PSA: DEATH TO BBM CHAIN MAIL!!!

This was a malice that I thought had passed around freshman year of college. After you curse out enough friends, pretty much everyone in your address book in your email account should know by now not to send pointless spam. Right? WRONG!!

The menace has re-surfaced, transcending the email realm and has infiltrated the once sacred sanctuary of Blackberry Messenger (BBM). For those who don't know, BBM is an exclusive, internal service for blackberries. Since it communicates via the phones pin number through web/data service, you txt in an instant msg platform anywhere in the world for no extra charge. Kinda like VOIP, for txt msging. Unlike gchat, aim or msn, its not inviting a third party application requiring migrated screen names and passwords, and the only way you can establish connection is through direct invite and authorization. Twas once sacred :(

About 3-4 yrs ago, in the golden era, facebook was still private, and the only ppl who had blackberries were actually serious ppl about serious business. But since then, all di damn sidekick babies grew up and realized the fisher price "My first smartphone" made you look like 12 year old at the office, and hopped onto Blackberries.....bringing all their sidekick-ass habits along with them. SN: I ABHORRED!! SIDEKICKS. It all makes sense now! Why did I not figure this out until just now.

Think about this, 4 yrs later, I have over 100 contacts on bbm. Don't dwell on that, just open Friends vs "Friends" in a new tab, keep it moving and read later. Same concept. If the message says, "send this to everyone on your list, except me, bc I did my part" (clever) thats over 100 ppl sending me the same stupid message at once! Sometimes I need to silent, not vibrate, silence my phone bc it sounds like a flipping sex shop in my pocket. Some ppl say I need to calm down, its not that serious, and I agree. One of my biggest pet peeves in the galaxy is repeating myself excessively. So I do not understand that if one person requests that you not include them on something, multiple times, explicitly verbalized dislike and annoyance, what is sooooooooooooooooo difficult about respecting that person's wishes? It gets worse. The latest version of bbm invented the "broadcast" so one monkey-nut gorilla can simply send one pointless foolish msg to the entire list in one stroke.

I kinda understand you want to share a good joke but very few and far in btwn. I dont need "joke of the day." The "send this to 300 ppl or my deity will kill you" msg need to stop, but the worse is the erroneous information that lazy ppl wont even take two seconds of due diligence to confirm before blasting it to everyone. IF there is a number or a email, check the thing before you fwd info that may make you look like a less credible, fraudulent ass. Someone broadcast a number about some discounts that turned out to be a recording telling you how stupid you are for falling for it. Someone fwd' me info about job offers and didn't even realize there was a 9 digit phone number, no email and not even a name of the company hiring :\ A great fact checking, myth-busting resource to double check is www.snopes.com. BBM, facebook, gmail and aol (for the fossils who still use it) is not deleting accounts who don't fwd a blasted msg. It's been almost 15 yrs and I can't believe that ppl still believe that Bill Gates will give you all $$$ for forwarding a msg. "No trust me! It works!"

Fight fire with fire! If I've asked you not to spam me and they don't get the hint, I send ppl photographs and audio clips of things that I will not speak of, but lets just say you wouldn't want to open up on your phone. So please, please PLEASE stop spamming ppl with junk and bbm'ing "wolf" then wonder why no one responds to you when you need them. Keep that up and you're going to find pictures of poop on your phone next time you open it.

Some ppl need to be demoted back to txt msg, email and phone status.

Know your strengths, OWN your weaknesses

[From the Blackberry Chronicles]

Sidenote: Everyone at some point should do a SWOT analysis- strengths, weaknesses, obstacles, threats. Tough to do on yourself so you may need some third party help.

Sidernote: FYI, there are about 30 blogs written on my phone at any given time that with a 10 minute polish are ready to be posted. So if I ever meander for too long, just shoot me a hoot and I'll supply. Thanks Malissa........wait! What the hell did I just do?!!

