Eiblog EN

Travel to Vietnam and Cambodia, visiting the most relevant places in Vietnam for 15 days, and then we spent another 3 days in Angkor Wat Temples in Cambodia. It was not the best period of the year to go (August - September), but weather was not as rainy as we expected (but very hot and humid).

Places that were a must see in Vietnam, like Sa Pa, a great valley wit lots or rice crops and villages of Mong. ethnic group. Similarly, Asimismo Ha Long Bay, in process ob being declared a natural world wonder. Nice towns like Ha Noi, with its crowd of people and motorcycles, Hue and Hoi An, with their landscapes and temples. Mekong Delta, the third largest river in the world, full of  vegetation and people living along the the thousand delta "waterways" and channels.

Of course, Cambodia and Angkor Temples, and World Heritage site. The largest religious temple in the world now days, inside kilometers and kilometers of exceptionally well preserved ancient buildings, some of them invaded by voluptuous vegetation.

 

Hue

Hoi An / Saigon /  Mekong Delta

CAMBODIA
Angkor Wat

Angkor Tom (Bayon)

Ta Prohm

During 2004, International Space Telescompe focused its lenses to a tiny piece of sky, a piece of hardly the srelative size of a moon crater, something like looking at the saky through a straw. That sky region, at Fornax constellation, looks like a black void, like there was nothing on it.

After the observation finished, the result was the called Hubble Ultra Deep Field, the farthest portrait, and at the same time the oldest image of the known universe. On such sky region appeared thousands of galaxies, some of them (the most redded ones), were at about 13 billion light years. That is, they developed "only" 800 million years after the estimated date of universe creation. The light generated by those galaxies that we can see took 13 billion years to reach our planet.

To date, this is the oldest and farthest image of our universe, taking into account that the visible distance or "depth" depends on the time light takes to reach our planet, at a speed of 300.000 Km/second. It’s just imazing and unimaginable notice the vastity for our universe when using "human" scale. It is fascinating to see what hides beyond a small region of sky, such a cuantity and richness of objets.

May be that with the future space telescope James Webb, deep sky snapshots will reach nhigher distance and accuracy. allowing to improve the research and demonstration of the different hypothesis about how could our universe start.

 (More information and pictures on Hubblesite)

This interesting documentary movie shows a quiet fact the menaces the future of food production and earth biodiversity. Using the falacy of biotechnology sand genetically altered food solving hunger problem in the world, big international companies, as the paradigm of Monsanto, these companies are trying to stockpile seeds market. They are "patenting live", altering any milenary crops to appropriate them, and suing every farmer that accidentally finds his fields contaminated by their transgenic patents. These companies and the current production system are reducing the diversity of grown species, promoting "mono-farming", just growing a few species of food primary products. Decreasing variability, crops become more vulnerable to plagues and sickness, and this obliges to use chemical products to combat them, products that the same companies control as well. What’s more, these companies are devolping technologys like "Terminator", crops that "suicide" themselves on every season, producing sterile seeds, so farmers can not reuse their own seeds for next season, becoming "slaves" of seeds companies.

In addition, they are preventing the labeling of products containing genetically altered sources, in order to be able to distinguish these products from those not containing them. They do this, not only to avoid any impact on sales due to the (justified) concern about this products, but also to prevent any chance of trace the possible adverse effects of their products on people’s health, like alergies, indigestion, so nobody can connect any side effect with these transgenic products.

And what’s more, they are not putting and end to world hunger, but they are damaging subsistence farmers, because they are pushing transgenic seeds to make them even cheaper than those obtained on their own countries. This way they are depriving farmers of their milenary legacy of improvements and adaptations obtained after generations of crops, making them slaves of genetically altered varieties, that are showing less adaptation and resistance, and in some occasions are providing decreased crops compared to native seeds.

This is a worrying reality taking place in front of us, and in order to change it, it is necessary to demand that international companies as well as economic force cannot be over consumers and farmers rights. People’s health cannot face any risk for this reason. Goverments are becoming accomplice ofo this situation as they do not legislate properly to protect citizens. So to face this  reality, we should promote consuming non-altered products and enforce the labeling of transgenic ones. Biological grown products, not genetically altered are those obtained after generations of evolution and improvements, which has shown over centuries that are safe and healthy, and they do not pose moral issues.

