Livet, Universet og alting

Skift af sprog på denne "tavse blog"

2012-02-12T19:16:00.001Z

For nogle år siden besluttede jeg at denne blog skulle være på engelsk, mens http://jfbak.wordpress.com skulle være på dansk. Nu er Blogspot smeltet sammen med Google+, der er på dansk for mit vedkommende, så nu bytter jeg rundt på sprogene.

Denmark - a scientific superpower!

2010-09-14T21:01:00.003Z

I have just received Scientific American "Nobel Price Winning Authors" Volume 1 with articles by:

sir Lawrence Bragg
August Krogh
Albert Einstein
Niels Bohr
I.I. Rabi
Otte Meyerhof
E.D. Adrian

Impressive with 2 out of 7 authors coming from Denmark in this first issue of an American prestigious publication.

I'm unable to handle iPod's and other Mac-devices

2010-09-12T17:14:00.002Z

I've tried to day to use an iPod with iTunes. A horrible experience. I don't understand the way it works.
Although I'm not a fan of Microsofts way of doing things, I'm glad that I'm using a PC with Windows. At least I'm not getting a nervous breakdown as fast as with Apple-devices.

Small is beautiful

2006-09-22T09:09:00.000Z

I have spent my whole working life employed by or connected to Aarhus Universitet.
I do consider it as an university with a high quality of research and studies.
However, I'm a bit worried now. Danish universities are growing in size through fusions - and I fear that it inevitable will result in a noticable decrease in quality.
My proof is the size of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, ...

Religion and human rights

2006-04-10T08:50:00.000Z

Why are we humans religious? Well, that is an easy framework for defining a meaning of life. If that is fine for you then by all means do so. However, it requires a mutual respect. I have a right to question your faith - and I have no obligation to subdue to any kind of taboo, e.g. drawing the Prophet Muhammad etc.
Any human being is more valuable than any form of god (or God, if you prefer so). Life is the most precious thing we have. Live it and stay with it.

Restart....

2006-04-02T07:31:00.000Z

I've just noticed that almost nine months have passed... Well, just to verify that I'm alive!

Webdesign: WYSINWIG

2005-06-11T10:28:00.000Z

We are still in the infancy of webdesign. Most of the pages are deigned with a WYSIWYG-approach: What You See Is What You Get.
BUT the reality is WYSINWIG: What You See Is Not What I Get - You have no idea of the type of computer, browser and configuration I'm using to view our page. You might gain some knowledge from various parameters read from my machine. But I might e.g. select to change the size of the window at any time, without reloading the page.
This parity between reader and author is at the very core of the web. I have not yet encountered a designer which has understood this basic feature. They are trapped in the idea that they should have total control.

Knowledge is power

2005-05-22T05:51:00.000Z

Those who are in power are often using this statement in reverse: They try to guard their knowledge so they can stay in power. They often state that they have to keep facts secret (i.e. hide their knowledge) for the sake of society, to protect the privacy of (other) individuals, etc. But in reality it is an egoistic point of view, which must be countered.

It is the collected knowledge of all humans that are of value. And we have to share it - no knowledge should be hidden. And in contrast to material assets their is no shortage problem: you can donate knowledge to others without loosing it yourself - in fact it is pure win-win - you will receive more knowledge yourself by sharing. There is nothing new in this, e.g. OpenSource software works exactly along these lines.

And once again, the net is an extremely useful tool. We are all Googling along, and the more knowledge we put on the net, the better prospects for the future. Furthermore it is one of the best ways to fight the inequality of the world. Poor countries are to a large extent kept in poverty by using the shortage-mechanism of material goods. They are trapped in poverty, because they don't have the money to buy the facilities which will bring them wealth so they can get out of poverty. Whereas energy and physical raw materials are limited, knowledge is unlimited. In economic terms, the value of energy and raw materials has a given value, expressed in a certain amount of money. But the economic value of knowledge is zero! Thus you bring an offer by donating physical stuff to other people, but not by donating knowledge.

Privacy in real life and on the net

2005-05-17T08:20:00.000Z

We are still deeply rooted in our historic habits. Most of our time we spend milling around - sleeping, eating, working, shopping, playing - without the use of gadgets (computers etc.) and we are used to the concept of privacy: We interact with people in physical proximity to us and can act accordingly. If we like these people we can stay in contact - if not, we can (usually) go away. And we can avoid attending locations where those we don't want to meet assemble. And you will normally evaluate anybody from a distance before establishing contact. If they are completely disguised, you will normally avoid contact.

Our home is our castle
One of the basic human rights is 'privacy'. When we are at home we can do - almost - anything without interference or surveillance from other people, including authorities. It is one of the basic human rights - Article 12 in http://www.hrweb.org/legal/udhr.html. This is often translated as a right to be anonymous. But it is something different. Your family, neighbours and friends know who you are - and they have usually a more or less complete idea of what you are doing.

Privacy on the internet
Usually the physical conception of privacy is translated to a right to be anonymous on the internet. This is wrong. My privacy on the internet is based on non-anonymity of myself and everybody else. I must require the same right to know 'who is in the neighborhood' as in the physical world. If they are disguised, I don't want to interact with them. And if I spot an individual which I don't want to contact, I must have the right to avoid meeting him or her.

Me and the Universe

2005-05-16T09:28:00.000Z

I'm a just one of several billion people on a little speck of a planet in orbit around a little star located in the outskirts of an ordinary galaxy.

So I have no significance...
...except for my self and my relatives.

Learning is living

2005-05-15T21:00:00.000Z

Life is an everchanging state.
Each time you do something you learn something.
When you are dead you will not learn more - when you don't learn, you are dead!

In the beginning...

2004-11-16T21:14:00.000Z

Well, I have to start somewhere... (this was originally in Danish - but as the environmenet is in English I have decided to switch the language)