Archive for March, 2008
March 27, 2008 at 8:48 pm · Filed under Internet
I think the only phrase which drives me more insane than “Web 2.0″ is “Social Networking.” While Web 2.0 kills me because it means absolutely nothing, social networking kills me because it’s used to refer to absolutely everything. Do you have a blog? Oh, you’re social networking. Do you rate things, or take comments? Oh, you’re social networking. Are you building a new website? You totally need social networking, otherwise you’re still Web 1.0.
So, as a developer, what do you think every single client I talk to wants? A Web 2.0, social networking application. In order to build social networking applications, I need to understand how they work, so I need to try to engage in them. This explains why I’ve signed up to Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pownce, Flickr, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit. I may be missing some, I can’t even remember. I think my impressive list of active social networks accounts for close to half of the “big ones” and I’ve spent a fair amount of time on all of them trying to figure things out. So which, of all the ones I’ve tried, is my favorite?
None of them. They’re all flawed, stupid, or boring. I treat them as a chore. I engage, I test, I make friends and I have absolutely no fun. I understand why people like them, why then enjoy them, and how they use them (except for Twitter and MySpace which remain relatively mysterious to me), but I’m just not really into them.
The potential upside for me is huge. Syndicating my content, growing my knowledge base, discovering new tricks, building relationships… all good things. Yet honestly, I’d be happier without them. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I don’t have an overly large circle of friends, and I could really care less about what happens to the people I don’t interact with “in RL.” What’s more, so many of these sites make me feel disconnected from the masses; so much of it is so incredibly stupid to me. I don’t understand the hook for a lot of these sites, and that causes me to doubt my ability to do my job well. In my opinion Facebook is infinitely better executed than MySpace, yet MySpace is still the more popular app, so, what is it that I’m missing?
It’s a topic for another day.
March 25, 2008 at 10:18 pm · Filed under Internet
I had an interesting internet day today. First, I discovered Muxtape, a super simple but completely wonderful website. Everything about it is simple, obvious and easy. I set up http://ironkeith.muxtape.com/ just to see how it all worked. It’s unusual to find such a simple idea which hasn’t been done (so far as I know) on the internet yet. It’s somewhat inspiring to find something new and think “I can’t believe no one has done this yet.” Maybe it’s possible that all of the good ideas aren’t already taken. Sadly I fear that Muxtape’s days must be numbered. There’s no way they aren’t going to get sued into oblivion.
I also signed up for Pownce. It’s part and parcel with this whole new “micro-blogging” phenomenom (because blogging itself is not phenomenal enough). So far so good with Pownce. The interface is really obvious, and I understand what it’s supposed to do. This is the exact opposite of the way I felt when I first signed up for Twitter. Twitter baffled - and continues to baffle - the hell out of me. While I understand what people are doing on Twitter, I don’t feel any need to do it myself; it feels more like a chore than anything else. When comparing Pownce and Twitter I feel the need to draw a parallel to MySpace and Facebook. MySpace is ugly, counter-intuitive, bastardized and hugely popular for reasons I can’t really grasp. Facebook is tight, well executed, obvious (except for pokes… what the hell are pokes?) and slightly less popular (for not anyways). The same is true for Twitter vs. Pownce. Pownce is the better app, but Twitter is more popular - for now.
This post is branching in two directions now:
- Why I feel the need to engage in social networking even though I don’t really enjoy it? [updated March 27, 2008]
- Do aesthetics hold any weight over functionality for web applications?
Neither of which I feel like driving into at this point. I’ll write them later on.
Ps. There was a third cool app I found today the dealt with streaming video live from your cell phone, but I’ll be damned if I can remember the URL. [http://www.qik.com/]
March 9, 2008 at 8:07 pm · Filed under General
First of all, an open letter to Jenna who, as a member of the medical community working at the Cross Cancer Institute, may have felt a little slighted by my last post. When I get cancer from any one of the millions of things which cause cancer; you can be the member of the medical community to prove me wrong and provide me with my first positive, professional, and safe hospital experience. I should also clarify that much of my disdain is aimed clearly at doctors, not nurses - though I did once have a nurse drop a needle on the hospital floor then “swear to God” that it was still sterile.
Second: Sorry Jerry, whoever the hell you are, I didn’t mean for the post I wrote on photo radar (three years ago!) to get you so fired up. I could literally go on for days about all of the things that are weird/creepy about your comments, but rather I’ll say “good luck with the war you’re waging” and move on.
The coincidence of the necessity of my first two apologies, immediately after I post about feeling that I need to be careful about what I say here, is not lost on me. A coworker, who shall remain anonymous, sent me an email after that post which stated: I’ve found the truth is still the easiest. If you lose your job because you voiced your honest opinion you probably didn’t lose a job you wanted to keep. If your opinions ruin your reputation, it wasn’t an honest reputation to begin with.
