I need sunscreen

Still one of the best texts I have ever read. I just plain love this song.

Just now playing on my office radio:

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

S--T--R--E--T--C--H

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen), Baz Luhrmann, lyrics by Mary Schmich

--

Yeah. So let's sing:

she was a li li li li lizard / I am a wizard / and then I kissed her / but now I miss her

comeona comeona comeona yeah / that's what she said / comeona comeona come on and play

she told me / that she adored me / and then whe scored we / but how she tore me

I'll never ever have another / reptily lover / under my cover / go ask my mother

The Mopeds - Lizard - Hände Hoch!

Lösa tankar under dagen

När jag har för mycket att göra, eller svåra saker att komma igång med, så tänker jag alldeles för mycket på annat ett tag. Sen när jag fått tillräckligt dåligt samvete lossnar ofta pluggen och uppgifterna löses lätt på ingen tid. Lustigt.

Idag har jag tänkt på en massa saker. Pratat med Henko om ditten och datten. Bland annat det här:

• Jag har kommit på varför jag har så svårt för musik som GES eller Gessle/Roxette. Jag har väldigt bred musiksmak, det finns inte mycket jag ratar. Musiken som Gessle gör är dock helt omöjlig för mig att uppskatta. Jag klarar inte av det riktigt, det skär verkligen i mina öron. Vilket är lite lustigt, för han är faktiskt ett pop-geni. Trallvänligt, klatschigt, lättillgängligt, bra melodier, tydliga refränger... ...miljoners miljarder sålda skivor... Fast idag kom jag på det. GES och Gessles musik är som tuggummi. Klistrigt som sjutton, segt och varar länge men lämnar ingen mättnad, släcker ingen törst och ger inget som helst näringstillskott. Däremot är det kul att blåsa bubblor med kompisar.

Uppdatering, 20030730: Fast det spelar ingen roll. De som var på Brottet igår (eller skvalpade stilla på en båt utanför) och såg Per Gessle på hemmaplan lär ha haft en fantastisk upplevelse. Kungen av Sand levererar.

• Halley har skrivit fantastiskt bra om vad en weblog är för något.

• Den som gör samma sak om och om igen utan att ifrågasätta utfallet eller fundera över om det finns andra sätt att uppnå samma eller annat resultat har IMNSHO inte "övat". De har antingen "utfört" eller "härmat". Aldrig "övat". Framför allt antagligen inte lärt sig något.

Kan mobiltelefonkamerafenomenet jämföras med lomografi frågade någon idag på en maillista nära mig. Det tycker jag allt. Nästan. Fast ändå inte:

Digitala entusiastsvaret: LÄTT!!!

Analoga dito: Inte då.

Personligen tycker jag att telefonkamerorna, med koppling till direkt publicering på någon plats med någon teknik, ger en direkthet och en brist på eftertanke och funderingar på "är det här värt att ta en bild på, orkar jag" som är otroligt befriande. Leder till mycket roligheter. Det är helt enkelt kul att ta bilder på vänner som inte är förberedda, eller på händelser som passerar förbi.

Dock fattas ju en del finesser som lomon har, som gör bilder tagna med lomo av en kunnig lomosnubbe eller -snubba långt mycket snyggare / intressantare. Ställbar exponeringstid, tunneleffekten, den där lustiga viewfindern som säkert funkar som en inspiration i sig (jag har aldrig knäppt en bild med en lomo), ställbart fokus...

Framför allt är väl mobiltelefonkamerornas problem med brist på ljus en allvarlig skillnad i jämförelsen med lomon.

Å andra sidan har min Noka 7650 en rolig fitjur som orsakar en hel del skoj: från att jag trycker på knappen till att bilden tas går en viss tid. Lagom länge för att aldrig riktigt veta vad jag egentligen fångat förrän bilden framträder på skärmen två sekunder senare. Det är kul. Och ibland irriterande. Men mest kul.

Reglerna för lomografi tycker jag rakt av kan appliceras på mobiltelefonkameraskoj. Speciellt åtta och nio som sagt. ;)

And now for something completely different. Saker förändras. Men oj vad lång tid det tar. Så sent som iförrgår (sp?) diskuterade jag det där med Cristina, faktiskt, när vi var ute och gick borta vid Östra Stranden i Halmstad. Där ligger lite stugbyar, campingar och sånt och det är där många familjer håller till som inte har ork (eller lust eller råd osv) att bo över sommaren i Tylösand. Det är helt enkelt mer familjestuk över det området än sommarståhejet kring Tylöhus.

