Taking photos, making videos, editing, writing, updating this blog, our Facebook page, and posting tweets is a lot of work. And on top of that, we’re also on the road.
So why are we doing this and trying to get attention?
Because we are doing our little bit to increase awareness on climate change and the need for everyone to take action now. We cannot understand why people worry about stock markets, house prices, and even unemployment rates, when we might not have a world!!! What if there is no drinking water tomorrow …. or you are washed away by the sea rising ….. or your children have no future ….?
This is a difficult topic to talk about because we care deeply and it’s an emotive area for us.
350.org say it better.
They were one of the organizations at Copenhagen making sure the voices of ordinary people got heard. Their website is full of information, scientific findings, people’s efforts and photos of events all around the world. Their name is related to the level of CO2 …. “350 parts per million is what many scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments are now saying is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere” … http://www.350.org/about/science
And they ask and answer such questions as:
What is global warming and what’s the problem anyway?
What does this 350 number mean?
If we’re already past 350, are we all doomed?
How do we create the political change to steer towards 350?
How do we get the world on track to get to 350?
How do we actually reduce carbon emissions to get to 350??
We hope you’ll take a look at their website and then decide on what action you can take.
I re-watched When Harry Met Sally yesterday and was reminded of the above quote. And as with every time I watch it, I wondered if it was true.
Conclusion: it’s true. Men and women can’t be friends.
I researched it a little more in depth this time. My method? I went through my facebook friend list and looked at all the guys I have on there. Interestingly enough, I realized that about 75% of my facebook friends are girls. Then I weeded out most of the other guys too, because they were either family, gay, married (there’s some history with a couple of the married ones, but that’s for another day), or mere acquaintances (you know, people I met once at a party or haven’t seen since high school). I could try to factor all of these people in too, but to keep things simple, I went through the guys I would actually consider good friends. It’s down to six guys, and here they are:
1. Mr. History: As his nickname implies, we’ve got a lot of rather complicated history. And I’ve been hung up on him in an unrequited way for a good ten years. Yes, I consider him a dear friend, but no, it’s definitely not a simple, baggage-free friendship.
2. Mr. Entertainment: As we live in completely different locales, we basically communicate strictly via facebook. However, we have a great connection with it comes to stuff like TV and movies, and it’s tough to find people who have similar tastes to me. I’ve got a small crush on him, strictly for that reason. While we could probably be friends pretty easily if we lived in the same place, I’m pretty sure my crush would grow pretty easily too.
3. Mr. Doctor: I completely dig this guy. Indeed, he’s a doctor and very accomplished, smart, funny, amazing, etc. The attraction’s totally from my side only. I’m pretty sure he has a crush on another good friend of ours who doesn’t see him that way (just more evidence that men and women can’t be friends).
4. The Engineer: I am still a little heartbroken over this guy. He was single when I first met him and we connected really well when it came to humor, faith, and general interests. While we did stay friends, I watched him start dating someone else, get engaged, and get married. So he technically falls in the “married” category now, but it is a good illustration regardless.
5. Mr. Platonic: Obviously. While I would prefer things to be plantonic, his thoughts are completely different.
6. Mr. Unnamed: Again. Obvious issues from my perspective.
So there you have it. In my experience, men and women can’t be friends. You probably noticed that some of the guys I’ve written about here aren’t even on my list. And that is even more evidence, because we’re not even friends enough at this point to even be facebook friends.
And with that, you should know that this is probably the last time you’ll hear from me in 2009, so I’ll be back with more stories in 2010! Are there any stories or people or situations I’ve referenced that you want to know more about? Just ask; I’ll write!
When we come to make a life changing decision, how many times have we used “it’s not the right time”, or “I want to wait until the right moment comes” as an excuse to postpone or even give up our action? Seemingly, time is convenience to use
But when is the right time? Even more interesting is, when the ‘right’ time comes, will you be able to spot it, and act on it immediately? Or you are not prepared enough to act fast so the ‘right’ time slips and you say,”I will wait for the right time” again..and again…
When is it gonna end?
Also, I can’t help but wonder, does the ‘right’ time ever exist?
Answer me, when is the right time to quit your job/to get married/to have baby/to fire redundant employees/to start healthy diet/to start exercising…etc etc? WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME!?
Just take the “to have baby” as example
Normally a recent married couple would WAIT for at least a year, for the purpose of enjoying life and time with another half. After 1 year, they would start to PLAN to have baby. They calculate and calculate and finally workout a financial statement forecast to see how much money they need to raise a baby. They then decide to use (let say) 3 years to earn $4m (which they think they need)…but what will happen during these 3 years? Husband might lose his job/wife gets promoted/they lose all their saving in financial crisis/someone in the family is sick/realise $4m is not enough but $5m instead….every incident would push their curve of saving upward and downward, besides, what about inflation, price increase in food, education, house (if you can predict those, you would be a billionnaire so I dont think you need to PLAN anyway) or even living necessity? How many elements do you put into the scenario study/testing when you are making the forecast?
Let’s not forget also the personal maturity is also a factor to be considered
So when is the right time for this couple to have baby?
