Ramblings on plagiarism, blogs, censorship, Internet... and sadness caused by a mere copy and paste

The post below is black reminding Brazilian dictatorship times when newspapers published black squares representing articles that were censured.

Since I discovered that not one, not two but maybe all the posts of this blog were copied and pasted at another blog, at blogspot, that uses the same template and colors of this blog I have this strange feeling that I was censured.


It is funny that it makes no difference if the posts are published at another place because their meaning, their souls are twisted. Copying and pasting is something that was always done and those who were students before the Internet, like me, copied from books, encyclopedias, magazines, newspapers some material and transformed it or used it to back some of their thoughts.


Of course plagiarism always existed but it is not the case here. What I am trying to explain is that even thou the posts are there the ambient created in a page like blogs aggregates meaning to the parts. Each post has a relation with others and the badges the awards, the blog list, everything at the page gives sense to each post. I'm sure you can hear the voice of the blogger when you are visiting a blog. 


It's a great phenomenon what is happening and I believe that in the future some changes will be done that will put this voice in a higher tone. Posts are supposed not to be long so the relationship between them are stronger. 


Still, I'm feeling robbed and I confess that for the moment I lost the energy to keep going. What I try to do here at this Hella Heaven is empowering and saying a yes to humanity. Whenever I hear someone saying things like "the more I know about human beings the more I like my dog" I feel sad. Losing faith in ourselves is the worse that can happen. 


So I do my best to show what many people created of good, beautiful, genius and how many people are fighting for a better understanding of human condition and a better world. This is at the back of my mind at every post. Even those who talk about hideous things. For the moment, I will take a break. 


I would also like to explain that all I do here depend on other people's work, especially the images. I have some materials that are mine but 90% of this blog is the pleasure of sharing what I learned and discovering what people are doing, or did. I always put the credit and only those images that after been copied many times lost the owner and it is no more possible to know who they are and some few that the owner doesn't care being the author.


I try to show people's work and I know that it is the way I see them that is here but I try to give the word to the creator, so... I copy and paste their testimonies after my two cents. In a few posts I only show the work of the artist with the links and it seems there is no merit in that. 


However I would like to remember that it took me a lot of study to know when I'm in front of something that is really good and one of the things people tell me when they talk about my blog is that they like the work or these artists. It is not easy to search and find good images thus... the coping. Those who don't know how to analyse in seconds what is good or not need blogs like this one. 


But this is not the reason why I was doing it - a creation of a database of images - and if someone is using it this way I will not continue. That is it. I hope I made myself clear and for the moment take good care! The image is from the Brazilian artist Antonio Manuel, that in 1973 exposed this newspaper for 24 hours, the period of time a newspaper lasted, in an exhibition. We were under dictatorship and Antonio Manuel did a great work. What 


I would like to ask from those who are giving us a free space like blogspot.com or wordpress.com is to take blogger's work seriously because stealing from bloggers is happening to many people. It is quite discouraging. I wonder why it is so hard to some people to attribute what they are publishing to the person who did it. I have no idea. All I is that I saw many bloggers feeling the same I am experiencing.

Kevin Carter will never be forgotten

I'm changing a little and for some days I'll be showing the Hell part of Hella Heaven.

This picture is very famous but it will always be very shocking. This is the story of the photographer:

"Kevin Carter (1961-1994) - South Africa Pulitzer Prize winner, Kevin Carter, took his own life months after winning the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for a haunting Sudan famine picture. A free-lance photographer for Reuter and Sygma Photo NY and former PixEditor of the Mail&Gaurdian, Kevin dedicated his carrer to covering the ongoing conflict in his native South Africa. He was highly honoured by the prestigious Ilford Photo Press Awards on several occasions including News Picture of the Year 1993. Kevin is survived by a seven year old daughter, Megan. (source: Picturenet)"

Wikipedia:

"On 27 July 1994 Carter drove to the Braamfontein Spruit river, near the Field and Study Centre, an area where he used to play as a child, and took his own life by taping one end of a hose to his pickup truck’s exhaust pipe and running the other end to the passenger-side window. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning at the age of 33. Portions of Carter's suicide note read:

"I am depressed ... without phone ... money for rent ... money for child support ... money for debts ... money!!! ... I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain ... of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners...I have gone to join Ken [recently deceased colleague Ken Oosterbroek] if I am that lucky."^[8]

I had posts stolen.. and it's not only me/ My blog is being copied!

