greg's opinion

Everything in the internet!

2009-08-29T21:20:00.003+03:00

Before two days I decided to format my laptop after many months of constant use. So, I put in the CD driver the CD that was provided with the laptop and I was amased because it could not format my laptop. So, in a command prompt I decided to do it the hard way (format C). After that I got the message a failure message when it started.
After the initial panic, I searched in the Internet to see why I couldn't reach the BIOS menu even though I tried both F8 and DEL. It was not so difficult to find out that for my laptop it needed another sequence to do it and then I wanted to search some other relative things to ensure that this time I would do everything in a correct way.
After all this searching I was convinced: Everything concerning computer problems exist in some Internet page and one simple search is usually enough to find it for free.
This is very important, because even today, people who panic after the simplest problem with their computer or electronic device are so many and they loose a lot of money for technicians when a simple search is competent of solving their problem. This money, could be used to something more useful and productive....
Of course, it needs some experience to find the correct keywords that the search engine "needs" in order to provide the wanted results! I would dare to say, that this the most difficult part, meaning that finding the keywords every time can be time-consuming and destructive. For instance in the story narrated above in the beginning searching with keywords like format laptop was completely insufficient and my results were discouraging and thus I was forced to be creative and specify my case more.

Apart from computer problems, Internet contains almost every possible fundamental knowledge,which seems to be positive but the user has to be careful about the dangers hidden...

Latin language

2009-08-26T14:09:00.002+03:00

While most young people grow up they understand that Latin are always very useful.

Not only they are the predeccecor of most Europian (and English) languages but also many phrases are used nowadays too. That makes the ksowledge of this language a very useful and powerful weapon in an era that everyone tries to learn only the most famous languages (usually two or three foreign). For those who know Latin this argument seems ridiculous, because many words that are used in English for instance come directly from latin and in this way it is easier to learn their actual root.

What is more, even though Latin is not anymore a spoken language it still exists in philosophy. Many philosophical theories exist and are based on latin phrases like Kant's "sapere aude". This is what makes Latin a great weapon for those who want to know more and acquire more advanced knowledge of this world. It is, also, very common to use latin phrases when you speak. It makes your speech more intellectual and more formal.

I think that these reasons are enough for anybody to learn Latin and then he/she will be able to understand why Latin is one of the most powerful languages...

The new museum of Acropolis

2009-06-21T11:28:00.000+03:00

Yesterday was a special day not only for the greek civilians but for the whole world. That’s because one vision of decades that came true. The ancient meanings of liberty, freedom and democracy now have a great place to express themselves. This is nothing else than the new Acropolis museum.

Acropolis is the hill here one of the greatest (ancient) monuments, among them Parthenon, are built. Until now, there was only a small museum that didn’t have enough space for many of the monuments to be placed. Before thirty years the greek government decided that a new museum was essential in order to put all these pieces of art.

However, the museum was built only now because there were many conflicts where it should have been built and where (near the Acropolis, to another part of town where there are not so many ancient ruins). Also, it was pretty difficult for architects and archeologists to conduct all these surveys. The transportation of the marbles was a very difficult process.

But now, the new museum is ready and it opened it’s gates last night. From now on the whole world is invited to visit it. Through this, tourists can enjoy the original marbles (apart from those that are stolen from the british museum) and understand the importance of the unique piece of arts. Only when you see them you can understand how fabulus they are. Furthermore, tourists could enjoy the marbles even if they were put in an island on Atlantic Ocean, but only when you have the view of the original place that they were put you can “feel” the marbles. You can feel the majesty of them and what this represented for the ancient Athens and why all meanings of democracy, liberty and freedom were found in the ancient city of Athens. When you see the marbles and then rise your eyes and see the Acropolis you have an entire view of the original purpose for which they were built.

From, the above it is obvious that the new Acropolis museum is one unique museum that was built to host except for these marbles, all the ancient ideals that nowadays we consider as granted…

The new president of France

2008-07-28T11:20:00.000+03:00

Even though he was elected before a year and three months, N. Sarkozy has passed through many stages of those a president passes during his govern.
In the beginning of the year Sarkozy was unpopular because they considered him a media president. Though this week the parliament and the Senate confirmed the constitutional changes he had promised before the elections. These changes are considered a great victory for him and they are supposed to re-shape
In fact these changes give more power to the parliament and more freedom to the citizens. Also, he dared to pass those changes during a period in which France gets the presidency of the European Union, which means he has to work hard to accomplish something.
That’s why I hold that the president can be criticized only after the half time of his presidency has passed and even then people may make mistakes.

The results of a new “No” for Europe

2008-06-16T22:01:00.000+03:00

The day before yesterday civilians of Ireland voted “No” to the new Treaty. That will undoubtedly affect the future of the treaty and the European Union.

The new treaty that had been signed by the prime ministers or the presidents of the 27 countries was supposed to give a new chance to the countries to a common policy in some matters, like the external policy. Thus, it was a good step after the previous “No” in 2005 for the new European Constitution. Even though many leaders expected the result of the referendum, the official results changed their plans. Now they have a new failure to deal with and their choices are limited.

