22nd of April is the Earth Day and this year it is the 40th anniversary of the celebration of this day.
It is a celebration, meant to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. It was started by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in held on April 22, 1970.
YouTube has put it in the spotlight for today:
The Bay vs. The Bag
The Unravelling: Eggs, String, & Climate Change
A friend asked me today: “Do you have a Facebook?”
My quick answer was: “Of course not, I am a geek!”
Then it made me think, what is it that makes geeks hate the new social networks hype? It’s not like we are unfamiliar or feel uncomfortable, come on, we create these things for breakfast! 
And there definitely is an issue with geeks and social networks – all my geek friends avoid them, at least the fashion ones. It does not matter where everybody is, I just don’t care if I get a thousand invitations to Facebook, MySpace, Hi5, etc. And it is not like we don’t have social contacts also. It’s more like “you go into that fancy place and mingle with the fancy people. If you want to contact me, come where I am”.
So far so good. But then again, where am I? And most importantly, what makes it different from the other places where people communicate on the Internet?
I am on Twitter, I even have 2 accounts – one personal and one for the blog. I am on LinkedIn. I am on Jamendo. I may even be on some, or even most of the other social networks, but I am not really on them.
What is common between all of these places – they are not commercial. Even though Twitter is so popular, it is somehow clean. No marketing, no spam, no SEO bullshit. It got out of nowhere, some people were just having fun, others thought it is fun too. Another thing common is privacy – you are not bugged 20 times a day with invitations for mindless activities, fake causes and not embarrassed by someone, who thought it is very funny to share a picture of you when you had a bad day. Without asking you do you mind, or giving you any choice. And it is more personal too. You are not part of the crowd, it is like going out with friends.
What do you think about it? How is it for you? And don’t forget to share this within your social network! 
[Image by Davide Guglielmo, taken from www.sxc.hu]
Each year, the last Friday of July is a special day for a certain category of people. These are the (mostly) invisible people, that make sure our digital day is as flawless as possible. The people that support your computer, the people at the internet company that make sure you are online, the ones that support the servers, running your favorite websites. Pretty much all people, that make sure your bills are calculated correctly, your ticket is reserved online, your cell phone has service – the system administrators, or sysadmins for short.
Ten years ago, a special day was chosen to be the day of appreciation for these people – The SysAdmin Day. If you are happy with the geek that fixed your computer, or the internet connection of that new ISP – some congratulations are due.
To all tech people, who make our lives better by taming the technology beasts for us – Cheers, mates! May you never have to wake up early, or stay at work overnight! May all your data be safe, the rest is a matter of money :->
TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, is a conference, held annually in Long Beach, California since 1984. It is famous for “bringing together the world’s most famous thinkers and doers”. It currently covers the topics Technology, Entertainment, Design, Business, Science, Culture, Arts and Global issues, with probably more to come. The conference presentations are made from the people who shape the future (Seth Godin, Isabel Allende and Bono to name just a few). The event is something people from all over the world are lining up to attend (if they can afford to, it’s a bit pricey).
Each year, three exceptional individuals receive $100,000 and, much more important, the granting of “One Wish to Change the World.” This is the TED prize, that goes to the three people with the most world-changing dream.
Since several years, the presentations, a.k.a TED Talks, are available online for watching under a Creative Commons license. They are a valuable knowledge collection, as well as a genuine source of inspiration.
I wish you unforgettable moments with these jewels!
