Don't be a Dino



Greetings Friends,

Sorry for the silence this week; life has a way of sometimes disrupting the act of blogging, but in the words of the immortal Mighty Mouse, "Here I come to save the day."

I've written before about evolving, and now more than ever, it's important not to ever take it for granted. My last entry about Tyler Clementi's suicide from apparent cyber-bullying had me thinking all week about the world we live in and how technology has impacted it. Like everything else, technology is subject to abuse. It doesn't matter if it's a mobile phone, a blog, a Facebook page, a Twitter account; if we don't safeguard the tools we need to make it through today's world, it will disintegrate before our very eyes.

In terms of free speech, where do we draw the line? Do random cell phone videos posted to YouTube or writing on someone's Facebook wall constitute an invasion of privacy? We know that filming someone without their knowledge is an invasion of privacy, but if you put yourself out there to be heard, for whatever reason, is it wrong for someone to tell you, "No, you can't say that?" Ultimately, it is the person holding the pen (or typing on the keyboard) who needs to take responsibility for what they choose to put out into the great electronic void. And, sometimes we make mistakes. I'll amend my Gadget Guardian post from a few months ago by saying, it's not just the gadgets we have to protect, we have to be mindful of the users - ourselves.

The Internet is a powerful tool; it can be an incredibly rich source of information, but it is also a dangerous weapon when used for malicious purposes. We have to find a balance between the good and the evil online, just as we do in life. But, at the same time, we cannot ignore the power of technology; if we do, we endanger ourselves to the point where we just might become extinct. Yes, like the dinosaurs. The key here is to strike a balance between the tried and true, old-fashioned ways of life we count on, and "Life 2.0". If you can manage to integrate change without scaring the hell out of yourself, you're way ahead of the game. It's not easy, but it must be done. Ignoring it is to your own detriment, and sadly, to the detriment of others.

I was on my way to extinction until about a year ago. I still consider myself to be on the "endangered species" list, but I've been trying like hell to evolve. embracing social media and blogging are two of the ways in which I am pressing forward. Have I goofed along the way? Hell, yes. And I will continue to goof; we all will. I manage to refrain from posting egregious self-involved commentary on Facebook, I don't indulge in superfluous Twittering, and I try to make my blog contributions as relevant as possible. Sometimes, I screw it up. I'm learning as I go, and it's bound to happen every so often. The thing is, I need to take others with me on this journey. But, if they are unwilling to go, they don't have the right to stop me. We are all fabulously flawed members of the human race, and that's what makes us so interesting. Sometimes, a little reinvention (or a lot), is necessary to avoid extinction. The dinosaurs were unable to do so, but fortunately, humans are luckier. We can adapt and keep moving forward. We must in order to ensure our survival. If not, it will be our bones in museums, there for all the species who come after us, who were fortunate enough to stay the course and ride out their evolution.

As I said when I first started this blog, this is a journey of reinvention. I'm not there yet, and I don't know if I'll ever get there. Periodically, I like to check the space left on my hard drive to see how much room I've got left. There's always lots of room. Room for everyone to join me.

Have a great weekend.

Nava

Why Do We Hate Each Other?

Greetings Friends,

I found the above image, "Neurotico", in my travels last week, and planned to use it for another topic. I think this one is more timely.

Yesterday, I read about 18 year-old Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University student who committed suicide by jumping from the George Washington Bridge, because his roommate was threatening to "out" him on the Internet with a tape of him having sex with another boy. Unfortunately, Tyler's story is one of many (and one of only a few we've heard about) about cyber-bullying and using the Internet to "out" another person.

The cutting short of a bright young life is devastating enough; the threat of being "outed" as a homosexual before one is ready to make that information public must be an unbearably torturous burden to bear. Your sexuality is your own, and should not be fodder for someone else to use as they see fit. Rumours and gossip do enough damage without entering the realm of social media, but today, they are inextricably linked. It used to be, there was nothing we could do to stop the talking, the whispering, the classroom dramas of yesteryear, that left indelible damage on so many of us. Now, when you factor in technology, it only exacerbates the problem to the point where there really is no recourse whatsoever. We can squawk all we want about needing to put an end to cyber-bullying, but really, what can be done?

Again, I need to make the disclaimer that I am childless by choice. However, this does not mean I do not have a right to speak out about this. I barely escaped my own adolescence by the skin of my teeth, and thankfully, I did not have to live through it during this information age we now live in. I grew up in New York City, and the plethora of locations at which I could have ended my life, had I felt the need to, make me shudder to think how desperate Tyler Clementi must have felt to make the ultimate sacrifice. The ignorance and cruelty that drove him to it are just unthinkable. This was no freshman college prank; this was an abuse of technology, by a fellow student who, by all accounts, knew what he was doing. Granted, there are always three sides to every story, yours, mine and the truth. By "accounts" I mean this story from The Newark Star-Ledger. I'm sure the remorse now felt by the parties who drove Clementi to suicide is genuine, but what could they have possibly been thinking beforehand? Therein lies the problem.

