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This quote is from an essay (on Aeon) that combines a eulogy for the late Poet, Seamus Heaney, with a kind of meditation on the impact of digital technology, the web, and all that. I found some tasty thoughts in it, and I hope you may enjoy it.Quote: Not only does our digital living condition us profoundly, and by the stealthiest increments — so that with every new upgrade, every app, we are not only further empowered, but also more deeply reliant — but it also creates in us an estrangement, a sense of void. We gain in so many ways, pulling the info-world around us like a wire-woven cowl, creating planes of lateral linkage, giving and receiving messages — most of them tokens of ersatz connection — through a switchboard of disseminated impulses. We take the old limited one-self and refract it in every direction, and all around us people are doing the same, confirming us in our impulse. How easy it is to move in that direction — enabled flow — and how hard to move even slightly back the other way. If it’s so easy, it must be right.
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«... thank the gods that they have made you superior to those events which they have not placed within your own control, rendered you accountable for that only which is within you own control For what, then, have they made you responsible? For that which is alone in your own power—a right use of things as they appear.» Discourses of Epictetus Book I:12
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That quote begins nice, but I find the conclusion a bit too easy 
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The internet and the web and all were there from a long time..why is it now that people are making a big fuss..before facebook there was orkut...myspace...blah...off course nothing you put on others computers or cloud is private
Caveat Emptor.
"Progress doesn't come from early risers – progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things." Lazarus Long
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Another way of looking at it all those "big brother" movies we've watched, and of course we all thought/said, "that'll never happen because I won't let it."
What most movies missed (or simply got wrong) is that this state creeps into place - it's not an overnight event (in some movies with the army mobilised against it's own country...),
but more pointedly what most people have missed is that it is happening right now.
What happened to our brave "that'll never happen" promise?
Sorry for the soapbox, my excuse is (1) Bill started it, (2) it's Sunday, what else to do till the footy kicks off?
Signature ready for installation. Please Reboot now.
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I am not telling the film is good (but I personally kinda liked it), but it is quite matching the topic...
Have you seen "the circle"?
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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I did, a couple weeks back. I must say that I never want to live a "transparent" life. The rest of humanity doesn't need to know my business, nor should they care.
if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); }
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Foothill wrote: The rest of humanity doesn't need to know my business, nor should they care.
I didn't before but now I do. What did I miss?
Michael Martin
Australia
"I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible."
- Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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In regards to The Circle[^], an underlying theme in the movie is that if everyone shared all facets of their life with anybody who wanted to know/watch, we would all behave better because we would be watched every waking minute. I don't know who would willingly surrender all of their privacy to the social network. I certainly wouldn't. It also tried to play up the idea that putting your entire life online suddenly makes you super popular and that other people actually care about you (which they don't in real life).
if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); }
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Lopatir wrote: What happened to our brave "that'll never happen" promise?
Alive and well.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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At least in this area, he and I are kindred spirits.
Never mind the drugs (or is this just digital SOMA?) - when that text comes in and you've the urge to answer it . . .
JUST SAY NO!
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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W∴ Balboos wrote: - when that text comes in and you've the urge to answer it . . .
JUST SAY REPLY NO!
If you "say" it how they supposed to get that unless they're standing right next to you?
Real trick is to leave the phone behind - accidentally or on purpose doesn't matter. At first there's some anxiety, but after about 30 minutes you will actually feel a sense of calmness. Try it, I kid you not, it's more relaxing than taking a holiday even when you are still at work.
Signature ready for installation. Please Reboot now.
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I think what he meant is... "JUST SAY NO (to yourself and your urge of answering it)"
If you "REPLY NO" then you are implying, you read it, and that can bring you more disadvantages or uncomfortable situations that just ignoring it (or at best, don't even get it delivered if the phone is directly switched off, when you leave the company after work)
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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I don't have to try it in that:
1 - I have a flip phone (no apps)
2 - I don't text.
3 - I don't accept texts
4 - I only have this much because Mrs. Wife insisted
Think how odd I must look - nothing stuck in either ear!
