compressing the limits

what would a scholar do?

2011-07-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

I look at the written pages, all scattered chapters, somehow unrelated, chaotic. What would a scholar do in front of such a patch of work?

A scholar would close all the PDFs, all browser windows, would delete all new key words ready to be searched for, and would start correcting and organizing what's been done so far.

Because a scholar would know that the deeper one diggs, the further from the end one gets.

And a scholar would skip today's BBQ as well (maybe), for the sake of academical work schedule precision ;)

back from the shadows

2011-03-03T05:23:00.000-08:00

it's been a long time since i've blogged. i can't say i really missed it.
yet a small discussion with a friend made me wonder if i should start it again.
i ordered myself a calabaza for drinking mate and i was sharing this to a friend. he asked me if this was my way of preparing for writing my MA thesis, "you should blog about how you started preparing for writing", he said.
he's right.

so, here i am, after a break of 4 years, blogging again.

i started working on my thesis 1 moth ago. ever since, i've been swimming in different waters, from extreme excitement to extreme procrastination. yet, my baby - as i call it- has always been on my side.
the next posts will be on how we started living together.

enjoy :)

periodic table of visualization methods

2007-07-09T23:27:00.000-07:00

a very interesting idea of grouping together all sorts of visualization methods, that can help one get the right graph for the weirdest projects, offering visual solutions from the concept to the strategy visualization, all the way through the easiest and most complicated sets of levels and arrows. well, see for yourselves!

i am not sure how they got to this order, and if the table may absorb other methods, but it's for sure a good starting point for anyone looking for inspiration.

actually this is not the only thing that visual literacy offers, because they also provide online courses for understanding and creating visualization methods.

research results - coming soon

2007-07-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

now that i'm done with the graduation part, and finally feeling relaxed :D, i shall upload soon the results of the research concerning blogging and public relations.

teaser: the theory was confirmed --> both companies and their clients regard blogs and blogging with optimism and consider it a great means of direct communication.

colourbathing

2007-07-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

when visiting amsterdam i bought myself a caleidoscope, which got me into the mood for colours and hues and shapes and all what's inside that box of glass.

that also took me to visual complexity.
besides the very insipring ideas, it's a bright colour explosion.

but it was something else that got my attention today, a more analytical approach of the colours, under colour lovers.

yum

so i'm a grown-up now

2007-07-03T01:21:00.000-07:00

the corporate blog - fad or pr standard - or just a superficial discussion?

2007-06-03T02:32:00.000-07:00

friday and saturday were busy with the conference on corporate communication, held by the university of bucharest.

nice idea, good organization, international participation, some interesting topics.

yesterday at noon was the only meeting i actually had planned to attend, not only because of the topic, but also because of its format: a round table about blogging and pr. it somehow made it less formal and boring.

the discussion were polarized between the IT guys, how they called themselves, a bunch of corporate bloggers, and the PR girls, a bunch of pr specialists who also blog, and who try to introduce blogging among the usual practices within a company.
it was interesting how both sides, even if talking about the same aspects of blogging, segregated into a masculin group and its femimin counterpart, arguing about the importance and about the usefulnes of this communication platform - a dialogue of the deaf, which proved that none of them were really prepared with solid argumetns for their presentation.

the list of the participants is under the official website

the topics ranged between who should blog within a company (wich ended with no conclusion), to the very courageous generalization that romanian companies can't blog since they have nothing to say to their customers.

well, i would't dare to go that far, and i woulnd't dare to approach this topic, as long as i come to this roundtable as one of the -specialist bloggers-.

mr. specialist bloggers, i was very dissapointed by your attitude and by the whole lack of clear information, that turned the whole hour and a half into a plain and superficial discussion of "let's say something, because we are anyway in front of a whole atuditorium".

i expected solid argumenst, and not vague appreciations of someone who has no basic proof for any of their statements, like - the majority of the bloggers write about their cats.

i expected clear internal policies for blogging within a company, and not vague ideas about that.

i expected openess and flexibilty, and not superficiality and prejudice.

none the less, i expected useful conclusions, and not the overall sensation that this discussion led to nothing.

next time, i should reconsider if these type of meetings are really worth the time, since the only important things i've learned were the DON'Ts.

