I’ve been online on some network or other since I was 14, usually as Iphigenie. It’s almost my middle name now. I am also know as Zenaide, Azzurre, Superiphi and Ifigenia when Iphigenie is already taken or doesnt match the context.

I’m a web witch turned bossy exec… Not only do I practically live online, I work there too! I have worked as a web producer-project manager-senior architect-business analyst-technical sales-tech support-developer-sysadmin…. you name it, I’ve done it! Until recently I was a director in an 20 man internet company which I spent the last 4 years building - but I have just recently decided to move on, to get out before it totally cannibalised me. There are a lot of stories to tell here, of mistakes, successes, loyalty and betrayal. I have learned a lot, some of it painful. I am now the CTO in a b2b media company, working on the transition to online-centric, and involved in startup around vertical search.

I’m a social animal. I love meeting people, and hanging out with people. I think in an ideal world I’d love living in a huge house full of people, bohemian style, if that still existed… I wish I spoke a few more languages and always mean to learn another. Maybe I should take the time… I believe everyone is fascinating, except maybe people who are so full of themselves there’s no place to communicate anymore.

I’m endlessly curious. I like exploring, from little known places to independent music, alternative films, small publishers… This carries over to the computer where I have a keen interest in shareware, independent games, alternative websites and communities.

Key hobbies: trying things out or generally wasting time on a computer. bookoholic, film buff, an amateur photographer, a mountain climber and hiker (with the camera!). Dabble in arts and crafts now and then with no illusion.

I’m a free thinker… although most of the time I shut up, and so far there has not been much “soapboxing” on this blog

I am an atheist but I still believe a few things (in no particular order, what I could think of just now)
* the wonder for life and the universe
* the value and dignity of people, at all ages and in all cultures
* the value of education, knowledge and skills, and that we need to try to excel and we need to try to help others develop and excel in what makes them feel fulfilled
* the value of imagination and creativity, and what it does for the human spirit and society
* the value of craft and skill, and a belief that they are undervalued in our day and age
* the value of originality and diversity, non comformism and challenging received ideas
* a belief that people can organise and take care of themselves if just given the space and opportunity (although that can take time)
* a strong rejection of the idea that injustice and inequality are a normal thing and that it would cost societe too dearly to do anything about it

One thing that strikes me over and over is how it takes so little to allow people to interact and empower themselves… and so little to treat them like numbers and shut them off. I believe that at some level people are able to empower themselves, organise themselves, but that a lot of things in modern life combine to try to keep up distracted, dizzy, upset about non-news that hide the real issues, manipulated and disenfranchised.
Now I dont mean there’s a conspiracy, I think it just happened over time… but this state of affairs does benefit a lot of people.

So yes, I get really annoyed at all these things in the world that try to prevent us from thinking for ourselves, feed us belief and opinion and trying to prevent us from questioning and applying critical thought… As a result I’m a bit of a debater and I like playing devil’s advocate, because no opinion is ever 100% right, and forcing people to clarify their thinking and justify their ideas is always good… I especially like challenging common platitudes, and received opinions, the kind of things people say without ever thinking about it, the thoughts we were “fed” to think.

And I get really wound up when I see all the things in the world today which seem to be dedicated to suppressing people’s curiosity and their ability to learn and question, create and think for themselves… all the messages out there dumbing people down, especially children and young people, telling us the world is too complicated for peons like us, leave it to the technocrats, culture is too high for normal people, leave it to the specialist… Well I am a technocrat and you know what, rocket science is not *that* complicated…

Regrouping
Get back in touch more with all these friends I lost contact with. So if you read this, get in touch
Revive hobbies and projects I have left behind when things got busy - photography, painting, hiking and a few others
Read the books I already have, play the games I own, listen again to all the music I have....

Refocusing
Get rid of clutter and useless things.
Stop wasting time - there are enough good things to get entertained with not to waste time on empty stuff.
Start doing the things I always want to do but never get around to - write a few more sites, for one, scan all my photos, and more

In October 2006, when my photography kit got stolen the first time, I wrote about wanting the K10D(or GX-10).
I even bought a film pentax camera and several zoom and prime lenses, since they would be reusable. That got stolen again, but I stuck with the plan. Snatched another MZ-M off ebay, and just one lens.

