Stefano Castelvetri's Blog, page 37
June 5, 2013
8.23 times per year - an extract (and a foretaste)
Yes, that is a very first draft of the english translation of 8.23 volte l'anno. Rough and preliminar, but we are working to make it better. Much better.Do you think it can be interesting ?
Sand, at sunsetA few moments of the turn of sunset, and the beach is almost empty.The last sunbathers have left the beach loaded with bath towels and inflatable games, leaving behind them a trail of cigarette butts, tubes of sunscreen, sheets of wax paper and icicle sticks. Seagulls, hundreds of them, are coming back on the coast, their wings on fire by the warm light of the dying sun.In the short stretch of free beach, between papers and plastic cups, there is just a guy armed with a metal detector. He walks slowly, swinging the long and light metal rod a few inches from the sand. He is dressed in a dull: baggy discolored shorts, a beige checked shirt, messenger bag, and plastic flip flops cracked by time. Uncombed hair. Cheap sunglasses.Let’s approach him.The guy with the metal detector, seen from close up, seems to move with skill and method. And those glasses, seen from close up, don’t seem so bad. No doubt the HUD, which projects data and animated graphics on the inside of the lenses, greatly increases their value.The data projected on the lenses comes from the instrument shaped as a metal detector that is actually a sophisticated real time detector of movements, temperature and density variations of the subsoil, sensitive to a depth of 400 meters below the surface of the sand.When the instrument that looks like a metal detector emits a long beep, and the HUD displays a series of well known icons and messages, the guy seems satisfied. He dismantles the tool with calm, puts it in a sports bag and walks away from the beach.Gulls, mosquitoes and darkness finally take possession of the area.
May 31, 2013
Out of The Vortex
I'm out, at least for a while.
I hope so.
I came out of The Vortex.
For the uninitiated, The Vortex is a very intense working activity. This time it was burdened by the hospitalization of my two children. A particularly busy and troubled period that forced me to not think about anything that wasn't work or family.
Well. As of today, I can get back to have those 5 minutes of free time, which means updates on the blog, social activity and, who knows, some new writing.
February 18, 2013
TV said it
My neighbor, 70 years on, the last week came desperate to ring us because the TV was asking her to call a technician and she didn't know who to call.
The TV, in fact, did not need a technician. Some channels on the digital decoder had been moved and the device wasn't smart enough to reorder them correctly. The solution was indeed quite simple: sorting the channels manually. But in the absence of smarter software, the decoder had nothing better to report that "call a technician".
Unfortunately my neighbor, although not stupid, belongs to a generation that can not break the theory of "Television tells so, so it's true".
It is a generation almost in its entirety. Perhaps two generations. People who fail to question what TV says. They are people who have never had occasion to use other media to explore the news. They are people who, when they saw a regime propaganda, have seen it in another form: in theaters, in leaflets, in neighborhood meetings, on saturday meetings. They are people who, after all, are fine. They have a pension, they do not see bureaucracy, insecurity and uncertainty. They think they don't have to fight to give a future to their children. They think that their family already has a future.
They are people who have brought, and continue to threaten to, charlatans to power.
It is not their fault, in the sense that they haven't done int on purpose. But they did. And if they realize the damages they made, they should face the younger generations, and say: "Here. We give you the country. Do whatever you want with it, reshape it to your needs. Refactor it. Clean it. We'll get out the way. We won't hinder, no more. Sorry for disturb and damages. We have confidence in you. You are in charge."
Do you really believe they will do so ?
No.
And it is also silly to blame other generations for all the problems of this country. We don't really need to find someone to blame. We need to find and apply solutions.
The TV, in fact, did not need a technician. Some channels on the digital decoder had been moved and the device wasn't smart enough to reorder them correctly. The solution was indeed quite simple: sorting the channels manually. But in the absence of smarter software, the decoder had nothing better to report that "call a technician".
Unfortunately my neighbor, although not stupid, belongs to a generation that can not break the theory of "Television tells so, so it's true".
