I’ve been doing  a lot of coverage lately of this whole Facebook Beacon debacle.  I honestly can’t fathom what they were thinking when they came up with this whole thing.

For those not up to speed, back on November 6th, Facebook announced the launch of “Beacon”, a social advertising initiative that partnered with large websites like Fandango.com and Epicurious.com.  The idea is that as you interact with these other sites, the information shows up in your News Feed on Facebook, showing your friends the sites you interact with, and acting as a form of endorsement, or advertisement.

Well, the laundry list of issues this has raised is amazing.  (pardon me while I link to some of the stories I’ve written about it)

New York state is looking in to the legalities of the system – It seems that under New York state law, you can not include someone in an advertisement without their express permission.  This also applies to the new “Fan Of” feature for Facebook Pages.  If you become a “fan” of a business profile on Facebook, it shows up in your News Feed.

MoveOn.org has privacy concerns – People are complaining about the information shared with their friends, and MoveOn took up the banner to raise the concerns also.  I’m sorry, but no one needs to know what I’m spending my money on.  Not my friends, and certainly not Facebook.

Some concessions on opting-out… but not really -  On Thursday of this week, Facebook said they would make some concessions to the system, but when you read the finer details… not really.  The system now asks “Do you want to share this?” (which it always did)  Under the old system, if you did nothing, it took that as a “yes”.  Now the system will ask you again on Facebook if you want to share it, but if you take no action within two days, it still counts as a “yes”.

And now… the advertisers are saying Facebook lied to them – Now it has come out that the companies that partnered up with Facebook in this plan were told that it would be an “opt-in” system, or at least had it implied to them.  Coca-Cola, which was to be one of the key companies involved, has held off it’s support until they see how it shakes out, and they are one of the ones saying they were misled by Facebook.

So, in short, what are they doing?  Are they just so full of themselves and their rapid success that they feel they can do just about anything they want?  Facebook is playing in the big leagues now, it’s time they acted like it.  And I’m sorry, but anything that collects my personal information should be an opt-in system, NOT an opt-out one.  This is my personal information, I should not have to exert any effort to withhold sharing it.

What’s everyone else think?  Have they gone too far?

It was 70F on Tuesday, and today we’re expecting as much as 2″ of snow.  It won’t stick as the ground is still too warm for it.

I took this picture this afternoon from the front porch of my warehouse (yes, that’s “my” truck, though I avoid driving it like the plague as it is a hand-me-down and I hate it).   This is a bit early for our first snow, and looking at the forecast that we’ll be back in the 40′s by Friday, which is more the average, but was nice to see it.

Over the past several years our snow fall has dropped to next to nothing, which in some ways is welcome (less inconvenience), but it sucks for the farmers.   Course, hopefully we would never have a repeat of the Great Flood of 1993 snows/rains where we ended up being in the middle of what was later called “a 1,000 year flood”, meaning one of that severity would probably only happen once every 1,000 years.

That… was not fun.

I have no idea what has prompted me to talk about this finally, but it’s acting up this weekend. Yes, boys and girls, welcome to the world of tinnitus. (image from bupa.co.uk)

Wikipedia describes it as:

Tinnitus is not itself a disease but a symptom resulting from a range of underlying causes, including ear infections, foreign objects or wax in the ear, and injury from loud noises. Tinnitus is also a side-effect of some oral medications, such as aspirin, and may also result from an abnormally low level of serotonin activity.

I have no clue how I got it, but I have had it as long as I can remember. Predating my having any sort of Walkman, iPod or the such, so I doubt it was loud music that did it to me, and I was never a big aspirin user, so I really have no clue how it happened. But the fun is never ending with a constant ringing in my ears. Most of the time I can ignore it, and it doesn’t hurt my ability to hear at all, as I can hear conversations with no problem from even across a room.

True, you learn to live with it, and the majority of the time I can ignore it, unless I am in a really quiet situation, and then it sounds like an alarm clock going off. A while back I adopted going to sleep with my iPod playing in my ears (at the absolute lowest volume setting) as it drowns out the tinnitus.