The Future Of Food Trailer in Quicktime format.

Full Movie in Google Video (Spanish): El Futuro de la comida

Read more about Food Sovereignty here.

Trip to Delhi and Petra in India and Jordan respectively, in a flash holidays after work. Just 2 days and a half in India, visiting New Delhi, with Red Fort, and also the awesome tombs of Humayun and Safdarjung. Also a must see Agra, a one day tour to see the wander of Taj Majal, as well as the impressive Agra Fort.

After three eshausting days, we returned and transit in Jordan (Amman) to visit the city (nothing to see), and then the mandatory one day tour to Petra, and monument city built by nabateans  around year 300 B.C. The city was sculpted on the sandy rock, and it looks almost a miracle such result. A few hours are required to fully enjoy all the temples and relieves offered by Petra.

In hardly 5 days, 2 humanity world wonders, of those 7 "new" wonders now days.

NEW DELHI
Red Fort

 

 Delhi Tombs

 

Taj Majal

 

Agra Fort

 

JORDAN

Amman

 

PETRA

In my modest opinion, fascinating.

It is so healty to relativize the pleace we have in our planet, observing this animation that explains itself, the Earth size in comparison to the rest of the Solar System and catalogued stars in the universe. It is really hard not to get lost in the immensity after a few images, and it is almost impossible to assume the size of the biggest star detected at these days, comparing the relative magnitudes we are used to deal with.

The whole sequence:

Full size image

Just a single daily click on The Animal Rescue Site provides funds to feed lost or abandoned animals in shelters, while they wait before someone can find a home for them. Every click gives 0.6 bowls of food for rescued animales. Such a quick and easy way to support helpless beings. You can add this website to your bookmarks, or set is as your home page, so you do not forget to click daily.

Example of holidays visiting Croatia by rented car, starting from Venice, and taking the change to visit some places in Slovenia as well on our way to Croatia. It was a 14 days journey, sleeping in comfortable aparments in Croatia, and in bungalows in Venice and Slovenia.

In Croatia accomodation is very cheap and the offer is almost infinite, it must be the place with the greates number of pensions and apartments available. Despite the great interest of people on Croatia’s beaches (that are not of sand but of stones / concrete with stairs) and sunny weather, it offers many other places to visit: coast villages and towns, national parks, etc.

Although being very common to take a Ferry to visit the islands, we did not miss them, as they are usually drier than  the continent. In addition, it is possible to visit one of the islands (Krk) aht north part through a toll bridge.

 

Slovenia: Postojna Caves / Predjama Castle

 

Skofja Loka / Bled / Begunje Castle

 

Lubjliana

 

  Kostanjevica na Kri / Zagreb (Croatia)

 

National Park of Plitvice Lakes / Zadar

 

National Park of Krka / Sibenik / Primosten

 

Split / Soliln / Trogir

 

Dubrovnik

 

Ston / Makarska

 
Omisalj / Krk island

 

 

 

Finally, coming back to Venice from Croatia, we continued to Padova, to visit famous Church of San Antonio.

A few years ago I saw a documentary explaining the effects of methane leaking from the poles and the devasting consequences that they may have. I thought that I would unlikely live to see such an incredible  phenomenon, but "unfortunately", I lived to see it: almost unnoticed this event has been shown on media: Big methane leaks detected on the Arctic by Russian ship. Such gas escapes, are a predicted effect in the "The Clathrate Gun Hypothesis". If this theory comes true, the consequence would be a global warming speed up, as methane inside on arctic permafrost is much more powerful than CO2 on greenhouse effect.

What’s more, the vicious circle in which the Earth climate would enter would be dramatic: global warming caused by human CO2 emissions provokes abnormal and fast ice melting from the poles; methane catched hundreds thousands of years ago leaks from poles permafrost; the greenhouse effect provoked by human CO2 is speeded up by the more powerful methane, increasing the ice melting and the methane leaking.

