Oct 2008
"Those People" You Hate On Facebook
10/23/08 03:16 PM Filed in: Indiscriminate
You know those Facebook
personalities that float around, haunting the world's
best social networking site. Everybody knows
them. They're unavoidable. Well, here's a
list of the most common and annoying ones that I've
found. If you find that you fit one of
these stereotypes, please, do all of your friends a
favor. Stop doing that
thing.
The Poker
I don't actually need to say anything about this. It's self explanatory. Why does poking exist? It's stupid. Stop poking me.
The Groupie
The Groupie is the guy who thinks every cause, every inside joke, every event, everything deserves a Facebook group. It doesn't. Coincidently, most Groupies tend to be quite illiterate and can't even properly convey their cause in less than seventy-five characters. This leads to his group name having far too many punctuation marks and not enough legitimate words. Also, lots of abbreviations.
As if there aren't already enough groups out there. Heck, there are duplicates of groups, just spelled and exclaimed differently. You can find fan groups, anti-fan groups, event groups, groups trying to be the biggest group, groups against groups, groups that are against groups that are against groups, groups against duplicate groups (ironically, there's a ton of those ... Check it), groups ... You get the idea. All that, and there's not even really a point to them. If you're a fan of something, why join a group? Add it to your Interests ...
The Groupie may also be known for being ...
The Invitation Freak
Back in 2007, shortly after Facebook apps were launched, Facebook had over 3,000 apps you could add, and was averaging 100 new apps every day. That's way too many to sift through. Unfortunately, The Invitation Freak will somehow find time to sift through them all and invite you to all of them as well. Numerous times. (I'm still not sure whether vampires or werewolves are better ...)
But he won't just do this with apps. No, he'll do it with groups, pages, events ... everything. Anything that has the "Invite People to Join" button, The Invitation Freak will invite you to it. The reason Facebook has become so insecure recently and has been the result of countless hacking attempts is essentially the fault of The Invitation Freak. Anyone can write an app; therefore the same geniuses who keep Symantec and McAfee in business will also make apps to hack Facebook.
The Obnoxious Tagger
The Obnoxious Tagger thinks your life isn't complete without theirs. That's why they have to tag you in all of their notes, photos, and videos. They think you need to know about the good time they had, about how depressed they are, or whatever.
Quickly check out this page on tagging in Facebook. Notice, under photos, it says, "Facebook provides users with the opportunity to identify the people in their photos by 'tagging' the images." ... Hold on, let me just say it again "... identify the people in their photos ..." This would imply the person was, in fact, in the photo. This principle should also be applied to Notes. If the person is not actually mentioned in the note, you don't need to tag them.
Look, everything you do or add on Facebook will show up in my News Feed moments after you do it, so it's not like I don't know you wrote a note. I suppose the cause of this may be because The Obnoxious Tagger is also actually ...
The Attention Monger
The Attention Monger has to be seen on Facebook. They update their status on an unhealthy basis, constantly put pictures (of themselves) into albums, update their status again (even though they aren't doing anything new), comment on all your photos and notes, right on everyone’s wall (because it will show up in the News Feed!) ... Anything that can be posted on, they will post on. Anything that can be updated, they will update so they're always at the top of your News Feed. Just met them? They'll add you. Just added an album and forgot to tag them in a photo? They'll tag it for you.
Their profile is completely full. They list every band, every movie, every everything they possibly can in their profile. They even have that Extended Profile app to add MORE, just in case you actually do pay attention to them for once ... They want you to know how awesome they are.
Unfortunately, people who see The Attention Monger all too often must ask the question ...
Do I Know You?
This person adds you when they don't really know you. You meet them once, they permanently engrain your name into their memory because they think you're cute, and then they go back to their dorm and add you as a friend. But you aren't really friends. Webster says a friend is "one attached to another by affection or esteem" or "a favored companion". Someone can't be either of these things after one or two meetings, no matter how cute they are.
Then there's the person on Facebook who thinks they're on MySpace. I think they literally just search for random names and add people when they're bored. I used to know somebody who would just always look up their own name and add anyone whom they had that common bond with.
Finally, there's the "I know you through your cousin" guy. Look, we've never met, so why are you adding me? I don't care if you know my cousin, or you went to school with my parents and you're fifty (that happened to me once). Facebook is a social networking site, not an online dating community. Although some of you seem to have a pretty severe misunderstanding about that.
The Creeper
The Creeper always is the first to comment on your photos of the previous night’s slumber party. He always knows your latest status update (he has them texted to his phone), and he's not afraid to ask you about them in person. He's always curious about your camping trip last weekend (he knows you went on it because he saw the album). He sends you messages and writes on your wall about how he hasn't seen you in a while, but you look like you're having fun.
Oh, and he also started texting you. He got your number from your profile.
The Complainer
The Complainer basically hates Facebook. Everything about it. The new design sucks, it's always slow, and you need to be able to customize profiles, why don't they make an app that does this?
Look, if you want a customizable profile, go back to MySpace. We don't want your glitter here. Facebook is clean and intuitive (and quiet ... Yes, you, who uploads music on your MySpace). Go design your own website if Facebook isn't good enough for you, but there's a very important fact you must remember: Facebook is free. And has far less obnoxious ads than MySpace or Xanga.
And, I just have to say this, no matter how many people you get to join a group, some magnificent thing will not happen. For instance, Facebook will not change the design back if you get 10 million people to join your group. They invested months into designing and programming it, and you think they're going to just throw it away? They'll try to upgrade it more to please you, but they will never go back to the old layout. And they will never support both layouts. That would be impractical, a nightmare to maintain, and downright stupid.
