Posted by tharvan on January 12, 2004
The Digital Imprimatur – “How big brother and big media can put the Internet genie back in the bottle”
This one is by John Walker, founder of Autodesk, Inc. and co-author of AutoCAD. A quite pessimistic approach into what the Internet is most possibly forming to be. I can’t, only with a grave heart, but mostly agree with him. A long read definitely, but worth even a quick pick, if you are not patient.
Strengthen thy hearts and prepare your heir “…as the dark pall of NAT falls upon the Internet.” (coming from another text by John). Things are not the same, for a long time now, but we all seem to look the other way and “enjoy” services as good “consumers”.
Is there salvation? By whom and what technological means? Inside or, sigh, outside the internet?
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Posted by tharvan on January 12, 2004
I’ve posted anything. It’s almost a month a and half. I am puzzled and deranged lately. No clear mind to perform the act of blogging :-). I am still hopeful for the new year. A happy and healthy new year for everyone out there. My best wishes to all of you. And may God shed some light and wisdom on our moron political and market leaders.
Whatever, have a happy new year.
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Posted by tharvan on November 23, 2003
Today is the 14th Month anniversary of the day I joined the Greek Army (in exact the infantry) for doing my army service, mandatory for Greek male citizens. This anniversary also means that I am finished with it. I am again a civilian. The Army and its officers do not anymore have anything to do with me. I am only supposed to be called again only in the sad occasion of a war.
During these 14 months I served, I was located and transfered in chronological order in: Korinthos (the training center) 2 months, Athens (training again) 1 month, Rhodes – Kalithies (first transfer to an active military base) 7 months, Athens (second transfer to the Greek Army General Administration) 4 months.
This day isn’t for me especially exciting. Luckily I had a huge leave on the last 45 days and although I was typically still serving, I had a very smooth and lengthy period of rehabilitation as a citizen. But never the less to know that you don’t have to go in uniform again, owning and being responsible of arms and operations, doing patrols and guarding buildings, taking part in military exercises, and in any way not being able to avail yourself and time and skills according to your conscious, or not, being, is certainly a huge relief. And to be honest I still feel that I have not detached myself from the modus vivendi that the army injects into you. Even if the army is a willing suspension of ones freedom, it is still a loss of your freedom. And living “not-free” for 14 months (13 in effect) is not for the faint of heart. It engraves permanent markings on your psychology and existence. At least I had the chance to go through it rather older that usual, at my 28. Imagine what all these would mean for a man at his 18.
Anyway here I am again “free”, in a rather ironical meaning. Am I happy? not exactly. Am I in joy? not exactly. Am I relieved? certainly.
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Posted by tharvan on November 14, 2003
It’s the brand new Logitech diNovo Media Desktop.
Some will hurry up and say, “you must be nuts, if you pay 250$ for a keyboard and a mouse” but their thinking is bound by lesser financial oriented principles. Aren’t you sick of the standard lousy looking and feeling keyboards which dominate our desktops. I use a keyboard for at least 8 hours a day and I welcome everything that’s refreshing. The keyboard is after all our pen. Don’t you want to write with something that is equally functional and elegant? A wonderful piece…
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Posted by tharvan on November 9, 2003
The original text, which I am quoting here, is, of course, in French but for making editing easier I omitted French punctuation entirely (forgive me). I am not attempting any translation, which would most probably be awful. But the “french” of it are rather obvious:
“Photographier et dessiner”
- mise en parallele -
La photographie est, pour moi, l’impulsion spontanee d’une attention visuelle perpetuelle, qui saisit l’instant et son eternite.
Le dessin, lui, par sa graphologie elabore ce que notre consience a saisi de cet instant.
La photo est une action immediate; la dessin une meditation.
Henri Cartier-Bresson, 27-4-1992
The most straightforward dealing of the primeval confrontation between photography and drawing, from a master that has done both.
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Posted by tharvan on October 27, 2003
Why would someone blog? what’s the need? what is achieved thereof? I can’t put it in better words than Rebbeca Blood does. Quoting:
- …weblogs provide a valuable filtering function for their readers. The web has been, in effect, presurfed for them. Out of the myriad web pages slung through cyberspace, weblog editors pick out the most mind-boggling, the most stupid, the most compelling.
- Their [weblogs] sarcasm and fearless commentary reminds us to question the vested interests of our sources of information and the expertise of individual reporters as they file news stories about subjects they may not fully understand.
- The blogger, by virtue of simply writing down whatever is on his mind, will be confronted with his own thoughts and opinions.
- As he enunciates his opinions daily, this new awareness of his inner life may develop into a trust in his own perspective. His own reactions–to a poem, to other people, and, yes, to the media–will carry more weight with him.
Go on and read the entire essay: weblogs: a history and perspective. There is no point to quote all of it :-) She is excellent in this!
All in all, a blog is a quite interesting trip for everyone. No matter of the readers number. Just as a record of personal intellectual engagement.
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Posted by tharvan on October 26, 2003
Here goes the first entry. Just completed the setup on livejournal (nice work guys). Not my first blog. Had one for a year, but was private (I deleted it by accident). This time I go public. The only way for a blog, after all…
Thanks Nick(npat), for inviting me over.
Happy blogging to me!
Today, Jan 6 2007: A historical post. Moved to wordpress since then. Mainly for political reasons.
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