Is it correct to assume that we are all taught to respect human life? The answer, obviously, is "no". What we actually learn is to think of ourselves first, even if outwardly, we feel the need to exhibit altruism by appearing to be concerned with the welfare of others. In reality, we don't give a damn about others, but we want everyone to think we do. Parents need to teach their children about actually giving a damn, not just appearing to, because that's what you're supposed to do. It's a hard lesson to teach, and a hard lesson to learn. Yet, to prevent something like this from happening over, and over, and over again, parents MUST teach their children to be respectful and tolerant. If for no other reason, it could be their kid taking a dive into the Hudson River, not someone else's. That's not a good enough reason, but I believe it's the reason most people will use to assuage the guilt that comes with not raising caring, conscientious children. If you really try, you can begin to reverse the damage.

Earlier this week, I was feeling pretty rotten about being called a "schnorrer". I'm still not happy about it, but hearing about this tragedy puts it all in perspective for me. Name calling is a childish form of ignorance employed by people of all ages and is another blight we are powerless to stop. But, what Tyler Clementi did, could surely have been prevented. I've been surviving name calling since grade school, and I will continue to survive it. Sadly, Tyler Clementi forfeited his survival because of the actions of two people who will forever have his blood on their hands.

Nava

Hockey Season's Almost Here...

Last Words

Greetings Friends,

It's no secret that new words enter our language on a somewhat regular basis. We find new ways in which to express ourselves, and before we know it, those new words and expressions we find ourselves using, go viral.

These days, you don't even need the stamp of approval from Merriam Webster or Oxford. They are no longer the last word when it comes to words. Now, all you have to do is plug your word into Google, and chances are, you'll find a Wikipedia page with a detailed explanation of what whoever wrote the page, thinks the word means. And the list keeps on growing.

When I was working towards my undergraduate degree, I took a Linguistics course as an elective. One exercise the professor made us perform was to make up words that were a combination of other words. Not compound words, but words that combined similar ideas. It was never my intention to become an etymologist, but the concept intrigued me. The way people use, and often misuse words, greatly intrigues me.

So, it's time for another Friday list: Nava's Favourite "New" Words:

Jeggings: This is one I just became aware of the other day. They're a garment that resembles a very tight pair of jeans, but are actually leggings. The effect is supposed to look tight, without actually being tight.

Bromance: a close, platonic relationship between two men.

Frenemy: a person with whom you are friendly, but inherently despise.

Metrosexual: a straight man who cares exceedingly about his appearance and personal grooming habits.

Defriend/Unfriend: the act of deleting someone from your online social networking universe. The modern-day equivalent of "flat-leaving".

Staycation: a cheeky term used to define one's decision to stay home, because taking a vacation is too expensive.

Tweetup: A meeting arranged via Twitter posts.

Microblogging: posting very short entries on a blog. Aren't those actually Tweets?

Netbook: a small laptop. Too bad; I'm partial to the big ones.

Soft Skills: the ability to interact effectively and harmoniously with others. I'm sorry, but I prefer "social" skills; abilities many people seem to be lacking nowadays.

Hikikomori (Japanese): the abnormal avoidance of social contact, typically by adolescent males. Just because I spend most of my days with my laptop, does that mean I'm "hikikomoric"?

Toxic Debt: debt which is at high risk of default. Duh.

Chillax: to simultaneously calm down and relax. There's a town in British Columbia named Chilliwack; is it cool to "chillax" in Chilliwack?

And finally, some oldies, but goodies:

Sick: a term used to describe something that looks or is, smokin' hot, as in, "Those shoes are sick with that dress".

Perfumista: similar to a "fashionista"; someone who adores fragrances.

Dude: a term of friendly endearment, like "buddy". When did it become acceptable to call everyone "dude"?

Have a sick weekend.

Nava

Men and Women Still Can't Be Friends. Or Can They?

Greetings Friends,

As a prelude to tomorrow's contribution to The Perpetual Post, I give you two iconic scenes from one of my all-time favourite movies, When Harry Met Sally... Please scroll down to view the first "men and women can't be friends" segment. Technology, once again, has not been fully cooperative.