I hear far too often from the feminine species:
"I need a booty!"
"I wanna be taller!"
"I wanna be shorter!"
"I need more breast!"
"I need to lose my gut....even tho I'm doing nothing about it and rrchitect clearly outlined everything I need to do to do that!"
And the list goes on for days. I can't blackball the ladies bc everywhere you look there are "performance enhancers, male enhancer" daggering medication for men so clearly the demand is there as well. We just don't complain, we find solutions (ooooooooh SNAP!).

Sidenote: That must be the mf'ing running man theme song!

Here's the funniest part. I almost never hear this from my heftier, homely, moderate and even flat out unattractive female friends. Its always, and I mean ALWAYS from hot, attractive, educated, successful got it going on, five star, bad chick women. What the hell!? Its bad enough you got a booty that can double as a night stand and own your own business. Its bad enough you got more degrees than a thermometer and enough breast to nurse a litter of pot belly pigs and or small impoverished towns. Its bad enough you have a vogue worthy face, and graduated from Oxford Summa, Cum Laude with a 12% bmi. NO!! You wanna monopolize ALL of the good traits. What kinda greedy ass, Sam Catchem, "gotta-catch-em-all" Pokemon-ass women are yall? Is this the same over-achiever instinct that propagates some self imposed sense of entitlement?

We truly need to spend less time focusing on what we don't have and concentrate more time and energy on what we do have.

Sidenote: Woah! Had to catch myself there. I could have easily slipped down that slope of making this about relationships but I'll let yall connect those dots yourself......la lalala. If not, see "NEXT!"

Ever stop for a second to think, maybe, just maybe there is some higher metaphysical reason why you DON'T have said trait? What kind of person would you have been if you had all these? Would being "prettier, sexier" make you an uglier person? Would you be happier with what you THINK you want, at the cost of who you are today? Perhaps the absence of certain elements fueled your drive, direction and most important, character? For a happier day, rather than curse your curses, bless your blessings. The lord has his own system of checks and balances.


Sent via some provider that doesn't pay me to promote them.

Psa stop using headsets if not visible!

[From the Blackberry Chronicles]

Grandpa Rant # 358-J
You know what grinds my gears? I don't understand. Cell phones are getting smaller n smaller (yet they manage to squeeze a camera and mp3 player in all of em) so why are we gettin lazier and lazier? We had no problem with the coiled kitchen phone (stretching it to the bathroom for privacy), holding it between our shoulder and neck.

Sidenote: were you ever mid conversation and the phone sliped out and went flying across the room?....... Ok I'm really dating myself now. Some readers are all like "when did phones have cords?" Don't get me started on rotary phones.

We had no problem with holding up those Zack Morris satellite phones that look like you're calling in a military air strike. However, our weak feeble hands cannot sustain the 0.4 lbs phone we now own, so we need head sets.

Sidenote: 3.5 yrs ago I bought my mom a phone and it was absolutely impossible to find a phone without a camera. Soon it will be impossible to find a non qwerty phone with web browser, data, mp3 and souljah boy ringtones.

Sidernote: Am I the only one that thinks the bluetooth is not a fashion accessory and undergoes extreme scratch-headedness whenever seeing one when no call is underway?

Yes I'm venting for no reason bc I'm sick of thinking ppl are talking to me or just crazy and talking to themselves. Especially if they have long hair that covers the headset. I'm not talking about driving or course, where its mandated in most areas, I mean regular willy nilly having a convo with you but has his headset on Harry Nelson. Hands-free headsets were designed to.....well.....free your hands, to do other things. If you're using your free hand.......... to hold the phone...well that's kinda counter intuitive now, aint it?

This has been brought to u by "Random Hate Thursdays," and of course loyal support and contributions by "Viewers Like You!"

Sent via some provider who doesn't pay me to promote them.

Welcome to the Community KY!!

I'm happy to welcome and introduce you to a newcomer to bloggitry, http://kyinthecity.revelife.com/.

