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I sometimes writes small things - call 'em blog posts or mini-essays or whatever.
Here are some of them.

   - @Reschat (https://redacted.work/reschat)


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Why I Despise the 12-Hour English Digital Clock
There are 24 hours in a day.

How do we say that we are 17 hours and 12 minutes into the day? Easy! 17:12.
That's it. No hassle; nothing more to talk about. Good - we're done here. Right?

Unfortunately not. Because somewhere along the way someone decided to not do it like this. Instead they wanted to split the day into 2 parts, each with 12 hours.
That in itself is not really that big an issue - and we can easily do that. Like, part 1 of the day and part 2 of the day - or perhaps the before noon part and the after noon part, or ante meridiem (AM) and post meridiem (PM) in Latin. In this way 17 hours and 12 minutes into the day would then be 05:12 PM, while 9 hours and 59 minutes into the day would be 09:59 AM. Easy again.
Now that's it. No big hassle; nothing more to talk about. Right?

No? Really, we're not done yet? Oh, what the hell did they those do instead?

For some weird reason this simple formula wasn't what the British/US noblemen somewhere along the way chose to go with. Instead, a more "sophisticated" (read: completely uncessarily idioticly complex) way of telling time on a 12-hour clock was devised by someone, who is hated far less by the average person than he should be (pst, obviously a man). This new "method" was decided so that the ways of expressing the hour after midnight and the hour after noon should be exchanged or something. What?
So, for example if it's 37 minutes into the afternoon that should mean that it's "0 hours and 37 minutes after noon (Post Meridiem)" = "0h 37m P.M." = "00:37 PM". Right?

Nope, that's not the fuckheads had in mind.

But how, you ask me, did the Brits/'Mericans actually end up choosing to handle midnight/midday?
Oh - let me tell you - they did so THE WRONG FUCKING WAY!

So, listen to this, apparently 37 minutes into the afternoon is 12:37 PM.

Wait, what?

If it had even just been been 12:37 AM it would do make some kind of sense, since it would be 12 hours and 37 minutes into the part 1 of the day (the part before noon - Ante Meridiem - AM). It would still be stupid - since 0h 37m into the PM makes more sense - but it would've made logical sense and be something I could've learned to accept.

Instead of 12 hours and 37 minutes into the before noon part of the day (AM) being 12:37 PM, it is instead for some reason 12:37 PM - as in 12 hours and 37 minutes into the PM, which should be 12 hours and 37 minutes after noon, meaning 37 minutes after midnight. But, no, of course it would not be that easy - so they had to make it completly nonsensical for no good reason.

It would've been so damn easy to do this right (in several different ways) - but no, apparently that's not the way of the British/'Merican people. And I honestly still judge far most of them to this day because of this, since something this stupid should really have been revolted against decades/centuries ago.

All I can say is... sigh!


tldr / P.S. If you didn't catch my drift, here is a summation of my time-telling preferences:
1) 24-hour clock
2) 12-hour clock - where 37 minutes into the afternoon is 00:37 PM
3) 12-hour clock - where 37 minutes into the afternoon is 12:37 AM
NEVER) 12-hour clock - where 37 minutes into the afternoon is 12:37 PM (BECAUSE IT MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL)


(Originally shared on G00gle+, 2018-06-29)

GDPR - and Why I Kinda Dig It (and not for the reasons you might think)
First off, for those of you who haven't been online in the last couple of weeks and for whom this is the first thing you see when you finally get back online - GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is a new EU law (also relevant outside of the EU) that went into effect May 25, 2018. The law attempts to give people more rights in regard to the data that organisations are allowed to collect and handle about them. As a result A LOT of websites/organisations have scrambled in panic to try to ensure that they're GDPR compliant (pst, if they weren't doing some shady shit before, they probably had nothing to worry about and wouldn't had had to change much, if anything).

Right before, and even after, GDPR went into effect various organisations, worried about the potentially ABSOLUTELY STUPIDLY HUMONGOUS GDPR fines, have been updating privacy policies and sending out tons and tons of emails for various reasons - almost always unnecessarily. As it turns out, many (like MANY) companies have been collecting a hell of a lot of information about their users - and then been selling/sending these info to third parties (for instance to use for better targeted ads). Without the user given explicit content for these usages of their data, this is a big no-no under GDPR - and that's why we're currently experiencing a sorta paradigme shift for personal data handling and user tracking.

So far the only definite effect of GDPR is worse user experience (annoying pop-up before you can access most bigger websites) - and to a far, far further extend then any previous personal data regulation has any accomplished.
And here's the thing - you (like 99.9992% of you (my legitimate estimate)) won't ever feel the benefit of this law - but you'll still probably spend many minutes or hours over the next many years having to click "I agree" on so many (oh, so many) websites before you can access their content. Because... eh... you then know that the websites know you visited them... or something?

So where do I stand on the change that is GDPR?
I kinda dig it; but not for the obvious reasons (even if there were any - which I truly doubt there are).
To be clear, I hated (HATED) the precursor to GDPR that was the EU cookie policy law from some years back; it didn't do anything other than make user experiences worse (no, really - it hasn't done one single good thing for anyone ever - and never will).
Now, GDPR is a different kind of creature. While still being annoying, it has at least brought something new with it - something I actually kinda like.

So what do I like about GDPR?
To be honest, I like the shake-up, the challenge of the status quo. Companies suddently feel forced to think "oh, shit, are we breaking the law?".
The borderline hilarious thing about this is that the laws of many European countries in regard to personal data rights actually haven't changed to any significant degree with GDPR; the only things that has changed are 1) more publicity about the existence of personal data laws and 2) more definitive (read: bigger) fines for breaking those laws (and thereby more incentive on the part of the EU to enforce them). So, if a company isn't being compliant with GDPR now - it probably wasn't compliant with existing laws before GDPR - but nobody cared back then.

To be honest, the fact that (some) companies are shitting their pants about GDPR isn't actually the thing I like the most about GDPR. What I like is the challenge that GDPR brings to my work and hobbies in relation to me having to ensure that my work/hobby projects are GDPR compliant. And - I actually like reading the GDPR law texts and trying to confirm/ensure that my projects are compliant to the full extend of the law - possibly going even further, when it comes to my hobby projects (pst, I like most things that feel like a challenge - and this certainly does).

Take my hobby project, https://redacted.work. It has always been meant as a demonstration of somewhat functional comprehensiveness made with elegant simplicity, with absolutely no clutter. While there hadn't really been many changes to be made to redacted.work in recent time, GDPR gave me the intensive to take a second look at how much information redacted.work saves about its users - and whether or not this was necessary - and that I probably should let the users know about what redacted.work knew about them ("privacy policy").
The result of my GDPR-inspired actions for redacted.work (which included reading GDPR for the sake for being thorough) were:
- Google Analytics is no longer used
- One single cookie is only created on login, and not up-front, and only kept for 7 days
- A joke of a "privacy policy" was written to explain how little redacted.work saves about its users (I really enjoyed writing this shitpost privacy policy)
... and that was it.

With redacted.work (and various work contracts) updated, I'm fully ready to go into the new GDPR world (that we've already entered). It is going to be shit for UX - but maybe good for something else (big maybe).

In summation, GDPR and the reaction to it has been, and continues to be, a shit-show hellscape - making the web worse for users and creating tons of unnecessary headaches for companies.
But, well, at least it gave me something new to do for about a week. :-/

P.S. What do you think of this (joke of a) privacy policy: https://redacted.work/privacy-policy ?

