So, I logged in to my MySpace account last night for the first time in … ohhh … three months, maybe four, maybe more? I knew I had a bunch of messages, friend requests, and blog subscriptions accumulating in a digital landfill.
Like most people, the first thing that struck me after my long absence was how much MySpace was trying to emulate Facebook. Adding apps, MySpace chat, a new Facebookish friend timeline, etc. All this, but without much effort to spruce up their user interface. In fact, many of the new tools appear shoehorned into MySpace’s GUI, which was never all that user-friendly to begin with.
For perhaps the most telling symptom of their growing failure, look to MySpace’s “Online Friends” indicator which shows how many of your friends are online and available to chat right there and then. It’s the equivalent to Facebook’s “Chat” indicator in the lower right corner of the user interface.
While I was on MySpace last night, I was also logged in to Facebook. On MySpace, I have 886 friends. Meanwhile, on Facebook, I have 554 friends. At that time, out of 554 Facebook friends, over 30 were online. Guess how many of my 886 MySpace friends were online at the same time?
One.
The simple fact is that not a lot of people use or spend a lot of time on MySpace anymore.
The niche market that MySpace still addresses better than Facebook is people who deliver audible media to the public: bands, musicians, singers, stand-up comedians, etc. They don’t measure up quite as well with regards to writers and publishers.
Not that anyone at MySpace is asking for my opinion, but if I were in charge over there, I’d chase that performer market and slowly shed pursuing social networking for average individuals. The simple fact is, they’re not in that game anymore. And they won’t be in in that game every again unless they make some radical changes.
I won’t go into great detail regarding what the show is about. A quick summary though … A mysterious global event causes the entire Earth’s human population to simultaneously lose consciousness for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. During this blackout, everyone sees visions of their lives six months in the future. The event results in massive deaths from accidents and leaves the survivors wondering whether what they saw will happen. It’s a great premise for a show and I look forward to watching it.
What a lot of people don’t know is that “Flashforward” was originally a science fiction novel (of the same name) written by Robert J. Sawyer [wiki | web] in 2000. Interestingly, Sawyer has been involved in the show and will even write at least one of the upcoming episodes.
One of the major, and necessary, differences between the book and the TV series is that in the book the visions show what everyone’s lives will be like in 20 years. This is a major change that Sawyer sees as necessary to adapting the series to TV.
To find out why, you can listen to a couple of good interviews with Robert J. Sawyer about “Flashforward” (both the book and TV series) and his other projects. Just check out these two Farpoint Media podcasts:
Both podcasts are run by author Michael R. Mennenga. They cover a little of the same territory, but not a lot. I enjoyed listening to both podcasts for both the Sawyer interviews and the other show content. In particular, the Dragon Page podcast includes Sawyer talking at length on the craft of screenwriting. I thought he had some interesting insights and recommendations.
I have a good hunch about this show. I hope I’m right.
I’d like to encourage everyone to listen to this very informative NPR radio feature story on illegal dog fighting. In this Fresh Air spot, Dave Davies talks with John Goodwin, Humane Society manager of animal-fighting issues, and Sean Moore, a Chicago-based former dog-fighter who works in that city on the Humane Society’s efforts campaign to end dog-fighting in that city.
You should be warned that much of this interview includes some very graphic descriptions of animal cruelty. What is most interesting is that this story puts forward some very startling statistics on how many people are involved in dog fighting. Granted, all those involved admit that it’s nearly impossible to get an accurate count as to how many people are involved in dog fighting.
Also interesting, and thoroughly revolting, is a description of rules, lingo, and rituals involved in organized dog fighting. It also lays out some forms of “cheating” including rubbing poison into a dog’s fur to handicap the opposing dog.
In sum, if just the mere concept of dog fighting enrages you, then this interview will likely put you over the edge. That said, I encourage all of you to listen. It’s important for everyone to know about the many levels of dog fighting ranging from the chaotic world of street fighting to the highly-organized higher echelons of dog fighting.
As much as I know about pit bulls and dog fighting, this interview contained a few nuggets of information that startled me. Give it a listen, and then donate or volunteer for your local pit bull rescue.
Having volunteered and worked in shelters for several years, I know first hand that one of the top reasons for people giving up their much loved pets was the cost of care. This effect has been magnified by the current economic downturn as well as military deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan making it impossible for families at home to afford their pets.
Stepping up to the plate is U.S. Representative Thaddeus McCotter (R – MI) who introduced the Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years (“HAPPY”) Act. This legislation allow individuals to claim tax deductions for qualified pet care expenses for up to $3,500. This would include veterinary care costs.
The HAPPY Act will help Americans provide their pets with the care and quality of life they deserve, while helping to keep more pets in homes and out of shelters.
As some of you know, starting just after NECon 29 I came to the conclusion that I had to get control of my weight and general fitness. On July 19, I stepped on my home scale and it tipped to 228.1 pounds. This was 43 pounds heavier than I’d been in December 2007 (185 pounds) when I’d taken over as executive director at an animal rescue league. Just walking around, I felt big, lazy, and generally unhealthy.
Deciding to get healthy and actually committing to the process are two different things. I went through several stages of fooling myself into thinking I could continue several bad habits and that adding a bit of exercise would make all the difference in the world. In case you’re curious, if you go to the gym 2-3 nights per week, and order out Chinese food 4-5 nights per week, you’re not going to make a lot of progress in terms of losing weight. It’s sort of like bailing out a sinking frigate with a thimble.
