To own a digital camera at the end of the 1990’s was pretty unusual and expensive. Ten years later almost every gadget seems to be able to shot photos and videos – even in High-Definition …

Cheap Sensors

The arrival of cheap sensors and storage allowed cell phone and computer manufacturer to stuff a camera into almost every gadget we carry around. There are hardly any cell phones or notebooks without a cam these days.

And the Quality! There was literally an explosion of pixel power – who would today bother with a 1-Mega-Pixel-Camera? Sure pixel resolution is not everything, but the image quality has equally improved with pixel quantity.

Early Nokia prototypes …

Cheap Monitors

But the Revolution of the Pixel includes LCD monitors – which are now huge and cheap (my current 24"-Samsung-Display would have been astronomically expensive in 1999). The analogue monitor is dead – LCDs have overtaken our eyes. Their sharpness and extreme colour range has redefined our viewing habits.

Cheap Storage and Bandwidth

Big sensor create big images – but today we also have the CHEAP big memory cards, sticks and chips to store them – as well as fast broadband to send our crappy holiday shots to all our friends and social media appendices via eMail or Social Media website (like Flickr and Facebook).

The Real Changes: record anything everywhere and at anytime

Because not only Big Brother has CCTV cameras everywhere we mere mortals can and do record anything. Thanks to YouTube and Flickr (and their clones) we can and do share everything we record.

In the last ten years there has been a flood of digital videos and photos. I suspect we all shot more images and hours of footage in these last ten years with our cheap gadgets than all generations before us?!

And the pixelated flood will continue.

On the web you can videos of any occasion and situation: from airplanes crashes, terrorist attacks, amateur sex and children’s birthdays. It alls there.

I wonder how he feels about that (public) video in twenty years?

The new global sharing culture enables us to share our lives with others and see how others live their life’s. It has never been so easy to experience, study and learn the human condition.

Since we love Social Porn (<- see my essay on that subject here) this trend will continue. It’s not Big Brother watching us – we love to show ourselves and watch others. This was first limited to celebrities and personal holiday snapshots. Today we can record and broadcast our own lives 24/7 – and some people already do.

That also means that social acceptance of being watched by the government and others has risen. In a world were everybody can record, share and watch everyone the old idea of privacy is gone …

We all know what you did ten summers ago … and you will never be able to delete that image …

The Real Changes: the Web never forgets and will find you

The global visual sharing culture has just begun, already billions of images and videos are online. And the web never forgets …

In the last century your parents were probably the keepers and guardians of your embarrassing childhood shots – today compromising material will sooner or later land on the web.

Many employers as well as "friends" check on Facebook and other social media your history before they get closer.

Thanks to Geo-Tagging and Facial Recognition it will be much easier to find a specific person in a gazillion images and videos. There is no such thing as anonymity in this brave new pixel world.

Reality – captured from many slightly different perspectives. 

The Real Changes: the global Big Picture and Synthesized Reality

Soon there won’t  be a place that hasn’t been photographed or captured in video. We will have a complete visual memory of our planet.

But there is more: all these images and technology will not only allow us to "find" each other – it will allow us to merge all that huge image and video pool into synthesized memory spaces (<- read my essay here).

Smart software literally stitches photos into a 3D-environment and connect / compute additional information into that "space".

When you think that Google Streetview and Google Earth are pretty amazing than hold on to your socks – the new kind of search will finally feel like stranger than any science fiction movie you have seen …

Is it real or is it … HDR?

The Real Changes: Reality is not as good as High-Definition

The last ten years have also brought a different change: the way we perceive what "reality" should look like.

Cameras, monitors and videos have slowly changed from the old 4:3 format to 16:9. The future is no longer square, but widescreen …

But the sharpness, colour range and contrast of images has changed dramatically, best illustrated by so called HDR-Images.

Before and after the HDR treatment …

Similar to before mentioned synthesized memory spaces already available cameras can combine several shots into one "High dynamic range image" that looks more real than reality.

Before the arrival of digital tools (read Photoshop or Paint Boxes for professional TV and Film productions) it was very hard to manipulate images.

Today almost any cheap camera or cell phone cam offers "image improvement filters" ranging from simple red eye removal to face finders and even body slimmers.

All these technologies have changed our perception of reality: old black & white television was unreal, even analogue colour TV looks unreal to a certain degree – and so do "classic" photos.

But today’s image technology allows us to create images and videos that look and feel more real than reality, but catching and synthesizing more details, sharpness and speed than ever before.

Remember him? 

The Real Changes: The Decade of Photoshop Fakery and empty Movies with too much CGI

The last ten years saw the Perfection of Fakery – thanks to tools like Photoshop, After Effects and many other image manipulation tools.

Movies like Jurassic Park and Matrix paved the way for CGI in movies – and helped the directors to tell amazing tales. But today many movies and TV shows feel boring, because there are too many "amazing effects". Special effects have turned into a big bore …

But Photoshop & Co are now also the #1 toys for Fakery – from Beauty Magazines and Advertising to Viral Videos – Fakes are now everywhere.

Every time people see today an amazing photo or video they distrust what they see: "Is it photoshopped or is it real?!"

Fakery is increasingly hard to spot and image manipulation is now standard for almost anything you see printed or on TV.

Especially advertising was always about fake reality, but now that advertised reality looks absolutely real and can be even more beautiful than ever before. Especially woman still try to "achieve" the beauty standards in advertising – but these fake beauties are unreal and do not exist … their "level of beauty" can never be reached by any real person …

LonelyGirl15 – the first YouTube Superstar? 

The Real Changes: Democratization of Broadcasting

When 8 mm movies came out it was touted as the Hollywood revolution for everyone. But the technology was cumbersome, expensive and difficult to master.

Today a GOOD video camera is affordable even for amateurs and the quality is amazing. Editing and special effects software is also cheap and basically the same the real Pros in Hollywood use.

But most of all there is now a global and cheap way to show and distribute your videos: the web.

New talent and film students can create movies and no longer rely on movie theatres, Hollywood studios or TV broadcasters to bring their work to the masses.

That means there is a wider platform for artists, moviemakers and crap alike – but it is most of all a true democratization of moviemaking and broadcasting like never before.

Low Budget series like LonelyGirl15 became global brands / phenomenon’s. Becoming a superstar on a budget was no possible!

Hello Human! Do you know where are you going to?

The Real Changes: 3D-Environments and Augmented Reality will change how we deal with real life

Today we are quite used to "live" in 3D spaces, either in games or car navigation systems – not too mention Google Earth …

The visuals of Computer Games have made a huge leap forward in the last 10 years. The X-Box, Playstation 2 and Wii can deliver incredible visuals.

Games have been pushing simulated 3D worlds for now over 20 years. New games look incredibly realistic and have left it’s visually primitive forefather Pong far behind.

But 3D engines, geo-tagging, camera sensors and search engines will merge into a new technology called Augmented Reality.

Here you look at the world through a computer display – and the computer will analyze what you and it sees – and add additional information.

The simplest form of this technology have been car navigation systems, but newer versions will go much further.

This is just a simply version of AR …

They could tell you for example which people or businesses are in a building nearby, because a search engine show you all information regarding the location you are currently at – and also know thanks to other peoples computers and cell phones who is currently near that exact spot you are standing.

Like other technologies this will make us even more dependent on our little gizmos. The pocket calculator robbed us of the need to learn math. The cell phone is our external memory for phone numbers, addresses and even our schedule (be honest how many phone numbers can you remember?).

Augmented Play Time …

Most people could hardly read maps anyway, but Augmented Reality will make them totally dependent on where to go. And thanks to "smart software" it will tell them what to shop where and that the person in front of them is their wife …

Conclusion: a new form of Telepresence

We are developing a totally new visual culture. Once the invention of photography radically changed how we captured reality and made it permanent – so will the digital capture, global storage and synthesizing of photos and videos.

Everybody needs a cam like this and everybody will wear some form of camera in the future anyway …

Thanks to a coming 24/7 always-on camera capture we will also develop a new form of Telepresence we have developed in the last century: first there was the telegraph that allowed almost instant reporting of events far away. Then came the telephone and radio, which allowed us to hear live events far away. With television we suddenly had eyes and ears all over the globe. We could watch catastrophes and music concerts unfold live.

A global web connected camera network will allow us to watch anything everywhere. It is not just a network for "watching" – it also will record, store and cross connect everything it sees.

The new telepresence and visual network will let you watch such events even from "unrecorded" angles …

This global camera network is not like Big Brother – it is a decentralized sister network, which consists of millions of independent digital eyes and ears that record and record …

Like a computer game all that data can be used to replay and synthesize the events it captured.

While the West celebrated in the late 1990’s the End of History and all old evils like religion – the Middle East wasn’t there yet.

Compared to 1999 we know much more about Arabs and Islam … the West has spent almost a decade trying to understand and formulate an answer to bloody terrorism, the emergence of Islam and the growing influence of Arab countries …

Not only 9/11 and terrorism have changed the West’s view on Islam and the Middle East  -  Islam is simply the fastest growing religion world wide and Arab countries are demanding more power in the world as well.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are the winners of this decade in terms of political power and money. Both made huge sums of money from the explosion of oil prices. And both countries used the money to further their influences all over the world.

Yeah, yeah we get it: Death to all! Bla bla bla …

Saudi Arabia was much quieter, but also funded dubious religious and political groups all over the world. Iran was hard to overlook – all the tantrums and threats were not always unjustified (look here and here). But overall Iran tries way to hard to flex it’s muscles and provoke a confrontation with almost anyone …

In Europe Islam and the so called clash of cultures is causing many problems: the Assassination of Theo van Gogh in 2004, home grown terrorists in Spain (Madrid in 2004) and Britain (London Bombings in 2005). Muslim extremism was not just limited to the Middle East. But there is also a backlash in Europe: the Mohammad Cartoons in Denmark (2005) and the most recent Minaret Ban in Switzerland (2009).

Europe grants Freedom for Religions as well as Freedom from Religious Oppressions! Got it?

Europe still has a hard time to cope with madness of (any) religion – something it thought it had left behind in the last millennium …

1. The Middle East is still backwards – but it needs to evolve fast. The detailed UN report about the region from 2002 still is valid and only little has changed: Governance is still bad – most countries are still ruled by tyrants and not popular vote (and even when they vote it’s a sham like in Iran or Afghanistan).
2. No alternative to Oil: most Arab countries don’t have any serious industries or export articles apart from Oil (and sometimes tourism). Unemployment rates are astronomical and causes unrest in the overall very young population.
3. Poverty and Inequality: Although the Middle East seems awash with money there is also still terrible poverty in the region. Minorities and women are still treated badly.

Let’s hope the Middle East will transform itself – and let’s also hope that Islam will have a “modern” reformation like Christianity or hopefully looses it’s bloody influence …

In the usual predictions about Climate Change we hear two scenarios over and over again:

1. … more people will face hunger thanks to lower yields or destroyed crops …

2. … and we will see millions of climate change refuges.

Ugly Fact #1 – Not all Countries can provide equally

In our modern and humanistic view of the World we like to see all people as equals. Everybody should also have the same chances to lead a prosperous and happy live anywhere.

So much about the idealism.

But not all countries are "created" equal and can offer the same resources to their people to "grow and "develop" like in other so called richer countries.

Or to rephrase my argument: It’s all about location, location, location!

Some regions have better soil, more clean water, a more moderate climate and resources (forests, minerals, fossil fuels etc.).

If you compare let’s say North Africa with (Western) Europe you need to take one look at satellite images and you see the profound difference (you can click each for a larger version).

Europe is mostly green and fertile (apart from Spain) and there are many great rivers streaming across Europe (Rhine, Danube, Tiber, Arno, Po, Oder, Don, Volga, Tagus, Thames, Shannon, etc). Not only provide these many rivers fresh water for people, forests and agriculture alike, but also a network for cheap long distance transportation.

In comparison North Africa has only the Nile –and not many green spots on it’s map.

Europe has overall better soil quality and higher ground water levels thanks to more mountains, rivers and lakes.

The only serious advantage North Africa has is it’s oil.

So the conclusion is simple: some places are simply better to built an civilization, feed many people and start an industry than others.

If you don’t have certain resources you have to import them or create better conditions by using technology.

In our crazy (and unsustainable) thinking we want all nations to develop equally and create the same conditions everywhere.

Ah lovely Europe, we have good soul, plenty of water and charming cottages …

North African nations have sucked their grounds dry, by trying to provide enough water for millions of people and farms to grow food all year around. Countries like Saudi Arabia invest Billions to create small island of green in their deserts.

But it is utter nonsense to recreate for example European Conditions in Saudi Arabia. Terra forming is a VERY long process takes many decades if not hundreds or thousands of years to transform a desert into a rain forest. And it was actually climate change that has transformed the former lush jungles of North Africa into Deserts – and the ice covered plains of Europe into pleasant lands.

Creating "good conditions" for about a Billion people that live in North Africa and the Middle East is not a sustainable nor reachable goal for many generations.

Consider this: there are almost seven billion earthlings and already one billion of us don’t have access to fresh and clean water.

For how many decades have you been trying to turn this desert into a farm?

But the developing nations as well as the rich nations have spent many decades wasting foreign aids to make deserts into green meadows. They try to make inhospitable or low quality lands into highly productive agricultural powerhouses.

Comedian Sam Kinison once made a true, but nasty joke: "Why don’t you starving people move to where the food is?"

This perfectly sums up the problem.

We currently see each other only as Nations with fixed borders. Instead of working on a global settlement policy and using resources in a smart way, each nation tries to squeeze as much out of their lands as possible. While Europe pays farmers to put arable land on hold, North Africans try to make a living out of very bad farmland.

Don’t bring the food to the people – bring the people to the places that grow food. 

We should stop wasting precious resources and move people to greener pastures, instead of flying and driving food "into the fucking desert were people for obvious reasons starve".

So we really need a new thinking: Don’t try to turn shitty places into paradise. It’s a waste of resources. Don’t wait for hunger marches and millions of climate change refuges.

We need smart resettlement plans and the truly global sharing of the few good spots we have.

But since we still cling too much to our national (and often religious) identity we have a hard time sharing "our land" with "foreigners". But the concept of "residents" vs. "strangers" is a deadly luxury we can no longer afford.

Scene from Fuerteventura: an African refugee crawls to the beach, while tourists picnic in the background. (click for larger version)

It is cheaper to share than to supply starving people and millions living in refuge camps. We also need better planning where people live and were we grow our food.

For example: It makes no sense to grow tomatoes in the desert in special plantations (which need huge amounts of water) and export (transport = fossil fuel) them to rich countries that could grow them as well.

It is utter madness that many developing nations try to squeeze even more food out of bad soil for an ever growing population … which brings us to the second ugly fact …

Ugly Fact #2 – Fuck less, eat more!

I am sick and tired of seeing image of starving children in Western Media to appeal for funds to buy food. We should send them sex educators and condoms instead.

The fight against overpopulation is a harsh and bitter one. Nations like India and China have tried almost all ideas ranging from sterilization to allowing only one child per family to stop from exploding.

The simple truth is that even people hardly able to feed themselves love to fuck and therefore produce babies – which they usually can’t feed either.

Blame the stupidity of the parents and cultural idiosyncrasies for these starving kids. 