(Originally shared on G00gle+, 2018-06-02)

Not My Bucket List
I'm not one for ever making a bucket list, but since a lot of other people do I thought I'd instead create a list of items from other people's bucket lists that I've actually myself accomplished.

These items are taken from a lot for random people’s bucket lists, shared online - with both big and small "achievements". Sorry upfront for including a lot of “of course”/”duh” “achievements”; I just copied items from other people’s bucket lists that I, if I had had my own bucket list, could’ve marked as done.

Post-writing-list note: I’ve now realized that this is 100 % bragging and has no other value at all. I apologize. I should’ve realized this before even starting the list, but heck, I had had more than one bottle of wine when I started this and have now just finished the 2nd bottle of the evening, so what the heck, let's share this since I made this.

Here you have my “not my bucket list” (aka. “my drunk bragging list, copied what other people hope to do”) - in whatever order I found these items in on random websites.

- See the Grand Canyon (well, I saw flew over it, looking down out the window, so did see it)
- Get in a taxi and say “follow that car” (the details on why doesn’t matter here)
- Climb a vertical cliff side (only about 20 m, but without equipment so it counts)
- Play a game of paintball
- Climb a volcano
- Climb to the top of a tree
- Herd cattle
- Make a snowman
- Build an igloo
- Milk a cow
- Stand under a waterfall
- Start a fire without matches/lighter/etc.
- Swim with uncommon sea creatures (sharks/octopy/sea-monsters/etc.)
- Witness a solar eclipse
- Have a meaningful conversation with a stranger (well, like x100)
- Get published (yes, I have actually gotten some of my writing officially published)
- Create a website (pst, like that’s both my job and my hobby)
- Make a candle
- Make an origami animal
- Attend a film premiere
- Dance on a bar
- Go to a drive-in movie (since I’m from a part of the world there these are extremely rare, this is not a small achievement)
- Be in the newspaper
- Model for a photo shoot (and photos of me were used in real ads)
- Live without ever borrowing money (well, I didn’t see this anywhere (except for “be completely out of debt”) but I added it myself because me soon turning 30 and never having borrowed money kinda seemed like an accomplishment to me)
- Make money on the stock market
- Visit a different continent
- Be someone’s mentor
- Sleep under the stars
- Be invited into a restaurant by the owner after closing and have them personally cook a meal for you (well, nobody had anything this specific on their list, but I know a lot of hopeless romantics out there thought of it (and movies that features this exact thing) - and I actually experienced this)
- Learn how to sail
- Stay at a 5-star hotel
- Fly 1st class
- Learn to juggle
- “Save someone’s life” (in quotes since I would never claim to have saved anyone’s life, but some people have (annoying so) kept telling stories of how I “saved their life”)
- Make a clay pot (quality of that clay pot is not important)
- Go treasure hunting
- Explore an abandoned building
- Visit the Hoover Dam
- Experience Las Vegas
- Ride a Segway
- Sleep on a trampoline
- Build a treehouse
- Create a board game
- Eat chocolate in Switzerland (wtf is special about this?)
- Fly a kite with “my girls” on the beach
- Give a $10,000 gift to charity
- Have a conversation in 2 second languages (English, German, Norwegian, Swedish, and perhaps a few more - a few times, several at once)
- Host a Christmas party for people with nowhere to go
- Kiss Santa Claus
- Ride in a gondola in Venice
- Sleep in a forest
- Start a family Christmas tradition
- Take a road trip (Denmark edition, which does include parts of Germany ‘cause DK is smol)
- Take a spiritual retreat in a cabin (well, I don’t know what this means, but I’m 99 % sure I’ve done it)
- Visit Disneyland (France, for me)
- Throw a surprise birthday party
- Visit 20 countries (well, I took this down from “50 countries” because that’s a kinda insane number)
- Visit Anne Frank’s house (well, I stood outside in the rain while deciding that the queue was too long)
- See the Eiffel Tower IRL
- Water ski
- Drink milk from a cow’s udder (well, I drank it from a cup, but the milk came straight from the udder)
- Fillet a fish
- Go to a vodka lounge (again, not sure what this is, but I think I’ve experienced it)
- Go wine tasting in France
- Go to a beer tasting
- Arrange a beer tasting
- Arrange a Christmas Eve dinner for the whole family
- Arrange a Thanksgiving dinner
- Leave a 100% tip for a server
- Learn to use chopsticks
- Toss pizza dough in the air
- Eat kangaroo meat
- Eat crocodile meat
- Eat frog meat
- Eat something you yourself have killed
- Have a white Christmas
- Send a message in a bottle
- Stay awake for 24 hours (pst, plenty of times)
- Find the meaning of your name (come one, my name is literally “half” “dan(e)” - not much to find out there)
- Give up your seat to someone who need it more (well, that’s just common decency)
- Plant a tree
- Spend the entire day by myself (what? Like, this is some kind of an achievement?)
- Write a short story
- Write a poem
- Hit the archery bulls-eye
- Rescue someone who fell out of kayak/canoe
- Bike more than 100 km in a day
- Ride a Segway
- Go on vacation alone
- Go to a coffee shop in Amsterdam
- Skinny-dip
- Stay in a haunted house
- Cross a country on a bicycle
- Learn to speak another language fluently
- Drink Champagne in Champagne, France (this was even at the vineyard where the champagne was grown)
- Participate in geocaching
- Complete a bachelor’s degree
- Complete a master’s degree
- Finish first in my class
- Get accepted to my dream college
- Ace a course you didn’t attend
- Learn about a new religion (well, back in the day I understood most aspects of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Norse mythology, and Greek mythology)
- Learn archery
- Buy a round of drinks for the whole bar


And I assume this is just the beginning.


(Originally shared on G00gle+, 2018-04-13)

A Blast from the Past - Writing About YouTube in 2006
I wrote this on my Danish blog back in 2006, before Google bought YouTube, and I thought it was interesting looking back at the moment I first got caught by YouTube.

- - -

YouTube - A Website, a Community, a Video Portal
For those unfamiliar with YouTube it is a website where you can create an account and then upload videos - or otherwise simply watch videos. This by itself is something you can get a lot of other places online and not the thing that makes YouTube special. The unique thing about YouTube is the community on the site and the people who upload their own little videos, for instance in the form of video blogs.
There are uploaded incredibly many creative, funny, and interesting videos on YouTube, many of which would never had been made if it wasn't for the strong YouTube community.

I have myself been caught by all of this and have according to YouTube already watched 937 videos since I created my account a week ago. This is mostly video blogs with people talking about their lives or just records funny or creative stuff. Watching these videos I have had many moving, interesting, and fun experiences.

I personally have not made any videos for YouTube but I did upload a few old videos I had lying around - including the short film "Kill Me" which I made in the "media" class in 9th grade with a few friends and my little brother [video later removed due to the use of unlicensed music].

I can strongly recommend taking a look at YouTube and watching a few videos on the site, which you don't need an account in order to do. Maybe you can start out by browsing through my "favorites" which you can find here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=FLqDAz7G1gLxHNXmUXI2bphw  

Have a nice Sunday.

We Need to Talk About Misogyny and Male Entitlement
Earlier today (2014-05-25) I learned about the Santa Barbara killing spree, where 6 people were murdered, not including the murderer himself who seemingly ended his spree by taking his own life. I wasn’t too affected by this since hearing about people getting killed is almost a daily thing nowadays. However, reading an article about the killing spree, I found the motive and opinions of the murderer, Elliot Rodger (22), to spot on reflect a phenomenon I recently have become a lot more aware of - male entitlement. Elliot Rodger himself stated that what he were planning to do was retribution for women rejecting him. I began feeling quite disturbed by all of this - but nothing compared to what I felt after reading the comments to the article.