In fact, what the first instructions said was that the rest countries that have not still ratified the treaty should do it and then this will press Ireland to a new referendum in order to accept the treaty. This is the optimistic plan. However, there are those who claim that the new “no” will freeze every trial for the “unification”.

The fact is that this is like an explosion to the building that the leaders try to make after the previous explosion. As we all know, it is likely that this explosion will delay the builders, but there is a chance, a very tiny one, that this will accelerate the process. I hope that the second hypothesis will happen, but I think it’s very unlikely for it to come true. The future will show…

Greece … on fire!!

2007-08-26T19:46:00.000+03:00

Greece … on fire!!

During the last 72 hours more than sixty people have been found dead due to the fires that have appeared in the country. It is a real tragedy so many to people to die from fires. Also, many unique forests have been destroyed, and a major environmental disaster has been caused.

This summer is the worst of the last years as concerns the burned forests. It is characteristic, that the forest Parnitha which is one of the last forests that still exist in Athens (the capital of Greece) was burnt down and the scientists believe that it will take 70- 150 years to become as it was before the fire.

After Parnitha, in which many rare animal species lived, another forest in Peloponnesus, below Athens, with many rare species was destroyed during the last three day. Actually many forests of Peloponnesus caught fire these three days and that is the place where sixty people died from the fires. Now the firemen are trying to prevent the fire from going towards the ancient town of Olympia, the place where the Olympiads originally took place in the ancient Greece

Maybe the worst thing is that not only we managed to cause a huge environmental damage and sixty people died, but that the firemen found out some things which caused the fires to say that most of the fires were caused by arsonists. I do not know how or why the arsonists are doing this to our future, because destroying the forests means destroying our future, but it causes anger to every thinking person. Even though I do not think it will happen, I hope that the arsonists will be caught and punished strictly

Measuring happiness

2007-08-20T20:57:00.000+03:00

Happiness

During the last ten years more and more scientists, psychologists and researchers claim that in every country’s indicators that measure the progress achieved (usually the GNP- gross national product) should be included an indicator for the happiness of the people.

According to these “specialists” this will help the governments to have a clearer view of their people and thus become more effective. Of course, many politicians till now have said that the indicators such as the GNP do not represent the reality of the common people lives. “When these indicators rise, people become more miserable” said one Greek politician once.

However, happiness is very subjective. For instance, a common child in most of the countries of Africa will consider itself happy if it can have the essential food and clothes, while in Europe children are more demanding. As a consequence, measuring happiness will be something doubtful and it will be easy for some politicians to use this indicator according to what they like.

To sum up, even though every existing indicator is never fully objective about the development of as country and it’s people, a new indicator about happiness will be pretty inaccurate if some strict criteria are not followed, and I am not sure if everybody has in mind these criteria. That’s the main reason for my hesitation towards this happiness indicator and I suggest letting it for now…

Superficial knowledge or ignorance is better?

2007-08-01T00:41:00.002+03:00

Superficial knowledge or ignorance is better?

Since the ancient times the educated men encouraged the younger ones that it is preferable to ignore something than to know it superficially. However, nowadays more and more people, actually the vast majority, prefer to have superficial knowledge. Which one is preferable and why?

On one hand, nowadays that the true knowledge demands more effort than ever due to specialization, it is expectable that general erudition is achieved by few people. By general erudition I mean something close to the “homo universalis” of the renaissance era. And almost every young person on this earth believes that we do not need to gain the true knowledge, because as they claim we can find everything on the Internet, thus it is doubtful whether the future generation will have any humans at all that will be willing to have general erudition.

On the other hand many people, usually the older ones and especially the educated, support that it is disastrous to have superficial knowledge. They claim that the future generations will gain less and less general knowledge except for few people who will gain general erudition. Their statement seems to come true gradually now that people do not need to know, for instance, History. All they have to do is search what they are looking for in the Internet and read what they want each time.

In my opinion, superficial knowledge that seems to prevail nowadays will be dangerous for the human civilisation. First of all, we all daily see some people claiming things that are absolute lies, because they never bothered to search about this thing. That’s why, I believe it’s preferable not to talk when you do not now something or you are not sure about it than say something untrue. In addition, when some people are asked about something very important, such as who was Newton or Napoleon the Great or Alexander the Great, say “Why should I know him? Anyway I can find him on the Internet if I want”. I believe that we should not end up not knowing even the most important people from our History. It’s rational that we may not know some every person from our History, but we have to know the most famous. Furthermore, I reckon that we should have a general erudition, not for showing off or for getting good results in some table games that require this kind of knowledge, but for ourselves.