The consequence is less food for the whole family, which leads either to death or serious male nutrition. And undernourished kids suffer from bad health as well as underperforming brains – because they lacked the proper nutrients to develop their grey cells. Apart from the lack of education many poor people suffer, they also suffer from "stupidity" by male nutrition.

It is utter stupidity to have a bigger population than you can actually feed. The same stupidity applies to parents in developing nations who "breed", but can’t afford their own home or enough food for all. Often these parents are forced to leave their kids with the grandparents and work in far away cities to make a meagre living.

Having fun while wasting a huge amounts of resources, because WE CAN! 

You can blame such poor parents equally for their irresponsible behaviour as well as Soccer Moms in the US driving a bad ass SUV.

We humans are genetically wired for breeding – so stopping us from having sex is a "mission impossible".

But we have the technology to "stop having babies". So we need cheap contraception as well as education. Plus if we get women into the "workforce" and give them equal rights in developing nations they also will breed less – like their richer, snottier and more educated sisters in rich nations.

Can you breed responsibly?

Conclusions

I doubt that we currently have the will and openness to resettle people on one side and pursue more aggressive birth control in already overpopulated nations on the other.

Places like Russia or Ukraine have HUGE unused and very fertile areas that are ideal for farming – so has North America. Europe is already pretty crowded, but could certainly use some more immigrants to bolsters it’s greying population.

But once again: I doubt that we as a global society are really ready to share and breed responsibly. Instead we prefer to let others suffer and waste huge amounts of money and resources to "help" them …

Welcome to your cloud account at Google.

After years of speculation and wet dreams the Nerd world finally got to see the fabled Google Operating System (Chrome OS): a boot loader for a browser. (long video here)

A bit of an anti-climax.

Wired and all the blogs are disappointed – they wanted a razzle-dazzle new OS that would leave Windows 7 and Snow Leopard behind.

That’s not going to happen. Google is first and foremost an Internet company. They live in a “cloud” of servers and web applications. Google doesn’t do old fashioned hardware and applications.

The heralds of the digital age don’t understand that web applications and a cloud based operating system will never offer the same power as desktop computing.

Desktop computing is literally putting “Information AND PROCESSING POWER at your fingertips”. Your data and your CPU belong to you – no stinking net connection needed to “reach it”.

Once we have your data we own you … biatch!

Cloud computing is a step back to how computing was in the old days of Mainframes and Terminals. All the power and data resided in a giant computer the mainframe – and you could “peek” into it by using a dumb and feeble terminal. The terminal itself had no processing power or data storage to speak of – it was just a “window” into the mainframe.

Yesterday’s Terminals are today’s Netbooks, Smartphones and iPhones. Small underpowered devices only meant to “connect” you to small datasets or the “cloud”.

Google, Apple and many other companies want to suck you into THEIR clouds – because once they have your data they won’t give it back so easily.

Services like GMail, Flickrs, Twitter, Google Docs, Apple MobileMe, YouTube, Facebook, Microsoft OfficeLive, Adobe’s Acrobat online etc – they all want your data on their clouds.

And they know: once you have a certain amount of “your life” on their server array it’s too much hassle for you to switch.

Because downloading or deleting all those documents, images, videos and links is a time consuming process via the browser – and it is also a “Social Inconvinience”, because all your friends & colleagues have these links and have their “cloud lives” linked to yours.

And you don’t want to disconnect your friends, will you?

Cloud Computing 1.0 – IBM-style …

Microsoft might have annoyed us for years, giving us software and data formats that were less than perfect. But at least we had everything on OUR computers and hard drives.

Once you save something in a “cloud” you have only limited access to it. Internet connections are far from being so reliable like electricity and not everyone has a brutally fast internet connection at home – or on the road. And without (a fast) connection there is no access to your “cloud”.

A backup or transfer of your “cloud life” to your machine or another provider is often cumbersome or even impossible. (so much about open standards)

That is the same strategy how IBM made loads of money till the late 1980’s: the vendor lock in. IBM’s mainframes only ran IBM software – for their customers was no choice and hardly a chance to get out either.

The PC revolution offered hardware and software even mere mortals could afford and operate. Although MS-DOS, Windows nor Apple OS/X are open source, the platforms allowed users to run applications from different vendors. In the case of the Wintel Universe you could buy hardware from any vendor and the Operating System as well as your applications would run. You were not locked into just vendor …

Now we will be equally “chained” to our cloud providers. If they deny us access we are locked out of our own data, email, instant messages, tweets, Facebook profile and our whole online identity – and in the case of the Chrome OS – our own computers – we are fucked! (and you thought loosing your cell phone was bad?!)

You don’t own the cloud – the cloud owns you!

We demand simplicity instead of control over our own data …

I am afraid the great PC revolution is over and many people will welcome the switch to “dumb web 2.0 terminals”, because they are too stupid to manage their own PCs and data.

I can understand them – keeping a system clean and running is a tough job: system updates, driver updates, viruses, malware, hackers, crash recovery, regular backups and their own chaotic file organization.

It’s so much nicer to have Google (or another data centre) taking care of that. You just USE the cloud, you don’t need to keep it intact, install anything or even do a backup.

All done by some invisible hand … and in most cases even for free! How can you compare that smooth “user experience” to the hassle of fixing a broken or virus invested Windows machine?!

Care for your local data – always make backups. No matter how weird your backup medium is …

But dear consumers: beware what you are wishing for!

Just look how your cell phone company milks you for every bit of data you use via their network and devices. Do you really think that even bigger computer companies will play nice once they got you by the balls?

And one more thing: trying to get your data back from your crashed computer is one thing, getting your data back from a locked down server on another continent a totally different task …

Oh, the pain! Oh, the drama! We are uncovering all the lies in your relationship …

Since the early 80’s there has been a Tsunami of afternoon talk shows filled with social drama and pain.

And we are loving it!

It is amazing how the Queens and Kings of "honesty" and "self righteousness" are police, judge and executioner in one person. Oprah made Billions of Dollars with her tears, Jeremy Kyle currently tries to do the same in the UK.

But the real question is: Why do we frenetically watch and love Social Porn?

Every tear is worth a million dollars …

It all comes down to us being social animals. When you look at many fellow mammals they have social hierarchies like us with different ranks. Everybody knows what an alpha-male or alpha-female is.

But one essential feature of social networking (the real thing, not the simulation on Facebook) is watching other "animals" in the tribe. Watching the "others" allows us to spot opportunities to climb the social ladder, make new friends, know who our enemies are and our enemies’ enemies are.

The most important part of watching others is to learn where you stand in the tribe’s hierarchy and your chances to climb higher or fail …

Yeah, you might be bigger, but my social ranking is higher …

For some animals this is much easier: dogs sniff other dogs arse or even sample their urine or poo – and can analyse from this the status and current health of the fellow canine.

We primates have developed the face as the main social interFACE. Compared to most other animals the primates’ face has the more muscles and expressions than anyone else on this planet. Ape and human faces have an incredible range of "gestures" – which work even across species.

Our faces tell complete stories without words. We can socialize simply by looking at each other. You usually can see in an instant if someone looking at you likes you or hates you; if there is a chance for a better social contact or if that other person might even attack you …

So by watching and gossiping with others about others we learn what’s going on in the group, what the other members strengths and weaknesses are, and which tactics are successful or devastating.

I’ll scratch your back, if you …

Being successful in climbing the social ladder increases our chances of mating and spreading our genes. Yes, Ladies & Gentleman, it all comes down to mating once again …

And watching social porn on TV confirms this: it’s mostly about sex and cheating.

When we watch these dramas, we learn how to "protect" our own social involvement and genetic "investment". Of course we want partners, who are safe for our offspring and support them. We don’t want cheats that are a danger to our sperm or egg investment – and therefore perpetuation of our "selfish gene".

Social Porn on TV is a highly valuable lesson to "spot" cheaters and avoid failures in reproduction.

Wait a minute! Is that critter really mine?!

So watching social porn on TV and gossiping about relationships has an important biological benefit. We learn how to be successful animals and mating mates …

But there is also a strong social and moral component to it. We humans have transformed many "biological mechanisms" into social rules like married people do not engage in sex with strangers. Based on these social rules we have created moral and religious restrictions as well.

"You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife (or husband)." is simply a biological need (protecting your sperm & eggs from invaders) turned into a social and moral rule.

So Social Porn also enforces these "morals" when cheaters and liars get booed by the audience and judged by the presenter. That is why the Ladies in the audience hiss, when a boyfriend cheated on his bitch – it’s a violation of the biological contract of only breeding exclusively together.

This social pressure is once again there to protect our biological investments.

We love watching Alpha-Couples, especially when they are media whores and on twitter.

The biological background also explains why we love watching alpha-animals of the global tribe and their relationships. Like good herd animals we learn from watching the strongest and fittest of our flock.

That is why so many people know more about the life’s of celebrities and their relationships than their neighbours living in the same house. Our biological desire is to swim ahead in the genetic pool and score the most adorable eggs or sperm available. That is why some ladies fantasize about sleeping with Bruce Willies, while Guy virtually impregnate Megan Fox.

That’s Social Porn in it’s most basic form and desire. Women and men do it equally.

Just a good American Citizen getting rid of some "evil" people …

Another deadly and politically motivated shooting in the US by a right wing "person". I am trying to avoid the usual expression "right wing nut", because it makes the murderer seem like "just a crazy person", who would have killed no matter what was his political affiliation.

But exactly the opposite is true!

Like the murder of a doctor George Tiller who performed highly controversial abortions and many other attacks motivated by racism, anti-semitism and religious reasons it is right-wing-hate has driven these killers.

Brainwashing for the Sheep

For decades right-wing-propagandists like Rush Limbaugh, O’Reilly and "religious" leaders like Pat Robertson have used hate and extreme prejudice to drive their agenda. As masterful speakers they often used bloody and hateful attacks on their foes.

Lesser creatures in this pandemonium of so called protectors or "Life" and "Family Values" had no problem to call for the death of political opponents like the killed abortion doctor or foreign heads of state.

For example Dr. Tiller was shot in Church while praying.

So those "right-wing-nuts" have not been simply crazy people doing terrible things (therefore the right-wing could wash it’s hand in innocence), BUT it was the hate speech, the religious dogmas and disconnect from reality that drove them to do such insane stuff and call it "justice".

I only preach the word of the Lord …

Just like Timothey McVeigh there are many people in the US who more than willing to believe such propaganda and finally act upon the constant whispers of hate – by either bombing or shooting "their opponents" and "evil-doers".

Too many silently support such killings against "fags", "jews", "pinkos", "communists", "niggers", "socialists" and "Killers of Babies" – in their minds those hurt or killed by their compatriots had it coming anyway. They deserved the pain!

We are defending Christian Values

Their rationalisation is either based on their odd form of Christianity (it’s oke to wear weapons and execute people, but not to support health care and other social services to the poor) or their racist form of the American Dream (whites have to succeed, all other minorities are only tolerated and are disposable).

Jesus wasn’t into weapons, he was into healing the sick and connecting / touching the outcasts … or was he?!

The so called Small Town America

This part of white American society is stuck in a 1950’s fantasy of it’s own history: in an Illusion of an Golden Era, when nobody talked about civil rights, minorities slaved away in the background, when Gays where invisible and apart from Commies there were no threats to the great American White Dominance.

The American Civil Right movement had to rip "justice" from White Americas hands. The US still is not an equally fair and just society too all sides. Programs like affirmative action did almost as much harm as good, but many measures like these were necessary to ENFORCE equality. Some parts of White America couldn’t handle the equal treatment of "niggers" and the quest for gay rights (see the still raging debate about Gay Marriage that as already been settled in most Western Nations).

Obama? Osama? It’s all the same to them …

Scared to the Bone

One only needs to observe the effect Obama’s election had on this part of American society: they went nuts!

"The Slaves have become the Masters – run for your lifes!"

Obama hate is their favourite hobby, gun sales in their areas of America soared and the rhetoric’s of their hate preachers went off the scale.

Plus the bad economic situation didn’t help either. And since Wall Street is obviously money business which is traditionally associated with the Jews it was their fault once again that America was going down.

"Niggers, Jews and Fags want America to fail!"

How to deal with a thing called the "future" …

Welcome to the 21st Century

This part of White America simply has no true answers to a changed planet: the effects of globalization and multi-ethic societies.

They can’t cope with another strong religion in their own country and abroad (there are over a billion Muslims world wide to "tolerate").

They can’t cope with the coming success of gay rights movement as much as they couldn’t prevent black/civil rights movement.

Maybe fighting a war without Gay Arabic translators is a bad idea?

They can’t cope with the competition from "brown" countries like India and Mexico taking away their jobs (as an effect of so called "Free Markets" established by their Republican politicians).

They can’t cope with the flood of Latinos to their own country and that they will be just another minority in the USA.

They can’t cope with global organizations dedicated to our planets unification and peace like the UN and EU.

It’s all "evil" to them taking away their "Freedoms" and "American Values" …

Welcome to the 1950’s! 

The so called True Americans

The pseudo-religious rage of the so called "True Americans" makes them unable to connect to real America that is happening right now.

It is their pathos of false morals that makes them unable to cope with ANY change and progress – just like it happened before to Christianity in medieval Europe, Muslim societies in India and the Middle East as well as China’s and Japan’s bureaucratic Imperialists.

Which Gun can you recommend for American fundamentalists?

The new American Terrorism

When a former majority shrinks it’s leftovers are always in danger of radicalization, because they can’t connect to present situation.

If you look at the American conservative party you can see that effect. They very busy clinging to past ideas while their movement shrinks and shrinks. The more they dig into the past the more the greater the disconnect. The bigger distance creates more anger and estrangement.

The movement get boiled down to it’s hardcore followers who lack more and more exchange with less radical elements of society so soften them up and reconnect them. The disconnect makes them feel unable to influence society and alienates them even more.

Instead of political tool they resort to violence to make themselves heard and enforce their radical visions for society.

This is not terrorism born out of suppression – like it happened in Palestine. It is terrorism of the fundamentalism – trying to enforce "eternal truths" upon the people and destroy "unbelievers" and new "evil" ideas.

Where do you stand true American?

American Self-Reflection?

The Conservative movement as well as American Society has to recognize the split and correctly name the fundamentalist fringe what it is: a backward and orthodox part of itself.

I am wondering if the American Department of Homeland Security (a term that would have made Goebbels proud) is as eager fighting violent American fundamentalists as Islamic ones?

Just imagine if a Muslim American would have shot a Christian in his Church! The outrage would have been huge and there would have been violent revenge.

But when a good American shoots a Baby-Killer – that’s a different story …

Dear America look at yourself – whatever happened to fair and balanced?

The world economy is in a downward spiral and the blame game is in full swing. Bankers vs Tax Payers. Pundits vs Big Government. Free Marketers vs Socialists.

It’s all rubbish! Let’s have a look how we ended up in this big mess and what we should learn for the future.

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Quote: "There is no Information Overload, there is just selection failure!"

Really? Internet nerds and the Generation Web loves to brag about all the information revolution, how it empowers users and saves the world. But instead we are polluted with information noise …

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Sure life has changed in the last twenty years a lot. But apart from the obvious technological change and all these gadgets around us – there are far more dramatic changes in our social, economical and political behavior.

Statistics and mathematical problem solving has been around for ages – but with today’s huge databases, networks and extremely cheap processing power suddenly “smart” computer advice is shaping our everyday life …

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Why are modern males so obsessed with their cell phones, notebooks, desktop PCs, iPods and all these other electronic gadgets?

