Charlatans advantage

We’re being stuffed with minor stories. Ordinary obligations. Entertainment. When has everything become flat? What about life in general? 

What about the world in general? The world that deserves to be watched in full sharpness. With no looking away. With no denial, when you see something different than you expect to see. 

That's why I'm fascinated by those who are specifically wrong and generally right. The charlatans chasing the very big picture, like De Mello, UG Krishnamurti, Robert Pirsig, Tim Ferriss, or Ken Wilber. Primarily Ken Wilber actually. 

Sorting out their obsessions, they proclaim fresh views. They don't wait for acknowledgement. They are focused on their visions, which are often quite mad ideas. So wonderfully mad. 

Encouraged by their example, I decided to face a new genre: self-help book. Yes, soon I'll be launching my own village philosophy product. Working title: “Maps of Exits”. It's American and you know it. 

I'm aware of doubtful status of these books. They heavily earned it with pathetic, reader offensive manner. Filled with authoritative impulses, reductionist world views, overly simple solutions, they were too often promoting extreme narcissism. 

Self help is like sat nav in the dark. But let's face it: we need help, walking among people who need help. I aspire to deliver a post-modern-and-beyond book. It’s going to fly high!

We tend to avoid banality. Maybe that's why more people focus more on VAT than the meaning of life. I'd like to get back to the essence sharing my discoveries on crisis and time of change. To prove, that passion of awareness pays off.

It pays off also in notion, that nobody will read it anyway. And if someone will, there is going to be a queue of tweets and youtube videos waiting for them to be browsed. They'll bring an immediate effect of erasing the previous messages. But we charlatans love Sisyphean tasks.

(C) Giorgia Arena

Best PC programs I use (Windows & Chrome)

My life in computer world, as opposed to living outdoors, has given me at least some nice discoveries in applications department. Here are some Windows programs and Chrome extensions I highly recommend.

Windows:

SCRIVENER- if you write, especially if you write a lot & professionally, you can't go wrong with this one.

FREEDOM- life saver for all us internet addicts. The only thing it does is cutting you offline for certain time. It works miracles. 

LIBREOFFICE- you don't need MS Office any more, really. 

µTORRENT- you know, for torrents. 

MUSICBEE- I was experimenting with music players, as I'm quite old fashioned in this realm, playing mostly music from my hard disk drive, not streaming from the internet. I couldn't get used to Spotify nor Pandora nor Last.fm nor Soundcloud. I was one of the last Mohicans, using Winamp, then Clementine, and then MusicBee, which I found the one to rule them all. 

Chrome Extensions: 

ADBLOCK- this is a superb, extremely helpful tool, especially appreciated by heavy YouTube users. This extension kills ads and popups in a very efficient way. I honestly forgot already that there are some adds on YouTube forcing you to wait. Thanks to AdBlock you don't wait. 

HOVER ZOOM - another simple, but surprisingly powerful thing. Enlarges thumbnails on mouse over. I use it dozens times a day.

POCKET - neatly collects things you want to read later on the internet. 

STUMBLEUPON- discover something out of the internet, that is not necessary Facebookish nor Twitterish. 

GOOGLE DICTIONARY - a brilliant, instant way to get the definition of a word just by highlighting it in a text, delivered with pronunciation. I simply love it.

There's one more thing worth mentioning. For most of us it's not adding, but removing what makes a difference. So when you're not happy with a program you use for years, look for the alternative or just get rid of it. There's a lot going on in the apps domain, why don't we refresh our options.

Top Android apps I use daily

A geeky update today. Here are some programs I use daily on my Nexus 4. 

KINDLE - you don't have to have kindle to read kindle. At least when it comes to the hardware. It's because the software comes in handy making all nerds happy.

SWIPEPAD - golden productivity tool when using naked Android with basic launcher. Gives you access to frequently used apps with just a swingy swipe, as opposed to endless tapping.

EVERNOTE - for more complexed notes and keepsakes. With the simple ones Google Keep works just fine. However the more and various materials you collect in your memo, the more you'll enjoy its cool features, like searching words on photos. 

SKYSCANNER - compares flights prices. The freedom alone felt when searching for directions (v)everywhere & (v)any time makes installing it worthy.

COLOR ZEN - chill out and invite yourself back to children's innocence. It's a non competitive, but contemplative game with colors and shapes. After 15 minutes you cherish life and bliss the fellow commuters.

CONTACTS+ - Cool way to keep all contacts together, and stay updated with all social networks imaginable. Why make NSA employees lives harder?

I'd like to mention beautiful and useful Battery Widget and Allthecooks app gathering community of cooking lovers with million recipes. 

Temptations of new technologies are too strong to resist. Let's not forget unbeatable Google products like G.translate, G.Maps, G.Search and Gmail, making me feel that the struggle is finished. I've won the victory over myself. I love Big Brother.