The Negative Internet, or the Dawn of a New Age?

“…who feels at home with a superficial relationship to information.” (Nicolas Carrs’ humorous comment directed at Stephen Colbert)

Many people are becoming increasingly concerned with how the Internet is changing the way they think.  From simple cognition to concentration, everyone is speaking about a “dumbing down” of society.  One of the forerunners of this philosophy and rhetoric tour de force Nicolas Carr writes mega-articles intent on numbering the amount of negative side effects the Internet is having on our brains.

In all fairness, Nicolas Carr has repeatedly mentioned the fact that he himself uses the Internet, predominantly as a research tool. But therein lies his argument. In the past, when people needed to research, they took a significantly longer amount of time to ponder on one subject. Today Google is so fast it is almost impossible to choose from the enormous amount of information one receives instantly.

So while we are having an easier time putting things together and joining the dots, as it were, the actual process of thinking a subject through to its core is being lost. I, for my part, can verify this phenomenon. Researching is easy and so are many conclusions I make. But maybe one should spend more time really considering the past and future implications before jumping to conclusions.

However, I believe this development cannot be stopped and the upcoming era will surely bring new forms of communication and intellectual stimuli that had not previously existed.

Me and Technology

Technology plays such an important role in our lives. It became clear to me once again when Google introduced their smart phone Nexus One. A nice piece of equipment that is only half the price as Apples iphone, and apparently with twice as much hardware power.

All this power and metal, it’s enough to drive me mad. I guess religion is similar; contradictory. Even as I write how much keeping abreast of all the new technological developments can drive me crazy, I think that without it, life would be horrible.

So, machine and soul. The love of technology, the feeling of security it gives, the power it grants, and yes, even all the headaches it gives is enough to think me in some sci-fi mega movie-theater spectacle. Maybe that’s why we love animated movies so much nowadays. It really is becoming our reality.

New Money, New Gold. New World?

The weekly German business news magazine ‘WirtschaftsWoche’ dedicates a large portion in last week’s edition to the development of gold. Main points are the staggering influx of interest since the financial crisis and prognosis for the future. The commercialization of the precious metal was a vigorous process as many found interesting ways to be seen in the tumultuous period shortly after the credit crisis escalated. Companies selling bullions and coins had to close down with the enormous demand and famous coins such as the one ounce South African Krugerrand became impossible to purchase. It was also the first time that ETFs became extremely popular.

The trust in the US Dollar tumbled as the devastating magnitude of the financial crisis became clear. Not only had small investor become increasingly nervous but also regional banks and Central Banks had articulated their worries of the existing reserve currency - the US Dollar. Particularly China expressed concern and started exchanging Dollars for raw material. In addition, at the end of April they announced that they had secretly stocked up on gold.

China had merely been doing what all investors were - frantically looking for risk-avert options. The gold price only very shortly exceeded the 1000 US Dollar mark, however, before staying in the 900 mid-range. The psychologically hyped 1000 US Dollar mark has yet to be seriously broken: and many investors say it will not be long now. As national budgets overflow without remorse, existing reserve currencies come under attack and uncertainty prevails in the economy, gold starts to shine.

It is the new shine that excites the market and creates ideas from previously inconspicuous players: notably gold vending machines that offer small bits of gold for comparatively high costs. But also dealers such as Pro Aurum, that had tapped the customers from banks that had pulled out of the gold business, found a new important role that needed filling. Also afore mentioned ETFs became vastly popular. Fact is: gold is not sold, it is inherited.

Down with the Dollar! Long Live One World Currency!

China (imagine!) proposed a one-world currency, thereby taking the crown from current reserve currency – the greenback. The idea of Chinese experts would be to create a synthetic currency that would have an average worth of the USD, Euro, Yen and Pound. People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, and a large supporter of the currency, said he believes this would give the IMF more control over the economy: and help hinder a new financial ‘Tsunami’.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sent the Dollar tumbling within just ten minutes of his positive comments directed at the overhaul measures. Of course, he had to refute that the USA would loose ground (= power) as major reserve, which initially stabilised the market once again.

Russia is also thinking of proposing similar ideas in the upcoming G20 summit meeting. The fear of the Dollar losing worth comes from recent initiative by the US Government to pump money into the market by buying Government Bonds and mortgage-backed securities. The so-called quantitative easing is making inflation seem very near despite automatic stabilisers built in after the great depression of 1939.

The worth of a currency, simply put, is connected to the GDP of a country as well as the amount of saved money people have in that currency. When value for a given money can so easily be manipulated, than people start getting nervous. The grand idea of a risk avert economy is a daydream. Except of course for real value, inflation free currency, such as the age-old reliability of gold: maybe a currency relying on gold would be a solution. Get ready for heavy money and jingling purses ladies and gentlemen.

The difficulty of being in a band!

Playing music in bands is not as easy as it looks. I’ve had conversations with people over the years telling me about their experiences in bands and music projects. Some find music as a sort of relaxation method. Others play an instrument for the same reason most people do: money, woman and money. And too few uniquely give everything they’ve got to create something extraordinary – new – never been heard before, and wholly contributing to the world of music.

The difficulty lies primarily in having to work in a group. Yes, despite what some might think, that is really the most difficult. The first time I played in a band that wasn’t made up of entirely my family, I realised how different individuals really can be, and how stubborn. Not to mention inarticulate, devoid of manners, and generally just horrible. Here the main efforts of all participants should be to shut-up, sit-up, listen, and try their best not to react to emotions and/or impulses. Believe me, it’s like being a toddler again.

