Monthly Archives: January 2009

Hmm… How Strange. And NOT!

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Now here is something you probably didn’t hear much about over the weekend.

Looks like the Obama administration doesn’t think warrant less wiretaps on U.S. citizens is such a bad thing after all. Could it be that there really are terrorists in the U.S.? Am I now going to have to worry about the NSA invading my transmissions to and from my homeland?

In all seriousness, it seems to me that reality is setting in for the new administration. I wonder how long it will be before it sets in for the folks who voted him in.

Random Thoughts of A Harlemite On Social Networking

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I’ve been pondering the impact of social networking, Facebook and Twitter especially. As a member of both virtual communities, I can’t help but notice some things that strike me as strange.

Maybe I’m wrong, but there seem to be some whose main goal is to accumulate the largest amount of “Friends” as possible, regardless if those folks are actually friends, because in some circles this gives them some sort of cool points. Granted, the creators of both social networks came up with the term “Friend”, as deceptive as that can be, so the fault is theirs if anyone’s, but I think you know where I’m going. However, I can’t help but wonder what the psychological nuggets are beneath the surface of it all.

I’ve come across folks with over 1000 “Friends” on their Facebook page. 1000! That to me is rather mind-blowing. Outside of professional reasons — and even that to a point! — how on EARTH does one keep up with them?!? I’m approaching 200 “Friends” now, and I force myself to do a bit of spring cleaning now and again just to see if it’s necessary to remain someone’s “friend”. And let me tell you, I also take the time to ask myself if I’m wasting THEIR time asking for friendship (which I try and do only if I have good reason).

Don’t get me wrong here folks, I really enjoy both Facebook and Twitter (more than most!!!), and odds are I promote them both more than most, but for professional reasons. I also know there are some folks out there who simply have the gift of befriending folks — we called them “popular” in high school — and that’s fine too. My pondering is about the ones who are trying to make up for not being one of popular folks back in high school. Then things start getting a bit strange.

Just a random thought. :)

Random Thoughts of A Harlemite

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It’s ironic that when we are told we are too young to understand something we don’t like being told that, but we normally are; and when we are told we are too young and agree and understand why it was said, we’re likely more mature than we know.

The desire to always be right is rich with self-revelation, but few with such a desire are courageous enough to examine what is revealed.

[For high-schoolers] The nerd in your class today is likely to be the CEO of your company tomorrow.

I know of no one who while on their deathbed is quoted as saying, “I am satisfied to have been such a good atheist.”

A sincere “I don’t know” is an answer that all honest people can’t help but respect because they have said those same word and know they will likely use them again.

Facebook Status Murder

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Yep. It’s come to this. Given the human condition, it was sort of inevitable. As with most new things, tech or not, it’s only a matter of time before someone ruins it by using it in a bad way.

Tragically, it seems a 41 year-old English man has proven himself unstable by stabbing to death his estranged 26 year-old wife. Why? Because she changed her Facebook status from married to single.

It goes without saying that this won’t be the last we hear of Facebook being involved in some sort of tragedy. It’s too big not to be. Nevertheless, it’s rather sad that folks are going to have to apply yet another layer of caution to it all. Females especially will need to be more careful. Some are finding in ways not as harsh, but harsh nonetheless, that what you post on Facebook will likely catch up with you, especially embarrassing photos. I think it’s useful for everyone to try and remember that Facebook is part of the internet which is global. One’s particular cultural proclivities don’t necessarily translate well internationally. That’s sort of commons sense. But then again, Voltaire had a point when he said “common sense is not so common”.

Enough of my rambling for now.

As Fast As LTE

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As far as internet connectivity goes, living in Sweden has always been pretty much unbeatable. I’ve had more than a few folks visit my job from the U.S. who were blown away by the sort of connectivity we’re offered to our homes. For example, I have a subscription for broadband with a downloading connection rate of up to 24Mbps and uploading up to 1Mbps depending on traffic volume (see insert below for speed at the time of this post) for about $40 per month.

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The connection uses the other two wires in my phone jack that aren’t needed for regular tip & ring phone service. (more than a few folks use their phone jacks as a method of broadband penetration into their homes. It’s terribly convenient.) This is pretty much perfect for my wife and I because neither of us are huge uploaders.

Then, there’s a particular Norwegian I know who has a 100Mbps both ways going in to his apartment. Granted, his job pays for it, but the fact that anyone can have this service at a reasonable cost is more than impressive, if you ask me.

Now it seems that Sweden is going to offer us even more, and wirelessly at that! Apparently, the good folks at TeliaSonera and Ericsson (not to be confused with Sony Ericsson, which is a separate part of Ericsson as a whole) are planning on going live with Ericsson’s Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G network in 2010. This will allegedly offer even 10x more speed. What am I going to do with the ability to go 10x faster? I’m not really sure yet, but I do plan on letting you know in the future. ;)

Hat-tip to Elvis for this one.