KY (not the lube....sorry couldn't resist) is one of those successful, educated beautiful, party animal, hilariously witty ppl and all around fellow carnivalista in my sphere of association and on the low one my my most cynical blog critics.........who for the life of her won't ever "follow" or comment on di blasted blogs bc she's a punk! I should post some of the stuff this woman has told me.

Sidenote: I never said that I have anything against negative criticism. I love negative criticism. It makes me better. Most of my strengths and good qualities are a direct resultant of negative criticism. I went to architecture school. There is absolutely nothing you can say about my work that can ever possible hurt, bother, offend or deter me. Bring it Jabrony!!

I'll make it a point to highlight my other fellow bloggers I follow in the future, but to see one of your harshest critics start a blog was like Christmas morning to a kid. I'm on a three point stance and doing the double dutch hop all at the same time.

Fellow writers help fuel my flame, especially when they "just make your tummy feel like it wants to rip at the seams from laughing." Glad to see that us writers are continuing to compose symphonies and not playing on the Titanic. Be sure to check her out, and tell her The RrChitect said hi.

Favorite Song in the Worlds....Right now: Sade - Moon and the Sky

Its a rare pleasure when the first song one an album just really does it for you. Track one on Sade's Soldier of Love album is that song....fi me at least. The jury is still out on the rest of the album. Cant quite figure out why I like this song but it had me at hello.

Why kids today are so DUMB!! Theory 6 [From theThe Blackberry Chronicles]

Previously in My $0.02................... Why kids today are so DUMB!! Theory 1

Followed by.................................Why kids today are so DUMB!! Theory 2

Then..................................Why kids today are so DUMB!! Theory 3

and............................................Why kids today are so DUMB!! Theory 4
And last time .......................Why kids today are so DUMB!! Theory 5


One of my biggest pet peeves is SPOILERS, so without giving one, everyone needs to see the movie "Brothers" with Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman to truly understand the frustration and annoyance I experienced. See the climax of the story, then re-read this blog. If you have seen the movie....... keep in mind the most disobedient and unruly act in the history of children on film. What would provoke ppl to act the fool, wilding out in public, carrying and having fits.........what causes all of this?

Theory #6: No beatings!

At some point in time we decided that its inhumane to whoop our kids asses in school (despite the fact that every other country that does it kicks our butt in education) then it trickled into the households. My brothers and I grew up with beatings (we called it "licks) like we grew up on milk. We were never the type to act up in public, throw a temper tantrum rolling on the floor kicking and screaming. We got our asses kicked for far lesser infractions and my parents were never the type to beat in public. Could you imagine the thrashing that would have ensued when we got home if we pulled that tomfoolery?

Children, correction, babies do not understand English! Or any other verbal language you raise your kids around. They read, understand and interpret feelings. Socket example: [theses are little esoteric notes I leave myself in shorthand to remind me to add content....why am I leaving this? Why am I explaining this???] If you see an infant heading towards a fork....red flag.........the child has it....red light are flashing..........if the child with the fork is near a socket....the alarms are blazing by now, do you talk to the child, or do you slap the fork out of its flapping hand? Ppl sometimes respond best to action. This applies well into the early 20's with most ppl. Cognition isn't necessarily indicative of understanding.

I remember reading about a child who misunderstood what was said at school and called child services bc their parent punished them. What kid in my generation would have had the cajones to do that? First of all, you pick up a phone during a beating in my house you won't make it to the second "1" and you just inherited a new pummeling device once the phone was snatched out your hand. Secondly, how many of us heard the threat that if we successfully dialed, there would be nothing left for 911 to save once they got here? Third, we live in the hood. 911 aint coming no time soon. The folks could get in 3 rounds and intermissions by the time they arrived on the scene. The cost/benefit analysis was heavily imbalanced.