Allow me to say this, it’s never the right time
We tend to do a risk evaluation, calculating what would we lose if we make this move or take this step? How about what to lose if we DO NOT make this move or take this step? What would we lose if we STAND STILL and being indecisive when we are facing a problem? I don’t know how to quantify the lost but at least, apart from anything else, you lose time
A successful person might not be the most intelligent, the most innovative, the most entrepreneurial and any quality that you can think of….but he certainly has to be the type: someone who will act on whatever he sees, listens and believes in
Take the action now, for all sakes in the world. Don’t not regret on something you haven’t done, experience and feel what you have done
A little to share after start reading the 4-hour workweek by Timothy Ferriss, very inspiring
Social Networking has been at a very high demand this year. Major social networking websites like Facebook & Twitter has attracted millions of users at a very regular basis. Whether they could be used for only building social contacts, or for the commercial purposes, the social networking has become a very important part of the people’s lives.
Ranging highly from schooling kids to the teenagers in college to the adults working or at home, extending to the elderly people; social networking has been the most preferred mode of communication for the people.
Not just for the social purposes, but also for the commercial purposes- the social networks have been a very important part of the people’s lives now. Social networks have helped many companies in boosting their business to a very higher extent, which has taken back the negative effectives of the recession to a very greater extent.
People are finding different ways in which the social networks can help out more in contributing more to the business taking down further the effects of the recession. Starting from the small businesses to the larger ones, all are initiating to expand their business lines with the help of the social networks, among which, Facebook and Twitter are most preferred ones.
Social Networking is the best way in which people can communicate about their business to the people at large, which also proves to be the best strategy whether it could be any business. 2009 has indeed been the year of social networking, which has seen the highest usage of the social networks for all purposes.
biasanya banyak orang yg waktu lagi pesbukan kaga mau diganggu sama chatting…tapi walaupun kita bikin chattingan kita dalam keadaan offline,,ternyata kita tetap masih bisa melihat sapa ajah teman kita yang lagi online…
1.Rubah kolom chattingan anda menjadi offline
2.Lalu klik ikon Aplikasi yang ada di pojok kiri bawah
3. Cari aplikasi dengan mengetikkan Appear Offline
4. Setelah masuk, silahkan ikuti petunjuk selanjutnya. Disana terdapat kategori Online Now (untuk melihat siapa yang online, avtive friend dan idle friend), Bookmarks (untuk membuat daftar teman-teman favorit), Friend’s Bdays! (untuk melihat semua daftar ulang tahun teman anda) dan Help.
5. Untuk lebih mempermudah akses anda menggunakan aplikasi appear offline, tambahkan ke menu navigasi bar anda sebelah kiri bawah halaman anda
So, dengan aplikasi ini kita gak perlu OL dulu untuk ngeliat siapa ajah temen kita yang lagi OL……
Interested in Facebook, Twitter, Texting, etc.? This is for you.
Web 2.0: in short is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing.
If it’s going to be a distraction in 2010 it might as well be considered a distraction from here on… Wouldn’t you agree?’
For those of you know don’t know “Web 2.0″ is the internet from 2004- onwords (Web 1.0 1991-2003). It’s fact that during Web 2.0 the way we’ve communicate has changed. From Twitter to Facebook. New search engines created to find information thats just been posted within seconds. Real time results.
If you have a Twitter account and follow a few people by the your done reading this sentence you probably have a few Twitter updates to catch upto.
Cell phones became popular in the Web 1.0 ‘era.’ Texting was also introduced during this time. However as time went by it became more attractive amongst the greater population, not just in America but worldwide.
In China even with all the sites banned (like Twitter) there are sites that are Chinese versions that are amerging. And guess what? 90% of the Chinese population is involved with ’social networking’. Compared to 73% of Americans.
Cell phone providers are coming up with applications just for social media websites like Facebook and Twitter. Myspace was popular in the early Web 2.0 days however not so much anymore.
There was a minor earthquake a couple months ago that shook majority of Punjab in Pakistan, parts of India, and Afghanistan. I was chatting with a cousin as it happened. The moment it occured I logged onto Twitter within seconds and there were people in Pakistan posting tweets about what just happened.
Businesses are also trying to spread there existance into social media. The law firm I work for hired me to maintain there Facebook pages, Twitter account, Blog, aswell as maintaining PPC campaigns and taking care of search engine optimization for there online community launching in January 2010.
Blogging has become a great source of sharing information and serving to many around the country and around the world as a sort of online diary. You don’t need to spare $10 for a URL + a hosting plan to have an online existance anymore. With free blogging sites like Blogspot and WordPress within a few seconds you can have your own blog.
Companies are embracing the fact that people want to rely more on digital technology. Before Wifi was limited to before an airplane would take off and after it lands. Virgin America, American, Delta, United, aswell as other major airlines have ensured that skies are no longer digitally disconnected. McDonalds is set to introduce Free Wifi in it’s American restaurants in January (right now it charges about $2.99 per 2 hours.)
There have been many Blackberry outages these days delaying emails which have people freaked. Twitter was down for a couple hours and that really annoyed people. The “Iranian Cyber Army” hijacked managed to temporarily hijack the website to try to prove a pointless point.
It’s almost like.. If Facebook goes down for a little bit because of excessive use or an error at the office or computers are down, or theres a problem over with Gmail, or if Twitter is hijacked.. Several million peoples lives are on ‘hold’.
An extensive background in marketing led Marcel Friday, founder of the Detroit-based hip-hop website WhutUpDoe.com, to reach hip-hop fans all over the country prior to the site’s December 25th launch date. Through Facebook and Twitter, Friday build an avid following, engaging fans by probing them on their favorite local unsigned artists and their goals for the new year. Once again, social networking sites provides an efficient promoting platform for the hip-hop entrepreneur. We’re starting to wonder how marketing existed without them.
