Finally I figured out how to send SMS on somebody's email. SMS to EMAIL. Very easy. One should type in SMS dialog box as follows ( for example on sending to myself): dkunic22@yahoo.com:subject of message:body of message . Thereafter one should send that message on 07171010 ( the number of service by my croatian mobile provider ). Done. I don't know is this standardised SMS-to-MAIL protocol for writing. Only the service number would be different which depends on your mobile phone provider.
Dave Pollard, again. He explains what blogger ( a perfect blog writer) really does . Not only writes and reads. There are different type of bloggers.
I would like to belive that most bloggers are looking to the blogsphere, as Pollard said as well, to provide us with information, feedback, knowledge, entertainment and inspiration. But, seems to me this days still most bloggers on the net are diary type bloggers.
Internet surfing as opportunity costs? Hell, yes. There's allways something better to do than surfing the net. Right? Yes and no.
Generally speaking , yes. There's so much thing you need and wish to do in your physical life. Interent surfing is part hobby and part usefull time in hunt for information, communication and KNOWLEDGE. But when allready surfing there seems to be , finally scientifically proven, a benefit. Surfing the web helps kids learn according to some people.
Paul Stacey wrote great article in which can be seen first-hand experience with the exitement of discovering RSS feeds and news agregators. It reminds me on my struggle with that little orange button ( XML written on it ). When I first time used news agregator it was really EUREKA. It helps a lot in today's blogosphere and as a tools for information junkies. And as Paul suggest, for e-learning designers of great help.
Paul's EUREKA effect:
That evening I was catching a Translink bus from downtown Vancouver out to White Rock where I live, and by chance had nothing to read on the hour long ride. In the absence of a book or a newspaper I turned on my laptop and opened up the Amphetadesk aggregator. Wow! For the next hour I lost myself in a smorgasbord of ideas, notes, and discoveries as I checked out the rich musings of the educational technology weblogs I had downloaded.
It's monday. It's time for a new Stephan Roach's essay abut global economy . Stephan Roach is chief economist of Morgan Stanley bank and he made in last few years so much good prediction ( dot.com bubble burst among few) . He's very critical at mainstream financial community although he's part of it but has great editorial freedom in his essays. Basically , he says that the global economy ( and financial markets ) needs painfull check with reality in years to come and those aggenda makers are trying to prolong unavoidable re-alligment . The bomb is ticking but nobody knows when it will be allowed to explode.
This weekend I read the book called "Economics" written by Stephan Slavin. Very user-friedly written book about basic economics. It allways amaze me this days how so many people forget about some basics in economics. Specially those in financial community.
They talk and talk and talk...it's so simple when you get it right. I am not economist but it is one of my interest. I wonder why I didn't study it . Basiclly, what I wanted to say regarding above mentioned book ? Under the chapter about rents, profits, and interest, there was short notice of interesting situation in ancient times ( Grecce). Mosaic laws in the book of Deuteronomy strictly forbid not only usury ( lending money at exorbitant interest rates ) but even taking of any interest.
In those days loans were made mainly for charitable purposes, so the prohibition mada a great deal of sense.
Interesting thoughts of great philosopher Aristotel about same issues:
" The most hated sort , and with greatest reason, is usury, which makes a gain out of money itself, and not from the natural object of it. For money was intented to be used in exchange, but not to increase at interest...Of all modes of getting weath this is the most unnatural. "
Aristotel was wise man but times have changed since then and in our todays's world the most natural modes of getting wealth is by rent, interest, profits.
With the rise of commerce, however, the basic purpose of most loans changed, and the prohibitions against taking interest were dropped. But what constitutes a " fair " rate of interest on consumer loans continues to be debated to this days.
Jeremy Irons was recently guest at Pula Movie Festival. I saw an interview with him and It was funny how he bashed modern movie production ( Hulk, Charlies Angels etc ). He made so much good points at today's world of instant movie production. Currently he's working on new movie called Mathilde.
Filming of the second part of Mathilde starts in Split, Croatia, from the beginning of November, and the word is that local hotels are offering all kinds of incentives to attract The Man In The Iron Mask with the golden wallet.
