communication. community. cognition.
Posts tagged Facebook
Spaghetti Code
Jul 6th
My first computer experience was with a friend’s Altair do-it-yourself kit.
My first formal computer experience was the TRS-80, Model 1. We couldn’t wait to play with the brand new Model II, which had a floppy drive.
The first we owned was the Commodore VIC-20, then the 64. I remember typing programs in letter for letter from the back of “Compute!” magazine.
Back in those days, you didn’t have the space to be inefficient. And manual debugging was a pain in the rear.
We used to refer to “Spaghetti Code” as those programs that were patched together here and there, with no clear flow or documentation. As young programmers, we’d noodle around until we got something to work, even if we weren’t sure why. But you could pretty much forget about diving into someone else’s program and understanding it. More >
Terrorized by a Seven-year-old
Mar 30th
Seven-year-olds have a way about them.
They’re just starting to get a sense of self-awareness — the realization they’re part of something larger.
They play nice with others only to the extent they have to. Bullies only remain bullies when they are significantly larger than any of the other kids on the block. If there’s no one around to bloody their noses, the largest of the seven-year-olds rule the playground — and they can make up their own rules as they go.
Seven-year-olds, as a rule, have very little natural skills with customer service.
(I’m talking about your baby, Mark Z. Your offspring is King of the Mountain, but doesn’t have good people skills.)
Listen to: Terrorized by a Seven-year-old More >
Off the Wall
Jan 4th
Fantasyland.
When I worked in TV news, “Fantasyland” was known as the area where the Producers sat.
More >
When Your Friend Gets Hacked
Dec 3rd
Note: if someone sent you this link, and you want to just skip to the fun part of the post, click here. But please come back for the meat…
“Help, I’ve been mugged in the United Kingdom!”
If you do see this pop up in a Facebook chat, don’t freak out.
It means your friend has been hacked. It usually starts with their email address being compromised, and the identity thief uses that to take over other online accounts.
Here’s what you need to know to help your friend (and here’s why you don’t want to try to hack my friends.)
A Path That Leads Nowhere?
Nov 15th
It’s alright to have a high-minded concept now and again.
It’s also okay to be occasionally right.
But is it okay to be right for the wrong reasons?
The Path That Leads Nowhere? More >
Drive By Disappointment
Oct 27th
Be careful. You might be advertising an availability that you aren’t delivering upon, because public assumptions are changing.
Drive By Distraction
Dinner is Served
I was getting ready to roll out of Tuscaloosa after my Tuesday afternoon presentation at the University of Alabama when I realized that I was going to be getting back long after dinner. I decided to stop at Hardee’s and pick up a low-carb (bunless) cheeseburger on the way out of town.
As I pulled toward the drive-through lane to order, I saw a pickup truck parked next to the speaker, and a guy wearing a headset walking away. He saw me, jumped back in the truck, and pulled forward. More >
The Cindy In Your Town
Oct 15th
The fakes appear to have the shakes.
(This is a follow up to Friending Strangers on Fakebook. Please read it first. I’m told it is long, but that it doesn’t seem like it.)
The Cindy in Your Town
Based on the reports I’m getting from friends, it appears “Cindy Robertson” isn’t going anywhere. You’d think she’d pack up and leave Birmingham. Load up her loft-full of items, pack the toys for the six or seven kids she has, and skedaddle for better places. Maybe she can work for Intel in Yuma.
Some of my friends are still seeing her profile, others aren’t seeing anything at all. So she’s blocking some, but still has more than 4,600 friends as of this post.
Good riddance to bad marketing, but I fear this is going to be a never-ending whack-a-mole with fake headshots popping up. At least until enough people are smart about their connections that it’s not worth it.
I hinted there were others, and likely many more in other cities.
Here’s a little circumstantial evidence for your consideration. More >
