Village opinions and global appearance

Seem to work rather similar. And when people are carefully watching their opinions being filtered you may walk on clouds and not even know it.

Is Human kind (not) changing?

Ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ ᾽Ιησοῦς εἶπεν, ὦ γενεὰ ἄπιστος καὶ διεστραμμένη, ἕως πότε μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν ἔσομαι; ἕως πότε ἀνέξομαι ὑμῶν... (Κατὰ Ματθαῖον 17.10-18 )

Epsilon Award 2010 open for nominations

The Epsilon Award 2010 open for nominations. It will be given at the 10th European Software Conference on November 06 in Vienna after the public vote decides on the actual winner.

Governmental control in the Internet

As much as we all value the wise and well-proportioned use and strength of governmental institutions there are signs that they have realized the impact of the modern world, unfolding around them. Wow. They have noticed us.

Can they and should they control the Internet? Well, the Internet is a mirror image of the world with all of its good and its bad sides. So if it comes to policing unlawful acts such as spam or financial transfers of dubious nature probably most of the community accept this as their right to do so. But how far and to which extent should that go? You cannot ration oxygen because there are criminals that breathe it, right?

Interestingly enough European countries have traditionally tended to decrease liberty and to curb innovation through legal governmental action. In the US a court just ruled out FCC, who actually wanted to control the providers from deciding on how to weighten broadband connections. Interesting coverage of that case can be found at NYtimes online at http://ow.ly/1vuRh .

Comments?

The small steps towards civilization

In a consensus process it takes tremendous time and effort to achieve a goal.The question how to govern opinion leadership remains. In all areas of life and public domains.

Über die Widrigkeiten der Freiheit

Demokratie ist eine der größten Erfolge menschlicher Geschichte. Sie ist die unmittelbare Voraussetzung für einen aufgeklärten Umgang mit technologischem Fortschritt und für das Höchstmaß individueller Entfaltungsmöglichkeit. Aber es bedarf hier konstanter Mühe, unermüdliches Engagement des mündigen Bürgers, um sie mit Leben zu erfüllen. Soziales Bewußtsein muß sich mit sozialem Verantwortungsgefühl verbinden. Auf allen Ebenen. Wenn aber in der Nachbarschaft jeder meint, seinen Müll draußen entsorgen zu dürfen (vom Papierschnitzel bis zum großindustriellen "Entsorger"), oder seine Wahlrechte nicht wahrnimmt, weil er gerade was besseres zu tun hat, oder im öffentlichen Leben (z.B. der Vereine) nicht mittträgt, oder... Dann führen die nicht wahrgenommenen Pflichten des Einzelnen zur Teilhabe und Teilnahme dazu, dass wenige Schultern das Gemeinwesen tragen müssen. Und Meckern, Kritisieren und Kaputtreden gehört dann zum "guten" Ton. Schade. Besserung in Sicht, liebe Finanzjongleure, Profiteure etc...?

Linda Cunningham in Hürth

The artist of the fine piece of art we may ponder on at the roundabout of the Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse in Hürth, Germany was here today. Touring the city with Dr. Faust, the chronicler and historian at the magistrate of Hürth, who was showing them the memorial commemorating the deportation of Hürth`s Jews and resistance fighters "Der Schrei" we met on the "Berliner Platz".
Welcome to Hermülheim, Linda!