Yes, I probably should get it looked at, but since mine is “subjective”, there is no way to test the severity, and I have had my hearing tested numerous times, and my ears examined regularly, with nothing detected, so I just trudge on and ignore it. The only time it bothers me is when it’s a lovely, quiet night, and you would like to just sit outside and enjoy it… I hear a ringing.

Oh well, William Shatner has it far worse than I do from what I’ve heard, so at least I’m in good (?) company.

Can’t say I’ve ever seen this warming before.

I had to go look up that it means conditions are favorable, but it still surprises me seeing as we have standing water still from our last rain, so I’m not quite sure why they issued this.  Hopefully nothing will come to pass, but that certainly was odd to see it pop up on my screen earlier.

This picture is from the Associated Press, and it deals with two people claim to have found a musical code hidden in The Last Supper painting. Using a computer, they discovered what they claim sounds like a requiem.

Really?

I mean, we have the guy who reversed the image and found all sorts of secret meanings. And then we got the 16 gigapixel picture every one could study. And now… now it has music in it.

So, this got me to wondering what I could find in it if I worked at it.

First … I drank 8 pots of coffee. I felt this would bring me closer to the universe since I don’t do drugs.

Then … then I snorted a line of Lucky Charms marshmallows. HEY! Don’t judge me!… they’re magically delicious, you know.

Finally, I watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory… backwards… at high speed…

With my mind in a proper state… and using an abacus… I… I found a hidden message. I just hope the world is ready for it…

I hate Standard Time.

I know, you’re all shocked I hate something… you’ll get over it.

Since I work until 6 PM every day for the day job, I despise coming home in the dark… it’s just annoying.  And when I look in to the reasons behind WHY we even do this, no one seems to even agree.  It has come and gone over the past century, but finally settled in in 1966.

We’ve now extended Daylight Savings Time to save energy, so my question would be “Why don’t we just keep it year round?”  This is in addition to the fact we add more hours of darkness to the majority of people’s lives during the cold part of the year?  Why not keep the sun around later in to the evening?

If someone understands all this, or can point me to a better resource, please feel free to comment and let me know!

You know what I love about the Internet? Randomness.

The other day I’m doing my normal Gmail run when I get a note from someone named Dave talking about how he agrees with me about the wonders of compact fluorescent bulbs and he mentions I should check out his blog sometime when I have a moment. Well, as I visit, on average, 600+ websites in a week between my various jobs, what’s one more?

So I jet on by DavesDetours.com and somehow this guy has hooked up with Hanes to go around the country talking to people about how the stay comfortable.  However, I noticed as I watched the videos, very rarely does he ever get around to that question.  Instead he ends up doing things like arm wresting 50 Cent (and loses his watch to the rapper) or dancing with the FSU all-girls dance team.

In short… if there are any companies looking to sponsor a grumpy, middle-aged, over weight guy to travel around the country to promote your product… I’m available.

Seriously, how do you land a gig like this?!?  It reminds me a bit of when Jeff Probst was considering leaving the hosting gig on Survivor.   He said in several interviews that he wanted to leave, travel the world, see some sights, experience other cultures… it then dawned on him that he was being PAID to do this.  I want a job where I get paid to just travel around and do things.  Sure, it is work, but what a way to earn your living.

Anyway, if you get a moment, swing by Dave’s, it’s amusing.

This is an odd topic for discussion, but this just never ceases to amaze me.

What’s so fascinating you ask?  Why the temperature of my office of course!

As you can see from the lousy pictures I shot, when I got to work at 10:00 AM, the office was at 71F.  (and it actually changed from 70 to 71 as I was about to shoot the picture)  Then at 1:15 PM it hit 86F, turning on the AC.

Okay, this may not seem all that odd, but… it’s only 61F today outside with a lot of wind blowing.  It’s actually fairly brisk if you go outside.  Not in the office though, oh no, it’s shorts weather in here!

Our heating is run on natural gas, a 500 gallon tank powers it, and all winter last year we didn’t even have to refill it we use so little.  I’m not sure what we did when built this building (a 3,000 square foot metal pull building), but this office is sealed up like a submarine it would appear.

The office isn’t huge, but it’s not exactly tiny either.  I’m the only one in the office today, so it’s not excessive body heat… maybe… unless three sleeping cocker spaniels generate a ton of heat, but it was like this before they came to work with me everday.

