Category Archives: Uncategorized

I’ve been thinking a lot about my use of social media and my bookmarks. There are so many articles, videos, quotes, etc that I want a record of that’s in an organized fashion. For a while, I’ve been using this blog as a way to store my favorite internetty things. I have a few IFTTT recipes that automatically post favorite videos from youtube and vimeo, and favorite tweets from twitter.

I think I’m going to take that concept to the next level and save groups of information about a certain topic to categories.. or maybe a tag. I’m not sure yet. This way I can keep track of the things that are influential to me for topics like the Affordable Care Act, or issues around gun control, etc.

Like most of the content on this site, this probably doesn’t interest you, but it’s going to be a great resource and reference for me as I parse issues and want to discuss them with others.

And hey, maybe you’ll find something here that you can bookmark/tweet/share/talk about, etc.

“I think one of the things that really separates us from the high primates is that we’re tool builders. I read a study that measured the efficiency of locomotion for various species on the planet. The condor used the least energy to move a kilometer. And, humans came in with a rather unimpressive showing, about a third of the way down the list. It was not too proud a showing for the crown of creation. So, that didn’t look so good. But, then somebody at Scientific American had the insight to test the efficiency of locomotion for a man on a bicycle. And, a man on a bicycle, a human on a bicycle, blew the condor away, completely off the top of the charts.”

…

“And that’s what a computer is to me. What a computer is to me is it’s the most remarkable tool that we’ve ever come up with, and it’s the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.”

Steve Jobs

Facebook’s IPO reminds us, it’s all about the paycheck.

Uncategorized, ,

Big-news-headline events tend to bring out the worst in sensationalist headlines and journalism, and Facebook’s IPO story is no different.

In this post, we are enlightened as to the “3 ways Facebook plans to exploit you the user, in order to justify their plans to increase revenues, profit, and valuation,” all while “FB users get nothing.” While I wouldn’t put it past Facebook to have some nefarious deeds up it’s sleeves, are we really surprised they are selling and going to sell more of our information so that they can continue to earn (and earn the shareholders) ga-zillions of dollars? Also, did you think when you first signed up for a Facebook account, “Hey, maybe if someday I’ll get a big paycheck for being such a valuable user”?

Well, that thought wasn’t on my mind. If you’re anything like me, you signed up to keep up with friends and to share what’s going on. As indignant as you may be about the news of their exploitation, when they roll out a new nifty feature, you, like me, will likely sign right up, and try to get all your friends to as well. It’s an eco-system. They make you happy, they get paid for the data you willingly give them, and that makes the shareholders happy. They make you mad, or cease to hold value for you, they cease to make money and cease to make the shareholders happy. It’s how business works, folks.

I think if anything, this is a good reminder or learning experience for you as you sign up for new social sites, and give your name and email to every startup’s launch page that pops up. Your interest is what pays the bills… If you don’t want your name/email/interests to be used to conduct business, then you best not use these services.