A while ago I wrote here about Sophie. The little heart sick girl needed surgery.

Now Sophie is the cute little daughter of my online friend Colleen and her husband Mike living at Toronto, Canada.
Being over actually it was for sure a ‘must do’ to catch up with all of them and finally today we did.

What shall I say …. it was just great. You know each other for years already. And it’s just about you never have catched up in person before.

I do know this very special moment when you finally do and as all the times before I enjoyed it very much.

There was not at least a bit of feeling strange or questionable! We saw and did understand us right from the first second.
Such reliable friendships lasting over years have brought together matching friends and a final personal catch up is just the last step in a long history and way you have already traveled through time together.

But now back to Sophie … she has gone through all that surgery stuff very well and …. she’s a real cuty!!
(I’m nearly jealous ……)

Recently on monday Microsoft announced that they will make effort locking down noticeable software license keys.
Nothing to say about that. They write software and want to sell it ….

But tell me! What is a noticeable software license key? They on I bought with and found  on my old notebook?

Sure it is a nice and helpfully arrangement new systems today are bundled and offered with some valid OS license key keeping costs low and giving me the feeling I’m doing right. But what about the system gets old and I buy a new one and don’t like the new burning software on it and rather would prefer going on to use the older one I’m used to used from my prior hardware?

What about the old hardware is still functional and working and I’m going to sell it on eBay?

Sure the license keys will go with the hardware, but what about the changing owner? Will this new owner then have such a noticeable software license key?

I really do understand Microsoft and other companies. But isn’t the problem also forced by them and there more than archaic licencing modells?

Today in times of fast broadband internet connections you of don’t even get an installation medium. You download the software and request a valid serial key online easy paid by paypal or credit card.

Where the hell there is a problem to found something similar than the internet domain registration services to buy and administer your license keys online? Even perhaps on some time limited base?

Sometimes I don’t need the whole cake for ever. What about buying a Creative Studio or Office license for a quarter of a year with the option to get a cheap and easy renewing?

In my eyes it is about time for those big software companies to think about new and creative licencing modells.

Just my 5ct on that!

Generally being much into friendship I’m on the other side aware that I might not always be a really easy friend to deal with though.

People often do call someone a friend right a few minutes after they have become familiar with each other first. That is not really my thing for sure and it needs far way more for me being able to call someone a friend and meaning it …. not just using the word to appear friendly.

Sure this is often some cultural and very more often some individual question how to deal with that. But often even thinking about someone as friendly or congenially, I keep some distance. Friendship has to grow, it has to be mutual … and finally it has to fit!!!

Sure this is not difficult and often works out with people you know in person and especially with people you met again and again on a regular basis

But how can this work out with online friendships?

To be honest I don’t know … it just happens. In fact I run a few online friendships since years. And also given the fact there is no easy catching up with them next saturday,  there is not much of a difference in them. Constant work it is anyway … working on that friendship I mean.

Yesterday now I had an interesting discussion with some online friend of me regarding to openness and the general ability to share things which each other. Being able to tell things to someone you’ve never met before! And curiously we both agreed about we do often share more with each other than with other friends living close by.

Thinking about it now, I get the impression about that is some inherit requirement of "online" friendship to do and finally making them possible first. Now in fact I’ve never ever met this friend before in person. Nontheless I know that much about my friend that I often know her answer in advance before typed ….. strange! Isn’t it?