fillosophy

Topic Web2.0

So it wasn’t much of a philosophically deep discussion about the problems with world poverty, over-population, political whatever, etc… It was about Life Streaming.

Life Stream (n) : A site or conglomerate sites that a group or single person uses to display moments, events, happenings, conversations, sayings or quotes in an open format viewable by others. The medians can be video, photo, text, voice - or any other viewable, editable format available on the Web.

First (the fillosophy piece); having your life out there to share with others is the idea behind MySpace and army of other sites. Given the right content, and context, you can use your life stream to help others with certain things - like that really neat script you wrote for work to help you keep your applications easily accessible to improve your productivity… But if you don’t really have anything to share with others, try to find something - and outlook, opinion, cause… hell anything you value; and if nothing else, entertainment. In other words… try not to wste bandwidth with meaningless dribble… well, ALL the time, anyway.

Onto the fun stuff, what’s a good foundation for a life stream?

It’s super simple to get into too much, too fast, when looking into the Web 2.0 “hey world, here’s me” cycle. Some choices should be made, perhaps just based on preference, others based on… “peer pressure”. For me? First and foremost, you’ll want a stomping ground central, also-known-as a blog.

Wordpress or a Personal URL with an install of Wordpress?
This one’s all your choice, really. I went the Wordpress route first for fillsophy.net.. but found that the URL was open. Being a Web Developer… it was a pretty clear decision for me. I want more control over stuff (like tracking, and mail, and actually getting my hands into the data structure… so here we are). Once you have your own URL you can do things like what’s been done on n-re-k.com.

Registering a Domain Name is pretty simple and you can find name availability at a number of sites. I’d not recommend using places like Yahoo! to register your domain, rather find a web hosting services that’ll allow you to register a name and get some server (hard drive) space. Recommend IX Web hosting, APlus Hosting, GoDaddy’s ok - or you can use my shameless self promotion and ask me how much I charge for hosting through my company Aten Syndicate.

Twitter or Pownce?
If you haven’t heard of one, or haven’t heard of either - don’t sweat it. These sites are so amazingly straight and too the point, its almost insulting. What they do: Twitter and Pownce are geared for micro-blogging; short message/phrase statements about your day to day that you can share with friends and connections online in a easy to see time line format. They’re spidered by search engines like crazy, and often my twitters about my blogs show up on Google well before my actually site does… that’s the “roi” portion of why to get a microblog.

Twitter features: Mobile access from WAP browsers (m.twitter.com), SMS support (update your twitter from your mobile phone), IM support (update your twitter from AIM), fully customizable profile color schemes and background images, friend count, direct messages and badges for your blog(s) and other online stuff. There’s also a Facebook application you can embed on your page, as Twitter is an RSS feed-ready stream (outbound only).

Pownce features: Send files (10MB on the free account, 100MB on the pro account); Send messages to defined groups/the public time line/directly to a friend/or in reply to a specific post; a selection of templates for your profile’s look and feel, and it’s also RSS feed-ready (outbound only).

Tumblr!
I’m not sure if there are other ‘hosted’ tumblelogs out there, but I’ll assume that since this once came from recommendation Ms. Lisa Brewster of Sophistechate it’s not only the best one, its probably the most functional… Because this thing kicks serious Web 2.0 booty. I was going to save the aggregates stuff for the end, but this is new to me, and I’m fairly excited about it. Tumblr allows you to create an account (obviously) but point the name of your site to it… For example http://tumble.n-re-k.com - very handy for us Search Engine addicts.

Anyhow, Tumblelogs, from what I gather, is a series of everything web that you find interesting enough to note. Be it, a quote on a page, a URL, a video, a chat conversation, a picture, or some text. I mentioned aggregate… Certain sites such as Jaiku and Tumblr allow you to specify an RSS feed from another source, to stream it on your page at that site. So in the case of Tumblr; I can post something on Twitter, and have it appear (via RSS) on tumble.n-re-k.com. So now one update can go to more than one place, and low-and-behold; your neat fun-filled fact that you posted on twitter is now available… pretty much wherever you tell it to show up.