You don’t know? Just go to my orkut profile and see my friends list. You can catch him there. Btw he had got a fever of 100 degree Celsius last night.
Oh, did he scrapped you about it?
No idiot, he tweeted.
Scene 2:
What are you doing in your mobile?
Nothing, I am just checking out my mails.
Got any new mails?
Yeah, I got one invitation to join hi5, one for linkedIN, one for ibibo, two from Indyarocks, three new followers on twitter and an email telling me that my brother recently commented on my facebook status.
And the status will be?
That I am checking my mails through my N75.
Pause.
The above scenes sound very acquainted, don’t they? Now-a-days, everybody has signed up for multiple social sites. And the users include school children, college crowd, undergraduates, post graduates, the employed and even the unemployed. The wide spectrum consists of common people, Radio jockeys, sex workers, film industry, aspiring models, ministers, writers, etc.
Should one go for these social sites? The answer is unanimously, a YES. But the point worth considering is which ones to join because the online market offers you a variety of choices parallel to the cellular industry. You do have all the options open to you, but you have to go for the one suiting your needs. Of course you can sign up all of these networks, but be pragmatic how can one be present at all of his/her social dwellings?
Think about a situation in which your twitter account reads “Had the most horrible experience of my life” and your facebook account reads “Had a date with my girlfriend today”. Now, if luckily or unluckily, the girl whose referred in here happens to be a twitter addict you can imagine what would happen next. No points for guessing.This girl would change her relationship status from committed to single, in her profile on orkut. The following points can be the ones worth pondering before going for such social world.
*See the site where the majority of your friends are engaged.
*Just check about the privacy you want. Are you okay with the open display of your communications with your friends (most common on www.orkut.com) , or you don’t want any of the chatting message to be read by anyone, or you just want to keep all of your buddies updated what are you doing in a very short and fast way. The list also gives you the options of doing social networking along with Bollywood buzzes like wallpapers news (www.indyarocks.com) etc.
*The amount of time you devote in worshiping internet. If you just want to share and go use twitter. You want more go for orkut, hi5, ibibo, linkedIN, etc.. You can play the psychological games like IQ test and also you can go for answering some questions to get answers to the crazy questions like “In which year will you die”, “What type of kisser are you”, “When/where will you meet your soulmate”, and all type of attractive questions. Thus it avoids paying to the chiromancer to get such answers. For more such questions go to www.facebook.com
Being on the online network is not only a must now-a-days but also a status symbol. People not found there are treated as villagers. But signing up isn’t enough. You have to be regular there and also try to give your profile a cool look. Comment on your friends’ photos, their status, retweet them, follow them and after all this homework buzzing about it in the school is the classwork.
So, for all of you who are not yet on any of these online homes, join fast. And for those who are living in the online world you can follow me on www.twitter.com/urs_sarthak
Lately, I have been spending some time thinking about how people react to social media fame. What happens when you reach 1,000 Twitter followers? 2,000? 5,000? How do you react when your blog is suddenly getting significant traffic and people are hanging on your every word? Some people can take it in stride without letting it go to their heads while other people end up with enormous overinflated egos.
Compare this to the reaction to fame that professional athletes, actors, musicians and celebrity CEOs face. Some people completely change (new house, new cars, new friends, new spouse, etc.) while others continue to live in their old neighborhood with existing friends, and remain grounded despite their fame. While social media fame isn’t the same, I see similar reactions.
I was reading an article where someone was talking about egos in sports and applying the same ideas to business. He mentioned this quote: “It’s okay if other people think you’re God, but you’re in trouble if you start believing it.”
For some people, it may already be too late. For those of you who can still be saved, here are a few tips for keeping that ego in check :
Remember that your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn friends or fans are not your real friends .Real friends are the people that stick with you during tough times.
Don’t take yourself too seriously. When people butter you up with praise and tell you how awesome you are, politely thank them, but don’t believe it.
Everyone has shortcomings — I certainly have my share. Whenever your ego starts to take over, think about something that you need to improve and remember that you are an ordinary human being who makes mistakes and has weaknesses.
What are your thoughts on how social media fame gives people inflated egos?
Back in the early days of my blog I wrote about Glamour Age. I was not impressed. It followed the lines of most Facebook days back in the day: a webpage that had to refresh every time, and doing the same thing over and over and over. With the emergence of Flash into Facebook games have started changing for the better. The -ville games all have a bit of fun to offer, weather it’s putting together a farm, or making a zoo. But the game that truly caught my attention was one that appealed to my inner geek: Starfleet Commander.
At it’s core Starfleet Commander is a simple game. Like most other Facebook apps it has missions. You get things by going on missions, which let you do other things further down the road. The game goes deeper than that though, deeper than any of the old Facebook games. In addition to missions you get to build things. Ore Mines, Crystal Mines, Hydrogen Synthesizers, etc. Each building produces different resources which you need to build more buildings, and eventually to produce ships and defenses. But the game goes farther still, in addition to buildings you get to research things, and put together defenses. The game also has a good rating system, so you always know where you stand in your Galaxy. Add the fact that you can invite friends (like any Facebook app) and make alliances, and you have a Facebook game with a suprising amount of detail.