Of course, life on Earth will survive despite the dramatic and sudden changes: many species will adapt (although most of the species we know will not resist and become extincted). However we seem to cointinue ignoring the dramatic consequences and the global crisis for human living that will come when the great increase of Earth temperature decreases Eart’s capacity to support life and provide food.

Respect for animals, as sensitive beings that deserve not to continue being treated as simple products that we consume, or useful providers of raw materials, is just mandatory and urgent fact. If we want to live our lives in a true balance between ourselves and the world we live in, sharing the room and resources with other living sensitive creatures we must stop abusing of our priviledge position, provided by our great "practical" inteligence. However other creatures are not so inteligent, they are absolutly able to have feelings like, fear, pain, happines, peace, etc.

This is why I am so surprised, and at the same time outraged to find the Universal Declaration of Animal Rights, a text from 1978 that loudly proclaims that the rest of animals, all those non-human animals, have a set of minimum rights that we must respect and preserve, a rights that, since human beings acquired the concience and technical capacity to really be able to truly respect them, have been in return ridden roughshod over with such a lack of decency that have degraded our humanity so much. Instead of developing this rights, the level of exploitation and degradation over the animals that surround us has reached an infamous technical and moral perfection.

TEXT OF THE DECLARATION

Considering that Life is one, all living beings having a common origin and having diversified in the course of the evolution of the species, - Considering that all living beings possess natural rights, and that any animal with a nervous system has specific rights,

Considering that the contempt for, and even the simple ignorance of, these natural rights, cause serious damage to Nature and lead men to commit crimes against animals,

Considering that the coexistence of species implies a recognition by the human species of the right of other animal species to live,

Considering that the respect of animals by humans is inseparable from the respect of men for each other,

It is hereby proclaimed that:

Article 1

All animals have equal rights to exist within the context of biological equilibrium. This equality of rights does not overshadow the diversity of species and of individuals.

Article 2

All animal life has the right to be respected.

Article 3

1°- Animals must not be subjected to bad treatments or to cruel acts.

2°- If it is necessary to kill an animal, it must be instantaneous, painless and cause no apprehension.

3°- A dead animal must be treated with decency.

Article 4

1°- Wild animals have the right to live and to reproduce in freedom in their own natural environment.

2°- The prolonged deprivation of the freedom of wild animals, hunting and fishing practised as a pastime, as well as any use of wild animals for reasons that are not vital, are contrary to this fundamental right.

Article 5

1°- Any animal which is dependent on man has the right to proper sustenance and care.

2°- It must under no circumstances be abandoned or killed unjustifiably.

3°- All forms of breeding and uses of the animal must respect the physiology and behaviour specific to the species.

4°- Exhibitions, shows and films involving animals must also respect their dignity and must not include any violence whatsoever.

Article 6

1°- Experiments on animals entailing physical or psychological suffering violate the rights of animals.

2°-Replacement methods must be developed and systematically implemented.

Article 7

Any act unnecessary involving the death of an animal, and any decision leading to such an act, constitute a crime against life.

Article 8

1°- Any act compromising the survival of a wild species and any decision leading to such an act are tantamount to genocide, that is to say, a crime against the species.

2°- The massacre of wild animals, and the pollution and destruction of biotopes are acts of genocide.

Article 9

1°- The specific legal status of animals and their rights must be recognised by law.

2°- The protection and safety of animals must be represented at the level of Governmental organizations.

Article 10

Educational and schooling authorities must ensure that citizens learn from childhood to observe, understand and respect animals.

The Universal Declaration of Animal Rights was solemnly proclaimed in Paris on 15 October 1978 at the UNESCO headquarters.

The text, revised by the International League of Animal Rights in 1989, was submitted to the UNESCO Director General in 1990 and made public that same year.

¿How is it possible that this Declaration has been forgotten and buried on every political action, as well as from colective conscience and opinion? It is clear that the education we have received generation after generation, besides the anthropocentrism supported by greatest religions, together with terrific economic forces strongly established, all of them have been able to make us ignore or forget the consequences of a great part of many of our daily actions, preventing us from knowing there is an alternative for them.