These commenters expressed the same sense of male entitlement and misogyny as Elliot Rodger, and several even directly praised the murderer for his actions. In a certain way, these comments disturbed me even more than the killing spree itself, because everything about them, except for the context, sounded exactly like something I’d seen from thousands of other boys and men, all over the internet. This way of thinking wasn’t isolated to Elliot Rodger but is widespread among way too many males everywhere.

These male individuals believe that women owe them sex or love for any number of reasons - or even no reason other the guys thinking that sex is something men are inherently entitled to. One of the most notable mentioned reasons for feeling entitled to sex is the guys seeing themselves as the “nice guy” or “good guy”. This particular mindset is often followed by the concept of the “friend zone”, which is the imaginary prison that these guys consider being placed in by the women who don’t want to have sex with them. In a very direct way, these guys consider the women’s lack of interest to be an assault on them - the guys. Example: 

”All I ever wanted was to love women, and in turn to be loved by them back. Their behavior towards me has only earned my hatred, and rightfully so! I am the true victim in all of this. I am the good guy.”

This is an excerpt from Elliot Rodger’s “manifesto”, explaining why he believed that women deserved his retribution for what they did to him.

The problem is not Elliot Roger as an isolated incident. If that were the case then we could lean back and go on with our day. The problem is a dangerous mindset of seeming more and more young men feeling entitled to sex from women, and the women’s right to say no being considered as an assault on the men. This is part of the rape culture that unfortunately is reality in our time. In addition to dehumanizing women, this way of thinking also leads to sexual harassment, rape, violence towards women in general, and even murder. This affects all women to one degree or another, which exactly is why the hashtag #YesAllWomen gained such a large degree of traction online today.

Men, myself included, need to know that that "I do not do that" in no way is an excuse for sitting idly by and pretending nothing is wrong. Something is seriously wrong and we need to deal with it. Getting people to open their eyes to acknowledge that there is a problem here is only the first step - and unfortunately even just getting people to see the problem isn't an easy task.
Action and awareness is needed, so we can let all men, especially young men, know that this way of thinking is wrong and dangerous.

You cannot silence misogyny to death.


(Originally shared on Google+, 2014-05-25)

What Google+ Means to Me
When I joined Google+ in the invite-only days, I had grown tired of all the other social networking sites I had been using. I joined with hopes of Google+ offering what I felt lacking from Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr - relevant and interesting engagement and conversation. I had no idea of the degree of engagement I would eventually encounter online, and even offline, because of Google+.

The early days on Google+ weren't exactly lively - but within not too long I began encountering some of the same people in comment threads discussing various topics that interested me. This is where my perception of the potential of Google+ began to change from Google+ being a place with interesting people to discuss interesting topics with to Google+ also being a place to make new friends. I had made what I consider to be my first two Google+ friends - +Dirk Reul and +Sarah Rios - and my real Google+ experience had begun.

Time went on with numbers increasing and, more importantly, engagement increasing. I could always find someone to talk to about the newest episode of a TV series, the latest tech news, or simply have some good fun with. Google+ had long ago become my home online and I had made many new friends here. Then on one fateful December evening in 2013 I was trying to figure out my plan’s for New Year’s Eve as I no longer was able to continue my 6 year tradition of hosting an elaborant New Year’s Eve party. An idea struck me and I dropped +Scott Cramer a message to hear if we could get something working with me joining him and +Keith Cramer for New Year's. +Scott Cramer informed +Keith Cramer about my idea and we got the ball rolling. After less than a week I had bought my plane ticket and the plan was a go. I now had something I was looking forward to far more than Christmas - my first visit to the US and my first meetup with anyone from Google+.

On December 28th I arrived in the US and experienced first Chicago, Illinois with +Keith Cramer and his family and then Fort Wayne, Indiana where I welcomed 2014 with a whole bunch of amazing people, many of whom I had come to know through Google+; even +Dirk Reul dropped by wish us a happy New Year on video hangout from Germany. This was all a truly remarkable experience for me. (Summaztion post: goo.gl/qis9qR)

After I arrived back in Denmark, and the high from the experience had begun to fade, it didn't take long for me to begin to plan taking +Lori Cramer up on her invitation for me to come back in the summer and to see her family lake cottage. I started the planning, this time wanting to spend more that just a couple of days in the US. The plans began to come together and almost exactly 7 months after leaving the US, I was back. This time around the trip was quite unstructured and laidback. I had only ordered a plane ticket from Copenhagen to Chicago and another from Austin, Texas to Copenhagen two weeks later; everything else we would figure out on the go - with me staying with the Cramers in Fort Wayne and +Kyla Myers  and +Capin Chip in Austin. During these two weeks I got to meet up with a bunch of other people who I’d come to know through Google+ - and also met even more new great people. It was a relaxing and still eventful two weeks - and exactly what I needed. Another great experience that only came to be because of Google+. (Summaztion post: goo.gl/tg5MKi)

To me, Google+ is not just a social networking platform - it is a place where I met a lot of people who I hold dear - it is a place where I am going to meet even more amazing people - and it is a place where interesting conversation take place, where great content is shared, and where elaborate shenanigans get started. Google+ is my home online, no doubt about it.

Thank you (in no particular order and forgetting quite a few):
+Dirk Reul, +Sarah Rios, +Scott Cramer, +Keith Cramer, +Lori Cramer, +Kyla Myers, +Capin Chip, +Sean Cowen, +Blaine Hall, +Lise Bjerregaard Nielsen, +Kent Oldhøj, +Sandy B, +Kristi Fahlsing, +Jo Lane, +Mar Mai, +Mary C., +Christy Pemberton, +Tawnya Holloway, +Marcus Holloway, +Lily Guevara, +Daniel Koeker, +Brittany Samples, +Charles Samples, +Maddie Cramer, +Charlie Cramer, +Charlie Hoover, +Christie Stephens, +Jayme Hancock, +Tiffao 티파니, +Mike Elgan, +Yonatan Zunger, +Thomas Stephens, +Andrea Rocha, +Glenn Meisner, +Deb Meisner, +Jessica Stamets, +Luke Stamets, +Kimberly Chapman, +Mz Maau, +Chris Mallory, +Mellie B, +Melanie Bendis, +Sherilynn Macale, +Michelle C, +Terry McNeil, +Kay Shaw, +Farran Lee, +Kari Tedrick, +Henni Tenhunen, +Michael Bennett, +Lex Larson, +Amanda Rachelle Warren, +Bliss Morgan, +Mark Traphagen, +Yoon-Mi Kim, +angelique b, +Annie Yim, +Lerato Majikfaerie, +Damian Sanchez, +Andrew Clifton-Brown, +Lina Witzner, +DeAno Jackson, +Carter Gibson, +李麟, +Meirav M., +Eduardo Carrillo, and so many more - yes, even +Fluffy McSharkah Khan and +Bruce Shark.


(Originally shared on Google+, 2014-10-19)

A Friendly "Shut the Fuck Up"
+Meirav M. just shared a post (https://goo.gl/MNCSsA) related to something that happened back in July of 2013, so I thought it was time to tell my story about what happened. Here is the story behind the "Hide Highlighted Posts" Chrome extension (https://goo.gl/IkcuX).

