hooray for Apple Bits
Well, a week without blogging- yes, I’m still alive, but my computer very almost wasn’t. I had to take it into the shop, (hooray Apple Bits in Oakleigh!) where, under threat of serious repair people poking around with it, my computer decided to behave itself and work properly. Hooray!
In other news, it’s going to be cold and miserable tomorrow. However, this will be bearable since my red ipod nano finally arrived! This is after three missed deliveries (the first one my fault, the other two TNT’s fault), countless phone calls and hours of sitting around waiting. Thanks to Anne C, who was dedicated enough to keep an eye on my parcel and make sure it was delivered. Thanks to Anne, TNT hasn’t been completely written off my list of companies to deal with.
end of blog post…
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how I use facebook
Chris Brogan says that there are too many things he wants to blog about, so he posted a list of 100 Blog Topics I Hope YOU Write – this is one of them. (Found via Josh’s blog.)
What is facebook?
Facebook is a social network. Ha. Ok, so what is it really? Facebook is a web site that lets you maintain a profile of yourself, viewable to who you choose- your friends. You can see your friend’s profiles, and see what they’re doing and keep in touch with them. The idea comes from facebooks used in US colleges. They are directories of names and faces, often distributed to students so they can get to know each other better. This is that, just in online format.
Messages can be exchanged, photos can be shared, events can be publicised, personal tastes in movies, beliefs and politics can be shared, birthdays brought to your attention, and much more.
The reason why it’s there: no, not just out of the goodness of the developer’s heart- facebook pulls a pretty penny from the advertising displayed (tastefully and unobtrusively) on it’s pages. But hey, I don’t have to pay for it, and it is definitely an interesting business model- it can be hard to effectively make money off the internet.
My facebook habits
I generally log in at least every week, if not every other day. I have a look at the news feed, which tells you the status of people who have recently updated that, new friendships made, photographs added, messages and more. If there is anything exciting, I’ll go and have a look at that, and after that I probably log off and do something else.
Features I really love in facebook
The personal contact- writing on people’s walls. Being able to send messages to people- these are not epic length- save that for email. These short messages are kind of like a time delayed instant message conversation. I really like this feature because I am hardly ever online on IM when my friends in different time zones are- unless we are keeping strange hours. I love that I can keep up with people that I otherwise would lose contact with. In fact, it was a bit odd that people I know locally are signing up to facebook- required some mental adjustments!
I also like the status feature- it allows you say how you’re going or what you’re doing. It’s a bit like twitter. (You can look that up yourselves.)
The changing face of facebook
Facebook used to be a place to catch up with friends, talk about common interests in the ‘groups’ and share a bit of your real life online with your friends. This changed with the advent of Applications. These little programs can be fun, handy or down right annoying. Of course, they are annoying because not everyone agrees on the definitions of “fun” and “annoying” are. The annoying part comes from “invitations” to use a specific application, which you really aren’t interested in using. Paul Stamatiou illustrates this point well.
I concede that applications aren’t all bad, but I wish there was a way to block invites and news feed items from applications that you choose to block.
Possible Problems with facebook
Facebook is there to make money. This may lead them to use information about you (such as your favourite movies) to target advertising, or sell the information as market research to some company. There is a potential for privacy issues- however your information is only available to those you let- your friends, etc. Care does have to be taken though.
Scary identity theft fears aside, facebook has a huge potential to be a time sink- procrastinators beware. You can read many humourous things, look at photos of your friends, write messages to people (either privately or on their ‘wall’) and generally surf around chewing up time. You can also be addicted to social networks, and facebook is no different.
facebook: yay or nay?
I would say yay. Like anything else in the world, it’s not completely “idiot-proof”, meaning that some care is required, you have to use it sensibly and keep your brain on “on”. Yes, there are some concerns, but overall I feel that it is a safe network as long as the user is safe. Just don’t fritter away the time you should be finishing your essay reading the messages in a hilarious group- but that is down to your own personal control, not facebook’s fault. 
Some more resources:
- facebook The site itself.
- wikipedia’s entry on facebook
- Paul Stamatiou on Facebook. While I was invited by a friend to join facebook, I have learnt a lot about it on Paul’s blog, which is a good all round techy sort of college blog.
Unfortunately he hasn’t tagged much explicitly with “facebook”- but if you dig, you’ll find some good info.all of Paul’s facebook info by following the link. - more on those annoying applications, and facebook in general.
So there you have it, how I use facebook. What do you think? Do you use facebook? How do YOU use it? You are most welcome to drop a comment in the box as usual… please do!
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international talk like a pirate day
Today is September 19th, which means it is international talk like a pirate day. Shiver me timbers, I always forget… but this year I was reminded! Arrrr… Since I’m a couple timezones ahead of most people, I thought I’d remind you… talk like a pirate, on the 19th!
It’s totally acceptable to play the veggietales song “we are the pirates who don’t do anything” very loudly.
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private messages
Paul Stamatiou obviously dislikes private messages. He complains that since email obviously isn’t dead, why different websites insist that you use their own messaging system. (Mainly, it’s for exposure- more page views yadda yadda.) Paul concedes that private messages have some uses, and I’m going to expand on that.
