« February 2008 | Main | October 2008 »
September 2008 Archives
September 13, 2008
What happens when an Unstoppable Force IS an Unmovable Object?
Yes, I'm back. In two ways, in fact. I'm writing another entry, and I'm back on Facebook, months after my decision to defect.
Funny how these two things are related.
Unstoppable Force
I came to realize that while Facebook was providing no added value to my life, leaving it turned out to be a detriment. Leaving was easy enough, you'd be surprised how quickly you forget about it when you just don't use it. But what was difficult was getting away from everyone who was still on. I started running into that same conversation whenever I met a new person: "Do you have Facebook?"
"Well...no."
And that was it. Whereas in the not-so distant past there could have been an email, or an IM, or (perish the thought) a telephone number, the buck now stops at Facebook. And it's much the same with existing friends. I'd miss this or that social function, only to get the reply "well I tried to tell you about it on Facebook, but I couldn't find you."
So. I rejoined, and all is well.
Or was it?
Unmovable Object
I returned just in time to watch the new Facebook begin its slow and inevitable march to roll-out. And it summed up everything I find hilarious about Facebook and frustrating about its users.
For the record, I'm still not quite sure about the new Facebook. I liked having everything just *there*. One page, very simple. This was the basis it was built on. I also enjoyed having everything in its place. Boxes. This box is the wall, this box is the feed. Now it's a multi-page thing that combined the feed and the wall. I found it disorienting.
That having been said, I think I just didn't like having to change, and it's growing on me. I still dislike moving the info off the front page, but overall I think this will be a better site. Change happens, and you deal with it.
But apparently not everyone is taking things well. Like EVERY new implementation of Facebook, there is a vocal community of people complaining and joining groups in protest. After all, it's worked every other time, so it's bound to work this time. Obviously.
The problem is, like most things that happen on the internet, it doesn't matter. One million people united against the new layout (this is a group, though I've paraphrased the name) is about as effective as pointing a desk fan at a tornado. There has always been only one way to make a business take notice that you're dissatisfied: vote with your feet.
But nobody's going to leave Facebook, and they know it. So why should they bother worrying? Not to mention that a lot of time and money was spent developing, testing and rolling out this new system. Why on Earth would they suddenly say "yeah, okay, nevermind" and just toss all that out? They won't. They've committed to this change, and it's here to stay.
Speaking of wasted time...
One last thing I'm curious about: how much time and effort has been spent protesting all these changes to Facebook over the years by people who have no intention of ever leaving? I maintain that if the worst thing to happen in your life is that Facebook changed their layout, you need to take a long, hard look at your life and how you spend it.
Just saying.
Until next time,
JW
Posted by JW on September 13, 2008 10:14 AM Permalink
September 19, 2008
Fall in love
We're now entering the last weekend of summer for 2008, the last couple days before the calendar tells us that the first day of autumn has begun. It's a sad time for many of us; cooler weather, time to put away the boats and camping gear (except for those diehards out there), and a whole lotta raking. We must bid farewell to summer, and hunker down for that last hurrah before winter.
But is that such a bad thing? I for one think that not only is autumn not a bad season, but that it is a GREAT season.
No sweat
I think fall temperatures have an unfair rep. Sure, it's not sit-in-the-sun hot, but is that such a bad thing? I'm all for a nice hot day, but I require one of two things to really get into a hot summer's day:
1. A patio and a beer
2. A lake to dive into...and a beer
The problem is, those sort of situations make up about 10% of my summer. The rest is taken up by 3 things:
1. Melting in a house with no a/c
2. Moving around the city in a cramped sweaty subway or bus
3. Sitting at a desk gazing longingly at the beautiful weather outside
Hardly ideal. Let's also take a look at this another way: extremes. Given the choice, I know a lot of people would rather be "too hot" than "too cold". But which is easier to accomplish? Warming up or cooling down? If you're cold, you can easily add layers, throw on a coat; if you're hot, there's only so much you can strip off before it becomes illegal, and chances are you're still gonna fry (and be mighty sunburned if you aren't careful!). And last time I checked, I'm pretty sure the majority of housing in the Great White North have heating, while a significantly smaller proportion have air conditioning; except if you live in Muskoka, in which case you have a wood burning stove and a lake.
