Nullcon Goa Day -1, 0, 1
9 years ago
Monday, March 30, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Finally on the mark?
I often thought I can make a brilliant "bankruptcy consultant". It would work like this: monitor what brands/products I like and you'll know who's going to go down soon. Let me give you a few examples:
Saab - first bought by GM, now a few steps from closing
Maserati - saved at the last breath by Fiat (now they are doing ok-ish but I don't fancy them as much as before - they became too pretentious)
Rothmans - I smoke Rothmans since 1992 and now only some 2% of restaurants that sell cigarettes have them.
Akay - almost dead and buried
Jungans(whatches) - bouht one 10 yrs ago as "the wach" now they make quartz chinese-like movements. Only a few months ago I used to say "If all goes well next year I'll buy myself an Audemars Piguet". Since it didn't go well, there's no way I can afford one anymore so they might escaped the "Luca curse" :D.
Boss - "No1" was the only perfume I used to buy. They don't make it anymore.
The list can go forever and don't even get me started on music! Who knows/still listens/remembers Sinead OConnor, Keith Jarrett, Zakir Husain, Dresden Dolls, Camille, Brian Eno, K's Choice, Anouar Brahem...?!
So it seems I have a innate tallent to pick loosers (like me?!).
Whell, it might be that this time, with Fedora, things are different. Here is a guy that takes piece by piece the next releases of Fedora and Ubuntu and came to this conclusion:
"...considering the differences - Fedora 11 seems to be a full 6 months ahead of Ubuntu. Most of the features included in Fedora 11 now (gnome-media, faster boot, KMS, Plymouth, Firefox 3.1, Thunderbird 3, OpenOffice 3.1, etc) are planned only in Ubuntu 9.10."
Read the full comparison here.
Saab - first bought by GM, now a few steps from closing
Maserati - saved at the last breath by Fiat (now they are doing ok-ish but I don't fancy them as much as before - they became too pretentious)
Rothmans - I smoke Rothmans since 1992 and now only some 2% of restaurants that sell cigarettes have them.
Akay - almost dead and buried
Jungans(whatches) - bouht one 10 yrs ago as "the wach" now they make quartz chinese-like movements. Only a few months ago I used to say "If all goes well next year I'll buy myself an Audemars Piguet". Since it didn't go well, there's no way I can afford one anymore so they might escaped the "Luca curse" :D.
Boss - "No1" was the only perfume I used to buy. They don't make it anymore.
The list can go forever and don't even get me started on music! Who knows/still listens/remembers Sinead OConnor, Keith Jarrett, Zakir Husain, Dresden Dolls, Camille, Brian Eno, K's Choice, Anouar Brahem...?!
So it seems I have a innate tallent to pick loosers (like me?!).
Whell, it might be that this time, with Fedora, things are different. Here is a guy that takes piece by piece the next releases of Fedora and Ubuntu and came to this conclusion:
"...considering the differences - Fedora 11 seems to be a full 6 months ahead of Ubuntu. Most of the features included in Fedora 11 now (gnome-media, faster boot, KMS, Plymouth, Firefox 3.1, Thunderbird 3, OpenOffice 3.1, etc) are planned only in Ubuntu 9.10."
Read the full comparison here.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
I'm officially depressive
Proof? Here it is: my own American Beauty flying bag witch I stared thoughtless for almost 3 minutes. Ha ha ha.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Fire.FM rules almost as much as MeHead
I love Jose Enrique Bolanos. I love him so much that if I'll be a big tited blonde I'll give him a fellatio every morning (I'm a fat strait male so no luck Jose). Still, Jose Enrique Bolanos and Jorge Villalobos created Fire.FM witch is the greatest Firefox add-on ever. It plays from LastFM while sitting unintrusive down in the status bar. As I said on the Firefox page: after napster was killed by Corporate America music on the internet wasn't the same. Until LastFM and Fire.fm.
This little addon it's my new "how did I lived without this before". Like GSM, microwave and Google. What more could I ask from Jose?! Nothing really, yet he gave me more: In a replay for a user on the review list said that "middle mouse click opens a link in a new tab". It's true! My darkest ctrl+clik days are over. Now, tnx to Jose, I listen to "The Bad Plus" and browse truly in style. Thank You Jose Enrique Bolanos.
I'm microns away to write my second ever fan mail. The first one was sent at the guys that gave me a new meaning for inteligent humor: www.mehead.com (their site is "not over" but I put a sample of their impecable work here).
This little addon it's my new "how did I lived without this before". Like GSM, microwave and Google. What more could I ask from Jose?! Nothing really, yet he gave me more: In a replay for a user on the review list said that "middle mouse click opens a link in a new tab". It's true! My darkest ctrl+clik days are over. Now, tnx to Jose, I listen to "The Bad Plus" and browse truly in style. Thank You Jose Enrique Bolanos.
I'm microns away to write my second ever fan mail. The first one was sent at the guys that gave me a new meaning for inteligent humor: www.mehead.com (their site is "not over" but I put a sample of their impecable work here).
