Monday, June 30, 2014

The Internet's Own Boy, Brian Knappenberger's documentary about Aaron Swartz

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what will inevitabley happen to all gmail users

my point is: if you look at the fine print in gmail eventually it will start charging you $ to use the service, and after 8-9n years of use I am at 50% of my allowed GB space which is being gobbled up at an exponential rate because of all the multimeia we send each other now - SO either I start deleting everything now and make a habit of it OR I become a slave to the google mail pay scheme in just a few years time... I have been using gmail for how many years now? since I was first available - I think 2005? the tagline at the time read something like "never have to delete another message ever." ok, - unnecessary, perhaps, but fine - sure. FAST FORWARD to the present and we all have MBs zipping in and out of our phones - NOT the case back in 2005 when the smartphone / data plan was yet-to-come and definitley before everyone and their dog was all over the internet on their mobile devices all the time. here is the gmail pricing plan: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/2375123?hl=en Google Drive storage plans Choose from the following monthly Google Drive storage plans to be shared between Google Drive, Gmail, and Google+ Photos. Storage Monthly Rate 100 GB $1.99 1 TB $9.99 10 TB $99.99 20 TB $199.99 30 TB $299.99 Learn more about managing your Google Drive storage plan. Taxes and fees Prices listed above don't include any applicable taxes or fees associated with your country of residence. You may be charged taxes or fees in addition to the prices listed above. Ready to buy? First, find out how refunds and renewals work.
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Friday, June 06, 2014

Outside the loop / the Circle by Dave Eggars

Decided to take a break on the way home during my 65-70 minute bike commute and finally stop at the English Bookshop* on the edge of town. I have been riding by for years - YEARS - and never done more than fish a few things out of their free bin- but the place is great- and although my tiny backpack was already stuffed and my bank account already in the negative I did see something on the shelf which caused me to grab it and buy it immediately- basically as if I were on consumer autopilot, and that item was the The Circle by Dave Eggers.
Had a nice chat with the shop owner and relocated nearly all the contents of the tiny backpack into my shorts pockets thus barely managing to get the book zippered-in for the rest of the ride through rush-hour traffic.
It wasn't until i got home that I noticed the book came out LAST YEAR - at least 18-6 months ago... and that is how out of the loop I realized I am- mind you this particular out-of-the-loopness is adjusted for the inflation of the Internet, but I still mainly get my information about upcoming concerts via paper posters plastered to walls and columns throughout the city with good old wheat paste - quite old school, but if you spend a lot of time out there then you simply absorb the info, (like tonight's Matmos show) - it catches the eye and sinks in...

Anyhow, yea... Bought the Eggers book and now I am afraid to read it. Because of Platypus Down I am afraid to read anything - afraid to watch anything - even FORBADE myself the I diligence of Game of thrones and the gazillion other shows old series or whatever everyone is talking about. 
A simple rule of self-denial: Work, then play...
But: Is it working?
Maaaayyybe. One thing that will steamroll all resistance and test all will and challenge the entire self-imposed system is, of course, the FIFA 2014 World Cup- which starts in 6 days and turns life in Europe (and I assume most of the rest of the world?) completely upside-down for a month...
So, yea, what I seem to be saying: if I ever want to indulge in any guilty-pleasure media again I need to keep on Truckin' and get things DONE.
Hard when you are compelled to re-write the opening chapters hundreds of times...

*ENGLISH BOOKS
Unter dem Eichen 96
12205 Berlin


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