J. Quality of Life

2011-12-08T16:50:00.001+01:00

We have everything. A house in the suburbs, with the designer interior. Two cars. Two children who have all the toys they can wish for and above all we each have our own career in which we find our personal fulfillment. Most of our friends envy us for the effortlessness with which we live our lives and our neighbors desperately want to know we make it work.

But our friends don't know that, like them, we need the double income to make ends meet. They don't know that we don't like our jobs, but that we stick with them, because it's the only way we can make the monthly payments on our cut-throat mortgage and the loan for our cars. Just as our neighbors are unaware that we are estranged from our children, because we work so much and that we need a therapist to tell each other how we feel. Yes, we have everything that our consumer society tells us to buy, but emotionally we are bordering on bankruptcy.

This doesn't stop us though to strive for even more. We single minded in our goal to earn more money to be able to buy more clothes, a bigger car and a more exotic vacation. Our ideal? To win the lottery and buy it all! So why do we still pursue material growth at the expense of our happiness and well being? Because it's what we are told to do. It's the way we are programmed. Economic growth is the norm and we should all do our best to claim our part of it.

The question though is whether more financial gain will add to our quality of life. Of course you need the basics and a little luxury does add to your well being, but when is it enough? When does more luxury only detract from your happiness, because of the sacrifices that you have to make for it? Do we dare to ask ourselves that question when we are given the promise of extra salary only at the expense of a little more of your time, your freedom of choice, your life?

Buried in music

2007-12-19T17:53:00.000+01:00

Every now and again a musician comes along with a particular piece that strikes a cord. You can't always put your finger on it, but it somehow resonates with your soul and captivates you on a deeper level. Faithless did this to me with Outrospective and Evanescence managed to the same with Fallen, but both these albums have been around for a while.

Now the silence has been broken once more. This time by the mysterious producer named Burial whose sounds now house my being. Both his debut album Burial and his second album Untrue are just amazing. They are like a blanket of city lights, keeping you warm in the cool breeze of the night.

Must listen ...

Feed me

2007-09-08T00:09:00.000+02:00

RSS Feeds are a common featue for informational web sites nowadays. Every news, blog or review site has a feed you can subscribe to, but not every feed is fed the same way.

Feeds are often viewed as an update notification which only contain a header or the first few lines of an article. This is a good usage of the technique if you want to lure readers to your website. When you are using a RSS reader however this is very impractical. The RSS reader is meant to aggregate information into a single interface. But when you are only given headers and links, you'll still have to switch interfaces, i.e. visit the particular web sites, to get the information you want.

But what if you would feed full articles of superior content? People would be able to able to comfortably read your content, your ideas, in their interface of choice and in time they would start to recognize you for your expertise. They might even visit your web site, to read more on the subject. Or better yet, they might link to your web site and point others in your direction.

This is what Seth Godin has done in the field of marketing.

The key is that you give the reader the choice. The choice about what they want to read and how they want to read it. If that is on a Nokia mobile phone using Google Reader, instead of Internet Explorer using your flashy web site, then let them. If the content is of consistent quality, they will eventually come to you.

What is Architecture?

2007-07-25T10:54:00.000+02:00

"Architecture facilitates decision and supervises its execution."

An architect provides highly technical solutions in terms and visualisations that is understandable to the client, so that the client understands to options available to him. After the client has made his choice, it's the responsibility of the architect to make sure that the technical details of the choice are in fact realised within the vision of the client.

Unexpected sounds

2007-07-14T09:49:00.000+02:00

When I came home from work last Thursday, I walked through Rotterdam central station, which was supposed to be business as usual. Only that afternoon I didn't see the normal grumpy stream of people going to and fro. Instead a band from the North Sea Jazz Festival was set up on the balcony and was playing like they were on stage in their own smoky back alley club. This created such a good atmosphere that a crowd gathered to just listen and be happy.

That is the power of music.

Mobile wonders

2007-06-18T20:08:00.000+02:00

It's real. I am now taking the next step in mobile computing and Web 2.0. How?

