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There is a lot of debate right now about whether or not a mosque (also reported as a Muslim community center, but in the grand scheme of things, it matters not) should be allowed to be built at ground zero of the September 11th terror attacks. The pro side is trying to hold true to the 1st amendment to the constitution that promotes religious freedom in this country. The opposing side views this as a slap in the face of the 9/11 victims' families & survivors as the idea of an Islamic center on the site of a terror attack carried out by people of the Islamic faith is like saying the terrorists won (Background articles: Fox News & CNN). Each side has been very passionate about their stance. Passion, however can also be used to cover ignorance.
I feel like the opposing side's argument (in some cases, not every) can be boiled down into 3 factors which are as follows:
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
The LeBron of Softball
Today I filled in on a coed softball team with a few co-workers. I was a little reluctant to do it at first, because it was about a 30 minute drive from my place. So as I was walking to the field, I see my friend Jamal walking to his car. Turns out, the team I was filling in on was playing against a team of my friends that I decided not to play with (because of the distance, not because I don't like them...really...I'm serious...why would you even consider that?). So needless to say, they felt a little betrayed by my appearance...I got shouted at by a chick I didn't even know. Well, that wasn't going to stop me form fulfilling my agreement & helping the other team achieve victory.
Side Note: I wonder if it will be this awkward when LeBron rolls into NY and stomps the Knicks. They did so much to lure him there and they will still remember the heartbreak when they play the Heat. Probably not, LeBron doesn't have any friends on the Knicks...that I know of anyway...he may have some new ones, but as of last month when he was dog-sitting for me, he said he didn't (Yeah, that's right, I pay LeBron James $20/day to dog-sit...He doesn't need the money, he just uses it as an excuse to name drop me in conversation.)
Afterward, I went out for some food with the friends I just helped hand an L to. Turns out the team is pretty cool. We ended up joking around and taking pictures (too many) in this little pizza spot for the rest of the night.
Side Note: The service was stupid. Chick that waited on us looked like Kima from The Wire, so she had that going for her...but she didn't do anything for us. We had to rearrange tables to fit, we had to clean them, we got 1 round of water refills, and we had to wait forever to get the bill with the gratuity included...But I digress.
Side Note: I wonder if it will be this awkward when LeBron rolls into NY and stomps the Knicks. They did so much to lure him there and they will still remember the heartbreak when they play the Heat. Probably not, LeBron doesn't have any friends on the Knicks...that I know of anyway...he may have some new ones, but as of last month when he was dog-sitting for me, he said he didn't (Yeah, that's right, I pay LeBron James $20/day to dog-sit...He doesn't need the money, he just uses it as an excuse to name drop me in conversation.)
Afterward, I went out for some food with the friends I just helped hand an L to. Turns out the team is pretty cool. We ended up joking around and taking pictures (too many) in this little pizza spot for the rest of the night.
Side Note: The service was stupid. Chick that waited on us looked like Kima from The Wire, so she had that going for her...but she didn't do anything for us. We had to rearrange tables to fit, we had to clean them, we got 1 round of water refills, and we had to wait forever to get the bill with the gratuity included...But I digress.
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| The chick that shouted at me...shouting More pictures below & no, I don't know how to make the pics go in a straight line: |
Thursday, August 19, 2010
3 Reasons Why I Dislike Twitter
I Hate dislike Twitter. I use it, but I feel like I'm forced to because a lot of my friends use it. Whenever I check my time line, I'm always assaulted with the same issues that reinforce my distaste for the social networking soup de jour. Here are some of my main annoyances:
1. Good Concept, Poor Execution
The idea of Twitter makes sense, a free flowing sea of information generated by the users for the users. But in action, this simplistic goal is bogged down and diluted by it's own technical shortcomings. Any website that can only be tolerated by using a third party application has a major design flaw. Nobody...well, nobody that knows how to set the timer on their microwave tweets via Twitter. Whether it be Peep, Echofon, Tweetdeck, Twitdroid, Spaz, or whatever the hell you use...A home-grown solution is needed to make the site more bearable. Using one of these is like knowing how to swim before you jump in the ocean...if not, you bound to drizzown.
My biggest problem is the fact that debates & conversations are very difficult to follow (no pun intended). If you aren't following everybody that's involved in the discussion, you instantly missed everything they've added unless you go "Dog the bounty hunter" style and start checking the replies. If that person has protected tweets, then it's just a lost cause. The other way around this is by re-tweeting what you are responding to. This method leaves you in a maze of @So&So, #'s, & RTs that will make it unclear who said what...all while trying to get a full thought across withing the 140 character cap.
Speaking of the 140 character cap: it seems like the creators and the users have two different opinions of what should be tweeted. The creators seemed to have intended for a quick, succinct statement of what you are doing or what you are thinking. The users, however, use it differently. This often happens, where the designer will give people a tool and expect it to be used one way, but then the users take that tool to a new, higher level by making it more functional than planned. This, however, is a gift and a curse.