Why bother?
They're the opposite of The Attention Monger. They have nothing on their Facebook. They even have The Question Mark as their profile picture. They list maybe one or two interests, bands, and movies, and that's pretty much it. Their About Me section is empty. They have no photo albums or notes, and they never update their status. They've never commented on a single photo or note since they registered. In fact, they only really got a Facebook because you forced them to. Because you're The Attention Monger and you wanted them to look at your profile. Nice work ...
That concludes the rather extensive list. Basically, if you're thinking you may be doing something wrong (or annoying) on Facebook, consult The Ten Commandments of Facebook before continuing. It will answer all of your questions if this list didn't.
The Poker
I don't actually need to say anything about this. It's self explanatory. Why does poking exist? It's stupid. Stop poking me.
The Groupie
The Groupie is the guy who thinks every cause, every inside joke, every event, everything deserves a Facebook group. It doesn't. Coincidently, most Groupies tend to be quite illiterate and can't even properly convey their cause in less than seventy-five characters. This leads to his group name having far too many punctuation marks and not enough legitimate words. Also, lots of abbreviations.
As if there aren't already enough groups out there. Heck, there are duplicates of groups, just spelled and exclaimed differently. You can find fan groups, anti-fan groups, event groups, groups trying to be the biggest group, groups against groups, groups that are against groups that are against groups, groups against duplicate groups (ironically, there's a ton of those ... Check it), groups ... You get the idea. All that, and there's not even really a point to them. If you're a fan of something, why join a group? Add it to your Interests ...
The Groupie may also be known for being ...
The Invitation Freak
Back in 2007, shortly after Facebook apps were launched, Facebook had over 3,000 apps you could add, and was averaging 100 new apps every day. That's way too many to sift through. Unfortunately, The Invitation Freak will somehow find time to sift through them all and invite you to all of them as well. Numerous times. (I'm still not sure whether vampires or werewolves are better ...)
But he won't just do this with apps. No, he'll do it with groups, pages, events ... everything. Anything that has the "Invite People to Join" button, The Invitation Freak will invite you to it. The reason Facebook has become so insecure recently and has been the result of countless hacking attempts is essentially the fault of The Invitation Freak. Anyone can write an app; therefore the same geniuses who keep Symantec and McAfee in business will also make apps to hack Facebook.
The Obnoxious Tagger
The Obnoxious Tagger thinks your life isn't complete without theirs. That's why they have to tag you in all of their notes, photos, and videos. They think you need to know about the good time they had, about how depressed they are, or whatever.
Quickly check out this page on tagging in Facebook. Notice, under photos, it says, "Facebook provides users with the opportunity to identify the people in their photos by 'tagging' the images." ... Hold on, let me just say it again "... identify the people in their photos ..." This would imply the person was, in fact, in the photo. This principle should also be applied to Notes. If the person is not actually mentioned in the note, you don't need to tag them.
Look, everything you do or add on Facebook will show up in my News Feed moments after you do it, so it's not like I don't know you wrote a note. I suppose the cause of this may be because The Obnoxious Tagger is also actually ...
The Attention Monger
The Attention Monger has to be seen on Facebook. They update their status on an unhealthy basis, constantly put pictures (of themselves) into albums, update their status again (even though they aren't doing anything new), comment on all your photos and notes, right on everyone’s wall (because it will show up in the News Feed!) ... Anything that can be posted on, they will post on. Anything that can be updated, they will update so they're always at the top of your News Feed. Just met them? They'll add you. Just added an album and forgot to tag them in a photo? They'll tag it for you.
Their profile is completely full. They list every band, every movie, every everything they possibly can in their profile. They even have that Extended Profile app to add MORE, just in case you actually do pay attention to them for once ... They want you to know how awesome they are.
Unfortunately, people who see The Attention Monger all too often must ask the question ...
Do I Know You?
This person adds you when they don't really know you. You meet them once, they permanently engrain your name into their memory because they think you're cute, and then they go back to their dorm and add you as a friend. But you aren't really friends. Webster says a friend is "one attached to another by affection or esteem" or "a favored companion". Someone can't be either of these things after one or two meetings, no matter how cute they are.
Then there's the person on Facebook who thinks they're on MySpace. I think they literally just search for random names and add people when they're bored. I used to know somebody who would just always look up their own name and add anyone whom they had that common bond with.
Finally, there's the "I know you through your cousin" guy. Look, we've never met, so why are you adding me? I don't care if you know my cousin, or you went to school with my parents and you're fifty (that happened to me once). Facebook is a social networking site, not an online dating community. Although some of you seem to have a pretty severe misunderstanding about that.
The Creeper
The Creeper always is the first to comment on your photos of the previous night’s slumber party. He always knows your latest status update (he has them texted to his phone), and he's not afraid to ask you about them in person. He's always curious about your camping trip last weekend (he knows you went on it because he saw the album). He sends you messages and writes on your wall about how he hasn't seen you in a while, but you look like you're having fun.
Oh, and he also started texting you. He got your number from your profile.
The Complainer
The Complainer basically hates Facebook. Everything about it. The new design sucks, it's always slow, and you need to be able to customize profiles, why don't they make an app that does this?