Now you have all these child disorders that keep psychiatrists gainfully employed, pharmaceuticals companies profitable and grad school/phd students funded. I have self diagnosed myself with ADD. A.D.D. = As I speak, I am on a train, mentally packing for my trip tomorrow, listening to some dance tracks and choreographing routines in my head. And working on ANOTHER reason why kids are so blasted dumb bc they're interrelated....but I digress.

If I had homework and I couldn't focus here are some surefire cures to ADD:

• Finish your homework or imma whoop that ass!
• - or I'll throw away all your toys!
• - or I'll throw away all your comic books!
• - or no TV, video games for you! [Sidenote: You remember when being sent to your room was a form of punishment? With my brothers and my creative asses, my parents punished us by making us come out of our rooms.....and watch the news.....and Jeapordy....and read]
  
• Pass this test or you'll fail
• Pass this class or you'll lose your scholarship!
• Do well in this class or you'll be kicked out of school!
• Finish this project or you're fired!
• Make this money or you'll lose you're house!
• Get this calculation right or ppl will die!

You think time and all these circumstances care what your conditions are?

So for the love of God, whoop yo kids monkey ass ( and their asses sure are monkey!) bc they need to understand consequence, causality and penalties. You think I'm evil? Send your kids into the world with no regards for respect and limitations..............then you wonder why yo lazy ass roommates don't wash dishes for days on end! Got yo place smelling like frog placenta.....no? No good? Too much?

Sent via some provider who doesn't pay me to do say who they are.

GADZOOKS!! I bought ANOTHER album

Yes! I actually purchased an album!! AGAIN!! Thats like 2 in 8 years. I must say tho, it was an impulse buy, which I try to avoid. I was feening to hear it and just ordered the mp3's off.......some online purchasing website.....without even hearing the album first.

Idunno, the jury is still out on this album for me. I didn't like Maxwell's album at first but love it now, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. I have faith in Sade. Ironically, one of my biggest gripes with Maxwell's new album was it didn't sound like his old stuff.........my gripe with Sade is that it sounds TOO much like all her old stuff. I feel like I need to be high, heartbroken or suicidal to enjoy this music, neither mental state am I interested in. What happened to range of emotion? Can I get some upbeat happy tunes? She certainly brings the blues back to rhythm and blues...........but still beautiful lyrics.


Sidenote.....yet along the same line so I dont need a color change....I copped the new Badu album, rather "acquired it"....I said it before......BADU is still the love of my life!! If there was a musical boxing match for my heart, Badu would kick Sade's ass. Just going off these albums bc the whole collection is too much to compare. Erykah (who has entirely too many letters in her name) has the sad, happy, upbeat the "damn thats messed up, but makes for a great song," the depth all in one album. It sounds like old E. Badu, but has a fresh enough new sound to show growth of an artist.
Ah the artists dilemna. Do I stay the same and maintain my fan base who expect the same and lose those who want change......or do I grow as an artist, gamble to see if I lose fans or gain with the new direction? Glad I just write for fun.

"Ask and ye shall recieve"

So I was a little hesitant to let my dad use my new, sexy laptop, since I neglected to mention that he's the one who mysteriously suicide bombed my desk top, but egh....live and learn right? I destroyed 3 computers to get to the level of knowledge I'm at. Besides, when I had my little fender bender, he didn't stop letting me use the car. Everyone gets one.

Sidenote: I might add that when I had the fender bender, the grill was cracked.......but at least the car still ran. My desktop is a vegetable until Richard has time to take a look at it next week. Shout outs to Richard Rodney for salvaging my last 6 yrs of photos music and data after the cataclysmic crash.

Sidenote: If you don't know Richard Rodney, you're missing out. I've had the pleasure to work with him on a number of projects, only to find out he lives on my block, and is one of the most hardest working, knows-everything, reliable ppl I have ever met. If I had a team of five Richard Rodney's, I could easily take over the world....like easily!

