First of all I'd like to thank my friends. Sometimes they can piss me off so much I have to write about it…

Working in technology and loving gadgets I think I've always tried to be aware of what was going on: latest technology, market trends and stuff like that (initially this blog was supposed to be about that-but then in order to look fir stuff to put here I end up spending hours reading other people's blogs). On the other hand I know when to go Lo-Tech, and that's when I'm with my friends. There are few people with whom I have been able to share my passion for technology (big up to the ComWiFiNet massive!!!). So generally when hanging around with friends I am pretty Lo-Tech. This doesn't mean my friends still don't know what google is, but some of them may have troubles in defining what a blog is.

The funny bit for me is looking at how painful technology upgrades can be. Right now, after years of emailing to a growing list of email addresses (some of which are out of date-right fede?) they decided to enter the fantastic world of distribution lists. When you forward a funny email to a few friends it doesn't really matter whether you've missed somebody, because it's more than likely that you'll receive 2 copies of it! Same when using a bcc mailing list (where all recipients are put in bcc) but with an extra inconvenient because at the end you don't even know who to forward the email to (and everybody ends up receiving it 3 times). So comes the time of wanting to sort the mess out and go for something better to make sure to include everybody: the distribution list.

Of course adding someone to the list is really integrating them as part of the team or group rather than specifically communicating something (whether it is an invitation for dinner or a football game). So that's when the problems start (and I start enjoying it).
As in every social group you have a bunch of people who will be the core of it because of their interactions with the other, history, etc. But you will also have a bunch of people who are not part of that core, or are in the process of becoming part of it…what to do with them? Let them to be part of the club or not? Create 2 different distribution lists? Fine, but who will manage them? When can somebody be added to the list? Is there a test to take or a fee to pay? As I am writing this bit, most of my friends are exchanging emails about what to do and how to sort this mess out. I laugh. They'll never make it, and that's also why I love them (and sometimes hate them).

There are solutions in terms of technology on how to manage online communities with address books, message boards, links to skype, etc. But this would require for somebody to take the lead on this and actually invest some (precious) time in managing some sort of community portal (where the different sub-groups could have access to different areas, etc). My main justification for not doing this myself is really that chaos is part of who we are. Even if we do set-up a community portal it'll look like shit after 2 days because everyone will have made some changes just for the sake of it. The other reason for not doing it is because most of what we talk about is generally rubbish. Organising dinners or commenting on the latest Roma score don't justify a community portal to me. Does it? What do you think?

One more thing. People have been asking to see more pictures on this blog. It's a fair point and I'll try and publish more pictures. After only 7 weeks we have finally received some bits of furniture and the flat should start looking more like home now.

For those of you who are not only here because of the above, here's a selection of links you may be interested to check out. Nothing serious of course.
Who would want to ban Homer?
My first hard drive?
Can I have a quick one?
Is this a trend?