Tag: facebook

Hijack

I spend a lot less time on FaceBook, and other social media, than I used to.

It is not that I don’t enjoy stalking my friends and family, looking at their vacation pics and what they ate for lunch… Some of that is interesting and truthfully bespeaks to the reasons for their obvious weight issues…. I digress…

The reason that I do less and less of it is that those who control Facebook in particular have made such an advertising vehicle out of it, that just about everything you click on, every story hijacks your computer or other device.

Suddenly you are forced to watch some advertisement for something. All you really want is to get past the “teaser” (that line that made you click in the first place) and see what they are talking about.

Nope, you have to wait for the ad to load which is bandwidth, and your time.

Once you get there, you find that the teaser was flat and the story was written in such a way to get you to click. Someone gets money for your click, so the writing worked.

You were manipulated by those that are smarter than you and someone got paid for your click. If you are doing this on a data plan that charges you for your data download, you might very well be paying for the privilege of being manipulated.

When this happens to me, I close the story as I am certain that it was not that interesting anyway; and because of this, I have been on Facebook less and less.

If they want to sell advertising space off to the sides of the screen or even in the middle of the stories I can live with that, to hijack my browser and force me to find the hidden close button after I have watched the obligatory 15 seconds of the commercial is wrong and while I cannot affect change with the advertisers, I can kill the story, and I can find something else to do with my time like “read a book.”

Some of these pop ups and hijacks are eerily reminiscent of the pop ups that were indeed viruses. “Click here to update your drivers, or scan your computer etc.”

Surfing the web one finds this type of thing and you can and should turn that option in your browser off. If you want to see some video about the veg-a-matic, you can click on a link and be entertained in whatever way you choose. To be forced to watch commercials before you can see what the teaser is about is “part of capitalism” that I don’t appreciate.

-Best

Facebook friends, Social Media and thought of the day!

I am convinced that Facebook is not the place to have political discussions or debates.

First off, most people do not get on Facebook to read a political opinion, unless of course they agree with you, and then by all means; prattle on.

Most of us have opinions in that regard, and some are well founded, others are simply based on the last thing someone read, or heard, on the radio or TV.

A quick look at the twitter feeds, especially with the total anonymity that people enjoy, they can say the most vile, disgusting things, under the cloak of being a coward in their mother’s basement, and the world sees this. These people have opinions and they don’t want yours, they simply want to lash out and call everyone who differs from them names. Of course they do this most eloquently, utilizing their limited vocabulary consisting of 4 letter words, that they would not want their mother to hear.

Whatever the case, if someone is interested, they most probably are a little more actively involved than simply reading a few post, and thinking that is “news.”

If on the other hand, someone shares their perspective on “things” and you “unfriend” them, or they unfriend you over the sharing of opinion, I would not get too torn up about it.

If you have “friends” they will respect your right to an opinion, and you will respect theirs, and you can go on with life. Agree to disagree and life goes on.

I happen to value friendships, and while I don’t agree with some, I would never equivocate when it comes to their right to post it, have it, or talk about it. I also would never block someone as I firmly believe that there is “strength in diversity.” That has its limits however; if personal name calling comes into the equation, there are things that I will not put up with.

Toxic people, and or toxic relationships; I have no use for, and will divorce them.

If your opinion is different than mine, I want to know why; as it may be possible that I don’t have all the facts. You too should want to know for the same reason. We are much stronger united by the truth, than divided by lies.

“Diverse” is what we really are as a people when you think about it.

Your race, religion, political standing, etc. are all part of who you are. If one were to only have likeminded friends, one would have a myopic view of the world, and that would distort their reality.

If someone leaves your circle, blocks your feeds, etc… they are allowed, and if they do that the friendship was truly one sided to begin with so, no loss.

A friendship is accepting me and all of my warts etc. as I accept you.

I am not perfect, but I am smart enough to have friends that are diverse enough; to obtain all sides of the equation instead of just one.

In short, your opinion matters to me. I may not agree with it, or I might adopt it.

Social Media is a great place to see who lives around you, and what they do…. in some cases it’s about what they eat for breakfast lunch and dinner….

