Bacteria... know what they're doing

So apparently bacteria function like organized criminals or the secret societies: quiet until they reach the required infiltration level to be sure an attack cannot be stopped and then they fully launch their attack. I like the thought that even single cell organisms outsmart humans at times.

Said in the '70s... to no effect?

We will see how very important it is to bring about, in the human mind, the radical revolution. The crisis is a crisis in consciousness. A crisis that cannot, anymore, accept the old norms, the old patterns, the ancient traditions. And, considering what the world is now, with all the misery, conflict, destructive brutality, aggression, and so on… Man is still as he was. Is still brutal, violent, aggressive, acquisitive, competitive. And, he’s built a society along these lines.

J. Krishnamurti

Perhaps more than 30 years after these words were spoken I sent them to most of my friends in the form of a video. Some fell asleep on it in the first minute. Some didn't find the time for it, considering the demands of modern life. And in my opinion, all are cases of the omnipresent ADD of the modern man.

I (used to) enjoy sharing and discussing matters of the life. Yet now, my rare occasions of a discussion resembles web surfing. My conversation partner reads through my words and before I could finish my statement follows the links in a word. In less than a minute we're talking about completely different subjects. But just like web surfing, we both have the vague impression that somehow the conversation is still linked to the "home page" we've left of.

EDIT: Initially I didn't want to post the videos just to make it more entertaining to search and find it, for the easily distracted :-)

Farming

Farm·ing
a.

Pertaining to agriculture; devoted to, adapted to, or engaged in, farming; as, farming tools; farming land; a farming community.

Farm·ing
n.

The business of cultivating land.

Or so Webster's Dictionary says. I think I have a vague memory of that. But I am not sure. Think I might have met a farmer once, and he was doing exactly that, but it was early in my childhood and my memory wasn't well formed.

Farming is the killing of monsters for the purpose of gathering items, experience, gold, Faction, or promotion points and is considered to be one of the quickest and easiest ways to amass wealth.

Ah, now that sounds more familiar. You learn more about it here.

So yes, I do like playing video games and I happen to play Guild Wars, why that and not something else is besides the point (they're all the same). Now let's go back to the dictionary again:

game
n.

An activity providing entertainment or amusement; a pastime: party games; word games.

So... who exactly was the sick mind behind the idea of "farming" in video games? I can imagine the following discussion in a team developing games:

"- Oh shit! We worked 5 years on this game and the test users finished it in 10 hours! What do we do? What do we do?"
" - Oh well... we can't provide new content, that would actually mean working to make the game interesting and exciting. And even if we did that for a month or two, we definitively don't want to do that for the next two years! I mean that would mean us really working on the thing!"
" - Yeah, but what to keep our players busy with while we monthly take money out of their accounts for doing nothing?"
" - Well... I know! We can make them like work!"
" - Work?"
" - Yeah, you know like when you have a daily job and you have to go mine for ore or something."
" - Hmmm... mine for ore. So we just put some ore mines here and there... oh I have an even greater idea make the mining succeed or fail randomly! I mean it's not like a real miner in a mine, though some of them were dying weren't they?"
" - Yeah, that's a great idea! If we make mining to give in return random items and the cool ones will be rare I bet players will just mine forever hoping to get the rare items. I mean you know hope dies last!"
" - Excellent! That should keep many busy, but how about those that don't like mining?"
" - Oh well... make them farm!"

Brilliant, just brilliant. From game "an activity providing entertainment or amusement" to "mining and farming". Brilliant I tell you. No one would ever want to farm or mine in RL (that is Real Life) but they would all do it online! As if the modern man has so much free time and his job is not "job" enough, so we need to give modern man another "job" for the spare time.

---

WTF? Really! WTF are you people doing? WTF are you gamers doing? Farming? And WTF are you game developers doing? Throwing work at people and *charging* them for working??? And making millions while at it?

I want a *game* I am *not* looking for a job! And I find mining and farming to be crappy jobs even if i was looking for one.

all things to do...

were done already.

So I am really bored. Sometimes. Most of the times. Maybe I am going into some middle age mood, though I am not officially that old. I just don't really find things interesting anymore. Like none at all. Not even a bit.

I find everything I do, and everything the others do... dull, boring and repetitive. Only that I have a better memory than others, and it bothers me more. Or that's how I like to explain it to myself. I wonder what others tell themselves to get over it. Anyway. So I am bored. And then I say to myself: "OK go dig up some old hobbies and try them". But I don't get too far.

So I used to like photography. I used to put care into any picture I ever took, try to find hidden things to the naked eye that the camera will augment and stuff. But in the end, the picture is much narrower than the real thing and I've spent like five minutes trying to get it (or fake it depending on what I'm trying there) and I forgot or lost my chance to actually live that thing. Like see it with my own two, you know?

