Cathedrals, heart of souls

 It was the time for cathedrals. A general emulation to who will build the most beautiful ones and the most wealthy. It was as the entire world, shaking its old vetusty, was spreading new white shield, coat of churches. Wherever one raises from the ground, it underlines new born for the city. It’s a kind of chest of souls, it borns from nature surrounding, it blinks its colors, shapes, ressources, its force too. Whenever it cames, from Italy to Spain, by France and Germany, they force respect and humility. A heart for being listened, understood, having an affectation and empathy from, with serenity and secret. The other way of social relation, invisible, from the mind and the soul.

Thoughout trippers and tales, studies and reports, we have good learnings about what cathedrals can bring to humanity. By experience too…Who ever didn’t feel anything great, remarkable, something inexpressible, in such places…with silence and majesty. White stones, huge roofs, big arches…Everything brings us to loneliness, but we’re not. These invisible dooms, meets, links with past and future, spiritual times and concentration. It’s therefore maybe the mirror of such noisy time, nowadays, the other face, essential for our stability.

Whatever our stare of this magnificent masterpieces, one can come to breath, think, pray, speak, listen, wherever they stand up, means something to us, and no need a 2.0 verse (!) to understand the role in our social stability and future quality of exchanges. This means today something worthy to me, and better today than yesterday. More and more. Think about these invisible links in such places, like lost spirits in new quest for future, sense and history.

They see centuries pass by. Men and humanity, revolutions. But they stay up, standing and there. Forever

 Dare to come in.

 

Web 2.0 is a kind of seventh wave

In 1989, I was aware about the last issue of Sting’s art, because he had for a long time haunted my days and nights, when he was the leading icon of the Police, my favourite band for years. Several times, I saw myself playing with him, in an invisible scene, maybe in some kind of twilight zone…

For his first solo LP, he succeed to join with several tough guys of Jazz, who didn’t need any time to be presented, by the fact that they all were stars in theirs own art. It was a real impression of breaking all he built, and having some courage to start again, as probably the junior, in the middle of such stars. It was what he called “the blue turtles”, which gave him trouble with his secret garden, and made it possible. In this LP, all songs were obviously great (according to my own opinion, I agree…), and there was one which was called “love is the seventh wave”. A former tribute to love, obviously…

Waves are such amazing things ; electronic waves, yes indeed, but sea waves  more so. And there is a legend in the surfing fields, which is all about that the seventh wave is always the strongest…pushing our limits and giving new kind of hope. Prisoners who would have in history, to escape from an island and use the sea, know it. They sometimes have to wait the seventh wave to push them out of the limits of wave return, making them step beyond. 

Maybe web2.0 and all environment surrounding is similar ; before we had a magnificent tool, but only tool, professional one, with search, mining information and digging the truth, email exchanges and so long. But nothing to be really such foolish about and many people have at this time, stare away their attention elsewhere, finding nothing else than sometimes, boring situations.

Then web2.0, a generic name for tech and social environment, entered the dance, as a kick in our uses, as if an invisible wave, more powerful, more clever, more lighted stuff, to bring us new strength and rearing the limits. People just had to live with, learn, and look around, to see others, in a Darwin reflex, adapt itself to new uses and states. First surprised, then breathless. Maybe this wave was unbelievable, maybe there was no captain to see it explode. Anyway, it’s there, part of new digital lives, digital uses. And brings us new digital power, we can’t see limits yet (and that’s better so…). See how it evolves each day, on such collaborative work and open source effects, see the extraordinary power and how it spreads its wings on people doom. Nothing will ever be the same, by the fact that we can’t remember how it was before, blinded by progress sparkles.

This wave became these waves. Managed by several accidents of fortune and destiny, opportunities for speaks, talks and wuthering winds, brought by different aknowledgements, it became a daily sport, without any effort, a kind of social behavior, meeting opportunities, crossroads for opinions and affordable links. Two ways, interactive, exploding the limits, in a new big bang, digital revolution, multiorigin breakdown, giving devices and power from fewer people to powerful corps. No ones remembers how it was, and even if so,  found it so far from nowadays skills. Like sea world isn’t it ? Don’t you feel the power of the seventh digital wave, web 2.0 one ? This one, which bring us far, far from any kind of possible return…

Maybe next generations will live in oceans (don’t forget our desperate doom with mother nature and the warmer situation which drives ice to vanish…), but maybe there will be an aim too : find sea waves and merge them with electronic ones, in a same trance, a social vibration…

Is Social Networking Green ?