Some time ago I had a short look at the Ladies and their relationship to technology (Girly tech and why pink is for pussy). I think it’s only fair to look at myself and the Technolust of my gender.

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China likes to boast of it’s long lasting culture and like to claim that they have been at the front of civilization for thousands of years (nice timeline here) (although India has actually the oldest records of culture and cities).

Anyone remotely interested in history and technology knows that the old Chinese seem to have invented almost everything way ahead of Europe or were never far behind: paper, printing, movable type, crossbows, gunpowder, rockets, compass, blast furnace and cast iron – to name just the most important ones.

China with it’s man- and brainpower seemed to be destined to take over the world, but they didn’t. Instead tiny Britain conquered the Chinese giant with ease …

So what went wrong with the old Chinese?

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BBC News: NASA’s 50 years in Space (Videos)

The dogmatic search for a better future was the driving force of the 20th century.

Let’s go back to the Age of Enlightenment that was driven by new insights and lofty goals for humanity. It was the time of colonialism, conquests and the true start of globalization. Although under the brutal direction of European Colonials the world was for the first time completely explored, connected and aware of each other.

Excuse me, we are nice colonists and are looking for a place to build a spaceport.

But it was also the Age of Humanitarianism, when we realized that King & Country were not eternal and that humanity needed better tools and ideals to guide itself into the future. One outcome of this new Idealism was the French Revolution as well as the United States of America – a totally new way to govern modern societies.

Compared to the former religious societies our Forefathers suddenly had “mental space” for a different and better future. Under Religion and Royals there was no “improving” future as we know it today. There was only the continuation of yesterday until Judgement Day. Any change driven by human ideas was considered blasphemy and unnecessary – since everything was nicely arranged in God’s perfect plan.

Move aside God – we need space for the future …

The Industrial Age of the 19th Century with it’s incredible social and scientific achievements where the ultimate proof that “God was dead” (Nietzsche) and that the nation state transcended Religion and Kings. The eternal plan was scraped, finally there was a Future and the mental space for real progress.

Already in the early Industrial Age authors like Jules Verne established many modern visions of a technological future: underwater cities, submarines, flying machines, rockets and interplanetary travel. All based on the work of daring scientists and engineers.

New political and social sciences radically changed western cultures: Psychology, Socialism, Mass Production, Consumerism and Individualism transformed the old Democracies into new powerful nation states.

He didn’t built any rockets, but he was one of many important fathers of modern science.

All new political ideas like Socialism, Communism and a new modern (Market) Capitalism were based new insights and sciences available at the time. Even Fascism got many of it’s ideas from science, especially from Darwinism and most of all Social Darwinism – which lead to the dreadful science of Eugenics.

Small side note: Social Darwinism has actually not invented by him – it was rather based on Herbert Spencer, Thomas Malthus, and Francis Galton work. It was first just a very convenient way to justify Colonialism and the Class System.

Sorry, your nose is too big to be an Aryan or an Astronaut.

Nevertheless – Science was established as the ultimate method to build a better life. Our future depended on better science and technology. Our Forefathers were delighted and enchanted by all the exciting new discoveries.

Already in the 1920’s and 1930’s a new kind of Futurism swept through America, Europe and some parts of Asia. Freud’s psychology fascinated people all over the western world and the although the great Depression was a terrible event for everybody modern Consumerism started to thrive in that time too.

Modern Consumerism always demanded High Tech.

But there was also a cultural Futurism (not to be confused with the Italian Futurism). Thanks to new forms of Mass Media (especially comics, radio and cinemas) science fiction presented a glorious technological future to the masses. Hero’s like Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and many others showed the way to the Future – first as comics, then as radio serials and later as movies.

Interestingly enough: early science fiction (in literature and on the screen) adopted Democracy and Humanitarianism as the ultimate choice for any lifeform. Technology and science as tools to archive the best way of life. This message is ultimately portrayed in the movie “Things to Come” (1936).

I am sure evil Ming’s military never faced NASA’s budget cuts!

The terrible conflicts of ideas first dismantled the old colonial powers in WWI and WWII. Both wars showed that science and technology was the ultimate weapon. The future belonged to flying machines, atomic power and electronics.

Many weapons invented in WWII are still stranger then (science) fiction like flying saucers. But the Cold War fathered even stranger and more futuristic machinery: like the atomic bomber, killer satellites or stealth fighters.

The space age already started with Wernher von Braun and his terrible V-2 rocket in 1942. But this was really only the beginning …

There is one small reason for NASA’s existence: Sputnik.

In the 1950’s rockets and spacemen were already deeply embedded into the public’s mind through science fiction and popular science. But on October 4, 1957 it all become real with the launch of Sputnik. Hardly a year later the Americans founded NASA on July 29, 1958. The space age finally took off with full power.

Once again the chimps got there before us!

From the 1950’s till the mid 1980’s popular culture and media was shaped by science, technology and science fiction. From Sputnik to the Space Shuttle and from Captain Kirk to Star Wars – it was the Age of happy technology and unlimited possibilities.

Star Wars 1977 not only my personal turning point in my childhood …

Every boys dream was to become an Astronaut. Being smart or even being a Scientist was considered cool. Building stuff that actually worked was even cooler. Toys like chemistry sets, rocket kits or ever complex LEGO machinery were best sellers.

Totally out of fashion today: being an Astronaut. Not as cool as being a Rapper or Supermodel.

I was born 1967 – I was two years old when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Too young to really watch it. But I do remember that I watched every bit of “space anything”, science fiction or scientific program on the telly.

Until the mid 1980’s my generation grew up on a positive vision of the future, science and technology. Sure – already in the 1970’s the Hippies questioned our modern lifestyle – but it was not until the start and success of the green movement that this positive and uncritical vision was replaced with a more darker, distrusting and often strangely esoteric vision of the future.

I am still in my heart a spaceman, but I guess that era is over.

Oh honey – just wait till the kids are gone – then I’ll get a divorce and party my brains out.

The possibilities of women have changed tremendously in the last 60 years.

Overall women have benefited the most from the sexual revolution and the new equality. Men lost their traditional "advantages" based on their gender – and they are less adaptable and flexible when it comes to our modern work environment and it’s "softer" requirements like team play, flexibility, communication, learning and emotional intelligence.

But women have also suffered from the new form of social fabric: they are now biggest number of single parents – responsible for raising and funding our kids.

The Pyramid is flipping

People between 35 and 45 are the most populous group in many western countries. (Click image to pop the pyramid.)

In recent decades the good old population pyramid has basically flipped 180° – and now we have more mature and old people in western societies than we have young ones. We are becoming grey societies. (By the way: you can get population pyramids for many countries here)

So the fortysomethings are the biggest group in the population right now.

Plus the longer life expectancy, single lifestyle and overall youth cult have made the fortysomethings the new players in town: they have money, they are still horny and active. And their grown up egos are much more neurotic and hungry for self gratification.

The most active consumer group here are mature women. Many of them now are shedding their kids, because they are grown up now. So they want to "party extra hard" and make up for all the time they were dedicated mothers and wives.

Plus the modern western cities are more streamlined for the new single lifestyle – and they are the majority now. Families used to "rule" the cities – but that has changed during the 90’s. It’s now single all the way – or better "serial monogamizers" (people who hop from one fast relationship to the next one).

So our cities are a huge playground for the mature ladies.

Pimp my Skin – or why the Beauty Industry loves fortysomething women

Does this pop video make me look old?

The beauty and fashion industry has long discovered this rich and often desperate clientele: the cream for the skin at forty, the pill for the rotten brain at forty, etc.

The message here is: you are still adorable, but you need a tune up. Albeit an expensive one.

Behind all this is the ugly face of infertility. All primary "beauty" spots – red lips, beautiful hair, smooth skin, wide eyes – are signs of health and therefore fertility. A good looking women is most of all a fertile women.

Forty is the Magic Age – the last call for babies. But it is also the age of a new form of competition: you are fading out of the beauty competition – you are no longer the hottest chick in town, you already show some defects and there is fresher meat on sale.

Our society has just developed a "mature concept" for beauty and sexuality, but overall we do not appreciate the beauty and wisdom of older ladies as they are. We only have "Venus" measurement: either you are a young fertile love goddess or you are not.

Our definition what’s hot or not is still deeply ingrained in our biological code: only healthy breeding material is sexy.

The MILF-Syndrome

Mature Bitches rule the Suburbs!

That brings us to the overall sexualization of age. Since Viagra was released the pressure was on – there was no longer an excuse for guys not too perform – so the ladies also had to joining the gray swingers club.

But the sexualization of mature women goes further: TV series like "Sex in the City" and "Desperate Housewives" are both part of the wider "MILF" syndrome (MILF = Mothers I’d like to fuck).

This is a new sex trend as well media frenzy: mature hot looking women who are oversexed and fuck anything that moves – plus the additional drama this behavior causes. Usually the before mentioned attributes are reserved for males. These MILFs know no taboos, they know no limits. They are the perfect sex partners.

So modern life restarts at 40 and a gray society needs to tell itself it’s still capable and interesting. It’s a mutual lie and effort to push the boundaries of age and dissolve old limits and taboos.

In a way it’s almost like the sexual egos of mature women are fighting against the menopause: "Look I still can get semen, I am still adorable! And with Science I am gonna kick your ass Mother Nature!"

The new Breeders on the Block

Pregnant at 40+ and loving it!

In the past women past the magic age of 40 were left alone, because they were heading straight for their menopause and were therefore uninteresting as breeding material. Just wait a few more years and these women are great grandmother material.

But thanks to science, overall better health and life expectancy breeding for women after 40 is now pretty normal. And many young women prefer postpone babies longer and longer, so 35+ mothers are becoming the norm in western societies instead or rare exceptions.

And breeding can now be outsourced to a "working womb" if necessary. All you need to do is freeze your eggs in the right age and "seed" them if you are ready and rich enough to have your own kids.

So science has helped to beat the biological clock in some aspects and women can now have babies – apart from the very popular game of international adoption – in almost any age.

Guardian: Pregnancy among over-40s reaches ‘record high’

Let’s get some Sex in the City – and expand our current idea about society

Let’s celebrate mature female consumerism and neurotic obsessions with the perfect wedding!

Conclusions?

In some way mature women are now doing the same what mature guys have been doing for ages: get out and have some fun with younger flesh. The TV shows are mostly about the usual "Relationship Porn" we love to watch (and stuff like Big Brother is the ultimate Social Porn anyway).

But the big picture is more complex: our aging societies are trying to cope with age and longevity. Behind all the modern media hype are serious questions: How do we live our lives NOT as passive grandmothers and grandfathers?

Most western people won’t have kids or grandkids when they cross the 40’s. There will be no families to fall back on – and often not even relationships – so we need new ways to socialize, form relationships on every level and "grow".

Why wait for death when you are just 40 – when your life expectancy is beyond 80? This is just the middle of your life Darling!

The old pensioner is gone – the next generation of "oldies" will be more demanding, self centered and active. Science will try to keep them "awake" and active much longer. And since our population pyramid is so skewed we need mature people to work longer and harder.

That is why the old cliches about mature women (and men) are under attack and are currently reformulated (even on trivial levels): It’s ok to have fun beyond 40, it’s ok to fuck beyond 40 and it’s probably necessary to have kids beyond 40.

That is why our societies needs to be open minded and explore about new "phases" in our lives: start a new life with 40 or a family. Since we all will last beyond the age of 70 or 80 it’s important to allow ourselves to have many "phases" in one life – and not being condemned to one "path" one has chosen in her or his twenties or thirties.

Watching the underclass, the addicted and the stupid getting busted. Doesn’t that make you feel superior?

It is amazing how many shows there are on TV that deal with justice, law and order. It doesn’t matter if it’s reality TV like Cops or fiction like those many CSI shows (all these different offspring of the same formula are a phenomenon in itself). Each country seems to have it own mixture of court TV, forensic documentaries, lawyer dramas and car chases …

In all these shows one topic prevails: the law wins, the bad guys are caught and punished.

One would think that we would want to watch something relaxing in the evening or ignore other people’s problems – instead murder and minute details of investigation seem to be more interesting than some simpler forms of entertainment.

I’ll give you blood, you give me better ratings!

But behind all this is our natural (?) desire for social porn: to participate in what’s going on and staying informed about the newest gossip of the global tribe. It doesn’t matter if it’s a real event like O.J. Simpsons trial or such trivial crap like Paris Hilton going to jail for being a drunken pussy. We want to be informed and we want to ‘relate’ – and it doesn’t matter if it’s a petty criminal or a superstar – or even fictional character.

It doesn’t matter if it’s other humans killing each other or making love to each other – we love to watch and learn intimate secrets behind it all.

But there is another layer to this lust for justice. It’s a double sided affair of the same mechanism of ‘violence’. We all have been victims of social, emotional or even criminal violence – so we want justice, revenge or just the reassurance that we will receive justice and protection. But deep in our fantasies we are also thieves and murderers – we all had the impulse / moments in our life’s to cause mayhem to others out of anger or a simple case of road rage.

Science and bad scripts to the rescue – we bring justice on a weekly basis.

So on one side we want protection from violence – but we also love to explore and participate when others were violent or even killed. For a few minutes we can dive into the mindset of the killer, the victims and the justice system – and compare it to our own inner world. It a mental carnival in which we can play every role and explore their good and bad sides while munching potato chips.

Scientists have shown many times that we mentally and emotionally emphatize on a deep level with other people – no matter if we watch something happening in reality (like driving by a traffic accident and everybody gloats) or a fictional event (we cry when made up characters die or model our lives on their behavior).

Especially in our hysterical media world plus criminals and terrorists at each corner we welcome ’security’, ‘justice’ and ‘protection’ – even when it’s just artificial. Soothing our minds is almost as important as real justice, protection or security.

So watching violence and how others deal with it or are doing terrible stuff helps us to cope with violence in our own lives and shows us new, different or frightening ways to deal with this topic.

But real crime and real violence is no ‘game’ to explore. Especially in fictional crime the dead always return in another series and lethal injuries can be overcome with a good script. Even court TV, recreations or documentaries do not really show the blood, pain and horror or real crimes. So can’t really emphatize, we always only get a filtered nicer version of reality.

Even celebrity victims are pretty dead after being murdered by their celebrity husbands.

Before I finish the empathy aspect of the Justice Porn: it is amazing that we do not really hunger for justice. In many fictional and real stories we are rather fascinated by the dark and evil characters. Some murderers have become celebrities or have a weird cult following. It is more of a social consensus that the bad guys have to loose, not because we love justice, but because we don’t want to be on the receiving end of a bad persons action without protection and the moral high ground against ‘evil doers’.

Since we all can relate to pain and suffering we all agree / empathize that we don’t want to suffer from it. This has nothing to do with justice, this is simply egoism and self preservation.

It’s good to be the king …

One last aspect is the God-complex in all of this. Sitting there and watching the crime like God watches masturbating sinners – we ’see and know’ more than the real or unreal protagonists. We are TV Gods, we know it all – and we also judge the people in the stories and events we watch on screen.

It’s truly pornography of power for the powerless. It’s an illusion of power and simpler version of sitting on a jury bench yourself (just without any responsibility). Most of all ‘all of our couch potato opinions’ don’t have any serious consequences. The law and justice are thankfully no longer bound to popular opinions or people’s anger and rage – at least in most countries.

