‘Digirata’: Enjoy the Web
Helen Pidd’s recent article about cyberstalking and cyberbullying (“Tackling faceless abusers,” Sept. 27, page 9) was an important wake-up call about how the Internet must be monitored more diligently in the digital age.
In keeping with popular concerns over Internet use and abuse, including Internet addiction to online games, I wrote a short text to use as an educational tool in classrooms worldwide and it’s being translated into Chinese now as well. It’s called “Digirata” and is modeled as an homage to Max Erhmann’s famous 1927 poem Desiderata.
The purpose of writing an update for the digital age is to help students and teachers ponder the very issues that Pidd wrote about at length in her article. The text reads:
“Go placidly amid the hot links and the distractions, and remember what peace there may be in unplugging.
As far as possible be on good terms with all persons online and never, never flame others or engage in any kind of cyberbullying or cyberstalking.
Key in your truths quietly and clearly; and read what others have to say, too, even the dull and the ignorant; for they too have their stories and ideas to impart, even if you disagree.
Avoid angry and aggressive flamers and out of control cyberbullies, for they are vexations to the spirit of the Internet.
If you compare your blog with other blogs that are better and have more visitors, you may become vain and bitter, so just enjoy your own blog for what it is and don’t worry abut the big guys. Enjoy your online achievements, as well as your plans for future downtime.
Keep interested in your own blogging, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in who you give your personal details to; for the world is full of trickery and Nigerian scams waiting to part you from your money.
Be yourself when you are online, or, if it so pleases you, adopt a persona. Use your real name or a pseudonym for your userid, and let no one steal your password, especially those pesky phishers.
Take kindly the counsel of your fellow bloggers and gracefully chat with your Facebook friends in real time. But don’t over do it, and always take time out to unplug and enjoy a weekly ‘Internet sabbath.’
You are a child of the Digital Age, no less than the spam and the pixels; and you have every right to blog to your heart’s content.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt cyberspace is unfurling as it should. Well, sort of, and you are part of the great equation, whatever that might turn out to be.
Therefore be at peace with Amazon and Yahoo, and make of your Kindles and your nooks what you will.
Whatever your labors and your aspirations, in the multitasking distractions of cyberspace keep peace with your soul — if you still have one.
Remember: With all its sham, mattdrudgery and quirky keyboards, it is still a beautiful online world.
Be cheerful. Be careful, too. Use the smiley emoticon as much as possible, and strive to be a happy camper. Unplug often.”
Dan Bloom
Chiay
A nation has several pillars of national defense, among them are military strength, energy and food security, and national unity. Military strength is very much on the forefront of the debate, while several recent editorials have dealt with energy security. National unity and a sense of shared purpose — especially while a powerful, hostile state is becoming increasingly menacing — are problematic, and would continue to be until the nation’s schizophrenia is properly managed. The controversy over the past few days over former navy lieutenant commander Lu Li-shih’s (呂禮詩) usage of the term “our China” during an interview about his attendance
Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), the son of former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee Politburo member and former Chongqing Municipal Communist Party secretary Bo Xilai (薄熙來), used his British passport to make a low-key entry into Taiwan on a flight originating in Canada. He is set to marry the granddaughter of former political heavyweight Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政), the founder of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital in Yilan County’s Luodong Township (羅東). Bo Xilai is a former high-ranking CCP official who was once a challenger to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the chairmanship of the CCP. That makes Bo Guagua a bona fide “third-generation red”
Following the BRICS summit held in Kazan, Russia, last month, media outlets circulated familiar narratives about Russia and China’s plans to dethrone the US dollar and build a BRICS-led global order. Each summit brings renewed buzz about a BRICS cross-border payment system designed to replace the SWIFT payment system, allowing members to trade without using US dollars. Articles often highlight the appeal of this concept to BRICS members — bypassing sanctions, reducing US dollar dependence and escaping US influence. They say that, if widely adopted, the US dollar could lose its global currency status. However, none of these articles provide
US president-elect Donald Trump earlier this year accused Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) of “stealing” the US chip business. He did so to have a favorable bargaining chip in negotiations with Taiwan. During his first term from 2017 to 2021, Trump demanded that European allies increase their military budgets — especially Germany, where US troops are stationed — and that Japan and South Korea share more of the costs for stationing US troops in their countries. He demanded that rich countries not simply enjoy the “protection” the US has provided since the end of World War II, while being stingy with
RSS