How did it get to be Thursday already? This week has simply flown by and frankly, I don't remember much of it. The sun has been shining, birds singing, and flowers blooming all week and it seems the only time I get to enjoy it is when I'm walking from the house to the car (20 or so steps), from the car to the office (maybe a half block), and back again. I shouldn't complain, my co-workers in Boulder got a snow-day today because of some blizzard or something.
I saw this article a while back in the New York Times about gender pay differences. According to this, as an editor I apparently make 17% less than my male counterparts. Problem is, I would never know this. Other than my immediate supervisor, all my fellow editors at work are also women. Maybe that's how our company plans to weather the recession?
Speaking of compensation, I did find time this week to read DeSantis' letter of resignation to AIG's CEO Liddy. I found it compelling and well-written and I understand what he's saying. And on the one hand, I agree with him. On the other hand, taxpayer money is the only thing keeping his company afloat and that money needs to be administered responsibly.
Then there's my personal reality check. DeSantis' bonus, HIS BONUS, is more than 15 times my annual salary. My bonus, the last time I got one, was about $300—maybe just enough to pay for a month's worth of gas after taxes.
On to other things.
I've noticed over the past month or so, my use of Facebook has really dropped off. Much more so since the new redesign. At least before I could tell it what information I did and didn't want in my status feed. Now all I seem to see is that SO-and-So took umpteen quizzes. Oh, and apparently someone who reads this, had a field day updating her Virtual Bookshelf application the other day.
That second part was kind of cool actually, I like seeing what books my friends are interested in. I end up finding several things I'd like to read myself, but I'd much rather have that information kept within the application or served through email instead of sucking up every available pixel. So what do you think of the Facebook redesign?
Apparently a lot of people don't like it and after Zuckerberg essentially said, We're not listening to our customers, they're now listening to their customers and hopefully we'll see some improvements.
In other Facebook news, they've added a new class of private groups intended for family use. Sort of like setting up a family website, but in this case, your family can only see it if they have a Facebook profile and have been invited to the group. On the one hand, I can see how this would be a good thing. I could quit bugging my sister each year to remind me who drew whose name for the Christmas gift exchange and keep up on birthdays, graduations, and what not.
On the other hand, you just know someone is going to get their drawers in a bunch over something said by someone else and your typically family dramas, instead of being between 2 to 10 people, will be acted out on the internets for the entire family to see.
Then there's the whole issue of crowd control. So, say you're in a mixed family—parents divorced and remarried. Does the child of the original couple have the ability to invite anyone he or she wants? What prevents said child from adding both birth-parents and married-in parents to the same group.
I'm not thinking of myself here. I've had two moms for nearly 35 years—I know better. But, say, if I were 12 or 13... you know, when actual child-rearing is still happening, that would be a whole world of drama no one really ever wants to deal with.
Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Gas Mask Required
So, Scoob's rash has not cleared up, and he did not make a doctor's appointment. I stopped on the way home on mom's advice and picked up some cortizone cream for the itching. He's going to try wearing a long sleeved shirt the next few days to eliminate contact with whatever may be causing the rash.
Mom's other piece of advice was to stick my hand in the litter and then rub my hand on the back of his knee (a sensitive area) to see if he has the same reaction there. The thinking is we could either confirm or rule out the litter as a cause.
The other theory is that she may just want to torture Scoob. I don't currently have an open bag of this litter, and I'm not sticking my hand in the used litter and rubbing it on my sweetie. Scoob's a tolerant man, but I'd be put up for adoption if I tried that. Well, maybe while he's sleeping.
In other news, examiner.com reviewed a bunch of travel websites over the weekend and our new site at work got a pretty good review, "sleek, user-friendly site..., great maps..., inspiring 'activities' section and unique destination advice," and the reviewer really seemed to like our authors' blogs. Not to toot my own horn, but having had a lot of influence on the elements of the site, and how it looks and functions, this review made my day. Not too shabby for only having the site live for 42 days. (Who's counting?)
On a less exciting note, I'm doing laundry because I was a lazy slug and didn't get to it on Sunday like I usually do. Actually, I wasn't lazy, I was working on the website, but still, how much effort does it take to load the washer? Well, seeing as how I'm outta 'roos, I needed to run it tonight. 'Roos is short for underroos, which is what we call underwear (both panties and boxers) around here.