And that’s a good thing. Instead of ropes for lynching and stones for stonings give them TV.

Just watching and controlling all these Non-Americans …

The US has over 700 military installations worldwide. In contrast to that India opened it’s FIRST foreign military base in 2006 in lovely Tajikistan (do you know where that is?). China has not a single foreign military base. And on a funny side note the even lovelier country of Kyrgyzstan has a Russian and an American military base.

Not many countries can afford to keep military bases in other nations – and not many nations are willing to have foreign soldiers in their soil. (List of military bases by country)

Many American bases go way back to WWII like those big ones in Japan, Britain and Germany, but also to the cold war like in Turkey, Korea or Spain. Russia has closed down most of it’s bases since the end of the Soviet Union – most of the remaining ones are based in former parts of the Communist Empire. Britain and France have kept some bases in some former Colonies.

But nobody spends as much money, influence and hardware as the USA. Read this excellent article Chalmers Johnson on garrisoning the planet to get some deeper insights.

Comrades: We already rule Wal-Mart and Africa! And America can’t finance any war without us. There is no need for a stinking war …

Faced with such a staggering difference in the balance of power and obsession with keeping the upper hand – is anyone surprised that the US is accused of Imperialism? During the Cold War it made sense for NATO to keep a huge network of bases around the world, but this war is over.

And neither Bin Laden nor China or Russia will be contained by military force.

For terrorists military bases are excellent advertising for American Imperialism and they also make yummy targets to blow up. China understands that going to war is stupid and is way too busy to build up it’s already huge industrial and financial muscles – that is why the US is lending money from the Communists to finance it’s war in Iraq. And finally Russia – who also no longer needs a huge military presence anyway, because it can use it’s energy reserves as much more effective weapon.

Got some change for me Dude? I need to buy some bullets … this whole war thing is pretty expensive you know.

Imperial overstretch can destroy great Nations (here are two great essays related to that: part 1 and part 2). The American infrastructure, social fabric, educational system and manufacturing base is already showing serious signs of underdevelopment. And it’s mighty military has huge recruitment and moral problems.

The military industrial complex is destroying it’s own base. But the rich and mighty can always move on to another country and new wars to fight.

More? No-Bases.org

After many years if waiting and technical development video is finally sweeping the Internets. It’s not just download little bits here and there, but massive streaming, downloading complete movies and ‘blogcasting’. We are used to get small video clips in our emails or watch important as well as ‘funny’ stuff via Websites like Crooks & Liars as well as YouTube.

The BlogCasting is a sort of Clip-O-Mania which has also grabbed the mainstream media’s attention: news shows include Internet clips as well as those many funny video shows. Videos of people torturing each other were cell phone videos, a lot of ‘funny’ stuff is from cheap camcorders. The video revolution is in full swing.

Since the medium is still part of the message those short clips will only ‘deepen’ the short attention deficit disorder of modern people. Since the introduction of mass media in form of TV and radio the speed and visual presentation of ‘content’ has increased. If you watch a newscast or report from the 1960’s you be surprised how slow and static it is. Today’s presentation hardly leaves any space for thinking. Everything is presented in ever faster image sequences, booming voices and action music. This is no longer just the stupid idea of edutainment, but actiontainment.

The faster, the more impressive and the shorter – the better.

A new generation of clones taking over the world!

Similar to the inability of many modern students to understand or write complex texts this will Clip-O-Mania will contribute to the ignorance of complexity. Contrary to popular believe I say that modern youngsters are NOT stupid, but they simply lack the training and challenges to train their brains to ’solve’ complex mental tasks as well to train patience.

As much as I like gaming myself almost ALL digital adventures only train a very limited set of challenges, which only get harder with every level but not more diversified or complex. The effects of hours of videogaming are very similar to brainwashing, because the same mental paths / messages are hammered deeper and deeper into the brain. Playing is meant to explore different approaches and experiment with different combinations. Videogames lack the variety – they present a very limited set of elements and solutions – under a huge pressure to proceed and win. Similar to the speedculture of actiontainment and videoclubs there is little time and mental space left to develop your own ideas and grow at your own pace.

Slowness has it’s own merits as well as patience and complexity.

Newspapers have a hard time in the digital age. The readership numbers are sinking while the Internet sucks away their audience. Will they die?

TV and Radio already were serious competitions – why didn’t these inventions kill off the Newspapers a long time ago? Because there was still some space left for newspapers to fill.

But the real killer of Newspaper is their own ignorance. They – like the Recording Industry – ignored all the predictions and than trends way too long. Instead of going with the changed market they tried to fight it.

Today the they are all online: New York Times, Telegraph, L.A. Times, International Herald Tribune and The Independent. Most of these online editions are brilliant – constantly experimenting with new ways to report and engage the readers – something that was long forgotten in the print editions.

But competing with the information overkill on the net is hard. Buying several international newspapers is cumbersome and sometimes hard to do. But on the web the they all compete just a mouse click away from each other.

I often prefer newspaper website over other news sites like from TV channels (like CNN or MSNBC – and even the BBC). Their reporting is often deeper, their writers provide smarter and better commentaries. I would only compare Keith Olbermann as the only TV journalist able to write and perform longer commentaries that can match most print essayists.

The Revolution of the Bloggers has shown that people want good writers on the net. But they also want interaction and community style feedback loops. If newspapers can find their way back to their audiences they should survive in the 21st century …

Anything born in the last 25 to 30 years is called Millennials – because they are the bulk of the workforce of the new Millennium.

Raised by overcaring soccer moms and freeform hippie parents, still living at home with 30 and a very pampered bunch.

This generation is the special needs generation, that needs constant attention, constant gratification and loads of ‘creative space’ for their mostly empty brains. Most of all they need constant stimulation to stay on the job. Even when they work their own jobs their parents call employers and challenge reviews and their salary – like they called their teachers and professors in school or university before. This is overprotective individualism gone wrong.

My Mom said it’s oke to show off my skills …

I am actually very happy that now the first studies and articles about the awkwardness of this generation are coming out – because it confirms my experience in many companies working with these ‘youngsters’.

I guess every generation says that the next one is softer, stupider and more pampered. This is mostly true, since most kids in western countries had the LUCK to grow up in ever better living conditions, education, spoiled consumerism and a highly expanding ‘fun culture’. It’s better to work your Nintendo instead of working the coal mines.

Classical Hero figure transformed into a multimedia cash cow.

Kids and young adults  have become highly targeted consumer groups since the 1950’s. Youth culture didn’t exist before that. A total media sphere for kids and young adults didn’t exist before the 1970’s. And total consumerism didn’t arrive before the 1980’s. The sheer amount of media archetypes, lifestyle choices, trends, weird and cool stuff only aimed at youngster is incredible and aggressively enforced by companies.

Plus we are now experiencing the total ‘digitization of social behavior’ since the arrival of cheap cell phones, broadband and social networks on the intranets.

Yes, kids have spent less and less time doing sports or experiencing nature in the last 25 years. They have spent more time shopping and in front of a screen.

On the Internet everyone can see your IQ. Thanks for sharing!

The attitudes and goals have changed. Hardly anyone wants to be an Astronaut, Pilot or other Hero figure these days. Too much effort, too little coolness.

Most teen idols are either ‘human products’ invented by companies or the media like lifestyle choices like ‘Gangster Rapper’ or ‘Super Model’. Shows like Big Brother and the whole mechanism of media whoring by being a slut (I am looking at you Paris and Perez Hilton) shows kids only that you don’t need ANY ’skillz’ to be a gazillionaire.

There has never been a Generation that grew up in in such a safe environment and with so much constant distraction. Life is no longer just about the ‘basics’ to them – they want more, more and more – and they are used getting it without much effort apart from bitching.

The Queen of the Millennials.

It is GOOD that less and less kids grow up experiencing hunger, war and poverty – like still way too many kids do in Africa, Asia, Russia, South America and the Middle East. The global society overall is getting richer. Teenager in Tehran have as often facial surgery as in LA. Millennials all over the world grew up with MTV, Madonna, McDonalds and Mobiles. Theirs styles and attitudes are very similar.

The are now enjoying the fruits of the war and post war generations, the new creative and sexual worlds of the hippie revolution – and the blatant consumerism of the Reagan years.

Apart from being nice, being loved, being entertained, able to shop and fuck something this generation hardly has an agenda. It is hardly a political generation – apart from passively ’saving the earth’ – probably by shopping Al Gore T-Shirts and blogging about it.

I am oke, you are oke. Together we watch DVDs about saving the Earth or pirate it from the Intranets!

Unlike the Hippies or Yuppies they don’t know the hunger for change or power. As long as it’s cool and entertaining anything goes. If angry give them a promotion, a hug or a Amazon.com coupon and they are happy again.

Without the absence of real dangers and challenges any human being softens up and relaxes – and after over 60 years of peace and prosperity in western nations there are hardly any direct challenges left. How can you feel like REALLY doing something, when you can stuff your face with organic burgers, surf the web on your iPhone and travel to India for Yoga?

It’s all so nice and pink. Life is almost like being with mom.

More: Wikipedia on Generation Y and read this Managers Guide to Millenials

Angst is the main reasons why we fail many tasks. Simply being scared can reduce the smartest and most competent humans to a shaky nothing.

But why is fear itself so terrible? Because it ‘kills’ our capability to think straight.

Our brains have so called lower and higher brain functions – based on in which part of the brain they are situated. (Click here to read a very well done introduction to the brain).

Our Stem Brain is the most automatic and stupidest part of the brain. It controls the (survival) reflexes/instincts and acts first (instead of ‘thinking’). Fear is not only a mental reaction (meaning it’s not just firing up your neurons to work harder), but also a chemical reaction. Adrenaline is pumped into our system and all muscles get ready for some action. Your heart and lungs start working harder too – pumping more oxygen into your system for extra power. And your brain actually speeds up thinking in dangerous situation – that is why fearful and dangerous situations are often described with "and time stood still".

Fight or flight is fears dedicated motto – on a most primitive survival level. That is why the body and mind go into overdrive to get yourself out of the danger zone if fear kicks in. But modern life is mostly social or work related stress. We are no longer faced with lions hunting us down or surviving in nature.

All these physical preparations for Fight-or-Flight happen before your higher brain functions can kick in: take control and really THINK.

To deal with fear, calming yourself down and really work the problem is hard work for your brain and has to be trained. An untrained brain simply goes into survival mode and acts on reflexes (which can be sometimes good in physically dangerous situations).

It takes some effort and training to learn to deal with fear – so your higher brain functions get the upper hand and you can think before you act – thus controlling your natural instincts and reflexes.

Let’s train da brain …

Here are some pointer of training yourself to deal with fear and stress:

1. Mental Awareness: Unless you realize that you are in a state or fear or extreme stress you can’t act upon it. Some people literally go blank when they are in stress or fear. You have to learn to stay aware and realize that you are full of fear.
2. Physical Awareness: Once you get hold of your brain you should check how your body is doing. There is a huge difference between a little faster heart beat or totally shaking with fear. Or even pissing yourself because of fear. Some people even can’t see straight. So check your breathing, heart rate, sight, shakiness, stomach for fear syndromes. Realize how excited and stressed you already are to determine the effects of adrenaline and stress on yourself.
3. Threat Assessment: In a physically threatening situation your body might have already acted (like pulling your hand out of fire), but in many modern fearful and stressful situations this is useless. You don’t kill your boss  (fight) or run away (flight), just because he gives you an evaluation. And there is no reason to shot your Laptop, because your Windows update fucked up. So wrap your head around the problem and see beyond the fear.
4. Calming Down: You should instantly start to cool down your system. Take control of your breathing – stop any hyperventilating if you are not planning to Fight or Flight. Also get a grip on your posture, don’t crouch like a ‘frightened coward’, but get upright for self esteem and and better control. Really tell yourself to calm down, realize that you are still alive and able to deal with the problem. It is important to understand that the Adrenaline in your blood will take some time to go away. So don’t expect total control in a few seconds.
5. Switching to higher Thinking: Our brains are magnificent, but they also need some time to get working. It’s no use to stress yourself into thinking straight – more stress doesn’t help. Try to give yourself a mental break before engaging into problem solving – if the situation allows it. So step back or take yourself OUT of the stressful situation, before confronting it. If you can’t ‘escape’ physically, than give yourself a short mental vacation: thinking of something nice, a great moment in your life or someone who loves you can calm you down and give you that positive ‘breather’ you might need. Sidenote: many people like to stress themselves, because they think they can think better under stress (no pun intended). This is not true: you brain is simply more active and you experience yourself ‘on fire’. It’s like hitting your thumb with a hammer to feel it better.
6. Concentrate on the Problem: Our minds need input to be creative and come up with a solution (see also this article about problem solving on Wikipedia). So learn to analyze problems – don’t focus on the fear or what scares you. Also don’t get into an anger mode if something just shocked or scared you. Anger is as much a ‘mind killer’ as fear. The easiest way to deal with problems is cutting them down to ‘acceptable chunks’. One step at a time. Later when your mind is working again you can assemble the ‘full horror’ in it’s complexity – but for starters CUT IT DOWN. Dealing with smaller chunks will yield faster results and give you back some calm and self esteem for actually solving something.

Why are there no fitness centers to train your psyche and mind to have more endurance and dexterity?

Those are a few simple pointers to understand yourself and what kind of effects fear has on your mind.

Don’t be afraid of fear – the mind killer – you mind can be trained to deal with it and solve the real problem afterwards.  

The Internet is Dante’s new inferno – a Hell Hole without escape. We will never be able to watch all videos on YouTube, click all Stumbles, dig all links on Digg and enjoy all the Billion image on Flickr … not to speak of terabytes of terabytes of links that haven’t been officially classified as cool.

So is your thirst for more only a hunger for entertainment, stimulation for your own thoughts or simply boredom?

Overall a dedicated surfer will encounter the same topics, meme and styles again and again. How many cute dogs will really touch you? How many times do you want to read that George Bush is a disaster? How many times do you want to see mad people filming themselves doing funny, but stupid things?

Are we all became pavlovian Dogs – reacting with the right reflexes? With a nice ‘Awwww’ for the nice doggy. With a ‘Buuuh’ for stupid politicians. With a ‘Cooooool, Dude!’ when people try to kill themselves in a entertaining way.

You are not what you click, you are what you do.

Do something real.

The Internet is all about communication. It’s first great breakthroughs were eMail, Chats and Newsgroups – places and mechanism for people to talk to each other, share stories and moments. The Web – with it’s rich multimedia mix of text, images, animations videos and loads of interaction came later.

The first Internet years were pure ‘Text’ – no fancy graphics, no weird interfaces, no flash movies. It was a writers paradise – and boy did people work that keyboard. That is why all those handy acronyms were invented in the first place – because they were used a lot and people got sick and tired of typing it all out. It was intended to speed up the conversation and develop some simple forms of ‘communication blocks and codes’ to ritualize reoccurring situations like ‘ROFL’ or ‘ttyl’.

eMail and chats were already different from formal letters and meeting in the office. But people tried to keep grammar, expression and context intact. It was fascinating to exchange loads of text & context in real time or almost instantly. eMail was like a speed drug for communication and brainstorming. Communication processes that often took days and weeks could be shortened to seconds, minutes or just a few hours. Brains were on fire.