fundamentals of corporate communication: current trends and perspectives

2007-05-30T05:03:00.000-07:00

potentially super duper conference this weekend in bucharest

it CAN'T be as cool, and I am SURE it won't be as cool as the amsterdam blogwalkeleven, but it's a great step ahead, for us, bloggers interested not only in writing, but also in the academical approach.

i can only be happy to see that there are things being done at this level, and i am really looking forward to participating.

a short sketch of the topics:

Jon White, “Corporate reputation, corporate responsibility: Foundations for organisational performance and competitive advantage”

Ryszard Ławniczak, “Internal Corporate Communication for Privatisation and Restructuring. The Case from Transition Economy”

Lars Thøger Christensen, “License to Critique: Corporate Communication as Polyphony”

Raluca Petre, “Institutional and Discursive Transformation; the Romanian state news agency”

plus many more in french and romanian.
yeah well, some titles sound quite boring, but but but judging before seeing would be unfair..

let's say this could be a cookie recieved in exchange for the absence from reboot 9.0.

i am mostly interested in the presentations on knowledge management, especially after realizing that i need to find a way to start communicating with my fellow coworkers, in a way or another...

grim against grim

2007-05-27T23:54:00.000-07:00

DPA via Spiegel online

pleasant surprize to see the palme d'or coming home.
wondering still if it's not the time to shift the focus on a different angle of reality.
i don't exactly remember the last romanian movie that didn't depict social problems, poverty, repression, corruption or politics, and i refer not to the movies that go to festivals, but also to those that stay at home and never make it so big.
i really don't recall the last time i laughed, except at the 2002 production - Filantropica, which again, was about poverty and exploitation - a black comedy though.

i wonder therefore if these subjects are the only ones that pass through the director's mind when planning the next movie. is there really a need for catharsis, so strong, that no producer or director can avoid these over and over exploited topics? are these the only topics worht exporting?

it's sad to see that the past has such an influence upon the present, and even more, upon the creativity.

why would it be so difficult to make a thriller or just a comedy, or a horror excluding key words like

comunists
abortion
revolution
ceausescu
poverty
repression
corruption
bureaucracy
rroma
prostitution
beggars
handicaped
homeless
medical system

uhm, i guess it's already enough to make a bullshit bingo when watching a romanian movie. no offence to the palm d'or winner. glad to have won! sad though that only these topics can bring to life emotions.

a different type of a haircut

2007-05-22T01:05:00.000-07:00

could a digital bohemian turn into some role model in life?
could it lose its essence of being different among the white collars, and turn into a hype, just like the manga haircuts?

i wonder how much of the being different, travelling, blogging, and walking around with the laptop is fake and how many of those who bohemian around really feel different or pose so.

i could be a bohemian, if i blogged more, if i could travel more to the meetings i feel like attending or if i would be continously up to date with the latest inventions and gadgets.
but well, i am currently busy with translating the RS/232 Settings for an ISEL machine at work, plus the exams, plus the graduation, plus the doing nothing afternoons, so where should there be time left for bohemi-aiming around?

i don't know how this life would fit mine, or if i could fit myself within this group and keep up with it.
the blogwalk last friday was my latest best escape from the over and over declared boredom of going to a place where my brain dies every day a little more, in this office at the end of the world, in a very crowded and non touristy area of bucharest.

my big problems remain though:
1. how should i manage to keep this job, where i do boring stuff, but i am being allowed to leave now and then?
2. how should i find a job to keep me functioning at normal parameters, and still have the time and money to travel?
3. what type of a life would i have then, if i am all the time on the road?
4. how should i get funds for all this extravaganza of travelling around?
5. would i become then the victim of my ever exploding curiosity, and die imbracing a laptop while broadcasting over the internet the latest conference?

bye bye darth vader!!

2007-05-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

today starts the oficial week

"more afternoon delights, drinks, sun, and hammocks - more food for the lazy brain"

which coincides with the official week of
global fight against the evil forces which put exams, big projects at work, papers, deadlines etc. in may.

---speaking of evil forces.. one of my favourites---

don't let the phone spoil the movie. turn it off!

bye bye darth vader!!

the 8 most stupid commandments in a student library

2007-05-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

(what's in the photos is under #8)

i've been today to the wanna-be-leftist library. that is actually the biggest student library in bucharest, but with a terribly rude + narrow minded team, and board of directors. (www.bcub.ro not sure if they also have a page in english.)

i've been hoping lately for more serious stuff on their lists of worries, like having an emergency plan in case of an earthquake or having a wirelass internet connection or buying NEW books, the newest ones being from 2004. unfortunately, there are other stuff on their lists.

some of their best worst ideas are:

1. though shall not enter the library with a laptop inside a bag or any kind of cover against light or dust. the device should preferably be carried in the hand, and exposed to the vigilent control of the guards.