We have been grown from traditions, customs more or less deeply-rooted. However, human beings are flexible not only to be able to change their environment, but to change and redefine ourselves, evolving to superior states of conscience and thinking. This permanent seach keeps us constantly changing (it is supposed that our quest flooks for an improvement, or at least exploring the unkown). Why can’t we change are current animal exploitation habits and eradicate them of our existence? If someone told us that another worls is possible, and more respectful one, and world with less suffering caused by us, what would we do? Wouldn’t we try to contribute, or at least stop supporting a harmful way of life? Would’t we try to reconsider our certaintites about our feeding, our education and the consequences of such habitual and normalized acts that nobody would ever think much about them?

What would we think if we were said that there are alternatives for feeding ourselves with animals, dress you up using animals, have fun on animals, experiment with animals? What if one day someone told us that it is possible to feed ourselves tastily and healthily with no animal products, if we were said that we can dress with siynthetic  fabrics without having to exploit other innocent animals, what it we were said that having fun  of a  caged animal, of a forced animal, is just have fun thanks to the humilliation of suffering of  sensitive beings that wish freedom over anything else? What if someone told us that we can supress animal experiments thanks to cell farming and computer models…and if we met people on our way that knew and practice all this truths for decades, would we honestly believe it, would we understand it and not prejudge it?

Since the first phases of our education, we are taught the necessary principles in order  to later on normalize animal massive exploitation and death feeling no conflict in our conscience. After  that process, the most horrifying and touching aspects and details of  our daily habits are hidden, snatched so we can not  be socked, or just think about them.

Knowledge is power, so if we are denied any aspect of reality, we are being deprived of the possibility to choose, we are becoming "slaves" of a partial reality that only favors specific interests based on exploitation and death of other that cannot defend themselves, preventing us from being aware of our acts’ consequences.

Lucky that many people and organizations are not willing to accept this situation and try to make us aware that  there are other truths and many things we don’t know about our feeding or dressing habits. I think that one cannot not feel free unless his is properly informed in order to make a decision:

EARTHLINGS, is a documentary movie narrated by actor Joaquin Phoenix, that exposes in a calm and accurate way many of the truths we are denied (or on which we perhaps close our eyes no to face them), about our  relation with non-human animals now days. Everybody has the right to choose his own values and principles, but to do it accurately, it is mandatory to have enough information about the world we live in. From that point on, we can choose between closing our eyes and continue as usual, or try to go into facts in depth.

Anyway, whatever our moral values we choose and wherever we decide to do on our relationship with the world, it is not a matter of opinion that:

Any moral position that, providing well-being for someone, at the same time respects as much as possible the rest of sensitive creatures, always choosing the alternatives that less harm other sensitive and aware creatures, that moral position will allways be superior to any other moral option: Showing no sensibility at the terrifying destiny of millions of creatures, with just no argument but our own pleasure, or just ignorance or laziness does not make humans deserve the power and inteligence they wave abusing of it.

May be some of you have been thinking for some time about topics like the sustainable development and economic growth, or which is the cornerstone of our current economic system, etc.

Perhaps some of you also believe that our economic system is totally unsustainable, and it is just a question of time that it collapses and swallow itself, with so harmful consequences for all of us.

Actually our economic model is not sustainable, one does not need to be really clever to notice it, I think the only question left to raise is: When? When will the system reach a definitive crisis? Will we be able to see the great danger over us and will we act accordingly developing the necessary measures and using the resources we have to revert this unstoppable process that will bring us such only destruction, hunger, war, death?

This great video will help you understand how the economic system we live with works. As it is shown here, the end of such system seems to be nearer and nearer.

It is possible to have a free version for your mobile phone of the Wikipedia offline in ebook format, so you can access it at any time from your phone, as well as from other portable devices. It is very useful to have a pocket encyclopaedia to have the chance of making a quick search at any time, and with no associated internet navigation cost.

This wikipedia version was compressed using a snapshot with all the articles up to july 2008. It is a text version with hyperlinks. It does not contain images due to the great size of resulting files.