I may be weird and unique, but I tend to have multiple personas on the interwebs. For reasons of privacy, I generally use a variation of titanium_geek or titanium for my name, and with a name change, I find that the roles that titanium_geek plays on the web is a bit different to the me of real life. As a moderator on a small forum, I appreciate that the messages to do with that are kept in the PM inbox, and don’t clutter up my personal emails. I have at least 3 email addresses as well- my personal one, my web one, and my university email. This helps me to separate out my different online ‘lives’.
However, I do agree that it can be annoying to click through and see what the private message is, especially when the message isn’t really worth the effort of clicking through. Perhaps if I had a higher traffic online identity, I would appreciate PM to email functionality.
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another hole in my arm
Another 470mL of blood donated! This is my fourth time. The key stats: 9minutes 59 seconds. Haemoglobin: 13.4, Blood pressure: 117/72. The Haemoglobin had to be measured twice, because the original measurement was way below my previous level (14.1) I guess I’ll have to start sucking on rusty nails.
After a short day at uni, I grabbed lunch from Wholefoods, the vegetarian student run restaurant there. I also had bought two takeaway containers (20cents each) and got two extra meals, which I took home. That evening, I picked up my friend from work, and we had a curry in the car special- specially microwaved at her work.
I had a bit of a chat with the nurse about living overseas- apparently they’ve changed the rules recently. However, since I’m a new donor they can use my whole blood. Those born in Bolivia can only give plasma- ever.
So that’s me. Another whole in my arm, another 470mL donated. my first, second and third visits, and the red cross’ donateblood.com.au
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will it blend?
Blenders. They have some negative connotations (in movie Father of the Bride the marriage is almost called off because the groom-to-be buys the bride-to-be a blender.) But overall, they are positive things- there are books written about all the yummy smoothies you can make using a blender.
However, the guys at willitblend.com take blending to a whole new level of fun- with a catchy theme tune. As one of the commenters on one of the youtube videos said: “I want this blender”. They divide things into “Do not try this at home” and “do try this at home” – a blended big mac meal. Cokechicken. Can you blend magnets? A broom handle?
It’s also going to be my new critique for any new product that anyone is raving about: “yes, but will it blend?”
Check out their website, but you need Adobe Flash to watch the videos- but then there is always youtube. (Apologies to anyone out there who is trying to avoid youtube for procrastination reasons. )
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regular people and the news
Citizen journalists editors, now, hey?
Citizens offer new take on news [BBC news]
This article is talking about how sites like digg are giving an insight into how regular people collect their news. One key difference is the fact that stories appear once- unlike the traditional media which revisits a big story over a couple of days.
However, unlike predictions of a few years ago, citizen journalists are few and far between, with original content accounting for 1% of the content on sites like Digg. The citizen has turned into a collector, an editor of news.
I used to be guilty of using this blog to point out interesting news stories I had found- usually without any extra insight or slant. It was fun for a while, but then I realized that you would probably read it on *insert mainstream media outlet here* yourself. Pointing out interesting articles with no extra originality is scraping dangerously close to being almost splogging or content stealing.
So! I would be hypocritical if I said that any pointing out was evil. However, I believe that you have a blog for a reason- to exercise your brain. Add some of your own ideas to the debate- comment on the news you are sharing.
Thoughts? Perhaps becoming bored of simple flagging has lead to the death of blogging [dave.punk.emo] ?
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you have to signal to the bus
I was riding on the bus this morning, as usual, to get to uni, when I had an opportunity to reminisce and have a quiet chuckle to myself.
The bus was running a bit late, and the bus driver was a little grumpy. We were steaming (well, whatever the exhaust for ethanol is) up the road, when he slammed on the brakes, as we slid to a stop just past one of the bus stops.
“You have to signal to the bus!” He says to the confused would-be passengers who have jogged up to the door.
Now this is sensible- there are multiple buses that use the stops, and to be more efficient, you should flag down the bus that you want, so any others don’t have to stop. But realistically, when you are at a bus stop, you expect the bus (your bus) to stop.
Why do I chuckle? In Bolivia, there are no bus stops. If you want to get somewhere, you stand beside the road (any place) and flag down what you want- be it taxi, bus, trufi or otherwise. In Bolivia, you do this by facing the on coming traffic, sticking your arm out over the road, with your hand in pointing mode. (Yes, using the “wrong” arm as you change countries and consequently the side of the road driven on feels weird.) Make eye contact with the driver. And when you want to get off? Just say so, and the bus/taxi/trufi will stop.
When I usually catch a bus, I catch it at either end of a major route- Blackburn to Monash. However, when using a smaller bus stop, I am still in the habit of flagging down the bus. Funny how some things stick with you.
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silent sunset
I have long been frustrated with being on a moving bus, witnessing a beautiful sunset, but being unable to capture a decent photograph of it. Brainwave: use the movie capabilities of my camera to get more visual information, and hopefully a decent image. This is my first attempt at the sunset, over the Monash Freeway.
I hope you enjoy it- it’s silent, because it was captured on a regular camera, not an (audio)video camera.
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let’s cover all the bases
I saw this ad on the back of a bus today:
rainbow magic:
the Dance Fairies
available in all good bookshops
Well, let’s cover all the popular themes/topics and it’s sure to be a hit!