Okay, so I really don’t use Facebook that often. In fact, I really haven’t used it all that much since college, when it was only open to college students. I would use it off and on to keep in touch with old college friends but FB did something that made me use it even less: they opened it to high school students. As if this wasn’t bad enough they decided the general public should jump aboard and that is why Facebook sucks today. Here are my top annoyances with Facebook that caused me to give up on it.
1. Game status updates/requests
I really really don’t want to help you out in your Mafia war. Nor do I want to help you find your sheep or feed your chickens. This type of crap clutters my feed and makes FB look and feel like *shudder* MySpace.
2. Profile pictures showing your pregnant belly
Do you really think people want to see that as your profile picture? They don’t. Don’t show us. You’re having a baby, fantastic! Congrats! You’re not all that special though. Hundreds of thousands of people have babies every singe day. If it’s something a 14 year old girl can do after making a bad decision, it’s not a miracle and we don’t really want to see it.
3. Quizzes
Let me tell you a secret, mo one cares what comic book villain, member of The Facts of Life, character in literature, etc you would be. Yeah, it’s cool, you want to take a quiz to find that stuff out. I’m guilty of the same thing, here’s the difference: I do not publish that if I were a Saved by the Bell character I’d be Zack Morris to my profile.
4. Posting your Daily Horoscope
By posting your horoscope on a daily basis you are telling me that you are a complete moron. Who believes in this crap anymore? This is 2009, not 1309. We do not use Astrology to predict anything about how your life will turn out. Your schooling has failed you. Now, go call Ms. Cleo and leave that shit off my feed.
5. Updating your status every 5 minutes. If I really wanted to know your status every 5 minutes I’d subscribe to your feed on the site that was designed for such mundane information, Twitter.
6. Flair, badges, superpokes, and gifts
Why are you sending me this crap? Do I look like I want a button that says “You’re a Peach!”? Do you think that I’m going to think that you SuperPoking me is cute? Do you like getting poked in real life? Of course not, so what makes you think everyone wants to get poked on Facebook?
I know what you might be thinking, if I hate seeing all this stuff so much, why not use Facebook Lite? That really isn’t the point. Facebook should have never gone this far with applications and the amount of crap people can post and I think they will eventually pay for it, just like how MySpace is now paying for its clutter and crap with lack of users. Facebook has tried so hard to stay relevant (and don’t get me wrong, they still are) with applications, site redesigns, idea stealing, that it just keeps makingthe site more and more cluttered. People will get tired and move on to the next big thing eventually and Facebook will have no one to blame but themselves.
Movember
So, what is the point? Well, to raise money. The money raised goes to The Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I’m doing my part by growing an awesome ‘stache, won’t you help out by donating now? You can also go to my donation page or my Daily Booth page every day to see my mustache progress. The first picture of baby-faced shep is up now, complete with nicks and cuts.
Working Out
I quit working on a regular basis when I got Penny. I felt bad leaving a new dog in my apartment 10 minutes after I got home just so I could go work out. Now that I’ve had Penny for a while and she’s used to being alone in my apartment I’ve decided to pick back up my workout routine.
Finding the motivation to do it really isn’t that difficult, it’s finding the time. Right now, I’m using the simple workout room in my apartment complex and that closes at 9:00pm. I’m not quite ready to sign up for a gym membership, especially since I hate other people watching me. If I ever fell using the equipment I’d never return. I’m not the most coordinated person.
Another issue I face when exercising is how quickly I get bored. I used to listen to podcasts of NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, but that has gotten bored. I really wish I could use my Slingbox app on my iPhone to stream TV, but stupid AT&T won’t allow streaming over 3G. I decided to load my iPhone up with a few TV shows to pass the time. Last night I was working out and watched an hour-long show and the time flew by. Of course since it was my first workout in a while I took it easy, but I’m glad I’m finally getting back into the swing of things.
Why Facebook Has Lost Me
Okay, so I really don’t use Facebook that often. In fact, I really haven’t used it all that much since college, when it was only open to college students. I would use it off and on to keep in touch with old college friends but FB did something that made me use it even less: they opened it to high school students. As if this wasn’t bad enough they decided the general public should jump aboard and that is why Facebook sucks today. Here are my top annoyances with Facebook that caused me to give up on it.
