A inceput cu hi5 si Yahoo Messenger. Pana atunci mai schimba lumea o vorba pe mIRC, mai facea un download pe Napster... si cam atat. Oricum, nimic exagerat, poate si pentru ca dial-up-ul iti adauga pe factura Romtelecom echivalentul unei rate la o garsoniera.

Odata cu conexiunile prin cablu, s-a dat liber la 'comunicare'. Hi5 si mess-ul au mers mana-n mana. Dupa o perioada de cativa ani, aceiasi oameni care pana nu demult isi dadeau comentarii reciproc ca sa para mai populari au considerat ca s-au maturizat. Pai ce, ai 19-20 de ani si mai stai pe haifaiv? Deja esti invizibil pe mess, nu mai stai la taclale cu toti kinderii si lo(o)serii. Ai evoluat. Acum ai profil pe Facebook si schimbi mesaje cu prietenii pe Twitter. Mai trec 2-3 ani si-ti faci cont pe LinkedIn, ca deja ti-ai gasit o slujba, nu mai ai timp de twit-uri. Si, la cate mail-uri interne dai la serviciu, nici ca mai ai chef de sporovaiala pe Meebo (ca doar n-ai voie sa instalezi ceva pe statia de lucru).

Dupa 2-3 ani la locul de munca, ajungi sa-ti neglijezi conturile de pe diverse site-uri. Nu mai ai timp de joaca. Participi la training-uri cu colegii, cu care apoi te distrezi la munte, in team building. Barfele se fac in pauza de masa sau la o cafea, dupa serviciu.

Mai trece o vreme - ca vremea asta face, trece - si o pui de nunta cu jumatatea. Iti intemeiezi o familie, vrei copii. La serviciu, lucrurile sunt la fel. Aia mici, de 20 si ceva de ani, normal ca au timp de prostii. Tu, in schimb, vrei sa-ti faci treaba bine, ca asta e cariera ta. In plus, dupa serviciu fugi direct acasa, unde s-au adunat treburi de facut si vrei putin timp si pentru tine, sa stai pe canapea, sa te odihnesti. Colegii si colegele mai ies la cate o cafea dupa program, dar ei nu au responsabilitatile unei familii.

Cand se naste primul copil intri, fara sa simti, intr-o alta retea. E reteaua care se formeaza impreuna cu bebelusul tau si partenerul de viata. Comunicarea se face prin viu grai, chiar daca in primii cativa ani e dominata de onomatopee. Poza ta de la avatar se updateaza acum in fiecare zi cand te scoli dimineata. Reteaua se poate dezvolta, dar numai cu acordul membrilor fondatori. Reteaua primeste vizite - nu atat de multe ca profilul web - si in general vizitatorul are nevoie de o invitatie.

Sunt sigur ca pana descopera ala mic computerul, telefonul mobil sau tableta, pana poate tasta o adresa in browser mai precis, apar alte si alte retele sociale. Si ciclul se reia, vezi paragraful unu.

Noi sa fim sanatosi!

/q

BRITAIN is in the midst of an underage drinking epidemic, say medical experts and politicians. New figures show that 8,000 under-18s are being admitted to A&E every year for drink-related problems. But why do teenage girls, some as young as 14, feel the need to get so wasted? The Sun sent award-winning journalist Tanya Gold to two UK cities - Manchester and Brighton - on a typical weekend night to see the problems for herself. This is what she found...

It's Manchester on a Saturday night and groups of underage binge drinkers are wandering the streets. They are gripping bottles of booze as they hang out in the city centre or head to a nightclub. Some are skulking, some laughing, but they all have the same aim - to get out-of-their-heads drunk.

I meet Jessie, a 14-year-old girl who has a shot of Baileys before bed every night. She also necks a litre of vodka each Friday. She says: "I down it and then I puke everywhere. I don't know why I do it. To rebel against my parents, I think. They hate me. I drink to annoy them. I drink in my bedroom alone. I get very depressed and I do stupid things. I smash and punch things". Jessie shows me bruises on her knuckles - they are left behind from when she punched a wall. She adds: "I drink to make myself feel better and to ignore my problems. But I don't have to do it. I can stop".