The selected format for compression is Mobipocket ebook, a free electronic book reader, (however ebooks from their site are protected and limited by DRM). The Wikipedia remains free to use and distribute despite so.

HOW TO INSTALL THE WIKIPEDIA IN YOUR MOBILE PHONE

• Download the electronic books reader specific for your mobile device from Mobipocket. (Y tested a Symbian S60 3rd Generation simple device: Nokia 6120 Classic).
• If you cannot find your device at Mobipocket, you can try to install it using the desktop version de Mobipocket. You can also try to use a Java version for non-symbian phones.
• Download for example Wikipedia spanish compressed (570 MB format tgz) thanks to the efforts of Project German WPMP.
  Decompress the file with Winzip until you extract the 18 files with PRC extension (Palm Resource File).
• Create a folder on your device memory card called ebooks and copy the files to that location.

• Once installed, open eBook index file (wpes) to access the articles search engine. 

The Wikipedia is also available in other languages:

- German (1,2 GB)

- French (1 GB)

- Italian (640 MB)

- Portuguese (244 MB)

- Dutch (509 MB)

- Japanese (669 MB)

- The english version has just been released, however it is of more than 4 GB size.

It has just been released a wikipedia ebook version in Catalán (128 MB).

ALTERNATIVES: There’s also another reader that provides mobile Wikipedia as eBook called Tomeraider, however the reader is not free, and it does not provide a compatible version for Symbian phones like my Nokia 6120c.

Two of the most simple, entertaining and addictive games in a long time…

Bloxorz is a simple blocks game, so addictive that you will get glued to your seat, thanks to it simplicity and the mind challenge associated to it..

Boomshine is a relaxing, simple and entertaining game. The music, one of the best parts.

Thanks Bichín, thanks for making our lives more joyful, for making us become better people, for teaching us that it is possible to love until feeling exhausted a creature of hardly half a kilo weight. Thanks for showing us that love for animals can be as big or more than the one we profess for human beings (animals as well at the end).

Bicho was a 4 years old ferret. With less than a year, he caught a "queratitis"  in one eye, probably due to the many bumps during his frequent play times. Ferrets have not very good sight, they live in burrows, so loosing the sight in one eye was never a big problem for him.

When he was 2 years old, he had a very serious health problem that made him stop feeding himself, reaching a point in which we became afraid for his life.

Despite all our efforts and of the veterinarians, this unknown illness did not completely heal. Even so, Bicho recovered almost completely, but he stopped feeding by himself as usually.

For more than a year we fed him with raw egg using a syringe several times a day, and he regain a great part of his vitality. He continued giving us adorable moments, always willing to "ferret" by every corner, have a walk in the country, or hide a piece of food. But watermelon, he never lost the occasion for a pice, even until his last breathe he found the strenght to have a mouthful of some watermelon pieces, he took with himself a tasty and refreshing sensation with him.

He left us yesterday. He left in peace, almosth without being aware, although he was trying to tell us that somehow he knew the end was near, without understanding what was happening to him and why. We took him to the veterinarian a week ago, and told us that his condition was seriously worrying. He had some red spots all around his small body (bad coagulation due to lack of platelets), caused by a terrible anemia, and he had lost some hair in his tail and part of the body. However, he  proudly kept great part of his vitality, diminished since a few years ago. His old sickness seemed to be reemerging with atrocious voracity, devouring his sweet little body. The day before, we took him for a blood transfussion of another ferret (many people offered their ferrets as blood donors, we will never be able to thank them enough for it), with the uncertain hope that bicho could recover part of his health and keep on fighting, while the veterinarians tried to find out the cause of his inexorable deterioration.

The day after the transfusion he started to deteriorate dramatically fast, he could hardly stand up to take care of his basic necesities, almost unable to do his bussiness by himself. The transfusion did not have the expected effect, he was so weak that it has speed up the course of events.