 We’re now all in, in green matters and problems, definitely in some twirling movement, in hope of savings energies, reduice consuming and waste, giving home to our trash basket (!), and so long. There’s now a lot of new think tank, from little tries to huge organizations (here is some of them), and we can (sure?) sleep more quietly.

In the meantime, come and go movement of information, goes faster, each day we are front of new exchanges, e-mail reading and throwing (!), new APIs, where people search for the best award to come (and particularly ventures ones… ) ; we try to cope with the “wave” of post, lines, pictures, video and so long representations of social activity. And we spend so much time, that we can, for a while, consider that there’s probably something which is bad for sustainable development. Probably…

Why ? How ?

Think about so huge computing frames needed to supply such apps, think about energy spendings all time, all around the world (included yours…!), wires, waves, broadcasts and web infrastructures, think about so huge events like, TED, LeWeb3, SWSX, Plugg and so may others, where many people from other side of the planet come to speak, hear and share…with planes, trafic, polluting the earth (tip: I know that airflights pollution provides “only” 4% of carbon production, but anyway, evil is done…). With these such early new behaviors in front of information, knowledge and share, so much computing time, so much computers new bought (most of them laptops, with high needs of energy, but also, green batteries now…), we have to manage in a regular and responsability swear. Maybe another “driving card”, provided by good sense and always reminded ; I will try to purpose some items in many (to complete, you have to !) :

• on energy savings, probably trying to use devices, never turning them off, prefering the sleep mode, and let it sometimes in rest, avoiding to much warm situations ; don’t use too much devices for the same stuff, prefering multi frame work, device converge comes with fast steps now…(you’ll find out there too some excellent and more complete topics: WattWatt, LowerFootPrint for example)
• print ? what for ? there has been so many trees driven to “death” to make books…digital reading is not so far hard now (and reactive, interactive)
• as you sort wastes in your trash, be careful about :
  • what you send to who, avoiding to much pollution ; everyone knows how about it’s easy to send, forward, copy…to many people who don’t care about the subject, prefering the quietest position in sending message to all ; and message tools now are really talented to do it…
  • what you like to say, how you say it and maybe, the effects of your initial text is sometimes more polluting than useful
  • being short, kind and friendly way ; battle and affront situations make rising the temperature, and getting nervous. Bad for your health, you know…
  • what you keep in any further useful, with a hopeful and maybe feeling…in your memory, folders, messaging…
  • what you don’t keep (!), driving you to make some another research, spending time and energy again
• think about doing nothing : not give up but doing anything else, which change your ideas, make some progress about thoughts, talks and what you heared ; you became more efficient next time
• post some picture about nature, elements, animals : there’s so many of them who are going to vanish, in the next few years…
• having some plants with you can speak with (I know some of you think “he must have turned nut…” ; kind guy…) ; not at all. Speak in front and bout nature is revealing it ; making it real and real. As you may never forget any piece of existence…and for last full of doubt, see here…

Well I won’t in any case, too complete scheduled, but gave some ideas, some few elements of thinking. Social networking must be an advance on all fronts, but not anything else but IT progress, wasting others opportunities (and there’s a lot of human ones). There’s probably some simple acts to think about, to make it concrete.

Maybe this post is useless ; maybe not. I had fun about writing it, maybe you will in reading…You tell me.

And don’t forget to water the plant behind you.

And I saw another social activism

It’s while and coincidential time when I’ve spent few days in Morocco with my wife, I’ve been indeep facing another social activism. Concrete and alive, I was exposed to an amazing human “machine”, and I was each time wondering if I didn’t fell into a kind of Matrix like, or the other side of social web networks. Why ?

 

Marrakech place, for I’ve been there several times, adding others towns in Morocco, is a place where everything is possible ; you can find and do anything till your imagination can run. How ? by an invisible network, which starts with a need (but sometimes no need for a need  !), and drives you to solution, in a fraction of time. At any time of the day or the night. Ask for anything, someone, by the magic of some fees, can do it for you. With the whole service and beyond, kindness and love of being an important link to your desire. Just like if you ask a question on twitter, you sometimes don’t know how and when the answer arrives, but it does. A weird live human wire, which never stops, for a strange all long dance, movement, thousands of asks and bids, thousands of digital human bits, the biggest calculator-computing ever faced. I don’t have any pretention about it’s all exclusive in the world, but it is real and exists. 

