Tag: sheeple

Bad Twittermonkey!!

So…someone has posted on their blog…a list of things that annoy people on Twitter1
10 Stupid Mistakes On Twitter

There is a sort of unspoken line drawn in the sand it seems…and he’s found a decent amount of things done of Twitter that manage to annoy people when used too much.

I find that these types of lists are sometimes just content fillers, but this wasn’t…it was pretty legitimate , so I’ve linked back to him.

Here’s my comment – to start…

The Devils Advocate says,

“If you don’t like my music, my interesting quotes, my retweets of interesting news in Dallas and around the world, and most importantly a note telling my friends that I posted yet another rant about people that need to stop existing…save yourself some trouble and annoyances…don’t follow me. I am not tweeting for your particular brand of entertainment. ”

The Sympathizer says,

“…heh..I couldn’t think of anything to really sympathize on. I don’t follow people unless they are friends, news, or people I find interesting. If my tweets aren’t entertaining enough for you…well…there is a button for that ;)”

Don’t get me wrong, I understand the notion, I just find it a waste of my time to spend more than the time it takes to write this considering it.

-Tony

Now, rather that concern myself with what everyone else likes about my tweets…I will comprise a list of things the Twitter user might do to enhance their experience on Twitter.

1. Decide what you want out of Twitter.
Are you looking to receive news or disseminate it…or both? Why? Well if you’re just using it to keep tabs on what friends are up to and get the latest news on your favorite hockey team…that’s easy…follow them. If you want to be able to send your updates only to those you chose to allow, then log into your Twitter account on the website, go to Settings, and near the bottom of the form you will see a check box labeled “Protect My Updates”. If you put a check-mark in there, then click on the “Save” button, from this point forward, your Twitter feed is subscribed to by permission only and not publicly advertised on the website. However, If your like me, and have a blog that you have fun writing in, and have even more fun since your friends actually read it…well..there’s a usefulness that Twitter really fills…it’s an awesome syndication feed…seriously. If I post to my blog, you can bet your grandma’s stinky socks thats I am going to auto-tweet the subject and a link to the article. This is my hobby, and people do actually follow me. Maybe not on a serious level but enough news feeds follow me that I am not going to stop.

2. Do not follow everything in the world immediately after signing up.
If you’re like me, and already very well versed in RSS2, you’re going to see Twitter as something just like a Feedburner, but cracked up and on ‘roids. If you don’t know what I am talking about…think of every feed on Twitter and a newspaper…now consider this…exactly how many newspapers do you really need to subscribe to? Me, I have a couple local news people subscribed, a few friends…and a couple people that do a really good job of keeping me from getting bored at work πŸ˜‰ No need for more. Since I don’t really have conversations directly with friends via Twitter (text messaging, IM, and cell phone usage galore), it’s easy for me to just post things I find interesting and let my friends IM or text me directly if they need more info or whatever. Anyhow I digress…if you add a hundred Twitter-Maniacs to your follow list the first day you’re going to really unhappy…we’re talking a-thousand-fleas-in-the-jockstrap unhappy.

3. Look for your favorite newscaster, or sports team, or public figure on Twitter. It’s best to find out their public twitter from their official website, as there are a TON of people on their way to being serial stalkers trying to be someone they are most definitely not. Read their feed first, then decide to subscribe to them…or not. I kindof lucked out and am subscribed to a few people that are amazingly good about posting things I am likely to be interested in reading about. I guess it gives me a feeling that I am a little bit more aware of the world.

4. Do not use Twitter tied in with other services or social networking websites – unless this functionality is specifically what you want. Reasoning? Simple, Facebook is a great example. If you Tweet a lot, you’re going to flood your friends NewsFeed on FB. This can go vice versa if you’re following a bunch of other people using twitter to update…you’re getting flooded.

5. Report abusive users actively. Unsolicited advertisers are my big pet peeve and get blocked and reported every single time I see them.

Anyhow, these things keep me pretty happy on Twitter. Enjoy.

-Tony

Show 2 footnotes

  1. Per the Wiki monster, Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read each others’ updates, known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters, displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to other users – known as followers – who have subscribed to them. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow open access. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications..
  2. RSS is an very widely used syndication in use by publishers on the internet. It follows a clear communication formula so that anyone with access to it can “subscribe” to it’s feed and thus receive updates based on the criteria bound in the URL and/or page the subscription points to. Essentially…it lets you follow subjects, authors, etc from any page or reader that supports it (most venues of subscription readers do).



Some of these articles on Iran seriously suck. (rant)

“If you don’t wish to be surprised, expect those you know to be who they are.”

I am about ready to apply this on a whole new scale to many of the newscasts going on.

I’ve read at least 50 articles on the tragedies, politics, and people in Iran, their recent election, and the social climate there. I’ve looked at a lot of words directly from people there, and some videos that to be honest are disparaging. However…to use these tragedies as a political posturing mechanism, if only to bad mouth our own President…dude…there are people there who arent allowed to show their faces, hiding…because they sent an email indicating they were ready to formally protest the results of the election. And I am seeing little half-assed “official looking” articles that start with “Iranians are being oppressed” and ending four pages later with “because our President buckled.”