1. Game status updates/requests
I really really don’t want to help you out in your Mafia war. Nor do I want to help you find your sheep or feed your chickens. This type of crap clutters my feed and makes FB look and feel like *shudder* MySpace.
2. Profile pictures showing your pregnant belly
Do you really think people want to see that as your profile picture? They don’t. Don’t show us. You’re having a baby, fantastic! Congrats! You’re not all that special though. Hundreds of thousands of people have babies every singe day. If it’s something a 14 year old girl can do after making a bad decision, it’s not a miracle and we don’t really want to see it.
3. Quizzes
Let me tell you a secret, mo one cares what comic book villain, member of The Facts of Life, character in literature, etc you would be. Yeah, it’s cool, you want to take a quiz to find that stuff out. I’m guilty of the same thing, here’s the difference: I do not publish that if I were a Saved by the Bell character I’d be Zack Morris to my profile.
4. Posting your Daily Horoscope
By posting your horoscope on a daily basis you are telling me that you are a complete moron. Who believes in this crap anymore? This is 2009, not 1309. We do not use Astrology to predict anything about how your life will turn out. Your schooling has failed you. Now, go call Ms. Cleo and leave that shit off my feed.
5. Updating your status every 5 minutes. If I really wanted to know your status every 5 minutes I’d subscribe to your feed on the site that was designed for such mundane information, Twitter.
6. Flair, badges, superpokes, and gifts
Why are you sending me this crap? Do I look like I want a button that says “You’re a Peach!”? Do you think that I’m going to think that you SuperPoking me is cute? Do you like getting poked in real life? Of course not, so what makes you think everyone wants to get poked on Facebook?
I know what you might be thinking, if I hate seeing all this stuff so much, why not use Facebook Lite? That really isn’t the point. Facebook should have never gone this far with applications and the amount of crap people can post and I think they will eventually pay for it, just like how MySpace is now paying for its clutter and crap with lack of users. Facebook has tried so hard to stay relevant (and don’t get me wrong, they still are) with applications, site redesigns, idea stealing, that it just keeps makingthe site more and more cluttered. People will get tired and move on to the next big thing eventually and Facebook will have no one to blame but themselves.
My Favorite 5 Posts Over the Last 5 Years
The New Rules of Blogging
This post is quite old and not many people will understand it. It was basically an inside joke with some members of the WordPress and Habari communities. The post was inspired by someone that we all found completely annoying and we hated her blogging style. This post was created as a joke.
The Game
I really love this post, but not as much as I love baseball. I was excited about baseball season starting and was bored when I was working in the computer labs in college, so I wrote this. It was even featured on StLToday when the season began a couple seasons later.
The Best Hip Hop Albums
Everyone knows that I love music, especially hip hop. In 2006 I put together some of my favorite albums of all time. 3 years later and I’d still say this list is the same. Maybe that’s because I’m still waiting for the sure-to-be-a-classic Chico and the Man album.
Three Generations of Cardinals Fans
This isn’t so much a post as an image. One of my favorites. My nephew, my dad, and me.
The World Can be Saved by the Bell
Last, but certainly not least, is my favorite post of all time. Anyone who really knows me knows I am a freak when it comes to Saved by the Bell. I think it’s the best show in the world (only slightly kidding here) and have seen every episode too many times to count. Heck, if I could get away with having the theme song as my ringtone without looking like a total geek I would.
So there you have it, my favorite 5 posts from the past 5 years. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them as much as I have writing them.
Happy Blogiversary
On October 4th I will have been using WordPress for 5 years. Piece of Shep has actually been around a little bit longer, but that was in my Blogger days. I never imported those old posts because they were mostly drunken college ramblings. WordPress has served me well over the years, though I will admit I have looked for alternative platforms lately. It’s kind of hard to switch platforms when you’re this deep in and when you rely on certain plugins. I have been keeping a close eye on Habari and can’t wait to see how the development progresses.
Because this month is my Blogiversary, I will (hopefully) be posting a bit more, including one that features some of my favorite posts of the past 5 years. I find it hard to categorize my blog other than personal. I write about technology, music, TV, and rant about pretty much everything. This of course makes my blog limited in exposure. When you visit and read a post you really are getting a piece of me. Most of my readers are people I know in real life or from the internet. I’d like to thank all my readers for continuing to read and look forward to what the future brings.