The next major improvement that Starfleet Commander adds is the timing system. In old games you had a set amount of energy, and at the end of it you were done. The end. Come back tomorrow. Starfleet Commander has timed missions. Sending a ship out for some ore takes about two minutes to accomplish, and about a minute for your ship to come back home. Once it’s back you can send it out again. As much as you want. You will never see a bar that says “you are out of energy.”
It’s not all roses though. The game still requires that you have friends before you can go out and do anything truly interesting, and the missions have you doing the same thing over and over. It’s the feel of the missions that really gets to me though. This is a game that has the name “Starfleet” in it. You know, the people with the prime directive, and the ones that won’t attack enemy ships unless pressed, even when they are in the Delta Quadrant? Why is it then that out of two of the first three missions I get, I’m going on raids? Instead of Starfleet I feel like I’m playing the Maquis or the Romulans. It definitely doesn’t leave me feeling like one of the good guys.
As far as Facebook games go I give the game four out of five stars. In real game rankings maybe a two out of five. It is fun for a free game, and if you insist on wasting time on Facebook apps like I seem to, than it is a good use of your time.
A scandal erupted in the Bulgarian Parliament Thursday after nationalist Ataka party leader Volen Siderov accused Conservative Order, Law and Justice (RZS) leader, Yane Yanev, of hiding his “homosexual relationships”.
Siderov made his claims in front of the European and US ambassadors who were attending the plenary session. He said: “homosexual addiction, which is an open secret about Yane Yanev, that is the case….We see some hysterical actions by a boy (Yanev) who acts according to his homosexual and other dependencies.”
Siderov added that former secret service agent Alexey Petrov is pulling Yanev’s strings and that they are providing money to businessmen to split up the Ataka party and to stop its support for the ruling GERB government.
Yanev replied by saying that Siderov was inferior and that he has always been been and will remain heterosexual. He added that Siderov had shamed himself in the eyes of Europe and the World.
Parliament Speaker, Tsetska Tsacheva, said that the case will be referred to the Committee on Parliamentary Ethics Committee. She stressed that such statements undermine the image of parliament and was clear that such behavior will not be tolerated.
Well, at least they’re on it. However, there is no way on this Earth that you’ll catch me in Times Square this New Year’s Eve. It’s already insanely cold out there. That’s the beauty of social media! I don’t have to be there
If you will be there, bring your iPhone!
The Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment aren’t dropping the ball when it comes to incorporating social media into the upcoming New Year’s Eve celebration, as they will offer a six-and-a-half-hour Webcast via TimesSquareNYC.org, Livestream.com/2010, or Facebook.com/TimesSquareNYC, as well as on a special site for iPhone users, The New York Times‘ Gadgetwise reports.
The Webcast will follow five separate story lines and cover the international participants, the history of Times Square through photos, the story behind the bloggers and other information, and viewers will be able to post photos and comment via Twitter and Facebook, according to Gadgetwise.
My latest goofing around online is on AIM Lifestream. Yep, you read right. There is a very simple explanation – privacy.
Tweeter is simply just noise right now. I absolutely detest their new retweet (RT) feature. It’s annoying and I definitely don’t want my stream filled with tweets of people I don’t follow – it was tolerable before but now the retweets appear as a tweet from the original source. In other words, your entire stream may be filled with tweets of people you don’t follow. Then there is the List. Really, who has the time to go through all that? I got on Twitter to learn from people I admire, engage in conversations with peers and friends, not to be bombarded with broadcasts and advertisements. The only time I now use Twitter is to ping someone or people to ping me. Visit a wet market (similar to farmers’ market in the US) in Singapore and you’ll know what I mean when I compare Twitter to it. Twitter is now a BIG global fish market.
Facebook, on the other hand, is jambalaya. They have no clear business model – it keeps changing not based on their or user needs, mind you, but based on their competitors – Twitter, Buddypress and the like. Simply idiotic. And then suddenly what you thought you privately shared on Facebook is no longer private but very much public. I’ve lost track of their idiocy. Then you have to deal with accepting or rejecting “friend” request from people you know – but don’t want to know too much about – as well as from strangers – which is fine as long as they aren’t weirdos or axe killers. With their new changes, your stream is again filled with comments, photos, infos of “friends of friends” you absolutely care nothing about and simply don’t want them on your stream. Yes, I’ve very little tolerance for incompetents and foul-mouthed individuals – deceitful at work as competent because of their excellent a$$ kissing abilities while others are simply B. It’s a free world and people may choose how they lead their lives or how devoid of decent human beings they wish to be. But surely, I should have the choice to decide who I can eliminate from my stream as well? That’s not asking too much, is it?
Comparatively, AIM Lifestream gives me the option to be very selective in sharing my thoughts, photos, live chats with and who may comment on those. Having said that, it’s yet to be seen how soon I’ll be bored with it or how fast AIM will change their features. But, I’ll enjoy the service while it lasts.
Digital Sky Technologies (the same Russian group behind the $200 Million investment in Facebook) drops $180 Million into social game developer Zynga.
“Social games are enabling millions of people around the world to connect and play together everyday. We are excited about our relationship with DST as they are a global player dedicated to creating services that are meaningful to consumers in the long term,”
- Mark Pincus, founder and CEO of Zynga.
” Our earlier investment in Facebook and now in Zynga underscores our premise that social networking and social entertainment will define the next generation of the web.”