2. though shall not bring own papers or books inside, or, if so, should rent one of the 3 (or was it 4?) rooms for individual study.

3. though shall not speak on the mobile phone, at the entrace (which is by the way isolated from the area were the intellectual effort is being done). in case of heavy snow or rain or nuclear explosion, please suffer in silence or go outside.

4. thouh shall pay for every photocopy of a document the double price of a photocopy in any other copy center in the city.

5. though shall pay for every document saved from their (at most 10) computers, which can be used by the hour. and not for free!

6. though shall not photocopy half of the books, but not for the sake of the copyrights, but because they get destroyed. and since there is just one example of almost each...

7. though shall not even dream of taking books at home for individual study.

today i've been introduced to the 8th, and newest:

8. though shall only stay in the normal reading position. any attempt of approaching one of the other sides of the desk will be punished with public humiliation, and who knows, maybe with the photo displayed at the entrace under "public enemy".
actually, my only reason for that was because of the sun strongly reflecting in the display of my latop. so someone from their personnel felt like teaching me a lesson in public, and shouted loudly that i should not sit in such an inappropriate position, just like in a bar(?!). geez, i wish it was a bar, with cool people, comfi couches, and drinks for free..

serioulsy now, why would anyone in a library care if i sit on the right side or the left side of the desk? maybe my unfortunate choice of the left side reminded them of themselves, stupid people with old inhereted habits of regulating everything, even the orientation while reading a book.

[the library has around 300 seats, at least this is the approximate number of coin lockers]

2007-04-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

some celebrate the 1st of may at work, dancing and enjoying themselves.

evil mouse about the project

2007-04-26T13:28:00.000-07:00

photo from sandbox.randomactdesign

it's getting closer, and closer, and it's not the smell of chese that could make any mouse happy.
it's the light at the end of the tunnel.
papers are piling up in my room, while cat sleeps wherever she feels like. [it's not the first time i've noticed that she must be the happiest family member of all.]

this entry is about the evil mouse, that is ME, and the project on blogging. i guess, men could say it's like a woman: always changing, and terribly moody. yes, i've had to deal with this feminine project for some time now, and we still have to guess eachother from time to time.

i have a friend who works for a tiny company in germany, calibrating measuring machines of all sorts. and he told me once: machines are like men and women. some are loud, moody, and you have to work a lot to fix them, others are silent, stubborn and won't tell you a thing about their problems. well, i can perfectly understand his point. just like this blogging project: the blogosphere is so loud, so moody, so hard to guess, so unstable, that sometimes i feel like i will never reach the end. there are so many buttons to push, and turn, and wheels to stear, and screws, and pins, and yes - tons, and tons of patience - :D
but now i've got the right thread in my hands, and i can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
the breeze on the other side smells delicious...

^^

shouting it lound!

2007-04-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

the 3 most important things in my life:
thing nr. 1
thing nr. 24
thing nr. 73

though the order is not strict. may i have more?

i wonder why 3, and why putting them on a list in the center of the city.
maybe because someone believes that this bellybutton of the grey, and dusty bucharest has enough spiritual energy to make wishes come true.

this is the initiative taken by a television chanel - realitatea tv - as an attempt to make the needs of the people heared, actually read:

"forget about politics. and the politicians. think about yourself. write down three important things in your life!"

to me it seemed hilarious, some sort of "mary & john sitting in a tree" burst of discourse. but looking at the comments on their website, it looks like there are some serious things going on:

free press, no corruption, down with the politicians!, a normal country, health, family, democracy, freee press again etc.
i wonder why these things would be on the top of the list for anyone. i do care about them all, but if this initiative hadn't come on a shaky political ground, the answers could have been different. we all know these things, but ranking them on the first places in life, gives to politics the rights of an invited intruder who should never rule our own world.

other cases:
3 most important things in life, when in traffic:
1. free press
2. no corruption
3. democracy

3, when brushing teeth
1. a normal country!
2. democracy
3. no corruption

3, when walking the dog:
1. down with the politicians!
2. free press
3. a normal country

3, when drunk:
1. fr98y98eeee prrrrrresydoisss
2. \[058m=3797485
3. 98w457'sgj[0tu

anyway,
so where do these lists go to?