Already with almost no hope, we continued giving him his medication. Her partner, practically mother, Raquel, the one who brought him to my life (never able to thank her enough for it), was with him every moment, helping him to do his basic necessities as he hardly could do them himself, washing him and caring him with no end, until at 4:00 AM Bicho decided, it was enough. He was always very bright, and stubborn, and because of it, and despite of it he did not wanted to make us suffer any more, and so he left with his last breath. Tears flooded over his precious body, already calm, in peace. We would have given anything to have him among us a little bit longer, an infinite instant, but he made the most wise decision.

We buried him surrounded by flowers and that he liked most, currants and a few piceces of watermelon. Currently other flowers grow over him, who generous offers himself to them so they grow splendid.

Our loved Bicho has not left without course, but his is on his way to the rainbow, where all ferrets find shelter after they leave us, so they can be completely themselves, do everything their own way and bite lovingly one another as they like, as we show them not to do with us. Wherever you see  the rainbow, Bicho will be there. We will not hear again your jingle bell,  that was always a happy announcement of you kindly asking for a little bit of attention, and maybe a piece of fruit, and  pampering, tons of pampering. How loving you were, you had a heart greater that all your body.

Thanks Bicho for showing us a priceless lesson, the lesson of  love to other animals, the joy of giving everything for a creatures so similar to us, although some refuse to admit it. Inteligent creatures,  grateful, that give us so much demanding almost nothing, but the more we give them, the more they give us in return, multiplied by 100.

How will we be able to thank you for showing us the value of sacrifice made with great joy, for giving us a reason to carry on, destroying our egoism. Thansk for making us more human, and better people, for teaching us that happiness is inside us, but needs to go outside and impregnate other creatures in order to grow and develope, for showing us that it is possible to love all non human animals far beyond what is measurable or rational. We wish wherever your are there are big watermelons estensions and chocolate houses, that you can  eat with no care. You don’t already need us, you have been happy through adversity, we know it because you made us so happy as well.

We will remember you for ever.

Abel and Raquel

These could be the Golden Rules (unofficial) of the Ensemble music…

Here you can find one of the songs of  Knocking on Feelings, my group, called "Strength in You", a mambo performance using a Korg N364 keyboard like the one below.

You can find the rest of the songs and albums at Knocking on Feelings website.

Recommended itinerary for a two weeks travel to Poland, and country worthy to visit for its beautiful cities and natural parks, even with its changing and rainy weather. Starting with a two days visit to Berlin, you are at only 130 Km from Poland border. From there in about 15 days (2 in Berlin and 13 in Poland, at a good pace, sleeping in bed&breakfast style hostels). This way it is possible to see all the placed detailed below. Special recomendation for Nathan’s Villa Hostels, in Warszawa and specially in Krakow, with top quality/price/services relationship, and a warm international atmosphere..

A pity we did not have one or two weeks more, to complete this Poland trip with beatutiful cities and laces like Zakopane, Zamosc, Białowieża National Park, Mazurian lakes, etc, about 1000 Km more. Perhaps next time…

Itinerary by car: Berlin - Poland - Berlin:

Berlin

Swidnica

Zamek Ksiaz:

 Klodzko:

Gori Stolowich:

 Wroklaw (old Breslau)

Auswitch - Birkenau

 Krakow

 Wielizcka Mines:

Warszawa 

Torun:

Malbork:

Gdansk (old Danzig)

Miedzyzdroje 

Wolinski Natural Park:

Szczecin:

When we think of computing, we assume that digital information is the paradigm of technological perfection, in comparison to old analog devices, in which the information degrades along the time. This is not correct, and in some cases far from the truth. We trend to consider the digital technology as the most accurate way to transmit, store and reproduce any kind of information, and take for granted that the analog information is inconsistent.

Regarding the degradation of the information that occurs in magnetic tapes or audio vinyl, it is only on account of physical reasons. The magnetic heads steal some of the information of the tape every time they play it, and the record player needle erodes the disc surface. The point is that the information stored in them is in principle very good, it is realistic and natural (although not free of some imperfections). With digital media, the information doesn’t degrade by continuous playback, but the material in which the information is stored can degrade itself, and much earlier than its supposed lifetime, beginning showing some defects. What’s more, digital information always seems to be coldly perfect, unnatural:

Everything we perceive is analog information, a continuous signal detected by our senses and processed by our brain. However, digital information is not continuous, it is a binary representation of the information. For example, when we listen to music from a CD, the digital information must be converted to analog signal the loudspeaker can play and we can perceive.