Quotes

2007-08-01T00:41:00.001+03:00

Here are some of my best quotes:

1) The future belongs to those that wake up early
2) The future doesn’t happen accidentally. The future is created
3) Whatever doesn’t kill you ,makes you stronger
4) You must never forget the past. You may need it in the future
5) There are three kind of people: those that see, those who see when they are shown and those who don’t
6) The willing to win is worthless without the willing to prepare
7) Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing
8) Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly
8) submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence
9) The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance
10) I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time

Bad days

2007-08-01T00:41:00.000+03:00

Today is the first anniversary of this blog and I would like to publish some articles that are some of my favourite for different reasons each one.

Bad Days

Everyone has his bad days and even months. This may be a result of something that happened in his life. The important thing is how do we do we manage to continue our life.

Every human has his unique way to deal with his problems. Some solutions (if you give one) are very similar and thus more common. However, there are and different ways to react, which are less common and expectable, and as a corollary this may create problems with the other people, who do not understand his reaction and they may misunderstand him. This is of primary importance when it comes to his relationship with his friends. His older friends will understand easier what he has, but the new ones …, well they have to react calmly.

I, personally, believe that our friends should not insist too much learning what is going on, when we have a bad day, because then they might get a wrong imression about what is going on. If the person that has the problem wants to talk about it, it’s ok, but if he doesn’t then it’s uselless trying to convince him. Of course, friends should always try to help each other and in this occasion they ought to make a trial in order to help their friend, but do not overdo it by insisting because this may have very negative results.

To sum up, even though the way we react to problems is unique and the way we deal with them subjective, in my opinion when you see a friend having a bad day, do not press him or her too much. When he wants he will talk…..

New political debates

2007-07-24T20:07:00.000+03:00

New political debates
Yesterday, the nominees from the democratical party in U.S. participated in a different debate. The questions were done by … anyone. What you had to do was to publish a video on the popular you-tube and then be lucky enough in order to your question to be read. Almost three thousand people send a video and forty of them were actually used. Is this going to be the kind of debates of the 21st century?

Although many politicians nowadays give a vital importance on the Internet (see also the article Cyber Democracy in the 21st century), no such debate had taken place before. Even though politicians had been very well prepared it is actually hopeful that they have to listen to the common people and answer their questions. However here arises the question whether these questions were really randomly chosen and were the most representative.

This original debate of course presents plenty benefits, apart from the fact that nominees have to listen to the voters, which of fundamental importance. In addition, in this way politicians can understand in a direct way, what is most important for their voters. Many people believe that in this way there is a chance that the nominees may include in their programs something that they wouldn’t if this debate didn’t take place.

On the other hand, there are some who dispute how representative these questions were. Also, there are some people who hold that an objective and successful reporter can make more difficult questions to the nominees and in this way they make some mistakes.

To sum up, in my opinion this new debate is a very positive step provided that it is objective and the questions are random and representative, which is difficult to ensure…

A research for… the obvious

2007-07-12T22:46:00.000+03:00

A research for… the obvious

Recently the results of a research during which a number of babies was examined by psychologists claimed that the babies cry not only when they need something, but also because they want … attention. How original! Every grown-up and even many children know that babies many times cry in order to gain attention. In addition, according to the results of the research, babies cry more if their parents or any adult gives them too much attention.

As it is obvious from the example above, many researches and even more surveys present something that is fundamental knowledge for every logical human. Many people wonder what the purpose of doing a research on the obvious is. They believe that it is worthless. Even the people who hold that doing a research is usually useful doubt about the research mentioned above.

On the other hand, there are those who reckon that any research done in scientifically correct way is useful to our society. They support that many so called “obvious” researches have given unexpected results and have reversed theories that have been followed for many centuries.

Although, when I read about this research on babies I thought that this is ridiculous, now if I was asked I would support the idea of doing even such an “obvious” research provided that it follows all the scientific criteria and that it will, also, examine other things apart from the reason why babies cry!

All in all, even though many people will disagree in my opinion is that a scientific research is always something useful and even when it has expected results it just verifies what we already believed…

Prolems of the leaders

2007-07-03T23:16:00.000+03:00

Leaders

Many people claim that the current U.S. president, George Bush, has some kind of problems, some believe it’s a brain problem while others psychological. Recently, a scientist identified the psychological problem that Bush “faces” with a syndrome of denial. Of course, Bush is not the only leader that is alleged to have such problems. Many leaders have to deal with such rumors. How true can these be and if they are, should we worry about being governed from such people?

Even though every serious scientist (psychologist) accepts that only if you examine personally and for plenty hours a human you can tell if he faces any problems and this many times may be proved misleading, many so called “specialists” make some very serious statements about some leaders without having even met that leader. And as it is rational, these statements are frequently first news for the media. As a consequence most of the times people are reading misleading articles about their readers while the problems of vital importance that concern the common people get in second fate. Some believe that this may be done on purpose in order to disorientate the common people from their real problems.

On the other hand there are those who do not believe that it makes any difference at all whether their leader has psychological or brain problems. The reason they give for this belief is that especially in powerful countries (like U.S., Britain) it is a rare phenomenon the president to actually control the country. They claim that no matter if the president is a genius or someone with small brain function, the people who really have much power are different and it is possible that the common people never learn their name or what they did.