Seasonal colours
Obviously, there's the matter of the changing leaves. We're going to spend winter looking at those bare sticks wishing for some greenery again, but you can't beat their swan song: reds, oranges, yellows, a nice splash of colour before the onslaught of the white and grey winter. Sure, you're going to have a lot of raking to do, but the weather nice and crisp, and you could use the exercise anyway.
Spending time with all your old friends
Fall has the distinction of not just being my favourite season, but also my favourite sports season. Many of the big sports enjoy a lot of overlap here, which is great for us, and the sports networks. While baseball, F1 and the CFL are entering the championship leg of their seasons, hockey and the NFL are just beginning their long drive to their respective cup or bowl. Sure, the NHL is still playing in the middle of summer, but that's an entirely different article (if Bettman's going to insist on such a long season, the summer playoffs should happen where they belong in that sort of weather: on the street with a ball and with the refs on 'car' duty).
Look as cool as it feels
Personally, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who agree with me (and certainly many who don't), I find fall and winter are the easiest on us for clothing. Beyond the impracticality of office-wear in the summertime, the fall allows a certain degree of laziness; and for me, that's a free pass. You can finally stop worrying about that shirt that doesn't quite fit, or that you really like but it has a hole in it, or if that summerwear is really all that appropriate for the office, and just take the easy way out: put on a sweater. As a guy (and a guy with little to no fashion know-how), I love being able to increase the diversity and reduce the conscious effort required for a great outfit with the classic sweater + collared shirt combo. It's professional, it's contemporary, and it means that so long as you have a few good sweaters, all you need are some shirts that have an intact collar.
Fall back, because fall's back
Last, but certainly not least, is one of my favourite occasions during the fall: the end of daylight savings. Sure, it's back to getting dark at 5 pm, but as someone who never quite adjusts completely to losing that hour in the spring, getting that hour back is paradise. You may not be all that affected by it, but it's almost enough to make me want to move to Saskatchewan and be done with the whole thing. Almost.
So fall's really not all that bad. Rather than being summer's mourning period, we need to embrace it as an all-around enjoyable season. So put on a sweater, grab your rake, have a pint of dark beer and start gathering firewood.
Until next time,
JW
Posted by JW on September 19, 2008 8:22 PM Permalink
September 23, 2008
The World Wide Why
I think I find it hard to write on the internet because most of what happens on the internet doesn't matter one single bit. Whereas when I was fully immersed in The Interculturenet I thought that what everyone knew on the web was common knowledge, I have since learned that if it happens online but you're not paying attention, it might as well never have happened. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, because the majority of what happens online is boring, self-indulgent, rude or terrifying. And there are far too many people talking about what happens on the internet, which is far worse.
Before you say anything, one of the lessons you learn on the internet is that it's okay to be a hypocrite if you admit it in a humourous way.
Okay, that's a flimsy argument. But I'm still writing this.
The internet is an exercise in total immersion to the point of failing to realize just how deep you're in, similar to an addiction or reality television. If you spend too much time online, you'll start to take for granted that what www.everyone.com accepts as a well-known fact that's been beaten to death 10 years ago is new or as yet unknown to the other 98% of the human race. Whereas nerds have been ROFLing over furries, hentai and Jack Thompson for probably well over a decade now, the rest of the world has been rolling along oblivious, wrapped up instead in more trivial matters like work, politics and getting knackered down at the pub with their friends. Every once in a while they'll stumble upon one of these goldmines of "things that really shouldn't happen", all hell will break loose (either in the form of head-shaking, telling their incredulous friends about it or a media-fuelled anti-something campaign), and then the two worlds can go back to forgetting that the other exists.
