Facebook Policy Maker

Facebook Policy Maker published on 4 Comments on Facebook Policy Maker

The really sad thing is that this comic could easily be mistaken for fact.

It is old news now that facebook is in real trouble and whomever it is over there making the decisions on website changes & policy direction, is in serious need of an old school kick in the ass.
Facebook needs to decide very soon what they are going to do to address the unrest and mistrust that they themselves, have created within their user base.
Perhaps the entire business of facebook has just been one big scam to get data to onsell to advertisers? (or as they phrase it “create the open graph protocol for the web”)

Either that, or we are about to see the most the start of the new way that things work on the web, with facebook blazing the path for others to undoubtedly follow. THEY will tell you what you want, rather than listening to your requests?
Many would argue that some corporations and/or industries have been working this way for many years already.

Personally, I am just waiting to see what happens on May 31st, which is “Quit Facebook Day”. Sites such as QuitFacebookDay.com are encouraging you to Delete Facebook accounts on 31 May 2010, if you are fed up of Facebook and its privacy issues.

Facebook has already announced that their privacy settings system will be overhauled some time in the next few weeks, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg more recently admitting in an email exchange to “a bunch of mistakes”. Will these overhauls actually happen?
Possibly, but I think it will not be in the way that the general public are expecting.

Will the mass deletion of accounts really occur?
Yes, I believe some people will make a display of deleting their facebook accounts, but the QuitFacebookDay site shows only around 15,000 committed to this at the time of writing this post. This is not about 0.03% of the total number of facebook users.
If I were a betting man, I would say that I expect at least 45% of the users that delete their accounts on facebook to be back there again in less than 3 months.

So, I look forward to seeing what will occur. Let’s hope it is truly memorable and positive.

When the iceman calls

When the iceman calls published on 4 Comments on When the iceman calls

Superheroes must be the one of the most feared types of people for tech support staff.

They are magnets for having “computer issues” (as I have already covered previously here) and want everything sorted out right away. They are always complaining that the problem has to be fixed immediately, as it is a “matter of life or death”, or “the fate of the world depends on it”, or “a giant robot is about to crush my skull”.

Well boo fricken hoo! Seriously! Either they are too dumb or overpowered to use their computers in the first place, or they are super geniuses always tweaking settings and adding unauthorised custom software. (Yeah, I’m looking at you batman……)

Artists note :
This joke seems so obvious, yet when I researched it*, I was surprised to find this had not been done yet. The closest I could find was this comic, so I thought I had better give it some props.
If you find another version of this gag somewhere, especially with the iceman in it, please add a link in the comments. I would love to see it.

*Ok, I know what you are thinking – yes, I do research things on the google machine. I am all teknological and stuff.

Modern Discrimination

Modern Discrimination published on 5 Comments on Modern Discrimination

What side will you be on when this happens?

Take a look around and you will see the signs of the segregation that is coming. People are picking a side and defending their chosen brand with conviction and a semi-accurate knowledge of the systems inner workings.

If we are not careful, there will soon be whole sections of cities where certain technology manufacturers are totally banned.
Teenagers will meet in secret rooms to look at the “forbidden” systems not allowed by their parents.
And the world will be a shittier place…….

Why can’t we just have one unified platform that all manufacturers use, and live in harmony for ever more?

Unfollowing family

Unfollowing family published on 1 Comment on Unfollowing family

There is nothing more lame than following your parents on social media.

At least, that is what many people think. (mainly teenagers and full on hipsters).
Sure, when you are at an impressionable age, most things to do with parents are perceived as lame and uncool.

But there are also many people who have embraced social media or online communications, as a way to reconnect with their parents and other family members. Now you can reach out and share all things good and bad,  faster and with more details than you could via the phone or letters.
Twitter, Skype, Facebook and emails have replaced the regular call home to mum, or a letter packed with photos of the kids.
Holiday photos are shared almost immediately via Flickr or Picasa.
Family gatherings are organised through Facebook events, Google calendars or email.
Overseas calls can be accompanied with vision, via webcams and Skype.

Technology is giving us ways to share and bring our families together, even as it simultaneously provides avenues to tear things apart.

Now, if I could just create an app to allow Mum to remotely do my washing.
(What? That is not callous.She misses doing it. I just know she does….)