random hipster off the internet

@BarronHilton: I feel like looking like a junkie is a basic requirement for working at American Apparel (THEY PROBABLY ARE JUNKIES DUDE.)

@agentrh84: What the fuck is wrong with hipsters, its negative degree weather but they still want to look awesome with their tiny jackets ///YA WELL THEY PROBABLY GET LAID MORE THAN YOU///

@djillo: MJ Cole has always been a favorite of mine and has BEEN a legend. Long before the hipsters started to embrace him. Got the vinyl to prove it ///UM, SO PROVING YOU KNOW MORE ABOUT HIPSTER MUSIC MAKES YOU A HIPSTER, JSYK DUDE.)///

@jonaxell: Man, hipsters are getting scarier. ///THEY’RE WERE EVER SCARY???///

@Baiana25: RT @Iankamau less hipsters more humility. ///DOES THIS SELF RIGHTEOUS TWEET MAKE YOU HUMBLE??///

@TwasBrillig: Does the man not realize that there are so many hipsters here that we could probably have a major called ”Ironic Studies”? ///BADOOM BOOM *crash*///

@AllyssiaAlleyne: @cbcradio3 Hipsters will be kicking themselves in 10 years after they’ve jumped onto the next trend. I hope they fall of their Schwinns.///AND WE HOPE YOU HAVE FUN AS A BITTER OLD SINGLE WOMAN LIVING WITH HER CATS. AMEN///

@buffdrinklots: and we threw this really huge party filled with hipsters who kept saying “ironic” stuff that didn’t make much sense and at some point one of the hipsters started eating some kid’s rat and the kid was sort of upset but not really///NO COMMENTARY NEEDED!!//

@koraimatores: let’s face it hipsters, the time of the skinny jeans is out.///NO IT’S NOT YOU JUST GOT CURVY///

@BeesKneesFilms: Screw hipsters, Im better than them. In a coffee shop, drinking black tea, ignoring everyone, listening to Beethoven. Wearing a silly hat.///NO YOU’RE JUST WEARING A SILLY HAT BY YOURSELF IN A SOCIAL SETTING. YAY!///

banner at the top of Wikipedia.org

The Wikipedia developer community is notorious for being tightly knit and insanely critical of the articles posted to their site, which is probably why they can’t pay the mother f*ckin bills. To make money sometimes you have to compromise a little bit with the dudes shilling out the big bucks, something they don’t seem very willing to accept.

They also seem  unwilling to hire a marketing team that could figure out how to turn their insanely high traffic site into something that produces cash. Why? Probably because they’re too busy talking about how stupid everyone else is and how much they care about preserving “the people’s” free access to the annals of information on wikipedia.org, which by the way won’t be accessible to anyone, for free, if they’re not able to sustain their business model, which they obviously aren’t.

Of course I hope Wikipedia is able to make enough money to keep their servers running. But am I going to donate to them?

NO. Because a site that big should not have me donating money to keep them alive. Donating to Wikipedia would be like me donating money to Facebook. Like Wikipedia, Facebook has become an integral part of global society and imperative to informed and educated communication, however you don’t see Facebook asking for bucks from you. Nope, you sure don’t. I think Wikipedia has the capability of being just as innovative and creative with the way they monetize their business, all while maintaining their exclusive moral high ground.

I dare you to take the challenge Wikipedia:  Make money while maintaining exclusive moral high ground. Do it. Ready. Set. GO.

For most people Christmas means having less time to do these sorts of things. I’m spending Christmas away from my family this year for the first time ever, and while I get a little more sentimental about the fact as each passing day brings us closer to the holiday, I still find myself enjoying the peace of mind that comes with knowing that while everyone else is waiting for delayed flights due to packed flights and awful weather, I’ll be mingling with the other Christmas orphans that stick around alone during the holidays, with little to no responsibilities.

Responsibility has been something I’ve shirked for almost my entire adult life. But one day, about two years ago, I had a conversation with my uncle and he said “Veronica, life isn’t fair. Fair is how you treat other people.”

Somehow this statement stuck with me and carried far greater implications about the impact that I was having not only on those around me, but society at large. What was I doing with my time? Was I moving toward any goals aimed at the greater good of anyone, including myself? The answer to those questions was nothing, and no which moved me to change the way that I lived my life entirely. Since then whenever I’m at a crossroads, unsure which decision to make or course of action to follow through with, I pause and take a moment to consider how my actions will affect others and whether or not I can do something a little extra to make someone else’s life a little bit easier.

