Category Archives: Life ‘n’ Miscellanea

Musings on life ‘n’ stuff like that

Feb 22 2012

Facebook Wants to Own You

Mashable is reporting that a number of high profile e-commerce sites have shut up shop on Facebook. One telling remark notes:

Mullen also pointed out that half of shoppers are logged in to Facebook while they shop on third-party ecommerce sites, which lets retailers “capture the massive amount of user data Facebook has,” she says. Brands such as Smashbox and MAC are also incorporating friend recommendations within their ecommerce pages.

Third party sites can get your data even if you’re not actually on Facebook. You only have to have it open. While this in itself may seem harmless, I’m concerned about the trend. It’s like a scene from Farenheit 401.

Remember, if you’re not paying for it you’re the product, not the customer.

Story here: Why Are Brands Shutting Their Facebook Stores?

Dec 29 2011

You Don’t Need a Coffee Machine

English: A photo of a cup of coffee. Esperanto...

In my humble opinion, instant coffee is not worthy of the name. It is an abomination. It used to be when people offered this alleged ‘coffee’ it was a simple matter of declining and opting for tea instead. I gave it a name – instant caffeinated beverage mixture: ICBM.

Then the marketers got wind of the move to ‘real’ coffee and the  home espresso machine took off. And I’m still declining cups of coffee and opting for tea. Continue reading →

Jul 24 2011

The Lion Has Roared… and I like Mail.

To be honest, I feel like it’s more a loud and decisive ‘meow’ than an actual roar.  Apple updates of anything are at their best when they make significant evolutionary changes rather than revolutionary leaps.  There are a few changes I really like in Lion, a bunch I don’t care either way, and everything else is ‘life as usual’ – at least for the user.  But one change I really like is mail.  Very simply, mail now allows you to view a message thread.

It’s life Leo, but not as we know it.   Continue reading →

Apr 7 2011

Easter Traditions

Tomorrow at Mops I’m talking about family traditions at Easter, which is pretty funny because I’m not very deliberate about tradition! In fact, I’m a bit of an iconoclast. But thinking about it and researching Easter traditions, I realised the value of tradition. When we perform little rituals year after year, it imbibes the event with a sense of significance and connectedness with something bigger. That something bigger might be a family, a culture or history itself, although a surprising number of traditions don’t really have that much history.

In this day and age, it requires a bit of discipline to make them significant. Not discipline to do them, but to do them appropriately. The hot cross bun is traditionally eaten on Good Friday, the cross representing the cross of Christ. Consuming them weeks before the event robs them of their significance. A bit like Christmas tinsel in October – it’s a marketing ploy, nothing to do with tradition.

I think this year I’ll try to be a bit less iconoclastic and organise some of those Easter rituals that stretch back further than me.

Here’s a few ideas, add your own in the comments:

  • Hot cross buns on Good Friday
  • Fish and chips Friday night (a bit Catholic, but why not?)
  • Decorate eggs
  • Easter egg hunt Sunday morning
  • Read parts of the Easter story as a family across the long weekend
  • Go to church – a lot of churches have family friendly services
Mar 21 2011

Engineering vs. Liberal Arts: Who’s Right—Bill or Steve?

Great article, and very relevant to anyone considering career prospects.

I never observed a correlation between the school of graduation or field of study, on one hand, and success in the workplace, on the other. What make people successful are their motivation, drive, and ability to learn from mistakes, and how hard they work.

via Engineering vs. Liberal Arts: Who’s Right—Bill or Steve?.

Mar 18 2011

UN Approves No-Fly Zone For Libya

In case there was any doubt the UN lacks any real legitimacy…

Just imagine, the UNHRC’s agenda for today calls for it to adopt a report about Gaddafi’s Libya, in which the regime receives lavish praise on its human rights record from countries including North Korea, Syria, Burma, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, and others. You could not make this up. Nobody would believe it.

UN Approves No-Fly Zone For Libya.