I'm a bit phobic of of dictators & dictatorships. Near as I can tell, there is no dedicated word for it like geniophobia, "the fear of chins" (no joke). I love to travel and what to see as much of the world as possible, but I run the other direction when dictators are in charge. I'm just not that adventurous.
I’m going to bed because for some reason the entire internet is boring to me now. This could become a problem.
Blogging is a tricky business. Now, when I use the word “business” there, don’t think I’m making any money from posting once a month. If you are making money from posting once a month, be a pal and tell me how that works. But I digress. So yeah, blogging is kind of weird. There are SO many places you can blog, each one with a different audience. I know from personal experience that if I post something in one place it might not see any activity, but if I post it somewhere else I get tens of views! That sounds sarcastic, and while it was clearly intended to be, it’s like most sarcasm… said with just the slightest hint of truth. If I post something and anyone responds to it or interacts with me in the slightest because of it, that’s a win. That’s a victory for me. If one person reads my stuff or likes my photo or whatever, then I’ve just used this amazing thing called the internet to share a little part of myself with a complete stranger.
That’s why I don’t do it that often.
The truth is, I’m terrified. Sharing something you’ve created with the world means that it’s no longer safe. It’s out there. Anyone can attack it, can pick it apart, can spit on it and belittle it. That little piece of yourself that you gave away is going to get hurt, and by extension, so are you. You’ve got two options. One, you do what I’ve always done, and you quit. That’s the easiest thing to do. Just quit, stop any creative juice you might have flowing, and run. Cut your losses, because that’s the safest thing to do, right? Option two is harder. You suck it up, use the negativity to see if there are things you could do better while still creating what you want, and let the positivity prop you up. In the upcoming new year, that’s my plan.
I need to create, and for some reason, I need to share it with people. Maybe I’m a sadist. Maybe I’m just a guy that thinks he’s got something to offer. Maybe I think I’m way better at this than I really am. At any rate, I’m here to stay, and this is probably going to be my last “wall-o-text” post. You’re welcome! For now, I’m going to sleep. Technically it’s Christmas Eve Day (…what?) and I need to get my beauty rest so I can look like a boss for Santa Claus.
I don’t get the big deal that’s made over Black Friday. I don’t understand the mindset of someone that would camp out in front of a store for a few hours, waiting for it to open at midnight just so they can save a few bucks on stuff they probably wouldn’t buy under normal circumstances. I don’t see how employers can force their employees to come in to work at midnight and pay them no more than usual.
The irony is that all of this happens immediately after Thanksgiving, which is a holiday traditionally dedicated to… well, what it says on the tin. The giving of thanks. It means that little kids in elementary school make lists of all the things they’re thankful for, and write those things around their own hand-turkey. Families get together for a meal that was usually prepared with love (or at least a little liquor) and celebrate one another. The thought of really taking notice of how good life has been to you is on everyone’s mind.
A couple of hours later, people are fighting like savages over whatever little gadget Best Buy or Wal-Mart has told them is both A) necessary to their very survival, and B) fucking $5 off, dude!
Every year it’s the same thing. People line up. Rush in. Shop. Struggle. Fight. Get hurt. Hurt others. Get arrested. Attack. Bite. Tear. Gnash. Save. SAVE.
It brings to mind a line from The Dark Knight…
“When the chips are down, these… these civilized people… they’ll eat each other.”
It’s a funny world we live in.
This is a test. It’ll probably post multiple times, and I’m sorry about that.
I recently decided to try App.net, which is a new-ish micro-blogging service. Here’s a brief summary of my experience with it.
First, a little nuts and bolts info. It’s basically Twitter. There’s a larger character limit, and all sorts of access to their API, and… well, that’s about it. It costs a minimum of $5 per month to use it, or $36 per year. The (only?) benefit is that there are no ads. Also, the name is a complete misfire. “App.net” doesn’t lend itself well to anything.
I used an iphone app called Netbot to actually interact with people. Netbot is made by Tapbots, the same people who make Tweetbot, and for all intents and purposes, it’s the same app. I immediately knew what I was doing, since again, it’s basically Twitter. There are far, far fewer users than you’ll find on Twitter, and the conversations are of a decidedly tech-based nature.
That sounded pretty good to me at the outset — after all, I am of a decidedly tech-based nature – but since I’m not someone who writes code, I found myself quickly at a loss as to what I was supposed to do with app.net. I decided to ask if there were any gamers about, being careful to hashtag “gamers” to make my query more visible. I decided to search for that hashtag in attempt to find some gaming buddies, and I was shock to find three results, one of which was mine.
I was a bit taken aback by this. Surely that was a mistake, just poor word choice on my part. I decided to try a different search, going with #Warcraft, since I love playing World of Warcraft. Surely in this haven of geekery there would be a few MMO fans, right?
Nope.
There were 2 posts containing the hashtag #Warcraft, with the most recent one being over a week old. At that point, it really crystallized in my mind that this service is not for me. Unless you’re in one of the very narrow bands of geekdom that App.net seems to cater to, you won’t find anything there to keep you around. I’ve already canceled my account, which, to their credit, was very easy.
All in all, that’s really the best thing I can say about App.net… canceling my account was quick and easy.