I’ve never wanted to hurt myself, or anyone else for that matter, but I’m going to say what I want to say. It feels too good not to.
Ps. Jerry, you’re actually have a point (your second one, not the first). But don’t assume that you know about me, or my politics. While I’m sure it’s cathartic for you to find obscure blogs and vomit rage at a world far too stupid to ever understand you; you’ll forgive me if I’m unimpressed. If your goal is to prove blogger wrong - one at a time - until you can affect change upon the world, I’m afraid that you’re destined for failure.
PPs. Why no capitals Jerry? Using the word “concomitantly” properly would indicate that your understanding of grammar is sufficient to know that capitalization is the difference between “helping your Uncle Jack off a horse” and “helping you Uncle jack off a horse.” Good luck fighting the good fight though!
March 5, 2008 at 11:56 pm · Filed under General
- I love stereotypes and am truly curious as to what truth, if any, lies beneath them. My personal stereotype which has been honed through years of driving in the city: Poor people jaywalk. Am I the only one who thinks so?
- I’m an convinced that caffeine will be the next big Thing That Will Kill You. It is an abused drug, the same as all the others.
- I find politics infuriatingly frustrating. The only government I could really get behind is one whose sole mission is to create transparency. Seriously, how hard can it be to create a relational database of every penny the government spends and allow read access to the world? If the government can make it law that I must pay tax, why can I not make it law that they be held accountable for how they spend it? It’s my money dammit! They’ve done nothing for me to earn it.
- My wife is a nurse yet I have almost no respect for the medical community. I am yet to have a positive experience in my life involving doctors, hospitals or medicine. I have only ever met one doctor whom I respect, and she’s now retired from practicing medicing (to pursue missions work if I’m not mistaken). My wife is my sole health care provider (luckily she’s brilliant).
- If I could, I would banish all psychics, mystics, spiritualists, “ghost whisperers”, and such to a far away island where they can only spread their bullshit amongst themselves and can no longer leech off of sad and needy people.
- I have little faith in homeopathic medicine, but a strong belief the in the power of the human mind. As such, I believe that if a person truly believes in the medicinal qualities of homeopathic medicine, that they can actuate self healing. I am aware of the irony that such a belief could lead to me being banished to a far away island if I ever get my way…
- I am convinced I will get cancer, and as such, feel little need to take measures to avoid it.
- If I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life it would be cheeseburgers from McDonalds.
- I am equally appalled by people who only like top forty music and people who like absolutely no top forty music. To the former: broaden your horizons. To that latter: quit being such a desperate scenester; Justin Timberlake is awesome.
- I am deathly afraid of animals that can fly, and insects which can fly and sting.
- I’m almost completely blind in one eye and am extremely self-conscious of it. I constantly have to remind myself that other people find it uncomfortable if I never make eye contact.
- I can’t stand it when people know things I don’t. I could honestly choke people who keep secrets or play mind games.
- Yes, it does annoy me that every single person I meet feels the need to comment on how tall I am. Yes, my head does hit the door frame if I don’t duck.
- I make snap judgments of every single person I meet, and I’m really good at it. I can only think of a few times I’ve ever been wrong. This habit ties in strongly with my love of stereotypes.
- Whenever I speak with a person who has an accent, I will often take on their accent at some point in the conversation. I do not do so on purpose, and feel like a complete dumbass whenever I catch myself.
March 3, 2008 at 8:51 pm · Filed under General
There are a lot of things that I would like to write in this blog that I simply cannot. I’m not given the option to treat this as an online diary, where I can be myself; where I can be honest and to the point. I can’t complain about the things that anger me, I avoid politics, and I aim not to polarize myself. This is leaving me to ask the question “why bother?”
This was easier when I was anonymous and I didn’t tell anyone that I was blogging. It served as a great outlet during some tumultuous times and looking back, the things I wrote are really interesting (to me). I wrote honestly about so many things which I may have otherwise forgotten about. Especially when I was leaving my last job. At the time it felt sudden, but as I read old posts I really saw how unhappy I was there - and how inevitable my departure actually was.
My currently life doesn’t afford me the ability to write like that. Even if I were to post using a pseudonym, I would constantly have to fear being “discovered.” Losing my job, ruining my reputation, or affecting future opportunities would be a steep price to pay to cleanse my palate and spew forth with all of the spite and vitriol which I now bottle up.
So I’m at a loss. How do I define the balance between self-indulgence and self-perseverance? When is it okay to just let go and let my opinions be known, and when should I just shut the hell up?
I remain in limbo with a number of unpublished drafts asking myself that very question.
