The right fucking decisions

Posted by lemiffe in Life, Literature, Politics, Society on Nov 4th, 2011 | 0 comments

The right fucking decisions. That’s what people should learn to make.

If people made the right fucking decisions, the world would not only seem better, it would be better. Less car crashes, less time wasted, less unemployment, less abortions, less suicides, less disasters, less stupidity.

• Action-reaction: you decide to marry the wrong person, you have a child, you divorce, the child grows up. The child either becomes l/g/b/t, kills someone, becomes a criminal, commits suicide, or in a few cases, lives a “normal” life.
• Action-reaction: you are skilled in arts but pursue a career in finance to become an investment banker, your ego outshines your skill, you make bad choices, the market collapses, you lose everything, you kill yourself.
• Action-reaction: you are bullied in school, you feel you are being bullied for life, you feel so much better than the rest inside, you feel powerful, you take a gun, you go to school, you shoot everybody.

It’s not hard to make the right decisions, just think before you act, measure your options, make the best choice.

When it doesn’t work out, you know you tried your best, and it will probably turn out better next time.

If you lose your money, break your mobile, crash your parents car, befriend the wrong person… think, measure, then act… Next time. Tomorrow never comes when tomorrow is all you wait for. Today is the only time, this moment.

Lets stop acting like mindless fools and get our act together, lets make the right fucking decisions, for the sake of humanity.

Back in Time

Posted by lemiffe in Life, Science, Space on Dec 29th, 2010 | 0 comments

So, if the light from distant galaxies we perceive through telescopes is a snapshot of how it was thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of years old; If there is another civilisation out there, would they not perceive us, maybe millions of light years away, as an inhabitable planet where only molten lava, terrifying electric storms, and excessive heat predominate?

That is the question I pose. Maybe we have discarded many celestial bodies as inhabitable when indeed they may, today, be life supporting entities. What say thee?

Open your eyes, ears, heart, mind

Posted by lemiffe in Life on Jul 21st, 2010 | 0 comments

George Orwell mentioned all throughout his masterpiece book ‘Nineteen eighty four’ the thoughts and actions of the proletarians, which are described as ignorant people who can’t care less of anything that happens outside their direct daily lives in his book. Ignorance is bliss. Or as “Goldstein” would say, “Ignorance is Strength”.

But I choose not live my life like that. Not now, not ever. Can you? I honestly prefer to lead a life in search for information, further knowledge, and culture, while having the possibility of changing my mood, thoughts, and actions based on this data, instead of living a “normal” life in the safety and comfort of ignorance.

A friend of mine once spoke to me about three kinds of events that open your mind to new ideas, possibilities and information:

• Meeting someone from another country.
• Travelling to another country.
• Learning another language.

In my own opinion, having passed through those three events, I concur with him. They really change your perspective and view of the world, society, and culture.

I would like to add another three mind-opening stages that help you form a sense of identity:

• Adolescence & friendship
• Literature & philosophical talks
• Having a partner

Why do I consider these stages/events as meaningful components of identity, maturity and knowledge?

Adolescence, at least in many cultures, is considered a stage of rebellion, change, transition, problems, questions, and overall madness. But it is in this stage where many of the strong lifelong ideas are formed. It is also in this stage when true friends are found, friendships that may last a lifetime. These are vital components of identity. And even if many of the ideas you have while going through this stage may be wrong, it is a necessary step to have these wrong ideas in order to clearly define them and change them further on.

Literature opens your mind to understand how others think, and allows you to develop critical thinking. This paves the way to formulating opinions based on facts instead of biased assumptions. The more you learn, the more you know, the more you can speak about, the more you can teach about, and so on.

This also brings me to the point of philosophy, and philosophical talks. These types of talks seem like endless debates about this and that. However, the actual discussion may open your mind to search for more information about specific topics and formulate a better opinion. These talks can then lead to better structured debates, and finally to an idea which may spark a change. That is why I consider the basis of all this, these philosophical talks, such an important issue.

Finally, a partner, may keep you centred on reality. While adolescence many times includes biased opinions and self centeredness, literature and philosophy allow you to form an opinion, and having a partner many times concretes that opinion, removing the egoism from self-centred thoughts formed during adolescence. That is why people who are successful in relationships are often people who stop thinking solely about themselves but think in greater proportion of other people, specifically their partners.

One must be somewhat selfish to succeed in today’s world, but you must never put aside your partner or loved ones, the same way you must never put aside striving for a common good instead of personal satisfaction. There must be a sense of equilibrium, as this allows an easier flow of knowledge, clarity and understanding. Are you ready to open you eyes, ears, heart and mind?

Cooooontinue…

Posted by lemiffe in Google, Internet, Learning, Life, Microsoft, Products on Feb 21st, 2010 | 0 comments

Are you consistent with what you do? Do you finish everything you start? No, I didn’t think so, but if you do… Congratulations! You may skip this post.