In early July, 2013, a new Google+ feature was announced - and this time not one that people welcomed with open arms - at all. The feature was that when people in your circles +1'ed a post, that post could possibly show up in your Google+ stream if the algorithms judged it of relevance to you. It didn't take long before a whole lot of people began hating the feature with a burning passion - something I didn't quite understand.

The feature was able to turned off in the way that others couldn't see your +1s, but you seeing other people's +1s was not able to be turned off. Because of this, a lot of people began posting about how much they disliked the feature and informing people about how to turn off their +1s showing up in followers' streams. Unfortunately, in way too many cases, people weren't just telling but actually ordering their followers to turn off +1 sharing with threats of dropping people from circles if they didn't do as instructed.

Up until this point, I hadn't said anything about the matter - mostly since the feature didn't affect my experience in the least bit, since I almost never use the "All" stream, where the +1'ed posts show up - and since I like my "All" stream to be as active and full as possible. However, it felt to me like almost half of the posts in my streams were about the dislike for the new feature, so on my way home from work I threw together a Chrome extension to hide the +1 posts from people's stream. This was an extension I would never use myself, but I had frankly had enough of people complaining and being angry; this was my way of telling them to shut up. It worked.

Within hours of publishing my extension, it had hit "What's Hot" and hundreds of people linked it in comments to posts, partly as a way of getting the people complaining to shut up - the exact purpose of the extension, though not what I told people it was for. Do a search for the extension ID, dkgmofgiembeapimonljnndbnjagdhfae, and you'll see that it got around quite a bit: https://plus.google.com/s/kgmofgiembeapimonljnndbnjagdhfae

I'm sure it wasn't solely my extension that did the trick, but within a couple of days people in my circles had completely stopped complaining about the new feature and gotten back to sharing their normal great content. Whenever someone began to complain again, a link to the extension was dropped as a comment and that was it. I was left feeling a bit proud that my way of telling people to shut up had worked and that it hadn't made people upset, but actually grateful. Helping someone get rid of their problem is apparently a good way of getting them to stop complaining about it; who knew.


(Originally shared on Google+, 2014-11-16)

Star Wars Fans Disappointed by George Lucas Time After Time
Back in September I posted about how George Lucas was destroying his classics through the changing of them (https://goo.gl/j0brc). This was in relation to the added "Nooo!" to Return of the Jedi, which +Tom Anderson made me aware of, and this was absolutely not an isolated incident of George Lucas disappointing fans.

Han Shot First
The probably most well known change George Lucas has made to the Star Wars movies, is changing the cantina scene so that Greedo shot first instead of Han Solo. And if this wasn't appalling enough, then George Lucas has now stated that that Han never shot first in the original version and that the fans just were confused (https://goo.gl/3o1cN, via +Row Three). For the love of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, what a F$!@&{?+3$¤!

This really makes me not just disappointed but angry. George Lucas is saying that a scene which plays a large part in making Han Solo a complex and interesting character, never was intended as such and that the many dedicated fans are simply not able to comprehend what was going on in the scene. This is not only wrong but also insulting to the many Star Wars fans.

The Phantom Manure
Then there also is the case of the just plain awful prequels, with the first of them, The Phantom Menace, being disastrous enough in itself. It was one of the most anticipated movies of all time and one of the most disappointing. With only one-dimensional characters and a story line which a five-year-old with ADD could have written better, it is not simply bad for itself but also shines a bad light on the Star Wars franchise as a whole. +Jannik Hansen made me aware of an epic 70 minutes review of Phantom Menace 3D, which is entertaining (the review, that is) and extremely accurate as to why episode 1 is so terrible. Even if you don't intend on watching the whole thing, give it a few minutes of your time: https://goo.gl/YQFFl (part 2 of 2 is available on the same page, which you also can find here: https://goo.gl/Pa0mE)

Why I Care
I, myself, am not a huge Star Wars fan. I like the original trilogy, but not in any particular way compared to so many other great movies. What I, however, love is the Star Wars fans and their immense dedication to and love for the Star Wars universe, with their own fascinating and interesting fan subcultures. These dedicated fans are some of the reason behind me getting so angry at George Lucas for ruining his own legacy, but also because I can recognize when something great within the world of film is being destroyed by its own maker. It is just plain unpleasant to observe and read about.

Not Ending on an Optimistic Node
I would love to end by saying that this hopefully just is a phase for George Lucas and that he'll get back to creating classics in no time. I, however, can't see a single shred of indication to this being the case or even likely. To the contrary, it looks like it is getting worse which could mean even more disappointing news for Star Wars fans in the future.

May the Force be with you. You're going to need it.


(Originally shared on Google+, 2012-02-10)

Sexualization/Romanticization of Male-Female Interaction
There is something that has bothered me for a while so I thought I'd finally make a post about it. 

Many times when a man/guy talks to a woman/girl, outsiders have a tendency to assume that either the man is hitting on the woman or the other way around. This is especially the case when two people who don't know one another already are interacting - for instance when having a conversation with a stranger in a bar.

Please stop sexualizing/romanticizing perfectly innocent interaction between men and women. Straight men and women are both fully capable of interacting with a person of the opposite gender without the intention of sleeping with them. Normal conversation caused by a general interest in the thoughts of another human being and in sharing one’s own thoughts should not be considered out of the ordinary, but rather the default when two people are talking - even if these two people are heterosexual individuals of opposite sexes who aren't already friends.

Got it? Thank you.

(Originally shared on Google+, 2014-03-15)

- - -

This Again? - Second installment of "Please stop romanticizing/sexualizing interaction between people"
I tried to write a tweet about this, but apparently I'm unable to put my thoughts into 140 characters, so here we go instead.

I've recently figured out that I feel more comfortable around people who "other people" don't automatically assume I'm talking to or hanging out with in order to pursue them romantically or sexually. In more simplistic terms, this means that I worry about (mostly not consciously) what other people think my intentions are when I have a conversation with, or hang out with, a friend or a stranger, who can perceived as a potential romantic/sexual interest.

Let me put it frankly: If I have a conversation with someone, or hang out with someone, it is because I enjoy their company, thoughts, humor, or whatever - and not in any way because I'm trying to get anything from them, other than the joy or experience of the current moment. Enjoying the company of other people is the goal in itself for me - and nothing beyond that. If you assume otherwise, then I feel bad for you.

This influence that other people's expectations have had on me has begun to dawn on me recently. How comfortable I feel hanging out with friends or strangers is way too often affected by what I think other people perceive the situation as. This shouldn't be the case - but I can't shake the feeling that when I for instance am talking to a woman my own age, someone is thinking "will he get her number" or "will they hook up." Stop it! Neither of these are something I would never think about while enjoying the company of a fellow human being; it is simply not relevant - and I hate that I've heard these comments so many times that it now is something that affects me both consciously and subconsciously. Hopefully getting more aware of where these feelings originate from will make them easier for me to shake.

Even though I write about the issue of problematically romanticizing/sexualizing interaction between people from my personal point of view, the issue is still a general one across all genders, ages, and sexual orientations. There should not be any difference between a teenage boy holding the door for an elderly man and holding the door for a teenage girl; but there is; and that is the problem. Politeness should not be assumed to be anything other basic human decency. Interest in the thoughts of another human being should likewise not be assumed to be anything other than a fundamental human curiosity to hear about the world from someone else's point of view - or to hear about something you yourself haven't experienced. An genuine interest in the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of someone else are just that; and assuming that there is an ulterior motive is frankly disrespectful and disruptive. People genuinely care about people - even when sexual attraction has nothing to do with it (which happens to be the case more often than not).

