Things are not what they seem. It is simple economics.

• The cost of lying is higher to those that abide to their values
• Hiding the truth through fragmentation ( and other political "arts" ) is easy, as long as the information flow is controllable

Therefore, given enough time, the shit goes up. Time to bring it down. The Web is a weapon.

The Web is making the information flow less and less controllable. We have already seen a huge impact ( the fact that you are flooded by news about human rights violations, dictatorships, etc. means that information is leaking ).

Linked Data is going to take this a step further. We can expect as a result of this process that we will quickly move towards full accountability. This is beautiful. You are what you do, and you get what you deserve.

Of course, this is a fluctuating process and there will be bumps ( privacy comes to mind ). But, speaking for the generality of the world ( which is not sitting on a leather couch drinking a beer ), the bumps are a joke compared to the benefits it will provide.

I know this might seem like something distant for many ( specially if you ARE sitting on a leather couch drinking a beer, like me ).  It might all sound logical but... what does this have to do with my life?

That's a valid question. And this is the point where its up to you to come up with an answer. You need to decide whether you really want to try and understand the meaning of what you're doing. The formula is simple: the more info you gather on the depth of the problems our unfortunate brothers are having, the more sensible you'll become.

If that sounds too vague ( it is a vague advice ), then there is also another way to work this out. Bring the issue to your living room. ( because you are being fooled by someone at some level ). Here's a trick that has worked wonderfully for me:

First, find a stereotype and learn about it. How would ultimate corruption look like?

This is a subtle process but you can expect to

• See just how real corruption is and how twisted we can become
• Learn the subtleties of the system
  

I have to thank mr Mugabe for providing the perfect example.

Take your time and read about Mugabe's regime. How he got there, his lavish lifestyle, how he's destroyed the country and everything in between. Notice how information is starting to hurt him through exposure ( too little, to late, but it's a start ).

In particular, take a close look at his staff. See how they operate. See how they lie and literally laugh about it ( and they keep doing it. It's like they enjoy some sort of magical impunity ). Their conduct is so grossly twisted that it may even seem funny for us. But there you have it: a stereotype.

Of course we all see thru this charade and find it bordering impossibility. How can they pull this off? And yet, they do it. And millions suffer.

Now what makes you think this is just their problem?

Is there a chance you might be experiencing something similar from a conceptual standpoint?

Second step is to try and take the stereotype to your reality. Unsurprisingly, this is also quite easy now thanks to the Web. Just surf through the videos from the trials of the latest financial crisis to anything related to the Fed and in particular the bailout. Do this and see if you recognize any patterns. Just follow your gut feeling.

I won't point you in any particular direction here, because you'll think I'm cherry picking particular videos and/or you might have your own political POV. But here's one tip: it's not about who's right, it's the whole game that's really rotten. When watching a trial, focus on the "whole thing". The guy sitting on the strand is just playing his part.

Once you train the feeling, the evidence around you will be overwhelming. A little too much at times.
It's the egg or the chicken problem. You don't value evidence if you don't know what you're looking for. So, you need to take the first step.

I am happy to work on an area related to the web, even if my contribution is small. The more I understand, the more gratifying my work becomes. This is going to be a great year for all of us ;)

Full attribution is the ultimate utopia, and it will happen in our lifetime!

For the first time, being a good person will also be a
convenient thing to do ;)

OK I have said this before, but I need to say it again before they get eaten by Ellison.

I really really really love the Sun mark. But just that, those three letters: S.U.N. Not their logo and much less their image. I think their marketing dpt missed the chance to build the greatest brand in history.
It's amazing how much raw potential those three letters had.

The competitive angle
"Sunday. Not even Google owns a day of the Week."

The reliability angle
"Robust. Reliable. Predictable... see you tomorrow."

The lazy angle
"We run your business so you can grab some."