As I speak to more teenagers, I begin to see a pattern - most only drink at weekends and it's because, they keep telling me, "it's fun". They are drinking to get drunk and so vodka is their tipple of choice. "It is cheap and it gets you fucked quicker," says one. The girls open their bags and empty their pockets to show me bottles of cheap vodka. Mention alcopops and they just laugh - they don't drink them as they don't contain enough alcohol.

Troubled teens drink more often. One tells me about his friend who is gay and is afraid he won't be accepted by his friends. "He is smashed every day", he says. "He is smashed in school".

These drunk kids take huge risks with their safety. One girl I met recently jumped into the canal and another boy ran into a wall. Another girl tells me a moving story about her 15-year-old friend. She says: "I know someone whose boyfriend said, 'Go and stand on a railway line and kill yourself'. And she did. "She rang me and said, 'I'm on a railway line and I want to kill myself. There's no point living'. I rang her dad and luckily he went and got her". Another teen drinker knows someone who had five fits in one bingeing session.

The teenagers say they feel free, uninhibited and brave. Mary, 14, says: "It is like you are in a dream. You feel like a different person, as if you aren't you anymore". These youngsters save their pocket money, or have Saturday jobs and then pool it all together to buy the cheapest alcohol on sale. They also get cash from their parents by saying it's for the cinema or a McDonald's. To get their hands on the booze, the underage drinkers have fake IDs, older friends or they hang around outside off-licences asking people to buy it. They say one in five people will buy booze for them.

Sometimes parents even buy their children alcohol because they know they will drink it anyway and want to have some measure of control. One girl has a bottle of vodka, bought by her uncle. She waves it at me and shouts: "Top uncle!"

Sometimes it is hard to talk to the teenagers about why they drink because they simply don't know. They just shriek "happy", "party" or "fun" in your face. I keep asking them why they drink if it makes them sick. But it is a side-effect they can tolerate. One 14-year-old says: "It's great. It makes you feel dead happy. It makes you forget the cunt stuff. Say you had an argument with your mum. Off you go and get drunk and you come home and you are all happy and you and your mum are friends again".

The teenagers use the word "confidence" a lot when talking about why they drink. It makes them tell the truth, which they don't feel they can do if they are sober. "It makes you feel pretty," I am told again and again by girls. But you are pretty, I say back. "I'm not, I'm ugly" is always the response. One 15-year-old opens her hold-all to show me her stash of vodka. She and two mates are going to down the lot. The girl says: "Normally I will look in the mirror and think 'Ugh'. I don't think that when I am drunk".

Later I speak to Rosemary and Primrose, two 19-year-old twins. Rosemary says binge drinking makes her feel "free".
She says: "I drink until I pass out. It's fun to talk about it the next day. If you don't remember anything it's the best night ever. You can do crazy things. It's like, 'I fell yesterday! Oh my God!' When you are drunk you feel on top of the world - like Superwoman. You can do whatever you want to do. You don't care. You just feel free".

The following weekend I headed to Brighton. It is a party town, full of teenagers and bars with "Student Discount - All Day, Every Day" signs. Pubs and off-licences are willing pushers to the teenagers. I find a group of under-age binge boozers who regularly hit the city's drinking haunts. One says: "Do you know how easy it is to get served? I was 17 last Thursday and I just walked in and got served". Another girl, 15, says: "You can get fake IDs off the internet. There are hundreds of websites. You can use a friend's ID and they don't even check the picture. Sometimes you just say, 'I showed you my ID last time. Don't you remember me?'" Another lad, who is 15, adds: "I have even used my Railcard to get served and that is not even ID".

Next I meet Sylvia. She is 17 and says she knows her limits - three-quarters of a litre bottle of vodka in one night. You are a binge drinker, I say, and you are risking your health. "Yes, I am!" she happily shrieks back. I probe her about why she drinks and if she is worried about her health, her liver, her personal safety, her sanity. It is like talking to a child. She is not worried and she doesn't know why she binge drinks.

As far as I can see, teenagers in Britain are playing Russian roulette with their lives every weekend. And at least some of these teenage drinkers will become chronic alcoholics.