If you haven't before, please take a moment to think about how you perceive people interacting with people and if you are unnecessarily romanticizing or sexualizing their interaction.

Thank you.

(Originally shared on Google+, 2015-06-25)

In January of 2009 my dad, Palle Reschat, passed away from leukemia. His death wasn't something me or anyone in my family had anticipated, despite him being diagnosed with leukemia more than half a year earlier. We all perceived him as one of the strongest people we knew, both physically and mentally; a man who always reached his goals and overcame every obstacle, no matter who difficult the task may appeared.

But no matter how strong you might be, life is still fragile and you're not going to live forever. A lesson my family learned the hard way.

While my dad was in treatment, he wrote a final letter to his family in case things didn't turn out as hoped. A letter which was great comfort to me in the hard times after his passing, and a letter I'm sharing here - both translated to English and in its original Danish.


Ending
(By Palle Reschat)

My life has been filled with excitement, joy, love, and willpower.

I had a childhood filled with love and comfort, which first and foremost came from my mother. I was from the very beginning supported with vitality, and I have through my whole life had close ties to my family.

I've fulfilled the goals I on the way have set for myself, and the goals which have come to me. And for that I'm grateful.

There is no doubt that my drive in life at times has challenged my abilities to the limit. But this felt natural to me, and the happiness was then bigger at the accomplishment.

There is no doubt about what has been the most important part of my life. It has been my life with my beloved wife, Pernille. She became my life partner, my wife, my one and all through 23 years. And we two fulfilled together my biggest goal in life; to pass my life, my love, and my energy on. We did this through our three children.

To my children I want to say: I love you and am so endlessly proud of the way you live your lives. I see, notice, and feel that you are filled with energy, willpower, and love. I am completely confident that you; Karen, Jonas, and Halfdan; individually and together will continue to enjoy life together with your dear mother, my beloved Pernille.

You will of course feel a significant loss in years to come. But believe me, dear children, you will get through it. And then I hope that I will live on through you and be a part of your future, without limiting it. Remember me, but don't let me limit you. Live for me.

My dearly beloved wife, Pernille; you I would so very much not have to leave. I would like to continue through life with you. Hand in hand. Experience our children become real adults and us become older in our small paradise. I wanted so much to love, support, and be with you.

I'm glad we've never postponed living. We have loved through 23 years and we have lived out our dreams. We have lived with our challenges and lived in our small paradise in the forest. We could easily have had more bricks and marble; but we've always known that it isn't grandeur but intimacy which creates happiness.

We have through life been lucky. There has never happened us or our children anything.

We have had many friends and our beloved families, who have given us so very much. We have been lucky to settle down in open country by Sdr. Vilstrup. All the lovely and friendly people we have met and who have become our friends; people who have been a part of our lives and our journey. It has been amazing.

Of course I would want to live on. There is so much I want to do and I could easily find new goals. Of course I would want to follow my children on their way through life. See them become adults, start families, and have children. Of course I would want to stay with my Pernille, travel in Denmark and in the world; have reflected and loved. Experienced and created even more. But...


Afslutning
(Af Palle Reschat)

Mit liv har været fuldt af begejstring, glæde, kærlighed og drift.

Jeg fik en barndom fuld af kærlighed og tryghed, som først og fremmest kom fra min mor. Jeg blev fra start af fyldt op med energi og har gennem hele livet haft meget nære bånd til min familie.

De mål jeg under vejs har sat mig og de mål der under vejs er kommet til mig, har jeg fået opfyldt. Og jeg er fuld af taknemmelighed.

Det er vist ingen tvivl om, at min drift nogen gange udfordrede mine evner lige op til, hvad der kunne bære. Men det faldt mig naturligt og nu større var lykken ved opfyldelsen.

Der er ingen tvivl om, hvad det vigtigste i mit liv har været. Det har været mit liv sammen med min højtelskede Pernille. Hun blev min livsledsager, min kone og min et og alt gennem 23 år. Og vi to opfyldte i fællesskab mit største mål her i livet, det at give mit liv, min kærlighed og min energi videre. Dette lykkedes i kraft af vore 3 børn.

Til mine børn vil jeg sige: Jeg elsker jer og er så uendelig stolt over den måde I lever livet på. Jeg ser, mærker og føler at I har så meget energi, drift, kærlighed. Jeg er fuldstændig tryk ved at I; Karen, Jonas og Halfdan; hver især og til sammen får en god fortsættelse sammen jeres kærlige mor og min elskede Pernille.

I vil selvfølgelig opleve en stor sorg og et stort afsavn nogle år fremover. Men tro mig, kære børn, I vil komme over det. Og så håber jeg, at jeg vil leve videre inde I jer og være en del af jeres fremtid, uden at begrænse den. Husk mig, men lad mig ikke begrænse jer. Lev for mig.

Min højt elskede kone, Pernille; dig vil jeg så nødig forlade. Jeg ville så gerne fortsætte gennem livet sammen med dig. Hånd i hånd. Opleve vore børn blive rigtige voksne og os blive ældre i vores lille paradis. Jeg ville så gerne elske, støtte og være hos dig.

Jeg er glad for, at vi aldrig har udskudt at leve. Vi har elsket gennem 23 år og vi har levet vores drømme. Vi har levet med vore udfordringer og levet i vores lille paradis i skoven. Vi kunne sagtes have fået meget mere mursten og mammon; men har hele tiden vist, at det ikke er storhed, men nærhed, der skaber lykke.

Vi har gennem livet været heldige. Der er aldrig tilstødt os eller vore børn noget.

Og så har vi haft så mange venner og vore dejlige familier, som har givet os så meget. Og vi har været heldige med dumpe ned i det åbne land ved Sdr. Vilstrup. Alle de dejlige og nærværende mennesker vi har mødt og som også blev vore venner; og som har været en del af vores liv og færden. Det har været fantastisk.

Selvfølgelig ville jeg gerne leve videre. Der er så meget jeg gerne vil og jeg kunne let finde nye mål. Selvfølgelig ville jeg gerne følge mine børn mere på vej. Se dem blive rigtig voksne, stifte familie og få børn. Selvfølgelig vil jeg gerne være blevet sammen med min Pernille rejst rundt i Danmark og verden, have reflekteret og elsket. Oplevet og skabt endnu mere. Men...


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Lxo28qEREibNS7nkOv8wSj4VbEFXrJSN5sdAslaIuKGJBw6YHdQJZQrz4w-wDgTxnCIZU50OKw5Amw=w800

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Dfmgp7wrHMpc7mH96CFaipAeM13BL_OehqNL750hGWq8QmddVXKLzFSA1jZvVCykP-E9muNOsxQlbJI=w800

Dear Graffiti "Artists"
You go around spray painting walls which do not belong to you. You write small phrases, paint silly drawings, and sign your tagger name. You think you're cool. You think you're creative. You think you're rebellious. I'm not reluctant to tell you: you're neither.

I'm not saying this because I'm against graffiti. I'm saying this because I'm against bad graffiti; which unfortunately is far most of it. I wouldn't have a problem with your vandalism if you had the slightest hint of talent. Unfortunately you do not. Your words are pointless. Your message is nonexistent. Your "creations" are ugly. In fact they're so ugly that if you had any sense you would be crying in a corner due to the beauty of a gray wall putting your work to shame.

