New Era

     

     The other day, I caught myself telling my son: “Everything you need to know, ask your father, me, or... Google!” I was kidding, of course, but I couldn’t avoid thinking that this is nonetheless a truthful statement. The simple word Google is already part of our everyday vocabulary and Google itself is a part of people’s life, thought it dates of only a decade and a half ago. Not so long ago I used to spend hours doing exhaustive researches in printed encyclopedia and dictionaries for work. Now, we are able to jump quickly from one link to another, finding detailed information. We only have to be careful with the source of the posts. We have to check if they are a reliable source, in order to use data the way we need, whether the research is for school, for work or other purposes. It’s not rare to find the repetition of the same text about a certain theme several times in websites or blogs, because it’s copied from one place to the other and, frequently, without the due credits.

     Sometimes, I’m overwhelmed by the amount of information and I even get lost. I keep adding everything to the favorites bar, and, suddenly, I don’t even know anymore where the most important things are. This has happened, for instance, in the book I translated about weapons. The amount of research material is enormous. It’s a habit, but I always use some printed material as a support when researching, such as the encyclopedia or books I have or that I buy in the used books store for each translation work. Due to my profession, it’s only a crisscross verification because we do find endless information in Google.

Once, when researching a certain word for one of my translations, I ended up in a very heavy section, really improper, and… oh, Google lost all the innocence for me. It’s kind of like when we learn about Santa Claus. But... what can we do? The contents of what we find in Google are a portrait of the real world, of everything that happens in it, of the raw and crude life such as it is.

     Each one has to know how to use their own filter, according to what he/she is searching and make lots of comparisons of the researched sources. And, yes, we must supervise what kids see in the internet. Because, unavoidably, there are things we find in Google and the internet itself that are not adequate for kids. And I’m not only talking about pornography, but also about violence, horror, bad examples and all kinds of risks which, unfortunately, exist and can’t be ignored by parents, teachers and general carers. When we navigate through safe waters, though, enjoying what is positive in the internet, it’s like being in the Wonderland.

     The way we find almost everything is fascinating, and, usually, illustrated and/or accompanied by videos, from lyrics, addresses, going through movies, general stuff, to academic essays, museums, libraries, other countries and cultures, to the bottom of the sea, the Universe… Sometimes, we need to “argue” with Google when it “answers”: “You meant X”. Of course I mistype things once in a while, but, generally, that was really what I wanted to research. Other times, we beg “Google, for God’s sake, what is…?” And there we gladly find the answers to most of our questions.

Did you visit your Google today?

Photography as a Hobby

     I love to take pictures, but with a simple camera, as most people do. They’re pictures of an amateur, unpretentious pictures I’ve always taken the way I know, without the aesthetic considerations and techniques of the area professionals. I also enjoy creating collages and mosaics with these pictures.

     They are pictures I take during common outings, especially of landscapes, flowers, parks, or even of interesting things on the streets…  There are amazing urban landscapes. I use to photograph almost everything I think is beautiful, pleasant _ things I like to eternalize together with my memories (those memories of good times when we feel so great). Of the zoo giraffe only, for instance, I must have some two hundred pictures! But I take pictures as a hobby because I’m in the Letters area.

     It’s not the camera that takes the pictures, but the photographer. There’s, therefore, a big difference between professional and amateur photographers like me. Those who take pictures as amateurs, do it as a hobby and just for fun.

     Professional photographers are sensitive and they’ve got the gift to take the best out of an image with theirs lens and transmit it to those who see it later. They study a lot, they master the use of their equipment and use several techniques. They know the best angles, make the due framing and perfectly catch the light. Photography is an art.

     Thus, no matter how sophisticated the equipment, nothing can replace the real photographer when it comes to professional photography.