Flickr or Zoomr
WHAT?!? You don’t have a Flickr account?! Get one. Flickr and Zoomr are easy to use; integrated with RSS (so you can web 2.0 the crap out of your photos), and -my personal favorites- (though I’ve only used Flickr); the groups and comments allows you to check out and talk about other people’s photographic works, share stories about an event, add favorites and tons of other stuff.

YouTube
I’m not a vlogger (video blogger), so I can’t say much on behalf of the video blogosphere people, but I do know that people use it, and often. YouTube allows for RSS output as well, so that’s handy… very handy; and other than that? The comments are open for those of you in the know on other… better… vlogging sites.

Social Networks:
MySpace - ever heard of this one?

Facebook - Much cleaner than MySpace, with tons of add-on applications available for Twitter and Flickr, among others, Facebook is simply a better way to manage online communications with people you actually know. Some people tend to get narcissistic when it comes to “how many” eFriends someone has, or how emo they can be… Facebook? doesn’t really matter if its on that site; its weirdly easier to never see it.

LinkedIn - For you employed people, LinkedIn is a great place to keep track of co-workers and give each other pats on the back for doing awesome work.

Eventful - This isn’t the only organized-event calendar on the planet, but I happen to be partial to this one. Its quick, simple, easy to share events with people you know, or groups of people on the site, other events are easy to browse, its Web 2.0 friendly, and its where the BarcampSD people hang out… we’re cool like that.

Tools:
Check out the list of tools and other online applications below. I could go on and on about all the stuff that’s out there for your to share your life stream with your friends and relatives; but in the end, you just have to really look at the site, the features, how it interfaces, and then decide which one works better ffor you:

• Feedburner - Publicize via bookmarking
• Technorati - Track, publicize and organize blogs
• del.icio.us- Share your online favorites
• Digg - Share your online… favorites
• Stumbleupon -Also share your online favorites, but add them to your lifestream! (RSS out)

I’m leaving out a TON, trust me… But these are a good start.

enrique
fillosophy.net : admin
www.n-re-k.com

Topic 1: Privatization

The ideas behind Socialized/Universal Health Care – Depending on your view on America and how realistic your understanding of the economic, corporate and medical systems is, you’ll either hope for socialized health care, or not. The main argument against socialized health care is “big government”; wherein, if you’re against socialized structure at all, and wish to see no government intervention in anything, you’ll hope to god this will never happen, and therefore, should also desire privatized fire fighting services, police services, schooling, library, postal, and military services.

Given the history of this nation’s ability to trust privatized corporations with foundational objects of structured infrastructure and support, namely telecom and utilities; the obvious conclusion in privatizing any of these services leads to the biggest flaw in “free market” capitalism, greed. Greed drives corporations to abuse the American people, obviously. The most up-front example of this would be AT&T, they’re out pining for more control over communication, and the Internet. Being one of the foremost lobbyists in the fight for Net Neutrality, and now that land-lines are optional with Vonage, Skype, and cellular network reliability on the rise, they’re out seeking what every company with share holders is going to look for… more profit in more markets.

Another fantastic example is the privatization of local power utilities. San Diego, a few years go, went from having and operating SDG&E, to it being owned by the Sempra Energy company, and of course, we’ve seen price hikes and rate increases at a rate higher than we would have ever seen if SDG&E remained a controlled, non-corporate, entity. CEO’s need money, share holders need money, and more importantly, they can never have enough money, especially your money. That is the American way, the capitalist environment in which we live, and you can hope and pray to abandon this environment, or think you can change the system from within to stop these corporate moguls from taking advantage, but in the end, they’re not people, their legal entities. They don’t die, they can even be absorbed by other legal entities, and in they will out live you, out fight you, and out control you; those are the facts.

