My Blog

17th of September is a general election day in Sweden. Political parties booths are everywhere and many trees are being slaughtered to keep up with the demand for paper. Their foot workers are polite but I really can’t relate with them much. Some seem to be as clueless as the nearest drunk looking at the crowds through glazed eyes.

Today I was asked by one of them doing ant work for the Vänsterpartiet (Left Party) if I wanted to see Lars Ohly live in some day I can’t remember. Politely I informed that I had to go on with my life, and lied saying I was sorry. But what I should have really asked is which ancient history museum was Lars going to be displayed on. After all, Stalinists are supposed to have gone the way of the dinosaur and their only place in our time is under museums bright lights next to a plaque with the words “Dinosaurs roamed the world free and subjugated millions on a whim. Extinct at the end of the 20th century”.

(Lars and his troupe posing for a group photo) 

There is an article at BBC News, Bonfire of the brands, on brands and us. At 31, after a full life as a brand slave, Neil Boorman has had enough and proposes to do something about it. Hope there is a follow up to this article.

It is curious how addicted we are to brands, and how sensitive we are to their message, even if we think we aren’t. I, that try to avoid brands like the plague and, for instance, would never buy anything because it is hip – can you spell iPod? – seem to fall for them unconsciously.

A quick walk around my house gave me a few examples of brand following that I could really live without. Okay, I want to believe that going for a branded shampoo is a warranty of a certain quality. A recognized brand has an image to protect and will be hard pressed to skimp on quality control. And a shampoo goes daily into my body, so it is something to care about. But why oh why did I have to get a new TV the same brand as my DVD player, itself a known brand? I am aware that inside they are probably made on the same Taiwanese or Chinese factory by the same hands as a lesser known brand. And my eau de toilet, why do I chose that particular one? Great scents are not the monopoly of the Hugo Boss or Calvin Klein of the world, are they?

This is really food for thought.

I’ve setup an Internet music station from my home, streaming a chunk of my music collection to whomever wants to listen. This is just an experiment in order to improve my skills on the technology, and right now it is in test mode and it has limitations. My upstream bandwidth for one is not enough to handle many listeners.

The stream is in Ogg Vorbis format, and you will need to have a media player that supports it. I recommend Winamp. But if you want to keep on using the Microsoft Media Player you should install an Ogg Vorbis codec, just like this one.

You can listen to the music stream here. Enjoy!

I thought of you and how you love this beauty,
And walking up the long beach all alone
I heard the waves breaking in measured thunder
As you and I once heard their monotone.

Around me were the echoing dunes, beyond me
The cold and sparkling silver of the sea –
We two will pass through death and ages lengthen
Before you hear that sound again with me.

(Sarah Teasdale)

A promising new cure for children affected by ADHD was found, and it seems to be cheaper than current solutions, namely drugs and therapy. The only problem is that it asks parents to leave their inaction behind, something that can be a tall order for some. 

… and now with a fresh new face. I’m talking about this blog of course. Still tweaking the template and may even change a few esthetical details here and there, but the bulk of the changes is done. I am interested on hearing opinions.

I am also inaugurating a new way to post. Before I needed to be online and use the Rich text editor included with Wordpress. To put it mildly, that editor stinks. Courtesy of Microsoft, I’m using a new piece of software called Windows Live Writer. Still a bit rough on the edges, but it does the trick. I can just write the posts, format them, add imagery, and then upload the article to this blog. It is faster and much more predictable. It also includes a nice spell-checker. Yeap, I use one too.

For some time now I’ve been collection statistical data for this blog using Google Analytics. I’m a born sceptic when it comes to most things. My first thought is always that it won’t do me any good and it is just time thrown out the window. But I am also curious and I am glad this time I kept at it. With the help of the tools Google Analytics provides I was able to track a very unsavory character stalking the blog for purposes only some superior entity (the devil I assume) will know. I am sure it isn’t to read the articles.Thank you for another wonderful free tool, Google.

Directions for this blog

In the next few days I will most likely setup a blacklist system of sorts, to protect the blog. The aforementioned blog tweaks are in the works. I plan to comment a bit on what’s new in Sweden also. Election day is coming, and from the looks of it good old Göran is doing what he is best at, distributing shallow promises that conspire against those who work, and distributing more pork. More on this later.

I was asked some time ago why I don’t write more personally about me. The reason is that the Internet is a dangerous place. What goes onto the Internet never goes away and can come back to haunt us. I am not afraid of my opinions, and I am what I am. But misunderstandings are legion, and can upset lives and break carriers. Potential employers and the odd enemy are on the lookout for more information on us. The Internet is a double-edged sword. And as Sir Francis Bacon once said, knowledge is power. Even if it is defective.

A good week to all. Wish you the best!