More On Social Networking

Over the last few days on an email thread for Public Information Officers for Amateur Radio clubs, we were talking about implementing social media (Facebook, Twitter etc.) into our bag of tricks for getting the word out.

As Bill Pasternack pointed out:

The figures for growth in Twitter will amaze you: From Jan 08 to Jan 09, Worldpress Research reported Twitters membership grew by 1,227% and Facebook by 256%. The numbers for Jan 2009 to Jan 2010 are expected to be over 5 times or more greater. Or, if you want to put it in raw numbers, 5 in every 8 humans world wide are likely on Twitter and 2 in every humans world wide on Facebook by 2015.

Now those are pretty impressive numbers, taken as they are. But if you peel back a little, you find a different story. For example, the increase in numbers do not take into account multiple squatter accounts, set up by companies for marketing purposes (or those hoping for a quick buck), nor do they differentiate multiple personal identities (heck, I have three accounts). It also does not show how many people have abandoned Twitter.

Huffington Post reports:

A new study, released April 2010, examines Twitter usage in the United States, finding that although most Americans are aware of Twitter, few are using it.

To me, social media is more like AOL than it is like the Internet. Yes, there are a lot of people jumping on the bandwagon, but after a while, you have to wonder what is keeping them there. For example, here is a sampling of tweets from about 7 AM this morning from the main timeline:

• mrmarkmillar Please don't force Nolan to direct Batman in 3d, Warner Bros. REAL LIFE is 3D. It's not a novelty anymore.
• IAmSteveHarvey Good Morning everybody. Put your trust and hope into a relationship that is fail proof... Put it in God.
• Carine_Roitfeld Trying and Doing are two different things. When you try, you hope. When you do, you succeed.
• DaveGorman My must watch TV for tonight. John Sweeney. Panorama. The Truth About Scientology. http://bbc.in/dbXbz3 2 hours ago
• BestFilmQuotes "Sometimes, fantasies are better than reality." -A Cinderella Story (2004) *rptd
• USGS Seeing many tweets on quake prediction. Folks, let's set the record straight...no one can predict quakes...no one http://go.usa.gov/xA9
• starnewslive Delhi: labourers steal brass fittings worth 18 lakhs from water hydrants in CWG village
• mrchrisaddison Kim Jong-Il's been unanimously re-elected. Bit of an upset, that. My money was on his brother, David Jong-Il

Simply thrilling stuff right? Actually, the article from the USGS has a bit of interest to me, but if I had not read it, I would not be losing any sleep.

And as I have said about Facebook a number of times, I do not see the point. When I abandoned Facebook, my timeline was more a wash of game updates than useful information from my friends. Maybe I need more exciting friends but most only updated their status daily at best and the updates were interesting one time out of ten, if that.

So why is social media such a big deal? Why is it attracting so many people? Why is it so popular that people will buy credits to play games? And by people, I do not mean the usual suspects, but people that would otherwise have nothing to do with the computer.

If I could answer that question, then perhaps I could understand how to better use the technology, but I do not understand, and I guess, until I do, I will be on the outside looking in. But not very hard. After all, I did not understand AOL either, and it never really seemed to be that much of a negative either.

I Guess You Really Don't Want My Money

The last time I looked, the economy in the United States was not so robust that you could take a customer, any customer for granted. And yet, as I go about my daily routine, it seems clear to me that the customer is still a secondary consideration in most retail establishments, and a far second.

Over the weekend, I was visiting my local Toys R Us and while following my daughter around, found a couple of things I wanted to purchase. By the time we were done I had a small pile of things, adding up to about $50. Certainly nothing that would push them over the top for their numbers for the day but still, $50 is $50. Yet, at noon on a Saturday, with a fair number of people in the store, most pushing buggies with several hundred dollars worth of merchandise, this store had only two lanes open for check out. And about ten people in the combined line and no one in any hurry to either check out the customers or rushing to open another line. It took about sixty seconds for me to abandon my purchase and depart the store. I would like to say and never to come back again but as I have a daughter that still likes to play with her toys, I will be spending money there in the future, but I am certain that I will make it a point of not spending a penny more than I have to. If I can find an alternative location for the same item, I will likely make the choice to pick it up there.