Privatized health care has yielded no exceptions. Companies with that much financial obligation require share holders, and must be public companies; corporations require actions to be taken to make profits – not only to retain share holders, but to fulfill their legal obligation to those share holders. How is it that anyone ever wanted the privatization of a system that is supposed to help our nation’s sick, when privatization and thus incorporation, is profit based, not performance based.

A smaller scale example would be; in the sense of a salesman. You take a salesman that gets paid a salary, regardless of sales and performance, he gets paid a paycheck, and if he does a good job during the year, he gets a bonus. Chances are, that salesman will perform better than a commission (profit based) salesman, in that a commission salesman will do whatever it takes to screw a customer to ensure maximized profits immediately, and potentially losing future referral from that customer, leaving the consumer holding the shit end of the deal, which the salaried salesman doesn’t feel the pressure to maximize immediate profits, and as a result, work with his clientele to ensure they’re get a great deal on his products, while making sure his employer is happy with his performance so he can get recognized for a  job well done when it comes time for a raise or bonus. How does this apply to the health care example? Easy; instant gratification and profits are a downfall in the consumer market, and right now, the Health Care system is a consumer market, where they’re selling us our health… Putting a price tag on a cancer patient, on a finger (ref: Sicko, Michael Moore), or child care, pediatrics, surgeries, prescriptions for our elderly.

You can argue that big government isn’t the way to go with Health Care, because it will conclude to higher taxes, and for those of you who are healthy, the American way is to say “I’m healthy, and don’t want to lose my paycheck to some free riding unemployed citizen”. This mentality is VERY common, and a very common argument amongst our ‘sensitive’, fellow American. I don’t like the fact that we’re a cultureless society with out honor or values, just as much as the next intelligent being. I also don’t appreciate the lack of drive and motivation amongst or citizens. But that still doesn’t give an excuse to sink to a level of anti-humanitarianism, wishing for a nation filled with an “every man for himself” barbarian-like outlook. Hell, I think even barbarians looked out for one another in their clan.

enrique
fillosophy.net : admin
www.n-re-k.com

Tonight I went to a bar in downtown, it was late, Wednesday, and the place was packed full of random people, as expected… after all, it is the Gaslamp, San Diego, the spring time… and I ended up having a conversation with the praised “Mystery”, author of “The Mystery Method”, recently featured on Conan O’Brien talking about his book and the art of getting gorgeous women into bed.

First let me tell you about Erik, stage named Mystery. He’s a tall lengthy liberated guy, black nail polished, pretty outrageously outfitted lengthy ‘bro’ with a knack for talk and definitely large following. He gets paid, apparently, to hold seminars for guys, wherein he teaches them (much like Hitch) how to pick up on women in a club/bar/wherever setting, and then they all go out and try their hand at simply getting laid, or hooking up… whatever.

Now, in the brief 30 minutes that I talked with this guy, I didn’t say too much… Something I learned a long time ago is to let the charismatic dig themselves into a trench so you can fill in the hole they’ve dug with a few small scoops. Oh! I’ve let on to my conclusion; I’m trying to remain unbiased, until I drop the hammer on this cat. Anyhow, he spoke for the majority, and of course the conversation was randomly interrupted every few minutes or so when he got distracted by a set of tits, or some random 2 through 9 scaled bar skeeze. During this time, he explained to me the meaning of life, which of course is “to procreate”, not in his quote, but in mine – I think he said “spread your seed” or “make babies” something to that shallow effect. It was pretty simple and quick to see that Erik appeals to the masses by over generalization, and associating to the common low-life. Before I start to gun this fool down; he made some interesting points about the primitive tell tale signs from a woman when you’re coming onto her… and he put it in terms of ape-like grooming; interesting analogy, but the hair flipping example was quite convincing… Not sure if I’d compare women to primates just yet, I mean, I’ve said my pieces about how shallow I think we’ve all become in our shop-til-you-drop society, but I’m not sure I’ve gone so far as to say we haven’t evolved from monkeys enough just yet to not act like them when we’re in a social environment.

