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ИРАДА ЗЕЙНАЛОВА НА КУХНЕ ХОЛОСТЯКА! Дюшпере.

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Waterworld and Oil?

I was watching TV the other night when a CNN news story caught my attention. The bouncy anchor seamlessly took the audience to the North Pole where any number of countries are "claiming" territorial rights for either the fatherland or motherland. At the center of the controversy (and story) lies about 25-30 percent of the world's known remaining oil reserves. Yes that's right, directly under all those polar bears millions of barrels of bubbling crude.

If this is not fantastic enough, the side story - the one the anchor and most viewers probably missed- was the fact that the ice cap is melting. I was amazed, not that the US, Norway, Russia, Canada and others are trying to claim something they could have cared less for 20 years ago, but that the anchor just skipped by the part about the meltdown. Apparently the same people that first argued there was no global warming and then that we do not affect it - simply acknowledge it now as a variable for oil exploration.

The visuals for this news segment showed melting ice being navigated by ships representing explorers (or the symbolic representations of them) from various nations. According to the bubble headed anchor the ice will be sufficiently melted by 2015 for massive drilling to take place. If you do not see the bleak irony of this then perhaps you should turn CNN back on. "Never fear SUV drivers, soon the polar ice caps of Earth will be gone and Exxon can get you more gas!" My God, I just wonder at how many people thought what I was thinking (and my 12 year old son).

I guess the larger issue still is the apparent unconcern of Russia or any of these other countries for the environment or any other issue as being more paramount than seizing the last drop of a depleted and overused resource. I can't wait until we are totally on solar so we can watch these morons try to plant a national flag on the Sun! That is if we are not underwater or in boats by then.

Melting Ice Off Denmark

Photos Courtesy AP

Web 2.0 at 2 AM

I have not posted to my little blog here in some time and at the behest of my great friend Mig, I thought I would relate some thoughts for my friends and collaborators. I have had the great pleasure and privilege of writing for ReadWriteWeb these last several weeks. The task has been both rewarding and challenging, and my good friends have been so very helpful.

The most interesting thing happened the other night as I was pondering these last 7 months as a blogger. I expect we all have late nights where we either ponder our own relative insignificance and sometimes our value to ourselves and those we interact with. On this particular night I was feeling rather more on the tail end of things and was very tired from having tested several applications for review. I was actually pondering bidding a fond farewell and moving to the 2007 equivalent of "Green Acres" when I saw my little mail notifier pop up.

To make one of my long stories short, I opened the note to find a very uplifting message from a prominent and respected member of our world community. This person is one of those that possesses what I call "the true spirit of excellence", and one who ultimately will contribute substantially to web development for years to come. The name is not important, but the essence of this particular contact was what struck me as 'symbolic" of all our desired or shared visions of Web 2.0.

The note simply thanked me for essentially being kind and honest about something rather simple to recognize for me. The interesting and "familiar" aspect of this discourse (which it became as we sat at our relative consoles and emailed back and forth) became apparent only after the interaction had ended. Here we were emailing messages back and forth - the creator of some of the most sophisticated technology in the world emailing someone who tests innovations light years ahead of anything possible a decade ago. It was a surreal moment on Web 2.0 at 2 AM. No IM, drag and drop, streaming video or even a chat window - just two people relatively spent at the end of a long day.

I know, you are saying; "Phil has gone all sentimental or goofy on us", but if you think about it this is why we are here. Web 2.0 is not about the technology or the money in the end (sure some people think it is because all they think about it money), but it is about people collaborating and validating other people. In this way, and only in this way, are we led to a state of higher values and goals. Sure we are "stimulated" or "assisted" by the innovation and technology - but in the end it is what we value that makes this version of the web mean something.

These types of communications and moments where we are just human are the ones we appreciate most. These ethereal connections often made over thousands of miles between people who seemingly have little in common. We find though that quite often we have much more in common than we realize. This is particularly true when people share deep considerations or ideas whatever the subject matter. A CEO of a great company sits at a desk atop some skyscraper and relates "human" thoughts and expression to another person in the woods with only a strand of cable wire connecting them to what most would consider civilization.

So here we are, all of us in the same boat - so often at odds with one another - and yet we are now linked (digitally yes) but never the less linked to our fellow man. This kind of thing gives us hope, this is why we come back here to our little machines. We don't realize it fully, but we are on the threshold of actually "knowing" and helping on a level we once just dreamed of. It is a slow progression sometimes and we all get mightily frustrated and even pissed much of the time. But if we could just somehow push through to the other side - then teaching, learning, entertainment, business and ultimately understanding could reach a level far beyond what we currently experience. This is why we are here - to understand.

Email on top of starships, fascinating and as appropriate as a campfire. Consideration and kindness are only difficult in situations where neither of these abound. It is amazing how easily we connect even at the end of a hard day or under the most interesting circumstances with our fabulous little Web. Each one of the letters you see was typed (laboriously for those who know me) at 1 AM at the end of a long long day. Consider the person on the other end of that video or business application. This is my humanistic diversion, my user generated content for the puzzle we are trying to complete. recognizing Web 2.0 for what it is may be the first step toward that nebulous vision stuck in all our minds. Human goodness expressed via a fantastic tool toward other people - 21st century conduit for expression and communication. Web 2.0 at 2 AM!