Retail is bemoaning the lack of spending, yet at the same time, when their primary mission is to take my money, you would think the function of taking my money would be better managed. But then, I guess I am deluding myself into thinking that those in retail really care about the customer on the floor. In the majority, they do not, which explains why so many fail.

With Logic Like This...

The Bible says that lust in your heart is committing adultery, so you can't masturbate without lust. You're going to be pleasing each other and if he already knows what pleases him and he can please himself, why am I in the picture? Christine O'Donnell in an MTV interview as reported by the BBC.

The Recession is Over. Now the Real Work Begins

Economics is funny. According to the economics, the recession, which started in late 2007 ended in June 2009 and lasted 18 months.

According to those who pay attention, the recession really started late in September of 2008 when the financial meltdown, highlighted by the death of Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, along with most of the other investment banks, triggering a global panic in financial markets around the world and leading to the sloughing off of millions of jobs around the world.

The Economists claim the recession ending in June of last year, but as we slog through what is likely to be another grim Christmas season, everyone, except the Economists, would argue that while the recession may be technically over, the effects, and thus the perception of the recession is still very much with us.

And that is what is at the heart of a number of lingering issues in the United States and other countries in the world. Worker out rage, voter anger, and unsettled national interactions are all interrelated to the general malaise that is being seen around the world.

In the United States, reports that companies are sitting on potentially billions of dollars does not sit well with people that are out of work and have been out of work for months and are watching their safety net continue to erode as politicians play games in Congress. The argument that you should be prepared for your own unemployment, a rally cry of many libertarians is falling on deaf ears and people begin to eat away at their retirement savings just to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads.

What this recession is really highlighting is how little a safety net many people have an how little the future has to show. Gone are the halcyon days for many. The next ten or twenty or forty years will consist of hard work, little increased savings and the very real problem of working to death. Our golden years will likely be spent as we have spent the bulk of our life. Toiling away at a job we might not like, but which we cannot afford to quit.

The Tea Party Red Herring

On Tuesday, there was a great hue and cry in the United States as the Tea Party swept to victory in a number of primary elections. The Tea Party is touting these wins and a turning point. The pundits are less sure and as a resident, I am moderately curious, so I thought I would do a little research.

First, just what is this organization that calls itself the Tea Party and what do they really stand for.

Well, oddly, it is very difficult to get a handle on them. Unlike most parties, they do not have a leader, so it is very hard to find a clearly spelled out manifesto. Searching their web site one finds things like:

Many people seem to view the Tea Party movement as nothing more than a lot of people who are angry about taxes and government spending, but it goes deeper than that for many of us. We are tired of those things, but even more importantly and to the root is the Federal government's lack of respect and conformity to the Constitution, responsibility to the people, the intended sovereigns of this country, and its intended limited purpose as a small entity to preserve our rights, not to give and take them away with epic, unrestrained power.--An Effective Tea Party

OK. Sounds a little libertarian to me. But then you listen to their candidates.

First, Christine O'Donnell, who had an epiphany and chose to live a life of chastity, according to the Daily Record. She says There's only truth and not truth. You're either very good, or evil. Pretty black and white if you ask me. She became an evangelical Christian and there is no mention of a spouse or immediate family. I do not believe this is the first time a nun has run for office...what? She isn't a nun? Hmm...chaste, life to Christ...seems like a nun to me. But she is not without sin. Seems she has back tax issues and there are questions about her collage education bona fides. I am sure these are trivial though and she has been fully vetted and will be quickly cleared up or explained away. Based on numerous official statements, she supports teaching creationism, gun rights, is opposed to abortion (at least she does not claim to be pro-life) and rejects Darwinism. None of this is a surprise, she is born again. And there is nothing wrong with that per se.

Next, Marco Rubio, the candidate in Florida. March at least has a political pedigree, with time spent in the Florida House of Representatives and is the son of Cuban exiles. So presumably, he gets it. In the interest of fairness, I will point out that he declares himself to be a Roman Catholic. From his own web site he has this to say:

candidates for office should be talking about their conservative vision for our country’s future. --Marco2010

Conservative vision?