But FINALLY, in January 2008, I went out and bought a Samsung GX-10. A year and a few months later it was still a great camera and I still wanted it so I could finally justify doing it.

Expect more pictures soon!

Thankfully I learned this a while back, from a colleague back in 2000.

He regularly told us stories of some extravagant surprises he’d be planning for his mom or his dad (or both). When people remarked on this, he replied that you must do things like this for your family while you can, because one day they’re not able anymore and you don’t want regrets, you want great memories.

For all he turned out to be a selfish back stabbing liar in many things, in this he had his heart and priorities in the right place. And I am glad it inspired me to do some trips and other things with both my parents.

Things like that become particularly important right now after I have had a chaotic 2 weeks due to the biggest scare yet with my mother’s health. It doesn’t matter that you have known for years that there was an incurable, deadly illness - when suddenly things get dramatically worse overnight you are not ready. You think you have prepared yourself to let go, but there you are, all day in a waiting room in a hospital, giving DNR instructions and seeing someone you love barely conscious, with lots of tubes and surrounded by beeping monitors… and you just want to scream, cry, pound a wall…

The crisis is over for now but it will happen again, and I won’t be any more ready for it.

So go on, spoil your family while you can.

It can be taking them away for a weekend, or cook them a meal, or just spend more time with them at home, or do something nice and helpful like repaint their house or help in their garden…

It’s amazing what you leave behind, in the online world

While recently cleaning my mailbox I went through the “community” folder where I store all my registration emails from forums, websites etc.
I decided to start using some of these again, make the effort again… If you use any of them, hook up with me to keep me there!

using:
claimid - iphigenie - openid, validated identities, and it warns me if my key pages go offline.
friendfeed - iphigenie - summarises a few of the following, if people want to spy on me
librarything - iphigenie - always been there but started swapping messages and recommendations. 1500 books catalogued!
emusic - zenaide
last.fm - iphigenie - joined in 2006, used it for the first time today. Too bad it cant read my emusic lists :(
mybloglog - iphigenie - kind of a network of bloggers within yahoo
diigo - iphigenie - nice bookmark and notes sharing service. works in opera.
spurl - iphigenie - another one, not as funky as diigo in the web2.0 department but better on the management of bookmarks side. Also pre-tags your bookmarks if the site is already known, and adds pretty screenshots. Great import/export too. I mostly use this and diigo for stuff I want to find later (like from work to home) rather than something really worth looking at, but who knows?
my.opera - iphigenie

trying:
notefish.com - I had quite a few pages in there!
flickr - superiphi -the ole image thing. a bit ugly.
twitter - iphigenie - who knows, maybe one liners interest someone
pownce - iphigenie - a bit like twitter but prettier, more private, and i already have friends there
facebook - bored of it but some real people use it
delicious / magnolia / yahoo bookmarks / simpy - alternatives to diigo/spurl/linkagogo which i already use
horsesmouth - must make the effort for that one
livejournal / wordpress - maybe ill actually post somethng there, all those things that dont fit here

not sure:
wincustomise.org / deviantart / photo.net - if i ever get the guts to post something on any of these :S
smugmug - iphigenie - very nice but not cheap, and i only uploaded like 6 pics. Like it better than zenfolio, which i also tried. Even though zenfolio galleries are faster to browse, a huge advantage
chow - http://www.chow.com/profile/163243 - foodie site
explode - cant remember doing anything on it and i have 2 unknowns as friends??
slashdot - been a member since 2000, cant be bothered to sift through the mess
webshots - been a member since 2000, never done anything. Have a 10’000 images quota so really should try it
whynot - totally forgotten about that one! Must check it out again
gather - not sure i want to sift. same problem with digg, newsvine and others
technorati / digg - cant seem to bother

a good dozen or more gaming community sites, about 20 technical/development sites, i’ll list them later
and a huge list of forums I stopped visiting, through no fault of their own

It’s incredible all we leave behind and forget, it’s 10 times worse on the web than in real life