GIL'S BLOG

MONDAY, JULY 26, 2010

wallpaper Hella Heaven at virtual world

wallpaper wallpaper
wallpaper wallpaper

This is my avatar at Second Life. Yes I am at this game as well as many strange people. Some people think that it is only a game but funny... you meet people from all over the world and can have nice relationships with amazing human beings and talk to them by voice and create a deep connection. It is also possible to share some of your problems with someone you never met and many times I talked to people who were in trouble like an American soldier that was psychologically very disturbed but had to go back to Iraq in two months. I only talked to him once and I don't know what happened to him.

As in real life you get disappointed and have to deal with many kind of annoying stuffs and even get hurt because of a friend or, seriously, a woman/man relationship.

That is strange but some people connect in such a way that they fall in love and I have even seen marriages of people that never met in real life.

It is very hard to explain how are things in the virtual world but I think it is a good experience if you have a little patience and is lucky to find nice people before you give up. There is not too many things to do at Second Life for those who are not connected to any institution and in the last years the first aim of the game is to make money for real life. Linden, the currency of the game, is bought outside the game with credit card and you have to pay for everything especially for land one of the most important sources of income and what made landowners have the function of shareholders in a real life company. It made a huge impact on the directions of the activities and the game lost in human resources what is causing discontentment to old residents and disappointment to new ones that find it hard to search for friends and don't know what to do aside listening to music and dancing in clubs just listening to music and attaching the avatar to a pose ball that makes the avatar dance.

Another problem is the new browser (viewer 2) that changed dramatically the display of the world. But it is the browser that is is available now when you subscribe or you can download Emerald that is similar to the old one and has enhanced features.

I just finished my house, my landowner has only two places and is a nice man who works as a bus driver in Las Vegas different from another one I tried before that has sixty places to run and is making a place with shops for VIPs.

The name of my house is Hella Heaven and these pictures are at the garden.

Leave me a comment if you want to visit me there. You are welcome. I can receive you when you start because I work as a mentor for the RHN's (Resident Help Network) group White Tigers that has more than three hundred mentors speaking different languages. Usually RHNs are very nice people whose sole aim is help others not only new residents but others that are facing any difficulty. Addictive? Yes it is a little bit but you have a real life after all. Let's play Barbie!
(click at the pictures to enlarge)

I just came across with this post I did at Gil's Blog and found all the Second Life label copied and a the post about Patricia Galvão. Of course I'm not very happy seeing my pictures, it takes a lot of work to take pictures it is not only one shot. Sometimes it takes 20 pictures to find 2 goods.

And now this? I don't care if someone use my content as long as they provide the attribution. It's a honor and a homage when someone post any of your content.

I will not search anymore at this blog because whoever this person is the entire blog is coping and pasting other people's content.

How can we prevent that?

You can say I use other people work but I always get in touch with the owner, ask permission and sometimes if I find it impossible to wait, I publish and tell the author that I'll take it out if he/she wants.

Fortunately they always thanked me.

Just found another post of mine at this person's blog. Another...and another and lots of them....

All the Art Label is copied. It's being used under the insinuation of "wallpaper". Great!

Quite encouraging. Feel like stop blogging.

This must be happening a lot and there must be a way to stop it. The wallpaper industry gives for free other people's work and make money advertising whatever they want. Maybe it is about time to put ads at the blog but I simply can't do that.

Update:

I clicked at the links for the blog and was redirected for this site, a Brazilian sex match-makers site. It stopped when I clicked at the Verisign and did a report.

All my blog was copied and other blogs too.

Update April, 29:
The blog was deleted! Thank you Google! 

A cat-hug for all of us

because sometimes we just need a hug.

Manipulating photographies to manipulate minds

O.J. Simpsom had his face photoshoped by Times that made him looks more dangerous and criminal.

Stalin removed Trotsky of the picture because he started believing Trotsky was a threat since he was showing the dictator tendencies of Stalin. He was also removed from Soviet Union in 1929, when deported, and sent to Mexico.

Have you ever cut a photography taking away that certain person? Yep, sure you did or you will do it one day. But this is your private life.

Monet or not Monet?