This trend was pushed even further with the cell phone revolution and the invention of the web – which brought texting and web surfing to the masses. Further down the road broadband and multimedia transformed the pure ‘text-only’ online cosmos into a ‘disney-compatible consumer experience’.

Happiness is more then just an emoticon …

Websurfers and companies alike tried to make it short and sweet. Online portals developed the art of content management and squeezing as much tiny headlines and articles on their homepages. Instant messaging and texting on cell phones was the next craze – conversations were chopped up into even smaller bits. The old text emoticons were immediately translated into graphical ones – and a flood of new acronyms and Internet ‘talk’ took over the world.

The use of acronyms and rituals become even deeper entrenched in Internet communication – and it swapped over into the mainstream. Suddenly you could see web URLs in advertising and Internet slang jumped into ‘meatspace’.

But it also ritualized the always on lifestyle and communication even further. Sending jokes, images, videos, URLs or short blurbs became a substitute for describing yourself, your emotions or what you had experienced in YOUR OWN WORDS. Instead of self expression we used ‘blocks of code’ or ‘canned emotions’ to reflect ourselves – but not EXPRESSING our own state of mind.

I love your pixelation!

Instead of encouraging someone with a personal note – we send a picture of a cute doggy. Instead of saying how we feel about a sad moment with some nuances we send a sad emoticon. Instead of describing our vacation to our friends we send them a link of our Flickr gallery of snaps without context.

In all these cases we get shorter and shorter in our self expression. By breaking up complex situations or moments into simple symbols or unrelated bits we loose the complexity. The complexity of what has happened. The complexity of what we think and feel about it. And the complexity of different layers of self expression. Instead of many colour we mix ourselves with words, sentences, long expression – we use static rubberstamps of self expression. Easy and simple to use – but limited in their emotional and mental range – and shallow compared what really might be inside of you.

When you are on MySpace Google will make sure you have no privacy … 

Especially the new world of social networking is ’shrtr’. Instead of messages you send ‘funny’ games or emoticons. Instead of telling a person you like them or you ignore them you ‘rate’ them by giving them stars or declaring them your friend. Symbolism over true friendly dedication or exchange. Instead of socializing we extend our social networks by inviting the highest ranking and rated members of the database. Instead of getting to know someone and exchanging personal stories we explore their personal links, lists of favorite websites and online galleries – plus we Google their names and see if something nasty comes up.

It is no longer about what you have to say and what you are – it’s all about the right links, ranking and cool ’statement blocks’ others can recognize as greatness. You link the right political articles on your blog or stumble, you know the funniest videos, one big celebrity is your friend on MySpace.

I have friends – therefore I am! 

The art and exploration of yourself through self expression and deep thoughts has been substituted by the cleverness of self linking and self promoting. The Google PageRank of your homepage, profile or profile has become a social indicator.

The art of making friends with your personality and what you have to say and stand for. Instead of exploring one’s own inner world and building it by thinking and expressing it – we only reflect only tiny aspects of our self via links, phrases and other people’s work like videos and images.

The modern phrase and lifestyle statement ‘express yourself’ – which can be seen in so many commercials and new age books – is a challenge. It is hard work and it is a personal and social effort to express yourself, to understand yourself, to think for yourself and define yourself.

A complex personality and emotional depth can only come from complex self expression. You are the builder of your self …

Dedicated to Judefa – who inspired me to write this.

I think mass media rightfully portrays the net as full of pr0n. Usually the discussion centers around porn mongers, porn sellers, porn buyers, pedophiles and sexual predators – mostly male and eager to get the easy kick.

But who talks of webbased sluttism like ‘flickr’s finest females‘, suicidegirls.com and those many webcam whores? These – often very young girls and woman – are not forced by pimps or poverty to sell themselves. Many do it for personal kicks and some extra luxury money.

All the old concepts of pornography and prostitution fail when confronted with webbased slutism: there is no physical contact involved, the woman do it themselves, there is a lot of technology involved and so much of it is for free or very little money for the buyers. Most interesting of all is the female networking: woman recommending other ’slut friends’ or running whole networks all by themselves.

As much as I am for a liberated sexuality and female empowerment but often unlimited ‘hotness’ smells of stupidity and a very egoistic, greedy or even obsessed mindset. And you hardly can call that liberated, but rather a case for serious therapy.

Everybody can be famous with a good ‘leaked’ porn video.

I also have noticed a growing social pressure for web exhibitionism for young people (MySpace.com is only the current tip of the iceberg). Many online communities and single sites over the years have developed into ‘hot zones’ instead of ‘just’ social meeting places. I guess ‘leaked’ videos by big stars like Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton and absolute nobodies like ‘Tammy‘.

I guess the sexual revolution is not eating it’s children, but well connected grandchildren. The pressure to public slutism, to look cool and sexy and do horny stuff has risen to new levels. Slutism on the web or mass media are hard to ignore, neither are the gazillion of young girls who get plastic surgery at an alarmingly early age.

Sexuality should be explored, but it should be a personal and intimate thing. Especially when you are young. So ladies go and explore yourself and your talents, but don’t ‘bless’ the rest of the web with it.

More? Love the spoof Paris Hilton Video

Again and again in recent years the Muslim world exploded. Once again pride is more important then sanity. Once again people say ‘we have to respect religion’. Once again flags are burned and artists are threatened. Once again the west doesn’t ‘respect’ Islam.

I am sick and tired of this – and I guess this is also a growing feeling here in Europe from what I have read in European news and blogs.

Sure we Europeans have a long and troubled past with the middle east – because of religion and later colonialism. France and Britain have retreated from the region and the Arabs got to run their own countries. But the cold war and oil once again drew in other superpowers and foreigners. The current trouble spots Iran (read about operation Ajax) and Iraq (more about the troubled history) are a result of foreign intervention, especially by the US. It is a big historic joke that the US tries to bring democracy to a region where it’s oil interests kept totalitarian regimes in power for so long.

Another great success of American foreign policy

Overall Europe continued to trade and support these tyrants and bad regimes as well. Nobody protested against Saddam as long as he was in power, nobody really cared in Europe. But we continued to allow exiles into the EU. Especially London and Paris were full of middle east exiles and rich visiting Sheiks as well. Ayatollah Khomeini planned and executed the Iranian revolution from France. Many other radical islamists went to Europe and stayed underground – because their home countries prosecuted for various reason. Over time many Muslim communities sprang up all over Europe: Turks, Kurds, Iranians, Iraqis and many more. Many of them could live here while their home countries were at war. They were allowed to run businesses, build Koran schools and mosques.

Riots of the underprivileged people are nothing new.

Sure there are a lot ’second class citizen’ ghettos in Spain, France, Britain and Germany. But poverty not only hits illegal immigrants, but also second generation Muslims and so called native citizens. The french riots last year showed that integration isn’t perfect, but poverty and lack of jobs is a problem for almost everyone in Europe and not just a ‘tactic’ against Muslims.

Modern Europe was always interested to see the middle east grow and get on it’s feet. Sure, there was always a certain amount of guilt, because of the colonial past. We also tried to forget about the terrible crusades and the long history of wars between Muslims and Christian Europe. Nobody here in Europe would seriously consider to recapture Jerusalem or Istanbul – instead many hope that Turkey will join the EU one day. The EU has supported many peace initiatives, supported for example the Palestinians although they blew up the Olympic Games here in Munich. Europe was always more interested in long term talks, understanding and trade. We called this soft power in contrast to hard military invention – or in current terms old European ‘weaselism’ against the new American century.

European tourism to the middle east before the Age of Enlightenment

But still there is religion and huge amount of anger against Europe or any infidel in the Muslim world. It doesn’t matter if we sent help to Iran or Pakistan after earthquakes or pay for the Palestinian elections (so radical Hamas can win them in a democratic way). For the radicals and uneducated masses any reason is good enough to burn flags (never though I see a Danish flag on fire) and threaten Europe with bombs again.

The attacks in Spain and London are certainly ‘understandable’, because these countries supported the war on Iraq – which a huge amount of Europeans despised and tried to stop. But any ‘understanding’ stopped with murders like against Theo van Gogh or the bombing of tourists.

The current Holy Anger against some old cartoons from Denmark show how Europe and the Middle East have really progressed. Europe has left behind religions fanaticism and developed stable democratic societies – we are currently trying to transcend the nation state. Yes, Europe has progressed better and more since the middle ages then the Middle East.

House of Saud – power, sand and oil – but no democracy in sight.

Yes, you can call me an European cultural snob any day – I would be proud to wear that title! I prefer the rule of law over tribal loyalty. I prefer equal rights over woman in bee keeper suits. I prefer democratic elections over Kings, Sheiks, Mullahs, Royal Families and old hereditary or religious traditions. I prefer a freedom of press and disgusting jokes over Fatwas against Artists and Newspaper Editors – or raging protests against a simple beauty contest (yep, that was in Nigeria – but still the same frame of mind). Give me a corrupt Silvio Berlusconi over a President Ahmadinejad or terror leader like Yassir Arafat.

A ‘mature’ society must be able to cope with different ideas, even insults and threats in a civilized manner. That includes any nation. Burning the Danish flag because one of it’s newspaper published a stupid cartoon is rather strange. Threatening to bomb and kill people over a stupid joke is simply daft.

Kemal Atatürk showed the world that a modern country and Islam can exist side by side.

While Europeans demonstrate against wars in the Middle East and against Terrorism – the people in the Arab world seem more to protest for war and revenge – and support even terrorism. Still many Muslims dream about recreating the old Caliphate. But dreaming such dreams of old empires and conquest are out of date. Hitlers ‘Lebensraum’ idea didn’t work, neither did the communist dream of a united workers planet.

I am sure there are many people in the Middle East and Muslims who only want peace and do not support radical ideas – but it’s about time these people start to show us that they are in control and support a peaceful global society.

Muslims have to give up their conspiracy theories about Europe (and to a certain degree America) and start building their own stable societies and economies. Most of all they have to take responsibility and don’t hide behind your religion to build a better world for everyone. Once Damascus and Baghdad were on top of the world and leading centers of wisdom and enlightenment, highly tolerant and global trade powers. My dear Muslims, if you want that to happen again, then start to teach your kids, build up your economies and use your brains instead of guns and explosives.

*repost from 2006*

Is it maybe my age? Or is it because I am unable to form proper relationships? But I am getting less and less pussy in my life. This is not a complaint about being sexless, but rather without some recharging contact to lovely females …

Sex is certainly nice and exciting, although I find the pure act itself rather boring and uninspiring. Orgasm is usually quicker achieved without third party support. Sure, one can look out for new kicks, like a little bit perversion on the side, drugs or mind boggling experiments (like fucking in an exploding space shuttle).

But I am hungry for something else …

I spent quite some time on personal sex and sensual culture, by doing Tantra, massage and yoga. Which is good. It’s great to know your heart chakra from your ass, as well being able to know for yourself if you feel horny or simply true love and affection for another human being. This is all very helpful. Thank you so much Mr. Insight.

But knowing stuff is one thing – now for the practical part. Already during my first Tantra days I had quite a hard time finding women who understood this new ‘thing’, being able to cope with a so called ‘emotionally grown up male’. Since I have overcome the snobbish esoteric desire to heal women with my holy penis (or Lingam as the Tantrist call the sausage bit), there is now a lot of time to experience a nice flow of energy and sexuality between a lovely Shakti and me (the so called Shiva). I am not asking for a cosmic orgy every night or the supreme priestess of Yoni in my life, just a bit understanding and tenderness beyond the old in & out mechanism.

This is not tantric snobbism. I am just a firm believer that lovemaking is a set skills, that goes way beyond a simple erection or wetness and some Uhhhs and Ahhhs.

Love technique is a pure set of physical sex skills, to know your own and your partners anatomy, erroneous zones and the effect on hormones and excitement on the human body (and side effects to the mind and emotional side as well – more of that later). Also included is knowledge about how to operate your genitals and pleasure tools, as well as the effects of different positions. In later stages you can add all sorts of games, operation of external pleasure tools and drugs as well.

The next big area is your sexual psyche, how the human mind and emotions interact with sexual energies. Now this is quite a task, but a very fulfilling one. This is were we can learn to be more open, to heal or wounds of love and learn to show and give true affection. Since sex ‘lives’ very close to our egos, there is a lot of potential for conflict, fear, hunger and madness. To master your sex psyche means mostly to confront your hungry sex maniac ego. Me! Me! Me!

For some people the last area of sex magic or spirituality is the most exciting, because they expect some sort of Steven Spielberg effects while making love or instant enlightenment by tantric penetration. Or they simply watched to much advertising bullshit.

An energetic as well as spiritual exchange always happens while making sex/love. If you have read all tantric literature in the world or not. This is more about to learn how to use these energies consciously, instead of an unaware and animalistic level (which is also useful). This is about exchange with your partner, weaving a carpet of love and energy that goes way beyond the satisfaction of an physical orgasm. It’s a deep experience that has a more lasting effect on your psyche on different levels: your ego will feel very happy about all that deep attention it received, your body is humming with energy, your soul is touched on an intimate level, that hardly exist in everyday life.

Let’s go back to my tiny ego problems …

I shed my biggest tears about sensual deprivation. I want to be touched and massaged in a fulfilling way. Once again this is an area where I did some workshops, loads of massage exchanges (with people from different massage ‘traditions’) and of course energy work. In the age of consumer Ayuveda and global esoterica, it seems very hard to find people to celebrate such a basic human ‘thing’: to touch and be touched in a nice way without any sexual drive behind it.

What drives me nuts, is that so called ‘normal’ people have such a hard time giving and receiving a simple pleasure as touching from someone else. It’s always an exclusive thing, just reserved for the one and only true partner or lover.

What a poor and limited concept.

I guess before we ever reach the stage of universal love, we need to explore the universal touch first. If you are afraid of simply touching someone in a pleasant and friendly way, how can you open your heart & mind for compassion or even love for the whole universe?

*repost 2003-09-13*

Life is harsh when you kick start the human spirit.

Humankind has spent a long time worshipping gods – since the modern Cro-magnon appeared and kicked the Neanderthal out of existence. One of the main difference between us and our ancestors is our imagination and therefore adaptability. No other ancestor started language, cave paintings or complex cultures.

But our imagination is also our greatest enemy. Where we lacked knowledge we invented ‘things’ to fill the gaps. So in shock and awe about nature we invented spirits, ghosts and gods to explain thunder, death and a lot of other annoying things.

Me Artist! Me Paint! Me Talk to Horsy Spirit! Me Shaman! Bow to me!

As our mental capabilities expanded so did our cultures, language and religions. If you look at the history of religions you also see how their concepts and liturgy evolved in complexity. But the human intellect is an amazing thing – and once our basic civilization was established smarter heads started to questions the gods themselves (like Epicurus).

They already concluded that nature is everything and that the gods are nothing. Even things like the atom were discussed long before they had the means to research it’s existence. Human imagination can work far beyond your cultural and technological limits.

But religion also proved to be a great tool over power – and rulers always like to have a divine backing. The people can ruled much easier if their leaders are in favor with the gods – not matter how dubious those connections are. And almost all cultures have creations myths that make THEM the chosen ones. For example the Japanese track themselves back to the sun goddess Amaterasu. I personally like the imagination and complexity of Hinduism. You hardly find a more colorful universe of gods.

