Crazy Mayans and that calendar ending today.

We have all heard the jokes about the world ending today.  They range from a good old Apocalypse with earthquakes, disasters and the earth blowing up to everyone turning into zombies.  

As we all know with all these lovely predictions most of the time they are pretty much a load of bull..  

I was reading this article on BBC today:  'Mayan day of apocalypse' arrives

One line in the article made me think;  "Many believe the date instead marks the start of a new era in the calendar."

What if that is the case?  As with any era or change it usually means it takes a while to see if it really is a new era of better and greater things.  It could even mean a new era of horrible things too.  As with anything the possibilities are endless.  However, I would like to think on the positive side and consider it possibly a new era of gradual improvement of the Human race and vast improvements in technology, medical fields as well as environmental activities.

RIP Nathan Wills and thoughts about what leads to suicide

I am subscribed to quite a number of people on YouTube.com   Truth be told I do not have time to be on there every single day watching every single channel I am subscribed to.  There are billions of people on this planet and I do not have time to meet them all.  I wish I did.  There are so many unique and interesting individuals and so many conversations to be had.

Sometimes I just care and feel too much.

I have been watching the vlog channel katers17 on and off for the last 6 months.  It all depends on my time and what I am doing.  I have been meaning for quite some time to explore her various friends and connections and learn more about them.

Last night I saw this random video by a vlogger who interacts with katers17 and some of her friends.  It was a vlog about this young man named Nathan Wills whom had committed suicide sometime between Friday and this weekend.  I had seen him on katers17 video from some months ago when he visited them here in CA.  I had intended on learning more about him but again time it ran away from me.

I have listened to some tracks and watched some of his videos today.  He was such a positive and thoughtful individual.  He was trying to teach others how to be self aware.  He did it in such a caring manner.  His is so beautiful too.

He was a human being that gave so much of himself and shared so much.  People are saying that he left because of depression because of a loss of a loved one.  Cory who is katers17's boyfriend feels that Nathan felt he completed his work and therefore  it was time to move on.  Cory had mentioned that Nathan had always felt that it was his life to live and his life to take.    I suspect it was just his time to go and he knew that.

Regardless of the reasons why he left its amazing how this one individual has affected so many people.  I can only hope that in the long time future(I hope as I want to be one of those uber old ladies you see on the news sometimes lol) I will touch people like he has.

Suicide is one of the hardest to grasp when it comes to trying to understand why someone had to die.  There are so many different ways to interpret the gesture.  Was it a selfish act to get out of a bad situation?  I think yes when someone does something very desperate like killing their family first.  I also think its a selfless act.  A person who chooses to die on their own terms chooses to do so to take themselves out of the equation.  Life is full of the circle of life.  There are deaths and births and cycles between.  When a person takes their own life they are pulling themselves out of the cycle and bringing a chance for renewal and change to the world.  When that person dies the people they love struggle and hurt for a very long time trying to understand why and what happened and what they could have done.

I feel for anyone who has lost a loved one to suicide and it hurts my heart when I hear of it.  But I also believe there is a reason for everything even if we never understand what that reason was.

To the family and friends of Nathan Wills my deepest condolences and sadness in your loss.  I regret not learning more about him sooner.  I might have had a chance to know him if I had.  :(  I hope that his songs will live on as the testimony of the beauty of his Phoenix Heart!

EAV

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Critically thinking about The Google Chrome OS Pilot Program: What could have been better?

Disclaimer:  The following commentary is simply my thoughts and opinions on how the CR-48s were distributed for the pilot program.  Even though I am going to be criticizing Google in this blog entry I firmly believe in the company.   I also recognize that the company is made of human beings and mistakes are known to be made.  I still love Google with all my heart!! 


First of all the basic premise of the pilot program is very sound. 60,000 free laptops with a beta OS on them for testing to  get all the bugs smoothed out by the end user is a great idea and I applaud Google for that.  However, there were several glaring holes in the application process which I believe might hurt Google in the end.

1. One test laptop per household-  In the beginning there was word of two or three people in the same house each individually receiving a laptop.  Since the laptop is made so that multiple people can use it they could haver fond a way to share.  This would have opened up more laptops to a more diverse group of testers.  The shared laptop would still get the feedback even if they had their own. However, even more people could test the laptop this way.
2. One application per person-  Do not get me wrong I understand why people were repeatedly applying.  I applied more than once myself.  However, there obviously were no checks in place to make sure that  the same individual was getting more than one.  Again that  brings us back to number 1.  Google should have put the info filled out on the applications into a  database.  Much like when you sign up for a new GMail account and your username is checked to prevent duplicates; the address, email, and phone number fields could have been checked along with the ip address to see if this person had applied before.  If any of those fields came back as a duplicate then when they submitted their application there simply would be a message stating "You or someone you live with has already applied to the program please give others a chance to join the program!"  This would not deter everyone from reapplying.  I suspect it would have reduced the amount considerably.
3. Date of Birth-  Clearly stated on the terms of service and on the rules for applying was that you had to be 18 years or older.  There were several cases that I know of for sure of people who managed to slip through the cracks and get one or more anyway  even though they were younger than 18.  There was no place on the application for Date of Birth.  That should have been added.  Yes some would have lied but enough honest people would have eliminated themselves to make up for that.
4. Better Communication-  There is a lot of speculation as to why Google never contacted anyone when they were accepted into the program but that could have been easily eliminated by using the system I described in 2.  Basically if certain people were chosen then  you mark them as chosen and then you send them an email automated of course just saying that they have been accepted and to expect to see a package in the coming weeks.  They do not have to tell them when they will get it.   It still would be a surprise and create lots of anticipation.  Now if selection was as random as it is now even with this system people would still not know when they would get the acceptance letter.  Plus Google still could have surprised the first set with out the acceptance letter.  In the same token if they still wanted to surprise people they could have also did rejection letters.  If someone's application was not acceptable then they should send a automated email saying that their application could not be accepted at this time but they were welcome to try again.  Then the application would be removed from the database so they could reapply.  I also believe Google should have had a automated email go to the person's inbox to acknowledge they  received the application to join the Pilot program much like when you apply for a job online.  These are the little touches that make your company look great!

In some ways Google really dropped the ball when it came to efficiency, organization and communication but I applaud them for their amazing ability to create a bunch of amazing  marketing for themselves without paying marketing costs.  

To those who got into the Pilot program Congrats to you and enjoy your Beta laptop!

To those like me who were not so lucky:  I know many of you are very disappointed and at times I am too but remember this we were never promised a free laptop we were just dreaming of one like everyone else.  I firmly believe there is a reason for everything.  This is a door that has closed for many of us but I think there is another one opening that will  bring cooler and more amazing things.  

Note:  Even though the application is closed now I suspect a few more might go out in the coming weeks but will not know for sure until  this coming week.  I will be watching on http://www.itweet.net the #cr48 and #cr-48 hash tags very carefully.  So for another week or so I still will hold a very tiny and remote hope that I might get one still.