Of course, all these are rumors, because I don’t believe that the whole truth will ever be learnt from anyone. However, it is preferable not to believe these kinds of rumors because they only harm the leader and the country and have no benefit at all, unless this is what they are what they are supposed to do…

The new Russian empire

2007-06-25T18:03:00.001+03:00

The new Russian empire

Although only 16 years ago the Soviet Union (part of which was Russia) collapsed and new countries appeared, nowadays Russia seems to regain it’s old power. Many people (actually almost everyone who is informed about what is going on in Russia) wonder whether there is going to be a new cold war, or how long time is going to pass before a new crisis in Russia. Another question is what will happen after the election of 2008 in Russia? Will the new president be able to obtain what Putin achieved and make Russia even stronger?

Specialists who have attended the progress of Russia claim that Russia has been taught from the mistakes made in the past and is not going to “fall” as in the past. Provided that this “prophesy” will come true, then we have to get used to the fact that Russia will now be the new great power for many years and the exclusivity of America as this will cease. This may be a positive step for most of the nations provided that there is not going to be a new cold war, which will make the rest countries to spend even more money for weapons and have the results the previous cold war had on the world.

In addition, specialists believe that Russia has great potential and has not reached the power it used to have in the past. This is rational, because as mentioned above it is only the last two or three years that Russia became able again to “fight” for their interests. For instance, before ten or twelve years Russia wouldn’t be able to refuse to NATO to install their rockets into the east Europe, something that will harm Russian interest in the area and will be able to spy Russia. However, nowadays Russia has caused great trouble in the U.S. government and NATO, of course, trying to find a way to persuade Russia to let them install their rockets where they want. It is obvious that Russia under the command of the president Putin has again become a considerable power.

Though what cannot be ignored, is the new also considerable countries that have much power. These are no other than China and India. They are very unpredictable because of their great population (China has 1,3 billion citizens while India has 1 billion) and because not many analysts seem take them seriously (or at least they do not publish these results) and thus we cannot tell their role in the future.

On the other hand, Russia is not the new paradise of the world. Even though it seems invulnerable in the foreign policy, Russia faces great problems in the interior of the country. Numerous people are above the limit of poverty and as some NGO present there is a lack of democracy with the secret services (especially the agents of the old KGB) controlling the whole country. It is characteristic that the president Putin himself and almost every partner of his are former secret agents of KGB. Also, lately media from all over the world have focused on the “strange” deaths of reporters who opposed the government of Russia. What is more, some “lucky” people became billionaires in a very small period of time. Some of them are now exiles in Europe and they are accused for crimes back in Russia.

The question of great importance is what is going to happen in the elections of 2008 and after them. Will the new president follow Putin’s orders? With other words, will Putin preserve his power? In my opinion Putin will have great influence on the new president for some years after the elections but unless something subversive takes place, he will gradually lose his power.

To sum up, I believe that even though Russia faces many interior problems, it still remains a powerful country and is an amounting country. The rest will come in their time…

The new E.U.

2007-06-25T18:03:00.000+03:00

The new E.U.
The previous months plenty articles in the newspapers and in the Internet mentioned that the German summit in the European Union had as its first aim to achieve an agreement about the European Constitution. However, as it is widely known some countries have objections about the constitution. So, everyone wondered whether there will be an agreement, and if yes, what kind of agreement?

Before two years France and Netherlands had a referendum in which they did not accept the so called European Constitution. After that every action about the constitution froze and many Europeans wondered what the future of the Union was.

This March, 2007, it was the anniversary of 50 years from the signature of the founding treaty the European Economic Community (E.E.C.). It was signed by six countries. Now the E.U. is constituted by 27 countries. Thus, it is reasonable that it is difficult for twenty seven countries to agree in things of primary importance, such as the rights of the civilians or the voting system. Under these circumstances the summit that took place in Germany placed as its primary target to sign a new treaty that will include as many articles as possible from the unsuccessful constitution.

However, when the leaders from the twenty seven countries discussed it last Thursday, the differences became an obstacle and some countries (especially Poland and Great Britain) did not seem to be willing to compromise. Finally, after many hours of hard negotiations they achieved an agreement. This agreement contains very little of what it was expected to.

On one hand there are those who claim that this agreement is so much below the standards of the E.U. and that opens the way in an E.U. of two groups, the one with those who want closer relations between the countries and the other with those who do not wish a real union. In addition, they hold that if every country is able to pass what it wants by threatening that otherwise it won’t sign a treaty (Poland), in the future there will be many countries that will do the same. But this is not a union and this leads to an independent future for every country, which is far away from what the people who supported the union had imagined. This is of primary importance because they give the right to third countries to intervene to this union, such as U.S. does nowadays, and affect it in matters that it shouldn’t. It is characteristic the problem of the NATO rockets in the east Europe has caused between the countries. Furthermore, it is, as they say, irrational that this treaty will not be applied until 2017, after 10 years when the most countries wanted it to be on force from 2009.