On the way back to the railway station I see a boy vomiting against a wall. He sees me staring. "What the fuck are you looking at?" he sneers. "A problem", I say and leave, nauseous from the truth.

E 5 dimineata. In autobuzul 135 sunt 7 oameni, i-am numarat. Asezati pe scaunele de plastic se duc spre oras. Ii privesc pe geamul deschis si ma bucur de racoarea de-afara. Inauntru e cald, poate prea cald. E cald si bine, cum ar zice Arghezi (parca).

La computer inca se mai simte urma troianului care a lovit acum o saptamana. Sunt in urma cu multe, mai am de terminat o gramada de lucruri. Si, cu toate, astea, mi-am facut timp sa ma uit la Man Utd - Bayern (1-2). Un meci in oglinda fata de finala UCL din '99, din pacate. Si cel mai trist a fost sa-l vad pe Rooney schiopatand la final. Peste 3 zile, sambata, e meciul cu Chelsea.

Weekendul de Pasti ma prinde la munte. O invitatie de la un bun prieten, pe care am inceput deja sa-l terorizez cu intrebari din seria "se prinde Eurosport 2 la Poiana Tapului?". Oricum, daca nu joaca Rooney, mai bine vad meciul la manastire, decat in fata televizorului.

S-a facut tarziu si eu stau de prostii. Aveam nevoie sa plang pe umarul cuiva treaz, ca ceilalti umeri dorm. Si eu as dormi, dar a inceput ziua de munca. E 5 dimineata.

L-am vazut pe domnul de mai jos pe o banca aproape de Piata Muncii. Baga cu spor la un tetris si asta m-a facut sa ma opresc si sa-l privesc zambind... Mi-am adus aminte de valoarea mea la tetris, care a atins apogeul prin vara lui '96. In toamna acelui an incepeam sa descopar Internetul, in toata splendoarea lui. Iar tetris-ul a devenit un obiect neatractiv.

N-am avut niciodata propriul meu joc de tetris, mi-a placut intotdeauna sa imprumut jocul de la cate un prieten. Cele aparute pe piata primele aveau doar cateva jocuri si butoane, erau colorate intr-un gri simplu, fara briz-briz-uri. Ulterior, piata a fost invadata de 99-in-1 si 999-in-1, de parca puteau exista 999 de variante diferite si interesante ale jocului de tetris.

Sarpele si celelalte 7 jocuri disponibile pe primele tetris-uri nu m-au interesat. M-a atras doar jocul cu caramizi, la care nivelul 9 era deja cel de la care incepeam sa joc. De-aia ma bucur atat de mult sa vad ca cineva inca mai e pasionat de un obiect pe care multi l-au aruncat, desi functional, la gunoi.

Realitatea are un amplu material, filmat intr-o scoala generala, pentru ca Trei elevi de la o scoala din Dambovita s-au luat la bataie.

Cum, s-au luat la bataie elevi? Imposibil, e breaking news! Si cand te gandesti cati absolventi de jurnalism ajung sa mearga cu cizme de cauciuc prin balti ca sa faca un reportaj de genul asta.

Presa scrisa sta la fel de bine. Cei de la Ring ne cred retardati complet:

Aha, deci atata face o tona. Pai, atunci, ma gandesc ca poate ne lamuresc jurnalistii de la Ring care e mai grea, o tona de fier sau o tona de paie?

La televizor nu mai e nimic de vazut, ziarele sunt de necitit, pe Internet petrec deja prea multa vreme... eu unde-mi mai clatesc ochii pana se suna de iesire la scoala de langa mine?

Saptamana asta a fost criminala. De la povesti cu troieni, probleme cu hostingul, cu site-urile, cu tot ce vrei si ce nu vrei. Pe undeva pe la mijloc a fost si ziua mea, s-a nimerit si un Dinamo 2 - Steaua 0, dar ceea ce conteaza a fost ca lucrurile au mers din rau in mai rau. Sa vedem ce aduce week-end-ul, am nevoie de liniste si nu cred ca va fi prea curand.