Look, if you want a customizable profile, go back to MySpace. We don't want your glitter here. Facebook is clean and intuitive (and quiet ... Yes, you, who uploads music on your MySpace). Go design your own website if Facebook isn't good enough for you, but there's a very important fact you must remember: Facebook is free. And has far less obnoxious ads than MySpace or Xanga.
And, I just have to say this, no matter how many people you get to join a group, some magnificent thing will not happen. For instance, Facebook will not change the design back if you get 10 million people to join your group. They invested months into designing and programming it, and you think they're going to just throw it away? They'll try to upgrade it more to please you, but they will never go back to the old layout. And they will never support both layouts. That would be impractical, a nightmare to maintain, and downright stupid.
Why bother?
They're the opposite of The Attention Monger. They have nothing on their Facebook. They even have The Question Mark as their profile picture. They list maybe one or two interests, bands, and movies, and that's pretty much it. Their About Me section is empty. They have no photo albums or notes, and they never update their status. They've never commented on a single photo or note since they registered. In fact, they only really got a Facebook because you forced them to. Because you're The Attention Monger and you wanted them to look at your profile. Nice work ...
That concludes the rather extensive list. Basically, if you're thinking you may be doing something wrong (or annoying) on Facebook, consult The Ten Commandments of Facebook before continuing. It will answer all of your questions if this list didn't.
|
Facebook's Double Posting ...
10/22/08 10:39 PM Filed in: Indiscriminate
Just as a random note,
what is the deal with Facebook posting some of my
notes twice? Don’t you know how to read a feed? I’ve
even gone back and deleted the duplicates, but guess
what? They appear again a couple days later. So, in
case any of you were wondering, that’s why I have
double posts on some of my older blogs on the
Facebook Note stream ... Weird.
Politicians and Elections
10/22/08 10:33 PM Filed in: Indiscriminate
The days of honest
politics are far behind us, unfortunately. Which is
frustrating. Seems you can’t just find out what a
candidate actually
stands for these days,
all you can find out is how horribly terrible of a
candidate the other candidate is. And, trust me, he’s horrible. The
things he did as a teen ...
So, what’s the deal with politicians literally just making up crap about their opponent? Well, according to a fairly unreliable source (Mom, don’t read that article), the first election who’s advertising campaign was built solely on tearing the opponent down was in 1800, in the election between Jefferson and Adams. Believe it or not, people actually debated about prevalent issues of society before the 1800 election. Crazy to think about, I know.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s rather fed up with misleading (and flat out lying) campaign ads. Look, I know you think my generation is stupid, and, quite honestly, my generation and the up-and-coming generation are probably the stupidest America has yet to see, but ... Give us a little credit. One campaign ad comes on, discrediting the candidates opponent, saying things about them that sound absolutely horrible ... How could you vote for such a person?! But wait, there’s more. The very next commercial you see is an ad for the opposing candidate, first addressing all the “lies” of the previous ad, and then telling you the real story ... Turns out the candidate you thought was so good was actually caught up in a dishonest canal scheme back in his prime. And you thought that only happened in Oscar Wilde plays.
So, who am I supposed to believe? You both flat out contradict each other. You both accuse the other of horrendous acts that I clearly wouldn’t support. But, according to the other one, these accusations are just completely made up. Apparently both parties are just making up crap about the other candidate ... Or so the other candidate claims. It’s a vicious circle.
Every once in a while a candidate may actually claim he stands for some political viewpoint. Ironically, this claim may change, depending on how the public reacts to their opponents claims, or what’s popular. But the vast majority of their campaign money is spent simply tearing the other candidate down.
Oh, also, when they finally do get around to telling you views/strategies, they won’t make any sense. Not because you’re too stupid to understand them, but because they’re actually too outlandish for anyone, President or not, to accomplish. Fact: The President doesn’t even have enough power to do 90% of what his campaign ads claim. (The percentage isn’t really a fact, but the rest of the statement is.)
I would like to see a 1796 election again, where candidates actually talked about pressing issues in society, told us what they stood for, and told us what they were planning (like, for real, not some ridiculous statement that sounds good but is impossible to perform) to do about current events that needed attention. Honestly, why is it Fox even has to hold the “Fact Check” (or whatever it’s called) after each debate to see which “facts” one candidate said about another that wasn’t actually true. Or, why the moderator at the Vice Presidential Debate even had to ask the question, “What have your candidates campaign ads promised the American public that they can’t actually deliver?” Honestly, what annoys me the most is that the next leader of our country, the man whom we should all revere, can’t even adequately or properly explain his own viewpoints, let alone accurately portray his opponents. Worse, he flat out lies about his opponent. And we want him running our country?
The annoying thing is, an honest election will never happen. Because we’re on a roll, in a vicious cycle, that probably can’t be broken without some law being passed. Something about slander or libel being illegal, I don’t know. So, I guess we’re doomed to never actually have an honest election again. And if a candidate even tried, there’s no way his opponent would honor that ... They would just rip him apart like the innocent pup he would be.
So, what’s the deal with politicians literally just making up crap about their opponent? Well, according to a fairly unreliable source (Mom, don’t read that article), the first election who’s advertising campaign was built solely on tearing the opponent down was in 1800, in the election between Jefferson and Adams. Believe it or not, people actually debated about prevalent issues of society before the 1800 election. Crazy to think about, I know.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s rather fed up with misleading (and flat out lying) campaign ads. Look, I know you think my generation is stupid, and, quite honestly, my generation and the up-and-coming generation are probably the stupidest America has yet to see, but ... Give us a little credit. One campaign ad comes on, discrediting the candidates opponent, saying things about them that sound absolutely horrible ... How could you vote for such a person?! But wait, there’s more. The very next commercial you see is an ad for the opposing candidate, first addressing all the “lies” of the previous ad, and then telling you the real story ... Turns out the candidate you thought was so good was actually caught up in a dishonest canal scheme back in his prime. And you thought that only happened in Oscar Wilde plays.