Stop ruining a beautiful world!


(Originally shared on Google+, 2012-02-19)

The problem with the DIDO wireless technology paper
In the summer of 2011, there were a lot of talk on Google+ concerning the potential of the DIDO wireless technology partly developed by Steve Perlman (Rearden, MOVA, and OnLive founder and CEO).

Because of this I got interested in how Perlman proposed to increase the wireless capacity by 1000x so I went looking for the official paper explaining the technology. You can see the white paper here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15TKctWW0buq_ZwMtxZQyMDibKG1nDj2A

Before going into the problems I have with the white paper, which explains the DIDO (Distributed-Input-Distributed-Output) technology in somewhat general terms, I have to say that I'm a supporter of the technology and I can see the potential of it. I just feel like the white paper is greatly (GREATLY!) exaggerating the potential of DIDO and even flat out lying about certain properties.

When I began reading the white paper I didn't like what I was met by. Right off the bat the technology is described in such a way that it actually is achieving the impossible. Just look at this section from the abstract:

"The potential of DIDO is to have unlimited number of simultaneous users, all streaming high-definition video, utilizing the same spectrum that a single user would use with conventional wireless technology, with no degradation in performance, no dead zones, no interference between users, and no reduction in data rate as more users are added."

"Unlimited number of simultaneous users" is not possible and even though the technology might be very smart in certain aspects, it still cannot defy the physical laws.
Furthermore the white paper repeatedly claims that DIDO is able to maintain full spectral use (max data rate) for each user completely independent of the number of users. This claim triggered my "bullshit alarm" since it simply do not seem possible using the wireless medium we're currently using (with quantum entanglement it might be closer to possible but that is a completely different subject). I however read on to find out if DIDO was completely revolutionizing the wireless technologies or just a new "even better" solution. I found out the latter was the case.

Throughout the whole white paper the DIDO technology is almost described as a miraculous solution to all wireless problems and at a point the paper implies that the wireless DIDO technology in cases can be even more reliable and with higher capacity than a parallel wired system.

One of the ways the white paper explains how the technology works is through examples and references to field tests (which almost all end with words similar to "we expect we’d be able to expand the number of simultaneous users accordingly" ). Mutual for all of these were that the number of access points was equal to the number of user units; which far from reflects real life systems. I can easily see how this would ensure the greatest effect to the reader since DIDO has issues when the number of user units is larger than the number of access points and especially if these user units are close to one another. This is not a "total failure" issue but it causes the very effect which during the paper DIDO was described as getting rid of; it requires shared spectrum between users (and thereby shared data rates). That this is the case is not an issues; the same is the case for every single other wireless technology. The problem lies in that the white paper in no way reflects this and actually straight out says that this is not the case with DIDO.

During the white paper several other issues are assumed "not the case for DIDO" which for some are true, but others absolutely not. I will not go into these now. I will however end with a plead for people wishing to present themselves scientific/professional to do the following (especially when writing scientific articles/papers):
 - Spell check
 - Check for grammatical errors
 - Do not refer to LTE as "4G" (LTE:A is a 4G candidate - LTE isn't)
 - Do not use "3G" without specifying which 3G technology you're talking about

Thank you.


(Originally shared on Google+, 2011-07-31)

Procrastination Turning Into a (Minor) Psychological Addiction
(This is not a tale of a serious addiction, but rather a minor, peculiar one.)

Years ago my little brother used a lot of time every day playing Tetris and he became impressively good at it. At times when his mind had wandered for a few seconds he had, without being fully conscious about it, opened his favorite version of Tetris on his computer and begun playing.

At some point my brother realized that he perhaps was a little addicted to the game, and that it wasn’t just a form of procrastination for him anymore. So he decided to stop playing, which turned to be more difficult than he had imagined.

My brother took the following steps to stop playing, and [spoiler] eventually got rid of his addiction.

#1: Decided to stop playing
[Failed] He hadn’t enough willpower to resist the easily accessible, innocent temptation.

#2: Removed all shortcuts to the game
[Failed] This just made it mildly inconvenient to open the game. But far from enough to make him stop playing.

#3: Uninstalled the game
[Failed] He found himself reinstalling the game each time he was tempted to play, and it wasn’t enough of an inconvenience for him to stop playing.

#4: Placed the game very deep in the folder structure with many weirdly named decoy folders, making it take a while to navigate to the game
[Failed] This made it take some time to find the game; but he just searched for the game and eventually learned to quickly navigate his own mayhem of decoy folders.

#5: Made each folder in the folder mayhem include a “fake virus file”, which made the antivirus program act out and require him to respond to many virus warnings
[Failed] At this point it was a huge inconvenience to open the game, but for some reason still not enough.

Up to this point my brother had only taken steps in order to make his addiction very inconvenient, but still having the game be available for the occasions when he had the time and wanted spend it playing. But now he decided to take steps to completely get rid of the temptation.

#6: Uninstalled the game and blocked the websites from which it could be download
[Failed] He found himself using proxies to download the game as well as download the game from many other sites and play it on other computers. He then blocked these websites, but still managed to keep playing despite the major inconvenience.

#7: Accepted that his favorite version had become so inconvenient to play that it made sense to play other, inferior versions
[Perhaps worked] This step wasn’t alone the one to break his addiction, but due to the addiction revolving around one very specific (simple) version of Tetris, the playing of other versions made him lose some of his overall interest in Tetris. It had also become a game in itself to prevent himself from getting access to his favorite Tetris version and he had spent many hours thinking of and implementing methods for this purpose.

My brother got rid of his addicting, in that he lost most of his interest in the game. Today he still plays it once in a while, for instance when coming across the game on an old hard drive, but far from the amount he used to.

In the end I think he got rid of his Tetris addiction due to three factors:
 - Association of his favorite version with other, far inferior versions
 - Time passed which made him get somewhat bored with the game
 - That avoiding the game had become a game in itself


(Originally shared on Tumblr, 2011-09-28)

Skepticism Concerning Invisible Children and Kony 2012
Astoundingly many people were in March of 2012 days sharing Invisible Children's promotional video for their KONY 2012 movement:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc
While the video very effectively captures and inspires many people, to a large degree by playing on emotions, some people have luckily been a bit more skeptical and looked into the organization with less than fortunately findings. They've posted about the problems with both the Invisible Children organization itself and their methods. I'll here try to sum up the main concerns and provide an alternative way for people who want to help, to do so.

Help is Needed
It is important to understand that help is needed, in both Uganda and several other countries in Africa. There are millions of people who suffer every day and who greatly could benefit from aid from all of us who are immensely more privileged. Children are being kidnapped and used for soldiers, sex slaves, and bodyguards. For these reasons, I'm sure most or all of the supporters of Invisible Children and Kony 2012 have very good intentions; there are however a few problems with both Invisible Children and Kony 2012:

Exaggeration, Manipulation, and Misinformation
The people behind Invisible Children began filming in Uganda in 2003 and their depiction of the situation in relation to the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) and Joseph Kony is a reflection of how things were back then. In the Kuny 2012 video, Invisible Children gives impression that what was happening back then still is taking place and that Joseph Kony still bears the main responsibility for these atrocities. This is however in no way an accurate depiction of how the situation is today.

