A heads-up for Facebook users: be careful out there

For me, the first flag was raised, when, looking for information on a product, I was asked to "Like" the manufacturer on Facebook before I could see any information about the product.

Then, not too long ago a friend emailed me that the "Like" button would now also operate as a "Share" button.

Now, Facebook is moving to allow third party developers and external websites the ability to access users' home addresses and cellphone numbers.

Apparently, Zuckerberg/Facebook thinks it’s a splendid idea to disseminate users’ info to anyone who wants it.

Think of it this way:
Suppose a billboard company offers you free space on any billboard they own. Your billboard is located on a major interstate highway in any of a dozen metropolitan areas. You can put anything you’d like on the billboard as long as you include your address, phone number, age and other vital statistics. Would you do it? After all it’s free, as long as your personal information is displayed for the public to see. Think of the exposure ... the possibilities!

Your reaction should be “Are you out of your f---ing mind!!!” Yet, incredibly, people will allow themselves to be a part of this sort of thing on Facebook because somehow, they don’t think it’s a significant development.

Folks, “Demographic Mining” is the same thing as intrusive phone calls at dinnertime or the Church-of-We-Have-All-The-Answers knocking on your door before the sun comes up on Sunday mornings.

If you choose to “share” your information with the world, that’s your business, but don’t complain to me when suddenly your quiet little hide-away becomes a giant fishbowl surrounded by thousands, if not millions, of prying eyes.

UPDATE: Facebook has contacted The Huffington Post with the following statement:
“Despite some rumors, there's no way for other websites to access a user's address or phone number from Facebook. For people that may find this option useful in the future, we're considering ways to let them share this information (for example to use an online shopping site without always having to re-type their address). People will always be in control of what Facebook information they share with apps and websites.”


Armani to Ara Jo 'Fashion'

From the "Are You Kiddin’ Me?" Department:

Armani creations

Oh yeah, I always wanted a zombie/woman ... and why the obsession with those baby-moon hubcap hats?


 
 




And now ... something ... from the mind of Ara Jo

If this turns you on ... get away from me!

What Bill Maher really thinks

Karl Rove suggests that Sarah Palin lacks “gravitas”

From The Daily Telegraph:

Karl Rove displaying his "gravitas"

“There are high standards that the American people have for it [the presidency] and they require a certain level of gravitas, and they want to look at the candidate and say 'that candidate is doing things that gives me confidence that they are up to the most demanding job in the world’.” - Karl Rove referring to Sarah Palin

Ah, Karl, have you not noticed that we now live in an internet/facebook/twitter world? Gravitas is a word that had meaning in the telephone/radio/television world of last century. Gravitas conjures up images of the stuffed shirts and empty suits of yesteryear. It has the smell of “Good ol’ Boys” all over it. You can almost hear it whispering “She’s not one of us… don’t let her in!”

You Republican Sweathogs were happy to have Sara Palin as a sidekick for John McCain, as long as she kept her mouth shut, and played the game. But when you realized that Sara Palin appealed to a lot of people because she had (gasp!) her own thoughts and opinions, you turned on her like spoilt milk.

Sara Palin has the cojones (figuratively speaking, of course) to whip your gravitas. She proved it as a mayor and as a governor. Have any of you reprobates run a town, or a state? I’m not talking about buying off anyone who is loose enough to be bought; I’m talking about actual management - solving problems, dealing with issues, and using the law to protect the public.

So, Karl and Company, if Sara Palin does decide to run in 2012, she’s got my vote. If she wins, you may have to wipe the gravitas off your face.

The Dukes of Hazurdistan

Taliban Rednecks





A Very Large Boatload

The Emma Maersk is one of three ships presently in service, with another two ships of this size to be completed in 2012. Commissioned by Wal-Mart, each ship can transport goods across the Pacific in just five days.

These ships can carry 15,000 tractor-trailer-sized containers. Each is longer than an aircraft carrier, and with its 207-foot beam (width), it won’t fit through either the Panama or Suez Canals. It needs only 13 people as its crew.

The Command Bridge is higher than a 10-story building. The ship has 11 cargo cranes that can operate simultaneously, unloading the entire ship in less than two hours.

A recent documentary on the History Channel noted that all of these containers are shipped back to China, empty. Yes, that's right … we send nothing back on these ships. So much for the trade balance.



Look out CFLs!

By Dan Saelinger (popsci.com)

Never mind that twisty compact fluorescent. The new energy-efficient way to light your home is with LEDs. An upcoming crop of bulbs draw 12 watts or less, edging out a typical fluorescent, and they have a more conventional shape, contain no mercury, and last at least 25,000 hours, three times as long.
Read more here:
http://www.popsci.com/gadgets/article/2010-07/updating-edison
___________________________________

Dan, you had me at “no mercury.” But don’t expect to get them on-the-cheap … at $60 each, I think I’ll wait a while (remember when hand-held calculators were a hundred bucks?) If the demand is there, they will become less expensive.