It was once pointed out in an internet cartoon* (which is either pop-culture or head-scratchingly obscure depending on what side you're on) that "the internet is a place where absolutely nothing happens." And while most people laugh at how naive this statement is, I think that it's actually spot on. The internet is a beneficiary of the "popular opinion" syndrome: it's important because everyone seems to think it is. For all the great things the internet has given us and done for us with one hand, it taketh away with the other, in the form of time-wasting, cruelty, and just plain weirdness.
What brought this around for me was thinking about blogs and what a strange thing we've built them up to be. I've got a lot of beefs with blogs and how they're done (yes yes, like this one, har har har), but I think the biggest one I want to seize on is how important we make them seem at the time, without them actually, well, being important. For every subject there are blogs, and for every group of these blogs there are experts, and for all of these experts there is a guru or two. And for those in the know, these guys might as well be Nelson Mandela, for the sheer ubiquitous awareness of their name and the importance of their achievements. However, to beat a dead horse one last time, nobody else knows who they are, or is really that interested.
I'm not saying you shouldn't blog. I'm not saying you shouldn't enjoy what's on the internet. But what I am saying is that we should all kind of take a moment to stop and look around, and realize that before we make a big issue out of something online, we need a better sense of perspective.
Until next time,
JW
* - This cartoon, a feature at Homestar Runner.com, is a perfect case in point. Here is a flash cartoon site that supports its creators purely through merchandise sales, has spawned its own video game series, and has attracted the attention and admiration of weird indie geniuses They Must Be Giants. And yet it is still a rarity to encounter anyone (outside of nerddom, though occasionally within as well) who's heard of it. Go figure.
Posted by JW on September 23, 2008 10:25 AM Permalink
September 25, 2008
It's becoming more and more clear to me that alcohol and credit cards are remarkably similar, which is a strange thought when you consider just how dangerous it is to use the two of them together.
Both are a major part of Western culture, both have tremendous appeal to consequence-ignorant youths, both are great in moderation, and both can get you in a lot of trouble in excess.
Let's use analogies to compare these, shall we? A night out at the bar vs a day out at the mall.
You go out with your friends, expecting to have a fun night out; maybe you planned to get a little crazy, but maybe you also just wanted to have a couple drinks just to loosen up a bit. And that works for a while. But then the night drags on, and you start to succumb to beer peer pressure, and you talk yourself into it pretty well too. "Just one more" seems to become the mantra; and what's worse, the longer it goes, the quicker those seem to come on. And sometimes you get really brave and move into something stronger, just for a switch. And now you're in trouble. You awake the next morning with the worst hangover ever (every hangover you have is, at the time, the worst hangover ever), and sometimes you also have to live down something stupid or ridiculous you did the night before.
Now let's say you go downtown with your friends, expecting to just buy a couple things. You surely have a short list in mind of what you're looking for. But then other stuff starts catching your eye. It's not necessarily a totally wasteful impulse purchase...it's always something you're sure you'll "need eventually", and it just happens to be on sale or convenient. So the purchases start to pile up. And what's more dangerous is, one trip isn't always that bad; you do start to get the feeling of "okay, that's enough money for today." Here's where the credit card gets really damning: it's not just one day. You have a whole MONTH. And you just keep piling things on, thinking they're small, but they add up more and more. And then the hangover hits: next month, the bill arrives. So you find yourself out a lot of money, and have to live down the debt and the interest for a very long time.
The similarities don't end there. With alcohol, a lot of people get in too deep, and can't stop. They think they can, but it just keeps going and going. They and their loved ones suffer the consequences until everything falls apart, or they can finally get help from a support group or an intervention. With credit, a lot of people get too used to carrying debt, and can't dig themselves out. Their credit rating falls apart, they end up with creditors on their tail, and soon lose everything or have to get help from a debt advisor.
Both of these problems are very prevalent in society, and both can be avoided. Moderation is always important. Knowing your limits is important, and sticking to them even more so. Spacing out drinks or mixing them up with non-alcoholic ones can keep the nights in control and the mornings manageable. Making a budget and figuring out the difference between "needs" and "wants", and "now" and "later" can keep you in the black longer. Recognizing that you don't need a drink with everything, and that there are plenty of alternatives can keep you from constantly boozing. And paying off your credit card entirely saves you money and trouble.