So, who am I supposed to believe? You both flat out contradict each other. You both accuse the other of horrendous acts that I clearly wouldn’t support. But, according to the other one, these accusations are just completely made up. Apparently both parties are just making up crap about the other candidate ... Or so the other candidate claims. It’s a vicious circle.
Every once in a while a candidate may actually claim he stands for some political viewpoint. Ironically, this claim may change, depending on how the public reacts to their opponents claims, or what’s popular. But the vast majority of their campaign money is spent simply tearing the other candidate down.
Oh, also, when they finally do get around to telling you views/strategies, they won’t make any sense. Not because you’re too stupid to understand them, but because they’re actually too outlandish for anyone, President or not, to accomplish. Fact: The President doesn’t even have enough power to do 90% of what his campaign ads claim. (The percentage isn’t really a fact, but the rest of the statement is.)
I would like to see a 1796 election again, where candidates actually talked about pressing issues in society, told us what they stood for, and told us what they were planning (like, for real, not some ridiculous statement that sounds good but is impossible to perform) to do about current events that needed attention. Honestly, why is it Fox even has to hold the “Fact Check” (or whatever it’s called) after each debate to see which “facts” one candidate said about another that wasn’t actually true. Or, why the moderator at the Vice Presidential Debate even had to ask the question, “What have your candidates campaign ads promised the American public that they can’t actually deliver?” Honestly, what annoys me the most is that the next leader of our country, the man whom we should all revere, can’t even adequately or properly explain his own viewpoints, let alone accurately portray his opponents. Worse, he flat out lies about his opponent. And we want him running our country?
The annoying thing is, an honest election will never happen. Because we’re on a roll, in a vicious cycle, that probably can’t be broken without some law being passed. Something about slander or libel being illegal, I don’t know. So, I guess we’re doomed to never actually have an honest election again. And if a candidate even tried, there’s no way his opponent would honor that ... They would just rip him apart like the innocent pup he would be.
Suspicious Package Found at Cedarville
Cedarville University
seems to have made it into the papers again. This
story is almost as amazing as the
Climate of Fear article reported a while back (the
parody of which, Climate of
Beer, was even better).
Apparently this is all they could find to report on ...
Here’s the situation: A suspicious packaged is found on campus by a staff member and is reported to the proper authorities. The bomb squad is apparently the proper authorities on such matters. The package is properly disposed of, Cedarville is in the news.
Let’s try to put this into a proper perspective ... So, you’re walking through the DMC, thinking of the best way to inform your class that the highest grade was a 79%, but it still doesn’t reflect your teaching (somehow), and you see a small, brown box off in a dark corner. I don’t know about you, but if that were me, I would first give my students a major curve because my exam sucked. Secondly, I would not assume the box was a bomb. This is Cedarville. Clearly there’s a legitimate explanation for the “suspicious” package. I’m not sure if the box looked at the staff member ominously, or if it just straight up said, “This Is Suspicious” on the front, but unless one of those two things is true (and believe me, a box with eyes is a cause for concern), I don’t think Campus Safety needs to get involved. Hey, but on the bright side, you now have an excuse to cancel class.
This evidently just goes to show how little Campus Safety really has to do, and how tired they are of simply handing out Parking Violations. They took this as their time to shine. The last time that happened was ... Sheesh ... With the Cadillitic Converters being randomly stolen off cars last year! So, Campus Safety gets this report of a suspicious package, goes to check it out, finds that it’s a harmless brown box, moves it to, of all places, the driving range on the outskirts of campus, and ... Calls Hazmat. Then they send out a campus wide email informing us they have the situation under control.
Good. Because we all were aware of the situation and very concerned. Of course, Cedarville being the small campus that it is, and not already having enough female gossip to go around, everyone starts talking about the package.
Of course, you can’t have a suspicious package without the news getting involved. So the nightly news came to campus to interview people and do a report on it. They decided to run it as a “bomb threat”, which I think should have meant we didn’t have school the next day, but we did. It wasn’t a bomb threat. It was a suspicious package. There was never even really talk of a bomb, except that the bomb squad was here ... Minor details.
So, what was in the package, anyway? Well, after the campus wide email regarding the suspicious package went out, a group of students who had placed the package (as suspiciously as possible, apparently) decided to come forward and admit their crime. They had placed the box in the DMC as part of a scavenger. I’m guessing it was the final prize. It contained a box of chocolates. After the group of students came forward, Campus Safety and the Bomb Squad turned the investigation over to local authorities. I’m not sure what that means, but if those guys are prosecuted for a scavenger hunt, they you know Cedarville has too much time on its hands!
But just think, if the staff member had just quietly taken the box with him or her, he or she could have had that entire box of chocolates to themselves, and no one would have been the wiser, and the people participating in the scavenger hunt would have felt severely shafted. Finders keepers.
Apparently this is all they could find to report on ...
Here’s the situation: A suspicious packaged is found on campus by a staff member and is reported to the proper authorities. The bomb squad is apparently the proper authorities on such matters. The package is properly disposed of, Cedarville is in the news.
