Gloom gloom gloom

[altivo]

I could get into a real thunderstorm, but this dark sky drip drip drip is getting real old.

Brought the horses in because they were all soggy and looking miserable, though I have to say they were suddenly more interested in food than in getting dried off. Would be nice if more of the garden seeds were already in, but a week ago it was still freezing at night.

Gary spotted a red headed woodpecker in the yard today, and we both saw the first rose breasted grosbeak. First season male, I think, as his pink breast was pale and spotty, and he looked a bit confused as to what he was doing out there in the drippy weather.

A week or so ago, someone recommended me to "mr. tweet" which is some sort of twitter advisory thing. I have to admit, though, that I've never quite figured out the point of twitter or its huge popularity. I've been on it for 18 months and would rate the traffic I see there (other than direct conversation) as little more than spam. People circulating youtube links don't excite me. Neither does political commentary in 140 characters or less. In my opinion, reducing the world to sound bites is what has put us in the terrible economic and political situations we now face.

Then there's the genuine spam aspect of it. "Users" that are obviously spambots, that go around adding hundreds and hundreds of accounts in the hope of being added back so they can flood them with ads for phony pharmaceuticals or get rich quick schemes.

*distant thunder* Maybe time to pull the plug on this thing...

Comments

[ducktapeddonkey.livejournal.com]

We had a pretty wild storm here. Really strong winds for a little while. Ripped a chunk of roof flashing off. Fortunately we found the piece before it got too far away.

There were tornado and hail warnings north of here. But we didn't see any of that here.

My BBQ is a little damp tonight. But it's still warm, so I don't care if it's still drizzly.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

All the warnings have been well to the north or south of us. We've heard some distant thunder once or twice and that's been it.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

The best use I've seen for Twitter is as a backup comm. channel for a site to be able to say, "Yes, we know it's down. We're working on it." and give periodic updates. Beyond that it's generally pretty silly overall.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, sort of like CB radio. It has (or had) legitimately useful functionality, but was taken over by the people playing "where's smokey?" and similar games until it became unusable for the original purposes.

I tend to treat it mostly like an IM system, one that lets you see other people's conversations and join in if you feel like it. After all, if they don't want to be seen, they can go private either over twitter itself or some other medium. So it's sort of like being at a cocktail party or something...

[soanos.livejournal.com]

I prefer LJ, IRC and the IM platforms. Much more space to write. And it is not just random, unlinked bits of "I like cheese!" oneliners.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

You can, of course, take the 140 character limit as a challenge. Ben Goodridge has been writing one line short stories that are amusing and thought provoking. Or you could write poetry. Haiku anyone?

Generally I ignore the ones that are just posting internet links or repeating what someone else said.

[soanos.livejournal.com]

That is the problem with twitter, when people think someone said something clever. It will start going around in loops.

I wonder if it was possible to get everyone say "It's over... NINE THOUSAAAAAAAND!" or something stupid like that. :-D

[altivo.livejournal.com]

"Why a spoon?"

[soanos.livejournal.com]

Or something like that. :P

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I almost said "Where's the beef?" but figured that one is too old for anyone to get it now.

[soanos.livejournal.com]

I suspected it has something to do with food. And I googled it up and seems it is a reference to an advert of a fast food place. I am afraid a lot of kids these days would mix it up with the World of WankCrap jokes available for the Tauren character race.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, a very stupid and irritating ad slogan that ran for much too long. Even though I wasn't watching commercial television by then, I got really tired of it.

"Why a spoon?" is a spin off from one of the Robin Hood films, I think it was Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, where the Sheriff of Nottingham threatens to cut his brother's heart out with a spoon. The answer is "Because it's dull and it hurts more." Eew.

Like most such pop culture things, it was being uttered constantly for a while, and printed on t-shirts and buttons. Then it died. After that came "There are no spoons" from a different film (The Matrix maybe?) and then no one remembered the meaning of "Why a spoon?"

Ah, pop culture, so ephemeral and fleeting.