In reality, things have changed a lot since back then. Back in 2005, on July 8th, Joseph Kony was named the number one criminal in the world by the International Criminal Court (ICC) because of his crimes in Uganda. Not long after, Joseph Kony fled Uganda and he has since been in hiding. Because Joseph Kony has been in hiding outside of Uganda since 2006, his influence in Uganda has been extremely limited. After Joseph Kony went into hiding, the LRA signed a peace accord resulting in northern Uganda being almost free of LRA violence and war for the past five years. Due to efforts of the Ugandan military and the ICC, the recruitment of children has decreased by 80 % while the area continues to get rebuildt.

Despite that the situation in Uganda being a lot better than depicted by Invisible Children, they continue to use this manipulated image of the situation to capture and inspire more people to join the Kuny 2012 movement. Foreign Affairs has even stated that Invisible Children "have manipulated facts for strategic purposes, exaggerating the scale of LRA abductions and murders and emphasizing the LRA's use of innocent children as soldiers, and portraying Kony -- a brutal man, to be sure -- as uniquely awful, a Kurtz-like embodiment of evil."

Economically Untrustworthy
Even though the situation in Uganda isn't as bad as Invisible Children has made it out to be, one might still think that donating to Invisible Children, or in other ways supporting them economically, would help improve the situation in Uganda even further. While this very likely is true, there is still the better question of how much money given to Invisible Children actually help.

Invisible Children have disclosed their financial records which have shown that only 32 % of the funds the organization receives actually goes towards helping the people in Uganda, and these funds go through the Ugandan army and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army before getting to the people who need it. The rest goes towards Invisible Children's staff salaries, travel/transport, and film production. In relation to the way Invisible Children spends their money, the Better Business Bureau has criticized Invisible Children for refusing to provide information necessary to determine if Invisible Children meet the bureau's standards and thereby can become a legitimate/real charity.

Wrong Approach
Despite Invisible Children's misinformation, manipulation, exaggeration, and economical untrustworthiness, one can perhaps still be interested in helping them stop the LRA and, more importantly (according to Invisible Children), stopping Joseph Kony. So how are they planning to do this?

Invisible Children are proposing two different, though possibly combinable, ways of getting to Joseph Kony (killing or capturing him). One way is that they'll continue to support the Ugandan army and through them fight the LRA and hunt down Joseph Kony. The other way is to convince the United States to deploy American military units and get them to militarize the region to resolve the conflict and kill Joseph Kony. I'll not go into why deploying the American military in the middle of a multi-nation tribal war isn't a great idea, since I suspect that most people can see the problem with that approach (and due to Invisible Children's response below in relation to this point of criticism).

So what about helping the Ugandan army? Here is a huge problem which Invisible Children for some reason ignores: the Ugandan army does the same unspeakable atrocities as the LRA and Joseph Kony do, at least according to several organizations, including the United Nations. The army requites child soldiers, rapes, and loots.

Even if the goal is reached and Joseph Kony is killed, nothing drastic will change. As already mentioned, Joseph Kony has been without significant power since he fled Uganda in 2006 and went into hiding. Even if his death resulted in the collapse of the LRA, it wouldn't change much due to the LRA being "a relatively small player in all of this — as much a symptom as a cause of the endemic violence" according to Foreign Affairs. It should further be mentioned that since Joseph Kony's bodyguards are child soldiers, any effort to capture or kill him will inevitably result in the death of some of these children.

The approach suggested by Invisible Children will very simply not cut it. To help the people of Uganda there is need for a different approach - and preferably one which isn't financially supporting a raping and looting army.

Invisible Children Responding to Some of the Criticism
Due to the several people criticizing Invisible People, they've chosen to respond to some of this criticism on their website (https://goo.gl/CieHT). Unfortunately their answers are vague and do not resolve the real issues with the organization. The best aspect of their answers is that it now appears that Invisible Children no longer will attempt an US military approach, but instead just have US advisers help the Ugandan army focus their effort on capturing Joseph Kony; which I've already gone over why that wouldn't really help much.

What You Can Do to Help
I began by pointing out that there is need for help in Uganda and other countries in Africa, and since the way to help isn't through Invisible Children I would like to point out a few alternatives. These relief organizations really do make a difference, so I hope you'll take the time and give them a look - hopefully choosing one or more to donate to.

African Medical and Research Foundation (https://amrefusa.org) provides medical assistance to remote regions of East Africa.

Africare (https://africare.org) helps alleviate hunger, build water wells, treat childhood diseases, and support social empowerment in Africa.

Children of the Nations (https://cotni.org) provides care for orphaned and destitute children, enabling them to create positive and lasting change in their nations.

Water.org (https://water.org) provides aid to regions of developing countries that do not have access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

---

Sources
"We got trouble" by Visible Children (https://goo.gl/b2DAi)
"On Kony 2012" by The Daily What (not Wil Wheaton) (https://goo.gl/1FZNr)
"Am I the only one..." by redditor pussyhands (https://goo.gl/r7lL7)
"Invisible Children And Kony 2012 Exposed" by Joe Renken (https://goo.gl/PoGsL)
"Obama Takes on the LRA" by Foreign Affairs (https://goo.gl/BgXY3)
"The Alarming TRUTH about Kony 2012" by DanTheGreatHD (https://goo.gl/2ohrI)
"CRITIQUES" by Invisible Children (https://goo.gl/EEQd1)
"Kony 2012 Wallpaper" by angelmaker666.deviantart.com (https://goo.gl/PUwEj)

I'd like to thank DeAno Jackson, Chris Giddens, and Morgan Paige (Tumblr) for making me aware of the issues concerning Invisible Children and throwing me into the search for more information, resulting in me writing this post.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/mprbLzzMfwtR-Cc-qKRbwrKRye7u4vHf5a-jBus6bzPbNK4fhvKFs0uoWpybbyYOpSOEtQ6jimDxMQ=w800


(Originally shared on Google+, 2012-03-08)

The Evolution of My Online Community Life
In 2011 Aaron Wood told his story about how his online community life has evolved during the years. It was an interesting tale, so I thought I'd tell my story too - as it looked at the time. This is what I wrote back then.

The Early Years
I've been part of many online communities, with most of the ones in my earlier days being Danish communities, since my English skills at that time weren't anywhere near usable. For most of these Danish communities I've never once checked back since I left them.

One of the Danish communities I back in the day (2006) was a part of, I used quite a lot and I daily wrote thousandth of words worth of posts in vivid discussions about politics, religion, and philosophy. This was during my gymnasium days (somewhat equivalent to the US high school), and I became friends with many people from the community (I've never met them offline however). I was even a moderator in my last couple of months there.

Then all of a sudden gymnasium was over and I moved away from home to begin university. My life changed and I all together stopped spending time on that specific Danish online site. I don't even think I've once wrote a post there since I the day I moved. My interests changed and I ended up spending my time on many other things, completely removing me from the Danish online communities.

Reluctant Facebook Sign-Up
When I moved away from home (2007), I moved into a dormitory where I quickly got many new friends, one (or more) of which insisting that I should create a Facebook account. After not too long, I reluctantly did so. A account which still today exists, despite me never really warming up to Facebook.

My interactions on Facebook were very limited since all my friends there were people I knew offline beforehand, and I interacted far more with them outside of Facebook, than on Facebook. There were however some degree of interaction there, which kept me satisfied for a little while.

The Twittering Bird Nobody Seemed to Answer
Less than a year after signing up for Facebook, I chose to create a Twitter account (2008). I did so because several interesting people in tech were on Twitter and I would like to hear what they had to say. While my interest for Twitter was big at first, it little by little died out because I felt there were no good way of interacting with people there. I made no new acquaintances and felt everyone (myself included) just threw tweets into the air which never manages to go anywhere.