It is a generation almost in its entirety. Perhaps two generations. People who fail to question what TV says. They are people who have never had occasion to use other media to explore the news. They are people who, when they saw a regime propaganda, have seen it in another form: in theaters, in leaflets, in neighborhood meetings, on saturday meetings. They are people who, after all, are fine. They have a pension, they do not see bureaucracy, insecurity and uncertainty. They think they don't have to fight to give a future to their children. They think that their family already has a future.
They are people who have brought, and continue to threaten to, charlatans to power.
It is not their fault, in the sense that they haven't done int on purpose. But they did. And if they realize the damages they made, they should face the younger generations, and say: "Here. We give you the country. Do whatever you want with it, reshape it to your needs. Refactor it. Clean it. We'll get out the way. We won't hinder, no more. Sorry for disturb and damages. We have confidence in you. You are in charge."
Do you really believe they will do so ?
No.
And it is also silly to blame other generations for all the problems of this country. We don't really need to find someone to blame. We need to find and apply solutions.
February 16, 2013
the bad luck of being strong
Emilia Romagna: the bad luck of being a strong and tenacious population is that, when misfortunes happen (earthquake), then your country (Italy) believes that nothing serious really happened.
And they forget you.
February 14, 2013
Yes, I am communicating with a device
(you can sing it on the music of Rome wasn't built in a day by Morcheeba)
You and me we're going to link, talking free, in USB.
One fine day, with plug&play, don't you know we talk on the virtual COM8.
Ehy, ehy, ehy.
February 11, 2013
Nice features I would see on Amazon
Yes, the shopping and delivery experience with Amazon is great, but I think the website does not keep with the rest of the service.
Here is some features I would like.
1. The possibility to switch from a product URL from a different country website (amazon.com / amazon.co.uk) to my country (amazon.it) WHILE keeping the same product selected. Remember that most websites and blogs link to amazon product with URLs pointing at the .com site. If it's not easy to switch to the local site, it's not easy to buy the product.
2. The possibility to look for the same product (eg. novels, movies or comic books) in different translations. (eg. 'Il signore degli anelli' should link to 'Lord of the rings' and viceversa).
3. Better technical details in electronics products and similar. Now they are too few and inaccurate. They actually suck. At least a direct link to the same product on the vendor site would be enough.
4. Better search. Well, how much websites fail in that ?
Here is some features I would like.
1. The possibility to switch from a product URL from a different country website (amazon.com / amazon.co.uk) to my country (amazon.it) WHILE keeping the same product selected. Remember that most websites and blogs link to amazon product with URLs pointing at the .com site. If it's not easy to switch to the local site, it's not easy to buy the product.
2. The possibility to look for the same product (eg. novels, movies or comic books) in different translations. (eg. 'Il signore degli anelli' should link to 'Lord of the rings' and viceversa).
3. Better technical details in electronics products and similar. Now they are too few and inaccurate. They actually suck. At least a direct link to the same product on the vendor site would be enough.
4. Better search. Well, how much websites fail in that ?
February 8, 2013
Chunks of flying - free ebook
'Chunks of flying' is a collection of fantasy short stories, sometimes very short, written between 1996 and 1997. Stories are naive, childish, raw, not reasoned. I share them, as I did for the
Since I have serious doubts for the quality of the contents, both artistically and technically, I do not absolutely require a contribution, so I'll direct you to the download link. If the available formats are not compatible with your reader, let me know with a comment, and I will make it as far as possible.
Browse for it on Smashwords.
Download the free ebook in EPUB format.
Download the free ebook in MOBI format.
That's all, enjoy !
Chunks of flying by Stefano Castelvetri is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
January 28, 2013
Oh, Gantok !
Gantok teaches us that you should never, never, never try to kill someone who is going to die at a fixed point in time.
January 27, 2013
A pile of good things and bad things
- We didn't make a difference at all. -
- I wouldn't say that. The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. Hey. The good things don't always soften the bad things. But, vice versa... the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant. And we definitely added to his pile of good things. -(Doctor Who - Vincent and the Doctor)
(applause)
January 19, 2013
Italian resistance to aliens
Have you ever noticed that, in alien invasions movies, when characters receive news about resistance all over the world, Italy is never mentioned ?
Do you wonder why ?
Do you wonder why ?