Carlos Moya entered final in Umag, ATP tour. Spanish tennis player rocks Umag Open Tour again. He already won three times on Croatia Open. Today is final and he's unstoppable. I think I will watch it later afternoon.
Crazy guy on the bike rides on. He's now somewhere in Slovakia. Thanks for putting me on email list.
Here's what he wrote latest about trip:
When I go to Nyí²¥gyhạ, I first stopped at McDs to eat. It is shameful to do that in France, but not in Hungary! Then I went hunting for a hotel. That turned out to be a challenge, even though I saw a sign for the hotel I am staying at near McDs. It said 800 M, but I wasn't sure in what direction. Eventually, after asking several people for help, I made it here.
This a Hotel Europa which is chain of good value hotels. This one will cost me around $30 with breakfast. When I got here, the lady at the reception desk was kind of sullen, but she did what was needed to be done. When I asked about internet access, she was confused, but when I said internet cafe, she pointed to a door in the lobby of the hotel!
Didn't completly look at the story but I heard what happened. Looks like to many trumphete at just right time for Mr.Bush. They killed Uday and Qusay. Hip, hip huray. All the troubles will be gone. You bet. But, hey they are not just killed those evil guys , their bodies are burned and not so recognisable. So It is up to some people to prove that they are right. Or...another spin. Some people who read much more about that story , find it hard to belive that they were such an easy target for US forces. Probably killed again.
Dave Pollard on what blogging will look like in 2010.
Bottom line according to Dave:
So, bottom line, blogging's going to get easier, more interesting, and more ubiquitous. But it will still be lonely, and hard to become popular. Some things never change.
I am hungry, but still I am playing with this great tool ( typepad). I should go and eat something. Scampi buzara would be now just fine. But, damn I can't have them right now. Arggh! I should look at my cookbooks.
There's a war going on, you know. The world finds out just recently about new bloody tactics of RIAA for hunting file sharers. Subpoenas is keyword. And law suit. But how subpoenas are looking in real life? How are they crafted with words, which explanation are there, which information exactly they contained ? Lawyers are familiar with this "beauty"
Here's great real life example of it. This is one of several hundred similar subpoenas issued by RIAA recently under the DMCA. Most have been filed in US District Court in the District of Columbia. Let the battle begin !
Do you want to see how forged intelligence documents are looking ? Take a look !
Here are reportedly portions of forged documents on supply of uranium materials by Niger to Iraq and were allegedly provided by Italian intelligence, SISMI, to British intelligence, MI6.
I am tired from blogging and not just because of blogging. Stop.
Today is the day for break with blogging. Well done !
DISCLAIMER
The information contained in this file is strictly for academic use alone. Zec ( me , author of this blog) will bear no responsibility for any use otherwise. It would be wise to note that the personnel who design and construct these devices are skilled physicists and are more knowledgeable in these matters than any layperson can ever hope to be... Should a layperson attempt to build a device such as this, chances are s/he would probably kill his/herself not by a nuclear detonation, but rather through radiation exposure. Here at zec.blogs.com ( me , author of this blog) I do not recommend using this file beyond the realm of casual or academic curiosity. And provocation. I am pacifist after all.
Look at the great article published in the Feature magazine by Mark Fraunfelder. He writes about moblogging. I am deeply enthusiastic for moblogging in years to come. Simple said, moblogging allows you to make blog far away from your desktop. It is not deskbound.
Moblogging isn't about surfing the net, writing links and comments onto you weblog, but it has A REAL WORLD ON THEIR RADAR. Street near by, people around you, events you are attending. Smart people will do instant reporting and experience, skillfull people will show possibble features, creative people will make opinion, context, experience, dicoveries.
Moblog and weblog, broadband connections, video streaming, audio- all that mixed together can be described as internet broadcasting . A brave new media world is coming, and new media heroes. Everything could be documented and good content (amateur microcontent) will show up . As I see it, two things are crucial: "the platform "( service providers with storage,hosting, softvear ), the terminals ( mobile phone, laptop, PDA, with enhanced features ).Unfortunatly, we haven't here in Croatia not even one weblog service provider, yet ( Iskrica isn't worth discussing at all )).