MediaPost provides a very interesting article about social media becoming the new mass media. This provides insight into why Google made the decision to integrate real-time information from Twitter and Facebook into its search results. From the article:
“As interactive consumers increasingly consider their social networks as ways to access the information, products and services they want, places like Facebook and even Twitter will become magnets for content producers and advertisers.”
To continue with our previous posts about Facebook I’m going explain how to use the RESTful API from C# code. This time I’m writing a console application to read user Facebook’s statuses. This illustrates that you can really use the RESTful API from any application including desktop.
A very important thing you need to do before this code works is to ask your user for authorization to read his stream with offline access as shown in this post. After your user grants your application to have offline access you can read his session_key and use it everywhere because it will never expire.
First we need to write a Class that mimics Status FQL table.
public class Status
{
public String status_id { get; set; }
public String time { get; set; }
public String source { get; set; }
public String message { get; set; }
}
Then we create a method to generate our data signature.
public static String GetSignature(Dictionary parameters)
{
MD5 md5 = MD5.Create();
String data = "";
String[] keys = parameters.Keys.OrderBy(k => k.ToString()).ToArray();
for (int i = 0; i < keys.Length; i++)
{
String key = keys[i];
String value = parameters[key];
data += key + "=" + value;
}
data += "APPLICATION_SECRET";
byte[] bytes = md5.ComputeHash(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(data));
String signature = "";
foreach (byte b in bytes) signature += b.ToString("x2");
return signature;
}
After that we just build our post data, post our request, read our response and deserialize the status objects.
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Dictionary parameters = new Dictionary();
parameters.Add("format", "json");
parameters.Add("method", "Fql.query");
parameters.Add("query", "select status_id, time, source, message from status where uid = USER_ID");
parameters.Add("session_key", "SESSION_KEY");
parameters.Add("api_key", "API_KEY");
parameters.Add("v", "1.0");
parameters.Add("call_id", DateTime.Now.Ticks.ToString());
parameters.Add("sig", GetSignature(parameters));
String postData = "";
for (int i = 0; i < parameters.Keys.Count; i++)
{
String key = parameters.Keys.ElementAt(i);
String value = parameters[key];
String param = key + "=" + HttpUtility.UrlEncode(value);
postData += param;
if (i < parameters.Keys.Count - 1) postData += "&";
}
HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("http://api.facebook.com/restserver.php");
request.Method = "POST";
request.ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";
StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(request.GetRequestStream());
writer.Write(postData);
writer.Close();
DataContractJsonSerializer serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(Status[]));
HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();
Status[] statuses = (Status[])serializer.ReadObject(response.GetResponseStream());
foreach (Status s in statuses)
{
DateTime time = new DateTime(long.Parse(s.time));
Console.WriteLine(time.ToString() + ", " + s.message);
}
Console.ReadLine();
}
Note that you can use this approach to call any method in the RESTful API, not to just make FQL queries.
Finally, a sexy story about climate change. As the big talks have finally kicked off, here’s one of the lighter stories I’ve read about what’s happening over there.
This is from AFP:
Prostitutes of a Danish sex workers association will offer their services for free to delegates of the UN climate summit in Copenhagen, an association official told AFP Saturday.
Susanne Moeller said the move was meant to protest an anti-prostitution initiative undertaken by Copenhagen city hall.
The city, host of the December 7-18 UN climate summit, distributed postcards in Copenhagen’s hotels that said “Be sustainable: Don’t buy sex.” It also sent letters to hotel managers inviting them to take measures to avoid prostitutes meeting clients in their establishments.
This is a bit odd considering that sex work in Denmark is legal. And surely, if you’re involved in the difficult work of trying to save the planet from doom, you may want to engage in adult activities to relieve some stress, right?
Apparently, sex workers there agree and are fighting back against this discrimination. Here’s more about their plan:
“All delegates who come to Copenhagen for the world climate summit will be able to use the postcards for payment after making a request on our website,” Moeller, of the Danish association for the defense of sex workers, said.
“We do not expect many delegates (to make use of the offer), but we want to protest what we consider discrimination,” Moeller said, adding the offer was good for the duration of the climate talks.
If only free sex offers could be used to get countries commit to a binding treaty.
Rank
Name
Company
Total Compensation
(USD)
Per day
1
Sanjay Jha
Motorola
104,500,000
287,088
2
Larry Ellion
Oracle
86,400,000
237,363
3
Robert Iger
Walt Disney Co.
51,100,000
140,385
4
Kenneth Chenault
American Express
42,800,000
117,582
5
Vikram Pandit
Citigroup
38,200,000
104,945
6
Mark Hurd
Hewlett-Packard
34,000,000
93,407
7
Jack Fusco
Calpine
32,700,000
89,835
8
Rupert Murdoch
News Corp
30,100,000
82,692
9
David Cote
Honeywell International
28,700,000
78,846
10
A.G. Lafley
Procter & Gamble
25,600,000
70,330
Surprisingly, where is Apple? where is Microsoft and where is McDonald??
Tulisan testimoni ini adalah kutipan dari Notes Mas Agung S. Wibowo dari Facebook setelah selesai memberikan pelatihan kepada guru Madrasah di Kec. Kemang Bogor pada program Developing Junior Scientist.
