Category Archives: Musings

Twitter and Facebook

My Twitter account is for following tech industry personalities. My Facebook account is all people that I know in real life.

Twitter was a good source of information for awhile. Now, in my opinion, it’s the best source of MISinformation–it’s worse than Wikipedia. Crowd sourcing has failed. Facebook was fun when it was new. Now I feel like I’ve lost control in the Facebook world. I’m afraid Facebook knows a bit too much about me–and I don’t like that.

Lately I’ve found that the people on Twitter that I follow tweet less and less about tech and more about their own lives, political thoughts, and self promotion. Sorry, but I really don’t care what insert-tech-personality’s-name-here had for breakfast or why/why not federal law trumps state law and other such nonsense.

My Facebook is filled with people that I don’t really know or don’t really like. In some cases there are people on my friends list that I don’t remember at all. I have ignored some friends requests from people–and then when I see them in person they ask “Hey, did you get my friend request on Facebook?”–awkward.

Facebook was fun to play catch-up with all the people from my past jobs, school, phases of my life, etc. Facebook was the number one reason why I didn’t go to my class reunion–I already knew what all my old classmates looked like and what they have been doing for the last 20 years.

I feel like these two social networking tools have run their course. As time goes by, I find myself caring less and less about Twitter and Facebook. I haven’t looked at Twitter in weeks, and Facebook in 3 days. Noise. That’s all it is. And I have plenty of that in my life, anyway. So much of what I’m reading on Twitter and Facebook is just crap I don’t care about. Sadly, from *people* I don’t care about.

So here I am, back where I started. Posting on my blog. Where *I* control the content. Where my *real* friends and family can read what I have to say and leave their feedback and have a conversation.

It’s good to be home.

In Loving Memory

You know those stickers–you’ve seen them on the back of people’s cars and trucks. “In Memoriam” and “In Loving Memory” and “In Memory Of” and then maybe some dates and a name. I hate those things. And I’m seeing them everywhere now.

Really? A fucking sticker on the back of your hoop-dy is how you choose to honor your loved ones? I think it’s just… tacky, I think is the word. Yes, tacky.

Almost every person that sees your car has no idea who you are, let alone the name you are memorializing. When I see those stickers I think, “So? Who the fuck is that? I don’t know that person. Why should I care?”

But mostly, I think it says something about our car-culture in California–and that annoys me. People think so highly of their own vehicles–it’s such a big part of who they are. So their truck is naturally the best place to put their “In Loving Memory” sticker. I love my car, and I loved my friend, so therefore he gets a sticker on my car.

Makes perfect sense, I suppose. Or maybe I’m wrong. In that case, maybe you could explain it to me?

I still think it’s fucking stupid.

No news is good news

I gave up on the “news” and I’m a much happier person.

I don’t watch any of the cable TV news networks. I don’t read the paper. I don’t listen to NPR or any other radio station. I don’t read magazines. I don’t visit Internet news websites.

Most importantly I don’t discuss the news with anyone. When I see newsies at work I walk the other way. When I see a news-ish thing on FaceBook I leave that page. If I overhear a news-ish conversation I tune out.

Here’s what Thoreau had to say on the subject:

And I am sure that I never read any memorable news in a newspaper. If we read of one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by accident, or one house burned, or one vessel wrecked, or one steamboat blown up, or one cow run over on the Western Railroad, or one mad dog killed, or one lot of grasshoppers in the winter — we never need read of another. One is enough. If you are acquainted with the principle, what do you care for a myriad instances and applications? To a philosopher all news, as it is called, is gossip, and they who edit and read it are old women over their tea.

I’ve been doing this for a few months now. And you know what? Life is good. In fact, my life is sooo much better now. I can sleep at night. I drive home after work with a smile on my face. I have no idea what’s going on in the world and I couldn’t be happier.

So it’s true what they say. Ignorace IS bliss.