So in good faith, I brought over the laptop for pops to use. Now I don't know if he was as lost in translation as I was, but I just happened to find this on the screen soon as I logged back in:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/help/getting-started

Some of you young hipsters might be all like "SO?! DUHHH!?" but to me, after bitching and moaning 2 days ago, this was the holy grail! I mean that page and video was like BAM!! [Shout outs to Emeril Lagasse] In my face as soon as I signed on. Now granted, its clearly on the windows/msn homepage, and I could have looked it up and found it at any time, but theres nothing like having something you're asking or thinking about just gift wrapped and handed to you [besides, btwn ADHD and procrastination, I'd never get to it and more likely try to figure it out on my own]. It's now my homepage. I plan to watch all of em and read a bit everyday.

My new outlook for the weekend, and moving forward, "Don't curse your curses!" I'll continue sharing more examples of this moving fwd. TGIF FOLKS!!!

This is brainfart # 120. Over and out.

PC vs MAC...My $0.02

Today's Corn and Cheese: "Just like my profile pic, I'm back!"

Good news/Bad news:

Good: I got a new laptop after a long and extensive search!!!
Bad: I've upgraded to Windows 7 from XP.

Dont get me wrong, 7 is awesome, for new users, but I feel like it forgets us fossils who have been using windows for 20 yrs. This is only bad bc I feel like a digital encino man, emerging from some comatose hibernation. I successfully avoided windows vista like the plague, and after years of usage and comparative analysis, I can't convince myself to shell out MAC money. I'm sorry, but I refuse to pay Vacay money on hardware for sex appeal. To me, more than half the joy in anything I own is the crackhead price I more than likely paid for it (ask me how much it costs or is worth, not how much I paid for it). I've used both platforms at the highest level of performance (video capture and editing, sound editing, audio production, CAD, 3D modelling and rendering, downloading and viewing porn, web surfing, digital photography, graphic design and video gaming to name a few) and despite what the quirky nerdy, yet lovably cool guy in the commercials would have you believe, MACs have just as much problems as pc's and will crap out on you just the same at the least opportune time. In fact, it may prove even more problematic bc when your mac does have problems, you have fewer ppl around with the knowledge and tools to fix them (sorry, my pc geek squad is to vast n deep - thats what she said). I have a friend who was without his macbook for over 2 weeks for some simple problem that I could have walked down the block and fixed on a pc.

Since I already discpelled the performance objections, here are the major selling points I keep hearing for macs:

"Macs dont get virus' and spyware" FALSE! Technically, the real answer is "yes and no." If you listen carefully, they tend to say macs are safe from "PC viruses".....which is true. They do in fact get virus' malware and trojans. Although it is rarer to non existent compared to pc's, it does happen and when, or if it does, it can be terminal or infinitely more difficult to fix bc the lack of an antivirus program to differentiate good or bad. Kind of like those cities that shut down for half an inch of snow. However, with the increase in mac users of late, there has been an increase, hence the development of mac antivirus and malware programs like Snow Leapord.
REF: (Since Nicole said I dont do any "blasted research")

http://www.switched.com/2009/09/01/apple-quietly-admits-macs-get-viruses/

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Do_macs_get_viruses

http://www.betanews.com/article/Macs-dont-get-viruses-myth-dissolves-before-publics-eyes/1251493625

Sidenote: She's absolutely right, I dont do research. Ppl get paid to do that, this is fun. My research is life, and occasionally I find and provide supplimentary documentation....for what I already know.

"You can run a virtual PC/windows emulator on a mac" Stupid question, if you want to run a PC so bad, why not get a flippin PC? SURPRISE BISCUITS! PC's can run mac OS too! (The industry or trade lingo for it is "HACKintosh." I think its kinda cute. Dont endorse hacking so you'll have to look that up on your own).