Sure, it doesn't sound fun (even though it still can be), but it's a helluva lot more fun than debt and alcoholism.
Until next time,
JW
Posted by JW on September 25, 2008 10:08 PM Permalink
September 27, 2008
Why I don't play MMORPGs
Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) have always enjoyed great popularity in the online gaming crowd, but it's only recently that they've reached mainstream attention and interest. World of Warcraft actually registers on the social and intellectual radar of your average Mister and Missus Everyperson, which is a big step when you consider that asking your dad what he thinks of Ragnarok is likely to gain you a blank stare and the suggestion that maybe you should pay more attention to girls than your computer.
But to be honest, I can't get into them. And I think it's time I finally put up a flag once and for all about why I'm so against them.
I do a decent bit of thinking on the subject because I have a friend who loves these things and has, on a few occasions, made an effort to bring me into the fold. And there's a slim chance he'll read this, so I'm going to be polite.
I won't fault him for his attempts, because he's known me long enough to know that I'm a bitter, stubborn curmudgeon who resents trying new things, even though I'll be the first to admit I'd probably like them. So the fact that I like RPGs and have far too much spare time on my hands means I'd be a great candidate for these games.
The problem is, the point of an RPG for me is the storyline. The gameplay is repetitive, but it's made up for by an interesting story and a bit of getting lost in character background and customization. And I'll admit most MMORPGs have some of these characteristics; but not in quite the right proportion.
I won't touch too much on character customization; they usually have plenty of it. I usually find there's too much, but this always comes down to personal opinion; and with the amount of time you're intended to play, I think they'd need a lot. The problem with characters though, is that you're not really a character; you have no personality, nothing to drive you onwards, you're just another dude with a sword in a giant world of other dudes/dudettes with swords or other instruments of poking.
It's the gameplay and story where it really falls apart. The gameplay is still RPG-repetitive, but the story seems to be non-existent. You do your quest, which has a plot for itself, but then it's done and it doesn't matter. So it's just hours of clicking with no real reward except for the privilege of paying a monthly fee. And I just don't think "kill ten rats" has the same depth as a world-spanning adventure to defeat some ancient evil. Not to say that these "save the world from a horrible threat" plots don't happen now and then, but the weight and importance of engaging in these sorts of quests when they do arise seems to be diminished a little when you realize that everyone's doing the same thing, it just happens to be your turn. It's like Frodo arriving at Mount Doom, only to find 1500 other short dudes with funny hair throwing rings into the volcano as if it were a wishing well.
I'll also admit that I'm not enamoured with the standard stereotype of online gamers. I've never had patience for being arbitrarily killed by a 12 year old with a high-level character, running around shouting their battlecry of "lol fag". I'll be charitable and admit that these and their kin are only a small part of the online community, but it's really more than plenty for me. It's the same reason I won't eat cake off the floor; sure, it's probably delicious, but that doesn't distract me from the bits of hair and bugs that have now embedded themselves in its rich, moist core.
I think the biggest thing that keeps me from it (and I'm sure identifies me as a n00b) is that I can't (and won't) devote that much time to a video game. Maybe I'm just getting older, but it's getting harder and harder for me to play a game for an extended period of time. With a few exceptions, I usually want to play only in short bursts. Which isn't really an option for these sort of games. Especially if you join some sort of guild or play with friends. Because maybe you're not prepared to play as long as they want, or for that matter, when they want.
MMORPGs seem to require a hefty time commitment, you have to really enjoy what you're doing or be determined to get your money's worth, but I can barely justify my gym membership with that logic. They just don't have the depth or attachment to characters I like in RPGs, or the instant gratification of other similarly plot-redundant games. It's like someone took the characterization, dialogue and plot logic of an action movie and tried to make a political drama out of it.
Until next time,
JW
