I reserve the right to reverse this at literally any moment, but: I’m going to stay off Tumblr for a while and experiment with ‘blogging’ on my Facebook page. Public-relevant posts will be, well, public, so feel free to click and hit the ‘Follow’ button to subscribe.
Whether or not I stick with this, some sort of post about my thinking and experiences is forthcoming.
Possibly not the level of detail:
The researchers found, for example, that “Likes” for Austin, Texas; “Big Momma” movies; and the statement “Relationships Should Be Between Two People Not the Whole Universe” were among a set of 10 choices that, combined, predicted drug use.
Wait, what?
Meanwhile, “Likes” for swimming, chocolate-chip cookie-dough ice cream and “Sliding On Floors with Your Socks On” were part of a pattern predicting that a person didn’t use drugs.
So much for the stoner Ben & Jerry’s cliche.
Growing up, we typically weren’t picked first for sports, but were first on the Quake II server. Few people really understood our peculiar hobbies or how amazing it was to see “Hello, world” for the first time. Plenty of us got used to being ignored. Many of us were bullied. But what did we learn from it — empathy or hate?
We need to know the answer, because suddenly we are the cool kids. They’re making movies about us. We’re “rock stars.” Holy shit, the rest of the world is finally realizing how awesome we are. The geek has inherited the earth. And now that we’re the powerful ones, we need to remember: with great power comes great responsibility. It’s irresponsible to continue to act as though we are victims.
What happens to the meek after they inherit the earth?
Although I doubt it. Joshua Rothman in the New Yorker:
In announcing the closure of Reader, Google said that usage has been declining, and I can see why. Reader was made for absurdly ambitious readers. It’s designed for people like me—or, rather, for people like the person I used to be—that is, for people who really do intend to read everything. You might feel great when you reach Inbox Zero, but, believe me, it feels even better to reach Reader Zero: to scroll and scan until you’ve seen it all. Twitter, which has replaced Reader (and R.S.S.) for many people, works on a different principle. It’s not organized or completist. There are no illusions with Twitter. You can’t pretend, by “marking it read,” that you’ve read it all; you don’t think you’re going to cram “the world of ideas” into your Twitter stream. At the same time, you’re going to be surprised, provoked, informed. It’s a better model.
They bloody better be: I’ve been chuffing on my new one pretty enthusiastically.
Actually, the FDA tried to provide a definitive answer in late 2009, when it tested 18 varieties of e-cigarette cartridges from a pair of manufacturers, NJoy and Smoking Everywhere. The study produced mixed results: it found TSNA carcinogens (cancer-causing particles) in five of the cartridges, and traces of diethylene glycol — a highly toxic substance — in one cartridge produced by Smoking Everywhere. Other substances that are thought to be linked to cancer were found in 13 of the cartridges, with only Smoking Everywhere’s “no nicotine” cartridges getting a complete pass…
An advocacy group called the “Consumer Advocates for Smoke-Free Alternatives Association” (CASAA) … calls the FDA’s original study “misleading,” noting that the FDA stated that e-cigarettes contain carcinogens “without bothering to mention that FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapy products contain equivalent quantities.” It claims that a gram of the liquid found inside e-cigarettes contains the equivalent carcinogens of a nicotine patch, and less than one percent of those found in a full-flavor Marlboro cigarette.
Because sometimes,
140 characters isn't enough.
(Quite often, actually.)