-Best

Who are You?

Who are You?

I updated my smart phone once again, and yet another $900 out of my wallet to keep up with the pimple faced urchins roaming the mall. You know the ones, the 4 foot nothing loud talking kind, with the powerful Swiss-knife of computer devices hanging out of their ass pocket, in shorts so tight that the phone can only go in part of the way.

When they are talking to their friends, there is the distinct smell of some god awful flavored gum; with what they think smells good perfume or body lotion, or what have you…anyway you get the picture.

My address book has managed to grow in parallel my with my disdain for managing said address book.

Today a friend “new friend” added her name to my list of contacts, as I promised I would send her some information on a particular subject that we had been discussing.

I allowed her to add it, as we were in an environment that was ill equipped for parsing data of a personal nature amongst other ears, which might find that information handy.

While we shook hands as she introduced herself, I discovered my penchant for remembering names is, well less than adequate for the task at hand.

Hours later I sat at my desk and found the information that I promised to transmit to her via these wonderful $900 dollar rolodex devices, when the issue of not managing my phone book for the last twenty five (25) years, came home to roost!

Who was she, what was her name?

Frantically I scanned my contacts trying to figure out who was not there earlier that day. There are well over a thousand contacts in that book, including some Democratic voters, you know the kind, they live six feet under the ground… “Yes Cemeterians!” I have many Cemeterians still in my phone book! Why, it is not like they are going to call me, or I them! If they do, the long distance charges will be incredible; talk about roaming charges!

The older you get, or putting it nicely, the longer that you trod the sod, your rolodex ends up with many who call the cemetery their home. Removing them from the rolls of your friend list, to me seems “final!” If I don’t remove them, than they are not forgotten.

While there may be some logic in that, the real dilemma came to light as the perfect juxtaposition of figuring out who was still alive and who was not; hit home.

Then there is this quandary of, who are all these other people?

I have to sit down and figure out how to create groups of personal, family, clients and vendors to start off with, and then categorize all of these folks and of course create a column for cemeterians..

Yes, I could simply delete them but that is just it, isn’t it, “delete.” How do you delete your parents, or close friends, or even relatives that you only spoke to once or twice a year?

Then there is this group of social media friends.

I have often thought that with all of this poking that goes on FaceBook, that someone should really be buying drinks, but that is another story.

FaceBook, and other forms of social media brings a whole new aspect to “friends” into the mix. Some of you reading this now, know of me, and how I think through these words. If you have followed me, chances are good that I have looked at your blog “if you have one,” and followed you so, we may actually know one another better than those who mention your name on FaceBook every now and then.

I solved the missing name by calling someone who was in the conversation and untangled the problem but, that sparked my desire to manage my contacts better. As an IT guy for 35 plus years who has sold and installed more CRM packages than I can count, one would think that I would have done something a little more OCD, prior to this!

Outlook is actually a pretty good CRM package if used correctly, and in that data base, I actually put all sorts of notes in there so if my memory needs a little assist; I have it there.

Speaking of smartphones, I just upgraded and now, today I learn that they are coming out with yet another new on in September! Are you kidding me!

These things start out at most probably $30 a unit to produce, and by the time you get to buy them they are $900 financed through your phone carrier at $40 a month for the life of the phone.

Now, if I had to make another guess, I would guess that the carrier actually buys them from Apple, or Samsung, or whoever, at a discounted price (or you are paying an inflated price) to make up for the “no finance charges.” There is no way in hell that these things are worth $900 plus tax! Oh, and if you trade your two year old phone in, you know, the one that was $900 18 months ago; it is now worth about $100 or less….

Since they no longer discount the phone, why the hell should I purchase a phone that is locked into that carrier!? If I am having to pay full freight, should I not be able to purchase a phone that can work on any other GSM network?

So, if you can live with older technology, buy last year’s model on eBay for a couple of hundred dollars and either go month to month, or find the cheapest carrier you can manage.

The problem I see with the older technology is, each and every update they do to the IOS, the phone slows down! What was perfectly acceptable when new is now slower than dirt, locks up or behaves erratically. Is this designed obsolescence?