Either way, it’s October 19th, 86F in my office, and the AC is on… that’s just messed up.

Blog Action Day is upon us, and as I mentioned before, this year’s subject is the environment.

Since each blog that is participating is supposed to write an entry that relates to your blog’s theme, and how you can give tips on being more green, but since my blog tends to wander, I’m sure this post will also.

While I know not all of my readers agree on global warming, I think we can all agree on there is too much pollution in the world. I think we can also all agree we like to save money. So, I thought I would approach everything from the aspect of how you can live a bit greener, and save yourself money at the same time.

Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

My love affair with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) continues, and shows no signs of dying down. The bulbs are becoming easier and easier to find, with Wal-Mart having displays of them all over the store now, and more vendors carrying them. The prices are steadily dropping, and they really do cut your electric bill by using less wattage for the same amount of light.

I did a full post on these back in June, and since then, I finally had a bulb burn out… 2 & 1/2 years after I put it in. So, yes, I pay more for the bulbs to begin with, but tell me last time you had a standard bulb that was on approximately 8 hours a day last for 2 & 1/2 years. I think we all know how that question will turn out.

Soda Cans

Do you live in a state with a deposit on aluminum cans? Do you remember to save them up, or do you just throw them away? Well, if you toss them out, it must be nice to throw money out in the trash. Do what I did, I got a large cardboard box, lined it with a trashbag, and instead of throwing the cans in the garbage, I shake them out in the sink, and then toss them in the box. No more effort than throwing them in the garbage, and when the box is filled, I just pull the bag out and take it in. No muss, no fuss, and the cans get recycled.

Even if you don’t live in a deposit state, at least look in to recycling centers, or see if your trash collection offers recycling options.

Bottled Water

It seems so innocent when you run in to the convenience store on your way to work, grab a bottled water, and go on your way to the office. Multiply that by 250 working days, and you’ve just used 250 water bottles in a year. Even if you send them to recycling, do you consider the environmental impact of producing the bottle? Never mind shipping the bottle to the plant, transporting it to the stores, and the energy involved in the bottling.

I love bottled water also, and it’s nice to screw on the cap so you don’t run a risk of spilling it all over your desk, but how about you refill the bottle yourself? Say every Monday you picked up one bottle and reuse it for the entire week? You just cut out 200 bottles from the cycle. You’ve saved yourself money, you’ve removed carbon emissions from the air, and you aren’t polluting as much.

Sure, there are situations where it just isn’t practical to refill all the time, like say a cab driver, but if you work in an office with a water fountain, water cooler, kitchenette, bathroom… any clean water source… just refill your bottle and you’ll be surprised by the impact that will have on the planet, and your wallet.

Carbon Footprints

Pretty much everything we do leaves some form of carbon footprint, the amount of CO₂ something produces, but do you know how to reduce yours? Here is a collection of footprint calculators to help you figure out how you may be able to reduce yours.  And trust me, some of them are so easy, such as properly insulating your house, which will in turn cut your heating bill.

BeGreen – A carbon calculator and offers lots of information on how to be “neutral”.

BP – British Petroleum (or “Best Petroleum” as they go by in the USA), has an animated carbon calculator with little people that asks detailed question about your home.

Carbon Footprint – Since they grabbed the .com address, seems natural to inclue them.

Ecological Footprint Quiz – A very detailed quiz to let you know how much you depend on nature.

NativeEnergy – See your impact, and get carbon offsets.

PaperCalculator – See just how much impact all the paper you use impacts the planet.

TerraPass – Emissions calculator and carbon offset options.

The Carbon Diet – Track your footprint, compete with friends.

The Nature Conservancy Carbon Calculator – Calculate your impact and see what tips they offer.

Yahoo! Green Carbon Footprint Calculator – See your impact, pledge to save.

Zerofootprint – Create a profile, calculate your impact, see how you can cut back.

So, there you go, four easy things that no matter how you feel about global warming, will save you money, or just will help cut pollution however you view it.

Also be sure to see my post on TECH.BLORGE.com about greening up your computing life. 

I’m sure you’ve heard about this by now. Chris Silver Smith of The Natural Search Blog ran across the buildings at left when using Google Maps, and posted it to his Flickr account, then all heck breaks loose as the media gets a hold of it.

