Posted by Raul on January 29, 2010
The time has come for me to do some upgrading to this blog.
I want to add several elements like gravatars and CommentLuv in the comment section; a list of the people commenting at the right hand of the page, etc, but it seems that the WP version I’m using is too old and tired for that (2.6.1) and also the Theme seems to be too simple for such luxuries, so I’ll be following Barbara’s advice (from http://bloggingwithoutablog.com) and create a test site to experiment for a couple of days before getting into the updating process.
Hopefully, starting this Monday, February 01 and to Friday 05, the whole process would be completed, so there’ll be no posting for that week to dedicate all the time to deal with this infernal computer technology.
Think of it as if, for those of you that don’t have a clue about cars, are going to rebuild the engine with just a bunch of hand tools, no knowledge and/or experience, and using information obtained from Google…there’s going to be bleeding hands and tears!
Fortunately, since this process is about typing and clicking, I doubt there’ll be any bleeding at all, but I’m not so sure about the tears!
So wish me luck and we’ll see what happens, and if you have any advice about this process, it’ll be much appreciated.
Raul
Posted by Raul on January 27, 2010
It is not a surprise to anyone that we all have good and bad days. I have my share of those too.
Yesterday was a bad one for me. Since the time I got up from bed till the moment I seated in front of the computer to write something for this blog in the afternoon.
Looking back to yesterday I can’t see any difference compared to any other day.
I woke up and got out of bed as always; had a cup of coffee and then when to have one hour of exercising in the mill machine while reading a good book, but I was tired and couldn’t concentrate very well.
Then went to do some work in the computer, but after just one hour ended up with a big headache, so left to go work in a customer’s car to get it out of the way and, what supposed to be about one hour of work ended up in almost four hours, at the end of which, no repairs could be completed, even more, in the process I accidentally broke the passenger side mirror, so that is an added repair to do (and of course without getting any money for that; it’s not the customer fault)
Even little details that made me laugh, like when decided to take the trash out, so grabbed the bag and, when took a new one to fit in the trash can I realized it didn’t have a bottom…basically it was a cylinder! Useless as a trash bag.
Tired and frustrated decided to stop working for the day and, after taking a shower and having dinner (the only good part of the day) I went back to the computer, only to get the headache back and more problems.
This time while writing a post, the cursor kept jumping back two or three lines up over the writing and continued fitting the new words in between the others, the old ones. When I realized what was happening the writing was completely confusing for the mixed words and lines. After correcting the writing and having the problem again and again it became clear that it was time to stop trying to complete a post.
So decided to just surf the net for a while before going to bed, but the cooling fan started a furious cooling cycle and the surfing became a crawl instead.
After waiting for an average of three minutes for a page to load I decided to turn it off and went to bed to end a bad day.
So that got me thinking…
What is it that we have these so different situations when acting in the same environment and being the same person?
Is it the mood we are in, that makes us create little, unnoticed mistakes that turn things in the wrong direction?
Is it external elements that affect us in the way we perform and with it, obtain undesired results to our efforts?
Is it just the way we perceive those results to our efforts being them something different of what we expected?
Or maybe a combination of the three in such a subtle way that we don’t realize of the situation we are in until an evaluation of the results shows us we are in the wrong track?
Whatever the reason, it is clear that when we are in a bad day, and everything goes wrong, we do not perceive any changes in ourselves or our surroundings; it seems just a regular day, like any other, and we can only realize of the differences based on the results (or the lack of them) we obtain for our efforts.
It’s not that we wake up in the morning and “feel” something different and immediately know that it is going to be a bad day; although some times when we wake up we can feel it’s going to be a great day.
So the only explanation I can find is that it started with being tired in the morning, that created a (hidden to me) bad mood that, after going through different activities, it became a growing and still unknown negative predisposition that made me see things in a negative way, thus making little mistakes that kept adding throughout the day, in a negative circle.
That, or there are gnomes hiding somewhere in my place!
Just kidding! I know they are friendly.
Raul
Posted by Raul on January 25, 2010
I just read a post in another blog about someone complaining because his picture, which he published in his Facebook page for his friends to see, was to be found now in some other site posted without his permission.
He was complaining that there should be rules or laws in place to prevent those kinds of situations from happenings, or at least a way for the affected person to enforce his right to privacy.
I believe this person is missing the point about technology. We want more and more capabilities from our internet connections and the sites we visit and/or create so more can be done to reach a wider audience. The same we ask from our cell phones, so we can be able to take pictures and videos anywhere anytime and then download them quickly and easily into our computers, blogs, websites, YouTube, etc.
The problems is that the easier it becomes for us, it’ll also be easier for everybody else, and not everyone has the same moral concepts we have, or simply put, we are different people with different views of the same situation. What is right for me might not be right for you and vice versa.
We want to reach the biggest number of people and go worldwide with the internet; we want the possibility to take pictures and videos fast and then be able to upload them in our posts or pages in social sites without hassles, so we demand better technology and use it.
The problem then is that, at the same time we have all these conveniences, everybody else get it and use it, so no longer we can assume things will work the way we expected or think is right. We post in our blogs and want it to be worldwide for everyone to read, yet we don’t accept our pictures can be worldwide for everyone to see when is posted again by someone else.
With the new technology available don’t be surprised if one day you find yourself in a porn site in a video that shows you naked taking a shower, and after the initial shock you discover that it was in the showers of your local gym, and all you can remember is someone talking on his/her cell phone at that moment.