When we store information using analog devices, as audio tapes, cinema, they record the information in a continuous way, and the limitations come from the ability of the media material to pickup all the information contained in the signal. The analog problems are associated with the progressive wear of the media as we play it. However, the analog signal can be as good as digital information, and somehow always seems to be more realistic and natural.

When we store digital information, we must convert it to bits, concrete units. The problems come when we have to decide how many bits we will use to capture the signal information. For example, if we decide to use 1 bit to store colour information, we will only be able to represent 21 colours, that is, black and white. If we use 8 bits, we will be able to represent 28 colours, that is 256 colours. As the human eye can perceive about two million colours, this is perceived by us as defective or inaccurate information. Anyway, we can decide to use 32 bits and represent 16 million colours, but, is everything we see only colours?, what about hue, brightness, etc?. Apart from the ability of the monitor to show the binary colours once they are converted into analog information. So, digital information is not necessarily perfect.

In addition, if we try to store information along the time, like music or movies, apart from the number of bytes to store the information, we will have to decide how many snapshots of the analog signal we will take per time unit. This is also known as sample rate. A sample is a digital image of the analog information occurred in a single moment. So, depending on the number of digital “snapshots” that we take per time unit, the information will be more or less accurate, although it will never be equal to the original signal (that would need a infinite number of samples).But one of the most important problems comes from the D/A and A/D conversion. The devices that convert analog information to digital signals are far from being perfect. They are machines, so they are limited by their construction and the quality of their materials. So, they are actually unable to capture all the available information. For example, a picture is not only its colours, there are other vaguer factors, like brightness, contrast, saturation, hue, angle, etc. that are very hard to accurately summarize as digital 0’s and 1’s. The first problem is that we may lack of the technology  capable of detecting such subtle information.

    The second problem is that, even in case we had such technology, storing the information in the necessary detailed way as to reach our senses’ precision would need a huge amount of bytes, and therefore a big storage media, extremely expensive. Examples are the Audio CD and DVD. They have no capacity to store all the information our ears or eyes can detect, but they can accommodate enough data to make us feel that the music and video are of a “very good” quality.
Another problem is the D/A (digital to analog conversion). When we capture digital information, we break a continuous signal into small pieces. However, in order to output that information to the analog form we can perceive, a digital-analog converter must rebuild the digital pieces to create a continuous signal, that will never be equal to the original. Besides that the conversion must be done in real time, so there has to be a balance between the necessary accuracy rebuilding the digital signal and the necessity to output the information quickly enough, or handle the contingency of any error during the conversion.

Because the digital transmission is a weight of errors. Every digital circuit must have an error correction module aside: It is very easy to get a 0 instead of a 1 and vice versa. This must be at least detected, so the bit can be sent again, or even repaired by guessing which was the signal sent. The digital and analog conversion is full of errors, not so much that the information is broken, but enough to cause a perceivable distortion (the quality of the converter and its components is critical). Then, the error correction circuits work by detecting the error, and requesting again the information (something usually impossible), or replacing the incorrect bits with the most likely ones, creating a simulation of the real information.

So, we can see that digital information is more a trick to our senses than perfect information. It’s like cinema, in which we are not watching a continuous film, but about 30 photos a second, creating the impression of motion pictures. The digital information tries to reach the threshold from which our senses cannot detect the sample rate, or the digital accuracy of 0’s and 1’s used. However, reaching that threshold has proved to be more difficult that it seemed. Our senses are extremely precise and perceive a wide range of information, and be able to trick them requires a great technology and knowledge we haven’t acquired by now. The best example of this challenge is a digital movie. It is relatively easy to distinguish between a conventional movie and a digital one. We can even detect any digital image added to a conventional movie. “That is made by computer”, is the typical comment.

The day we can’t detect the trick, we will be able to say that digital technology has reached the goal. That is, we can consider digital information perfect when we can’t detect its imperfect nature.