Don't know what will happened with moblog service. Probable not so soon and it wil come from mobile operators their service. Not the best options , in my view. Well, I would like to make some people around me more enthusiastic for weblogging, and moblogging. Then we could try to get things going ( Yes , with our private money )
Here are short comments and notes from Gen Kenai at 1st International Moblogging Conference in Tokyo. Many firsthand experiences from those early adopters. Great insight.
Joi Ito makes in his latest post a lot of points about digital identity and privacy issues. Very good start for very long discussions in years to come. He sees as a great problem centralised ID systems which could be linked and put in context from the institutions and people who can abouse it . The notion of "data protection" and "control" has not sense anymore.
He talks about some realities this days:
With ubiquitous computing, decentralize databases, information stored and disseminated everywhere, it is exceedingly important to know that
1) once information is created, it exists forever and can not be "erased",
2) data ming will become cheaper and easier,
3) transborder data flows will become seamless,
4) profiling will become a common way for businesses and governments to efficiently focus their attention on people and groups that meet certain criteria.
I changed design on this blog. Don't know is it good . Now, it's about grey-yellow style combination. I am not sure I like it but from the perspective of usability , it's much more eye-friendly look. I don't like how pictures appear on page. They are not in harmony with template. Maybe I should return white-orange-grey style combination ! We'll see ! Maybe I will.
Now, this is great. Saddam Hussein, a great dictator with mustache, writes blog. Obviously, someone writes a great satire and has a lot of fun.
And this Saddam , called " Catch me if you can " is angry at his collegue Bush cause Saddam ends up losing their job over this collossal intelligence fiasco? Not they- Bush and Blair.
Here's excerpt:
Now let me make sure I got this straight: In his State of the Union address last January, President George "The Great Satan" Bush declared that my peaceloving nation had attempted to buy uranium from Niger. He did this despite his own Central Infidel Agency saying that the information wasn't credible. Bush, however, made the statement because the British had uncovered the alleged evidence. But the British now say they couldn't verify the information, but they nonetheless believed it because the Americans did!!!
So who ends up losing their job over this collossal intelligence fiasco? ME!!!!!
Forget Bush and Blair. I feel like I'm matching wits wtih Larry, Moe, and Curly Joe.
:-)
In one of my previous posts I wrote that I met Mark Boyd. Crazy guy on a bike. He posted update on his website, which is actually travel-log. Nice to see all this pictures and comments he made during his tour with bicycle here in Croatia. On one of these could be found my face too. It was shot in front of the restaurant. Who knows where he's right now. Probably in Romania. Here's how he described our conversation:
In the last village before Durdevac, I stopped at a restaurant to ask if they would take Euros. I'd spent the last of my Kroners for a snack while riding on 28. They wouldn't, but, as I was getting ready to leave, a customer called out to me and asked about my tour. Then he invited me to sit, have a cup of coffee, and talk about internet related things. He runs two weblogs and we talked, for a long time, about the web, Linux, etc. It was enjoyable, but it also made me quite late getting into Durdevac
The sun came up at 6, shining directly into my room. Speaking of rooms, this one, at the hotel in Durdevac, is OK, and supper here last night was pretty good, but the mattress is like a box spring and breakfast was not great. Hotels are not cheap here, and they aren't very good either
As you can see on that picture on the sidebar I am not wearing tie. Yes, tie ! Why should I ?
Ties are close associated with today's business world. It's very imprortant dress code for many important people ( and unimportant too ). Well, of course some of you still prefer doing business without tie and more casually dressed.
I am using tie only for special events. But I am Croat. I am coming from Croatia. Croatia is the home of the tie, just as France
is the home of high fashion, Brazil of coffee, Switzerland of cheese and watches, Portugal of porto...
So how had the story about ties developed ? EWho is guilty for those grave looking businessmans with ties? We, croats.:-)
The story of the tie first appeared among Croats several hundred years ago. According to legend, girlfriends and wives, when seeing off their boyfriends and husbands to many imposed and detested wars, used to give them kerchiefs to remind them of their girlfriends and wives and to give them strength and courage in difficult moments while far from home.