The Enemies of my Religion are also our Enemies. Let’s crush them, because we are the Chosen ones …

As religion is an attempt to explain the universe (and therefore a search for the ultimate truth) it leads to science. Almost all early European scientist were dedicated Christians, who were VERY curious how god managed to run the whole show. Too bad that they discovered that the old stories of all religions weren’t true: the earth was neither the center of the universe nor was it formed out of a slain giants body.

But parallel to the myths of religion (and fairy tales) we humans discovered spirituality, our own psyche, the secrets of our minds and a new love for the beauty of the universe. Almost all major religions have their smaller departments dedicated to more serious spiritual paths – which are often more demanding and more abstract then the normal liturgy for the common follower. A truely dedicated lifestyle of a Yogi or Jesuit priest is NOT everyone – it’s very demanding. And people are unwilling to really give everything for their gods. Self preservation is usually stronger then religion.

Are you a true follower of your God(s)?! Spiritual nakedness and Yogi tea are not for everybody you know …?!

Life – the last twenty thousand years – was quite harsh to humans. Simply getting enough food was tough enough. Life was always very unfair and scary. Religion also helped to cope with fear and survival – tight rules and rituals helped tribes to survive and unite under a common banner/purpose. Religion also helped us to ‘organize’ power and hierarchies.

Religion helped us to survive and was one of the first components of our cultures. But culture will continue to evolve – even the evolution of ideas is pretty unstoppable.

Many people say that science is the true enemy of the gods or any religion. But no – our cultural evolution is the true ‘enemy’ (if you can speak in such terms anyway).

Cultural evolution brings not only full stomachs, but a separation of powers, the rule of the law, a more mutual sharing of technologies, education, medical supplies and science.

In the early 1500s European Christianity was becoming more and more aware of those ‘other’ religions and world views – simply because travel and trade was coming back to roman standards. In a monotheistic religion/society it’s much more shocking to hear that there is an alternative to just the one ‘true’ god. Polytheistic societies never had that problem to such an extend – they could cope with (just) another god …

The same Country and same God – three different groups fighting to the Death. A bit odd isn’t it?!

Luxuries like human rights, democracy, free markets and the separation of powers didn’t appear until the late 1700s in Europe. Instead of just fighting for survival, we could dedicate (again) more resources to social evolution and exploration, because we finally had the understanding how to help ourselves and survive.

Also we started to rule ourselves less by divine appointment, but by social and political ideas. The concept of the national identity was supplanting religious identities – especially in Europe after those devastating and fruitless religious wars.

So in some way Martin Luther’s idea split the Christian atom (much more then the catholic (western) and orthodox (eastern) separation before). This big bang lead to the Age of Enlightenment. But it was paid with a lot of blood and burned bodies.

He challenged the Power of the Church and tried to put believe back into Christianity.

Looking back in our history one could say we have fought many wars between conflicting cultural ideas: from tribes uniting under one religion, to great religions fighting each other and social ideas fighting religions to establish a new order within a bigger cultural context.

Overall our cultures evolved to ever increasing social structures: from tribes to kingdoms, from kingdoms to nation states, from nation states to continental entities (like the EU).

But old ideas never completely die: we still have tribalism as well as religion amongst us. The wars of the 1990’s in the Balkans and current conflicts between Muslims and Christians show how deep these old ideas are still embedded in our cultural DNA.

The Founding Fathers of America – one of the greatest moments in History. They put the Nation before God, the Citizen before their Rulers.

The idea of the nation state or even atheism are pretty new – hardly a couple of centuries old – compared to tens of thousands of years of tribalism and religions.

I say no more gods please – they had several thousand years to enlighten us, put an end to suffering, spread universal love and understanding. Gods and religions have failed to do so – although they had more then enough time and cost us a huge amount of life’s.

We are currently struggling to implement new concepts into our cultural evolution: a truly global society, universal human rights, total religious freedom (or betters say to protect ‘true’ believers from each other) and a free flow of information. No surprise people are scared and more blood is shed. But overall our current democratic, socialist and capitalist ‘ideas’ have feed and clothed more people then ever – safety and education are still on the rise although we still experience huge humanitarian catastrophes (like in Darfur or Africa in general).

Since democracy, technology and science have started to spread – we as a race have prospered more then ever. Gods didn’t build schools and hospitals, fed and clothed the poor, educated and explored the human potential – and this potential also includes our spirituality and imagination.

*repost from 2005*

Hamlet would have a cool dark gothic MySpace page today!

(Warning: stupid word creations ahead)

There is a lot of personal porn to be found on the blogosphere: death, breakups, terminal illness, angst, family affairs, war stories, fetishism, any kind of sexual encounter, romance or just plain everyday Weltschmerz.

Why this intensive openness and almost offensive sharing of pain? We has the web exploded with a gazillion video blogs, social bookmarking sites and even more cute baby pictures? Why do people pour their innermost secrets and feelings onto the blogosphere?

Writing as Therapy

Diaries are hardly a new invention. Blogs are evolved diaries. People have been writing their intimate thoughts literally for thousands of years. But diaries were always considered a private affairs, as personal reflection of life, emotions and ‘books of pain’ to cry into. My dear diary I feel like shit today …

I type, therefore I am.

But the age of personal intimacy is over. Overall society has opened up. With the ‘invention’ of psychology on one side and mass media on the other we much more understand how our psyche works. Writing is good! Sharing is even better! Crying is no longer only for girls and Britney Spears fans.

Expressing yourself to the global family is a good thing – no need to bottle it all up and keep not only a stiff upper lip. Let your emotions flow. Breath in, blog out!

The MeWe

But the desire ones own thoughts can hardly explain the incredible explosion of personal tidbits, video diaries, family blogs, instant messaging, social networking sites and all those nifty gadgets to share, collect, compare and publish the lifes of the ‘Always-On-Generation’?

Living in a box?

We actually face a total restructuring of our social fabric since the beginning of the industrial revolution. The classical family has been dissolving for almost 200 years.

But there is another important aspect to our modern society: the ‘tele-lifstyle’ has massivly changed our perception of life and speed of our socities.

The ‘Me’-Generation.

Since the start of the industrial age the ‘breeding collective’ is no longer necessary. It took only a short time to deconstruct the big family clan via the small modern family to arrive at the single parent. Today society takes much bigger part in raising children so woman can basically ‘breed’ by themselves. The big family clans support is no longer required for financial, legal, religious or moral reasons to get your clone up and running. No wonder we see such a huge explosions of single moms since the mid 80’s.

Old school family fantasies …

The result: most modern cities are filled up to 60% (or more) single people. Extreme individualism is no longer a choice, but the way kids grow up.

The ‘Me’-Generation has arrived.

More and more kids have no brothers, no sisters, no uncles, no aunties. They are grow up in a reduced family environment, while the social fabric is becoming ever more lose as well.

The Tele-Lifestyle

But also the way we experience and learn about our world has changed dramatically. We always had verbal communication and written reports to keep us informed, exchange ideas and archive knowledge to improve our chances for survival. But inventions like the telegram, telegraph, telephone, radio and most of all the television have radically changed our lifestyle and how we grow and connect as societies.

These new inventions enabled us to have a ‘tele-presence’ almost anywhere in real time on the globe. In contrast to the old slow days we can now experience live reports from the Hindenburg catastrophe, watch moon landings and the start of wars in shock and awe. We are ‘there’ without leaving here.

There is no longer a delay between events and the reports we receive. We can see and hear events as they unfolded – we are tele-present. The first time in human history you can participate in events far away from physical existence.

We loves our TV!

The television transports us within one news broadcast to a dozen places. Death in Iraq, a naked celebrity in Hollywood, a cute polar bear in Berlin. Been there, seen it, taped it.

With telephones and video conferences we can interact with people all over the world.

All these forms of communication are cheap and available to almost anyone these days. With cell phone armed with cameras and Internet access anyone can broadcast from anywhere. You can be everywhere without leaving home – you can establish a tele-presence with a mouse click, flipping on the TV or by dialing a simple number.

Amazing – especially when we remember that our grandparents just started with radio and the telegraph. No TV, no telephones, no computers, no cell phones, no Internet, no Google, no eMail, no video cameras.

The new ‘We’

But the new Tele-Presence had another effect. People shared mutual memories of events they haven’t been. A mass event  without a crowd.

Billions of people watched the first moon landing or listened to it on the radio without being there. There was no crowd on the moon – but billions shared that moment with intense involvement.

These are the new virtual ‘We’-Moments.

We now have gazillions of shared memories, emotions and experiences although we have never made them together. This is the new collective memory, the new ‘We’.

When you talk with others about global ‘tele-events’ (like the moon landing) you share deep down images, emotions, associations. These are like emotional ‘bookmarks’ we can use to connect and link our lifes. And these bookmarks are global ingrained in the individual and collective memory.

Almost as good as being there yourself – only safer …

For example: the images of 9/11 were burned live into our collective memories. We all can recall these images, we all shared that moment.

But not only such sinister moments connect us. It is amazing how TV shows, movies and advertising have created a huge library of moments and associations in our global psyche. Captain Kirk is as much a modern ‘We’ moment as Sesame Street or using ‘The Force’ (TM).

We are all Waltons now.

TV shows like the Waltons, Friends and almost any other soap opera are our new surrogate families. We learn from their lives and share their experiences we often can no longer get from our own social networks and often non-existent families. Like in ancient times we model our behavior on our virtual gods and role models.

The new ‘We’ has many fathers, mothers, lovers, relationships, enemies, brothers and sisters. ‘We’ lives and feeds on real and virtual events. It doesn’t matter if JR, John Lennon or John F. Kennedy gets shot, it all influences the ‘We’ psyche.

Everyone is a broadcaster on the Intranets

If TV has taught us anything it is the mechanism of sharing moments and exposing yourself to an global audience.

The web finally gives us the tools to link our lifes into the global psyche. We add to the ‘noize’ of the human condition.

The ‘Me’ digitally melts with the ‘We’.

Our minds spent more and more hours each day in other people’s lifes – real ones and virtual ones.

Am I connected or what?!

We participate in ‘tele-lifes’, ‘tele-families’, ‘tele-news’ and ‘tele-gatherings’.

It is no surprise that new types of websites or functions have developed: the YouTube’s on one side and the MySpace’s on the others. They serve two important functions: collecting and sharing mutual ‘We’ moments – and establishing your own global ‘Me’ tele-presence. We peek into other people’s ‘Me’ and compare our ‘Me’ to them – to see how much ‘We’ there is.

Via blogs and sites like StumbleUpon as well as social networks or social bookmark collection we put out our ‘Me’s: these are the websites I like, these are the videos & moments that are part of me, these are the pictures I can identify with, this is how I date and mate, these are snapshot from my ‘real’ life, these are my buddies, this is how I vote, these mp3s are part of my life’s soundtrack.

I am a well connected diversified prosumer individualist …

Come here, click me, compare me, link me, read me, watch me, email me, IM me, bookmark me.

This ‘Me’ is part of our ‘We’.

Blogschmerz

So is it any surprise that you can read, hear and watch almost any aspect on the global ‘We’? How much of your ‘Me’ can be found there? How much time do you spend in your many ‘tele-lifes’, avatars and online nicks?

Ah the simple life: no windows updates, no spam, no config.sys and no Paris Hilton!

And remember: we are the Neanderthals of the global ‘We’ lifestyle. Our iPods, cell phones and laptops are pretty limited and primitive. Our Wikipedia’s, blogs, galleries and online footprints are not even one generation ‘deep’.

There is no firewall against ‘We’. ‘We’ are ‘We’.

PS: This post was inspired by my exchange with Judefa and Edosan – so it’s only logical I dedicate this posting to those great beings. So Judefa and Edosan this one is for you – thanks for your inspiration!

Often I criticize your country, your government and even the whole of American society. Am I guilty of blatant Anti-Americanism?

No country is perfect – and hardly any remaining lonely HyperPower can be perfect as well. I think all countries are guilty of stupidity, selfishness, hypocrisy and nationalism. More vital societies are guilty of violence, terrorism and imperialism as well. China, Iran, Israel, Russia, Saudi Arabia are far from perfect.

But even when you Americans feel attacked by protestors in Baghdad, Berlin or Tokyo – know this: we pay attention to you, because we care. Friends do watch friends. And friends tell friends, when they think something is wrong or could be done better. And even your enemies might spot a truth about your country and shove it into your face. Nobody is perfect.

We hated Nixon, we loved the King – but who didn’t?

You would be amazed my dear Americans how many of your friends watch your internal politics very closely. Every US election is an important topic for almost any other country. The person who runs America is handed a global leverage. If your country makes big decisions the rest of us face it’s consequences as well. If your banks go bust – some of ours do too. If your economy gets shaky, ours wobble as well. If you attack someone, we also become targets, combatants and allies. America you don’t stand alone – you are deeply connected with your friends and your enemies.

Many people from so called industrial nations have traveled to your beautiful country, watched your movies, listened to your musicians, ate your food. We love American culture and sometimes we despise it. Hypocrisy? No, we don’t have to love and consume everything you produce – and you don’t love and consume everything of your own culture as well. We all choose what we like and we all find something stupid about our own cultures as well.

Culture? Imperialism? Americanism? Or simply a cheap and easy way to eat that appeals to everyone?

The Age of Enlightenment is the foundation on which American was built and Europe was transformed by it as well into a modern society.

We share the same admiration for rule of law, equal rights, freedom of religion, separation of power, social justice, human rights, capitalism, democracy and consumerism. Most countries on this planet aspire to follow that path – because it is so far the most ‘humane’ form of government we humans have created. Plus globalization transforms us all – brings us closer and makes us more the same.

In Tehran young girls have almost as many nose jobs as girls in LA or London. There are polish Country and Western singers, there are German Cowboy and Indian festivals and there is a McDonalds at almost every major street on this planet. American Idol is a British invention, Japanese people are crazy about Baseball and the best Cricket Players are Indians and Pakistanis.

We all laughed about Borat – because every culture has it’s own hypocrisy, oddities and funny bits. 

The credo of the future is Mix & Match. We take bits and pieces from each other’s culture and blend it with our own local affairs.

America has so much to offer the rest of the world.

Remember that my dear Americans. Remember all the good stuff you have developed and you can share with us. Remember that community and progress were always your greatest strengths. Remember to make friends and share the fruits of your civilization as we shall share ours with you. In the end there is only one planet and one people.

We love you America!

Every time I hear a modern politician emphasize the need to democratize the backwards nations on this planet I want to applaud and punch them in the face at the same time. This also applies to many political commentators and of course Bloggers, who love to pounce undemocratic countries and make them switch to the best political system invented yet by sheer willpower.

Although I am a staunch supporter of Democracy, I don’t believe in it as an instant solution to most countries problems. Democracy is an indicator for a modern and developed nation – but Democracy itself doesn’t transform backwards societies into shiny new ones.

Europe has not only invented many forms of government – but also tried and tested many of them. It’s a rich tradition paid for with many life’s and often centuries of terrible consequences. Most of all it took Europe nearly two thousand long years to transform itself into these shining beacons of enlightenment and peace as we know it today.

Aristotle’s Politics at work in Greece.

But the History of Democracy itself is a funny and ugly affair – with a huge whole between it’s beginning and final modern success.