"Its so much simpler" Remember this, "user friendly" = dumbed down. Yeah, and so is a car, but if you give one to a teenager who can barely drive, doesn't know how to handle the transmission, check the fluids and maintenance the car, keep the payments up, obey traffic laws, park properly and stores a bunch of crap in it, can we agree that the problem MAY....just MAY not lie in the car? We should have defensive PC courses.

Folks, I'm not anti-mac, but heres a selling point a MAC user can never use: PRICE. I know ppl with $2000 table settings/paperweights that will never even use $1000 worth of its capabilities.....but sure looks cool. If you browse the internet, email, use office software, listen to music and store photos, you really shouldn't pay more than $500-700 on a desktop or laptop, AND it'll handle ample porn. MAC's are amazing machines for certain applications, but I'm sorry, I can't justify spending 2k on a low end or base model MAC, when 2k in PC boards, and hardware could build a beast of a computer. If you absolutely have to have the MAC platform, be my guest. To each his own, just buy it for the right reasons and not for fad or this false smear campaign going. Reminds me of the cola wars of the 80's.

Sidenote: I'm not a pervert, I'm a realist. Any straight man who has a computer, on the internet, has porn on his computer. If he denies, he's lying or has some serious social, interpersonal issues. He may not feel comfortable sharing bc society demonizes porn, but I have 3 easy steps to expose anyones pc, even the most horndog MIT summa cum laude. Either that or he's telling the truth bc he streams it straight from the net or keeps it in some hidden external drive.

But now back to this windows 7? It's like walking into your room and somebody cleaned and moved all your stuff and nothing is where you put it or know it to be. Can I get some one on one consultation? Apparently the strategy here was to make it more "user friendly" which is simply industry term for "we dumbed it down for dummies...ya big dummy!"....which is why macs only have one button on the mouse, and come in single units at times, bc God forbid you should be burdened with connecting clearly labeled and color coded cables together (they even have little pictures to show you what plugs into what).

Will you be my windows 7 sponsor, hold my hand and walk me through this? Do I need to get a windows 7 for dummies or a Win7 Rosetta Stone to get up to par? They don't even come with books anymore. Off to the internet I go (GO GREEN!). Has it really been 6 yrs since my last pc? I'm getting through, but it seems like everything takes at least 30% more time to do. Saying all this to say, I've been on some real brain flatulence the last few days while I migrate all my files. When that's done and squared away, I'll resume some of the wholesome blog goodness, gems, thingies that I've had in the cue for a while.

My initial reaction:

Sidenote: Ooooh! Now that I have a laptop, can I be one of those pretentious bloggers who sit in coffeeshops, sip drinks with mocha and appachino in it, and blog in public all day long? Bc there is no better productive environment more conducive to creativity than a loud, public, high traffic public area with hundreds of side conversations and distractions.

Sidernote: GRRRRR!!! WHy is a simple copy and paste so difficult!!

Sidestnote: MMMMMM! I looooooove mocha and appachinooooo aaaarrrgghhghgh!!!

TOS: Facebook owns you. Get over it. Here's how.........Part 2

Previously on "My $0.02"............TOS: Facebook owns you. Get over it. Here's how.

ADDENDA!!! - 04/14/10

So here's a shocker, over a year to the date I originally wrote this, facebook has a whole new interface, look at navigation. YAAAAAAY....pay attention, they took away more rights.

Have you noticed that you're getting more random solicited friend requests and msgs from strangers, stalkers and ex's you've been trying to avoid? Are all the ppl you've tactically blocked finding you? Well, Mr. Zuckerburg and co., who are admitted huge fans of Twitter (insert frowny face emoticon) did away with many of your our privacy settings YET AGAIN. Gee......what a shocker....this is outrageousssss [insert uproar].

Sidenote: Why do I have a feeling that Twitter will bring about the fall of
mankind?