Schimbarile la nivel de computer au fost dramatice:

- am trecut de la XP SP2 la SP3 si dupa primul upgrade trec la 7 (eventual SP1)

- nu mai folosesc IE decat pentru Windows Update, Internet Banking si verificat site-uri, in rest merg pe FF si Chrome/Opera/Safari pe unde mai am nevoie

- nu vreau sa mai aud de loadere, crack-uri si alte prostii la Windows. imi iau 7 Pro cu licenta full, chiar daca e vreo 10 milioane

- vreau sa cumpar Outpost, Antimalware, Drive Sitter si orice alt soft "mic", dar indispensabil (de mentionat ca pentru NOD se gasesc destule parole pe net)

- nu mai dau sfaturi in materie de soft de securitate si instalari de sistem de operare. dupa ce mi-am furat-o in halul asta, nu-mi mai permit sa dau sfaturi altora despre cum sa se protejeze

In final, concluziile:

1. NU stocati parole pe computer (adica nu bifati clasicul save password)

2. NU intrati pe net fara antivirus, firewall si antimalware (antitrojan, antispyware etc.)

3. NU ezitati sa reinstalati sistemul de operare in prima secunda in care ceva e in neregula. daca un troian (sau asemenea) a trecut de protectia de pe sistem, nu poti sa-l scoti folosind aceeasi protectie. in mare parte a cazurilor, nici cu softuri instalate ulterior nu vei reusi mare lucru, asa ca cel mai simplu este o reinstalare.

Noi sa fim sanatosi!

Ea, o doamna pe la 45-50 de ani: Buna ziua.

Eu: Sarut-mana.

Ea: De la Lupescu sunt. Am dori si noi 40 de paini pentru diseara.

Eu: Ati gresit numarul.

Unde ma uit vad numai bani
Unde ma duc platesc cu bani
Unde ajung, totu-i pe bani
Banii mei, banii mei...
Tot ce doresti gasesti cu bani
Tot ce poftesti platesti cu bani
Tot ce gandesti sa vinzi pe bani...
Banii mei, banii mei...

Partizan le zicea bine. Nu sunt materialist, dar uneori ma apuca. Din cand in cand ma ia o pofta acuta de cheltuit, de detasare de griji prin impingerea de mici gramajoare de cash in diverse directii. In perioada asta de criza, povestea e la toti la fel: au de primit. Atatia creditori, tot atatea telefoane zilnice, saptamanale, lunare. Balanta intre datorii si bani de incasat poate fi pozitiva, dar asta nu ma incalzeste cu nimic. Vreau bani si ii vreau acum!

Daca citesti si te stii cu vreo datorie pe constiinta, gandeste-te ca ar trebui s-o platesti. Decat sa ne tot responsabilizam atat cu reciclatul, cand tot gunoiul merge in continuare in acelasi loc comun, mai bine ne concentram sa ne platim datoriile. E bine sa fii ECO, dar mai bine sa fii GIORNO si sa n-ai datorii.

Eu vreau bani. Tu nu vrei?

Am in lucru un blog pentru tinerii fotografi. Daca ai poze interesante si te pasioneaza sa schimbi unghiul, sa incadrezi si stii ce-i aia o poza arsa, atunci poate vrei sa pui cateva poze pe blog.

Nu e vorba de vreun proiect personal, nici de vreo promovare excesiva. E un loc unde sa-ti faci un portofoliu online fara batai de cap si unde vei putea, intr-un final fericit, sa si castigi un ban cinstit.

Lasa un comentariu daca esti interesat. Click!

(-) e criza, banii intra greu

(+) Cranberries in Romania

(-) m-am mutat

(+) m-am mutat

(-) am datorii

(+) posibil Aerosmith in Romania

(-) n-am socializat deloc anul asta

(+) ajung la Viena in aprilie

(-) probleme legate de PC

(+) posibil upgrade la PC

(-) timp

(+) am terminat La Piovra

(-) nesiguranta despre posibilul concert Aerosmith la Bucuresti

(+) dorinta extrema de a le lua interviu pentru InConcert

Imi place sa tin scoruri, sa fac liste si topuri. Pana acum, 2007 a fost cel mai bun an din viata mea. Oare se poate mai bine intr-un an greu ca 2010?