By writing this post on my new Nokia N73 and publishing it directly to this blog. Though I already did this before using my Blackberry, it's something totally different this time. Now we not have only text, but pictures too. Photos of my point of view directly onto your screen.

For example here is a shot of what I'm looking at right now. Surely not the most interesting sight, but imagine the potential!

light

2007-05-31T15:36:00.000+02:00

In light of certain death, all goals are futile. This doesn't mean that life itself is pointless. It is the posession of material or intellect as a goal for personal fullfilment that will always leave you with a sense of emptiness. All these will ultimately be left behind.

So what does that leave you with? Time.

Time to spend while you are on this earth. That is all you've got and it is the way you spend it which is key.

Essence of CRM

2007-02-25T09:31:00.000+01:00

I've read a lot of books and papers on CRM. All complicated theories on how to combine business strategies with analytical workflow applications, that are all focused on customer retention.

Today Kathy explained it to me in plain english and clear pictures. Just keep flirting with your existing customers, as much as you do with potential customers.

This isn't so much about software applications as it is about understanding and appreciation. We want to be understood as a new customer, when buy a product to fulfill a specific need. But we just as much want to be appreciated for being an existing customer. If a company can understand that and act on it, they are halfway in implementing successful CRM.

Changed by blogging

2007-02-23T12:53:00.000+01:00

Seth Godin makes a nice point about blogging.

It does indeed force you to be clear. Clear in your writing for one, but also clear about yourself. Who you are and what your point of view is. I'm only just starting to become aware of that aspect of blogging and it's enlighting.

But it also makes you wonder about you added value in life. Can you provide insight to others or are you just a rambling fool? Anyone care to comment?

Speed reading

2007-02-23T08:35:00.000+01:00

In this day and age we are being overwhelmed by ever increasing amounts of information that we need to effectively work our way through. Even though we are experimenting with other forms of information like video or audio, we receive the majority in written form.

But how do you tackle those textual torrents? Speed reading.

Tony Buzan gives some excellent techniques on how to improve your basic reading speed and Spreeder let´s you train those techniques on any text, but that´s only th tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Real speed comes from a combination of skimming and scanning, which means quickly going over the unimportant stuff and only reading that which matters. We waste a lot of time reading that which we already know or that we don't need to know. The only problem is that we were taught to read a text from beginning to end with equal intensity and understanding. While this may be true for novels, it hinders us with everything else we read.

For example, articles on a work related subject usually want to make one or two specific points, but they also give and introduction, provide some background and add arguments to prove their point. All this is excess baggage if you're already up to speed on the subject. In that case you only need to read the point being made. The combination of skimming and scanning lets you jump over the extra's to get to get to relevant part of the text. Once there you can use your basic reading speed to take in the passage, capturing all the information in only a fraction of the time.

Community websites

2007-02-23T08:22:00.000+01:00

Last week I did it. I took the next step in Internet usage and signed up for Digg, del.icio.us and Technorati all at once. Yes people, I entered the world of tags and ratings!

And do you know what I found? The bald head of Britney Spears ... *sigh*

Apparently if you ask the world what is 'hot', what it is that we really 'digg' the most, it's the freshly shaved head of a woman who didn't have a normal childhood and is now paying the price for it.

It made me think about the reason why I started[first post] this blog and realised that the future that Sloan and Thompson predicted is here earlier than expected. EPIC is already online and it's producing what they dreaded it would; "merely a collection of trivia."

Bye bye my sweet sleep

2007-02-16T16:17:00.000+01:00

Oh, what a week it has been. My daughter had a stomach flu of some sorts and it didn't seem to bother her during the day, but was all the more interesting at night. You know that time when you are supposed to be asleep.

I´ve changed and washed her sheets and her pyjamas about six or seven times now, after carefully removing the terror that used to be her diaper and washing her from head to toe. All this in time frames of an hour to an hour and a half. This means that I have effectively missed a nights sleep this week.

That hurts.