Well have we been violated? Well yeah, if you haven't read TOS: Facebook owns you. Get over it. Here's how. and applied those simple tips to safeguarding your information. For additional not-be-a-moronomics, also revisit: PSA: "Facebook/myspace/twitter/Blackplanet ruined my relationship." However, since the playing field has changed, we must now adapt. Here are a few more pointers that can help safeguard your privacy. Please, feel free to add any that you may have discovered.

Sidenote: The real question or rather commentary to ponder on your way home is, if you decided to make a public personal page on the World Wide Web (www.) then why in Lou Farrigno, are you so concerned about privacy, but I'm not going to be a jerk to point fingers and ask questions. I'm just saying. Personal accountability ppl.

-PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE take the year out of your birthday! I know I mentioned taking all biographical information out of your page, but for those reading for the first time (and the hard headed alike) along with your other info....which we encouraged you to take out, this is the last piece of the puzzle for your friendly neighborhood identity thief.

-Re-visit your privacy settings. A lot of them are still there, but have somehow, mystically been set to "public." Most of them are just a click away.

-Limited profile. I don't think ppl utilize this feature nearly enough. Some ppl, you just need their contact, but they don't need an all access backstage pass.

-Disable tagged pics. I did this for a project that was under great scrutiny.......but now that the project is over, I think I'll leave it the way it is. I think my photo albums and profile pics are more than enough for someone to identify me.

-Toggle your photo settings. I recently found out that a lot of my albums were reset to public, when a friend told me how her friend spent some time going through my photo albums. Make sure they're all set to "friends only."

-Stop linking accounts. I'm very wary about anything that requires putting a screenname and password from another account. Whats the point of a pseudonym or an avatar if it's linked to your biographical info? Is anonymity the modern duck-billed platypus?

-Disable your wall. What better way to keep raggedy comments off your wall, then to not have a wall? I see more and more ppl doing this..........or maybe they just put me on "limited profile" :-S

If worse comes to worse, I supposed you can delete ppl. I've clicked on contacts before only to find that we were no longer contacts anymore. No fall out or disconnect, they just decided our one or two interactions were not enough to bless me with the honor of their facebook page. Can't blame em. But once again, the greater question is, what are you so afraid of revealing? Are you a douche who goes through great painstaking lengths to conceal it? Hell, if a fugitive can evade authorities while updating his facebook page AND build a fan page with over 10,000 followers, what are YOU worried about simple person?

REF:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/12/23/uk.fugitive.facebook.prison/index.html
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/facebook-fugitive-taunts-police-while-on-the-run-20091229-lhyn.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10434345-71.html

Sidenote: He probably got caught by signing up to Twitter.
Sidernote: My friend and I have a number of theories where he may be hiding. Remind me to share.

Favorite Song in the World...Right Now: NIN - The Day the Whole World Went Away (Remix)

Nine Inch Nails Rocks!!!! Anyone who can help me find a higher quality version of this song (than the one I have) on mp3, will be my new best friend for 57 minutes, and showered with riches. rrchitect@gmail.com

To twit, or not to twit?

Some of you seasoned readers have heard me denounce twitter on a number of occasions. So Its with great hilarity that I report to you that there is a rogue, renegade faction that is hell-bent on enlisting me amongst the ranks of the "twitterverse" [now me and made-up words go hand in hand like "ah" and "choo" but I couldnt take credit for that one]. What started as a status spanning 40 comments has now evolved into a full blown facebook group (which I might add is full of ppl who arent subscribed to my blog). We must quell this peasant uprising!!

Am I holding on the the vinyl record in a virtual dj error? A I the raggidy old man on the bus with the cassette playing walkman, solicited by "MP3 Raheem?" I don't speak the cryptic hieroglyphics of today with the #'s and @ signs before and after every word. Is that what poppin in da hood? Is tweetin what's hot in di streets?

All who stood tall with me in defiance has fallen prey to the twit fad. Kinda reminds me of about say......6 yrs ago when everyone started blogging. Am I a literary fossil of an antiquated art in an age of low attention span instant digital feeds?