The rest of the world got to know the tie in the first half of the 17th century, during the Thirty Years' War, in which many Croatian soldiers took part. In light, fast horses, Croats developed an unusual way of fighting. Heavily armed soldiers of the time had great difficulties in defending themselves against attacks by Croatian soldiers. All of Europe soon started to talk about the feats of the Croatian cavalry. The French Emperor himself wanted to include Croatian cavaliers in his ranks
Finally, I posted my picture on the sidebar. So, now the world can see who's behind this blog. In the course of my blogging on my original blog I didn't liked idea of posting my picture cause I thought It would be way too much ego.
By the way , thanks to my friend Mironitzky who shot that picture with his digi-cam.
I write under my nick name. Only my friends and those who are really interested in my blog knew my real identity and name.
That was my approach to blog identity. I am nobody improtant to preach on internet under my real name . In case I would blogging for some official and more purposefull reason I would use my real name.
I think that the best strategy for running blog would be: use short amount of time for writting, don't waste money on that, be polite to the people, have fun and don't take yourself too seriously.
I'll be off this weekend. So, maybe some light blogging or perhaps not a word. I was planning to go to Osijek, eastern part of Croatia watching street races with my friends./ acctually I don' like watching them but it's about meeting with friends and some family I have in Osijek - I graduated on Osijek Law University / But I changed my mind because, as I call it, "financial construction" does not allow me so much expenses. So, I'll be going with my girl to some night club in Pitomaca tonight.
And on Sunday I'll go visited my grandmom in hospital. I hope she's better right now .
Speaking about tonight , little reminder :-))) :
I had a great afternoon. Today I met Mark Boyd. He's the man called " crazy guy on the bike ". He teaches computer science at the university of North Carolina. We discuss so many things today I do not know where to start describing. He is on the trip with his bicycle troughout Europe and he's currently here in Croatia heading for Hungary.
Today he was here in my county. I've learn so much about him. He knows so much people I was enjoing listen to him. You know, he' s the guy who knows Richard Stallman, a father of open source movement. He even wrote the book called Emacs. Mark says that Stallman was mad as hell because they ( friend with whom he wrote)published the book and made money. Stallman is really extremist. :-))
O, Mark knows Linus Torwalds too. Great. I am not techno guy so this names wasn't familiar to me until year ago. We spoke a lot about United States goverment ( he is admire of Noal Chomsky ), about the state of the US media today ( Mark was in 80s managing public radio station in Kansas ), about Microsoft and Gates, universities in US-a, computer science, Linux, about Bush, about Croatia, his trips (every year he travels )
He made so many interesting points and quotes. Basically , he says Microsoft makes bad software and spoke about back door in Microsoft as a service for US goverment ( no, he's not conspiracy theorist )and thinks US goverment and Gates made a deal.
He is sad because of all that what is happening in USA. He look at me and said : " Have you heard about neocons ? " . I responeded:" I know much about them- those are folks behind idea of Pax Americana, new imperialistic policies that are trying to shape the world by American rules. " Yes, those bastards- Wolfowitz, Perl, Cheney, Laiden.
It was sooo sooo great speaking with him today that I am still excited !! We were drinking cappucino in front of restoran here in my village. He parked his bicycle in front of the restaurant. It's blue bicycle special made for long trips. And, he made big trip. All the way from the coast of Portugal to this point here in Croatia. And where he's heading ? First, Hungary, then Romania to Black See and then back via Hungary, Slovakia, Czech, Poland and Germany. And after two months he'll be back in USA. And I am waiting on those picture he made today. Yes, he will published it on his web site dedicated to his trip. I am looking for it.
And who knows where is Mark Boyd and his blue bicycle at this moment . Probably on Croatia-Hungary border. Crazy guy on the bike !
Comment system seems not working on this blog. I reported that to developers of TypePad and waiting to hear more from them. Don't know what's wrong with comments. Well, OK this tool is after all in beta testing so it is expected to have problems with some features with blog behind the hub. I hope comments will be repaired soon. Just little patient please. Oh, I will add finally my picture on the sidebar. Soon.
Howard Rheingold writes interesting piece about moblog and journalism in the future. How this new tools and technology can change journalism. He points out that no matter how good hardware and software we have ,it will be critical applying old fashioned standards to earn people's trust.
He predicted in his book " Smart Mobs -The next social revolution" that
that advances in technology would soon give everyone the tools they need to publish independent reports of news events as they are happening directly to the Web and other platforms.