So we were outside talking it up, and he tried to get me to go inside with him on the prowl, pick up a few “targets” and try my hand at his methods, I just looked at him. “You gotta be kidding”, I said.

“Oh c’mon man, this is why we’re all here. We go out to places like this to meet women, socialize, and put ourselves out there, using that inner pick up artist we all have inside of us…”, Erik replied.

I shifted myself from leaning against the railing with my left elbow, to my right, “Not all of us.”

“Why are you here?”, he looked perplexed, like it was the first time he ever came across a guy that was more complicated than a simple caveman out in the “field” looking to score a piece of ass from some shallow whore at a club on a weekday.

I leaned forward, “Simply to be here… home was boring”.

Now, I’m not sure exactly what this guy was thinking at this point. I mean, I wasn’t all that puzzled by why I would be at a bar in downtown, hell that’s where I go, I hang out from time to time at VIP spots, just to get a decent drink and talk it up with friends. Sue me. It’s like going to a coffee shop and talking philosophy with the people you’re with to have a good time. What fun is it going out with goals and agendas? That’s what work is for. So off he scampered, and he got about 10 feet into the door when he stopped at these two skirts, started to strike up some horrible conversation. “What nationality are you?” I looked at my friend and just laughed. Sorry, but unless you’re from San Diego, you might not get it. San Diego is the Mecca for all those “not from here”, and that’s the lowest level conversation starter you can pick. Maybe that was the idea, perhaps he so coy that he doesn’t need to try anymore, sure. It gets better.

So he comes back, 15… maybe 20 minutes later. I’m still standing outside, perched against the railing, leaning on my left elbow. I did what I normally do to people that lose my interest, I ignored him. For those of you that are reading this that have had the pleasure of losing my interest, you know exactly how that works. After a few minutes, I look over at his conversation with a girl from Guam, I know this because he used the same line on her as he did the other dame. And he brushes her off, to lean into conversation to me about the three stages of a pick-up.

I called bullshit in my head the second I heard him say it; but then again, the caliber of women he’s using his shit against aren’t exactly college level graduates, and if they are, they’re simply too stupid to realize what’s going on, and even more so, aren’t worth much if they fall for it. Maybe I’m too picky, perhaps my superiority complex is a little over the top, and then he asked me, pointing to my friend who was with me, “How long you two been hanging out?”

I look at my buddy, “Ten years?”

My friend replies to him, “Ten, maybe eleven years.”

“So is he your wing man? You guys go out and score often?” Erik pried.

My friend just looked at him and said, “No. We get women by talking to them like people”.

I’m not even sure the guy stuck around long enough to hear the entire sentence, but Erik’s friend (we’ll just call him Whoeverthefuck) caught it, and he was fucking boggled. “So… which one of you guys usually goes in for the kill?”

You gotta be fucking kidding me. Thank god I wasn’t in the mood to talk to this freak, or I would have had a field day, so my friend replied, “Neither of us, man, we just dominate.”

“Oh really?”, Whoeverthefuck said.

I just laughed and turned my back to the guy. My friend says, “Yep!”

Anyhow, a little side story narrative of my evening with Erik Von Markovik, the author of “The Mystery Method”. Just by meeting this guy, I’d say, if you’re into shallow whores without the ability to formulate their own opinions; who are codependent; and who are grotesquely predictable to the point of being compared to with apes… Get the book, its available on Amazon. I won’t be buying it, I believe in treating people like people with respect until proven worthy of otherwise; and I require substance in the relationships I build with others, not some formulated systematic three step process that’ll allow me to go plug holes in drunk chicks all night with my man-hammer.

Cheers, “Mystery”. You got my vote for one of the smartest idiots I’ve ever met. Congratulations on your successes.

enrique
fillosophy.net : admin
www.n-re-k.com