Monet! Sure, Monet!

Genius! The ice melting is so great!

Left: The Ice Floes, 1880

Right: The Boats Regatta at Argenteuil, 1872.

Muammar Qaddafi a man of integrity

The etymological origins of the word "integrity" shows that it derives from the Latin "integer" meaning "whole" so those who have integrity acts according to their stated beliefs and values. We can even go to Wikipedia:

Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. Integrity can be regarded as the opposite of hypocrisy,^[1] in that it regards internal consistency as a virtue, and suggests that parties holding apparently conflicting values should account for the discrepancy or alter their beliefs.

There is nothing hypocrite, another interesting word whose etymology leads to "actor", about Muammar Qaddafi. After his famous speech many people said that he was out of his mind, detached from reality or even psychopath. Psychopaths are very sympathetic people and often when they work at a company everybody likes them while they are planing and executing some bright plan to stab people behind their backs. This is one of many kinds of psychopathy.

It's very easy to name crazy what we don't agree or understand. We don't understand when people come out in the open saying:

"I am a fighter, a revolutionary from tents ... I will die as a martyr at the end,'

'If matters require, we will use force, according to international law and the Libyan constitution.'

"People in front of tanks were crushed. The unity of China was more important than those people in Tiananmen Square."

These are his beliefs.

Funny that some governments, businessman, teachers, whoever has a power status do the same but they address to their nations or pupils as the good boys while in the background they are calculating and putting in practice actions that will have the same outcomes: achieve what they want even if they have to kill their own people.

I came across with this text of Alan Hosking at HR Future Human Strategy for Business and I wanna share with you:

Can you spot graduates from the Muammar Gaddafi School of Leadership?

Alan Hosking

"Events in North Africa have placed the spotlight on the personal qualities and leadership styles of those in positions of power and influence in the political arena.

We live in a world where everybody wants to be a leader. True, people occupy leadership positions at all levels of society, many of which are removed from the public eye. But when it comes to the workplace where, unlike in politics, there is at least some form of control as to who gets into leadership positions, you’ve got to choose your leaders carefully. (emphasis mine)

Not everyone who wants to be a leader should be allowed to be. That’s because too many of them are attracted to leadership positions not by a desire to serve others but by a craving for the trappings of leadership – the power, position and perks they believe accompany a leadership position. 

Smooth talkers are able to worm their way into positions which give them the opportunity to look after the most important person in their lives – themselves. And once in the position, they will use what ever resources are at their disposal to enrich themselves, exploit others and entrench themselves even further to ensure sustainability of their position. All this will be done, of course, under the banner of it’s being good for everyone else – their country, company or community. (emphasis mine) 

Being a smooth talker and a good looker does, however, not a leader make. Neither, contrary to the popular opinion of some business executives and government officials, does driving a smart – or fast – car, wearing expensive clothes, having connections that get you a slap on the wrist when caught speeding or violating a traffic regulation, no matter how important the need to speed (in the “leader’s” eyes). 

Leadership, according to them, places them firmly above the “hoi polloy” – the great unwashed plebs – as well as above the law. Their motto is: “Rules are for fools. Leaders break them.” Rules apply to “the others” – those who haven’t been “blessed” with a leadership position.

Such leaders could well have graduated from the Muammar Gaddafi School of Leadership (MGSL). They are found in all walks of life. They’re found in cabinets of governments, in company board rooms and in communities at ground level. 

As you think about it, you will quickly identify a number of leaders both locally and elsewhere who could well have graduated from the MGSL. Here, then, are a few of the lessons they were probably taught at the Muammar Gaddafi School of Leadership: 

Surround yourself with “yes men and women” who will obey your every instruction without question. This is a key lesson. Once you get these people’s loyalty, reward it with generosity. Keep the rewards flowing to them and you won’t have to worry about a thing. You will need supporters close to you who carry out your every instruction without assessing or questioning the instruction. (emphasis mine) 

Don’t ever let your key people feel secure in their jobs. Let them feel they could lose their jobs, and their perks, at any moment. If they feel comfortable, they will never keep bending over backwards to please you. So keep them hungry, scared and uncertain. (emphasis mine)

Regularly throw tantrums so that the people close to you see the power of your personality. This will motivate them to please you so that they don’t become the target of your tantrums. 