Let’s try to put this into a proper perspective ... So, you’re walking through the DMC, thinking of the best way to inform your class that the highest grade was a 79%, but it still doesn’t reflect your teaching (somehow), and you see a small, brown box off in a dark corner. I don’t know about you, but if that were me, I would first give my students a major curve because my exam sucked. Secondly, I would not assume the box was a bomb. This is Cedarville. Clearly there’s a legitimate explanation for the “suspicious” package. I’m not sure if the box looked at the staff member ominously, or if it just straight up said, “This Is Suspicious” on the front, but unless one of those two things is true (and believe me, a box with eyes is a cause for concern), I don’t think Campus Safety needs to get involved. Hey, but on the bright side, you now have an excuse to cancel class.
This evidently just goes to show how little Campus Safety really has to do, and how tired they are of simply handing out Parking Violations. They took this as their time to shine. The last time that happened was ... Sheesh ... With the Cadillitic Converters being randomly stolen off cars last year! So, Campus Safety gets this report of a suspicious package, goes to check it out, finds that it’s a harmless brown box, moves it to, of all places, the driving range on the outskirts of campus, and ... Calls Hazmat. Then they send out a campus wide email informing us they have the situation under control.
Good. Because we all were aware of the situation and very concerned. Of course, Cedarville being the small campus that it is, and not already having enough female gossip to go around, everyone starts talking about the package.
Of course, you can’t have a suspicious package without the news getting involved. So the nightly news came to campus to interview people and do a report on it. They decided to run it as a “bomb threat”, which I think should have meant we didn’t have school the next day, but we did. It wasn’t a bomb threat. It was a suspicious package. There was never even really talk of a bomb, except that the bomb squad was here ... Minor details.
So, what was in the package, anyway? Well, after the campus wide email regarding the suspicious package went out, a group of students who had placed the package (as suspiciously as possible, apparently) decided to come forward and admit their crime. They had placed the box in the DMC as part of a scavenger. I’m guessing it was the final prize. It contained a box of chocolates. After the group of students came forward, Campus Safety and the Bomb Squad turned the investigation over to local authorities. I’m not sure what that means, but if those guys are prosecuted for a scavenger hunt, they you know Cedarville has too much time on its hands!
But just think, if the staff member had just quietly taken the box with him or her, he or she could have had that entire box of chocolates to themselves, and no one would have been the wiser, and the people participating in the scavenger hunt would have felt severely shafted. Finders keepers.
Hey, Apple, Where's the Blu-Ray?
10/18/08 05:45 PM Filed in: Technology
There’s a lot of
commotion over Apple’s newest line of MacBooks,
MacBook Pros, iMacs, Cinnema Displays, etc. But
there’s something that seems severely lacking. Where
are the Blu-Ray drives, Apple?
Sure, you gave us a Wireless n card. You gave us 39% more on our touchpad for the MacBook and the MacBook Pros, made of wear-resistant glass and added more advanced finger gestures. You gave us a Solid-State Hard Drive for over $1,000 less than it was in the initial MacBook Air (told you ...). You gave us a sleeker, even more aesthetically pleasing (and I thought that wasn’t possible ...) design for the casing. You gave us faster processors (we like that)! You gave us two graphics cards--one integrated for better battery life, one discrete for ultimate performance. You even somehow managed, among all these things, to squeeze in a bigger battery, boasting up to five hours of life!
But ... First let’s talk about ports. I’m pretty excited that you moved to a single standard for display ports. On the MacBook AND the MacBook Pro, you are given a Mini DisplayPort; no DV and Mini-DV depending on your laptop. Though, annoyingly, Mini DisplayPort, as you may notice, is Mini DP, not Mini DV, so it’s a standard we have to switch to before it’s universal. Why they ever thought that was a good idea, I’ll never know, since there’s no difference in performance. We now have a gigabit ethernet port ... Awesome! Quick question: Where did my FireWire port go on the regular MacBook? It’s ... gone.
Jobs has only responded with the statement, “Actually, all of the new HD camcorders of the past few years use USB 2.” I love Steve Jobs, but that doesn’t actually answer the question. And a significant number of camcorders still use FireWire, though he’s right when he says most new ones use USB, or at least allow for both. However, here’s the strangest part. Do you know who invented FireWire? FireWire is Apple’s IEEE 1394 connection, created in 1995 and implemented on the first Macs somewhere around 1997. Even more ironically, FireWire officially became part of the IEEE Std. in June, 2008. If you’ll notice, that wasn’t too long ago ... And all of a sudden, it’s parent has abandoned it and accepted the more universal standard of USB (which appropriately stands for Universal Serial Bus)? That doesn’t seem right.
Also, my external hard drive uses FireWire.
But, most significantly, what about Blu-Ray? That is, after all, why you’re reading this, right? Well, here’s what Jobs had to say about that. “Blu-Ray is just a bag of hurt. It’s great to watch the movies, but licensing of the tech is so complex, we’re waiting till things settle down and Blu-Ray takes off in the marketplace.” Read “licensing of the tech is so complex” as “it costs way too much money.” That’s really what he means.
For some reason I can’t understand, Apple went out on a limb and incorporated $1,700 SSD drives in the MacBook Air ... A drive that costs over five times as much for less than half the space of a normal Hard Drive. A price that would be ridiculous to pay, but Apple understood that if they didn’t incorporate it into the marketplace at an expensive price, it would never be able to come down in price. Strange that they aren’t willing to do the same for Blu-Ray. Also, Apple and Sony are chums. Incidentally, Sony owned HD-DVD ... Which was the competitor for Blu-Ray and lost because it was far inferior, though much priced much friendlier.
