I read a very interesting article some moments ago. It is a very good analisys of the social networking madness which is taking over the web. Or better, Web 2.0 (hell, I am so tired of this term. Aren’t you?).
I really believe there are some golden nuggets in there. Only time will tell, but I think it predicts some of the turns the Internet will take.

Read it through. For now, I’ll make sure to subscribe to that guy’s feed! :)

Edit: On a side (and quite funny) note, I found the article itself on Digg.com, a very popular social networking site.

I am currently writing a book, amongst the other things.

I am writing it in italian and it’s a fantasy book. I am inventing a whole different fantasy world into which I can… well, pretty much put anything I want.

There aren’t gonna be elves or orcs and stuff like that but probably only humans: some capable of incredible magery, some very strong and brave in battle.

I translated a little excerpt for your reading pleasure (or disgust). Please take the time to comment and tell me how you like it.

I already told you about Phpvideotutorials and how much I love it.

Well, last week I solved LeighMac’s riddle and I won a fantastic Poker Set. Above you can see the graphic he put on his site, with a link to and the header of one of my sites “Ferrari Blog”. How cool is that?

Rock on Leigh!

Technology is nowadays evolving at an unbelievable rate.
We are able to do things, today, that would have been impossible but a few years ago.

I am amazed by this growth. It excites me and it really is the expression of anything that there is of great and wonderful in the human mind.

But does the internet also impoverish art and knowledge?

Internet is the first utopia of mankind becoming reality: it is a totally free, self shaping and ever-morphing environment. Everyone counts as much as the other one and people really do have the power on the Internet.
It’s the world’s entire knowledge at your fingertips.
Think about it for a second. It’s like a miracle. Having everything there, RIGHT THERE for you.

Having such an effortless access to knowledge and art, though, could dangerously mean for you to feel like those things are of small value.

It’s just like what they tell you in marketing courses: a lower price doesn’t always mean more sales. You have to find your sweet spot: price your product too high, and no one will buy it because they think it’s a rip off, price it too low and you will convey the idea that it is of small value.

If you bought a book for 50$ you’re not gonna throw it away at the first boring part. You are motivated to keep at it, because you invested in it. It has a value for you because of what you spent on it. Be it mere money or effort to find it.

A lot of the music, games, books you get (illegally) for free on the internet have suffered this loss of percieved value. And that is way worse than any concern the RIAA may have.

You wanna kill a painter, a writer or a musician? Just watch, read or listen to their work once and trash it without even TRYING to understand it.

That is what I think is the only trap of the wonderful world wide web.

So, my message is the following:
Art and knowledge, for how cheap they may come, are always the most valuable things in this life. Their value is a spiritual value which calls for a payment in mental effort to understand and appreciate them.

That’s right, I am writing a story for the new project. I took an old stub I did to exercise my writing skills and it served as a good starting point.

I am now kinda hooked up on swing.. I was able to stop listening to the Beatles, in order to listen to some swing (which is something noteworthy). I know, I sound like a music snob. But I really am not, I will listen to pretty much anything you throw at me. I am more like a music slut, in fact.

I am programming Java and Php like there’s no tomorrow, and I’m doing some pretty neat things.

I will also pull off my first real engineering job. It’s for the European University of Rome and they pay me well, considering I still don’t even have a degree.

The money will be spent on Christmas presents, most likely.

That’s about it for now, have a good weekend!

I am currently undergoing a self-induced therapy of php.

Despite the fact that I don’t need to study php for my computer engineering degree, I am too fond of that language not to learn it.

I have been reading books, posting in forums etc. But the most entertaining way to learn php is without any doubt by taking a look at Leigh’s site, phpvideotutorials. Leigh is an australian programmer and a great guy. He’s incredibly funny and you’ll learn the basics of php without any effort by watching his videos. I highly recommend his site!

Today I will go get my new, all-digital passport.
It’s been a long time since I first decided to get one; and now it’s ready. I can already imagine staring at it every single day that separates me for this summer. It will be put to good use then: I’ll fly to L.A.

What for you say? Actually, I don’t know. I have always felt like I belonged there (for a number of reasons).
I guess I’ll have to just go see for myself if my feelings were correct.

In the meanwhile, I will be launching some new stuff pretty soon. I have some GREAT ideas I can’t wait to launch. I won’t disclose anything but this morning I had one of those “why the hell didn’t I think about it before” moments. And that’s exactly the language opportunity uses when it knocks at your door, I’ve learned.

Other projects are doing fine.. I made enough money from Ferrari Blog this month already to go buy myself a very cool Booq Vyper neoprene case for my Macbook Pro.

It’s a sturdy, good looking sleeve that will help protect my precccioussss on the trip from my home to the University.

In fact, I am now attending a couple of interesting courses. Object oriented programming and Electronics. They don’t look hard for now and they are both extremely interesting. I surely do hope I’ll be able to pull off good grades for this session.

Anyhow, that’s all for now,
Stay tuned!

I recently took the time to record, edit and publish a video tutorial on how to log in and spy through unprotected webcams. I found restaurants, shops, private homes. It’s a lot of fun and you should try it.

Anyway, here’s the video:

Everyday we hear about a lot of bad things happening.

But we must also think of all the beautiful small miracles that we don’t hear about: people falling in love, feeling free, making a change, learning something new, apologizing for their mistakes.

Yes, bad things happen everyday. But good things happen every second.

Here we are. This is my official, spankin new blog.

I am glad to finally have a place for my random blabbering and ideas.

I hope you will find the read amusing.

See you around