But he says that people should keep in mind that amateur journalist and would-be journalist need keep this close to attention:
Journalism, if it is to deserve the name, is not about the quality of the camera, but about the journalist's intuition, integrity, courage, inquisitiveness, analytic and expressive capabilities, and above all, the trust the journalist has earned among readers. Good journalists discern compelling stories in events, cultivate and mobilize networks of sources, double check and triple check facts, develop reputations that can only be won by getting the story right week after week, year after yearImagine that Ernesto Hemingway, famouse writer and adventurist had at their hands some of this tool availaible today. Camera-phone , laptop, PDA, weblog, moblog , email. Wow ! It would be interesting to see what would be result of his personal blogging production. :-)) Ernesto was journalist as well. And he was hero. Old fashioned hero. Today we do not have many of those. Maybe one day when there will be millions with tools and technology that will enable distributed news and documentary production. Then we will have first heroes. O , what about Salam Pax, iraqi blogger ? Isn't he acctually first of that sort ? I think we in Croatia have great potential for moblogging cause we treat our mobile phones like fetish. ( good penetration of mobile phones into everyday life ) :-))
Things are getting complicated on US political scene. Now, it is obvious that Bush adminstration lied to their own people about immediat treat from Saddam Hussein. The world now knows that CIA-a warned president of United States he'll be using false information when he made case for " weapons of mass destruction ". So what ! Americans are in denial. Nobody will ask for Bush impeachment anyway. But one voice is now standing up. Howard Dean called for the immediate resignation.
And next week will be interesting too. A long-awaited final report on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will be released in the next two weeks, containing new information about U.S. government mistakes and Saudi financing of terrorists. Wil they make huge case against Saudi Arabia ? It's all now about credibility.
I am not good at playing chess. When I was younger I never liked acctualy that game. My uncle from Osijek plays great and he's the best chess player I ever personally met. I never won against him. Later on I understood what's the beauty:-) Strategy and tactic. It's great tool for training a perception. At least that 's my opinion. Here and there you get pissed off because you didn't saw obvious. Why I didn't see it coming? Why my "lady "needs to die ? Just one wrong move and you're gone.
I allways taught Kasparov or Fisher ( famous chess players ) have great sense for logic and are very intelligent. They are indeed. But according to Sheng He, Ph.D, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota, chess strategy may rely more heavily on spatial processing than on logic and computational skills.
And further conclusion goes:
Researchers at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis used functional magnetic resonance imaging to scan the brains of novice players during a match and found a flurry of activity in the parietal and occipital lobes, areas not associated with general intelligence.
Great article by Peter Howe who says
that wireless "is rapidly becoming a dotcom-style bubble waiting to burst, with service providers throwing far more money at expanding services than consumer demand will warrant any time soon."
Now, this sounds like New Deal. In Britain. The british goverment is planning huge roads scheme for England. That means a lot of jobs in building and construction. Is this huge sucking sound of deflation looming over western economies ( watch for house price plunge in the months and years to come) ? Is this backup plan for the world economy after more economic mess to come ?
This is an extraordinary plan which means huge goverment expenditure.
Shareholders of Microsoft ? Watch this ! No more stock options for employees but stock grant which means that the cost of shares will appear in the books. What it means for their profit ? You bet ! It will go down. What about their price-to-earnings ratio ? Should go down and valuations is one more time- fake. Dan Gilmore thinks it positive for Sillicon Valley.
I am seriously considering to abandon my croatian written blog and focus my writing on english written blog.( who knows, maybe it will be on TypePad platform) Is it smart move ? I feel I didn't get much feedback last year and half on my croatian blog. I didn't looking for attention but for collaboration, communication and learning. So, no one actually cares in Croatia ( constantly ignored even from tech journalist ) about possibilities that can bring blog community into everyday life. Not even my friends whom I explained what weblogs could be. And I tried. Year and half !! So, why not connect myself deeply with international bloggers then trying to do that here with croatian people. One reason is obvious: language. It's easier for me writing croatian blog. Now, my english isn't perfect but hence I can train it through english written blog.
Blogosphere, my old friends where ever you are... are you with me ?
This isn' me on that picture. I am almost 25 years old. ;-))