At this point I had set up my Twitter and Facebook accounts so that my tweets were forwarded to Facebook. This meant that I only from time to time visited Facebook to see what my friends had written, while I myself tweeted on average two times per day. This was a time for me where I put large amounts of utterly useless information out, while for the most part not cared to read most of what my Facebook friends were writing.

The LGBT Community to the Rescue
After a few years of not really being part of any online community which didn't consist of my offline friends, I all of a sudden came across Tumblr. I was introduced to the site and community through a YouTube video (What you need to know about Tumblr), which got me interesting, so I jumped in and created an account (2010).

I was quickly introduced to the LGBT community who I found to have a lot in common with concerning taste in photography, humor, and the fight against intolerance. I, as a straight ally, was a minority in the circles I interacted with on Tumblr, but this didn't matter to me because I enjoyed seeing their content and interacting with the people there. Along with reblogging funny, beautiful, and interesting images by others, I also once in a while began writing movie reviews and other stuff I felt I had something to say about. The response was however not as I had hoped. This was mainly because Tumblr didn't (and still don't) really have a comment functionality, which meant that while great images and videos were easily spread, text posts and attempts at getting interesting feedback didn't really work.

Entering the Era of Plus
Then almost all of a sudden Google+ stuck its head out, and since I had been a huge fan of almost everything Google for years, I jumped in with both legs. None of my offline friends were willing to give Google+ a chance, but I couldn't care less about that since if wanted to hear what they had to say, I would visit Facebook (which I rarely did).

At first my interaction on Google+ consisted mostly of me commenting on other people's posts, while my own posts went basically unnoticed. I however managed to stay the course by posting regularly despite the lack of response, and along the way I've gotten more and more response to my posts. There is even a few regulars, who I feel I've had many great interactions with, both on mine and their posts.

Abandonment Considerations
Now that I'm feeling so very much at home in the Google+ community, I'm beginning to consider whether or not to leave the other social networks. I'm currently never reading anything on Twitter, only posting. I'm rarely visiting Facebook, and the only thing I use it for is events. I've completely stopped reblogging content on Tumblr, and is only using it for browsing photos and for posting copies of my Google+ movie reviews. Google+ is fulfilled my online community needs, so why not leave the other networks? It would a nice clean-up and force people to come to Google+ if they wanted to interact with me.

Despite me wanting to leave these other networks behind, I'm probably not going to. I have followers listening on every network (even if on Twitter it is just my mother, who feels that it would be snooping in my life if she were on Facebook), and every network fulfills a purpose. I still daily browse Tumblr and find great content there. I still tweet, even though it's mostly references to Google+ posts (and their Tumblr copies). I still invite people to events and get invited to events on Facebook. So even though the vast majority of my online community activity is on Google+, the other networks are still not completely useless to me yet. 

But what is the next step in my online community evolution? Hopefully not that my Google+ activity will die out, like my activity in every other online community has done. I feel that Google+ is more inviting to interaction, and thereby is in it for the long run. Or at least I hope so.


(Originally shared on Google+, 2011-11-29)

Here's a thought. Can we put time travel stories (movies, books, etc.) into distinct types based on the laws of the story's time travel universe?
My initial thoughts are that we can fit almost everything into these 4(ish) time travel types.

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#1: Fixed destiny / self-fulfilling prophecy:
This is when no matter what the characters do (or because what the do) the events unfold as previously observed. This is often stories about character development or understanding "why" and not "what".

Examples:
The Time Machine (1895/1949/1960/1978/2002); About Time (2013); The Time Traveler's Wife (2009); Time Lapse (2014); 12 Monkeys (1995); Project Almanac (2015).

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#2: Impossible loop:
This is when there's a self-contained loop of events that cannot, in any way, possibly have a beginning, due to the dual-dependency nature of the loop (characters being their own parent/grandparent, etc.).

Examples:
Dark (2017-2019); Predestination (2014).

Side-note: Rarely used (probably too ambitious/complex), but can be very impressive if done properly (like Dark & Predestination).

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#3: Splitting timelines / potential futures:
This is when any kind of change in the past creates multiple futures (as previously + new line with time-traveler's impact). Sometimes stories "pretend" the other potential futures don't happen.

Examples:
Endgame (2019); Edge of Tomorrow (2014); Back to the Future (1985/1989/1990); Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (2009); Hot Tub Time Machine (2010); our reality (-14G-2019).

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#4: Timey wimey / nonsensical:
This is when... well... there's no rules and events just takes place in whatever manner that the story needs them to.

Examples:
Doctor Who (1963-2019).

Side-note: There's a BUNCH of other timey wimey stories out there - I just can't remember them this very second.

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P.S. Of course traveling only forward in time doesn't count as time-travel - that's just normal reality as every single one of us do every second of our lives.

The room is big - like, really big - and intimidating as hell to anyone who isn't used to this kind of spectacle. The girl - heck, barely a teenager - takes her first step onto the stage, hesitates for a second, then keeps walking. She is going to do this - damn the limit others put on her - but, more importantly, damn the limit she has put on herself.

The music starts playing. Now it is her turn. She is as guarded as she can be, walking onto a stage like this. Her shoulders are up, guarding her. Her head is down in anticipation of the inevitable punch to her gut. This is not her scene - she is not where she is home - this is not her. But this is where she is.

The first node hits and she starts singing. Her voice carries though the room that feels like it never ends.

Her song is filling the room - embracing the room. Some people cheer - most sit back in anticipation.

It is no longer the anticipating silence filling the room - it is her voice. The spectators welcome it. Though, still, she is hesitant. She is held back. Her voice is guarded. It is felt.

On the stage in front of her are four chairs. Each with their back turned towards the stage - their backs turned on her. Each with people of musical significant sitting in them. Each of which with the power to determine her fate. She is singing to the backs of four chairs - with any of them being able to decide whether she makes it or not.

She sings. She sings her heart out. You can hear and feel the passion - and the nerves. There is something holding her back. She sings - but it is not felt. This is not her stage - not her scene - not her. These professional and talented musicians have literally their backs turned on her. This is not good.

She keeps going. The song is hers - even if the stage isn't. She does what she knows - she sings. Hesitantly; but she sings. Beautifully.

Suddenly, a chair turns. A gasp is sensed in her song. And like that the teenage girl's voice strengthens hundredfold. The momentary excitement among the audience about the chair turning instantly disappear in utter and complete awe over the beautiful and powerful voice surrounding everyone and everything. The strength of the voice is all that anyone can comprehend - if even that. The chair turning is insignificant to the spectators - all they feel is the power of her voice - her song.

The song - her song - is filling the room; though in a different way than before. It is felt. This is not longer an audience of spectators listening to a song - this is people, each experiencing something extraordinary. Her voice carries them - each of them - through the journey of the song. A powerful and emotional journey. They might not think of it yet - as she do not either - but this a truly pure and good moment in their lives. They feel her voice and the song. They are quiet in awe. She sees it - and it strengthens her song even more. She sings her heart out. It is felt.

The girl is still singing - as she were a few seconds before. She is still just a teenage girl on a stage way too big for her. This is still not her scene. But in this moment it doesn't matter. She is singing with a power that she never knew was in her. In this moment - this is her stage - this is her. She is allowing herself to let people know that this is her. Her voice is not just a voice - her voice is her. They feel it. She feels it. It is felt.

It is felt.

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(Originally shared on Google+, 2016-07-23)