Never mind, I usually catch up with the wonderful trips I'm taking and the wonderful things I've seen when I get back at home and look at my own pictures. Not to mention that there isn't any centimeter on this planet that hasn't been already photographed. So why bother? You'll find the centimeter you're pointing your camera at on the web anyway. Even better quality.

Oh, and then there is blogging. Like if photographing all centimeters of the planet was not enough. We want to also record and share all the crap anyone could ever produce. Textually for a change. Well I am bored of text and writing as well. All letters have been already used in all possible combinations. Like try to find a name for a new blog for an instance, that is the real challenge.

So how do our chances of originality in this world stand? Like anybody cares. We just need to forget fast enough and there we go, we reinvented originality. So I reckon the attention and memory span is going down in the modern world... this ain't going to be good for me.

Now back to work people.

I do believe in God

But...

• God does not tell me my religion is the only "true" religion and the only way to reach Him.
  
• God does not tell me to be intolerant with other people believes.
  
• God does not tell me I should make everyone believe in what I believe.
  
• God does not tell me to be intolerant with other sexual orientations.
  
• God does not tell me we did not evolved from monkeys.
  
• God does not tell me I should ignore scientific facts.
  
• God does not tell me to blindly follow believes and give up my reasoning.
  

People do!

And I don't trust people.
Specially people that "speak God's words".
God does not need people to speak for Him.

When are you going to have... ?

A physical check?... No.
An eye check?... No.
A dental check?... No.
Time to rest and have fun?... No.

So, we went home for the holidays, we are still in our 20s and most of the people, some I cannot even call friends, some I cannot even call acquaintances asked us the same question: "When are you going to have kids?".

Wtf? I don't go to people I barely know to ask them that. I don't go to friends to ask them than either, what would I care? It's not like I am going to raise and educate their kid, or like they are doing me any personal favor by having one.

And I just don't get this. So if you get married that means you have to deliver... and I mean you have to, there is absolutely no other reason for getting married, is there!?

And I really don't understand this question. Maybe I am too pragmatic and plastic, but am I actually asked in which nights we choose to have sex and not use any contraceptive methods? Or what exactly does this question mean?

I can just imagine people planning like: "oh well, I want to deliver a kid around 26th of December, so minus 8 months and some weeks that would mean we have to start from around the middle-end of April... so oh boy, April is going to be a very exciting month. Can barely wait to tell my wife!"... Tada! ????
And you know what is freaking me out? I suspect some people actually do that.

But in case you have forgotten we are kind of like "one too many" on this planet. And since I am very much aware of this, here's my answer to "When are you going to have a kid?":

"When are you planning to die? So that you make some room."

PS: And if you want a kid and can't wait to get it, that's your problem... so get busy with your sexual partner (whoever that is)... and stop asking. Really, it's offensive and intrusive and none of your business.

So... how about sex tonight?

Do you ever wonder how the modern world would look like if people would be truly free to express their opinions about sex and that would not be a tabu subject? I thought about it once.

So let's see, what if this conversation would be nothing but just a normal lunch conversation:
"- So I was thinking... how about you and I having sex this evening?
"- Oh... That's flattering but I am really not interested, sorry.

or
"- You know there is this thing I wanted to bring up.
"- ...
"- I was thinking that maybe tonight you would like to come over my place and have sex?
"- Oh, I am really glad you brought this up, I was going to say the same thing! What time shall we meet?
"- I know, let's first go to the cinema and see this great new movie, so we could meet at about 7?

or (a work coleague)
"I'm throwing a sex party tonight and you're all invited. Significant others are welcome, of course."

These would be perfectly ok, I guess. If I don't wanna go to that party I don't go, but at least I know what's it about.

And isn't this exactly what being adult is supposed to mean? Being able to say yes or no? I know you're going to say this is not as simple as that, sex is more complicated. Like women can't just say no because they don't want to hurt a man's feelings...

Well if they can't say no because they care more about "that man's feelings" than their own feelings and would even accept having sex with someone they don't want to because they wouldn't wanna risk hurting their feelings... ?!?! I would say that's a very different issue and needs to be addressed immediately, most likely through proper education. So on...

And what would become of the world if sex would not be as tabu? Well... one thing is for sure: people would not be fascinated about the looks of a blond that can't sing but promises to show more of her breasts with each show she has. Like Ms. Spears for example. And they would actually care more about the voice of a singer rather than the looks. Why? Simply because a sexually satisfied crowd cannot be as easily manipulated by "badly singing" blond breasts.

Is this independence desirable? No, of course not. Independent people cannot be made to buy things they don't need just because it gets them closer to the object of their adulation: the blond breasts, they can't sing of course, but are very well illustrated on the perfume box! You don't buy perfume, you don't need it, you buy the breasts, that is what you need :-)

Oh well, we are all slaves of our desires and sex is meant to be tabu so there is at least one desire marketing departments can take advantage of. And it all works really well.

So have fun now with this Google tech talk about: "sex on the internet, the realities of porn, sexual privacy" by Violet Blue... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1y9ysYNCKE