Otherwise, I have a story to tell you…

Once upon a time I was just like you. I had many ideas, some of them quite good, and I tried to carry them out only to realise I couldn’t finish all of them. Sometimes I would get bored halfway through and leave the project incomplete. When it was something socially-related and I did not achieve an immediate response, I would leave it incomplete and/or get frustrated with it. Sometimes I simply couldn’t be arsed to continue with it.

What made matters worse was the sense of guilt I would sometimes build up after a week, a month or a few years after starting a project and not having been able to finish it. A sense of being incompetent. And the more things I left that way, the worse I felt. A constant buzz in the back of my brain telling me that I didn’t finish it, and I could have.

One example was Zyborg, a computer game (Clone of ZZT) I started developing around 10 years ago with Saxxonpike in Qbasic 4.5. We abandoned the project a few months after we started, however, I always felt a tingling sensation of having left it just standing there. I still have the code.

I also used to start (and not finish) hundreds of songs, paintings, poems, lyrics, books, ideas, scripts, computer programs, drawings and many other things. I even started a company once, and we were really motivated. But after stumbling a few times into problems, we just silently gave up on it. But the tingling sensation must have lasted ages in all of us. The sense of not having been able to accomplish our goal. The feeling of failing.

When and how did things change for me?

When I started adding a little bit of organisation into my life.

I started off by writing task lists and project ideas down on paper. If I couldn’t get through them in one go I learned not to stress about it and leave it for a later date, whenever I felt more confident or motivated about the project. Then all these ideas and tasks stopped being burdens on my mind and were converted to sentences in a notebook (later replaced by Google Docs).

Then I started printing out calendars in Microsoft Publisher, and using them to keep track of future events. I have never liked daily based diaries as I hate the format, I hate carrying too many notebooks, and I hate wasting too many blank pages. But a monthly calendar format suited me, with 30-31 rectangles on a sheet with just the right amount of space to keep track of my main tasks per day.

Further on, seeing the success this brought me in organising my life, I looked for a computer solution for my needs. I needed to be able to view it from any PC where I were at, so Microsoft Outlook was out of the question. I found comfort in Google Calendar which I have been using for over 2 years now. It was great, I could view it in any style I liked! I started out using the monthly style, however, lately I have preferred using the weekly view as I plan and use it on a daily basis.

Google Calendar, however, wasn’t the solution to my problem in storing my project ideas. One day one of my best friends introduced me to Remember the Milk. A pot of gold! Accessible from my iPod touch, updateable from anywhere, it was pure glory!

Since then, I have never had a problem remembering what I have done, what I have to do, and what are my plans and ideas for the future.

So if you have ever had one of these problems I have had, give it a try! I mean, it’s free so you have nothing to lose. And if it’s just not your cup of tea, stick around and give the net a look, there must be something ideal for you! The important thing is not giving up on projects or ideas just because you have no time for them at the moment. And if you started one, but haven’t finished it, just keep track of it and leave it for a later date. Don’t scrap it… Remember it.

Learning About: Not living in a desperate way

Posted by lemiffe in Computers, Learning, lemiffe, Life on Feb 4th, 2010 | 2 comments

A few months ago I put together a new computer. I hadn’t done this in ages so, naturally, I did some mistakes.

My main problem was not using the motherboard spacers. Yeah, I screwed the motherboard right onto the case. This (for those who don’t know much about computers) causes immediate short circuit. Fortunately my motherboard has a short-circuit detector and did not allow me to turn it on.

So I went to a computer repair shop with the PC, asked around for the fault, and immediately a guy pointed out my mistake.

I told him “I knew something was wrong, as I had to press really hard on the PCI/PCIe cards to get them in place, and even so they didn’t fit in well”. To which he replied “When something doesn’t fit in naturally you must be doing something wrong, everything should just fit in.”

So I went back home and put it together in the right way, and it turned on without a problem.

His words, however, stuck with me. They not only worked out for my computer problem, but they apply equally to all aspects of life. If something doesn’t feel right, then you must be doing it wrong.

• If you eat something that doesn’t taste good, you spit it out or stop eating it.
• If you put your hand too close to the fire you naturally take it away.
• If you buy something you didn’t like you don’t (generally) buy it again.

So, then, if we act so naturally about so many of these things, why not apply them to cases such as the following:

• If we are in a job we don’t like, why don’t we leave it?
• If we are in a position we can’t handle, why don’t we say it?
• If we are under a lot of stress, why don’t we deal with it?

It’s ALL about communication and action. It’s not about not being able to handle something, it’s about not communicating it to the right person. It’s not about not being comfortable in a job, it’s about doing something about it. Don’t be afraid to live right.