That’s really all the answer we have from the guys at Apple as to why Blu-Ray is lacking in this line. And, from the several people I’ve talked to on the subject, that was the only reason they were going to buy a new MacBook this year. Now they aren’t. Way to go, Apple.
As just a bit of encouragement, here’s a fun fact about Blu-Ray: It’s highly encrypted. Those of you who like to rip-’n-return, as we say, are going to be in for a surprise. Blu-Ray discs are encrypted, in fact, all the way to the monitor. (Can you say “paranoid”?) So, get this, in order for Apple to actually include Blu-Ray drives on their laptops, it’s not as simple as you ordering a Blu-Ray drive and doing surgery on your MacBook Pro; you would need a new display to decrypt the discs. Apple included the decrypting technology in the displays for their newest MacBooks, MacBook Pros, Cinnema Displays, and iMacs. Maybe in the next generation, then ...
Sure, you gave us a Wireless n card. You gave us 39% more on our touchpad for the MacBook and the MacBook Pros, made of wear-resistant glass and added more advanced finger gestures. You gave us a Solid-State Hard Drive for over $1,000 less than it was in the initial MacBook Air (told you ...). You gave us a sleeker, even more aesthetically pleasing (and I thought that wasn’t possible ...) design for the casing. You gave us faster processors (we like that)! You gave us two graphics cards--one integrated for better battery life, one discrete for ultimate performance. You even somehow managed, among all these things, to squeeze in a bigger battery, boasting up to five hours of life!
But ... First let’s talk about ports. I’m pretty excited that you moved to a single standard for display ports. On the MacBook AND the MacBook Pro, you are given a Mini DisplayPort; no DV and Mini-DV depending on your laptop. Though, annoyingly, Mini DisplayPort, as you may notice, is Mini DP, not Mini DV, so it’s a standard we have to switch to before it’s universal. Why they ever thought that was a good idea, I’ll never know, since there’s no difference in performance. We now have a gigabit ethernet port ... Awesome! Quick question: Where did my FireWire port go on the regular MacBook? It’s ... gone.
Jobs has only responded with the statement, “Actually, all of the new HD camcorders of the past few years use USB 2.” I love Steve Jobs, but that doesn’t actually answer the question. And a significant number of camcorders still use FireWire, though he’s right when he says most new ones use USB, or at least allow for both. However, here’s the strangest part. Do you know who invented FireWire? FireWire is Apple’s IEEE 1394 connection, created in 1995 and implemented on the first Macs somewhere around 1997. Even more ironically, FireWire officially became part of the IEEE Std. in June, 2008. If you’ll notice, that wasn’t too long ago ... And all of a sudden, it’s parent has abandoned it and accepted the more universal standard of USB (which appropriately stands for Universal Serial Bus)? That doesn’t seem right.
Also, my external hard drive uses FireWire.
But, most significantly, what about Blu-Ray? That is, after all, why you’re reading this, right? Well, here’s what Jobs had to say about that. “Blu-Ray is just a bag of hurt. It’s great to watch the movies, but licensing of the tech is so complex, we’re waiting till things settle down and Blu-Ray takes off in the marketplace.” Read “licensing of the tech is so complex” as “it costs way too much money.” That’s really what he means.
For some reason I can’t understand, Apple went out on a limb and incorporated $1,700 SSD drives in the MacBook Air ... A drive that costs over five times as much for less than half the space of a normal Hard Drive. A price that would be ridiculous to pay, but Apple understood that if they didn’t incorporate it into the marketplace at an expensive price, it would never be able to come down in price. Strange that they aren’t willing to do the same for Blu-Ray. Also, Apple and Sony are chums. Incidentally, Sony owned HD-DVD ... Which was the competitor for Blu-Ray and lost because it was far inferior, though much priced much friendlier.
That’s really all the answer we have from the guys at Apple as to why Blu-Ray is lacking in this line. And, from the several people I’ve talked to on the subject, that was the only reason they were going to buy a new MacBook this year. Now they aren’t. Way to go, Apple.
As just a bit of encouragement, here’s a fun fact about Blu-Ray: It’s highly encrypted. Those of you who like to rip-’n-return, as we say, are going to be in for a surprise. Blu-Ray discs are encrypted, in fact, all the way to the monitor. (Can you say “paranoid”?) So, get this, in order for Apple to actually include Blu-Ray drives on their laptops, it’s not as simple as you ordering a Blu-Ray drive and doing surgery on your MacBook Pro; you would need a new display to decrypt the discs. Apple included the decrypting technology in the displays for their newest MacBooks, MacBook Pros, Cinnema Displays, and iMacs. Maybe in the next generation, then ...
Using Apple Mail (Specifically) At Cedarville
10/17/08 12:17 AM Filed in: Academia
| Technology
Sorry, I know, this is
the second blog post about mostly the same thing. But
I’ve found a better way to do it, and it didn’t seem
beneficial to simply erase my old blog post. But this
one won’t include pictures, it’s just a general
overview of what I think is a far more simplistic way
to combine your Cedarville email address with your
personal email address. I’ll use Apple Mail as the
third-party client of choice this time. (I know, it’s
not cross-platform like Thunderbird ... Deal.) You’ll
also need a Gmail account.
If you already have a Gmail account, skip this step.
You’ll need to register for a Gmail account here. Under the Accounts tab of Settings in your Gmail account, you’ll need to import your other email account via POP3. (Instructions for your POP3 settings should be provided by your email service.)