In Marrakech, all is simplified field, to forget you spend money, how you spend your time, and how you arrive to any result. Just goal, fun and customer satisfaction. Some, in several “evolved” countries may learn about that. The way how problems mute to solutions, in a few seconds and without any particularly difficulties, is amazing. An invisible perfectly staffed and organized, always there, straight to any desire, to make your life more simple and enjoyable. No time for trouble or worry, just pleasure. Sheer emotions, just perfumes, smells, noises and tastes. Web without spiders, with oriental angels who are working for you, the “choukran” network…

I love Morroco, I’ve been there more than 25 times, for work, pleasure and so long. It’s maybe the greatest mutation ever met in last years, on how modernization, culture spreading, IT evolvement ; unfortunately, crowd rest on diet, food and suppliances missing ; fracture between heath and poverty rises. And it should not, because of currency bring–in, if there was some kind of fair sharing ; several years with education changes and employment improvement, may change the doom, if people gives a hand for.

Social Networks have some Chaos Theory’s basements: demonstration

Some years ago, I read a book from James Gleick, called “Chaos Theory” about title subject ; stunning piece, masterpiece, including stories and scientific demos about extraordinary surveys ; something that not let you in flat state, but make you incredibly introspective mind. Maybe, nothing more disruptive since Darwin’s evolution theory.

For resume, Chaos Theory send us to a field of unpredictable stuffs, but organized in a kind of “disruptive ways”, we find such in nature and so ordinary things, like snow, atoms, fluid flows, wind blows, tree leaves, weathers forecasts, and so long…

Lots of topics, you can find, here about Mandelbrot’s fractals amazing pictures, results of mathematics demos, some endless representations which evolves with a ordered, but non predictable way…

Therefore, famous pict about Lorenz’s butterfly, result of weather behavior studies for years, and see how in a kind of organized movement, things never happen twice at the same place…

Therefore, Lorenz demonstrated with weather forecasts work, that a butterfly fly on one  side of the planet, may drive to a twirl at the other side…not convinced ; I admit, hard to swallow

 

 

Here takes place our daily uses of  social exchanges, and by kind theorems, I found some killing issues within Chaos reasons. We use to talk, chat, demonstrate, blog, twit and so long. Like searchers, we launch ideas around the world but sometimes never see consequences of advices, comments ; like these tracks, parallels ways, with no echo, result, answer…Our ideas may have an affordable track, but may never see the light…We can have in parallel stories, same advices, inputs, but they may never meet and converge, if not in the same place at the same time. And it’s probably because of this theory that, a twit, blog short, or novel, can provide in one mind, sometimes far away from initial think, a strong reaction, change a life, drive people to a crime, war, destruction…and of course, beauty, passion, religion involvement or some voluntary engagement.

Everybody has one day changed something in its behaviors and uses ; by meeting, voluntary awareness, resistance mind, a read. For example, I was changed in the reading of Paulo Coehlo’s books ; I was changed in my learning of social tools too. And I will probably change a thousand times until I die ; can we consider so far that it’s a consequence of Darwin’s unavoidable scriptings, or is it “people who change people” ?  Kind of  Chaos effects ?

I’m a fan of Chaos Theory, science and mathematics ; and I’m a fan of social networking. Drifting and building bridges between citizens, reduce all fractures, support any initiative open mind, that’s probably what save us every day, in this disruptive and invisible relation flow. And this may change your point of view, on how, sometimes, some of your ideas, posts or comments, can be used, in bad or good further summits, in other places and times…

Next time, I would certainly talk about Synchronicity effect, another strange topic in Jung’s psychoanalytic.

 

Is TV a Social Media ?

I must admit at first, the answer would not going out from my mouth such easily…But, it’s an enough attracting field to mind some time about it. 

Considering TV phases evolutions (here, a past post), we see an amazing window of the world, of our world, and how it evolves. But causes produce effects. Effects on TV, are always user’s generated, some by fashion snifs, some by trend setters, some by random (yes sometimes…), and even by professionnals (of course !), but always in the tail of something much deeper : search of audience. Great. But which audience ? Any good head of programs, can see that there’s a lot of different audiences, just like you can find all kind of crackers on any store ! Let’s see what we can stare today about different roles of modern TV :

 

- entertainment : yes, we do ; everybody does, with its own profile, themes, and daily shows. Can we act on TV ? polling, trying to be live in a show, complaining…a kind of action, which is nothing else that guided by fear of several majors networks to lose their audiences, obliged them in a shape of “customer/user” relationship,  which is not really a big deal so far.

