19 July, 2012

RED cameras and EVOs

A short intermezzo with some rally action in Australia, with two EVOs: EVO 4 and an EVO 6 Tommi Makinen Edition , shot with a RED camera.


Please do watch it in 1080p and fullscren. It's amazing! Cheers go to Jalopnik, where I saw the video and to BerryBrothersMotorsport, who made the video.

16 July, 2012

Anonymity: when to say enough

It's been a while(almost two decades) since the Internet came to be an integral part in our lives and recently, a lot of concerns appeared about the privacy you get/have the right to, when online(Carrier IQ, Google, Facebook).

But this is not the actual subject of this post. It's all about the choice of using your real name and details online, instead of using various aliases. Everybody knows it's a common practice for teenagers to use an alias when posting/chatting over the internet, and lately it seems to have been a common thing for adults to act worried about this.

From one point of view,  I see anonymity as an useful tool in the development of their character. The "power" to make your opinion heard with almost no responsibility is a good test of character. Sure, there will be the occasional idiot who swears and brings nothing constructive to the discussion, but for people that have more inhibitions, who are introverts or who are just afraid of being judged: it will help bring their true opinions about cultural, political or social events and ideas.
It's easier to make a personal statement when there is no chance of "ad hominem" attacks ( I am currently planning an article about logical fallacies, so I'll explain it better there). 

I've witnessed lots of introvert people evolving nicely behind aliases, that hid their identity in the online world ( forums, blogs, etc), and I genuinely think they would've had a lot of problems later in life, fitting in the society or functioning as a normal, social, human being.

Of course, this has to be coupled with proper human interaction as the excess in anything in never good. Anonymity will only take you so far, for the rest of the road you need to go out and talk with friends (even friends from the online world, because it will be easier to connect with them when you know their interests and opinions), go interact, drink, party, etc.

Also, as you grow older, for example: after you're 20 years old, you should start owning up to your actions, opinions and ideas. You need to learn how to be responsible and show that you're willing to support the consequences of your words and actions.

This is why I'm not against employers checking the online activity (forums, blogs, Facebook, etc) of prospective employees. It a great judge of character, what you write when there are no apparent consequences. Sure, you may have been a dumb, naive kid, 5 years ago, but if you've shown no improvement since then, why would someone want to hire you?

You have to grow up, and you also have to start acting like one when in public, because no matter what you may think, your image is important, the "YOU" that other people see is sometimes more important than your diplomas. 


In the end, I leave you with a funny clip from "The Big Bang Theory". There are no advices that I can give you that will apply in every single situation, but the main idea is that anonymity is an useful tool, up to a point. After that, grow up and act up.



PS: for our Romanian readers this is a very good article about what to do after you get past your anonymity phase.