Anyhow, running the laundry made me think of this article, 25 uses for dryer sheets. I've used dryer sheets for #3, 6, and 11 (oh boy, #11), and considering the mad gas I had today I'm also considering #22 and 23. I made a bean soup for dinner last night, which I also had for lunch today—it was tasty, but I need to fine tune the recipe before I post it. I'm also thinking, gas or no gas, #18 might not be a bad idea.
I don't think the cats would tolerate #7. Actually, I think Tank would be down-right offended if I even suggested his natural odor was unpleasant. And who the hell would ever want to use dryer sheets for #17? That musty paper smell is part of a book's charm, dammit!
I was reading TIME magazine's article about the 25 best blogs for 2009 (no, a wayward life did not make the list, sheeze) and I was just annoyed that I had to click through 25 pages to get all the information. If you want to know what TIME had to say about each of these blogs, you'll still have to visit the main article, but here are the blogs in a "slick, user-friendly" list format:
TIME does recommend a few blogs that I've read on more than one occasion, but clearly, we do not have the same tastes in our blog fodder, though I may need to give a few of these another look-see.
Here's an update on the Facebook privacy brouhaha I posted about last week. I dunno. I'm still not sure if I trust them. This article really hits the nail on the head, the information people put up on Facebook about themselves is much more personal than anything else that might be out there on the web. Well, except for those exhibitionists.
Since I know she's been doing this, here's a quick funny for mom.
Mom's other piece of advice was to stick my hand in the litter and then rub my hand on the back of his knee (a sensitive area) to see if he has the same reaction there. The thinking is we could either confirm or rule out the litter as a cause.
The other theory is that she may just want to torture Scoob. I don't currently have an open bag of this litter, and I'm not sticking my hand in the used litter and rubbing it on my sweetie. Scoob's a tolerant man, but I'd be put up for adoption if I tried that. Well, maybe while he's sleeping.
In other news, examiner.com reviewed a bunch of travel websites over the weekend and our new site at work got a pretty good review, "sleek, user-friendly site..., great maps..., inspiring 'activities' section and unique destination advice," and the reviewer really seemed to like our authors' blogs. Not to toot my own horn, but having had a lot of influence on the elements of the site, and how it looks and functions, this review made my day. Not too shabby for only having the site live for 42 days. (Who's counting?)
On a less exciting note, I'm doing laundry because I was a lazy slug and didn't get to it on Sunday like I usually do. Actually, I wasn't lazy, I was working on the website, but still, how much effort does it take to load the washer? Well, seeing as how I'm outta 'roos, I needed to run it tonight. 'Roos is short for underroos, which is what we call underwear (both panties and boxers) around here.
Anyhow, running the laundry made me think of this article, 25 uses for dryer sheets. I've used dryer sheets for #3, 6, and 11 (oh boy, #11), and considering the mad gas I had today I'm also considering #22 and 23. I made a bean soup for dinner last night, which I also had for lunch today—it was tasty, but I need to fine tune the recipe before I post it. I'm also thinking, gas or no gas, #18 might not be a bad idea.
I don't think the cats would tolerate #7. Actually, I think Tank would be down-right offended if I even suggested his natural odor was unpleasant. And who the hell would ever want to use dryer sheets for #17? That musty paper smell is part of a book's charm, dammit!
I was reading TIME magazine's article about the 25 best blogs for 2009 (no, a wayward life did not make the list, sheeze) and I was just annoyed that I had to click through 25 pages to get all the information. If you want to know what TIME had to say about each of these blogs, you'll still have to visit the main article, but here are the blogs in a "slick, user-friendly" list format:
- Talking Points Memo
The Huffington Post
Lifehacker
MetaFilter
The Dish by Andrew Sullivan
Freakonomics
BoingBoing
Got2BeGreen
Zen Habits
The Conscience of a Liberal: Paul Krugman
Crooks and Liars
Generación Y
Mashable
Slashfood
Official Google Blog
synthesis
bleat
/film
Seth Godin's Blog
Deadspin: Sports News without Access, Favor, or Discretion
Dooce
Confessions of a Pioneer Woman
Said the Gramophone
Detention Slip
Bad Astronomy
TIME does recommend a few blogs that I've read on more than one occasion, but clearly, we do not have the same tastes in our blog fodder, though I may need to give a few of these another look-see.