Although it was so famously invented by the Greek nation states (most notably Athens) around 500 BC. But it was not the form of democracy we hold so dear today: woman, slaves and bloody foreigners were excluded from the process and of course regarded as second class citizens. Most important of all is that Demokratia was in the beginning successfully exported to some other nation states, but pretty fast abolished through other forms of government. Here is another good background article on Greek Democracy.

A similar development happened to the Roman Republic – which freed itself from it’s kings around the same time as the Greeks discussed in public meetings. The Roman Republic also had many elements of a modern state: a senate with lively debates, a citizenship, rule of law, votes and elected officials.

Greece lost it’s independence to the Romans around 150 BC – Rome itself turned slowly into a dictatorship after many bloody civil wars and chaotic rule by the Senate. This transformation found it’s great dictator with Julius Ceasar.

A republican Senate is boring – lets get ourselves a proper Dictator

Now comes the funny thing – since the end of the Greece and roman experiments not much was heard or seen of Democracy in Europe. Some tribal societies had smaller democratic elections or forms of community (like the Althing in Iceland – established 930 or the polish Veche), but no big democratic state or system emerged for a long time.

Also the idea of Democracy was more or less forgotten by European thinkers and statesmen. The medieval mind was more occupied with symbolism and religion then democracy or equal rights for everyone. Now it was time for feudalism and religion to bring blood, tears and ignorance. The common men lost any chance in participating in ‘big government’.

For almost 1500 years until the Renaissance nobody had any real interest in old Greek ideas and values. Rich merchants, the clergy and feudal ruler continued to suppress peasants and workers. Even the Reformation didn’t change much about this. Martin Luther supported the ruling class during several peasant uprisings. It was not yet time for social equality nor democratic rights for everyone.

May I have your head your Majesty?

But all was not lost – especially in England. The first Parliament (later split up into the House of Commons and House of Lords) was formed during the reign of King Henry III in the 13th century. Still not mass democracy, but a start to sharing powers and establishing the modern rule of law.

It was still a feudal affair, a political class system instead of a system of democratic equals. And still the Crown ruled supreme. It was a long and bitter process over many centuries and civil wars to change this.

Almost 500 years later Oliver Cromwell made the Parliament a permanent establishment instead of a ’seasonal affair’ created and disbanded by the Crown at will. Now the people reigned supreme instead of the Monarchy – but it took two bloody civil wars to cut of the monarch’s head (1649) and establish the Parliamentary System in England.

What say ye old wooden tooth?

The biggest step for European Democracy happened in … America and their fight for Independence from the British Empire (1775 – 1783). The American Revolution started with the impressive Declaration of Independence in the year 1776.

This great document was the ‘result’ of the European ‘Age of Enlightenment’ – a political, artistic and philosophical movement that created the mental cornerstones of our modern societies with it’s humanism, socialism, secular and democratic systems. But it was the achievement of young American society to build the first nation based on these ideas. It was much harder to transform the old and encrusted European societies – but it happened eventually.

Now we have to applaud the french people who finally got it right and started their first revolution of 1789, which lead finally to the Abolition of Feudalism.

The modern House of Commons from 1851.

It still took almost two hundred more years since Cromwell till Democracy was more firmly established in the UK by the Reform Act of 1867, which allowed more ‘normal’ men to vote instead of the privileged gentry and it also abolished so called rotten boroughs. Still no women were allowed to vote.

The real reason for the breakthrough of modern western Democracy was the Industrial Revolution. With the emergence of the working and middle class the old class system was finally abolished and replaced by new modern movements. Socialism, Feminism and Communism were triggered by the social consequences of the Industrial Revolution.

Say hello to a new political power – the industrial working class.

The miserable living and working conditions of workers in slums, child labor and the slow organization of Labor created the pressure for huge changes, like medical care, housing projects, education, equal rights and the vote for everyone. The new economy broke down many social barriers and also allowed a new upward mobility.

And finally the suffragette movement – started in the early 1800’s – established the right to vote for woman (1920 in the US and 1928 in the UK). Once again a slow process that took almost another hundred years to be globally accepted.

The new ‘mass societies’ also demanded better forms of representation and government – as well as accountability and social justice. The shock of the Soviet October Revolution finally convinced even the most hardened elites in Europe that mass democracy was the best way to go for the future.

Democracies have to be protected against the enemy from within

But modern Democracy faced two final test before it got the global stamp of approval: it had to fight to defend it’s values against Fascism and Communism before it was accepted as the best form of government. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Moussolini and Franco transformed their nations by popular support into terrible societies.

So it was a long and bloody road from the first forms of Democracy until our modern mass Democracies. To establish itself Democracy needs first the rule of law and a broad industrial society with a rule of law and separation of powers.

Without economic support to pay for education, medical care and a national infrastructure it won’t work. You also need a big and strong middle class and educated elites to develop a political landscape, start parties, run ministries, the judiciary system, an independent media, ‘neutral’ police and armed forces. Too many Democracies fell victim to military interventions ‘to save the country’.

We elect Allah as our Leader.

Equally important is a strong secular humanism within the society itself – the separation of Church and State. It took Europe centuries of war and millions of deaths to learn that lesson.

Many African or middle eastern countries lack many components I just mentioned and you can’t for example develop a strong economical base over night or an educated middle class to form a strong political landscape. The same is also still true for a few Asian countries, but they have picked up the basics much faster then many of their African and Arabic counterparts.

To RGB or CMYK – that’s the Question!

You are a person with many interests and many skills? You love art, you produce art – but you also live with a huge pile of creative guilt? Welcome to the club! It’s hard to be a digital artist, since your computer enables you to run amazing tools – which have been unthinkable twenty years ago. A creative powerhouse in one small box.

Wanna make a movie? No problem use Adobe Premiere or AfterEffects. Are you a graphics person? Your choice is vast and wide – Photoshop, Illustrator, FreeHand, Painter – to name but a few. Wanna go 3D and do amazing effects or animations. Once again the list boasts absolutely amazing tools like Lightwave, Maya, 3D Max.

Oh my – you are a creative person! Wow!

You make music and love to sample and tweak sounds? A small feat these days – cool software is cheaply available, even Star Wars was remixed on a simple PowerBook using everyday digital tools and even great modern musicians use the same Samplers, Synths and Sequencer like you do.

Not to forget our good old writing tools to produce anything ranging from articles or complete books! You can go from a simple solution like Microsoft Word up to publishing powerhouses like Quark or InDesign. And how about your own web page or weblog? I am sure you want to show the world what you are capable off, let’s buy Flash, Dreamweaver or GoLive?

You had enough? Fine.

More human than human – welcome to the new 3D art universe (image: Miles Estes)

Modern designer are rapped and pushed to be digital renaissance artists – nothing is impossible. Since the DTP revolution in the late 80’s smashed the old lines between technician and artist – we creative types have to be both today a Geek and a Michelangelo in one person.

Once it used to be enough to excel as a writer, painter or photographer – know you have to be you own typesetter, reproduction expert, scanner and editor etc. as well. But since this is the analog2digital (A2D) generation we love to have multiple choice – since we know how limited we felt with our old tools: clunky typewriter, tipex, letraset letters, dirty chemicals to develop slides, dangerous cutters, slow snailmail and mechanical copy processes to name a few. No surprise: we love absolute control and absolute choice.

Welcome to a mad artists world.

But it’s driving us mad. Instead being limited to a certain area of art or projects we suddenly find ourselves doing a thousand creative things all at once: writing articles & weblogs, drawing illustrations, retouching photos, programming web sites, layouting a new CV and looking for background music for our presentations.

Did you really think one huge monitor would be enough?!

So much to do, so little time and energy. And the web as a global showcase doesn’t make things easier. There is a constant stream of competition and inspiration to cope with. Have you seen those cool Japanese animations? This great Danish photographer? These old retro covers of some weird fashion magazine?

All these choices, ideas and doors waiting to be opened drive any creator mad. The total overflow of choice makes it hard to focus on just one project, just one set of skills, just one insanely great idea. A tough decision for anyone who loves to surf in possibilities.

Modern artists still want and need to be kissed by their Muses as well.

And we feel a lot of guilt of not pursuing all those ideas that pop up in our minds. The guilt of not pursuing another great business idea or product the world desperately needs. We get paralyzed by all the doors we could jump through and enjoy another adventure in creativeland. And this guilt sucks big time.

Anything else Sir? But there is an additional problem: business. Today’s clients and employers all want a young super geeks with a Maestro’s thirty years of experience and wide ranging skill set. But just one arty farty person please. We are on a tight budget these days.

Ah, when art was simple and computers limited. (Image: Andres Becerra)

So it’s really hard to say ‘I am just an illustrator’ or ‘I can only write good articles’, since you don’t want to cut yourself out of the market. So we learn and buy many different software packages, try to stay on top of a gazillion technologies, names and gizmos. But most of all, we lose the time, energy and focus to be masters of our trade – to be simply open, productive and creative.

Although art involves knowledge and craftsmanship as well, once again we should start to make distinctions between mastering expressive techniques and mastering production technologies.

There is a difference between animating something and writing a flash script. There is a difference between composing a great stream of words to entice your readers and operating a content management system. There is a difference between taking great pictures and layout an art book. Let artists be artists, technicians be technicians and geek’s … oh well …

*repost 2003-08-19*

It’s a feature – not a bug!

My basic question: Is there a religion without fear?

Although we seem to find the motive or promise of love or eternal bliss in so many religions – we also find the element of fear and some form of damnation in them as well. There always seems a special place for the faithful: like Heaven or Valhalla. Even the concept of Nirvana is in it’s metaphorical meaning similar to a blessed place – compared to the wheel of reincarnation.

Read the rest of this entry »

For years now the ‘war’ between the mainstream media and Bloggers has been raging. A new form of media is storming in scene and shifting the balance of the old media market. This is nothing new: movie theatres complained about TV for everyone – which took away most of their eyeballs. The original press people sneered first at radio and later TV reporters as well. Every form of mass communication has to proof it’s worth and develop it’s style.

As much as I applaud the new citizen journalist I don’t think we / they have taken over the world, nor deeply influence the rich and powerful. Plus the number of Bloggers who actually contribute NEW information and reports is very small.

One of the big difference between Bloggers and journalists is, that the later ones go out and report directly from wars, press conferences and events – while most Bloggers simply recycle these reporting’s. Sure – there are Bloggers in the field, but they are few and not ‘organized’. Big news corps like Reuters and BBC News have offices all over the world and they provide a continuity that is very different from the more sporadic blogosphere.

When life was simple – only those Viking terrorists and your soul to worry about

Although I don’t think that an unorganized and unstructured reporting is a bad thing (because I believe that chaos is always a self organizing affair), it is also important and highly valuable to have news providers and archives from either state funded news organizations (like many European TV stations) and commercial ones.

But most important aspect of all is that news consumption has changed – not just the reporting. The media explosion in the 80’s (actually pushed by the likes of Rupert Murdoch) and the later web revolution has changed the viewer / reader as well. Once people read / watched only a few sources and usually never questioned it’s content. That has greatly changed for good. Equally important is that news consumers started searching for their own truths. Thanks to search engines news and fact finding is no longer a domain of the professionals.

Hey, I know how to solve your problems – trust me!

But sure as hell the extra work and the extra confusion is making life more complicated and less understandable for many. No surprise that populism also has risen strongly in the last few decades. Simple and strong messages always were a part of politics – but in confusing and harsh times there are more people willing to listen to them. Instead of working and coping with a more complex reality many people prefer a simplification of (their) problems.

So in a strange twist the more noise the old school media and Bloggers make – the less they actually support the public. They actually create more confusion and ‘white noise’. And splitting the ‘truth atom’ into even more bit doesn’t create ‘more truth or a better version of reality. But on the other side a big public discussion is better then none or a truly state organized affair like under the Nazi regime or Stalinist Russia.

Life is complex, it sucks and still we have to deal with it.

More? A BBC opinion piece about the return of the citizen journalist.

Isn’t love great? Somewhere out there waits your perfect soulmate for you. Right? Wrong! If there is one idea in the spiritual scene that drives me nuts it’s the illusion of the soulmate, because it’s so wonderful egoistic and blatant unspiritual …

The very idea of the soul mate is so very appealing: the great cosmos has just the perfect match for you in store. You now longer need to surf russianbrides.com or draw angel cards in the morning to find him or her.

What is your soul mate supposed to be? First of all, this person connects to you on an extremely deep level – yay – it’s not just the usual shared interests and screwing all day – this time it’s spiritual!

I just wonder what a connection on ’soul level’ really means? Total understanding? That would rather imply you are clones of each other, not very exciting. And why is total understanding so important that makes it such a top priority to most people within relationships?

It’s one of the main mental fixations of stressed modern individualists that hardly anyone understands them. Why does nobody understand you – simple in most cases: people hardly communicate and care for each other anymore. To know a person well and participate in their lives takes a serious amount of time and dedication. Sending an eCard from work and met once in while to have a latte together hardly counts as ‘involved’.

In an era, where many people suffer from loneliness, depressions (harhar) and single lifestyle – nobody wants to embarrass themselves or their friends by being ‘emotional’, ‘high maintenance’ or ‘too serious’. It’s the age of easy friendships, fun and laughter … join the party and don’t you dare to come depressed. Join the fucking prozac nation of happiness.

So a ‘good understanding’ of another person can be achieved with some work and time – you don’t need a soulmate for that one. To connect to other people is a simple set of social skills, not a big spiritual task.

Back to the ‘connecting at soul level’ – another illusion about the soulmate is the reincarnation myth. Would it be great walk the path to nirvana with friends, lovers and family from former lifetimes?

I personally believe in reincarnation, but that’s as much thought I give about the whole thing. Why? It doesn’t matter that we already lived once or a hundred times. I am living now! I must take responsibility about people and actions I do in this lifetime. Spending to much time thinking about reincarnation is like trying to insure yourself against life …

People love the whole karma thing, because it’s an easy way to score points for being a good person! The concept of good and bad karma is very ‘logical’ and appealing for spiritual types (like saving points in your local supermarket – but only for the next life). But it confuses most of them. It transforms them into karma nazis: ‘Oh look at this crippled guy over there, he must had have bad karma in his last life, that’s why he is so disfigured in this life.’

Why do people love the idea of karmic relationships – lasting several life spans? It’s a nice romantic idea: life lasts only once, love forever. This idea seems to appeal especially to women or men who like to cling to their partners. ‘Hey, I will be stuck on you for several reincarnations – how do you like that?’ Yuck!

Since nobody can proof we really incarnate, there is also no proof our souls come back as the same or similar package. And this is a stupid idea anyway. The whole idea of the karma cycle is that you try improve yourself and come back as a more evolved soul (depending what you did last time and what you have to learn on your next tour). Some traditions say that our soul lives start as insects or other less aware life forms. We hopefully graduate with each experience on this earth to finally exit to nirvana anyway.

What would be the point of reincarnation, if the same old boring you would come back like a television rerun? This would be like Groundhog day, repeating yourself with the same people and mistakes until you ‘get it’? Nah …

Most boring of all: why would you spent your next lifetime with the very same souls you already met last time? If this cosmos stand for one thing it’s diversity and complexity – there are billions of different stars, alone on this planet we have millions of species and again billions of life forms walking this earth. I bet my life that the spiritual cosmos is at least as complex, colorful and chaotic as the real one (if a separation exists at all!).

And in this universe nothing gets lost nor wasted. My guess: like matter gets reused to build stars, dogs and biscuits – spiritual energy won’t get lost, but recreated into a new soul.