In Wisconsin, Ron Johnson won the Republican nomination to go after the US Senate seat currently held by Russ Fiengold. He is such an unknown that the bits on his wiki page are barely dry. In a May, 2010...do I call it a press release?... columnist George Will effused about him. The most basic right, Johnson says, is the right to keep your property.. Johnson is a pro-life Lutheran, [who] will highlight Feingold's opposition to banning late-term abortions. But more importantly, Johnson feels that the real issues is the transformation of American society in a way foreshadowed in fiction. I guess I am going to have to read Atlas Shrugged to understand what he is talking about because it seems counter to what American society is. And certainly, it seems to be counter to the very fundamentals of what the Tea Party claims to stand for.

For years, the Republican party has been fighting to control the hearts and minds of the American public. Their rhetoric has been pro-Business and smaller government, at least on the surface, while underneath, they have attempted to mandate who can sleep with whom, where and under what conditions, and restrict the rights of Americans more tightly than most dictatorships, while at the same time trying to hold up the Constitution as their document of guiding principles.

Now, along comes the Tea Party, arguing for smaller government, less tax, and a society based on the Constitution.

Fine, if you want to base your rhetoric on the Constitution, perhaps you should actually read it. To begin, as was pointed out previously, the Constitution says, in article VI, Paragraph 3:

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

Further, if we are going to assume that the Constitution includes the Amendments, all of them, not just the ones you like, then we need to look closely at the First Amendment, which says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

You know where I am going with this right? The Tea Party wants to argue that they are in favour of smaller Government, yet the people they are putting up for nomination would like nothing more than to enforce their religious views on those of us that have a Constitutional right to tell them to go pound sand. And this is where I lose my patience with this whole movement. This is nothing more than ultra-conservative, uber-religious people that believe the United States is a bastion of Christianity. And it is not, nor was it ever intended to be.

But let's pretend for a moment that the vast majority of the Tea Party really are opposed to big government. Maybe those same members should enumerate the ways in which big government has helped them everyday. It is a case of let he who is without sin....

The United States has some serious problems, and I am the first to tell you that the Government needs an overhaul on a number of levels. I have covered only a few of them in the years that I have been writing this blog. But if we, as Americans, are serious about holding out elected leaders accountable, should we not actually be electing leaders that know what the issues are? Talking about smaller government is not discussing the Economy. Being born-again will not help improve Health Care. Supporting gun rights does not begin to cover the tough issues of Immigration.

Unfortunately the American voter has a very limited ability to process political information. And the buzz phrases tend to penetrate more than the real issues. Until a gas line breaks, or a levee fails. And then they want to know why the Government did not do more.

Have We All Become Passive Agressive?

What has happened to common courtesy? Perhaps, like common sense, it never really existed. As a nation, the United States has gone from aggressively rude to passive aggressively rude, at least to my way of thinking. Emily Post is a distant memory and certainly the act of saying thanks, but no thanks has been subsumed by the cold shoulder.

I have noticed this most in the hiring process. Rather than telling you, after hours of phone calls and round robin interview sessions, that you do not fit their requirements or you are not what they are looking for, employers today tend to just stop answering your emails or your phone calls. And the same is true with recruiters who thought you would be perfect for the position. And it is not a cost factor. Sure, in the old days, it would cost you the price of a stamp, and the paper and probably some poor soul's typing time to send out a rejection letter, but in 2010, how hard is it to send an email? How complicated is it to do a mail merge and hit send?

But this sort of attitude no longer seems constrained to the hiring process. With the increase of interconnections and people looking for something to do, volunteers seem to be crawling out of the woodwork, and willing to do the job. And I support this. But if you are one of those that are being replaced by these eager new faces, a simple note saying thanks for all your help or, we are moving in a different direction would be appreciated. This would solve two problems. First, it would allow the people that have been doing a job for you to move on to other things, or it would allow them to find out just what you want them to change so they can continue to help you out, assuming that you want them to continue to help you.

So I am making a note right now to write up a Thanks for applying but ... letter as I start into the process of finding a new employee for my team and to collect the email addresses of those that have applied so I can do a mail merge once the successful candidate has joined us. And I encourage you, if you are in the position, to do the same thing. It does not take much, but it is much appreciated.

But it costs too much...