++++
40 jam bersama para guru madrasah dari kecamatan kemang kabupaten bogor memberika kesan yang sangat berarti buatku.
selama lima hari mereka bersemangat datang tepat waktu, bahkan sebelum jam delapan pagi untuk mengikuti pelatihan pembelajaran sains.
mata mereka berbinar dari pagi sampai sore mengikuti kegiatan dengan penuh semangat, tanpa satu orangpun menguap.
kening berkerut tanda berpikir, namun mulut tetap tersenyum bahkan kadang tertawa ketika beraktivitas: berdiskusi, tanya jawab, berekperimen, mengerjakan LKS, bahkan membuat RPP yang dianggap pekerjaan yang menjemukan menjadi kegiatan yang membuat hati senang.
tiada awal tanpa akhir
lima hari berlalu dengan cepat.
pukul 3.30 sore, hari terakhir kepala mereka masih tegak, salah seorang bahkan berkomentar, rasanya baru dua menit.
ini belum cukup, kami mau lagi!
aku bisa! kamu bisa! semua bisa…berkualitas!
itu yang akan mereka bawa pulang
dengan shalawat nabi mereka bersiap untuk pulang dan berbagi dengan siswa mereka
Facebook has now become a household term. Tagging friends no longer has the connotation of child’s play. “friending” someone is acceptable grammar. We have become a society obsessed with social networking. Therefore, in an attempt to correct my obsession, I have decided to stay away from my Facebook for two weeks (courtesy of my friend, K., changing my password). Let’s see how this works, shall we?
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Sundays are usually pretty uneventful at our house this time of the year. We are always busy during the warm months but this time of the year we slow down. Sure, we may throw a load of laundry into the washer or cook a nice dinner but other than that it’s veg out on the couch day. Last Sunday however was an exception and we actually went and did something other than facebook and blog.
Paula, Logan, Nick and I spent most of the morning at Festival Of Trees. Festival Of Trees is almost everything Christmas. A huge miniature train display, gingerbread houses, music, wreaths, lights, games for the kids and of course hundreds of ornately decorated trees were some of the highlights of the festival. Now by now some of you may be asking where the photos are. I do have a reason, although it’s a lame reason and I’m still kicking myself in the ass for not bringing my camera, but a reason none the less. Please forgive me for not providing photos of the festival. (bowing head in shame)
I didn’t bring my camera because after we finished strolling through the festival, we met Javajunkee (aka Lisa) and family at the mall. I didn’t want to lug my heavy camera around the mall the rest of the day and I certainly didn’t want to leave it in the car so I left it at home.
Paula, Nick and I had of course already met Lisa and her daughter Erin, but it was our first time meeting Mr. Javajunkee (aka David) and Mr. Javajunkee Jr. (aka Jake). It was the first time any of the Junkee’s met Logan. After we all met up in front of JC Penney’s and being introduced to one another, we decided to head to the food court for some lunch. After lunch, Nick ventured out into the mall with Erin and Jake leaving just the adults and Logan. I walked Logan down to the ice cream shop for some dessert after a quick stop at Aeropostale so I could get a new stocking cap. I found this really cool stocking cap with a bill on it similar to a baseball cap. I really like the hat and Nick really likes it but Paula says I look like Elmer Fudd. Maybe I will take some photos and let you all decide. My sons informed me later that the cap is called a “beanie”.
After I returned to the food court with Logan and my new beanie, we all headed over to Starbucks inside Barnes and Noble for some coffee. We sat there for quite a while chatting and all getting to know one another. Logan spent a lot of time on Lisa’s lap teaching her how to read and looking at books. LOL
Can a Sunday get any better than visiting a festival guaranteed to get you into the holiday spirit and enjoying lunch with new friends? I think NOT! It was a pleasure to see Lisa and Erin again and meeting David and Jake. I’m looking forward to our next get together already!
** Read my interview with Iqbal Theba aka PRINCIPAL FIGGINS! inside **
Read the Interview Inside!
** Read my interview with Iqbal Theba aka PRINCIPAL FIGGINS! inside **
Iqbal Theba
Iqbal has played many roles in television and film including “Community”, “Two and a Half Men”, “ER”, and “The West Wing”. He is known for playing Principal Figgins on the hit Fox television show, “Glee”. I chatted with him about the show, life as an actor, and of course words of wisdom from the principal himself! Find him on Facebook at the “Iqbal Theba Page”!
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NEAL: You have done so many television and film roles, but for those who are unfamiliar with your back-story, tell us in a nutshell how you wound up in Hollywood. IQBAL: Born in Karachi, Pakistan on December 20, 1963. Started college as a Freshman at the University of Oklahoma in 1981. Studied Civil Engineering at first and have a BS in Construction Engineering Management. Hated my job in a Construction Company in Oklahoma City, so, Went back to the University of Oklahoma in 1986 and majored in Acting. Spent a year in NYC and moved to LA in 1991. Waited on about a million tables in the process. NEAL: You have quite a story of how you arrived to Hollywood! There must have been some pretty hard days struggling to make it in show business. Was it hard staying positive? IQBAL: I am the most positive person you’ll ever meet. I have seen pretty bad days during my struggling actor days. In NYC, at least a couple of times, I didn’t have enough money to buy food and I went hungry. But, I never pitied myself and never gave up. My passion for Acting helped me survive.
NEAL: When you first started out, did you ever dream you would be on such a big television hit and being in some of the biggest movies and shows out there? IQBAL: Of course I dreamt of all those things. But, there was a time when it all seemed so improbable.