Now, after you’ve got a Gmail account (or if you already had a Gmail account), you’ll need to import your Cedarville email account as an additional POP3 account to your Gmail Inbox. You can do this the same way listed above, using the following POP3 information for Cedarville’s mail server:
Username: myusername@cedarville.edu
Password: mypassword
Server: pop.cedarville.edu
Port: 110
I shouldn’t have to say this, but obviously you should put your own username and password in ... Not the above. For convenience sake, you can check “Leave a copy of retrieved message on the server” and “Label incoming messages: myusername@cedarville.edu”.
You now have all your email accounts in one place. However, it’s in a browser-based environment; you can only get to it when an internet connection is present. If you would like to retrieve it all through Apple Mail, all you need do is open Apple Mail and add an account. The newest version of Apple Mail knows instinctively how to setup a Gmail account, so all you’ll need to do is provide your Gmail username and password. The rest is done automatically.
Back in Gmail, if you want to be able to send mail from you Cedarville account through Gmail (only in browser mode ... Not from Apple Mail ... Sorry), you’ll need to add yet another server through Settings-->Accounts in Gmail. All you need do in this case is add your Cedarville email address as a “Send Mail As” account, check your Cedarville account, follow the link provided in that email, and voila, you can send email from your Cedarville account through your Gmail account.
And all this is free :).
There’s one more treat. In Apple Mail, your email will always be sent from Gmail, not Cedarville. There is a way to send mail from your Cedarville account the Apple Mail, but it’s kind of pointless. But guess what, you can get the GroupWise address book via LDAP into your Apple Addressbook. Here’s how:
In Apple Mail, go to Preferences. Click on the Composing tab. Click “Configure LDAP ...” Add a new LDAP server with the following information:
Name: Cedarville
Server: imap.cedarville.edu
Port: 389
Search Base: o=cedarnet1
Scope: Subtree
Now, when composing a message, you can start typing any name (you’ll need to wait a bit) and it will search the GroupWise address book and return any matches. It works pretty well :).
Enjoy.
If you already have a Gmail account, skip this step.
You’ll need to register for a Gmail account here. Under the Accounts tab of Settings in your Gmail account, you’ll need to import your other email account via POP3. (Instructions for your POP3 settings should be provided by your email service.)
Now, after you’ve got a Gmail account (or if you already had a Gmail account), you’ll need to import your Cedarville email account as an additional POP3 account to your Gmail Inbox. You can do this the same way listed above, using the following POP3 information for Cedarville’s mail server:
Username: myusername@cedarville.edu
Password: mypassword
Server: pop.cedarville.edu
Port: 110
I shouldn’t have to say this, but obviously you should put your own username and password in ... Not the above. For convenience sake, you can check “Leave a copy of retrieved message on the server” and “Label incoming messages: myusername@cedarville.edu”.
You now have all your email accounts in one place. However, it’s in a browser-based environment; you can only get to it when an internet connection is present. If you would like to retrieve it all through Apple Mail, all you need do is open Apple Mail and add an account. The newest version of Apple Mail knows instinctively how to setup a Gmail account, so all you’ll need to do is provide your Gmail username and password. The rest is done automatically.
Back in Gmail, if you want to be able to send mail from you Cedarville account through Gmail (only in browser mode ... Not from Apple Mail ... Sorry), you’ll need to add yet another server through Settings-->Accounts in Gmail. All you need do in this case is add your Cedarville email address as a “Send Mail As” account, check your Cedarville account, follow the link provided in that email, and voila, you can send email from your Cedarville account through your Gmail account.
And all this is free :).
There’s one more treat. In Apple Mail, your email will always be sent from Gmail, not Cedarville. There is a way to send mail from your Cedarville account the Apple Mail, but it’s kind of pointless. But guess what, you can get the GroupWise address book via LDAP into your Apple Addressbook. Here’s how:
In Apple Mail, go to Preferences. Click on the Composing tab. Click “Configure LDAP ...” Add a new LDAP server with the following information:
Name: Cedarville
Server: imap.cedarville.edu
Port: 389
Search Base: o=cedarnet1
Scope: Subtree
Now, when composing a message, you can start typing any name (you’ll need to wait a bit) and it will search the GroupWise address book and return any matches. It works pretty well :).
Enjoy.
Dave and Alex's Happy Fun-Time Blog
10/16/08 04:32 PM Filed in: Indiscriminate
Dave and I decided to
start a collaborative blog that’s probably more
awesome than anything else you may be reading, so you
should check it out.
Dave and Alex’s Happy Fun-Time Blog
Dave and Alex’s Happy Fun-Time Blog
How To: Use A Mail Client Besides GroupWise at Cedarville
10/02/08 07:01 PM Filed in: Academia
| Technology
Cedarville has this
thing ... Novell GroupWise. I don't mind Novell, but
it's not my favorite. It slows computers and networks
down. The problem is, when you have a campus with
thousands of comptuers on it, Novell is really the
best way to go as far as Networking Utilities go.
That doesn't mean you have to use their email client, GroupWise, though. But Cedarville says we do. Ick. So, a few nights ago, I set out to find the servers that Cedarville stores emails, the address book, and calendar. There's good news and bad news: The good news is, I successfully figured out the email and address book. The bad news is, the calendar may be internal ... Which means you're forced to use GroupWise to view it. But at least you can use something other than GroupWise for your email now! The following instructions are for setting up Mozilla Thunderbird, because it's the most popular (and probably best) client that I've had people ask for. I'll write instructions for other clients in the future (hopefully once I figure out a work-around for the calendar), and I may post a link to the Help Page created for this on Cedarville's website after I finish it. But for now, here you go.