Over the summer, we heard the refrain from the Republican side of the house that the efforts to extend jobless benefits to those that were still out of work would cost too much money and hurt the recovery efforts. It was opposed because it would cost $34 billion dollars. A substantial amount of money no doubt.

Today, the Republicans are singing the same song about hurting the recovery efforts. Except this time, it will cost an estimated $10 billion, per year, but only if the Republicans do not get their way. You see, the tax cuts for the rich, implemented under Bush II are due to expire, and if the are not allowed to expire, it will cost $10 billion per year, according to some estimates in lost income for the Treasury. But this amount seems to be perfectly reasonable to the Republicans.

I am not sure who has the shorter memory, Democratic voters, Republican voters, or just the average American voter, despite several polls indicating that the majority of Americans are in favour of letting the tax cuts expire. I guess we will find out in November.

Just Because It Is Protected, Does Not Make It Right

His [Jones] actions likely would be protected by the First Amendment's right to free speech. The U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that speech deemed offensive to many people, even the majority of people, cannot be suppressed by the government unless it is clearly directed to intimidate someone or amounts to an incitement to violence, legal experts said. (WTOP)

I have said it before. I find this reprehensible. I do not know how Mr. Jones can claim to be a man of the cloth and still think there is nothing wrong with what he is going to attempt, but I guess smarter people than me feel he does have the Constitutional right to do it.

So, go ahead and burn the book Mr. Jones. Your act reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw that said Fascism will come wrapped in a Flag carrying a Bible. What you do, you do in your own name. No ethical person would support you.

But Is It A Hate Crime?

I have had a few people tweet to me that burning the Quoran, while reprehensible, is not a hate crime. One comment I liked was:

I agree burning anyone's religious texts is in bad taste, but hate crime? It's non-violent, and no one's immune to criticism, right?

Now, if you have even an inkling about me, you know that I do not care for organized religion and certainly believe that no one is immune from criticism. So I will not get upset if you burn the Quoran or the Bible, except that burning any book should raise the hackles on the back of everyone's neck and make you squirm and hear the echoes of goose-stepping military boots in the distance.

But if burning a cross on some one's lawn is a hate crime, then how is burning the Quoran not a hate crime? If defacing the Star of David is a hate crime, then so should the desecration of any religion's icons and holy documents. And it should not matter that you do not believe in the tenants inscribed on those pages to make it a hate crime.

If I were to stand in the middle of the street in Birmingham, Alabama and had a Bible burning bonfire, do you not think, once the crowd got through with me, that I would be tossed in jail and charged with a hate crime? Is it is a non-violent form of protest? Would I be able to get away with it in New York City? Or San Francisco?

At the crux of all of this are some very twisted individuals, on both sides of the aisle. Extremists exist in all religions and hardly are what any of us would describe as representative of that religion. Several hundred years ago, the Soldiers of Christ liberated the Holy Lands. Nine years ago, a jihad rained down fire on the heart of American capitalism. If you consider these extreme examples, then you clearly do not understand the base framework of the argument and will continue to think that burning the Quoran is not a hate crime.

This is Not a Protest, This is an Act of Hate

The pastor of a Florida church planning to burn Qurans told CNN Tuesday while the congregation plans to go through with the action to protest the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States by al Qaeda, the church is "weighing" its intentions. (CNN)

When I heard about this, I almost spilled my coffee. And then, this quote:

Terry Jones, pastor of Dove World Outreach Church in Gainesville, Florida, who was interviewed on CNN's "American Morning, said the congregation is taking seriously the warning from the U.S. military that the act could cause problems for American troops.

The congregation is taking warnings from the U.S. military seriously? Might just as well toss the Constitution on the fire while you are at it.

Now, before you get up and say that they have a First Amendment right to burn the Quran, remember that under that same argument I have the same right to burn a Bible. Or the U.S. flag. That does not mean that it is right or proper. If this was an Iman in Riyadh, planning a national Bible burning day in protest of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, do you think for one moment that every government in the Western World would not be condemning the action? Or ordering sanctions? Or similar saber rattling? So what gives Mr. Jones, or is short sighted, double-speaked named congregation the right?