"The meaning of progress" toilet paper
Fedora mailing list it's boiling over about the launching preparations for Fedora 11. I hope it will not be like my previous marketing endeavours.
My love with marketing departments goes way back when I was a layouter for a small newspaper. The marketing guy would come and make me do a stupid layout with a lame idea bossing me around just because the cleaning lady and I were the only persons that listened to him. The frustration of having a fancy job name but actually being a driver/secretary (until recently called so) would transform any reasonably dim person in the perfect reason why my unbrevetted chef-d'oeuvre invention would be a success: "The One Shoot Office Gun Dispenser".
Years later, when I was boss enough, it was my favourite pass time to fuck them over and watch them vomit a learn-by-heart Kotler phrase to justify why their idea is better than the one the doorman passed me that morning. I'll always end the argument with "ok you deserve your salary now go and mimic some more work".
What's bothering me most are the overly "catchy" but meaningless slogans like "The future of Quality" for a chocolate bar or "The meaning of progress" for some toilet paper. Trying to appear smart, slogans end up being just words put together without any semantic relevance. If you have a toilet paper why not "Wipes your ass" - dammit, this is what it does!
And of course there is the meeting dynamics! Gustave Le Bon, Durkheim and Baudrillard would be in experimental study heaven in any marketing meeting. The boss, trying to conceal that he has no idea what the meeting is about and didn't even opened the documentation listens to the marketing babbling and goes something like "Yes, and we also have to convey the idea of progress and how young and fresh our company is". The marketing jumps on the wagon with "Of course, we thought of that. We want to go with 'progress'" (he's mental abilities allow him to remember only the first word mentioned). And then, the recently fucked secretary, proud of her new cunt power starts climbing the organisational ladder: "Yes 'progress' is good". The joke of the hangover-plagued design guy goes unnoticed "What is the meaning of progress?" so the sales, now knowing where the tides are turning, seal the faith of progress: "'The meaning of progress', yes, that's good, we can go with that. I have a client that has for his stores 'shopping for progress', he would like that".
People, please, if you really need them (for whatever reason that might be) please, please, please, don't make them "smart".
My love with marketing departments goes way back when I was a layouter for a small newspaper. The marketing guy would come and make me do a stupid layout with a lame idea bossing me around just because the cleaning lady and I were the only persons that listened to him. The frustration of having a fancy job name but actually being a driver/secretary (until recently called so) would transform any reasonably dim person in the perfect reason why my unbrevetted chef-d'oeuvre invention would be a success: "The One Shoot Office Gun Dispenser".
Years later, when I was boss enough, it was my favourite pass time to fuck them over and watch them vomit a learn-by-heart Kotler phrase to justify why their idea is better than the one the doorman passed me that morning. I'll always end the argument with "ok you deserve your salary now go and mimic some more work".
What's bothering me most are the overly "catchy" but meaningless slogans like "The future of Quality" for a chocolate bar or "The meaning of progress" for some toilet paper. Trying to appear smart, slogans end up being just words put together without any semantic relevance. If you have a toilet paper why not "Wipes your ass" - dammit, this is what it does!
And of course there is the meeting dynamics! Gustave Le Bon, Durkheim and Baudrillard would be in experimental study heaven in any marketing meeting. The boss, trying to conceal that he has no idea what the meeting is about and didn't even opened the documentation listens to the marketing babbling and goes something like "Yes, and we also have to convey the idea of progress and how young and fresh our company is". The marketing jumps on the wagon with "Of course, we thought of that. We want to go with 'progress'" (he's mental abilities allow him to remember only the first word mentioned). And then, the recently fucked secretary, proud of her new cunt power starts climbing the organisational ladder: "Yes 'progress' is good". The joke of the hangover-plagued design guy goes unnoticed "What is the meaning of progress?" so the sales, now knowing where the tides are turning, seal the faith of progress: "'The meaning of progress', yes, that's good, we can go with that. I have a client that has for his stores 'shopping for progress', he would like that".
People, please, if you really need them (for whatever reason that might be) please, please, please, don't make them "smart".
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Memento mori
It starts like any other casual mirror check-up. You walk past a mirror, catch a glimpse in the corner of the eye and stop to see who's there. Straighten the posture, suck up the belly, up the chest and there you are. The same, everyday, you. It's the perfect opportunity for some nose picking and soul-searching. You come near the mirror to frown upon the rate your new beard grows and try a charming/sarcastic smile. On the verge of discarding the embarrassing narcissistic moment with "I need a bath and a haircut" it strikes you. First, one near the temple, than more on the hair line, everywhere. I have grey hair! I will die. But no, it's not that easy, first I will suffer all the indignities and incontinences, continuing to fear the future, glorifying the past while carefully avoiding analysing the present shit I am in. I remembered Philip Roth's Everyman, a book that scared me senseless. I swear to read it again at 60 and commit suicide if it doesn't make me laugh. It probably won't. I probably wouldn't.
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