thoughts

Blogs vs. good memory

Once in a while I come across someone who says that blogging (or any other form of diary) is useless to him/her because of his/hers good memory. This argument sounds somewhat funny to me. You see, I thought that my memory was good too. I could remember all important things in my life and trace them back to, well, as far as I could remember.

That was before I started to blog. Now I have close to 3,000 posts that constantly remind me how bad my memory is and how easy it is to forget those little precious moments in life.

I still try to remember as much as I can. But I don’t rely on my memory as much as I used to, because it was proven to be rather faulty. Instead I blog about things that are important to me, or things that can remind me of important things that I want to remember. So far it works very good.

Also, since I mentioned it – indirect blogging works for me very well too. There are some things that I don’t want the public to know, but that I don’t want to forget either. I tried using private posts for these, but it just wasn’t fun. So, instead, I switched to indirect blogging. That is I write about private and secret things in public, but I do so in such a way that only I can figure out the second meaning. (Hint: if you come across a post that makes no sense at all, maybe it’s just one of those indirect posts that I wrote for myself.)

On traditions

I was listening to the radio in the car today and there was this piece about China and its traditions and how people are afraid that traditions are being forgotten. On the average day I would just call it a bull and switched it off. But somehow they managed to catch my attention.

There were a few interviews with diffirent kinds of people about this issue. Old people were saying that they were worried that the younger generations don’t care anymore about the history and customs. Young people interviewed were saying that they indeed didn’t care much and that Western lifestyle and trends suit their interests better. And, of course, there were a few smart people who said that this all is a natural process and that, as always, the combination of old and new is waiting for us in the future. Like in all times.

These, lastly interviewed, people were saying something that is very close to watch I believe. I respect the traditions and the ways of the old. But I just hate it when people try to forcefully push the old ways into the future.

Continue reading On traditions

iPod problem. Logitech solution.

I love coincedences. It was just a couple of days ago that I wrote how much I hate the headphone wires that come with iPod. Today I am looking through the list of new items at Think Geek, and guess what I see –

Logitech Wireless iPod Headphones

Probably there are other options available on the market too…

iPod did some good too

I am trying my best to be objective and open minded. I am not always good at it, but at least I’m trying. The other day I wrote a somewhat negative post about iPod. Ok, and a few negative comments too.

Because I try to stay open minded and because I don’t want to become an always complaining gramp, I try to find positive sides too. I thought about the iPod issue a bit and I think that obviously there is a good thing about it too. And not just some theoretical crapy good thing that is good for some abstract iPod user, but a really good thing for me and you.

iPod hype has increased the popularity of podcasting.

What good is in podcasting? Well, I happen to think that podcasting is a good idea by itself. It is one of those applications that make Internet more popular with the masses. And that’s a good thing. Podcasting, in turn, increased the popularity and common knowledge of such modern technologies as feeding (RSS and Atom) and audio compression (mp3 and ogg). That’s another good thing.

So, with iPod, as with any other thing there is good stuff and there is bad stuff. I found both. Now is your turn.

Maybe aliens aren’t that bad afterall

I’ve just realized that neither Olga, nor I did anything to protect Maxim from aliens. Nothing. Nada. None. Some parents that I consider a good example, use tin foil all over the place.

I put tin foil in Letaâ€™s windows when she turned four months old to keep the aliens out. Something kept waking her up every two hours and I figured it was either the ambient light or the aliens, and I knew that tin foil would take care of both. During the winter it also kept out the snow elves so I never took it down.

Thinking about why we didn’t protect Maxim from aliens, I came to the conclusion that neither Olga, nor I are paranoid enough. While there is plenty of evidence that aliens are evil, I still have my doubts.

Just maybe aliens are good. And just maybe they understand the tough job of parenting. And just maybe they use their rays on children’s brains to modify their behavioral patterns. And just maybe protecting kids from those rays might make the parenting job a bit harder.

We made the thirty second journey through the parking lot to the store without any birds entering her radar and falling thirty feet to their death. But the moment we set foot in the store her body went limp with anger and like a fresh fish just pulled out of a lake she almost slipped her way out of the stroller. I tried holding her but she turned herself upside down and I almost dropped her on her head. At one point I was holding her body sideways, her armpits in my left hand, her feet in my right hand, and she was trying so violently to free herself that I looked like I was being electrocuted.

It’s been eight and the half month of Maxim’s alien unprotected life. I don’t think that he went unnoticed in their council. So they have probably affected his brains with their rays. But nothing bad came out of it yet. So I’m willing to take my chances.