Happy Birthday Dad!
Ive been thinking about cheese popcorn and golf lately. Can we go back to a time that was simpler?
I love you.
Type “Social Networking Sites” into wikipedia and you’ll find a whole list of different sites… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites
I belong to three of these although I only really am active on two. Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter.
The basic idea here is that you can connect to people… Anywhere. Share notes with friends, let everyone know what you’re up too. You create a profile that has as little or as much information about you that you want, and you have the option of making that profile public or private. The main differences being…. Public: anyone can read your profile and see you wall, Private: people can find you by searching and see your name and the area you live in but you have to approve them before they can see your profile or wall. My profile is private. I don’t want just anyone being able to get all up in my business. Once you’ve made some friends… You have the option of talking to them in private messages or on their public wall (just be warned that EVERYONE who is a friend with you friend can see the wall, so don’t say anything you don’t want others to know). I broke down and got a Facebook because some people at work wanted to be my “friend”. I created an account and “friended” a select few people but then… Didn’t really touch it much. That is until the Facebook iPhone app was released. It just made it so easy to see what all my friends were up to. Open the app and I can see a list of what all my friends have posted as their status (a sentence or few of… whatever you like, mostly moods and what you are up to), plus all the rest of the facebook stuff through I’ll admit I rarely post on anyone’s wall. It’s one of the few apps I open every single day and allows me to keep in touch with people that I don’t get to see all that often. I’ve even re-connected with a friend that I had when I was 5, as well as people I knew when I was 9, 13, 16…. I’ve had people request to be my friend just because they have my last name, and in theory you can find people with similar interest, though… I don’t really go searching for random friends (that’s just a little too creepy for me). Companies and musicians make sites, and you can sign up to be their fan (I haven’t found much use for this however, I am a fan of Mike Doughty, Jonathan Coulton, Sweeny Todd, Rock Band, Portal and others). I really love Facebook, for no other reason but that I can see what all my friends and family have been doing without them having to remember to tell me (and visa versa).
So this is the network I belong to because… It’s supposed to be good for business networking. I belong so that if and when I need to continue on from my current job I have an easy way of getting in touch with the people I’ve met there who aren’t on Facebook. But really… Aside from visiting the site to take the picture above. I haven’t opened it in months. But I belong!
Something I just started using last night, but I’m kind of hooked. It’s kind of like the status updates on Facebook and… Nothing else. The main draw here is that on top of people that you choose to follow (you don’t friend people on Twitter, you follow them, like a stalker, only… NICER???) you can also read the “TWEETS” of random people that you would have otherwise never seen. Celebrities, companies and Websites also Tweet, but unlike on Facebook where you can become a fan and then have to visit their page to see their thoughts, twitter just requires you to open it up and see what their doing. People you may know that I’m currently following on Twitter include: Rainn Wilson (from The Office), Adam Savage (from Myth Busters), Penn Jillete (Bullshit/Penn & Teller), Ira Glass (This American Life on NPR). Unlike Facebook, it’s not uncommon for normal people to Tweet 20 times a day, using it as an update for everything (where as on Facebook it seems to me that the average person updates their status 1-3 times a day). Twitter also has an iPhone app that allows you to Tweet and look at others Tweets, and really the only flaw is that it doesn’t allow you to add someone to your list of people you follow (you hear that Twitter? Add the function and you’ll be perfect! We all want perfection right???).
Side Note: While I was writing this post I realized that I don’t know how to be an adult without the internet (and yes, I Tweeted that). Yet again I am so glad that I was born during the time that I was. E-mail connected us faster, Facebook and Twitter have made that easier. Google is my quick source to find information and I use it to find everything from recipies to cheap flights. I love being around as these programs and sites are made. Being in the middle of this technology revolution. The economy may suck right now, our contry is at war, yet I still feel lucky to be in the midst of all of this. Do you think there are people that are born in every time period that feel like that? I hope so.1 year ago today I wrote my first post for this blog and sent out a message to family and friends announcing it. I haven’t posted every day, or even every week since then but I’ve tried to make sure that everything I’ve posted has been interesting.
I don’t know how many people still check my blog regularly, or read it occasionally, but if you’re reading this post now, thanks. For taking the time, for caring enough about what I do and what I think about to want to know. I hope I’ve made it interesting, I’ll try to continue the trend.
It’s a fun project.
Happy Birthday Little Pink Laptop!
So. I’ve been talking about buying a new car since…. Nearly two years ago, and really thought I would buy one last summer. I ended up not getting one before this winter because I figured that my car (my lovely 1998 Ford Escort that was my Daddy’s but I bought it when I started going to school) could make it through another winter. Well it has, though not completely un-harmed because I was in an accident and my bumper was cracked a little (though I got a nice chunk of change for it and you can hardly tell). But… I think the odds of it making it through next winter without some major issues are not very good.
Now I’m talking and thinking about buying a car, again. I’ve been seduced by all the pretty cars and considered getting a Dodge Neon, Mazda Miata (someday, just not while I live in the mid-west, but still….someday), I love the look of the Pontiac Sunfire… But after some research and lots of surfing I narrowed my sites on 3 cars. Here are the contenders (in no particular order). For the sake of this post I’ll be comparing the 2005 models of all these cars though I’m open to models +/- a couple of years in either direction.
HONDA – Civic (hatchback)
13.2 gallon fuel tank
four wheel ABS
spacesaver steel rim internal spare
*Safety*
Frontal Impact – 5-stars for both driver and passengerSide Impact – 3-stars for front occupant, 4-stars for rear occupant
Rollover Resistance Rating – 4-stars
FORD – Focus (hatchback)
14 gallon fuel tank
Two disc brakes including two ventilated discs
spacesaver steel rim internal spare
*Safety*
Frontal Impact – 4-stars for both driver and passengerSide Impact – 3-stars for front occupant, 4-stars for rear occupant
Rollover Resistance Rating – 4-stars
VOLKSWAGON – Beetle (cute-awwww)
14.5 gallon fuel tank
four wheel ABS
full size steel rim internal spare
*Safety*
Frontal Impact – 4-stars for both driver and passengerSide Impact – 5-stars for front occupant, 3-stars for rear occupant
Rollover Resistance Rating – 4-stars
I will fully admit that my favorite car by far is the Beetle. I will also admit that the main reason is because it’s cute. But, the full size spare is nice as well… The only thing I’m really worried about is the cost of repairs since it is a VW they’re bound to be expensive (which wouldn’t be such a problem with either of the other cars). Most of the other things to take into consideration are pretty close between all three cars… They all have decent fuel economy and are safe cars (which is why they are my top 3 picks). The Ford Focus doesn’t have the ABS, but neither does my current car and I’ve been driving 6 years without it.
When it comes down to it, the car I get out of these three will probably be the one that I can find at the lowest price, with the least amount of milage and in a color I like (blue, red, yellow, green or orange are the top picks). I like the look of all these cars, and yes, that is the first thing I think about (sorry Dad).
I’ll probably start looking seriously at the end of March, once the worst of the snow is pretty much behind us and it won’t be so terrible to go out in the elements. I’m also considering getting a manual (oooh scary) since I’ve always wanted to learn how to drive one, but then I will probably need to take an extra day off of work so that I can have a long weekend to re-learn how to drive…
I’ll keep you posted. 