The unfortunately designed buildings are the Naval Construction Force’s barracks in Coronado, CA. They were built in 1967, and in actuality, they are four separate L-shaped buildings with a courtyard. The design was arrived at, rather obviously, to make the best use of the plot of land.

Yes, there is no denying it looks like a Nazi swastika, and I, like most others don’t like the symbol, however, I think it’s rather silly the Navy is now planning to spend upwards of $600,000 to “disguise” the buildings.

A) They’re 40 years old, they have maybe 10 years left in them as barracks, why not just tear them down now?  If you insist on bothering with this at this time, then just build new barracks.

B) $600K because a UNINTENTIONAL idea offends some people, how about instead you just believe it was unintentional, accept the apologies, and let the money be spent on proper body armor for our currently deployed soldiers who need more?

Don’t be mistaken for a second, I despise the Nazis and everything they stood for, and I also think the buildings do suck, but I also think people need to get their priorities together and stop being so damned sensitive.  IT WASN’T INTENTIONAL!  There was no malice behind it, and I just think there are more pressing matters, that are costing lives that should be attended to first.

Well, I finally read it. And what did I think of the fabled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?

It sucked.

(There may be spoilers from here on out, but as the book is two months old, you can lump it.)

The only thing I can think to say is that Ms. Rowling has succumbed more and more to her own hype. Everything, in her mind at least, is of dire importance to the reader. But, then again, things that were important, and she had even promised us, were of no importance it seems.

A perfect case is fans asked her repeatedly what James and Lily, Harry’s parents, did for a living. She always said she couldn’t tell because it would give away some of the future plot points. Well, the final book is done, you still never told us, care to share that now?

Rowling suffers from a severe lack of a strong-willed editor. If she worked with one who actually had a backbone, a lot of these problems would never come up. Take for instance the deaths of Lupin and Tonks. Lupin has been a fairly major character since book 3, but he is sent to the afterlife… off-screen? You’re kidding me, right? A lot of the deaths felt very tacked on and like she didn’t know how to handle them, or even why she was doing them.

Then there is the whole matter of the namesake of the title of the book: “The Deathly Hallows”. Was there any logical reason to even introduce this concept? Wasn’t there enough going on with hunting down the Horcruxes? No, no let’s throw in a second quest/mystery in to an already busy book. How about you cut the Hallows, which could have easily been done, and instead of the trio sitting in a tent for weeks on end, let’s have them go on more elaborate challenges to get the Horcruxes? You could have still done the Elder Wand and cut who knows how many chapters of fluff.

The tent brings up the point of Rowling’s pacing. What the hell woman! You stuck an entire chapter of character exploration… IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FINAL BATTLE! Now… right now… you feel is the time to finally explore Snape’s motivations? In the middle of a fight we’ve built to since book 1. Okay, yeah, that makes total sense.

And how about the final battle, huh folks? Voldemort, the biggest, baddest wizard in the history of the wizarding world dies from… a backfire. He died, from a backfiring spell. Wow. That was a great method there.

After all that, we get to the epilogue. I… there are no words for how bad that was. Truly, none. Albus Severus? Scorpius? *bangs head repeatedly on his keyboard* And, really… you end a seven book series with “All was well.”? Well, newsflash Ms. Rowling, all is not well. You failed, and failed miserably.

The sad thing is, I kind of knew it was coming. Starting with book 5, she fell apart plot wise. She knew she had waited too long to get to the meat of things and she started doing silly, contrived, things to move the story forward. This was also when the editor problem kicked in, they LET her just do whatever she wanted without exerting any control over her. So while I blame her, I also blame her editors.

There was a time that I actually felt I would be sad to see this series end, and now I couldn’t be happier. It’s over, and I can stop asking “Why am I reading this?!?”, every other page.

Every September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day… I hope you all spend at least a few moments saluting our Pirate brethren!

For those who are pirate impaired, there is a translator available here.  As a matter of fact, let’s try this post in pirate speak!

Arrr, e’ery September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day… Me hope you all spend at least a few moments salutin’ our Pirate brethren!

For those who be pirate impaired, thar is a translator a’ailable har. 

So there ya go, have fun, try not to raid too many ships that sail under the colors!