[soanos.livejournal.com]

"There is no spoon" to be exact. But then again, depends on the dish that is being served. :)

Reminds me about this joke about a kid who is sitting at the breakfast table whilst the mother is washing up the dishes.

Kid: I can't eat this!
Mother: Don't be silly, of course you can. You have had it before and you told me yeaterday you like it. (Still doing the washing up)
Kid: But I still can't eat this!
Mother: Well, Dad won't be pleased when he comes home from work when he hears you didn't eat your breakfast! (slightly annoyed, but finishing up washing up)
Kid: But I can't eat this!
Mother: What is the matter hun? Are you okay? (drying her hands on a towel)
Kid: There is no spoon!
Mother: Oh.

Yes, po(o)p culture is moving a bit too fast to my liking too.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I don't care if it moves quickly, I just wish people had memories longer than what a mosquito has.

[soanos.livejournal.com]

Mosquitos have memory? o.O

[altivo.livejournal.com]

IRC and IM are more immediate though, with people growing impatient if you aren't right there all the time to answer. LJ is best for long coherent thoughts, in my opinion.

Twitter has potential, but I'm afraid it will never live up to the possibilities. It seems doomed to become a pop culture garbage dump.

[soanos.livejournal.com]

Indeed. I am afraid it will be buried under "now playing" and "lol look at this pic" postings.

I like LJ, and I use IRC a lot, because for me, IRC is the most realtime conversation you can have with several people simultaneously.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

IRC is good when you have time. Like the cell phone, though, it becomes a major distraction and attention demander. MUSH and MUCK are similar in that respect.

[soanos.livejournal.com]

Currently, I have nothing BUT time. :\
For now, I find the distraction welcome because it keeps my mind off unpleasant things.
I haven't been on MUCKs for a long time now, maybe it is time to revisit them and turn myself to PG-rated... :D

[cozycabbage.livejournal.com]

Twitter is a great communication tool for mobile users.
However, it seems most people aren't mobile (I would never use it in a regular browser), and 'communication' to them means something about movies and videos.

I don't have a twitter, because I don't have a mobile device. Maybe if I get a netbook.
Also, the only things going on that are bloggish thoughts throughout the day, rather than communication WITH people.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Actually, no. It depends on how you use it. According to "mr. tweet" it seems that in my case 93% of my activity is conversational. In other words, I am carrying on a direct exchange with one or more other users, rather than broadcasting a commentary on a movie or television program.

However, it's also apparent that a large faction does not consider this to be a significant use for the thing. Instead they use it as a "mini-blog" to spout off one line comments on whatever irritates them throughout the day. There also seems to be some sort of competition over who can acquire the largest number of "followers" to the point that analysis and advisory systems like "mr. tweet" have sprung up to tell you what to do in order to increase your following.

In my case, they always tell me to "post more links." Sorry, not happening. I hate that sort of traffic and I'm not about to multiply it.

[soanos.livejournal.com]

I am not familiar with Twitter. From what I have seen, to me it seems prople are just spamming random gibberish most of the time and are posting stuff for the sake of posting? That can be irritating. "Omg lol watch this video (linky to something video-y)!"

Um... No thanks. :P

I prefer having a full-blown blog.

And what does the amount of "followers" give people, other than feeling of being "famous"? I guess too many people are obsessed with being "popular" these days.

And people who say "post moar links!" are more than likely to be bored to tears and are asking you to entertain them. Sorry, no, I am not online for their entertainment. And internet conversations and blogs are a mutual thing to me, give something and get something in return. :)

Thank you for being a good friend. *nuzzles and snuggles*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Of course a lot of the bloggers also measure their success in terms of the number of readers or subscribers they have. A few have developed a really inflated sense of their own importance as a result.

I don't let twitter run to my cell phone. That would drive me batty even though I only follow about 25 people. I've been using "TwitterFox" which is a plug-in for Firefox. It accumulates the messages and lets you view and respond when you have time.