När vi gick där så hörde vi alla ungarna som var där, alla som varit husvagnsbarn vet säkert hur det är. När man är lagom gammal för att inte vilja följa med sina töntiga föräldrar i deras töntiga husvagn till de där tråkiga campingarna där det aldrig finns något coolt att göra, fast inte enligt sina föräldrar lagom gammal för att själv vara hemma över sommaren eller underbara tanke åka iväg på egen hand... Alltså så där 12, 13, 14, 15 år gammal.

Moped. Hänga vid kiosken och om man har några mynt spela något dåligt och alldeles för dyrt spel. Minigolf och glass. Tjejer med alldeles för mycket smink. Pojkar med dåligt rakvatten men inget hår i ansiktet. Fråga chans via en kompis och knappt förstå vad det går ut på men att man ska vara "tillsammans" med någon annars är man mesig. Första hånglet kanske, första fumlande ta en nästan okänd tjej som man trots det är hejdlöst kär i på bröna utanpå eller (pytteskinn) kanske till och med innanför tröjan. Eller rentav mer.

Det riktigt låg vibbar i luften ute vid Östra Stranden igår som sade mig att inget förändrats i stugbyarna och på husvagnscampingarna från när jag var 13, 14, 15. Rolig känsla. Kändes tidlöst.

Telia har faktiskt uttryckt det bäst:

Nothing changes. Everything is new.

BBQ! And User Feedback Rocks!

A few days ago I met some fellow mail list subscribers for the first time. Meat was fried to crisps, whiskey bottles were emptied. And, I got some serious feedback on PhonoPhoto! ;)

Last Tuesday my doorbell rang and a bunch of fellow traffikers showed up.

Lundwall, Brother and gf Elin, The Pal and gf Jenny, Olander and Anna and Calle. Of course, a group picture was neccessary.

A motley crew indeed. :)

Reason? Well, actually, Lundwall got this bottle of Famous Grouse from a friend in England. Since Lundwall didn't know what to do with it we had to show him. So they brought the bottle, 2.3 kg dead meat and lots of marinade, loads of beer and we were all set for a whiskey lesson. It was all good.

Lundwall and Brother pointed out to me that the clip on the post-it-note in PhonoPhoto was really++ annoying. It hides text, and apparently it sometimes gets really hard to understand what the text says. So I have fixed it. The clip is now significantly smaller, and yes, the text is definitely easier to read. ;) Thanks for the feedback Lundwall and Brother.

Festung Europa: gränslös kontroll

Jag blir helt mållös. Hittade den här krönikan i SvD via Perspektiv Europa genom Blind Hönas senaste nyhetsbrev. Hamnar definitivt i min blogrulle.

Jag blir bara mer och mer trött på situationen i Europa (och diskussionen kring EMU för övrigt). Krönikan av Martin Wicklin visar ett skräckscenario som redan är verklighet...

I Belgien råder allmänt legitimationstvång. I en förort till Bryssel bor Touril, en tjugoårig belgisk student med algeriskt ursprung. Han säger att han aldrig lämnar hemmet utan sina identitetspapper i ordning. Belgisk polis - det har han lärt sig - kan slå till när som helst, var som helst. Har han inte sina papper i ordning så hamnar i en cell med tolv timmar på sig att bevisa vem han är.

Jodå. Ett gränslöst Europa. För de som ser rätt ut. Det är inte konstigt att det blir så här. Polisen får inte en tacksam uppgift om man med ena handen skriver under ett papper som säger att inga gränskontroller ska finnas medan hela andra handen pekar på hårdare tag mot "oönskade individer" i vårt Europa.

Fast som jag minns det var det på liknande sätt redan 1990 när jag tågluffade runt i Tyskland, Italien, Spanien och Frankrike. Vi; tre blonda, ljushyade och blåögda ungdomar; behövde aldrig öppna passen, vi gled igenom alla kontroller.

Enda sättet att stävja det här måste vara att släppa in fler länder i EU. Om "den typiske europén" inte går att definiera då bredden på vem som kan kalla sig europé är för stor så måste andra tillvägagångssätt tas fram.

