Welcome to my cosy little attic. I hope you feel at home. Feel free to navigate. I hope my insanity is catching. Comments are more than welcome.
What's Up (so don't ask)
30/10/04 The Dude left us - RIP
15/03/05 I turn 18... start counting my grey hairs
16/05/05 Last Exam. Forever, I hope.
21/05/05 Jack Johnson Concert - KickAss
25/05/05 I graduate... maybe
07/06/05 Kaz turns 18. About time bro.
share the madness
:: I spend too much time with email, I need a femail
5:54 pm
Hey there.
i've been trying to work all day (and yesterday) and anyone who knows me that trying at least is an improvement. All I've really managed to do is type up some of the stuff I'd written by hand concerning the social commentary concerning work in Fight Club, editing as I went along. So far, I have about 900 words... it's not too bad, but it's mainly stuff I'd written already. However, I still have more to write on the topic, and then I'm moving on to the issues of globalization, religion and identity... and if they're all 700+ words, I should be on the way to finishing my extended essay. yay.
I've been thnking, which is also an improvement, that my blog seems to be very different to others that I've seen. Most people use their blogs as a sort of personal thoughts area, like a column in a newspaper. I noticed this when we started looking at newspaper columns in Portuguese class ('A Cronica' is the title of that section... that's right, "The Chronic"... and we all know what that is). What I tend to do is simply write up my day (or days) which I think pales in comparison. I should really be talking about what I feel about the issues, or simply chatter away randomly. However, my current way of doing this hardly stands up to what the title of my blog suggests... there's very little randomness about it. So I'll try some of it today... and then go on to tell you about my weekend.
I recently acquired a Gmail account (thanks mags) and, for fun (oh so much fun) I decided to go to google and run a search of the word "gmail". One of the first things that came up was a gmail hate site. It appears that Gmail has privacy issues... you see, Gmail can hold 1 gigabyte of emails, which is a lot, and some people think this is only so you never delete messages, or more directly, so that Google can access them at any time. Although the keyword search in every email is automatic and anonymous (to show 'relevant' ads) it is thought that Google keeps a record of the keywords you use in emails, and those sent to you. This is worrying, mainly because we don't know why anyone would do this if not to sell the information later, which is rarely good for the consumer. However, the bigger fear (at least on the site I saw) is the lack of protection against the government's eyes. Because of the PATRIOT act (see Fahrenheit 9/11), emails are not protected material after 180 days, and require only a subpoena (instead of a warrant) to be seized from the server. Google would not be able to protect the user's rights, and this is very frightening for terrorists using Gmail to keep track of Osama's bill of health. You see, I think this kind of fear is a bit wierd, because I don't plan to use Gmail to send anything potentially hazardous or evil (other than the occasional flirtatious email) so I don't think it's a big deal. Furthermore, I don't like in the United States of Dictatorship, so I don't have to worry about the PATRIOT act either. Here in freedom loving Europe, I don't think the same rules apply. What do you think? Should I flee from Gmail? Am I endangered? If anyone answers that last question with references to my cranial capacity, I will hurt them... I might even give them a Gmail account. Then they're really fucked.
You see? That wasn't very interesting... I had something better in mind, about my onset of not shaving, but it wasn't coming out very well. Gmail is already fucking with my brain... and I only have 2 emails in there... and they both say "welcome". Actually, that's all an email from Margarida says... which gives me the chance to examine the wonder that is Google's clever advertisements.
On their help page, they describe the ads as being "matched to information that is of interest to you" and they "hope you'll find them relevant and useful"... which is big talk for "yeah, so we'll search your emails for keywords and then show ads that are completely relevant to whatever your emails are about"
So, what did an email which said "welcome =)" have to offer in regards to ads? here, I have them on display below. I took away the links and URLs, because they pissed me off so much. If you can tell me how they're relevant at all, I'll sell you my liver.
Flights to Europe - Compare Flights to Europe For Big Savings - It's Easy!
Car Hire in France - Fully inclusive rates for locations thoughout FranceCar Hire Nice - Low Rates at All French Airports & Cities. Instant Inclusive Quotes
Hmm.
So, now can I talk about my weekend? Was the above random enough to keep my copywrite of the "Random Ramblings" title? My weekend then. I stayed in on friday, because I wanted to get up early enough on saturday to get some work done (failed) and I wanted to eat pizza (complete success). Ana was playing in the Blues Bar, which was another reason to stay home. I didn't want to see my favorite nightspot filled with lots of people who just don't appreciate the music that is usually played there. I heard Ana was good, though. Hats off. I played SMS Annoy with someone, which was fun until I stopped getting replies. And I got to watch TeenWolf, so I guess it was a good night. Last night there was a "BBQ" at Eddies... I put the quotation marks only because a BBQ at Eddies place means as little BBQing as anything. I won't go into detail (Google owns Blogger, and we know how they love sharing info with the police) but I will tell you that I not only managed to do a flip off the trampoline into the pool (an number of times) I also managed to smash my face into the bottom while swimming with my eyes closed. That'll make you think again about drinking and diving (hehe)
I spent a lot of the weekend trying to see someone who is worth my time seeing, but unfortunately I failed. Maybe next weekend... I wish people were easier to read. Not like me, I'm a closed book, but more like the invisible man. He's very transparent. you see, my humour declines with age. kiss to sos, tho.
And today I spent an insane amount of time trying to get the dude to eat his healthy food... it looks and probably tastes like rabbit shit, so it's no wonder he wasn't really into it.
I hope you enjoyed today's ramblings. I've successfully avoided a couple hours of work because of this post, so yay.
ciao,
G
Gmail is cool and I'm sticking to it. My emails will become no more than just random words in a sea of other people's words too... but then again... that's not to far from the truth anyway. I don't have a problem with their privacy policy --- I'm sure they don't care about the stuff I write in my emails =P
The obvious link between "welcome" and their ads isssss...... so that you feel welcome in other countries too. Now hand over that liver pal!
Thank you for the entertaining entry, and the reminder that I remain one of the few losers that is yet to watch F 9/11