Schick invented the disposable razor, which was one of the first, if not the first throw away razors and now we have, throw-away phones.

Unlike the phone or the razor, my friends as evidenced in this little diatribe, are not throw away, even the Cemeterians are near and dear to me.

-Best

#Texting while #driving @DentonTweets

Texting while driving

The smartphone has offered us many different things both good and bad. The inclusion of a GPS has been a rather cool edition to the arsenal of tools that this Swiss army-knife of a device does for us.

Each and every day new apps are developed by someone trying to make it rich with their programming prowess.

Along with the GPS and many cool games and business applications there are some that are shortsighted in the total thought process.

We need to think through the process or, the makers of laws will do it for us in typical government knee jerk fashion, and we then lose control of the process. Let’s look at Facebook for example.

Facebook is a success story of immense proportions for many reasons and mobile technology has pushed it over the edge of being what it is today. The problem with this app and others that require your attention are that while driving these apps are distraction to the task at hand, driving.

Texting is another example of a good idea run a muck! Texting is a great way to communicate without a long drawn out conversation. “I am running late. I am going to the store is there anything that you need? Would you grab some milk on the way home?

Texting and other applications take your eyes off of the road and that is a recipe for disaster. How many times have you sat at a red light after it turned green waiting for people to look up from their smart phone to see that the light has changed?

How many times have you seen cars or even big trucks weaving all over the road as they think that they can text and drive because they are somehow better or more evolved than the rest of us.

I have actually seen many cops sit at red lights and weave in the road because of their distractions. These folks have the phone, two way, radar, a laptop and, not only are they supposed to be able to drive but, they have to listen to the two way and watch for people breaking the law all while driving! And they unlike the rest of us “know” that they are better and more equipped to handle distractions while driving… Yeah ah huh….

The City of Denton has just implemented a ban on texting while driving that comes with a $200 fine each time that you do it. We already have a state-wide law against distracted driving, so why a law so granular?

I would love to know how much of Daddy’s money ends up in the city coffers because they probably target students. I know they in fact have a zero tolerance on speed limits so this falls into the same arena. The police should be a cost center, not a profit center. When they turn into a profit center they loose their objectivity and come up with things like “zero tolerance.” I stay the hell out of Denton for this reason, and I live real close to there. Business’s should ban together and stand up against things like this. Zero tolerance means zero thinking!

The answer to this is really simple. Disable the device’s ability to do anything but answer the phone while it is in motion. This is not rocket science, many car GPS’s already limit what can be done with them while in motion, why not a smart phone?

It’s not fair! Cries the passenger. I am not driving so what difference does it make that I too will not be able to text, Facebook and so forth? Actually, it is fair. Do you realize how rude it is to sit in a car with people and you are on your phone texting or face booking or using some other app, rather than being part of the conversation or team “if you will” that drives from point a to b? As a passenger I often drive my half of the car, help navigate or point out something that the driver may not have seen, like a speed limit or stop sign hidden behind a bush or tree..

Removing the risk of distraction from other drivers; is it really such a sacrifice to make? Some will agree and others that are more selfish will not. The bottom line is that this action would save lives and keep the government from creating more laws and making revenue off of people making bad decisions while driving. Lets help people to help themselves.

If you plan to use your phone while driving make certain that you have voice recognition working as well as a blue tooth device so at most you have to touch a button on your headset that tells the phone you wish to do something like “call home.”

I could probably write a book on Cell phone etiquette but, let’s start with texting while driving and let’s make it easy for the rest of the people who think that they are impervious to being distracted.

Lets help someone who thinks that they are so happy that they must post it on Facebook while driving, it can wait!

This too might be a change.org thing…

If the City of Denton would think outside the box rather than in its regular 2 dimensional style, they would contact the state law makers and propose a bill that made sense. Have Apple and Samsung and others put something into the OS that disables the phones ability to open apps when it is in motion. Excluding of course the telephone itself and or some apps that are made to run mobile like the GPS.

Thoughts?