1. Good Concept, Poor Execution
The idea of Twitter makes sense, a free flowing sea of information generated by the users for the users. But in action, this simplistic goal is bogged down and diluted by it's own technical shortcomings. Any website that can only be tolerated by using a third party application has a major design flaw. Nobody...well, nobody that knows how to set the timer on their microwave tweets via Twitter. Whether it be Peep, Echofon, Tweetdeck, Twitdroid, Spaz, or whatever the hell you use...A home-grown solution is needed to make the site more bearable. Using one of these is like knowing how to swim before you jump in the ocean...if not, you bound to drizzown.
My biggest problem is the fact that debates & conversations are very difficult to follow (no pun intended). If you aren't following everybody that's involved in the discussion, you instantly missed everything they've added unless you go "Dog the bounty hunter" style and start checking the replies. If that person has protected tweets, then it's just a lost cause. The other way around this is by re-tweeting what you are responding to. This method leaves you in a maze of @So&So, #'s, & RTs that will make it unclear who said what...all while trying to get a full thought across withing the 140 character cap.
Speaking of the 140 character cap: it seems like the creators and the users have two different opinions of what should be tweeted. The creators seemed to have intended for a quick, succinct statement of what you are doing or what you are thinking. The users, however, use it differently. This often happens, where the designer will give people a tool and expect it to be used one way, but then the users take that tool to a new, higher level by making it more functional than planned. This, however, is a gift and a curse.
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| I'm on a boat!!! I must tweet this! (http://www.innyvinny.com/2010/08/10/oh-slate/) |
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
I'm Taking My Talents to Blogger!!!
If you haven't been fully introduced to me yet, you don't know that I'm a very multifaceted person...translation for the simple folks: I do a lot of different things and use big words. One of which is write poetry.
Like most men, my topics are usually centered around females. From the highs of passion, the lows of heart broken devastation, and the mids of reluctant acceptance. Some of which is taken from an exact situation, to the point where I can give you a real life example to match every metaphor. Others are complete conjecture made to be identifiable to someone other than myself.
Sometimes I like to revisit things I've written in the past to reflect on where I was...sometimes I get surprised when I realize I feel the same way about a new situation as I did the years earlier when I wrote that piece. If the piece was positive, I feel satisfied that I'm back in that hot tub of romance with a new young lady. If the piece was not so positive, I try to figure out why females drive me to insanity...but more often than not, I relate to the past heartbreak and realize that I've already jumped this hurdle before and that I can do it again...and land in another hot tub.
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| Bonus points to anybody that gets this (Pic courtesy of www.durfree.net) |
Like most men, my topics are usually centered around females. From the highs of passion, the lows of heart broken devastation, and the mids of reluctant acceptance. Some of which is taken from an exact situation, to the point where I can give you a real life example to match every metaphor. Others are complete conjecture made to be identifiable to someone other than myself.
Sometimes I like to revisit things I've written in the past to reflect on where I was...sometimes I get surprised when I realize I feel the same way about a new situation as I did the years earlier when I wrote that piece. If the piece was positive, I feel satisfied that I'm back in that hot tub of romance with a new young lady. If the piece was not so positive, I try to figure out why females drive me to insanity...but more often than not, I relate to the past heartbreak and realize that I've already jumped this hurdle before and that I can do it again...and land in another hot tub.
So you blog now???
As of this post, yes.
Over the past decade social media & instant communication has exploded. From chat rooms, to MySpace, to texting, to Facebook, to Blogging, to Tweeting...each medium opened up a whole new level of interactivity between friends and strangers. When blogging first got popular, everybody had an "internet journal" of some sort, sharing their favorite recipes, masturbatory strategies, and what have you. When Twitter came along and introduced "Micro-Blogging", it captured the hearts and short attention spans of the casual bloggers. Now free from the thought and effort that is considered to go into creating a meaningful, thought-provoking or self serving blog post: these users were free to tell the world about what was happening in their life at this exact moment...no matter how mundane or trivial...in 140 characters or less.
Over the past decade social media & instant communication has exploded. From chat rooms, to MySpace, to texting, to Facebook, to Blogging, to Tweeting...each medium opened up a whole new level of interactivity between friends and strangers. When blogging first got popular, everybody had an "internet journal" of some sort, sharing their favorite recipes, masturbatory strategies, and what have you. When Twitter came along and introduced "Micro-Blogging", it captured the hearts and short attention spans of the casual bloggers. Now free from the thought and effort that is considered to go into creating a meaningful, thought-provoking or self serving blog post: these users were free to tell the world about what was happening in their life at this exact moment...no matter how mundane or trivial...in 140 characters or less.
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