RFID i passen kanske? ryys Varför inte operera in det i nacken direkt vid födseln...

SvD: Gränslös kontroll

Wonderful phone -> photo -> web art

Found this through Tom Coate's plasticbag.org: "This background being the www's favourite colour, MMS to avit@historicalfact.com to budge it". Check it out. Add your own.

Snap a photo, MMS or email it to avit@historicalfact.com and see the web's favourite color change in real time.

All the colours sent in are averaged out and the background of the page comes gradually to represent the web's favourite colour...

Probably lots of features in the works since the site is pretty slim right now.

avit - the web's favourite colour

Why social software is so exciting. To me.

There is an emerging field within information technology called social software. Software suitable for wetware with a need to work together needs to be "social" since "work" after all is a social activity.

Social software is a relatively new term. I am not sure anyone has even be able to agree on a definition yet, though many have tried.

Since I encountered the term it has totally fascinated me, although I have not been able to really understand why. Something about the hardcore technology that surrounds the net environment finally being used in an attempt to truly connect people focusing on who, how and why instead of technology choices, rigid tools and overly hyped buzzwords.

Typical tools and standards within the field of social software are blogs, wikis, XML/RSS, web based services (Technorati, Bloglet, Blogrolling) and aggregators such as Newsmonster.

What do they have in common? David Weinberger phrased it well in his most recent JOHO post:

Social software. Could a term be more vague? It could be taken to include everything from email to instructions on how to hold hands. But in fact it's coming to mean something more specific: low-tech, easy-to-use tools (many of them familiar) that enable groups to decide for themselves how they will work together.

In that most recent post of his I think I found an explanation to why social software has such an appeal to me:

...social software enables the social network's shape to emerge. Rather than, for example, dividing the company into groups, structuring access permissions, and provisioning them with the toolset it's anticipated they'll need, emergent social software is low-tech and relatively non-intrusive. It may include such familiar items as chats, mailing lists, instant messaging, weblogs and wikis. The access controls are generally turned off at first. The taxonomy is blank. The webspace is unfurnished and undivided. The group builds what it needs as it needs it. The structure of the group's tools follows upon the group's growth into itself. For example, the group may use a wiki -- a jointly editable web site -- that starts off blank. As the group develops interests, individuals will add in pages, structuring the workspace. Because the site is editable by every individual, what emerges is a workspace that reflects not the group's expected interests or its pretended interests or its satisfy-the-boss interests but its real interests... interests it may not even know it had.

Yeah, that's it. Software that grows with the people that use it. Reflecting the view, focus and interests of the users, not the other way around (a view imposed by a company structure or enforced by management or a clumsy designer / architect).

It reminds me of how an old gardener explained planning of path walks in a garden or a park. At first, all of the park was covered with grass. Then, as people started walking in it patterns would show where the grass got worn. That was where people wanted to walk, the routes that they needed to take in order to use the park in the way they best saw fit. That's where the gardener would create the paths, using sand, rock or whatever material was suitable. The point of course being that people created the paths based on their natural usage, the gardener only emphasized that usage and made it easier for people once they had established the paths they needed.

Read the entire text over at hyoerorg.com

Explain the part about the WMD again...

I guess this is as current today as it was a few months back.

Yesterday I saw Dennis Mille on TV. He did a piece on how the liberals should stop arguing about whether there were any WMD in Iraq or not. His point being that the average American doesn't care, they are happy seeing the kids on the streets of Bagdad play and smile again.

Sure, that's a point that I can sympathise with. Saddam gone is a Good Thing. But that's not really the issue with regards to the blatant lies about the WMD's and the reasons for war, is it?

Anyway, this is damn funny:

PN: I do. Why are we invading Iraq?

WM: For the last time, we are invading Iraq because the world has called on Saddam Hussein to disarm, and he has failed to do so. He must now face the consequences.

PN: So, likewise, if the world called on us to do something, such as find a peaceful solution, we would have an obligation to listen?

WM: By "world", I meant the United Nations.

PN: So, we have an obligation to listen to the United Nations?

WM: By "United Nations" I meant the Security Council.

PN: So, we have an obligation to listen to the Security Council?

WM: I meant the majority of the Security Council.

PN: So, we have an obligation to listen to the majority of the Security Council?

WM: Well... there could be an unreasonable veto.

PN: In which case?

WM: In which case, we have an obligation to ignore the veto.