Bully and threaten your supporters with physical or financial harm. There’s nothing like the hint of a threat of physical or financial harm to keep people focused on what you want them to do for you. 

When people turn on you, as they will eventually do, eliminate them as quickly as possible. Don’t allow them to try to turn you to their way of thinking. Remember, you determine what’s right and wrong. Others don’t have that privilege.

On the other hand, if you’re prepared to be a leader who wishes to serve people and build a country, company or community, the only way to do it is to act with integrity and authenticity. But then you’ll need to attend a completely different leadership school." (emphasis mine)

If we want a democratic world there is a lot to think and to change. One of the important actions is to analyze more careful the behavior of the smooth talkers. I am more afraid of a smooth talker that lies and confuses me than of Muammar Qaddafi's words and I do not agree the school of leadership portrayed should receive his name. He is very clear about his intentions.
There are numerous western politicians whose name can be the patron of such school.

What if CNN, FOX or BBC asked for donation, or, independent media also needs money!

(read the update below the article)

I believe that it's common knowledge that to have these channels broadcasting it takes a lot of money, reason why some media tycoons like Murdoch are the owners of TV channels.

It is also common knowledge that once the media has an owner freedom of information and freedom of speech are dramatically affected.

We do have independent journalism like Democracy Now. Once at their site we stumble upon their donate and store bottoms just at the top or the header of their pages:

We think that it is always the same, our money is being asked to finance everything and "No, I don't want to buy a mug!".

The prize we pay for not donating is keeping on receiving biased informations, lies and all the problems that the mainstream media are promoting today.

I'm tired of being lied so, if I don't have money to make a donation I volunteer or take another action like doing this post to promote Democracy Now.

Click at the picture to visit their site. They don't have any tycoon to indoctrinate us and make us believe in lies. They are also advertisement-free.

These sites, I'm including journalists that blog like Philip Dawdy at Furious Seasons to whom I dedicated an award, are not that graphic-appealing and don't have many of the glamorous beautiful faces. I don't rely on this kind of beauty and I rather be well informed.

Update: February, 5, 2013

DenocracyNow is NOT that independent.
There are some news sites that have the same agenda the mainstream media has
but everything is put in a way that makes believe it's not.
I learned to set the difference.
Globalresearch is a very good site and they have been doing a great
job revealing many facts.

I don't believe it is a Monet!

Usually some aspects of an artist is known and others are forgotten. Claude Monet is known for portraying the nympheas, or water lilies, and for painting the Rouen Cathedral in different times of the day which gave him different lights that colored and formed new shapes of the cathedral. Also because he was a little bit weird, authored the painting that gave the title "Impressionism" to the group and did some works of women in the garden and... some other facts.

I believe that for fully appreciating and understanding an artist seeing his works is the key.

When I say to myself "I don't believe it is a -name of the artist-" I have some seconds of pure joy.

right: Apples and Grapes, 1880.

left: Set of Tea, 1877, by Claude Monet

Transparent butterfly - yes they are real

The left photo by the Brazilian photographer Jose Reynaldo da Fonseca was shot with flash which reveals some colors. You can find the it here and read what Jose wrote:

"A transparent butterfly. The detail here is that I didn't use flash, I got but I had to use 1/50 with f/2, without tripod... the one that the times don't help in details. Usually the transparent wings with the light of the flash give some reflexes iridescent hue, which a lot of people find strange!"

"Greta oto is one of a number of similar transparent winged butterflies. It comes from central America, and is found from Mexico to Panama. It is quite common in its zone, but it not easy to find because of its transparent wings, which is a natural camouflage mechanism.'

The right picture is the same butterfly shot without flash. As some people are thinking this is fake here you have the link for Wikipedia.

Craig Stephens's flirts with reality

I did many visits to Graig Stephens's blog and chose these painting. I'm not happy because it would take some more pictures to show Craig's world. Yes, it is realism but there is something about these paintings that is saying the opposite as if laughing and provoking: "realistic, me?". The backgrounds have the same atmosphere and even thou they aspire neutrality they add a magical touch to these objects.

Craig wrote about the right bottom painting:

"I had a lot of fun painting this one. Reflective and transparent surfaces are endlessly fascinating to me."