As TMI-ic as I appear on blog, I'm actually very calculative about what I share and don't share. Even on facebook and in person, very few ppl know the true "R." So in a Verbal Kint-like matter, I'm cool with blogging. However, to best describe my hesitation with twitting:


As asshole-ic as my structured babble is, does the world really.....REALLY want my raw, instant immediate RANDOM, unfiltered thoughts all day long? I will resist this campaign of amusement at the expense of my chicanery and bafoonic coonery.

Much appreciation to all the folks who hit me on the side telling me "don't do it."

"I am Sean Conner........and if you're listening..... you are the resistance!"

Friends vs "Friends"

I currently have 1,430 "friends" and 23 pending "friend" requests on facebook. So ppl always ask this annoying question: "How do you have 1400 friends?" Allow me to clarify.

If I could, I would change the term "friend" as it is pornographically used
on fb, to "contacts." FB to me is nothing more than a multimedia addressbook.
Maybe its my connect-the-dotivity, but I naturally assumed the name "Facebook"
simply suggested "Blackbook" or "Addressbook," merely substituting the face. Fun
tangient, however my digress senses are tingling.

Well for starters, I've only been on facebook for 6 yrs. Remember when it was a sanctuary only for college students at a few universities? Until the floodgates bursteded open and fused all our networks together. Secondly, I once heard a statistic that the average 21 yr old knows at least 2,000 ppl of a first name/facial recognition basis. Now if that's true, I'm 29, and as you have undoubtedly gathered by now, love to chat.

Other contributing resumeic factors:
+I taught highschool students for 8 yrs, averaging 20-35 students a yr.
+I travel all over the northeast coast hosting workshops and lecturing at universities.
+I used to promote and host parties, and events all over New York City.
+I used to emcee and bboy, so I know a lot of artists and ppl in the music/dancing/entertainment industry.
+I'm a member/coach/advisor/leader/socializer with The National Society of Black Engineers, currently at 36,000+ members and have spoken in front of hundreds, sometimes thousands of ppl.
+I'm a conditioned networker. I'm not the person who comes to a dinner party and sits in a corner the whole night. I can start a conversation with a lamp post if it stared at me long enough.
+AAAAND, dont get me started on all my friends from elementary, junior highschool and highschool who fell off the earth and surfaced to facebook, just this last year alone.

But the most dominant reason is, as most of you know, I'm a packrat. I believe everyone in your life has value or worth, even if not immediately apparent. Maybe not even for a few years. So I may hardly ever contact ppl, but I like to know that should I need to, I can. Some ppl put too much weight on FB. "You haven't poked me in 4 months so I'm going to delete you." Like you're really that important? Are we really that insecure that we're worried about ppl stalking our page?

Sidenote: If you're concerned about ppl learning too much
about your life from facebook, go to a mirror, take a good look, and slap the
first person you see. A: What are you putting on your page that is so sensitive,
classified intel; and B: Why are you putting it there? For tips on how to
safeguard your page, revisit TOS: Facebook owns you. Get over it. Here's how.

IF I could, I would re-label half of my list, "associates" "colleagues" "classmates" or just "contacts." Of the 1430, I most likely have an actual relation/affinity to about 1000 of them. Theres about 100, I just met on fb (chat/discussion groups, commenting on a thread, random hi how are you's etc) and about 300 that I met in passing, promoters, networkers or professional contacts I met once or twice.

Of the thousand, there about 300 ppl all over the world that if I were visiting a city, I could crash with for a day or 10. There are a few hundred that in all honesty I will probably never pick up the phone and call but if they need me for something, I'm there and vice versa. Yes, I'm connected to 1430 ppl. They may not all be Flat Tire or Bail Money friends, but you only need a handful of those. Its great to have a starting five, but everyone needs a full supportive bench, marketting team, supportive staff, custodial staff, best boys, key grips, or extras in the reserves. They may not have bought courtside seats, but the nose bleed fan has value too.