Iraq explained to a peacenik

Yahoo lists the most emailed photos

This is something I have been wondering about. How fast does for example one of those links over at Buzz spread through the net?

I guess it is impossible to get that kind of statisctics, but here is a place where Yahoo! lists the most emailed photos from their news section.

Yahoo! News - Most Emailed - Photos

But then again... Internet isn't such a bad place after all.

Tom Coates is writing on plasticbag.org. He has a different opinion about the value of the Internet than the guys I quoted yesterday.

Without wanting to doubt the good intentions and aspiration of all the people who want to make more of the world in which they live, I can tell you right now why the internet matters and why it is not shit. While it's true that people around the world are lamenting that there's not enough of 'precisely the right kind of information' to finish their term-papers, the internet is more important than that.

plasticbag.org | weblog | The internet is not shit...

This just in: The internet is shit. Discuss.

Well, here are 11 interesting paragraphs about the Internet. Actually, I tend to agree. I like the ending statement.

You would however think that someone capable of writing such a good rant could come up with a better conclusion than "it was better in the old days".

We need to start again. We need to stop saying how wonderful things are. We need to openly, truthfully and respectfully admit that the internet itself, in almost all of what's been done with it, is shit.

internetisshit.org: The internet is shit

Update: That domain sure has an interesting DNS entry... Alain A-Dale? In Sherwood Forest? Right. :)

internetisshit.org Whois Lookup

Weird. Seems like I can't link to that URL. Need to reload the page at the "Access denied" message.

I miss sushi. I need sushi... I crave sushi!

I haven't had decent sushi in months. As a matter of fact, I have had no sushi at all in months! This must end. And maybe it will soon, there seems to be a new sushi place opening in town.

Last summer we atleast had that place Sushi & Soda in Halmstad. But I stopped eating there when the store started smelling dead fish. Old dead fish. Not good.

Of course I could make it myself, but that takes so long time, not exactly something you do for lunch. Great fun though. Like making ginger bread cookies at christmas. Fun.

Yesterday however we saw that a new owner has taken over the old Sushi & Soda place. Ming Sushi or something like that. Hopefully they will open before the summer is over...

A sushi place should be able to make great business in a town like Halmstad during summer. With all the guests from Stockholm and posh people looking for an alternative to pizza, noodles and Pölsemannen.

This is what I miss so much:

Jade's PCL: Sushi Again

With lots of wasabi.

Upgraded MT and added Kwiki.pl

Ok, looks like it worked. I just upgraded to 2.64 of Movable Type over a modem line. Isch. I need cable!

I also added the Kwiki.pl formatter plugin. Lets us see.

Heading 1?

• A bulleted list
  • Sub item
• Normal item

Works?

Entering the wiki world. Again.

A while ago I tested TWiki, but never got it to work the way i wanted. Enter CGI::Kwiki. This truly rocks. This is the way I want software to work.

Installing was a breeze. Accessed CPAN, ran kwiki-install in a folder, done. very smooth. Very easy to edit templates, CSS and config. This will be fun.

I wish there was such a thing as a coherent blog-wiki-publishing tool-rss-package available where all these things came together.

Update: And then see what I found, someone wrote a plugin to MT allowing for use of the Kwiki formatting rules in Movable Type.

Testing Technorati-ping.

IRC revival, feeling ten years younger

Yesternight I installed mIRC on my home computers to try to log on to Joi Ito's IRC channel on Freenode. Worked fine. So now I am back in the IRC hell I managed to kick ten years ago. ;)

This is great fun. I had totally forgotten how addictive a text based chat interface can be when you are surrounded by interesting and witty people. Like on Joi Ito's channel #joiito on Freenode.

Lots of people, chatting about everything from the method of science to the ongoing personality wars in the RSS standards discussion.

This will be totally devastating to my spare time.

Very interesting thing occurred today. A japanese space vehicle crashed in Sweden (in English). Which I mentioned on #joiito. Where Erik Stattin of mymarkup.net snapped it up and blogged it. After which Joi Ito blogged Erik blogging about Japanese space vehicle crashing. I wonder what it would look like to track the flow of those information bits and bytes geographically. ;)

And now I blog it. Weird world. Interconnected. Meaningless? Probably. ;)

Read more about the wonders of IRC over at Joi Ito's blog. He words it a lot better than I.