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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As someone on the outside looking in, it can be really odd at times. I've stayed away from MySpace, FB, Twitter, IG, Snap, etc ever since they came out. At the time it was simply because I didn't care - about others' pets, kids, lunches, or self-aggrandizement. Now it's because it creeps me out. Sometimes I'll be out - say on a bus or at a diner - and realize that everyone around me is staring at their phones oblivious to the real world around them. Families sitting at a table all staring at their phones. Not a word to be said.
I have no definitive opinion of good/bad on the topic but it's definitely not for me. I'm not fond of information bubbles or narcissism and those seem to be the currency of social media currently.
I'm 31 btw for some age context.
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Jon McKee wrote: As someone on the outside looking in, it can be really odd at times. I've stayed away from MySpace, FB, Twitter, IG, Snap, etc ever since they came out.
I've never used any of the so-called social-networking, pr twittering, or insta-whatever sites, but I always felt, and feel now, I am on the inside looking out at the equivalent ... intellectually, psychologically ... of the plagues that swept Europe for so many years. My seldom used mobile-phone has no camera ... but, I use Skype.
On the other hand, or foot, I am an internet junkie ... when inside the house 
«... thank the gods that they have made you superior to those events which they have not placed within your own control, rendered you accountable for that only which is within you own control For what, then, have they made you responsible? For that which is alone in your own power—a right use of things as they appear.» Discourses of Epictetus Book I:12
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Yes, I too find myself feeling somewhat spooked when surrounded by people who are more aware of their 'phones than anything that is actually happening around them.
Should I be? I'm not sure. If I'm sat on a train, I'm generally immersed in a book. Aside from the fact that that's maybe more constructive than cat videos and small-talk, it does undeniably involve a similarly voluntary detachment from my environment.
Somehow, though, it does feel a bit different - those staring at their 'phones do seem to have a rather different air about them than those of us with books, Kindles or newspapers. Something a little less relaxed and more driven. It might well be all in my mind but then again ...
98.4% of statistics are made up on the spot.
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PeejayAdams wrote: I too find myself feeling somewhat spooked when surrounded by people who are more aware of their 'phones than anything that is actually happening around them.
I'd call that a sure sign of your mental health
While I don't see someone engaged with their device as being qualitatively different than someone reading a book, but, I think we are talking here about people engaged with devices in social situations, and while walking and driving ... situations where reading a book would be reacted to as inappropriate.
«... thank the gods that they have made you superior to those events which they have not placed within your own control, rendered you accountable for that only which is within you own control For what, then, have they made you responsible? For that which is alone in your own power—a right use of things as they appear.» Discourses of Epictetus Book I:12
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I agree with RickZeeland that the conclusion is too quick. That said, I also think that what "our digital living condition" actually points out is that for many, many people, that "sense of void" has always existed, even before technology. Perhaps it's a result of the industrial revolution -- the movement toward cities, the break up of the nuclear family, the "materialization" of scientific thought that constantly strives to prove that we are nothing more than bio-chemical processes and that everything around us is nothing more than the result of astro-physical processes. I have no idea whether this sense of "void" existed in more "spiritual" times -- it probably did, voiced so eloquently in "My God, my God, why hast though forsaken me?"
So my conclusion is that we have always felt estranged and a-voided, whether sitting in a lonely retirement home watching daytime soaps or hiding in our caves to avoid staring up at the vast expanse of stars above our heads. Digital living is yet another way of distracting us from the soul question that science forces upon us -- "who am I?" and "is there nothing more?" -- and that religion / spirituality requires us to abandon science and accept the answer purely on faith, which isn't very satisfying either, at least to me. To some of course either the answer of science, "you are a random fluke and no, there's nothing more," or the answer of religion, which is ultimately "you are a part of everything and in particular, of your god's grand plan" is sufficiently satisfying. And for some, there's the attempt to combine the two, something that I personally find appealing and is the reason I study the works of Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy in general -- at a minimum, it is a perspective that engages both my head and my heart.