NEAL: Speaking of “Glee”, can you tell us what a typical day for you on the set is like? IQBAL: Well, I LOVE going to work on GLEE. I basically show up at Paramount Studios, which is within walking distance from where I live (can you believe my luck?!), and check in with the second AD. If the shooting is going according to the plan then I go to make-up and hair which is a formality for me… because I don’t like wearing make-up or hair gel or anything. I had requested during the Pilot shoot that they just powder my face with anti-shine and simply comb my hair right before all the takes. The agreed. So, I don’t really spend anytime in the make-up chair. Sometimes, I have a lot of free time at my hand if they are running behind. So, I drink tea and hang out with the other cast members, producers and the crew. The show has the friendliest and the most fun people and it is never boring.
NEAL: Are you amazed at the success of the show? IQBAL: I know it might sound cocky or arrogant, but, I knew this was going to be a hit when I read the script for the Pilot. However, I feel truly Blessed and Lucky that I am part of this amazing show.
NEAL: Obviously music is such an important part of the show. Why do you think people respond so well to the music? How do you think that has changed the way the story arc is written each week? IQBAL: People respond to music because it conveys something that cannot be conveyed in prose or just words. GLEE works because it’s characters sing only when they must and words wont express their true feelings. I don’t think the story arc changes because of the music. I think the writers write a good story and then pick the music according to the character’s need to express a particular feeling, emotion or a point of view.
NEAL: On “Glee”, the show deals with some heavy issues: teen pregnancy, being gay, high school drama, etc. When you looked at the script for the first time, were you surprised about how the show was able to keep things light while getting their important messages out there? IQBAL: What’s brilliant about GLEE is that it never lets itself wallow in any situation or a point of view, be it grief or exhilaration . It doesn’t try to “milk” an issue or a feeling. It deals with issues without cheapening the subject matter. And that aspect of the show wasn’t as glaringly obvious until I saw the Pilot because the way they edit the show and the use of background music or lack of it.
NEAL: Can you reveal to us anything that will be happening in this season? IQBAL: Well, I would love to tell your readers exactly what’s going to happen… but, I cantJ. All I can say is that great episodes are ahead and I hope you all continue to watch the show. Oh, here’s something you may not know… we finished shooting 13 episodes back in early July. We are going to start shooting the 14th episode on Jan 6. So, between mid December and early April no new episodes will air, assuming they continue airing new episodes till mid December. NEAL: What new projects do you have lined up? IQBAL: Well, there is a Pilot called Ghosts/Aliens for Comedy Central that I just did. If it gets the green light then it will shoot in the summer of 2010. I also have a recurring role on the NBC show “Community”. I am also in the process of developing a feature Film for myself but that’s in its very early stages and I cant tell you anything about the story or subject matter at this point.
NEAL: If you had to give advice to any aspiring actors, what would it be? IQBAL: If you are serious about becoming a working actor then make sure all your energies AND money are spent in the following order of priority… (1) Pursuit of Acting. (2) Food. (3) Roof over your head…… Your determination to become a working actor is the most important tool that you have.
NEAL: Do you think nowadays, more actors who are minorities are getting film/television roles? In regard to minority actors, do you think there is a trend in more diversity in television and film roles? IQBAL: There is more diversity now than before, more so in TV than in Film. Films are still very rigidly cast. Principal Figgins was written for a white guy but they cast me. It would not have happened in Film.
NEAL: Being a minority actor has its pros and cons. For you, do you feel it helps you gain roles in Holly or at times works against you? IQBAL: Being a minority works in my favor when it comes to smaller parts. But, I usually don’t have a prayer when it comes to bigger roles.
NEAL: To date, what has been the most surreal moment of being in Hollywood? I guess, your “Hollywood moment” –and why? IQBAL: I think “surreal” moments happen to people who didn’t have to struggle for too long. For someone like me who has spent a couple of decades in pursuit of Acting everything is… well, it is what it is.
NEAL: To go along with that question, what has been your favorite role to date and why? IQBAL: Figgins of course! I find it quite challenging because Figgins has to be played with the right mix of someone who is an authority figure but who is also very insecure about his own strengths as a person. It is a very fine line to walk as an actor.
NEAL: As Principal Figgins, you have the tough job of keeping some sanity and trying to dispense words of wisdom to your school. Any last words of wisdom for the readers? IQBAL: Live your life with Intelligence, Compassion and Passion. Aaaand, please join my Fan page on Facebook “iqbal theba page” and support me and Principal Figgins.
As all Facebook users cannot help but be aware, Mark Zuckerberg has sent an open letter addressing Facebook’s new security measures. Here is Mark Zuckerberg’s open letter about security.
Zuckerburg (did Zuckerberg really write this letter? I find that hard to believe after seeing the Facebook Founder in interview) begins his letter with the fact the Facebook community has grown to over 350 million users worldwide which, of course, necessitates the revision and implementation of new security measures. To begin with, networks based on regions or territories will be a thing of the past. Regional networks have simply become to large and, well, useless.
Next, Zuckerberg states:
We’re adding something that many of you have asked for — the ability to control who sees each individual piece of content you create or upload. In addition, we’ll also be fulfilling a request made by many of you to make the privacy settings page simpler by combining some settings. If you want to read more about this, we began discussing this plan back in July.
At some point in the near future we will be messaged and walked through what we need to learn and do as Facebook users to keep up with the times by adjusting our security sections. I am actually interested to learn more. Especially considering that Canada instigated these changes.