I don't know about you, but losing this much sleep really wreaks havoc on my capacity to function during the day. Which wouldn't be so bad if I could sleep a hole in the weekend, like I used to in the good ol' days. But those days definitely belong to the past. My saturdays and sundays start at about seven, when my daughter is sure she had enough of that sleep thingie and continually cries out to tell me about it. Of course during the week my alarm clock is basically telling me the same; No more sleep for you mister!

They say it gets better when they older. But that's coming from the same people who neglected to mention that you won't get any sleep in the first few months ... years ...

But then again. When she's washed and fed again and is curling up in your arms at two in the morning. Smiling without a care. You get al warm and fuzzy and alive ... and enjoying EVERY minute of it, whether you like it or not.

'Guide Decision'

2007-02-15T16:06:00.000+01:00

That is the essence of an IT Architect. Your job is to provide a decisionmaker with the best possible option with the least consessions, having assessed the facts, the risks and the demands

Some architects argue that they are merely facilitating the decision making process, but that's selling the profession short. Facilitation stops with a layout of all the given options, including their pros en cons.

But the true passion of an architect lies in conceiving an option that is best for all parties concerned and advocating this option. That's what constitutes the guidance that you are obligated to give, whether it is asked for or not.

Freedom of choice

2007-01-28T22:21:00.000+01:00

I used to think that to have the freedom of choice meant something rational. Having multiple options and by logic and deduction chosing the best one, instead of having an option forced upon you.

It is true that the opposite of this freedom is indeed having to accept the only option given, but true freedom has nothing to do with reason or logic. Freedom of choice is the ability to do that, which is in harmony with your emotions.

This may even mean that you don't even need that many options, because in every situation you can still choose to let your emotions be in harmony with what you do. When you can do that in every situation, you will attain perfect freedom, that can never be taken from ou.

What's your Plan?

2007-01-11T12:44:00.000+01:00

My daughter is a very smart little girl. Yesterday she asked me: "What's your Plan for the future, Dad?". Well okay, maybe she didn't literally say those words, since she's only one year old, but still. With those big brown eyes she stared at me and made me realise that there is more to this world than just me. I now have another person to think off. Somebody who I hope will have the best possible future.

And maybe, just maybe, there are even more people that I have to think of. 6 billion of them to be exact. Now I know that I can't take on the whole wold, that makes no sense. But I can give a little bit back. Give a little to those other big brown eyes who have no Dad to look up to, to ask for that same future that I am wishing my own daugther to have.

Nick has left

2007-01-11T12:12:00.000+01:00

With the introduction of virtual meetingpoints, like bulletin board systems and later on the Internet, we needed a string of characters for our identification. This was the birth of the screen name or 'nickname'. A nick was a necessity for text based online environments, since there was no other way to uniquely identify ourselves in a humanly way. This necessity soon turned into a gift.
With the absence of our face, our voice and our name in the real world, we could create an alter ego. We could explore another personality. Be who we would like to be, instead of who we were. We could be that cool guy, instead of a shy geek; that beautiful woman, instead of the ugly little duck.

Unfortunately with every opportunity there is abuse. Young girls are lured into sexual activities by the identy of another young girl who is actually a dirty old man. Lies are being told under the pretense of truth, since it can only be traced back to a virtual identity and not a real one.

This abuse has sparked a new trend. The Internet has now become so common, that we want to use it as a substitute, or rather an extension to our real world. We want to communicate from real person to real person. We want to use the virtual marketplace for trading our real goods. But how can we trust the nick on the other end of the line? That´s why we are now starting to show our true identiy on the Net.

Amazon is now marking comments with a "real name" tag, if that person is using the name on this credit card to sign his comments. Gmail and community web sites like MySpace and Friendster let you add a photo of yourself, to show people who you really are. These are all signs that your virtual identity is becoming a reflection of your real identity instead of you imagination, with the inevitable result that your nick has to go. Bye Nick.

Thoughts on Thinking

2006-11-17T12:36:00.000+01:00

"What do you think when you have not developed a natural language yet?" -- My one year old daughter can look at me, analyse and interpret my actions and act on that, without ever having a phrase or sentence to cross her mind. Not once will she think something like "oh, it's that what he means", simply because she knows no vocabulary or syntax to formulate that sentence. Still she must have the equivalent of such a thought, since she does what I ask of her.

