eurogeneration - Eurogeneration in America - Comments

Washington and Brussels. (Un)veiled - Thomas

Thomas — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:25:22 +02:00

As an American who studied in DC and lived in Brussels, my experience is that Americans are very good with words and symbols, but beyond the posters the comparisons are much more complex.

USA: I like, I dislike - Joe Noory

Joe Noory — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:01:00 +02:00

Having lived there birefly, I find that New York is really third world. I'll keep the bucolic greenery in smalltown America that I can escape to, thank you very much. It's the restorative after my travels, and I don't think I could live without it. That, and Yuengling.

As for making "true friends," most Americans (outside the context of the big city centers) would talk to anyone. I frequently hear the critique about being "too firendly" and "too trusting" from our Euro-betters. Then again, there's always something most of them seem to show some dissatisfaction for with Americans. After a lifetime of observing this, I'm amazed that anyone even listens to it.

USA: I like, I dislike - Adriano

Adriano — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:32:14 +02:00

Honestly, I cannot give you a good reply as I just travelled around for three weeks and I visited 4 cities! So no time at all to make true friends. May I ask you where do you live in the States and what's your professional activity?

USA: I like, I dislike - Andreea

Andreea — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:16:59 +02:00

I've lived in the US for 4 years now. Based on my experience, my question is: what do you think about interpersonal relationships in the US? In 4 years here, I have yet to make a true friend, and do trust me when I say I did try. Believe it or not, there are clearcut differences between the American and European friendship styles. What's you take on this?

A European behind Meru, Second Life's alternative - Adriano

Adriano — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:12:46 +02:00

I apologize for not having precisely reported Vladlen's thoughts which I have correcte with the following precisions:

- "Second Life killer" is 100% my words, my interpretation
- Coming to technical analysis I am clearly not an expert of virtual worlds. Thank you Vladlen for your accurate comments
- Coming to esthetical comments, I have heard what I wrote. But, again, I thank Vladlen for what he added.

A European behind Meru, Second Life's alternative - Vladlen Koltun

Vladlen Koltun — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:59:00 +02:00

Dear Adriano,

It was a pleasure to briefly chat with you last year. I just read your account of our meeting and I am quite surprised by it. Your report of our conversation contains significant errors. Perhaps I am partly responsible. I noticed that you did not carry a tape recorder and had no way of accurately remembering what I said. You were also accompanied by a translator. I take responsibility for not requesting that you run the story by me before posting so that errors can be pointed out in advance. Let me mention a few glaring ones post facto.

- We are not working "to create the 'Second Life – killer'". We are trying to figure out how scalable and secure virtual world platforms of the future should be built. This necessitates creating an experimental prototype, to ensure that we uncover the subtle issues in such systems. The goal of our research is to advance the state of the art in the field, not "kill" an existing product.

- You quote me saying: "Second Life has a problem of scalability, for it doesn't support more than a certain number of simultaneous connections. Moreover there's a security deficit: anyone can easily listen to conversations and enter spaces he is not authorised in. With our project, these problems will just become memories." This is wholly inaccurate. The scalability and security issues with existing virtual world systems are more subtle than you write. In Second Life, for example, it is the local density of participants (how many avatars can be in each other's immediate vicinity at the same time) that is limited by the system, not the overall number of participants.

- You also quote me saying "in the States where there's no tradition of beauty production. I look around and I can't see anything that I could love." I emphatically disagree! In our conversation you asked me to compare my experiences living in Europe and the US. As I explained, one thing I miss about Europe is its architecture and urban layout. Towns that gradually evolved over centuries have very different structure than the planned cities that are common in the US. I miss European towns, with winding alleys and century-old buildings, and find some features of American suburbia visually dissatisfying in comparison. As I mentioned in our conversation, the impact of such visual features on the formation of long-term emotional bonds has been widely discussed by urban planners. However, this is only a tiny part of my experience of America. I have found wonderful people and beautiful nature in this country. I love many things here, otherwise I wouldn't have stayed.

Best,
Prof. Vladlen Koltun
Computer Science Department
Stanford University

USA: I like, I dislike - Adriano

Adriano — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:55:26 +01:00

Yes I liked a lot. I must say I still prefer Europe but we have so much to learn from the US. Moreover, I'll try to keep strong relations with people I met there! I've been invited for a conference in NYC next year to speak about cafebabel.com!

USA: I like, I dislike - Hanita

Hanita — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 05:08:08 +01:00

Just read about your adventures in the US. So you like America in the end? Ha ha, yes, there are certainly lessons to be learnt, but also Europe has a lot to offer

Inside Wikipedia and more from Florida - Giusy

Giusy — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:48:42 +01:00

Come siamo carini!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good luck, my friend...anzi, BREAK A LEG!!!!
Talk to you soon!!!
Baci,
Giusy

On the road 2.0 - my trip so far in a Google Map - Adriano

Adriano — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 06:47:56 +01:00

It looks very nice. But can I "export" the contents I uploaded on Google Map toward your system? Actually it looks quite alike Google. Stay in touch

On the road 2.0 - my trip so far in a Google Map - scalar

scalar — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 08:24:08 +01:00

Hey,

We are making a new startup (http://www.maptales.com) that solves this problem a lot better then the standard google map. It is meant people documenting their tours, adventures etc.

Here is an example: http://roadtheater.org/
They are editing their Story on our site and can embed it in theirs.

There will be many new features (Groups, Maps etc) coming next month when we release the 1.0 version. So stay tuned.

cheerz,

phil

Going to America - kaczynski

kaczynski — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 23:58:44 +01:00

Adri, when you meet with the facebook people remind them about making cafebabel.com a network on facebook!!

Good luck in the States.

I wasn't selected for the Marshall Memorial Fellowship I was nominated for this year. It sucks.