Facebook has crossed the 350 million active user mark, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced tonight. But while the site’s latest growth spurt is impressive, it took 77 days, as compared to earlier this year when Facebook had added 50 million users in as short a time as 62 days. But it’s still the site’s second-quickest such milestone to date.
A Look Back at Facebook Growth
Dec. 1, 2009: 350 million users (77 days since last benchmark)
Sept. 15, 2009: 300 million users (62 days since last benchmark)
July 15, 2009: 250 million users (98 days since last benchmark)
April 8, 2009: 200 million users (91 days since last benchmark)
Jan. 7, 2009: 150 million users (134 days since last benchmark)
August 26, 2008: 100 million users
Source: Facebook blog posts
Of course, at some point Facebook’s growth has to slow down, unless the company scores a global maternity ward deal. The opportunities for the self-reported cash-flow positive Facebook to expand quickly and easily are petering out. There were only 444 million worldwide broadband subscribers in the second quarter of 2009, according to Point Topic. Hence the increasing value of more accessible products like Facebook’s mobile and “Lite” versions that address markets where broadband still is not prevalent.
It’s perhaps fitting that Zuckerberg announced the 350 million milestone alongside the phasing out of the company’s regional network feature. Regional networks were first introduced three years ago as a way to facilitate expansion when Facebook moved from a schools-only service to the general public. The idea was to expose new users’ offline communities to give them a group of local profiles to access within the site. At the time, Facebook had 9.5 million users.
Clearly, things have changed. “[A]s Facebook has grown, some of these regional networks now have millions of members and we’ve concluded that this is no longer the best way for you to control your privacy,” Zuckerberg said in a blog post Tuesday.
Zuckerberg did not say when the feature would be disabled, but said it would affect the nearly 50 percent of Facebook users who have identified themselves as members of regional networks. “In the next couple of weeks” all users will be asked to update their privacy settings. Many users may be happy about new privacy features that include granular item-by-item controls, but then again these updates have a way of confusing and annoying people, especially all those buckets upon buckets of new members.
Please see the disclosure regarding Facebook on my bio page.
What is going on with Facebook’s constant gyrations about privacy policy? Does anyone really care?
A little while ago I suggested that online privacy concerns are best addressed by free market solutions, not governmental regulation. I’ve discussed the topic with quite a few entrepreneurs, investors and professional marketers, and the overwhelming view in that group is that regular consumers just don’t care about online privacy. ”They” say:
privacy is too complicated a topic for consumers to understand
no one reads privacy policies
consumers can be distracted from privacy concerns with the offer of just about any shiny object
Much of that might be true – but I also took the time to talk to a bunch of “regular” consumers. And these things are definitely true:
consumers know that their privacy is being compromised by many online services
consumers do not like being taken for granted
consumers will avoid services that abuse their information, and will seek services that use their information properly
These two sets of “truths” are not mutually inconsistent. To me, they add up to: Online services can gain a competitive advantage by giving consumers the most sensible default choices along with the right advanced options for privacy – make it simple, but make it right. I think Facebook believes this, and that’s why they keep tinkering with their policies. They understand that a lot of their initial attraction was a result of making different privacy assumptions than more open services like FriendFeed and Twitter. They know that even if no one ever reads their privacy policy, if they make the wrong choices about privacy, they will lose users. As they saturate their available audience, they have to figure out how to strike the right balance among their different demographic bases, all the while competing with the advantages that more open services have.
These are extremely nuanced choices, but getting them right makes the barrier to competitive threat all the more defensible. And these are product choices; this is something that many I’ve talked to misunderstand: people think that this privacy stuff is just legal mumbo jumbo or regulatory mishmash. That’s plain wrong – laws and regulations are just the cart behind the horse. In a social product where community is paramount, policy choices are product choices.
An extensive background in marketing led Marcel Friday, founder of the Detroit-based hip-hop website WhutUpDoe.com, to reach hip-hop fans all over the country prior to the site’s December 25th launch date. Through Facebook and Twitter, Friday build an avid following, engaging fans by probing them on their favorite local unsigned artists and their goals for the new year. Once again, social networking sites provides an efficient promoting platform for the hip-hop entrepreneur. We’re starting to wonder how marketing existed without them.
At it’s core Starfleet Commander is a simple game. Like most other Facebook apps it has missions. You get things by going on missions, which let you do other things further down the road. The game goes deeper than that though, deeper than any of the old Facebook games. In addition to missions you get to build things. Ore Mines, Crystal Mines, Hydrogen Synthesizers, etc. Each building produces different resources which you need to build more buildings, and eventually to produce ships and defenses. But the game goes farther still, in addition to buildings you get to research things, and put together defenses. The game also has a good rating system, so you always know where you stand in your Galaxy. Add the fact that you can invite friends (like any Facebook app) and make alliances, and you have a Facebook game with a suprising amount of detail.
The Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment aren’t dropping the ball when it comes to incorporating social media into the upcoming New Year’s Eve celebration, as they will offer a six-and-a-half-hour Webcast via TimesSquareNYC.org, Livestream.com/2010, or Facebook.com/TimesSquareNYC, as well as on a special site for iPhone users, The New York Times‘ Gadgetwise reports.
I’ve created a facebook group, twitter account, and a myspace page all dedicated to Zell’s Pinstripe Blog. On these sites you can follow what’s going on with my blog. Feel free to join.