On, the other hand, there are some (few) that express the opinion that this treaty is the first one after the unsuccessful constitution. As a consequence, this is a positive step and includes some of the articles of the constitution and this is the first positive step. After all, an agreement is better than no agreement.

In my opinion, it is illogical a few countries (this time Great Britain and mostly Poland) influence so much the rest of the countries. Of course, as members of this union their opinion should be seriously taken under consideration, but affecting the rest twenty five countries and threatening of not signing the agreement is a very negative thing. Also, I do not know if this is a positive step for the future, however I can tell that the minorities of two or three countries will continue threatening whenever they believe that their interests are not fully protected from a treaty. However, as some say, a treaty is better than no treaty at all…

Luck

2007-05-12T12:07:00.000+03:00

Luck

From the ancient times when people started to understand and explain the world they made many assumptions about what exactly is luck, how can we affect it and why does it seem that some people have more luck than others.

Usually during our life we change many times our opinion about what is luck. In one moment we are sure it is something of minor importance and in the other moment we see something that makes us change our mind.

One popular theory about luck is that it is a number of random events that happen accidentally and influence our lives. This theory does not seem to explain why do some people have a lot of luck while others not. Maybe you have noticed that people with bad luck give too much importance on luck and decline their personal responsibility for it while the lucky ones hold that luck plays minor importance on their success.

Another popular theory is that luck is the result of pre-decided by someone or something (some name it god while others claim it is the movement of planets) facts. This theory is fatalistic and does not have a scientific explanation.

These are the most widespread theories about luck. Both present some common things.

In my opinion luck does not suit exactly to both of the above theories. I believe that luck is a number of random events that many times can be affected. For instance if we spend many hours exercising then it is not luck that we will have a good- shaped body. However, someone who does not exercise at all and expects a perfect body will claim that you are lucky to have one. This does not mean that this person is unlucky. Thus, I recommend that we should stop waiting everything from luck and start working. Besides as a great person once said: “The future does not happen accidentally. The future is created”

Democracy from a different aspect

2007-05-04T23:18:00.001+03:00

Democracy from a different aspect

In every western country democracy is nowadays the only acceptable regime, at least for the majority of the people. However in less developed countries or in the developing countries democracy is visionary.

It is difficult for us, the people who live in the developed countries, to understand why don’t they rebel in order to have democracy into their country. Why do they seem to enjoy this monarchy, which infringes their rights?

The obvious answer is that they are forced to do so and that if they were left alone they would have democracy. Another obvious answer is that they don’t have the necessary education in order to understand that monarchy is not the best regime. Another possible answer is that many people have got used to it and they don’t want to change the regime because they are afraid of this change.

I believe that the truth is somewhere in the middle of the previous sentences. For instance, although there are many people in these countries who are very educated, the vast majority of the people are not so educated. Also, the educated people abandon their country and live in civilized countries where they are free to tell their opinions without being in danger.

In addition, I think that it is not so obvious that democracy is the best regime. We shouldn’t forget that it took many centuries to the ancient Greeks to have a democratic regime. Also, during the dark ages democracy didn’t exist even as an idea to the common people. Thus, even if people in developing countries are left alone to select a regime it will take them some time to understand that democracy is the best one existing nowadays. However, it is better to let them decide their regime on their own than interfere to their domestic problems. There are plenty examples for this from the history. The best and the most recent is Iraq, which typically has democracy but actually there is anarchy or at least this is what is presented to us.

To sum up, in my opinion every country should let their people select their regime freely and this will be accomplished only when people are well educated.

secret service

2007-04-22T21:25:00.000+03:00

(Secret) service
The previous week an article that claimed that the French secret service, D.G.S.E., had warned CIA about a possible attack from terrorists during the first months of 2001, before the attack that took place on 9/11/2001. In the same document from D.G.S.E. mentioned, also, that Greece or Cuprys may be target for a terrorist’s attack and thus D.G.S.E. reported that to CIA instead of the greek secret service!
From these and many other examples it is obvious that CIA has much more power than any other secret service in the world. It has the power to control even the regime of a foreign country. For instance, in Greece on 21 April 1967 some militarymen made a coup d’ etat and CIA not only knew about it but it supported it and this is a fact, not an opinion. The question is how much power does CIA really has and who controls CIA?
In my opinion we are never going to learn the truth about what has CIA actually done, because I believe that what we learn is a tiny percent of what it really does. I can’t tell if they give on purpose some of their actions and reports to the media or not, but I know that they know a lot more than we imagine.
Another thing that is odd, is how do they gain access to all these information. It is logical to have many agents around the world, but this cannot explain the number of confidential information they defalcate!
I expect that many hold that common people shouldn’t know much about secret services, because then they won’t be secret! I understand and share this opinion, however I believe firmly that someone should control the secret services and who can judge better than the common people? Therefore the common people shoud know more about the secret services generally (not, of cource, about their current actions or the agents)

The future

2007-02-18T23:17:00.000+02:00

Many claim that it is unpredictable, while a few believe that it will be better. Ohters will claim that we won’t exist in the future. The older ones will say that it is getting worse and worse….