The beauty of Mozilla Thunderbird is it works on most any OS you're using (Windows, Mac, or Linux), and it allows for multiple accounts (I use it to combine my school and Gmail accounts), so organization is much better ... It's all in one application :)!
1.) Download and install Mozilla Thunderbird from this website.
2.) The first time you run Thunderbird, you will see this screen:
Note: If you already have a Thunderbird account setup, open Thunderbird, select Tools->Account Settings... (Edit->Account Settings... for Linux). Select "Add Account ..."
Select "Email account" and click "Next >".
3.) Enter your Full Name and full Email Address (include @cedarville.edu) in the boxes provided.
4.) Select "IMAP" and specify imap.cedarville.edu as the Incoming Server.
5.) Enter mail.cedarville.edu for the outgoing server.
6.) Enter your full email address for both the Incoming and Outgoing User Names (include @cedarville.edu).
7.) Enter your full email address as the Account Name (include @cedarville.edu).
8.) Click "Finish >".
9.) Enter your GroupWise password and select "Use Password Manager to remember passwords" if you want Thunderbird to remember your password.
10.) Click "Get Mail" to retrieve your account information (folders and stuff) from the server.
Your email account is set up! Now to add the GroupWise address book ...
1.) In Thunderbird, click "Address Book".
2.) Select File->New->LDAP Directory ...
3.) Enter "GroupWise" for the Name.
4.) Enter "imap.cedarville.edu for the Hostname.
5.) Enter "o=cedarnet" for the Base DN.
6.) Make sure the Port Number is set to "389".
Now your address book is set to sync to the LDAP server! If you want your Cedarville account to automatically look in that address book, do the following ...
1.) Select Tools->Account Settings... (Edit->Account Settings... for Linux).
2.) Under username@cedarville.edu, select "Composition & Addressing".
3.) Under Addressing, select "Use a different LDAP server:
4.) From the drop-down, select "GroupWise".
I'll let you guys know when I get the calendar thing figured out. If you're a Mozilla fan, Thunderbird doesn't have a calendar feature. You either use Mozilla Sunbird (specifically for calendars) or Mozilla SeaMonkey (which is an all-in-one suite). Obviously, if you don't use Mozilla products, you can use the above configuration settings for any client ... If you have any questions, let me know.
That doesn't mean you have to use their email client, GroupWise, though. But Cedarville says we do. Ick. So, a few nights ago, I set out to find the servers that Cedarville stores emails, the address book, and calendar. There's good news and bad news: The good news is, I successfully figured out the email and address book. The bad news is, the calendar may be internal ... Which means you're forced to use GroupWise to view it. But at least you can use something other than GroupWise for your email now! The following instructions are for setting up Mozilla Thunderbird, because it's the most popular (and probably best) client that I've had people ask for. I'll write instructions for other clients in the future (hopefully once I figure out a work-around for the calendar), and I may post a link to the Help Page created for this on Cedarville's website after I finish it. But for now, here you go.
The beauty of Mozilla Thunderbird is it works on most any OS you're using (Windows, Mac, or Linux), and it allows for multiple accounts (I use it to combine my school and Gmail accounts), so organization is much better ... It's all in one application :)!
1.) Download and install Mozilla Thunderbird from this website.
2.) The first time you run Thunderbird, you will see this screen:
Note: If you already have a Thunderbird account setup, open Thunderbird, select Tools->Account Settings... (Edit->Account Settings... for Linux). Select "Add Account ..."
Select "Email account" and click "Next >".
3.) Enter your Full Name and full Email Address (include @cedarville.edu) in the boxes provided.
4.) Select "IMAP" and specify imap.cedarville.edu as the Incoming Server.
5.) Enter mail.cedarville.edu for the outgoing server.
6.) Enter your full email address for both the Incoming and Outgoing User Names (include @cedarville.edu).
7.) Enter your full email address as the Account Name (include @cedarville.edu).
8.) Click "Finish >".
9.) Enter your GroupWise password and select "Use Password Manager to remember passwords" if you want Thunderbird to remember your password.
10.) Click "Get Mail" to retrieve your account information (folders and stuff) from the server.
Your email account is set up! Now to add the GroupWise address book ...
1.) In Thunderbird, click "Address Book".
2.) Select File->New->LDAP Directory ...
3.) Enter "GroupWise" for the Name.
4.) Enter "imap.cedarville.edu for the Hostname.
5.) Enter "o=cedarnet" for the Base DN.
6.) Make sure the Port Number is set to "389".
Now your address book is set to sync to the LDAP server! If you want your Cedarville account to automatically look in that address book, do the following ...
1.) Select Tools->Account Settings... (Edit->Account Settings... for Linux).
2.) Under username@cedarville.edu, select "Composition & Addressing".
3.) Under Addressing, select "Use a different LDAP server:
4.) From the drop-down, select "GroupWise".
I'll let you guys know when I get the calendar thing figured out. If you're a Mozilla fan, Thunderbird doesn't have a calendar feature. You either use Mozilla Sunbird (specifically for calendars) or Mozilla SeaMonkey (which is an all-in-one suite). Obviously, if you don't use Mozilla products, you can use the above configuration settings for any client ... If you have any questions, let me know.