If my daughter can think without formulating her thoughts into words, would it then be possible that all our thoughts are speechless at first and that we have developed a parallel thought process that can turn those thoughts into a natural language?

Do not stand at my grave and weep

2006-11-12T13:46:00.000+01:00

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there -- I do not die.

by Mary Frye

Kissing a train

2006-11-07T12:35:00.000+01:00

Yesterday the train suddenly came to a full stop halfway on the track. They said that it was because a man had stepped in front of the train and that we now had to wait for the police and ambulance.

Strange experience that a man can be hit by a vehicle without the passengers actually noticing. When you hit somebody with a car there is definitely a thump, maybe even a crash if he hits the windshield, but with a train there is nothing. Only the reaction of the train driver and the slight inconvenience of the passengers who have to wait for two hours to be on their way again.

Kissing a train is not a good way to go.

momentary eternity

2006-11-01T22:08:00.000+01:00

To live in the everlasting length of one breath, free from thought. That's when the color of emotions can truly illuminate you and you will find freedom in the passing of an instant.

For Bill

2006-10-31T13:29:00.000+01:00

"So, your Holiness, now your priests are dead, and I am left alive. But in truth it is I who am dead, and they who live. For as always, your Holiness, the spirit of the dead will survive in the memory of the living." - The Mission

Land of Opportunity

2006-10-31T12:56:00.000+01:00

Ever wondered why so many IT projects still fail? I think it's because the world of IT runs on people without any formal education who are into it because it's either 'fun' or just a good opportunity.

In which other industry can you still apply for a specialist's position, when all you have is to weeks of training and some experience fumbling at home? That's like becoming a surgeon, because you like to cut the meat when cooking.

The reason that this situation continues to exist after the three or so decades, is because people in general still don't grasp the complexities that make up the IT environment. But also because people in IT explain this fact.

Rocket sience is what it is, namely complex, but take some intelligent people, give them the proper education and they will be able to do it. It's the same with IT; appreciate it for what it is, invest in formal education for it and prepare the right people to operate it. Only then will IT provide it's full potential to the people and not just to the shareholders of the major IT suppliers.

No Fear

2006-08-28T10:14:00.000+02:00

Humans are primarily driven by fear. Fear of losing your primary necessities like food and shelter. Fear of not being socially accepted. It is this drive that creates our habits. Becaus if we keep doing what we do, then we won't lose what we've got. It is only when lose the things we have that we can change. It is then that our fear pushes us alter our ways so we can regain what is lost.

The problem is that we only act when it's too late. But if we could let go of our fears, we could anticipate the changes around us and act on them in advance, thus preventing forced action.

Begrip en Waardering

2006-08-08T09:52:00.000+02:00

Toon altijd begrip voor de ander zijn standpunt en waardering voor de persoon zelf. Met dat uitgangspunt kan je met iedereen tot een dialoog komen. Alleen dan is het mogelijk om dichter tot elkaar te komen.

fear is a habit

2006-02-15T22:13:00.000+01:00

We are creatures of habit, because our actions are driven by fear. This originates from our survival instincts. We fear everything, because we don't know if it will sustain us. When we find something that keeps us alive, we incorporate it into our daily routine, so that it will continue to keep us alive. Only when there is a threat, that keeps us from our habits, we can change.

The problem is that we have long moved on from our tree with rich fruits, that our habit mechanism let's us come back to. It is not our instincts anymore that we can solely rely on, to guide us through our lives. Our tree with fruits has been replaced by snacks and fastfood. And by relying on our instinct we will just grow fat.

It is now not the carnivore with the large teeth that can make us change our habits, but our own minds that must realize the threat and find alternative and better habits for us.

Time and changes are even going so fast now, that we need our rationale to continually keep us out of our comfort zone. Only then are we able to individually evolve with the same pace as our surroundings.