Walking - talking

2007-04-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

18th of may, walking and talking about blogging, in amsterdam.

BlogWalkEleven

the walking-talking part may be as old as the time [i would like to say hello to mr. greek people, and their wise men];
as i was saying, as old as the time, but as refreshing as a lemonade while having nice talks, and enjoying the spring.

hackers' camp of great anthropological interest

2007-04-21T11:34:00.000-07:00

planning the vacation will be easy this year.
because i found the perfect place for starting an "animal planet" research.
it's not whatever jungle, desert or big city, it's the
Chaos Communication Camp - a Chaos Computer Club hackers' camp - at finowfurt, close to berlin.

it's the place with the following on the discussion list:

+flying and non-flying autonomous robots
+security, encryption and anonymity
+software projects
+technologies for the day after the climate change
+rapid prototyping and fabbing
+software and hardware for disaster-resistant infrastructure
+bringing broadband to the countryside
+politics and propaganda
+anti-crowd-control tactics and technologies
+lock picking
+alternative energy systems
+citizen surveillance, data mining technologies, and social networks
+data forensic methods
+all things radio (preferably digital)
+self-sustaining and -reproducing hardware
+pollution free transport systems
+hacker anthropology and sociology of the scene
+flying cars, saucers and carpets
+42
+tesla generators
+telecommunication technologies
+FPGA based analysis
+military technologies
+all kinds of voting computers
+ebooks
+satellites and rockets
(and countermeasures against all of the above).

since all it's just chinese, except here and there, i will stick to the animal planet approach, and subscribe for the hacker anthropology in-depth studies.

so, there will be 5 days of hacker watching, and behaviour observing, of meeting the chief of the tribes, smoking the peace pipe with them, and eventually meeting their kids, and women. this way the rest of the world will know:
the eating, sleeping, breeding, time wasting, creating, inventing, destroying, planning, self cleaning habits of the hacker, this odd anthropological invention of our computer times.

happy hacker's week --> 8 - 12 august 2007

^^

Agreed to help ^^

2007-04-21T11:09:00.000-07:00

i've made a list of all those who agreed to help me with the project.

big thanks!

2007-04-17T15:18:00.000-07:00

[upgrading soon with photos ]

re:publica 3

2007-04-15T09:53:00.000-07:00

3rd day is over, and the whole story of blogging goes back inside the computer, behind the keyboard, like some sort of genie back in the bottle.
there is a victorious feeling of having conquered the virtual world, since the early hours of the morning. we are then announced, again, that old media is dead, and that the internet will eventually eat us all. journalists are complaining of the old fashioned design of newspapers that used to surf on the big wave. it's not only me who notices, but it's someone else who points it out: what is actually so good about the new media that is so bad about the old ones? as i get it, it's more a question of methodology, since the overall feeling is that there are arguments missing, there are empirical results missing, there is the academical approach missing.

of course, it was a conference of "how do you dos", of getting to know ourselves non virtually, of non virtual interaction. still, there is a feeling of dissapointment: there have been so many great ideas, so many good observations, so many slides spent, and so little empirical argumentation! the feeling of having noticed certain fenomena in the blogoshpere has to be proved, and studied. else we'll move around feelings, opinions, and other forms of uncertain expression of the reality.

which brings me to the conclusion that this was just the beginning of a beautiful friendship, whilst the research on communication, on interaction through blogging, on the sociology, and anthropology of the blogger are now to come.

i guess that johnny from www.spreeblick.com came up with a very nice conlcusion, a little bit of a paradox: after debating over the new media - old media opposition, he announced that since the blog spreeblick has been so succesful over the past years, they thought about giving us its new printed version. classy(c), or?

re:publica 2

2007-04-12T22:28:00.000-07:00

there are good reasons why i didn't write this blog yesterday, after the 2nd gathering of the great senat of the re:publica. some of them include finally getting to see parts of berlin, and meeting old friends over a coffee.
i am always surprized by the lively atmosphere of this city, and i try now to catch that as much as i can, since last time when i was here, i barely had time for shopping for my basic needs.