The tech angle
"Our last cold boot was 4.57 billion years ago"

The sexy angle
"Total Customer Satisfaction. Robust Servers. Open Platforms. Amazing Tans. "

The scandal angle
"Oops. Sorry for global warming"

LOL ;)

When I was a kid, I used to be obsessed with "big" stuff. Like the Dinosaurs or the pyramids. Or epic stories about lost worlds, impossible odysseys and Space. The day to day world seemed so dull in contrast to these stories, that the decision to escape to my imagination was quite easy. Oh crap, why did I have the bad luck to be born in this era? Why do I have to go to school and listen to fantastic stories about "history"?
I want to be part of it!

This kept going for a while, the feeling that this era was so... unromantic. Nothing big or magical was going on. No new worlds left for me to discover, no magical gifts left under this tree. All I could do is hold a globe and spin it until I got dizzy, while coming to the sad realization that every bit of land is accounted for.

Then, some 20 years ago, I had a rather obvious epiphany: if you went back to, say, the European discovery of America, things weren't romantic or magical at all. People were just living their lives, probably wondering about the same stuff I was. However, big things were still going on. I now know that from this side of history.

Why didn't they see them?

Well, because they just couldn't. They were IN the story. Even Shi Huangdi , one of the most impressive and powerful obsessive compulsive men to live on earth was probably more focused on his food being too cold than reading about "his legacy". Duh!

Oh crap! So there is no solution to this!... Nothing left other than accepting the fact that I am but a tiny dot in history, and big things happen over time. After all, it's a fact of life that things can only move so fast.

And so I obviously accepted this, just like every child does ( either rationally or not ). And I learned to enjoy the small things in life and fight for the "moderate" dose of adventure I am entitled to (As a tiny dot in history you are still entitled to a tiny dose of personal adventure, mind you).

I guess we're all on the same page here, right? We all realized or somehow incorporated, at some point in our early lives, the idea that it would take a miracle that changed the basic laws of time and distance to speed up this thing and bring the Dinosaurs and the epic stories back, and so we lowered our expectations. Our mind is the ultimate adaptation machine after all, so we have all implicitly assumed that it would be impossible to change the basic fabric of our reality: time, distance, and other fundamental aspects that limit what can happen and what cannot during our lifetime.

This dormant mechanism what Hollywood has learned to exploit oh so well.

Now, the truth is that there IS something big going on today. The Pyramids and all of the Chinese empire's constructions are rather small when compared to what we're building today. Seriously, we even have machines floating out in space that are part of this system. Out in SPACE. And cables under the ocean. And dictatorships are falling. And a new culture is arising. And the geopolitical balance is being re... ok. You get the point, right?
If this had happened ages ago, would you be reading about it? Oh yes! This ranks a bit higher than people with megalomaniac mental disorders building "empires" and, well, people with other mental disorders painting pictures ;).

But... yeah, we're suffering from the same problem our ancestors have suffered: we don't see what's going on because we're in the story. So. In a sense we're still screwed, aren't we?

Well, there are some tricks to getting over this limitation, but they require you to take a voluntary step and gain some perspective ( = read all your life until you see the plot ). The more info you gather, the most impressive this whole story becomes.

But here's the twist: The construction we're building now is also changing the rules of time and space.

And this is why you are so damn lucky and why you have nothing to envy from Napoleon. In fact, you're about to experience a lot more change than anyone ever has in their lifetime. And this won't happen across the street. It's coming at you like a storm.

So, please drop those stupid assumptions about time and space and become a believer again. The dinosaurs are coming to life and we are connecting our minds across the distance (please say the last part out loud and see how crazy it sounds).

If this still doesn't tickle you, please note that we're about to pass the knee of the curve and the acceleration will be such that you will be simply blown away, like it or not. Being a dot in time won't be a problem anymore.

On the next article to this "series" I will tell you one of the reasons about why this thing is going to speed up: The Web is going to get an upgrade for the first time in over 10 years.
Not just any upgrade, but one that will turn the web as a whole into a much more powerful tool in our evolution.

Be careful what you wish for... you might just get it ;)

I stopped blogging because I can share my thoughts on Twitter as they come, in no particular order, and I get immediate reward. Blogging seems unnecessarily hard... unless. Unless I let go the structure.

So, from now on I'm going to officially use this as an extended Twitter.

Starting... Now

Don't blame me, I'm just a sheep ;)