For every writer that would sell his soul to speak on the net and spread propaganda like the example above…there are ten guys like me ready to chew your asses up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (well, at least I like to think so!)

Bottom line. We all have opinions. We all believe in **something**. Some of us believe that the foundation of our lives should be based in some sense of right and wrong and the ability make decisions based on this simple clarity of ethics. Even further down the hole…some few of us believe that if you have the balls to lay blame at the feet of a US president thousands of miles away, (who happens to be the first in a decade willing to do something other than obligate us into another war in the middle east)…you should bring a solution to the table that doesn’t include how poorly our decision to elect him is the root cause of problems in 1979?! Are you that that retarded man? Where is a solution in this? Oh wait…the meaning of a communication is the response you get…well if I am any indication, we may need to look at solution…pardon me if I may be so bold. πŸ˜‰

Freedom is my ability to post this little rant and know it will be heard, and not snuffed. Freedom is the ability to write what you want, when you want. When what you write or communicate is perceived to restrain those same rights of others, you become another problem for the solution. You see, providing a solution is the answer.

Let me give you a little scenario…and then we’ll come around to a solution…

Example, a significant number of people in Iran protest and do not agree with their governments policy regarding censorship. Daily there are reports of brutality, reports provided to the media with video. Various government agencies take action when tens of thousands of people rally. Military and police assets are mobilized. Every single time someone is brutalized…there at least a mention of it, sometimes with video or photos, etc…even Twitter becomes a tool for the underdogs…since the government agencies are working VERY hard to keep the media from sensationalizing a demonstration into a riot.

You might think I am a bit crazy for saying this…but now stop thinking about it being Iran. Instead it is us. It’s a demonstration in a U.S. city that has the world’s attention because demonstrators are being struck down, brutalized, tear-gassed, and of course…arrested.

What is your solution now? In a country where it is our right as citizens to speak and be heard, our right to assembly. How will your government react? I hate to break it to you but our track record isn’t exactly pretty. We might not be as brutal, and our riot police might not be killing demonstrators anymore. But the fact that I had to use the word “anymore” in the previous statement should get you to sit back and think for a bit. If the world recognizes freedom, then the world should be more than willing to earn it. We are a far cry from Iran in a million ways and more…but in the desire for freedom, and our own propensity in poor decision-making, we are not so-very different. However freedom is not bestowed, it is achieved.1 and I think Iranians deserve to govern themselves without our involvement. If their government finds insult in stern words spoken thousands of miles away…heh…more power to them πŸ˜‰ I would think it far easier to win their hearts than to try and redirect their hate, but if the government want to say it’s the US’s fault that they shot and killed and brutalized their own citizens, it is obviously only a matter of time before their own people fail to support them. A religious state cannot function without the belief of its people. They will lose the will of the people and slowly crumble…and hopefully grow as a government into the view I hold of my friends who are actually from Iran. I would expect the exact same from their government with regard to us. The solution is to offer only aid in suffering, not sanction. Where that nation is wounded we should be offering to heal the wound rather than cauterize it. We should never mobilize in a military capacity where a state is in civil war, because to the third party, their military cannot distinguish friend from foe, and will ultimately come to blows with the wrong side. Easier it would be to send a plane full of doctors and surgeons to assist in aiding the hospitals…you know…the ones that went on strike? Without medical assistance many people injured would likely worsen. Unfortunately the government there would likely prohibit us from said help. Another solution is to prove to their government that it would benefit them to understand that the world changes, with it does our beliefs, and the desires of it’s people everywhere…if you do not appease the mob, you will be overtaken by it sooner or later.

Bottom line…Iran is stifling its people in hardliner moral law and censorship. Writers, please stop acting like children trying to get each other in trouble by pointing the finger at our president and present us all with ideas on how we can help outside of promoting your election agenda for 2012.

Okay, I am about out of gusto on this tonight…missed dinner while typing πŸ˜‰ Please be sure to comment, I look forward to it πŸ˜‰

Take care all.

-Tony

Show 1 footnote

  1. Thanks FDR πŸ˜‰



Iran supression of Mousavi getting heavier.(Updated)

To be clear, I am not interested in US involvement, we haven enough on our plate. But whats happening to Iran is nothing less than tragic. No offense kiddoes but historically…religious states end bloody…it hasn’t worked…it doesnt work….it just ostracizes a nations youth. In Iran’s case, I hope these demonstrations show clearly that the government isnt interested in compromise, and only interested in furthering it’s own agenda, not being answerable to it’s own population. In doing so, the world will view them as another Iraq. Not now…later…is this truly how you believe your nation wishes to live?

Now to be clear, I am just looking far ahead…right now we’re seeing two factions both wrestling for the upper hand in a power play for Iran. Mousavi isn’t a beacon of shining light…he’s just a whole ton better to deal with than the loony that just got re-elected.

Here’s some linkage for the current stories.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-vote26-2009jun26,0,4907311.story

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/25/iran.election/index.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5107214.stm

More on Neda HERE A lot of details on what happened.
UK takes a little action HERE
Okay…BBC seems to be showing a little more detail and factuals than CNN now…they must be filtering their info out too much.

More later after work.