Nava

Men and Woman Can't Be Friends

Evil Canadian Empires

Greetings Friends,

Back in my Brooklyn days, getting cable TV was about as easy as finding piles of hundred dollar bills in random shopping bags. After much kicking and screaming and fighting with Cablevision, my favourite New York cable television entity, technology came to my household in August, 1989. This was after years of living vicariously through people whom I knew, living outside New York City, who had been enjoying Sportschannel, CNN and MTV since their inceptions. Living in New York City, well within range of over-the-air network television signals, meant that we lagged far behind the rest of the state, which didn't have that luxury; unless you were privileged enough to live in Manhattan, with access to Manhattan Cable and all the freakish public access channels. Alas, I was not so lucky.

I spent close to 20 years complaining there was nothing on television, despite the hundreds of channels I had access to. Now that I no longer have a top-of-the-line cable system, I am lost without it. Yeah, I still have cable, but access to premium channels like HBO are prohibitively expensive here in Canada. Why? As the title of this post explains, the two biggest providers of cable (or satellite in Bell's case), Bell Canada and Rogers Communications, are extremely adept at fleecing the Canadian population, charging outrageous amounts of money for premium television channels, as well as high-speed Internet, mobile phone service and even land-line phone service.

Since I've been living in Toronto, I've had major run-ins with both companies. When I first moved here last year, I entered into an agreement with Bell's offshoot mobile phone company, Solo, for a plan I was told included long distance minutes to the US, as part of the monthly charge. After 10 days, my service was cut off because I had exceeded the "spending cap" they had placed on my account, because the charges for the long distance minutes I'd racked up exceeded the amount of credit they were willing to give me. It took me over a month to get a straight answer from anyone, which ended up coming from someone at a Bell Canada corporate office here in Toronto. I was allowed to break my contract, since I was so obviously mislead by an inept sales rep who erroneously told me my long distance minutes were included in the charges. That sent me scurrying to Rogers Communications, who graciously offered me an iPhone 3G for less than the going rate, because I purchased a high-end package which includes long distance service to the US, a data plan for Internet access, unlimited texting, and a mobile Internet device for my laptop. All told, Rogers gets close to $200.00 a month out of me for all this; but this relationship has also been fraught with lies and miscommunication. My plan includes free talk time on nights and weekends. I was clearly told that this included long distance to the US. Of course, I made a point of talking to my friends and family in the States during the allotted "free" periods, until I received a bill one month for close to $300.00. After scraping myself off the floor, and sifting through the details of this bill, I noticed that I went over my allotted 500 long distance minutes, and was charged 35 cents a minute for every call over and above that limit. I was flabbergasted, and seething. I placed a call to Rogers, and thankfully, the excess charges were waived, but I was again misinformed about the long distance situation. This seems to be an issue with all the Canadian service providers, whereas in the US, they've been long been offering unlimited calls to Canada and across the US, in their upgraded packages. Here in Canada, you still have to purchase your US long distance minutes separately, at a pretty hefty cost; usually about $25.00-$35.00 extra per month. Why is this the case? Well, the reason, these usurious thieves claim, is because Canada does not have the population to support more reasonable charges for these services. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you; in Brooklyn.

The charges are so high because idiots like me are willing to pay them, and they're pretty much the same at the smaller companies like Telus and Fido. Recently, more competition entered the market, but the long distance plans are just as expensive. This is nothing more than an across the board cash-grab.

As for the cable television services, I'm afraid the same applies. Right now, basic cable is all I can afford; even the same, high-definition digital cable box I had in the US, which was free with the high-definition cable plan I had, costs almost $500.00 here in Canada. And, the premium digital channels, such as HBO Canada, and Canada's The Movie Network, which shows many of Showtime's and Starz's original programming, are extra. So, in total, mobile and land line phone service, high-speed Internet and premium cable/satellite,  is about a $450.00 a month expense. If I were a smoker, I'd rather light my cigarettes with that money, instead of giving it to these thieving bastards. At least I'd be contributing to my own demise, instead of lining someone else's pockets. And I remain unconvinced that the fact that Canada's population is 1/10th that of the US is the reason. They charge what they charge because they can, and that excuse is a biggest load of malarkey I've heard since Glenn Beck landed at Fox News.

Last night, I missed the premiere of HO's newest blockbuster series, Boardwalk Empire. I've missed a year of Real Time with Bill Maher, and a bunch of other programming I used to watch religiously. That doesn't mean I'm not glad to be living here in Canada, but it's never been more obvious to me how life is full of so many little trade-offs. Television is just a small part of life for me, but when it's intelligent television I'm missing, that pisses me off. I'm not saying Canadian television doesn't have its share of intelligent programming, but I really can't help feeling deprived. It's a small price to pay for all the advantages I have here, but I still wish I could have the best of both countries on my television. Hopefully one day I will; then, I'm sure I'll find something else to bitch about.

Nava