Technology can and will be used for good and bad purposes; most people will use it to enhance their lives, while some others will consider enhancing their lives getting money for videos or pictures taken to unaware people in awkward situations.
There are many sites out there posting “funny” pictures of people that I’m sure didn’t know they were being photographed at that moment.
The point here is that as soon as we upload something in the internet we can assume it is gone in a life of its own and we cannot control it anymore; so the only way to be safe is just not to upload what we might regret later.
We live in a new kind of world, where we are to become public in every aspect of our lives. Even if you make a search of yourself in the internet you will find your information available to everyone. There are sites out there that, for a small fee, will deliver to you information like your name, address, where you work, if you had bankruptcy at any time in your past, your spouse name, your children’s names, etc
My guess is that if you want to be sure about someone you can use the information in these sites to make a decision, but at the other hand your information is also available for everyone to see.
We live in a world where private life is less and less probable because of the technology available, so we have to be very careful on what we post in the internet, being it a social site, a dating site, a blog, a website, etc, even when we send emails we cannot be sure of who will get it and what they will do with it.
If we post something in the internet we must automatically assume it will take a life of its own without us being able to control it, and we must accept that as a fact of the modern world we live in.
Raul
Posted by Raul on January 22, 2010
For a long time I have been curious about the difference in feelings people have about eternal life or after life.
Many religions tell that there is life after death; some talk about good and bad places where you go depending on how you were in your life; some tell about an intermediate plane to stay for a while before coming back to life thru reincarnation, etc.
Many people follow a religion that teaches these concepts, and these people claim to be believers of those concepts, yet when it comes to feel by heart what they have been taught, the big majority reacts as if there was nothing after death, defying with this their own beliefs and the teachings they have received from their religions.
They are scared of death, even if they suppose to go to a better place where there’s no physical pain and suffering for physical things; a place of peace for the mind.
In everyday situations they tend to react more according to the feelings of the moment or the conveniences rather than based on the ways they suppose to react in order to ensure their place in this promised after life, as if in reality, opposed to the teachings from their religions, this after life didn’t exist.
So the concept of life after death is more like a fairy tale in the minds of people than a “confirmed reality” as taught by their own religions, the ones they follow their entire lives respecting and applying the customs required.
It seems that the entire religion becomes a custom to follow; more as a social element to get acceptance, than a real belief to live by. If you claim you don’t believe then you are segregated and tagged as selfish and arrogant by the others, so you have to comply with the customs and traditions extended thru generations in your family and follow the customs of their religion.
Easier said than done, of course; to be part of the custom and to follow the procedures that will ensure you a place in your community you just have to be present when service is provided and emulate the words and movements institutionalized throughout decades, hundreds or maybe thousands of years, then you are accepted as one more of the group and no questioning occurs.
That’s the easy part!
The complicated one is to acquire by heart the teachings to the point of reactions to many everyday situations are natural and spontaneous and according to the teachings received.
So the result is people following religions as a tradition; as a condition of their birth, like the place, country or language under which they grew up, with customs followed the same way the type of clothing is worn, more than a real belief as a concept learned throughout study and understanding of the teachings received and that were accepted by heart.
Raul
Posted by Raul on January 19, 2010
Love is like doing business…you have to give for a long time, putting lots of effort in making everything work before you can expect to receive something in return
Marriage is like a job…you get a signed contract that promises you to receive from the very first moment while you learn the “trade” and become more efficient in giving.
Let’s see Love as Business…
In business you cannot expect to receive profits (love) in return from the beginning. It is a long journey of hard work giving all of you, your heart, your passion, your time, your dedication, all in the intent of some day in the future start receiving back from all the hard work invested; then profits (love) start coming to you; first in small amounts, so you have to keep working hard in giving of yourself to increase little by little and throughout time the amounts of profits (love) you will receive in return.
You give with only a promise that maybe, if everything goes right, someday you will receive back.
Marriage as a job…
In a job is the opposite; you get a signed contract that ensures you will receive from the very beginning. It stipulate how much you will receive and at which frequency, and even though is indicated what you should give back in return, it is also accepted that you will have to go thru a period of learning the details of what you suppose to do, and is also accepted that you will make mistakes that will be forgiven.
You receive from the beginning with you giving a promise to deliver in the future.
Marriage is a contract that, theoretically, makes official and legal a feeling between two people. I know marriage is more like a certification for society so the product of this relation (children) will be protected and receive the benefits society can provide, yet marriage is considered and accepted more as a consequence of love, promoted as such in movies and TV stories (the couple in love end the episode getting married at church)
The biggest problem is that when the concept of love turning into marriage is seen as an end (a beautiful one that makes people cry in happiness) the real meaning of the relation is lost, as if there was nothing more to do from then on, when in reality is the opposite; that’s where the real “work” of giving love begins.
People have a job and are married; both are taken in the same way, a contract that promise them to receive love from the beginning while they are expected to make mistakes in giving love while they learn the “trade” Both expect to receive without the obligation to give, so none receive as expected and consider the relation a demanding one; like a job were paycheck are never on time yet the boss keep pushing for more work to be completed.
If love relations were taken as business then maybe it’ll be possible to consider as a fact to give all that we can give and for a long time, without expecting to receive anything but problems and more work that will require to practice patience, application and consistency until, someday in the future, we will start receiving a little in return for our efforts. In this case both parts in the relation will receive before expected and may take it as the one opportunity for love they cannot afford to loose, like a gold mine business.
Raul