This holiday season I will do my best to be present for those around me and participate in life because at the end of the day what else does humanity exist for but being there and interacting with others?

1. Make it easier to find out who is following you. Trying to figure out who someone is based on their username and avatar are not enough. I want to know who is following me so I can figure out whether or not I need (yes, need) to follow them back. They could do this by requiring first and last name in the registration flow. I doubt that this would inhibit registration by a detrimental amount and it would help people identify spam.
2. Make it easier to find out whether or not a person is following you already. I get @replies sometimes and I’d like there to be an easy way to find out whether or not they’re following me back. Yes, there are apps that do this, but why doesn’t twitter offer this feature? Honestly it seems simple enough
3. Okay, this one isn’t a feature request, just a question:  Why isn’t twitter coming out with more releases? The application is ridiculously simple, why can’t they release more features that third-party applications already offer to improve user experience? Is real-time search taking up that much of their time?
4. I want the option to get @replies sent to my phone, even if I don’t A) get that person’s updates on my phones, or B) follow them. There are some people I love a lot, but who tweet too much for me to enjoy getting all their updates sent to my phone. It would be nice in this case if I could get their @replies via text so that I can graciously respond when they’re asking me specifically to listen.
5. I want a notification when someone unfollows me. I want to know who unfollowed me and when. Why would be nice too, but I suppose that would be pretty difficult to automate. Seriously though, this is Twitter not Facebook – it’s used to 1) market and 2) share information (as opposed to connect with friends) – and I’d like to have visibility into how what I’m saying affects people. Again, yes there are apps that do this but why doesn’t Twitter just integrate it in their email notifications?

facebook circles trick

THE FACEBOOK TRICK: press up,up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Enter key, then right click, then press up and down and magic circles will appear. the only way to get rid of them are to log off or refresh the page…

But if you just tried it you know it IS real. Were you surprised it actually worked?

Twitter Trends and News 12 Nov 200

I’m really interested in an app that would pinpoint where these twitter memes start and view a map of the spread to see exactly which tweeters are pushing this stuff forward. It has to be similar to digg, where a few power users control most of what’s popular on the top 10 twitter trend list. If it’s not like that yet, I’m sure it will be before long.

Today’s top 2 memes are just for kicks, and demonstrate what people like to do on Twitter – talk about nothing. The more interesting news settles just below. It will be interesting to see how Twitter culture morphs as time goes on. I anticipate these memes disappearing and more breaking news making its way toward the top as Twitter continues its global growth.

1. #donttrytoholla – Don’t try to holla at me if you’re (fill in the blank).


Twitter Trends #donttrytoholla

2. #wecoolandallbut – this one actually started getting play last night. I was surprised to see it still at the top of the list today.


Twitter Trend #wecoolandallbut

3. #rememberdecember – Demi Lovato is getting ready to release a music video for her hit single “Remember December.” It’s very popular in spanish speaking communities. The video is being relased tomorrow, but you can view a sneak peek here.
4. Google Wave – more requests for invites, comments about how long it takes to receive an invite after it has been sent and reviews.
5. Carrie Prejean – SO. First, read this Gawker post. Wow, right? We all remember when Carrie Prejean told Perez Hilton (one of the gayest men we know) on national TV that gay marriage is not cool, I’m sure. She’s in the spotlight again, after her interview with Larry King. Crazy! Is she stupid or what? Why on earth would you act like a 4 year old brat on national TV, on Larry King no less!

6. Modern Warfare 2 – yeah, gamers are still super stoked about the game. Addiction levels running high on this one. Wonder how many days it’ll keep up. It’s slowly sinking down the trends list. Automatic updates from gaming site raptr.com helping propel buzz about the game.
7. New Moon – Twilight Saga “New Moon” creating quite the stir as the cast gets loads of media play as they travel around the world on their press tour.
8. Lou Dobbs – notorious CNN anchor renownked for his right-wing views, especially on the subject of immigration leaves CNN supposedly to work on projects with a broader more far reaching agenda. He is being replaced by John King who currently hosts State of the Union on CNN.
9. MW2 – lot of posts about some bugs with sharing and patches not working correctly for the newly released Modern Warfare 2.
10. #openwebawards – Mashable announces the open web awards nominations. They will remain open until 11:59pm ET on Sunday. I’m surprised this is only #10 on the list this morning.

Huffington Post Makes Balloon Boy Most Important News Item

Then when you click on the link it takes you to a full page spread dedicated to the Balloon Boy because “Some news is so big it needs its own page,” and according to the Huffington Post this is one of those news items.

