ski resort iut where I am living so going skiing is not always an option, what with the price of gas. Food prices at the ski hill is usually 60-80% more expensive than elsewhere too. Regardless, I manage to go out at least two or three times a year, Which is more that sufficent considering my aments.
Last week I put up our traditional wreath and cleaned up the house for xmas. Made some room for the tree, clean out the fidge and freezer, made some meat pies and canned some crannberries. Luckily, dec. 1st is a saturday this year and, as always, i will be breaking out the cristmeas music and spend the day writing xmas cards and sendjng out pictures to my parents and friends. Exceptionally, this year, I am driving out on xmas day to visit my father in Mt-Tremblant, and will probably go skiing at Mont Blanc. I am taking the whole week of xmas off from work to have some fun with my son and we will probably spend a few days skiing, tubing and getting our fill of some fresh winter air, before the ling dark months of the deep winter.
In the last coiple of years the winters have actually been quite mild and pleasant. But the short days tend to wreak havic on the winter fun time, and you never jnow when uou might wake up to -40 degrees. There are usually a few weeks in january and february when the weather is coldest before a warming up towards spring around mid march. I won't jide it, heating costs bring me to my knees and it's not uncommon for me to have a 2500$ elctric bill roll in come march ir april.
So, for now, let's just enjoy the cool white stuff falling from the sky, look pleasantly forward to a great christmastime and a few days of RR, instead of dwelling on the agony of the dead cold.
Merry Christmas y'all and a very Happy New Year, too.
This morning we have the first real snow of the season. A thick, fluffy white blanket cover the trees, the ground and "my car". I won't pretend to live winter, but the beauty is undeniable. A certain calm and warmth takes over, every year at this time and I must admit, it's a great time of year for me. Would rather be on the beach sipping Mojitos, but I chose to live in the great white north and have to make due with the life I have chosen.
Many of my neighbors and acquiantances live the winter life to the fullest. I see them outside snowmobiling, playing hockey, etc... For me the snow brings snowboarding and skiing. One of the only joys I get out the 4-5 months of cold and snow is hitting the slopes. My parents taught me to ski at a very early age (seriously, I could barely walk). We lived in the mountains and skiing was a second nature to my sisters and I quickly became quite a good skier. In the early '90's I took up snowboarding and I now alternate between skiing and snowboarding, depending where I go for some downhill runs. Obviously, with my bad back, I have to limit my outings and although being a great, fun sport it is very expensive. First, there are no ski resort iut where I am living so going skiing is not always an option, what with the price of gas. Food prices at the ski hill is usually 60-80% more expensive than elsewhere too. Regardless, I manage to go out at least two or three times a year, Which is more that sufficent considering my aments.
Last week I put up our traditional wreath and cleaned up the house for xmas. Made some room for the tree, clean out the fidge and freezer, made some meat pies and canned some crannberries. Luckily, dec. 1st is a saturday this year and, as always, i will be breaking out the cristmeas music and spend the day writing xmas cards and sendjng out pictures to my parents and friends. Exceptionally, this year, I am driving out on xmas day to visit my father in Mt-Tremblant, and will probably go skiing at Mont Blanc. I am taking the whole week of xmas off from work to have some fun with my son and we will probably spend a few days skiing, tubing and getting our fill of some fresh winter air, before the ling dark months of the deep winter.
In the last coiple of years the winters have actually been quite mild and pleasant. But the short days tend to wreak havic on the winter fun time, and you never jnow when uou might wake up to -40 degrees. There are usually a few weeks in january and february when the weather is coldest before a warming up towards spring around mid march. I won't jide it, heating costs bring me to my knees and it's not uncommon for me to have a 2500$ elctric bill roll in come march ir april.
So, for now, let's just enjoy the cool white stuff falling from the sky, look pleasantly forward to a great christmastime and a few days of RR, instead of dwelling on the agony of the dead cold.
Merry Christmas y'all and a very Happy New Year, too.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Choosing the right smartphone
My contract isn't up for renewal but the penalty has reached a low enough amount that it is reasonable for me to start considering changing my phone. Several choices exist and the smartphone landscape has changed considerably since I purchased my first smartphone (or superphone) and, in the past few weeks I've tried out several different phones. Here are my reviews, based on my needs and tastes.
Windows Phone : All brands using Windows operating plateform are off the table. Microsoft sucks, has sucked, and will suck, period. I haven't used a windows PC in 6 years and will not endorse this mega corp that gouges users, delevoppers and businesses. No Way.
So, i suppose you've guessed already, I will be going with an iPhone, again. It's not set in stone, i might wait another 6 months to see if the landscape changes again; maybe RIM will impress and make a comeback, perhaps not.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Facebook est gratuit, et le restera toujours
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| Photo Google.com |
Cela fait plusieurs années que la rumeur cours, avec quelques variantes, que Facebook est sur le point de devenir payant. C'est faux. En 2009 le conseil d'administrateurs de Facebook (et Mark Zuckerberg) ont décidés d'inclure un nouvelle politique dans leur model d'affaire; Facebook est gratuit et le sera toujours. D'ailleurs, ils en ont fait leur slogan officiel (en anglais) : Facebook is free and always will be.
Il serait imprudent, voir idiot, de faire de Facebook un site payant. La gratuité de Facebook pour les utilisateurs demeure la force qui fait de Facebook un si grand succes. Les utilisateurs forment le plus grand noyaux de lecteurs de nouvelles publictaires dans l'histoire du monde. En quelques clics, un promoteur peut acceder a la vaste banque de données de Facebook pour cibler sa clientèle de façon sûr et efficace, sans se soucier des pubs perdus, comme dans les medias traditionels. Une pub Facebook peut etre taillée a la clientèle de ses competiteurs, afin d'aller chercher une plus grande part du marché; sans effort, dans des marchès qui etaits, autrefous inacdessibles. Les revnues de ce géant du marketing reposent sur le fait qu'il existe presque un (1) milliard d'utilisateurs qui visitent régulierement le site.
Donc, une fois pour toute, FACEBOOK EST GRATUIT ET LE RESTERAS TOUJOURS.
Monday, November 19, 2012
The Walking Dead
Any number of you, who follow me on Facebook, know that I am a great fan of The Walking Dead; by Frank Darabont, on AMC TV. I read every issue of The Walking Dead in comics, I have every issue on my Motorola Xoom tablet and I have every TV episode from Season 1 Ep01 thru Season 3.
View my Walking Dead photo tribute on FB : https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2765765547480.2153392.1358130650&type=1
As a fan of the series, I have a large collection of pictures, articles and other stuff all related to the show and the comics, and I often share on FB. My favorite character is, without a doubt, Sofia, who was "turned" late in Season 2 and was killed by Rick (Grimes) in an epic faceoff between the survivors and a hoard of Walkers being held captive in the Barn at the Farm. My least favorite charcter is Merle, the older brother of Daryl; who was handcuffed to a rooftop in Atlanta at the onset of Season 1. Miraculously, Merle returns in Season 3.
As a diehard fan, I alweays look forward to new episodes and so far, i've been relatively unimpressed with the continuity in Season 3. Despite grand scenes and very emotional sequences (Lori's death, Rick's downfall, the hacking of Herchel's leg and others) i find the layout of the plot in Season 3 lacks momentum and often lags; especially during the scenes with the Governor, Nichonne and Merle.
Here's hoping that the rest of the Season will pick up the pace and get to the thick of things soon.
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