The truth is that no one knows and can tell what is going to happen in the future. However some scientists examine the improvement made by humanity in the last century, compare it with the past and make some predictions about the future. Some of them come true, while some others are completely inaccurate.

I believe that although we cannot predict the future we can assume how some things will be. For instance, we can tell that in twenty or thirty years there will be very intelligent computers, maybe cleverer than the cleverest man alive, but it is still unpredictable what these machines will be looking like ( mobile phones, laptops or problably something we cannot imagine today).
Besides, even it may seem weird, I strongly hold that it is not so wise to know the future because then there is no point of living, hoping and mainly enjoying our lives. For example if we knew that in twenty years we would have everything we wanted without even trying we wouldn’ t appreciate what we were given, whereas if we don’t know the future we have to thrive to achieve our goals. And as a great Greek poet, Kavafis (if you want more information about Kavafis visit http://cavafis.compupress.gr/ ), said it is not the aim itself that would give us pleausure and satisfaction, but the trial and the “road” till we achieve it

Logos

2007-01-26T19:13:00.001+02:00

After more than three months that I couldn't publish articles now I want to publish something that is very important or me. That's the logos I use in my life and I find very useful...
1)The pure and simple truth is never pure and almost never simple
2) Impossible is nothing. Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in a world they ‘ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary.
3) Whatever someone can think of there is another human on earth that can make it happen
4) Every cloud has a silver lightning
5) Remember that three things don't come back: words that are said, the which has... passed, and the chance missed...!
6) The humans who donot know History are doomed to repeat it...!
7)Experience is mainly the name that people give to their mistakes
8) When trying to find the truth it's essential to doubt for everything as much as possible
9) Opinions cannot survive unless there are people who fight for them

Nuclear Power (2)

2007-01-26T19:13:00.000+02:00

Apart from the advantages that were mentioned in my first relevant article I found out some very interesting pros of nuclear power.
First of all, nuclear technology is widely used to preserve some famous paintings and statues. They are also used by technicians so as to recognize if there is a part of the painting destroyed and they can’t see it with naked eye. U.N. has about sixty scientists working on this project in fifteen different countries…
In addition, it is scientifically proven that between 2029 and 2032 some asteroids will come very close to earth and they may actually hit earth. One solution, as scientists claim, is to hit the asteroid before it reaches earth with a nuclear weapon.
What is more, spaceships nowadays use nuclear power in order to have enough power to execute their mission. And maybe, in the future there will be an alternative way to cover their power needs but now nuclear power is the safest and the less expensive…

Space tourism

2006-10-29T20:10:00.000+02:00

Space tourism
Recently more and more welthy people, such as Charles Simonyi (see also th special article at http://www.cnn.com/ ), claim that they want to go for a space flight
Is this a new fashion?
Maybe, and that’s why new ventures appear to be ready to transfer wealthy people out of earth’s atmosphere.
Well, I believe that in the future this will be not considered extraordinary for people to to do space flights. Some claim that after many decades people will have to colonize in other planets and a space flight will be like using an aeroplane nowadays.
I don’t know if I would dare to do a space flight even if I could because it’s very dangerous, in my opinion. However, probably in 10 or 20 years it won’t be so dangerous and then I may think of doing it.
But till then I prefer writing articles about it rather than doing it…..

research for weight

2006-10-17T22:32:00.000+03:00

   Lately, many researchs show that children in developed countries are getting fatter and fatter. Why is it happening? Why nobody tries to prevent it from happening or at least to reduce it apart from some scientists and some concerned people?
   I believe that gaining weight is one downside of technology. What do I mean? I mean that children nowadays are having a sedentary life, watching many hours daily TV or playing computer games and that’s a very good reason for gaining weight. They, also, find exercising boring (sometimes I don’t blaim them!), so they avoid exercising, which is detrimental for their health.
   What should adults do for this? First of all, parents should talk with their children and explain them why it’s not right watching too many hours watching TV or playing computer games instead of exercising. In addition, it’s of vital importance for parents to give their children the good example by exercising and avoiding watching too much TV. As for the adults generally should support the scientists who try to persuade politicians to do something about this problem, because if they don’t, then in the future nobody will be able to reduce this problem.
   Now many people will wonder why politicians  not trying to prevent it or at least  reduce it. The answer is I don’t know and I believe that a few people can answer this question. I can guess though that they prefer the children to watch many hours TV and playing computer games because it is easier for them to control the children. That’s why it will be difficult to see them taking some real measures about reducing this problem…

Nuclear power (1)

2006-10-14T13:36:00.000+03:00

Should we consider it as the most dangerous source of energy ever discovered?
I believe that although nuclear power is not the safest one we ‘ve got a wrong idea about it.
First of all nuclear power is widely used in every big hospital.
Also it is a safer way to cover our needs in electricity. Some will claim that it’s not because two accidents have happened and had detrimental effects. What they do not understand is that only two accidents have happened within 60 years that these factories work.
If we consider also that the previous ten years nothing has happened form one of these factories even though over one hundrend are working around the world right now.
Apart from these, when nuclear fission is fully achieved in all the experiments then it will be the cleanest form of generating energy for our needs and it will be available for many many years.