[soanos.livejournal.com]

Hehe, I don't measure any success really. I just like making friends online. :)

I wouldn't use Twitter on cell phone either. Eventually, the phone would beep every 2 seconds, and the topics would be "You had your nipple pierced? eew, that's just so gross" and "now playing: karameldansen".

I hope you will stay more on LJ tho. Much better platform for discussion, too :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I have no intention of giving up the LJ form of communication, though I may become sufficiently displeased with LJ itself to move to a different site. I have Dreamwidth, IJ, and Blogger as well.

[soanos.livejournal.com]

Awww... If you do, please let me know too :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'd tell folks. Actually, I've been posting to Dreamwidth all week. They have a nice feature that lets you double post to another LJ-based site at the same time, so I've let them copy my posts to LJ automatically.

On Thursday night they are supposedly going to start letting beta testers send invitations to folks who want to sign up for free accounts. Even without an invitation, it will be possible to sign up for a paid account (prices similar to LJ.)

[soanos.livejournal.com]

Oooh. One free account invitation please, when the invitations become available :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'll add you to my list. Should be no problem.

[soanos.livejournal.com]

V much appreciated ^^

[nekura-ca.livejournal.com]

There was an impressive storm here today. In ten minutes it went from calm, clear skies to almost black with 100mph gusts and heavy down pours. Ten minutes later is was just gray and drizzle.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

It's fun when they go by so quickly. Right now there's some sort of frontal boundary a few miles north of us. We hear the thunder and see the lightning, but are only getting splatters. On the radar it appears to be travelling west to east along that line and will continue to miss us. There was lots of rain overnight though, just no thunder.

[goldenstallion.livejournal.com]

@whinnyhi.org

No interest in Twitter or anything cell phony. Bear has a new one I think I Pod but I refuse to ever use a cell phone while driving and it irritates me to get a call at work, although most of my co-workers are on the phone several times during paid working hours every day. Seems interesting since, in the past, companies I have worked for had a very strong NO PERSONAL PHONE CALLS IN OR OUT during your paid, on clock, working hours and I think that is a right policy myself. But that was before cell phones so who knows these days.

I have had too many close encounters with distracted drivers and most of my foreign friends tell me it is illegal to be on a cell phone in their Countries. Gee.

Myth Busters TV show found out that using a cell phone while driving is actually worse than being drunk while driving. Gee again.

End rant.

Imp

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I use twitter over the web browser with a plug-in module for Firefox. I never let it go to the cell phone. I get charged for each text message I receive, and even at a nickel or a dime apiece, that would add up in a hurry if it were drivel from twitter. In the browser the messages just pile up until I get around to looking at them.

I agree about cell phones and driving, it seems to lead to the worst possible distraction and dangerous behavior and I refuse to answer or use mine while in motion. The same would be true on a factory floor or any other place where your attention needs to be on what is happening around you.

Phone calls at work really depends on the nature of the work. Where your work depends on a sequential coordinated effort, like an assembly line for instance, a phone call is clearly a major disruption. The same where you have to be ready to respond instantly to things that happen at random. For those of us who schedule our own processes though and mostly work at a desk, it can be more flexible. I'm not a big telephone user, period, so it doesn't matter much one way or another to me, but most libraries I've worked in have been pretty lenient about personal calls even if they are outgoing.

Some places are very strict about internet usage too. Fortunately, my work depends on internet access now, so I don't have to deal with that sort of restriction.

[soanos.livejournal.com]

Well, I have nothing against personal phonecalls at work, as long as it can be done on a break or something similar and doesn't disrupt the work. If it is important then it is best to taken care of instead of having it on your mind all the time, which can be distracting too. It really depends on the situation. But in my opinion, if it is important, ask for permission first and then take care of it quickly. But usually, you should not call people for trivial things like "Which movie would you like to see tonight?".

Driving... Well, hands-free is always available, but it is not much better than that. It still distracts you from driving. So I'd recommend against it, too, handsfree or not.

And yes, it is illegal to speak to a mobile phone whilst driving in Finland, too. Unless you use a handsfree.