Balloon Boy on the Huffington Post "Because some news is so big it needs its own page"

Come on now, really? Isn’t this exactly what the family wanted when they concocted the hoax in the first place? And media is playing right into it. The story would long be forgotten if we would just leave it alone, but it obviously generates interest and page views. Why else would the story continue to be featured so prominently?

Proves again that the American public doesn’t stop to think about what information they’re digesting, they just digest it. Gossip sells, even in mainstream publications with an emphasis on current events.

However, this page does set a precedent for where the news online is headed. Full pages dedicated to stories and continued updates of these stories as they pass through our history. The Balloon Boy spread contains loads of videos from the family before the balloon incident when they were on reality tv show “wife swap”, media content that recorded during the incident (audio tapes of the 911 call) and interviews and content generated after the incident. It even highlights related content that features balloon boy inspired dramas, costume ideas and more.

This is truly a peak in the way the world communicates online. You want a story, you can now find an archive of information without having to sort through article after article on google search. This is soon going to be the standard for all news reporting online.

Twitter Trends & News 11 Nov 2009

1. #celebrityperfumes – snarky statements that make funny perfume names linked to the celebrity who would create them.


Twitter Trend #celebrityperfumes - Kanye Interrupted

2. Happy Veterans Day – It’s Veteran’s Day today! If you know someone who served in the armed services maybe you should give them a call and see how they’re doing today. Before World War I America celebrated Armistice Day after the great “war to end all wars” but had to change that after we got in another big war.. and then another… and a few after that as well.
3. Google Wave – the hype is still going, but the reality might not keep up.
4. #VeteransDay – repeat of number 2 on today’s Twitter Trends.
5. Remembrance Day – and more shout outs to veterans
6. #bestfeeling – tweeters share about what makes them feel the best. This guy’s #bestfeeling is “waking up to a morning beej.” When did “beej” become shorthand for blowjob??


Twitter Trend #bestfeeling - Where did this dude come up with "beej" as shorthand for blowjob?

7. Modern Warfare 2 – Video game enthusiasts everywhere talking about the video game (and how much they’re playing it) after yesterday’s midnight release. Watch this video to see what all they hype’s about.
8. MW2 – Modern Warfare 2 , shorthand excitement.
9. Vets – Wow. Veteran’s Day took 4/10 Twitter Trend spots this morning. I guess no one can say that America doesn’t care, it’s just a matter of turning tweets into some sort of measurable action. You know what they say about Faith without works…
10. Bad Romance – Lady Gaga’s hit single “Bad Romance” music video is released. Watch the video and read a thorough review here. The video is pretty sick, go watch it. I can see what all the fuss is about.

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Twitter Trends & News 09 Nov 2009#musicmonda

1. #musicmonday – as always, post your favorite song recommendations and share with the twitterverse!
2. #mm – shortened #musicmonday hashtag – wow!
3. #worldsthinnestbooks – funny satire about oxymorons.


Twitter Trends #worldsthinnestbooks

4. Berlin Wall - 20th anniversary of Berlin’s wall coming down. Check out this blog post that provides some awesome historical information in the form of photos and timelines.
5. Modern Warfare 2 – Much anticipated video game. Check out this list to see if your city has a BlockBuster that’s throwing a midnight release party!
6. Google Wave – creating quite the wave on twitter, hehe. Witty, no?   And this image describes my sentiments exactly.


Twitter Trends Google Wave

7. Bad Romance – Lady Gaga’s song “Bad Romance” video scheduled to be released today has been postponed until tomorrow.
8. MW2 – again, the game, Modern Warfare 2. It will be interesting to look back at these posts and find what the most common twitter memes are.
9. #GoodTimes – another “just for the fun of it” trends, this one highlights memories, often tied to pop culture, that would make most people smile and nod in understanding.
10. Katt Williams – According to Perez Hilton (don’t chide me for referencing Perez, he has good sources) Katt Williams takes a 17 year old hostage.

Sex in China

Slate reports that in China folks do not know how to have sex without getting pregnant, and shares a story about a couple who after researching how to use a condom couldn’t figure out how to do the deed after.

This could be a sign of our ever failing global society. Have we really developed that much beyond our animal instinct that we don’t know how to fuck anymore? Just imagine a world where everyone forgot how to have sex. I think that that is the definition of hell on earth.

This is why it’s important to communicate, especially with the children of our society. Kids should know about how to breed and, alternatively, keep from breeding.