-Best to you and those that you care about!

www.guard-protect.com

www.timedok.com

Dok at TimeDok.com

Social intercourse vs. Sexual Intercourse

Here in America our mores dictate that we must “own” the other person in order to enjoy them. By enjoy them I mean, enjoy their company, their wit, their laughter, the thing that makes them unique; possibly a giggle or some other affectation that you find appealing.

We choose our friends, we choose our mates; where is that line drawn between social intercourse and sexual intercourse?

While sexual intercourse “should be” one of the most intimate acts that we share as a people, somehow we have mixed that up with social intercourse. While one might lead to the other, I contend that we can enjoy many people on a social level, while maintaining that line between friend and sexual partner. I would also proffer that socially, we can enjoy the company of anyone, man or women in a social setting without setting off alarm bells that we are making a move on them, much like you can love someone and not be “in love” with them.

Clint Eastwood or “Dirty Harry” coined the phrase, “A man’s got to know his limitations.” As we traverse our day to day activities with others, we must be ever mindful of our limitations. Can we be with someone else socially and squelch our feelings or not develop them, in the first place? Much like spending time with your brother and or sister, can you keep it on that level?

MySpace and it’ successor Facebook; added a whole new complexity to social intercourse. Now we look for and find those that we lost contact with many years ago. We wonder what became of them, who they married, are they bald or fat and were they, successful or not. We also conjure up old memories of previous encounters. We speak with them often with a note or a “like” and we look at the pictures that they post, and maybe we wonder “what if?”

I would hazard a guess that Facebook is singularly responsible for more people seeking marital counseling today, than ever before. It may also be responsible for more marital issues than we know about as well. Is it ok to look up past boyfriends or girlfriends?

That answer is unique to you. There is no hard and fast rule on this and here is why. If you were a recovering alcoholic, the last thing that you would do is put yourself into a situation where alcohol is served. You would avoid situations where social drinking was the norm. If alcohol is not an issue for you, than socially drinking most probably will not be an issue. But how do you know? Drink enough and you may develop a problem.

Social intercourse with old friends works the same way. If there is a fear that you might be tempted to want to take it further, than by all means keep that sort of relationship at a distance.

I should point out that Facebook is simply a tool, if the issues that cause marital problems are there, Facebook simply makes it easier, just like people who have an addiction to pornography, the internet simply makes it easier.

I am reminded of the saying, “the grass is always greener.” Folks, men are men and women are women and other than the packaging; we are all pretty much the same. It is certainly ok to meet for dinner or what have you as couples, but just remember that the grass is not greener; and you should go home with the one that you came with. I would offer that you may not want to even do this, if your feelings for that person who you just found again were very strong. “To thine own self be true.”

Seeking a marriage tune-up every now and then is a good idea. In this day of social media, it may even be more germane as we are tempted even more. Most people are too proud to admit that they are growing apart. A lot of people will not even think about this as it is too “touchy feely” for them. Here is the truth about that, a relationship is all about “touchy feely,” and you were most certainly touchy feely at the onset of the relationship. Is it not worth exploring who you are at this point in your life to keep your marriage alive?

The rigors of everyday life wear you down. The routine becomes dull and boring and let’s face it a “rut.” Those who don’t seek help will eventually be easily distracted by an old flame, or perhaps a new one from work or some other place that you frequent, perhaps the gym or the golf course. Mid-life crisis is not only a theme for a movie but, a very real phenomenon.

You are with the person that you are with for a reason. Take some time to remember what attracted you to them, chances are whatever it was, is still there; simply buried under years of “routine.” Shaking the dust off a marriage by a special vacation, bringing home flowers for no reason, or making his favorite meal even though it is a lot of trouble, could be the start of dusting things off. It takes forgiveness, a willingness to save what you have, and the ability to look in the mirror and work on your own issues; and of course effort to try. Sounds a lot like love.. The counselor is simply a mediator to make your time and effort on this journey successful.

The sad truth is that even if you end up rupturing the nuptials, without repairing what is wrong in your life, you will sabotage a new relationship as well.

-Best to you and those that you care about!