We can see a lot of realistic painted materials at his work: glasses, fabrics, fruit's peels, plastic, rubber, paper, wood, but these objects that are often on a surface we don't recognize, not a table or any furniture we can name, are not that realistic and this is one of the mysteries and uniqueness about Graig's art that makes it a little difficult to classify it as still-life.

Fun: The Four dogs

Fifth photo of "The Four Dogs" series, unfortunately anonymous, the four puppies are being taken care by an inquisitive older dog. The way she, I assume it's a she maybe the mother?, stares at us is as if she was saying 'What are you looking? Don't you dare to bully the youngsters.'

A thing of beauty is a joy forever by John Keats

Some people don't know that the famous 'A thing of beauty is a joy forever' is from Endymion a John Keat's poem that begins like this:

'A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness; but still will keep

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing. '

(keep reading here)

picture: knitted nursery rhyme characters at Stitchery-Doing project.

Protecting civilians as an excuse for war

When I thought I had seem everything something always new happens. The excuse of protecting Libyans to invade the country is another of that many ironic tactics that some governments, not US because Obama is saying all the time he doesn't want to be at Libya thou American forces are there, use that makes me think:

'Do they really think we are that stupid? If they want to protect civilians why not... Darfur?

The goals are those we already know and have the bonus of making more difficult for people of other countries that are also fighting for their rights and democracy make their revolution.

Sad America shows it's intervention again this time with the help of some little friends forming the "allied forces", "coalition" or some other name to disguise the real culprits. Accomplices on killing and injuring civilians. They don't care about people. They don't even care about their own people. Just take a look to what they are doing to their own citizens making them believe that they live in a democracy when in reality civil liberties conquered long ago are being lost.

We have all seen it all.

Update:NATO ships move to enforce UN arms embargo

NATO ships move to enforce UN arms embargo

23 Mar. 2011

NATO warships and aircraft have started patrolling the approaches to Libya’s coast as part of Operation Unified Protector. Their mission is to enforce the arms embargo called for in UN Security Council Resolution 1973.

CNN Breaknews at 07:30 GMT:

US leaves and NATO will conduct the operations in Libya.

What a difference!

Molly Bloom's - James Joyce X-rated

I'll do the opposite: instead of reading I want you to listen to this version of Molly Bloom's stream of consciousness that is the last part of James Joyce's Ulysses.

The full text is here and you can see the original version if you want and read it.

Ulysses is a book to be read many times and, teachers will hate me, you can skip what you don't feel like reading. Maybe you will read another day, or not.

Enjoy this good version and if you haven't read Ulysses maybe this is a start. Reading has to be a pleasure and not an obligation.

Very Demotivational post 3

The Escher's work 'Relativity' used at this composition has already been published at this blog. Look here.

Stream of consciousness in pictures

Post updated:

I was searching to write about stream of consciousness in the literary sense and came across with some works in painting and in photography that has the title stream of Consciousness. I published two pictures I found interesting and left a message to the photographer as I always do and got an e-mail. I've been blogging for two years and for the first time someone complained. No problems. I have received many thanks for promoting people out of the mainstream artistic scene.

These pictures are mine.

Right one: Stream of consciousness when we are facing the horrors of the world (Anna Politkovskaya is at the picture behind my avatar)

Left picture: Looking at James Joyce's Ulysses that will be one of the authors I'll talk about tomorrow when approaching stream of consciousness in the literary sense. Why should I promote a starlet when I can have Vanessa Redgrave at 'Julia" in a picture?

Now I understand why some people get the pictures, publish them without credits and use them as they want. But I cannot do it. Only once in two years it caused misunderstanding.

Now I'm stimulated to do a stream of consciousness photo with water... YaY!

My voice if you're curious

I just did it and will not listen or I'm sure I'll not publish. Hope you like the art work by Matisse, Warhol and Monet. Bye! I'm blushing...

200.000 visitors according to StatCounter - Thank YOU!

According to StatCounter this blog has reached 200.000 visitors and 283725 Page Loads.

I want to thank all the amazing people, organizations or initiatives that I have written about at this blog along two years. It is their work that inspires me.

Thank you all very much visitors that came here. To those who arrived and thought "This is not what I was searching!" and left in one second I am sorry! It also happens to me.

Now I have just to wait Sitemeter hit 200.000 to be at peace.