Here's an update on the Facebook privacy brouhaha I posted about last week. I dunno. I'm still not sure if I trust them. This article really hits the nail on the head, the information people put up on Facebook about themselves is much more personal than anything else that might be out there on the web. Well, except for those exhibitionists.
Since I know she's been doing this, here's a quick funny for mom.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Of Girly-Men and Wusses
It's been raining here for nigh on 5 days. And I mean raining—none of that drizzly or sprinkly stuff that makes fashionistas and girly-men squeal for fear of frizzy hair. We have been down right lavished with water in this deluge.
Thankfully, there weren't as many befuddled drivers out, at least not when I was on the road. Though I did nearly rear end a highway patrol car this evening as he was making a traffic stop. The person he was stopping was cutting through traffic to try and pull over as quickly as possible, so the CHP officer followed, also cutting through traffic, and nearly caught my front bumper in the far right lane. *sigh*
So, I've posted a few times about Blackwater, the private security company that has been under fire for their operations in Iraq. Well, it appears as though Blackwater is no more.
Truthfully, they're still here. They just changed their name. Blackwater Worldwide will now be known as Xe, and the subsidiary, Blackwater Lodge & Training Center (which is the entity that's has been in Iraq), will henceforth be called U.S. Training Center Inc.
The company claims that the name change comes with a change in company focus—Blackwater (I mean Xe) will shift away from providing personnel protective services and instead focus on training and logistics. Not a bad decision considering Cheney isn't in office and won't be continuing to shovel private security contracts their way. And chances are that the new administration will move away from privatizing the military all together. I wonder if they'll ever shake the name, and stigma, of Blackwater. Not likely.
Blackwater is included in the Girly-Men and Wusses post because if they truly feel they did nothing wrong, there's no need to be changing their name. Companies shift focus all the time without changing names.
In other news that pisses me off, Republican Senator Judd Gregg, despite having pledged to "support, embrace and move forward with the president's agenda," withdrew his nomination for commerce secretary, citing ideological differences with the president's stimulus plan.
There are two main reasons this pisses me off. One, Senator Gregg knew what the president's positions and goals were before accepting the nomination. And two, even though Gregg doesn't agree with President Obama, he could have stayed and provided a much needed fiscally conservative voice. As it is, he has deselected himself, and his position, from being heard at the cabinet level.
Senator Gregg makes the Girly-Men and Wusses post because he backed away from a real, and necessary, challenge and doesn't have the cojones to do the job he said he would do.
Lastly, social networking powerhouse Facebook changed their Terms of Service yesterday. As before, when you post content to Facebook you grant Facebook license to use said content for whatever purposes they like. The new part is that deleting the content no longer revokes Facebook's license to use the content. Incidentally, deleting your account won't revoke the license either.
In case some of you were wondering, this is the reason I haven't been participating in the various Note memes on Facebook lately, like "25 Random Things about Me." Be careful what you post.
I wonder how many users would have deactivated their accounts to opt out of the new Terms had they been given advanced notice of the change. Facebook makes the Girly-Men and Wusses post for pure mendaciousness.
UPDATE: Facebook responds to users' privacy and content ownership concerns here and here. As the Mashable article says, Facebook's position seems to be "trust us, we won't do anything bad." Facebook stays on the Girly-Men and Wusses post.
By-the-by, Scoob chose the title.
Thankfully, there weren't as many befuddled drivers out, at least not when I was on the road. Though I did nearly rear end a highway patrol car this evening as he was making a traffic stop. The person he was stopping was cutting through traffic to try and pull over as quickly as possible, so the CHP officer followed, also cutting through traffic, and nearly caught my front bumper in the far right lane. *sigh*
So, I've posted a few times about Blackwater, the private security company that has been under fire for their operations in Iraq. Well, it appears as though Blackwater is no more.
Truthfully, they're still here. They just changed their name. Blackwater Worldwide will now be known as Xe, and the subsidiary, Blackwater Lodge & Training Center (which is the entity that's has been in Iraq), will henceforth be called U.S. Training Center Inc.