Spying

2006-09-29T14:35:00.000+03:00

Yesterday in every site that has international news there was an unusual title: Four Russian officers are charged with spying, as tensions between Russia and Georgia escalate.
Is that something new?
Didn’t we already know that officers from secret agencies aree spying in foreign countries?
Why every site has it as a headline?
Should we be surprised that four officers were caught when there are thousands in the whole world spying in foreign countries?
I believe that the important thing in this case is not that four officers were arrested but the fact that they were Russian officers who were spying in Georgia. If we, also, consider that Russia and Georgia don’t have the best relations lately then we can understand why this case is special.
So, the most important thing is from where every case comes and not so much its content.

riddles

2006-08-25T11:56:00.000+03:00

I have found some very good riddles.

1)A man is trapped in a room. The room has only two possible exits: two doors. Through the first door there is a room constructed from magnifying glass. The blazing hot sun instantly fries anything or anyone that enters. Through the second door there is a fire-breathing dragon. How does the man escape?

Answer:He waits till nightfall then goes through the door with the magnifying glass when it is dark.

2)In the four sentences below, are two blanks. You must fill them in with words that are either anagrams, synonyms, antonyms, or homonyms. You can only use each of these one time each sentence. Can you figure out each word? 1. That confidential ____ contains a lot of information about that man's ____. 2. The ____ I got in the mail contain sheet music with ____. 3. The dog will ____ from the annoying ____. 4. Because I threw away the information I needed, I went through the ____ in the ____ can.
Answer:1. File - Life 2. Letters - Notes 3. Flee - Flea 4. Junk - Trash

3)Black When I`m Clean White When I`m Dirty What am I?

Answer:A Blackboard or chalkboard

4)There was once a man who had a very selfish and unkind son. So one day the father sent his son to the market with one coin and said, "I am sick and tired of your selfish ways. Take this coin and buy with it: something to feed the cows,something to plant in the garden, something for us to eat, and something for us to drink. Don't come back until you dothis!" He is only allowed to buy one item. What did he buy that fulfilled his father's wish?

Answer:He bought a watermelon - the juice to drink, the pulp to eat, the seeds to plant in the garden, and the rind to feed the cows!
5) I help you get lost In magical worlds. You move me around With all your fingers. Time can fly by Before you know it. Lost in this world? You better believe it! Images will flash Before your eyes. Controlling me, Would be most wise. Then you will see The end at last. Sometimes better, When completed fast. What am I?

Answer: Any Video Games

6)See if you can figure out what these words have in common ... Assess Banana Dresser Grammar Potato Revive Uneven Voodoo

ANSWER: In all of the words listed, if you take the first letter, place it at the end of the word and then spell the word backwards, it will be the same word.

7)John was walking towards his office on the sidewalk when suddenly he heard a gunshot. The police found him dead on the sidewalk one hour after the incident. They concluded that the bullet had hit his head and he died on impact. The police also caught the man responsible for the crime and acquired the high-powered rifle used in the crime. What is wrong with this story?

ANSWER: If the bullet had hit his head then there is no way he would have heard the gunshot; the bullet of a high-powered rifle travels faster than sound. The bullet would have killed him before he heard anything.

8)Two girls have the same parents and were born at the same hourof the same day of the same month, but they are not twins. Howcan this be possible?

ANSWER: They were not born in the same year

9)A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven't eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him?

ANSWER: The third one. If the lions haven't eaten in three years, they are dead.

10) I usually wear a yellow coat.I usually have a dark head.I make marks wherever I go.What am I?

ANSWER: A pencil

cyber politicians

2006-08-21T19:33:00.000+03:00

Cyber-Democracy in the 21st century

In ancient Athens during the democracy period common people could easily contact with their “governors”. Later in ancient Rome common people could at least during the period of democracy contact the senators and talk with them
Nowadays senators and all politicians generally have plenty bodyguards and is pretty difficult to meet with them. You can only meet them during the period before the elections. However some politicians taking advantage of technology have found a new way to contact with common people. They have a personal site and an e-mail or more often they have a blog where you can write them whatever you want and publish and as a result have a “discussion”. A great advantage of the blogs is that anyone can easily ask you what he/she wants. Recently it was published in many newspapers and magazines an article that Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, has his personal blog. Also, in U.S. some nominees for the elections that will take place in November keep a personal blog.
Why do they publish a blog? Because they know that more and more people use daily the Internet for various reasons. They, also, know that new technology fascinates young people and they want to “attract” young people in order to gain their support.
It is obvious that in the 21st century Internet will play a vital role (and) in politics.
That’s why, in my opinion, politicians should have a personal blog.
What is more, it is for the benefit of common people if politicians have a personal blog, because:
They can contact them easier and ask them or complain to them
They can learn the plans of the politicians easily and quickly by visiting their blog