- information : yes, too ; what kind ? too much information, drive information to be a show, more than delivering news to/from the world ; is CNN right now an information channel, or delivering fiction ? There must be a doubt about that sometimes…

- learning : yes, but there is some great differences in several countries ; I guess this is one of the most important play of TV in the next future years, to make things right by satellite anywhere, adding deserted zones, wireless…But so far, it’s more faster on the web now, and more pleasant to do. And trusty, too.  

- useless time : it exists when we use to stay and don’t come to the right decision : switch off. And this time of brain is particularly wealthy for ads performers ; no injure, no violence, “medium is message” said Mc Luhan years ago ; we just mind that it was on TV, but what…still the question. But brain is available, not in social connection, in a vegetable one

- sex : yes, of course, more and more, everywhere, (in soap and ads…) ; mirror of our weird times, where no one can meet anymore but by the web, wire connected, digital profiles, sometimes unreal in SL ; so what, is this called social so far ?

So, in one word if I can, TV can broadcast all that makes a social trusty tool, but…TV gives, but doesn’t receive from anyone. You can have in one place full of interesting things, but never have to react, not even have the ability to. You can amuse, learn, lose your time (!). But so far, not the rich way, you can on social web, where all can be shared and exchanged in one minute, for free, with thanks, congrats and kindness…with the best you can find, when you have some skills to stare and listen… 

 

Social media : the next kick in the ass in SEO fields ?

We can’t still figure out how our uses has changed. Even our old inhabits must get new skin, in daily reflexes. For long times, Search engines and portals gave the tune, and made the market’s raise. And always driven to never stop evolution, Google and friends, had to show the way, and give more and more. They succeed, in a single concept, copied next by most competitors. “Mess with best, and die with the rest” could be otherwise the timeline and the basements of such corps. As in lots of others fields of industry, many things have changed because of…people…customers…you…us.

Yesterday’s rules won’t ever pass the test, because people, by power of technologies revolution, has so many ways to be more clever, in real time and always connected mind. And give the answer to many problems of brands, with interesting ways : passionned, motivated (often more than own employees), saving time more than ever, and the worst/best : being able to do it again. You found out what the message is, on UGC basements, open source advices, comments, and so long.

 

 

Technology makes possible to find thousands of results, by SEO, in one second. Thousands, yes, the only one that we want, maybe no ; thousands of results yes, most of them noisy results ! Fortunately, there’s some brain inside, and these techs are really evolved indeed. But social media, computing, sharing, etc, is more targeted ; more friendly ; more efficient. Try it, ask a question on apps such twitters, facebook and so long and get the answer…in a few seconds ! stars and experts are online 24/7, to give you the best answer, for free ! And even if you look for more, some others buddies are going to start chatting, and raise the level of the topic and give you, more and more. Flowers of wiki, with the user’s code, aways listening, then purposing, sharing, in a circle of friends, always devoted to your personal desires and searches. Let me know if, for a while, it looks like better than bots, isn’t it…?

 

I’m often questionning myself about spending time on such lines and how many times will it go on, but imagine, in the “old ways”, how it would have been less fun, without it. It makes a part of my life ; personal, professionnal, and cross over frontiers and differences. I think about this, as the missing link, the digital link in our lives, invisible but always ready to help us, in any case ; and I hope it will go on, bigger and warmer than ever.

 

Brotherhood and Friendship : vanished concept ?

I had a dream : people not go on losing its head in hunting fake things, in benefit of real things. I always tried to be so right and clean in my relationship, protect my family and spread pleasure and listen ability to others. But I must be right in front of the wall : this is more and more rare stuff…Because of fashion, competitivity, race for modern champions, we passby the pure and essential pearl : a short talk, a short moment of being in common, with no longer nothing to prove to anyone else. Just for fun. Just for pleasure. just for nothing !

I found this in some web communities, which can relate topics of simple things, feelings and so long, without any dues. Debt, paiment, dues, jealousy…vanished words. Useless. Useless if you want to. This is one’s decision, and this is the magic on the web, share, take pleasure, be useless, well such great moments !