The company claims that the name change comes with a change in company focus—Blackwater (I mean Xe) will shift away from providing personnel protective services and instead focus on training and logistics. Not a bad decision considering Cheney isn't in office and won't be continuing to shovel private security contracts their way. And chances are that the new administration will move away from privatizing the military all together. I wonder if they'll ever shake the name, and stigma, of Blackwater. Not likely.
Blackwater is included in the Girly-Men and Wusses post because if they truly feel they did nothing wrong, there's no need to be changing their name. Companies shift focus all the time without changing names.
In other news that pisses me off, Republican Senator Judd Gregg, despite having pledged to "support, embrace and move forward with the president's agenda," withdrew his nomination for commerce secretary, citing ideological differences with the president's stimulus plan.
There are two main reasons this pisses me off. One, Senator Gregg knew what the president's positions and goals were before accepting the nomination. And two, even though Gregg doesn't agree with President Obama, he could have stayed and provided a much needed fiscally conservative voice. As it is, he has deselected himself, and his position, from being heard at the cabinet level.
Senator Gregg makes the Girly-Men and Wusses post because he backed away from a real, and necessary, challenge and doesn't have the cojones to do the job he said he would do.
Lastly, social networking powerhouse Facebook changed their Terms of Service yesterday. As before, when you post content to Facebook you grant Facebook license to use said content for whatever purposes they like. The new part is that deleting the content no longer revokes Facebook's license to use the content. Incidentally, deleting your account won't revoke the license either.
In case some of you were wondering, this is the reason I haven't been participating in the various Note memes on Facebook lately, like "25 Random Things about Me." Be careful what you post.
I wonder how many users would have deactivated their accounts to opt out of the new Terms had they been given advanced notice of the change. Facebook makes the Girly-Men and Wusses post for pure mendaciousness.
UPDATE: Facebook responds to users' privacy and content ownership concerns here and here. As the Mashable article says, Facebook's position seems to be "trust us, we won't do anything bad." Facebook stays on the Girly-Men and Wusses post.
By-the-by, Scoob chose the title.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Conflicted
So here's the deal. I know I've mentioned that my 20-year high school reunion is next year and that my class has been getting back in touch on Facebook.
One of my old friends mentioned that she's still in touch with and old boyfriend of mine. Actually, my first serious boyfriend, and it was not a happy relationship as adolescent relationships go.
My first reaction was knee-jerk and instinctual--I was deeply offended that she was giving me an update on how he was doing and felt such intense revulsion at even the mention of him. But, I can't control who other people are friends with, so I just decided not to comment on it.
So now, he has apparently searched for me on Facebook and sent a message:
After 20 years, he's basically a stranger. But then again, that same statement would apply to all my old classmates I haven't stayed in contact with. Except that memories shared with them are more likely to be positive and reestablishing contact with them might lead to friendship and doesn't resurrect bad feelings and tonight's dinner.
Here's my dilemma, the revulsion I feel for this person is on the level of what I feel for my grandmother's ex-husband who molested me as a child.
Do I try to let go of the bad feelings and memories and try to make nice? Do I actually have any obligation to make nice?
My gut reaction is that I really want nothing to do with him and I really don't care if he's a whole different person now. That may be immature, but that's how I feel. I don't think making nice would do anything to enhance my life. I certainly don't feel like anything has been missing from my life for not having had contact with him.
So the other part, if I don't want to make nice, am I obligated to respond at all? Part of me wants to respond and let him know I want nothing to do with him (that's that immature part again) and part of me just wants to ignore it.
Now that I've written about it and thought it out it seems like a no-brainer--of course I don't want this person in my life. Why invite those feelings in to be a regular part of my life? But I'm still stuck with how to handle it. And how to handle future messages from him as he friends people I'm already friends with in the Facebook world?
Talk about feeling like I'm back in high school.
One of my old friends mentioned that she's still in touch with and old boyfriend of mine. Actually, my first serious boyfriend, and it was not a happy relationship as adolescent relationships go.
My first reaction was knee-jerk and instinctual--I was deeply offended that she was giving me an update on how he was doing and felt such intense revulsion at even the mention of him. But, I can't control who other people are friends with, so I just decided not to comment on it.