Terrorists attack

2006-08-12T09:27:00.000+03:00

Terrorists attack
   Is it a new reality or something that existed before the 20th century? How can we prevent terrorists from attacking several “aims” and killing innocent people?
   Even though the answers to these questions may seem easy or at least not too difficult to answer, if we consider that so many people from so many secret services that have tried to solve this problem have failed, then it becomes one of the greatest problems of the 21st century.
   After the attack in 09/11/2001 in New York that was the first of a number of lethal attacks (that most people remember of)  the U.S. president George Bush, C.I.A.  and N.S.A. have been thriving to prevent another attack. They may have achieved it at least in their country but other countries have suffered from lethal terrorist attacks.The first attack that resulted in many casualties in Europe was in Madrid in 2003 and the last (known) was last year in London.
   Today (08/10/2006) MI5, which is a secret service in England, discovered after several months of search that some people tried to put bombs in ten aeroplanes going to U.S. cities and detonate them  all together.It would have been the worst ever terrorist attack.  After discovering it there was red alert t every international aeroport and especially in those that had some planes going to England. All flights for England were cancelled and noone new if they were going to fly and when. Even if the plan was discovered by MI5 terrorists “achieved”  to panic and “wake up” all secret servicies of  England, U.S. and many other countries. Millions of people have been waiting for hours in the aeroports hoping that they will be allowed to ariive to their destination as soon as possible.  Specialists say that this attack reminded them of an attack, which was again discovered before it was planned to happen, in 1993.
   What most people and especially the younger ones do not know is that terrorist attacks are not a “new phainomenon” and that many attacks took place before 2001 and some of them were successful while others weren’t. In 1985 a plane going to India exploded and about three hundred people died. Also, in 1988 an aeroplane going to U.S. expoded and more than two hundred people died.

The rise and fall of football "empires"

2006-08-08T18:04:00.000+03:00

The rise and fall of football “empires”
   Before six or more thousand years the first (known) empires appeared. They rose and then fell. It is unavoidable for one empire to rise and after a period it will fall. History has given us plenty examples, such as the french empire, the english empire and the russian empire among others. In this rule there are no exceptions, even if the “empire’’  is a great football team.
   Many teams that were in the past the leading teams of the European football now are in the second or third division of their country or  they are not so great teams nowadays. For instance Nottigham Forest  once won the so called champions leauge and now it is not even a great team in England.
   The last three years many great teams are underachieving. The greatest ever teams of Europe cannot find their “good” profile, such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and many others. However we cannot say that these teams are falling because they have still a leading role in their countries.
   The only great team that is falling and it will be difficult to rise again is the, until now, favourite team in Italy, Juventus, which is relegated to Serie B (second division of Italy). Even if Juventus doesn’t  play to Serie B from the forthcoming season it will be pretty difficult for her to build a team that can “chase” something in Europe.
   Maybe it is better for empires to rise and then fall, so as new empires rise and there is variety and competition, because if one (football) empire was dominating for a long time then it would be too monotonous….

The war in Middle East

2006-08-07T13:35:00.000+03:00

The war in Middle East
   After three weeks of the war between Israel and Hesbolah there are a lot of casualties many of whom are women and children. While Israel is trying to exterminate all fighters of Hesbolah, Hesbolah is attacking with bombs. Both sides are guilty for killing people who are innocent and both are responsible for war crimes.
   However something strange is going on. Most reporters believe that only Israel is commiting war crimes and the media are basically highlighting only in the destruction caused by Israel’s forces. Why is that? Doesn’t Hesbolah bombard daily cities of Israel? Why is Hesbolah justified for bombarding Israel? Is that logical?
   Many people now will try to excuse Hesbolah by supporting that Hesbolah is defending. Maybe some will claim that Hesbolah isn’t the one killing the non-combatant.
   Well I have to admit that Israel is transforming into a serial killer and  don’t care whether the people killed by their bombs are innocent or not. On the other hand, though, Hesbolah wasn’t the one that kidnapped two soldiers of Israel and gave Israel a pretext in order to begin a war against Hesbolah? Or isn’t Hesbolah that  was attacking with bombs against Israel thus killing hundrends of people?
   Personally I don’t agree with this war but I don’t believe that under the present circumstances there will be a long-lasting peace. There are many steps that should be done first and then maybe a treaty would last more. I don’t mean of course that the war should continue. I don’t, also, mean that we should just watch innocent people dying without doing something.
   What I mean is that Israel and Hesbolah should under the supervision of the U.N. try to reach an agreement. To reach an agreement they have first suspend their wish to destroy each other and do not expect that all they want will be accepted by the other part.
   There is, of course, the possibility that they won’t achieve many things but they can at least agree to a cease-fire…..

Just learning

2006-08-01T13:35:00.000+03:00

It is my first blog and I would like to get used to it before starting publishing different articles, opinions and many many other things.