Detached

2006-01-22T00:09:00.000+01:00

I am slowly becoming more and more detached from my inner emotions. Though still quite empathic to the emotional state of others and to the social rules and bounds, I find that the most basic of emotions, are starting to fade, leaving only a shell of my former self.

Could it be that my professional state of mind is starting to invade my personal environment? And what exactly is the border between work and private life? Or is it perhaps the result of meditation?

Whatever the reason, I am now faced with a numbness that I cannot seem to shake.

Trust your time

2005-12-30T16:57:00.000+01:00

Trust in others, comes from having only a limited amount of time.

In our modern society we are dependant on others. We need others to build our houses, to provide our food and to supply us with information. But who can we trust?

With our house this is not much of a problem. Building is regulated and more important, you can see the house for yourself. You can test it's sturdiness by tapping on the walls, or by jumping up and down, to test the floor.

With information it's another matter. You trust your immediate colleagues, because can assess their professionallity on a daily basis. The same goes for personal information from friends or family. But how do you assess the validity of information on the Internet? Who do trust to tell the truth or at least give you the correct information? With the vast amounts of information that goes through our fingers, we cannot verify every single piece of information, but it's every single person that can put information on the Internet. So then who do we trust?

Contact

2005-11-23T21:49:00.000+01:00

I was introduced to MySpace, which is the same as Friendster. The idea is that you create a profile, that describes your person and your personal interests. You then go out and search for other profiles that might be interesting. With a little luck you can have one or more 'friends' in less than five minutes.

Meanwhile our society is individualizing. More and more people are feeling alone, or are not in touch with their surroundings anymore. People don't know who their neighbours are and truly believe that their pet is the only one who really listens to them anymore.

And yet millions want to be your friend when you're online... or do they?

Creation of life

2005-11-05T14:17:00.000+01:00

When a child is born new life is created, or so they say. But in fact only a new identity is created. Life was already there.

Life exists in within each cell and it's the sum of our cells that form our person. Cells divide to multiply the life within them and with each division life expands.

But with conception it's the other way around. Two cells are joined and with that union the two strands of life that they contain are fused, to form something new.

So a child is in fact it's father and it's mother combined into one and with that, life continues. No start, no end.

ISP

2005-11-02T19:03:00.000+01:00

I came across a very interesting article today, about the Information Search Process. Apparently we all go through the same stages when we try to uptain information from a large information set.

The following stages were identified:
1. Initiation
2. Selection
3. Exploration
4. Formulation
5. Collection
6. Presentation

In the article which is a little dated, they observed students who were trying to find their way around a library, but the same process is applicable to somebody trying to find something on the Internet. So chances are that you went through the same steps to get here.

rationale in our emotions

2005-11-01T20:04:00.000+01:00

The actions of human beings are only a product of their emotions. We like to think that our rationality and sound judgement have influence in this matter, but in the end we are controlled and governed by our emotions.

We've created logic to steer clear of danger and to help us provide for. It is a tool, just like the wooden spears and rocks that our ancestors used. But logic does not dictate what we do, our emotions do. Our basic fears, our need for acceptance, our cravings; they are the ones who control us.

a lot like love

2005-10-31T18:33:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I saw the feel-good-movie A lot like love and to my surprise I actually felt quite good afterwards. With the ever disarming appearance of Amanda Peet (even literally in The whole nine yards) you really can't go wrong as far as romantic comedies are concerned.

It's sort of like in the series Jack & Jill; boy meets girl, boy and girl take a long time to figure out they're mend to be, but then finally . . . feeling good again.

Strange though how hard it is for Amanda to keep her clothes on in a movie. Even in a semi serious film like High Crimes she's hanging on for dear life. Poor thing.

EPIC

2005-10-31T08:01:00.000+01:00

Last week I saw www.epic2014.com and it's update www.epic2015.com. This is a lesson in future history that depicts how news agencies will replaced by bloggers. I found the concept so interesting that I couldn't help but surf to blogger.com and register my own blog.

What is it that all those bloggers were going on about five years ago? Is it really that interesting? And does blogging have any value for the community, or is it just an individuals cry for attention?

Well, let's hope my cry is interesting enough . . .