So, the first new reality that got through my thick Irish skull is that I had to hit the gym more often. I’m going about 5-6 days per week now. Once I reach my fitness goals, I’ll look at cutting back to 4-5 nights per week, but for now I need this level of consistency to reach my goals. The real challenge here has been learning to assign my workouts with a higher priority. It’s always easy to say, “I’ll skip tonight’s workout to get ahead on X,Y, and Z.” That said, it’s somewhat easier for me as I’m both single and I have no kids. So, I have fewer external pressures than a lot of guys my age.
Once I upped my workout frequency, I also knew that the diet had to change as well. The food side of the equation was somewhat easy. I’ve never been addicted to fast food and I needed to cut back on take-out anyway to save money. I’m eating more protein, veggies, good carbs, and a lot less processed foods. MUCH harder was curtailing my love for any beer that resembles old motor oil. Yeah, if you’ve noticed stock in Guinness taking a bit of a dip lately, I’m the reason why. The good news is that I’ve done it, but boy did that take a fair amount of willpower.
Even better news is that it’s really starting to pay off on the scales. As I mentioned before, in late July I came in at 228.1 pounds. This morning’s weigh in put me at 210.6 pounds*. So, I’ve lost 17.5 pounds in a bit over a month. I’m happy with that. My goal is to reach and maintain 185 – 190 pounds.
I’m also happy that my consistency at the gym is starting to pay off noticeably. While I’m not nearly at my goal, the amounts of weight I can lift across most exercises has been rising steadily and I’m feeling stronger. It’s nice NOT being the fat guy struggling with dumbbells that look like cocktail wieners on toothpicks.
On a more amusing front, I also believe that I’ve “arrived” in the eyes of the other guys at the gym. I’ve noticed that several of the big, fit, “usual suspects” at the gym now greet me with that slight, wordless, gladiator head-nod that I think means they approve of my presence. There’s whole papers and stories that could be written around the odd rituals and sociology that occurs in your average gym.
So anyway, there’s my progress so far. A little over 17 pounds lost; about 25 pounds to go. I’m looking forward to reaching my goal.
Cheers!
* Those of you on Facebook know that I’m also involved in a “Biggest Loser” contest at work. The weights I listed in paragraph five don’t match with what I’ve posted from the contest. There’s two reasons for that. The first is simple: different scales. The second is that the weigh-ins I do at home are in the morning, pre-breakfast, and wearing not a lot of clothing. The weigh-ins at work are post-meal and fully-clothed. As a result, this adds about 5-7 pounds when I weigh in at work. So, my post-NECon weight at 228.1 pounds means that my “walking around” weight at that time was in the low 230s.
Because I’m a single guy, when I go to the supermarket I can usually get away with jumping in the “15 Items or Less” line. And I have to admit, while there’s a number of things that get under my skin rather quickly, I’m pretty tolerant of people who get into the zippier checkout line with a few more items than the stated limit. I’m good at, say, the limit plus five items or so. Even when it’s over that, I’ll usually just suck it up and deal.
Well, tonight I jumped into the fast line with a maybe six items while tinkering with my cell phone. When I looked up from what I was doing, I realized that the woman in front of me had a shopping cart loaded up with a week’s worth of groceries for a family of perhaps six to eight. The line behind me had already gotten pretty long and after some contemplation, I decided to point out her “mistake”.
I tapped the woman on the shoulder, she turned to look at me, and I pointed at the sign stating “15 Items of Less.” She looked at the sign, looked back at me, went completely blank and motionless, and blinked.
And blinked again.
And again…
And yet again…
After about twenty seconds of this, I said, “This isn’t Jurassic Park. I can still see you when you stop moving.”
Annoyed she responded, “Well, I don’t know what you want me to do.”
After waiting a moment to both think this through and give her a chance to stop being an ass, I replied, “Well, you’re in the ‘15-items-or-less’ line with a carriage that has enough food in it to feed a family in Somalia for over a year. Isn’t it obvious? I expect you to strip down and dance the cha-cha…”
Now she stared at me like I just stuffed an uncooked smelt up her nose.
“…OR you can do the courteous thing and wheel your carriage to the appropriate line. You know, like everyone else in the store. It’s up to you. You have options.”
She reacted poorly, but she did get out of the express line.
In a story that combines the ugly reality of many backyard breeding operations and the continuing problem with Pit Bull overpopulation, the City of New Bedford, MA, has seized 32 Pit Bulls from a single home (mostly puppies plus two pregnant females).
All of the animals were housed in filthy, inhumane conditions and were being bred for sale at a profit. The owners face multiple animal cruelty charges. The good news is that these animals will be evaluated and put up for adoption at Boston ARL.
The bad news is that the owners were busted for the same charges in 2007 with nine animals in there home. The sad truth is that very often even the stiffest of charges for animal cruelty rarely discourage backyard breeders from the lure of easy money.
Having volunteered and worked in shelters for several years, I know first hand that one of the top reasons for people giving up their much loved pets was the cost of care. This effect has been magnified by the current economic downturn as well as military deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan making it impossible for families at home to afford their pets.