At the end of each day culminating to the point where one's life ends, how well we dealt with this feeling of estrangement I think often directly affects how well we are prepared for sleep, whether for the night or for the eternal slumber.
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Marc Clifton wrote: we have always felt estranged and a-voided,
Another way of saying that, is to say that ... call it "the malady of the infinite" (Durkheim), "morbio inferiore" (Hesse), or "existential alienation" (Marx, Sartre) ... an enduring part of the human experience, most often associated with older age, is an acute awareness of mortality, of the separation from our "true nature," accompanied, often, by a yearning for an idealized past, what Rene Dubos described as "the myth of the golden age" (in his book, "The Mirage of Health").
For me, it is the essence of the profound lament in "Ecclesiastes;" the crisis that Dante refers to in the opening stanza of "The Inferno:"
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura
ché la diritta via era smarrita.
Halfway down life's road traveled,
I lost Heart in a forest of shadows,
Lost all sense of what Life was for ... my own translation And, imho, it's embodied in Pascal's epiphanic scream: "Nature is a fearful sphere, whose center is everywhere, and whose circumference is nowhere."
In my view, the essay reflects the "collision" of the status of the author, who is a member of the "reading culture" literary elite, and that aristocratic establishment's "shock and awe" as the armies of the digerati disrupt the fundament of its privileges and authority
Be assured that, as I write this, the ghosts of my own late=life terrors are clinking their chains, and mocking me 
«... thank the gods that they have made you superior to those events which they have not placed within your own control, rendered you accountable for that only which is within you own control For what, then, have they made you responsible? For that which is alone in your own power—a right use of things as they appear.» Discourses of Epictetus Book I:12
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Hey, guys! I'm 18 and I've been trying to learn how to program for a few years. The most complicated thing I've done by myself is a web-app that converts arithmetic expressions to i486-compatible assembly. So, what would you recommend me to learn to be able to make some money?
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Oh boy. One of those questions. From my perspective, here's a few suggestions and their reasons.
Python -- it is a decent and upcoming language, easy to learn and use, and has a vast library, including AI and learning, implemented in C that it wraps for ease of use. Just google "Python AI" and you'll see a lot of stuff.
Everything web -- Javascript, CSS, HTML. Because everything is to be the web. Pick a framework, like Angular, VueJs, etc, and learn it. Though there are hundreds, at least learn one or two to be moderately proficient and have an understanding of MVM / MVC / MVVM / whatever. But most importantly, look at how these things work behind the scenes--that will be invaluable.
Learn some database stuff. SQL Server, Oracle, MySql, whatever. Learn the difference between SQL and NoSQL. Data's gotta go somewhere, right? Learn JSON to (which means spend 10 minutes reading about it) because everything is in JSON nowadays, for better or worse.
After that, learn some client/server stuff -- whether it's node.js, C#, WinForm, WPF, ASP.NET (yuck), whatever, just to start rounding the corners. Also REST (write your own server and client), WCF (again, write your own server and client) -- learn the pros and cons of each.
Learn some functional programming so you at least understand the concepts. F#, Haskell, and/or Scala. Understanding some FP helps you understand the functional aspects of languages like C# and Python.
Learn basic Linux. Buy a $5 rPi and play with it (Python is a great language for IoT stuff.)
None of this though will help you make money unless you have proven skills at what you're doing, know people that will give you a chance, and have the favor of a minor deity that will put you in the right place at the right time. Set up a shrine and pray to your favorite deity.
So, to prove yourself, create a blog, write about interesting things, and create a GitHub account and start creating some projects so people can see your code, your documentation, and how you present yourself.
Good, bloody, luck!
modified 7-Apr-18 17:01pm.
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Rare to see you promoting JavaScript 
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Nish Nishant wrote: Rare to see you promoting JavaScript
I'm actually growing to like it, but it's also pretty much one of those necessary things to know if you want to be marketable, or at least have more opportunities.
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I agree - it's sort of a must-have on your resume these days
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