as about yesterday's presentations, i could say that they keep the diversity alive: from pleasant surprizes concerning what the inquisition does to those heretic bloggers who harm copyrights over whatever immaterial informational belongings, to unprepared discussions on very interesting topics like measuring the blogs' relevance, plus all in between, fluid talks and no silent moments, cooling systems snoozing in the background, keyoards tacataca, and recorded presentations for podcasting them later.

after that, just the noises of the city, the silence of the broken windows of the tacheles house (http://super.tacheles.de/cms/), the graffitties, the sand in the backyard, the boats on the spree, and again, the feeling of being placed in the right spot.

re:publica 1

2007-04-11T04:26:00.000-07:00

I'm between the presentations and I have a first impression of having come to the right place.
Even though just a 3rd of the first day has passed, I got into the spirit and enjoy myself among this paradoxical swarm of blogging men. As presented already by Jan Schmidt from the University of Bamberg, 66% of bloggers are women. Which also led someone from the RBB to ask me what I am doing here. Curiosity and fun :D + a lillebitofwork.

Funny idea from the organizers: putting an extra shield for questions during the presentations, with the foxy comment "we've thought about those who don't enjoy speaking in public, so please feel free to sms the question to this number and it will be shown on the screen".
Tricky choice though, as the screen got bombarded with lots of comments, ranging from the most innocent of "Little Phillip got lost, parents please contact the organizers", to the spam attitudes of "viagra, taxes holdem, FREE RINGTONES". Actually noone asked any questions over this sms service, which proved again, that contrary to the commom belief, just as Jan had pointed out, bloggers are neither overweighted men in their early 30s, nor people who can't address a question publicly!
Another myth has died, let's burry it with respect.

2007-04-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

i was browsing on neville hobson's page when i got to this list with some communication conferences in europe he will attend this year. greato! the geek inside showed big grin, and big eyes. so i clicked and saw great list of great men and women, from great companies with great smiles.
just as i was about to register myself on the list of great attendants, i saw this weird text on the page:

now, why would anyone waste the energy to add a third option that leads to nowhere, except to an error on the page. Geez! totally off a normal pshycological thinking path. unexpectedly, it got me the bad feeling of being excluded form an inhouse party which is wrong to be so exclusivist................. so i am asking myself pensively: why are there such huuuuuge price differences between 2 conferences on similar topics, with similar smart, curious and interesting people? the one in berlin has a student's price of 60 euro. this one in belgium of 1,800 [i think it's the better coffee, and cookies]. i think it's pretty unfair to keep the knoledge in the house, since new ideas swarm mostly outside the walls.

anyway, i should be happy with the ticking of the 3rd question. i haven't been to the conference, but i've proudly been on their website. hurray!

re:publica 07

2007-04-03T15:51:00.000-07:00

i am usually listening to the radio while doing the translations for my part-time job.

radio fritz - good music and funny comments --> http://www.fritz.de/_/hoeren/index_jsp.html

yesterday, between 2 nasty comments and 3 punk singles, i heared about this conference in berlin, called

leben im netz - living in the internet --> http://re-publica.de/info/

where there will be 3 days of presentations, workshops and discussions on blogging, podcasting, wikis, rights, politics, wrongs, law and whatever passes through their crazy minds. The schedule is pretty full, 90% of the talks - in german, but what a nice location, what super duper topics, lots of speakers, big teams, i counted about 70 people talking. i will move there, between the 11th and the 13th of april, in the internet too, i will actually do that once i am done with my paper. i miss my second life, cos the second time i went there was some months ago, i forgot how i look like. what a pitty i have just one life to run them both.

the blogs in the new media era

2007-04-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

-a qualitative research on the role of the blogs in public relations-

data about the project:

how i got here: it must have been one of the rooftop sessions in berlin, when i was looking for inspiration.

what hit me: blogs could make a tempting theme for my project, but they seem such tricky creatures..

so, what i did next: i went to the library to tame the beast.

after researching for some time: i got to this idea that blogs could be those means of communication, closest to the win-win theory of grunig, grunig&dozier i had studied some time ago.

to prove this idea: i thought of applying an interview to company representatives on one hand, and to the future or present clients, both team's members being active bloggers.

my big hope and guess: blogs will actually prove to support a 2 way, symmetrical communication, with lots of feedbacks and negociacions of a win-win position.

declaration of affection: this paper is extremely catching, and i write it with great passion.

^^ ptzai