So now, he has apparently searched for me on Facebook and sent a message:
Have been trying to find Wayward from High School, and your name was the only one left from the search. Is this really the Wayward that used to work at the local McDonalds?
If it is, please write me back. Would love to catch up with you.
Look forward to hearing from you.
After 20 years, he's basically a stranger. But then again, that same statement would apply to all my old classmates I haven't stayed in contact with. Except that memories shared with them are more likely to be positive and reestablishing contact with them might lead to friendship and doesn't resurrect bad feelings and tonight's dinner.
Here's my dilemma, the revulsion I feel for this person is on the level of what I feel for my grandmother's ex-husband who molested me as a child.
Do I try to let go of the bad feelings and memories and try to make nice? Do I actually have any obligation to make nice?
My gut reaction is that I really want nothing to do with him and I really don't care if he's a whole different person now. That may be immature, but that's how I feel. I don't think making nice would do anything to enhance my life. I certainly don't feel like anything has been missing from my life for not having had contact with him.
So the other part, if I don't want to make nice, am I obligated to respond at all? Part of me wants to respond and let him know I want nothing to do with him (that's that immature part again) and part of me just wants to ignore it.
Now that I've written about it and thought it out it seems like a no-brainer--of course I don't want this person in my life. Why invite those feelings in to be a regular part of my life? But I'm still stuck with how to handle it. And how to handle future messages from him as he friends people I'm already friends with in the Facebook world?
Talk about feeling like I'm back in high school.
Friday, September 26, 2008
i(have)Tunes
So I got the iTunes working again and downloaded some new music. I can tell I was starting to wake up as I went along as the songs became louder, faster, funkier.
Here's what I chose:
Les Freres Guisse--Fabala
Donavon Frankenreiter--Life, Love & Laughter
G. Love & Special Sauce--Peace, Love & Happiness
Robert Plant & Alison Krause--Gone, Gone, Gone
(then I started to wake up)
Vampire Weekend--Oxford Comma
Shooter Jennings--Gone to Carolina
The Raconteurs--Salute Your Solution
Ryan Bingham--Bread & Water
I've been trying to think about what to do this weekend and did you know that Saturday is Museum Day 2008? Follow the link and check out which museums nationwide are participating, download and print your FREE pass.
Locally, the Friends of the San Francisco Library is having their annual book sale this weekend. Dude, massive stacks of books at massive discounts. Like I need more books in the house, but really, can you ever have enough books?
Seeing as how about half my office is on Facebook and my high school graduating class is beginning to coalesce there in preparation for our *gulp* 20-year reunion, it may be time to review the dos and don'ts (mostly the don'ts) of using Facebook.
So the whole economic bailout thing seems like it's going well, not. Watch for the garbage to pile up on Wall Street, literally, as part of a protest. I don't agree with dumping your trash on Wall Street, but the guy has some valid points.
And, lastly, an intergalactic take on our situation.
Here's what I chose:
Les Freres Guisse--Fabala
Donavon Frankenreiter--Life, Love & Laughter
G. Love & Special Sauce--Peace, Love & Happiness
Robert Plant & Alison Krause--Gone, Gone, Gone
(then I started to wake up)
Vampire Weekend--Oxford Comma
Shooter Jennings--Gone to Carolina
The Raconteurs--Salute Your Solution
Ryan Bingham--Bread & Water
I've been trying to think about what to do this weekend and did you know that Saturday is Museum Day 2008? Follow the link and check out which museums nationwide are participating, download and print your FREE pass.
Locally, the Friends of the San Francisco Library is having their annual book sale this weekend. Dude, massive stacks of books at massive discounts. Like I need more books in the house, but really, can you ever have enough books?
Seeing as how about half my office is on Facebook and my high school graduating class is beginning to coalesce there in preparation for our *gulp* 20-year reunion, it may be time to review the dos and don'ts (mostly the don'ts) of using Facebook.
So the whole economic bailout thing seems like it's going well, not. Watch for the garbage to pile up on Wall Street, literally, as part of a protest. I don't agree with dumping your trash on Wall Street, but the guy has some valid points.
And, lastly, an intergalactic take on our situation.
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