For those of you out there who are making music for “recreation” or to relax, then I’ve got something to tell you: you aren’t making music anyone wants to hear. Maybe YOU want to hear it, or your spouse, possibly your children are nice about it. In fact you might have a few people that find your music “nice listening”. But fact is, its not really going to be anything unless you sit down and really think about what you’re doing and have the energy and time to really put some effort into it. Bouncing around on musical styles that have been played a thousand times before is making me ill…

Jim Cramer vs. Jon Stewart or Economy vs. Reality ?

Well known TV personality Jim Cramer  (Mad Money) was on the Daily Show. Jon Stewart accused CNBC of helping to start the financial crisis. Stewart takes him on pretty hard leaving Cramer a bit speechless.

Jon Stewart is known for his aggressive liberal stance, but here I think he just speaks plain sense. See for yourself here.

P.S. notice how often they use the word Shananigans!

Why hasn’t the Lisbon Treaty been Implemented Already?

The treaty of Lisbon was supposed to modernize and unite Europe for the     21st  century.  Some believe that this is not valuable for their country. Each nation was supposed to vote the approval according to their constitution.  Only Ireland remained aggressively ‘anti Europe’. But why? And are the consequences dire for any other aspiring European Union country?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel believes so, as she says that “EU ambitions are slowly being pushed far into the future“ by new Balkan countries wanting to join the European Union. The financial crisis has reached new alarmist extremes and most serious rapporteurs are painting big black pictures of EU future. But does exclusion really help to fight the mounting trouble?

British foreign secretary David Miliband wrote in a comment for a Polish newspaper that moving inwards would only stall further development. “We must re-energise our relations with our neighbours because this crisis has shown very clearly how exposed we are to problems beyond our borders”.

So, we need both unity and inclusion. We need to unite and put away differences. Well, that does sound nice and idealistic, but maybe the bleak German stance of consolidation before ‘rude’ awakening is a good one. On the other hand, democracy will never make everyone happy all the time, and some problems need expertise and knowledge for their solution, not opinions and mood swings. Important decisions – like implementation of the Lisbon treaty – might better be made on a governmental level, rather than by national vote.

Innovation and ipod

The European Commission said it would invest more in ICT research and innovation. That’s good news, I’d say.

Apparently the ICT sector houses 20 million jobs in the Euro zone making it a considerably important part of economics. It also is a globally very competitive and lucrative business. It seems the entire world is participating in a sort of ‘arms race’ for the most efficient ICT and ICT related products. The better the product: the more popular the firm – the more popular the Firm: the more popular the country. Right now I would say the US is leading by a long shot, but Europe is making some serious initiatives in standardizing ubiquitous web connection and recently it has reached the European Commission level. It would mean that positive change is just around the corner.

Speaking about innovation: The new ipod shuffle has been released and blind me, it’s a nice piece of equipment. The most beautiful thing is that it would suit my newly purchased MacBook perfectly. Admittedly, the voice-over technology is very interesting and adds to my excitement. The size of that little thing is also extremely attractive as mp3 players have a knack of getting in the way (my experience). In that respect, I think the inventors should come up with a standard wireless headphone that can be attached to any device. That would lessen the tangled mess in my pocket considerably.

What is Twitter Doing?

Twitter ran as a beta version in early 2006 as a site that did nothing else than expect its users to answer on question: What are you doing? Many did not suspect that an idea so simple would come to support some of the most prestigious political campaigns around the world. As a small site that boomed from 800 thousand users to over 6 million in just over a year, ‘twitter’ is fast becoming one of the most popular sites on the Internet. But, as twitter finds its place as a titan in the competitive world of the net, not everyone thinks this new form of communication is the future. Many businesses believe it is a waste of time and does nothing toward profit-orientated markets. Yet the business world is becoming more and more interested in twitter as the interests of thousands of users can easily be traced and analyzed.

The main question is how has twitter become so popular despite its small space for information? It is not strictly speaking a community site that runs solely on established connections between people. Neither does it need long, verbose, essay-like blog entries to express interests and opinions.  Twitter formally does away with traditional community social networking and delivers all the information needed in just 140 character spaces without the need for users to personally know each other.

But what is being lost on the way and what is being won? Many posts, besides the obvious amounts of nonsense (“good morning…” “eating lunch” etc…), are linked to sites with information and individual chosen subjects of interest. These links are most often than not proper news or blog entries, videos and music etc… that together comprise enormous amounts of information. In other words, information is only referenced to, with little or no commentary, and connected to the web by the one posting the link. The amount of circulating information resulting from this simple action is enormous.

Twitter and Politics

Alone in the USA, some 409 thousand people follow the commentaries posted personally by President Barrack Obama, who first started micro-blogging his way to stardom and finally, the presidency. It was the time a president elect gained a vital advantage on his competitor, who had made similar moves but had not been quiet as aggressive. The amount of Internet hype surrounding Barack Obama (youtube, facebook etc…) is one of the main reasons of the popularity surrounding his persona. Twitter did its fair share to connect the person with a lot of interested people.

As Politicians become increasingly aware of community sites and web based social networking, the potential to influence voters becomes higher. By being connected, politics is surrounded by a new cloud of information coming directly from the users themselves. Essentially, the connection between politician (who has an agenda that needs presenting) and the individual (who wants to be connected to the politician) come together by discarding the middle-man (traditional media…TV, broadsheet newspaper etc…).

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