Brian's Stream of Consciousness http://www.brubin.net/ Consciously Amusing and Interesting Stuff en-us Nucleus CMS v3.32 � Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.brubin.net//nucleus/nucleus2.gif Brian's Stream of Consciousness http://www.brubin.net/ Renovation in Progress http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=107 General http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=107 Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:00:06 -0700 Social Networks and Why I Really Don't Like Them... http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=105 Firefly led me to its fandom, which has made me a great many wonderful friends. I know a lot of people, love a few of them, and consider some to be best friends. I'm in constant touch with people over my cell phone, email, and IM. So since I consider myself quite social...why the hell are social networks like MySpace and Facebook just so dang annoying to me?I've been on a ton of social networking sites...Orkut, Hi5, Friendster, MySpace, FaceBook. The human desire for contact and interaction is VERY strong with me, and I love meeting new people, making friends, and keeping in touch with those friends. One would think that I would just ADORE sites like MySpace and Facebook (I'm not including LiveJournal because it's less a social network and more of a social blogging platform, which is much more pleasant). However, even though I use these sites constantly to keep in touch with people, I can't freaking stand them.

One of the reasons I believe is that they try to be too many things to too many people. These sites want to be something for EVERYONE, and while they do well for the common denominator, I personally find them too thin and overwhelming to be enjoyable. The barrage of groups, applications, ads and so on can be a bit too much. MySpace is a great example of this. When I first got into MySpace, I was really into it...until I began to get overwhelmed by friend requests, bulletins, blogs, messages. Heck, FaceBook is even worse. I mean how many quizzes do I really need to take, or pirates do I need to fight, or scrabulus games do I need to win before it'll leave me alone?

I don't go on these sites on a daily basis anymore, because I'm overwhelmed by it all in all honesty. As of right now, I have about 200 requests and 30 notifications. Is this really necessary? Honestly, I think all of these applications and crap keep me away from what I REALLY want out a social network...to keep tabs on my friends, and to keep in touch with them. At their VERY simplest, MySpace does a good job of this with blogs and bulletins, but the overall crappiness of MySpace's website and their lack of features like being able to track friends blog posts or bulletins over RSS feeds REALLY turns me off.

FaceBook does a little better at this by allowing RSS feeds of your friends' status updates, but to me this still doesn't go far enough. I think FaceBook had the right idea, initially, by opening its platform to developers in order to create new applications for FaceBook (an idea MySpace will be soon be implementing). However, this has led to a deluge of applications all vying for our attention. I think right now on FaceBook I have at least forty of them, if not more...all because I just wanted to interact with my friends.

However, I think this crap gets in the way of interacting with my friends. I have a better time emailing, talking, blogging and hanging out with friends rather than seeing if their pirates can beat my ninjas, or whichever other app is hot at the moment. I mean, is this where social interaction is going? Less face-to-face time and more blog to bulletin time? I certainly hope not.

So what are these social networks good for? Well, besides finding long lost friends and keeping tabs on them, I find they're good for syndication. When I post a blog post on LiveJournal, I also post it on MySpace and make sure FaceBook picks it up. I paste a round-up of stories from this site onto my blogs every day. This hopefully increases interest and readership, as well as helps folks keep tabs on me.

So what do I hope for in the future of social networks? Overall, I'd like simplicity. Right now social networks like MySpace and FaceBook are too big and bloated for their own good, and I think we'll all get lost in the shuffle. Maybe this means that more niche social networks need to rise up, or maybe that the big boys need to get simpler in order to get better. I honestly have little idea where the future of social networking is heading, but I'm hoping that wherever it's going, it's a simpler and easier place to be.
]]> Internet http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=105 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:02:59 -0700 Pirates director says games model is broken - ComputerAndVideoGames.com http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=104 Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski is planning on developing a new video game because he percieves the current model of video game production as "broken." According to the article:
"Speaking with The L.A Times, he said: "I've got something in mind that I've had for about a year. I didn't want to jump into gaming from the executive level. I really want to sort of engage on a creative level.""
Interesting stuff, I'm looking forward to seeing what he has planned. Head over to ComputerAndVideoGames.com for the entire article. ]]> Gaming http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=104 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:30:23 -0700 First Look at StarCraft II Zerg - Kotaku http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=103 Kotaku have posted a clip from StarCraft II that just premiered in Korea. This clip focuses entirely on the Zerg, and WOW is it impressive. Head over and check it out.]]> Gaming http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=103 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:23:59 -0700 Happy Birthday, Telephone! - Neatorama http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=102 Neatorama, March 10th (today) is the birthday of the telephone back in 1876...or at least Alaxander Graham Bell's version of it (the article also discusses the controversy over who actually invented the telephone).

Regardless, happy birthday to a technology that now many of us can't live without (I know I can't leave the house without my cell phone). :)]]> Technology http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=102 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:18:40 -0700 Ubisoft vows to help the obese lose weight - ComputerAndVideoGames.com http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=101 My Health Coach: Weight Management for the DS this summer. From the article:
"Developed under the guidance of a fitness coach and a nutritionist, My Health Coach is apparently a fun way to help you balance out a twenty-a-day cigarette habit with a spot of jogging, and remind you to occasionally have a celery stick instead of pie and chips at lunchtime."
The article over at ComputerAndVideoGames.com also mentions a game calle Wii Fit which sounds like a lot of fun. I know I'll keep playing Dance Dance Revolution for my exercise, but I'm glad gaming companies are starting to attack the issue of obesity head on. ]]> Gaming http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=101 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:12:21 -0700 Apple buys Beatle love at $400 million - The INQUIRER http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=100
"Paul McCartney has signed a deal worth $400 million with Apple, which will finally allow the outfit to distribute the entire Beatles' back catalogue on Itunes."
Read the entire thing over at The INQUIRER. ]]> Music http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=100 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:08:35 -0700 TV's top 25 put-downs published - BBC http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=99 Neatorama. The BBC has published their list of the best put-downs and insults on TV. Unsurprisingly most of them are British, but they DO have the best lines (why do you think US TV copies them so much? ;). My favorite is this one:
"Arnold Rimmer - Red Dwarf. "Look, we all have something to bring to this discussion. But I think from now on the thing you should bring is silence."
The list also includes Statler and Waldorf, Edmund Blackadder and many more. Head over to the BBC for the full list.]]> Funny http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=99 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:58:16 -0700 Five Things We've Learned From D&D - 1up http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=98
"It's difficult to overstate just how much videogames owe to Gygax's work: Trying to imagine gaming without D&D is like trying to imagine modern civilization without the wheel or electricity. Sure, it could have happened, but it would have turned out radically different. So please observe a moment of silence as we recount the debt that videogaming owes to 1974's pen-and-paper classic."
It's very true, and a very good read. Head over to 1up for the entire article.]]> Gaming http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=98 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:51:36 -0700 Chuck Norris the only WMD in Iraq, say U.S. troops - Yahoo! News http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=97
"Hollywood action star Chuck Norris, known for his martial arts prowess and tough-guy image, has become a cult figure among the U.S. military in Iraq and an unlikely hero for some in Iraq's security forces."
That's VERY cool, I think. Head over to Yahoo! News for the rest of the article.

You can also hit up Chuck Norris Facts for amazingly wonderful facts like, "Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants." ;)]]> Funny http://www.brubin.net/index.php?itemid=97 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:44:27 -0700
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