We have to protect and keep in some way, a child’s mind, a child’s eye to make things go on. To make things simple and friendful. I’ll be a good partner for anyone has its goal, because I feel it so important to me, and a royal aim to serve the technology we received. Technology which could make it possible, but not to slave us. Human power not for power, but for human first, and share with most of us, around the world. Even those who don’t have anything can, often those who feel it the best way…

Tell me about this useless paper ?

Television : awakening of senses ?

Electricity deleted distances. If forecasts about TV world, many years ago seemed to be scifi ideas, they were still miles away from today’s revolution. Since first black&white issues, TV appeared like the soul’s mirror. Sometimes damn stuff, sometimes stunning. But always fascinating.

People just waited for centuries, without conscience about it, this techno’s object, like a child, scared to go further. Since first representation in antic Rome ages, where we could see various scenes, people used to like live, concrete, realtime, sometimes finding happiness in other’s misery…We learned to be an invisible actor. Passive, but excited by.

Then times has gone. Driven by fools, the screen fever (and I might say screenS, in a exponential devices supply today), started an endless run toward what became an amazing window of the world, quiet in our sofas, sweeping distances and differences. But sometimes reshapping truth and information (each revolution has its haunted face…). Television shows us the best and…the worst. We have always to make sure we control what we do, be sure we know where is the “off” button. And consider this is a stunning evolution we can use to, for knowledge enforcement, information sharing, and entertainment. and control what we reserve to our children, being happy to do it, but in a safe way. It’s obviously a one-way communication field (all tries about feedback from viewers, in an interesting way, sustainable and safe business model has failed), which is a great advance in everywhere learning opportunity. Let’s awake these senses, let’s believe there’s a great interest in developping quality contents, and broadcast it by satellite, giving back smiles and hope to some who don’t have no more.

Television has an advance step on Web : controlling contents, and it’s probably one thing which is the most important. Not give children anything to see, like doubtful websites we can find, and keeping the target on what we search : senses, sense of having good time on a great event, and good sense to switch off light, when there’s no interest anymore…

And you, whose sense makes you react ?

 

Low price and second hand : the age of reason ?

It’s been a huge move in the world (at probably different times), but it’s an endless trend : households choices about their daily shopping bag is about to change. Because no one has found yet (since Nicolas Flamel’s theories), the way to change lead to gold ; some try (professionnels fakers !), others find (end of gold mining ages…), but nobody in the bulk does. And because now, high quality doesn’t necessary mean expensive.

 

It’s been long time since retail beginning, and stability arrives. But now, retail world has found some business equity model, which can give back profits to consumer. Can, but no obliged to…and that’s the problem. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going…and hard times doesn’t simplify decision after all. Retail must make choice between the short term (employment, profit warning and sometimes, investment), and give back the fruits to consumer. Then “low prices” trend entered the dance, and guided retail to economics reality of today’s consumer choices. And consumer like it ! Why ?

Because it sounds equity and justice, to be re-considered, and not to be taken for a nut, playing with money as we can find it on trees…And I guess corps who made that choice are going to live in a long trail profit age, because they are early betters on something which gives sense, in long term and trust relationship. Started by expensive things (travels, flies…), it’s been expended to simple daily goods, with so few margin. And people like it more ! because it’s no longer use, than brands can play with purchase power of households, when this power, actually falls.

Brands can’t no longer hide from reality, without recreate value and life into their own life ! Paying for something, but for what, let’s consider generic medecine, retail brand fashion, with the same garantees of quality and service.

In the other hand, the “second” one, create peer-to-peer relations between consumers, to provide and exchange lots of goods…not people, yet, thanks ;-). And quickly, corps came to this channel, afraid of being arased of retail purpose fields. As if they have nothing else to sell, than sell services ! We find now several professionnal corps on these kinds of networks…unfortunetaly, it’s a slim purpose for brands, nothing else to say…?

It’s the law of the “peer-to-peer” age, nothing owns to no one, as long as things can be improved ; and it’s a long and common history, whose force takes place in all of us, common cleverness and awareness. Don’t buy anything, buy useful. Equity and sustainable development show us the way, it’s an heavy task we have to manage with. Community conscience will save us. Don’t be avaricious of it !

Well, now, I can sell my post for a “second hand” use. Who wants ?