Let’s get to the most egoistic part of the soulmate thing: that there is an exclusive partner in the universe just for you to love and live with. What an ego centric view of spirituality. First of all we are ALL soulmates! It’s the very idea of almost all religions and spiritual traditions is that we all have a soul and are equally created before God(s).

Another very basic spiritual idea that speaks against the exclusive soulmate is the concept of universal love. An enlightened being should be able to love everyone and everything the same way. An exclusive soulmates does ‘not compute’ within the equation of universal love.

And speaking of love or rather lovemaking we come to the last, but deepest illusion about the soulmate. Screwing your soulmate is supposed to catapult you to a higher state of consciousness – the perfect cosmic fuck guarantees the perfect cosmic bliss. Heaven on earth. The ultimate union between two people, surfing the spiritual energy wave. Enlightenment by super pussy and long dong lingam.

I certainly subscribe to this very idea, since I have done tantra and still adore many of it’s ideas.  But the ultimate orgasm is not the end nor the means to enlightenment. It’s a great moment, you relax, you are happy, you are loved and love. But does it really make you a better person?

But using a soulmate as a substitute for your own happiness or enlightenment is a feeble excuse: ‘When I’ve found my soulmate everything will be fine.’ Nah, spiritual work is your own lonely duty.

Once again the idea of the soulmate is just used by the ego to promise itself a better life … another illusion to get rid off to come closer to this state of existence.

Soulmates? They are all around you. Don’t try to screw them all, start by with accepting them in their crazy variety and with all their sins. Most of all: start loving yourself in an universal way and share that feel to everyone and everything …

*repost 2003-10-05*

Every decent army develops new weapons and defenses against other armies. Especially in war you want your people to be superior, kill and dominate the enemy – it’s as simple as that.

The web is often full of stories of secret weapons, military experiments and strange sightings of new deadly toys.

I think it’s only normal and actually the duty of your countries military to ‘waste’ some money on improved weapons and keep their development secret as long as they can. There is no such thing as a friendly war – but there is a mechanism called ‘the balance of power‘.

We are not a peaceful global society yet, so the military and the balance of power will stay with us for a some time.

So we need our military guys to watch the other military guys and give them the same toys. Plus we have to allow them to do stupid research projects.

But our politicians have to watch them carefully and make sure that other countries don’t feel threatened by your own military and gimmicks.

Imbalance, fear and over confidence can be as much a reason for war as race, religion, resources and football.

Inspired by Edosan’s links: The Weird Russian Mind-Control Research Behind a DHS Contract and Run away the ray-gun is coming : We test US army’s new secret weapon

I have searched far and wide – but I haven’t found a single religion nor spiritual discipline that made pathetic behavior for it’s followers mandatory. Do you know one?! But people love being pathetic, doesn’t matter if they are new age incense burners or old school Catholics. They all go for it! You can see sparkling eyes and hear thundering voices during sales presentation as well as in churches and meditation centers. Being pathetic seems to work like an universal fudge to help us poor humans to make ourselves and our believes larger than life – whenever we need to feel bigger …

The show must go on! Why do we love pathos? Does it help us to be better believers or sinners?

Religious or spiritual practices mostly work with rules and rituals to help, educate and guide it’s followers to god/enlightenment. It doesn’t matter if you go the way of the Yogi, Buddha, Tantra or Catholic, you are expected to follow certain rules or better say ‘frame of mind’ to reach enlightenment. Since practice makes you perfect, this is always an ongoing process with no brakes and bonuses. Spirituality mostly means working with yourself, which can be pretty boring, annoying and most of all very personal.

Read the rest of this entry »

There are several American ’security experts’ and weirdos who say, that Europe is the real threat to American security – because it is the perfect breeding ground for terrorists.

The shoe bomber was a British national – right! The killer of the Dutch director van Gogh was also born in the Netherlands – right! Didn’t Germany harbor a cell of 9/11 terrorists – right?!

According to some sources somewhere between two to seven million Muslims live in the US – while Europe has around twelve to twenty million.

First of all they are not just ‘one kind of people’. Germany is host to many Turks, while Britain has people from many Arab nations as well as Asian Muslims. France and Spain are of course closer to African Muslims, because of their history (remember Spain was once conquered by Muslims). They sure are all Muslims, but they share very different backgrounds and languages. Just as many white Europeans are Christians – but hardly all follow the catholic church.

These bloody protestants – all terrorists! Burn them all! We need to protect our communities!

Many Muslims are living at the fringes of normal European societies, which is normal for most immigrants that have no local family connections, no money and hardly any education in modern jobs. There is obviously the language barrier and some xenophobia as well. But even ‘native’ Muslims in their third or even fourth generation live at the fringes. Why? Because many of these cultures simply stay within their own ghettos. We have Turks here in Germany who lived here for thirty years, but hardly speak German, know teutonic culture or have even contact to any Germans. They stay in their little Istanbuls and prefer it that way. The same is true for many communities in France, Britain, Netherlands etc.

But makes such a strong and rather stubborn refusal against integration everyone a terrorist? Of course not.

Uhhh, scary Muslims …

First of all we simply can’t and won’t control these 20 million people. We Germans already tried that method – it was called Konzentrationslager. Yes, immigration is a problem here, but it is not a flood of Muslim hordes sweeping Europe.

Of course we have also problems with terrorists here – but which one do you mean? IRA? ETA? Red Brigades? PKK? Or even Neo-Nazis? Al Qaeda is simply the newest member of a very annoying club. And once again we refuse to let them dictate our life’s and civil liberties. And there is no protection against them: even Muslim countries get bombed by Muslim terrorists. Plus no law or a gazillion policemen will guarantee absolute security. That is an illusion.

No headscarfs and bombs allowed in European schools

So yes, we Europeans want these Muslims, even though we still stay strangers to each other and still have to learn a lot on both sides to live with each other.

If America feels threatened by foreigners, then it should remember it’s old isolationist’s traditions and maybe shutdown it’s borders – Japan did this for several hundred years more or less successful.

Behold the Power of the Princess Salome [make sure to read about her story before continuing]. Her innocence and tempting fertility drives the King and his Court mad. Her display of beauty, untamed sexuality and an almost childish mindset make her an explosive mixture.

While a Queen has to accept the limitations of power and responsibility – the Princess is allowed to play, tease and make mistakes. Since only her fertility mattered in the old days – nobody cared about her character, education or overall potential as a human being.

Be charming! Be fertile! Be tempting! But nothing else …

You find in almost all culture ritualized displays of female fertility (and male shows for courage etc.). It was and still is part of the ‘wedding porn’ of human culture. Picking the best DNA to breed with. The play between the young female and society is nothing else but a cow market at best and simple entertainment at worst.

The Princess shows off her wares for attention and maybe a good marriage deal. She doesn’t need any personality or any skills, just be fertile, healthy and mildly attractive – so society can project it’s desires and dirty thoughts onto you.

Hey, I used to be news …

Amanda Congdon and LonelyGirl belong to the new Cast of WebFems – who like Salome dance before the Kings behind the other side of the monitor. Give them a video stream or a blog – and they immediately attract hungry male eyeballs and curious girlies.

Dance Princess dance, maybe the Audience grants you a wish or some fame for actually doing nothing.

Uhhh, save me Knight of shining Armor … 

It seems like that anything young with breasts is able to create their own cult within minutes these days. Salome’s dance on speed with a million Kings watching.

Although most gurls (to use a web 1.0 expression) have hardly anything interesting to say or are hardly entertaining. It’s like New Orleans: flash your titts to get some simple beads [Mardi Gras].

It is called dicktionary for a reason …

My favorite piece of video mouseturbation is YouTube’s Hot for Words. She actually has something to say about words, but even without sounds she makes any healthy male hump their monitors.

She is Princess Salome with a Dictionary.

So is this the Future of Girl Power? Is this what’s left of Feminism in the Web 2.0 age? Playing Porn Princess Salome on YouTube, MySpace and all the other Mekkas for mouse clicks?

Where are the smart girly role models? An aggressive form of Sluttism seems to be the way to go. Celebs like Pamela Anderson and Paris Hilton all have ‘leaked’ their Vaginas to the net. Brittney Spears and her entourage of drunken blondes compete almost daily to show their pussies to anyone with a camera.

Is that the formula and message for modern girls: show your cunt and you become a real person?

Dear Salome – you have started a terrible trend.

[Warning: long rant ahead ... skip if you are bored by politics ...]

For years now political blogs have branded the Bush regime as a fascist elite – transforming the US of A into a Brown State.

If you search Hitler+Bush on Google you get a gazillion articles and images – plus reports like that (father of a fallen soldier beaten up by pro war citizens) and this (student gets tasered by the police asking annoying questions) seem to support the argument. The US is slowly turning into a new Nazi Germany.

I think it’s fundamentally wrong to compare modern forms of Fascism always with old ones from the Hitler era. Like Democracy all forms of government change and adapt – even the bad ones.

For example: today society ‘exists’ more in a virtual form instead of ‘the street’. So you no longer need many thugs or brown shirts to push your agenda. Mental control and groupthink work today much better then 1933 – especially in a ever more complex and diverse media world. There is much more entertainment, hobbies and consumerism out there to distract you from ‘real’ life and politics then 1933.

Most people are afraid of real freedom and complexity. They love almost anything that ‘makes nasty stuff and thoughts’ go away. It doesn’t matter if it’s a pill against restless leg syndrome or immigrants – something easy to swallow is preferred over anything complicated or personal involvement.

Dude, this Democracy stuff is hard work …

Typical right wingers or conservative have this symptom ("We are the good ones, all others are bad.") as well as those who are so called green and progressive types ("Back to nature, modern science and/or corporations are destroying us!").

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Hey, this spiritual stuff is real work!

In our age of convenience food, easy to swallow capsules and easy credit there is also a big need for instant enlightenment. Although every language seems to know it’s own version of “no pain no gain” the effort to do the inner or outer journey to a more fulfilled life is not very trendy – unless it comes with the label new age and can be done during a weekend workshop.

So what about it? Can’t spirituality be done with a bit of crying, drumming and tree hugging in a safe space where everybody can breath deeeeep aaaand leeet goooo?

Eeeeep! Wrong answer. Surely tree hugging might help, but spirituality is a constant process of change, reflection and renewal. Sure a weekend is great to kick it off or go deeper into a particular subject, but this might only be milestones on your personal journey.

I feel alive – when I am drowning!

Spirituality is like swimming, you simply can’t stop doing it while you are in the stream of life, otherwise you go down.

Your constant movement in your own waters should help you to reach for a higher state of consciousness, which supports your journey.

First a few words about consciousness. Most people confuse their minds or analytical abilities with it. Joseph Campell – great writer and mythologist – once said “where energy is, there is also consciousness”. Plant’s and animal have consciousness – and even your body has it’s own form of consciousness, it not just the mind by itself.

Consciousness connects you to the world, it’s awareness of what is happening, it let’s you change/direct energy, feel it and relate to it, it opens yourself to the outer and inner world. Thinking in these terms it makes a lot of sense to get into a higher state of consciousness, since it allows you to do more, be closer to yourself and your path.

Hey, it’s all so easy!

We all know situations in our life’s when we are distracted, stressed and out of focus – altogether a lower state of consciousness. Almost every known form of spirituality offer exercises or methods to recenter yourself and find your inner balance. For someone it might be running, the next person prays, meditates or simply watches the sky. Any method is valid as long it centers yourself and helps to achieve that higher state.

Another great value of the higher and complete state of consciousness is, that it can much better deal with paradoxes, confusing emotions and inner pictures. Our normal mind is usually trained to deal with “cause & effect” logical problems. So if we hit a road bump that goes way beyond simple human logic our analytical self gets confused, stuck, frustrated. Sheer willpower seems often to make it worse then actually pulling us out of our misery.

Most of our personal problems are way beyond logical/mental conflicts. It’s usually a mixture out of your ego, interpersonal barriers/communication, emotional needs/wants and social interaction. A very potent mixture that is way beyond simple “yes”, “no” and “maybe” thinking.

The higher consciousness (the whole yourself) has a much better chance of solving the problem, since it will connect to your problem on many levels. It should also include your subconscious which helps to develop creativity and visions. You need these “tools” to break and expand your current abilities or current perception of your situation.

I have problems – therefore I am.

Now this is very important: Most of our problems arise from a limited vision or knowledge of a situation. If it’s a simple logical or knowledge problem, your mind will do to acquire a new piece of information, integrate it in your life and solve the little bugger. BUT if your problem/limit is more complex you need a more complex set of solutions and tools.

Here is a simple problem with a typical logical dilemma – and a more expanded solution:

I want to have a walk in the park and enjoy the sunshine, but I am stopped in my tracks by a bloody sign that tells me to go off the grass. Now my mind faces a very common dualistic dilemma: either I accept to get overruled by that sign I am frustrated, because my day in the park is spoiled OR I ignore the sign and risk social confrontation.

I am stuck with two logical choices, both with their own not completely satisfying solutions.

In a higher state of consciousness I can observe that my little ego wants something and it wants it right now, so the little sign is frustrating my ego big time. Looking beyond my anger/frustration cycle I am becoming aware of other solutions, like going to a different park or growing out of similar situations where I bring myself into conflict with an authority.

This was simple – right? Now add to that situation a charming lady I want to impress plus a policemen and maybe some other elements and you can see it can get pretty complex pretty easily.

But let’s go back to deeper personal problems.

Wakeup from your own limited matrix.

Like I said before we are mostly limited by our own egos or visions, like if I can’t see myself as the new departement head I will never go for it. We can’t manifest “actions” in real life if we lack the vision, confidence and relationship for them. So this is not just a case of “do I have the right qualifications for the job” but a more complex inner problem.

Here it helps to work with your consciousness and subconscious on your inner limits – so what’s holding me back to become the department head? How do I feel about this job? Do I really want it? Why am I holding myself back – what are the motivations behind that? Why do I have such strange associations with success that I am holding back?

This is soul searching at it’s best!

If one faces negative or destructive inner patterns, lack of motivation and visions then creativity is needed to create new patterns, visions and associations. If your inner world is limiting you – how can you grow. Humans need to grow like plants. If their pot is to small there will be a lot of pain …

Everybody dreams of bigger mice to catch.

This is why a good connection to your subconscious is so important, since it’s the best source for inner pictures/visions that might explain what’s holding back as well as creating better ones. Instead of “thinking it all thru” you expand your complete inner cosmos to deal in a better way with a more complex life. You not only get new insights but also happier life.

For example if I start my positive reprogramming by dreaming about myself in that new position that would help to dissolve old barriers. Another way is consciously sitting down and imagining myself to do this job. Every great athlete knows this kind of exercises, like running the track in your mind before you actually start. A new job might be a lot of work, but dissolving my barriers would enrich my life and new perspectives.

So soul searching is a constant process of a higher consciousness sorting out old and useless associations and visions you might have and replacing them with vital and healthy new ones. It might be painful to let go of some old and beloved ideas/visions, but they simply limit you … get the expanded new version for free from your subconscious and have a happier life.

*repost 2003-08-03*

Almost every religion starts with the creation of the universe or the god(s) themselves: Jehova (Judaism), Ptah (egypt) or Brahma (Hinduism). Even the scientific view of the universe starts with creation: the big bang.

So how sexy is creativity?

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