This smacks of a hate crime, and the United States Government needs to condemn it as strongly as they would condemn any other act of hate speech.

Irony

This morning I learned that comedian Robert Schimmel died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident. This after surviving a heart attack and cancer, and being the son of Holocaust survivors.

That, is irony. And he will be missed.

Social Gaming Takes Another Step

Target will be the first retailer to sell Facebook Credits in its stores come Sunday. The Facebook Credits gift cards will be available in $15, $25 and $50 denominations at all 1,750 Target locations and at Target.com. (Mashable)

When I read this yesterday, my first question was why? The answer I received was "what do you mean, why? huge revenue potential. huge. holiday gift cards are big business. social gaming is big business." This caused me to pause a moment. And that moment lasted more than a moment.

Maybe it is because I come from a different generation. I grew up playing sports, on teams and as an individual, against other people, in real time on a field of grass, outside under a blue sky. Hey, we used to sweat on each other sometimes. Or, as a competitive swimmer, I would compete against them in a pool. To borrow a phrase, we could see the whites of their eyes. I grew up playing Dungeons and Dragons. Laugh all you want about geeks in a basement, but these geeks were socializing, using their brains. Sure it was not always as physical as when we were banging heads on the football field, but we were socializing, face-to-face. Even today, with all of the various on-line poker games that are available to me, I would much rather sit down at a table of complete strangers and play a few hands than stare for hours (OK, minutes) at a video screen.

I have a number of friends. Some I only know through the Internet and I have been on it a long time. And I can assure you that knowing someone on-line leaves a lot to be desired. You really do not know them. You do not know what they sound like, how they react, who they are. I have been fortunate enough to meet a number of them face-to-face and get to really know them better. I wish I had the opportunity to do that will all of my on-line friends, but because of cost, distance or other reasons, I know that I will not get to meet them all.

Almost a year ago, I wrote about Social Media, or more correctly, my increasing disillusionment with it, especially Facebook. I am more convinced than ever that closing my Facebook account was exactly the right thing to do. Target's decision to sell credit gift cards convinces me even more. I played Farmville, for all of about 10 minutes and all it did was convince me that I really should reinstall SimCity on my system.

I see two dangers with these cards. The first is people converting money into...I do not even know what to call it other than air (flushing it down the drain would be what our parents would say) without even the tangible benefit of something to show for it, just so they can purchase a virtual sledgehammer, or pig, or what have you. In Las Vegas, they convert your money into tokens (chips) because of the physiological impact losing real dollars at the tables tends to reduce the actually betting. But at the end of the day, if you win, you have the option of reconverting these tokens into dollars and taking your winnings home with you. Does Facebook intend to do the same thing?

The second thing that concerns me is that there are a number of people, so addicted to these games, that they will go out and spend the money on these gift cards. And more money. And more money. And in the end you have accomplished what? You have what to show for it?

In Las Vegas (and other places) it is called gambling and there are very tight rules and regulations, imposed by the State and Federal Government on what you can and cannot do. What do we call these social games? I mean other than a money making engine for Facebook. If this does not concern you, it should. And like me, you should be asking more than just why?

Strasburg to Have Tommy John Surgery

MIAMI (AP) - Washington Nationals rookie ace Stephen Strasburg will have Tommy John surgery on Friday to rebuild his injured right elbow, an operation that is expected to sideline him for 12 to 18 months. (WTOP)

Well that did not take long. I am not a Baseball person but I am a fan of the game and reasonably intelligent, and like so many other fans of the game, questioned the Nationals desire to rush Stasburg to the Show. And now we are wondering what will happen. The odds of Stasburg returning to the Nationals is long. The odds of him being the dominant pitcher that he showed over the first few starts are even longer. It is more likely that he will go the way of other phenoms, rushed to the Show and abused for a few good starts, and then sent to the cutter to get fixed, rather than letting them develop their strength and work out some bad habits in their mechanics that inevitably lead to this sort of surgery.

What the Nationals have done is destroy the career of a potentially Hall of Fame pitcher. I hope he invested his salary for this season, because it is unlikely he will ever reach these lofty heights again. And if you doubt me, do the names Kerry Wood and Mark Pryor ring any bells? If they don't then, I have made my point.