Facebook Fix

For those of you annoyed by Facebook's latest uninvited "improvement" -- i.e. the evil that is the News Feed versus the clutter that is the Live Feed, I'd like to share with you a way to fix it. Someone else posted this on one of the three or four protest groups which have popped up; his name is Russian (in Cyrillic font) so I really can't give the right credit here but he gets a big THANK YOU.

Basically, what you can do is step back to the way it was two "improvements" ago by making friends' status feeds your default view. Here's how:

1. Go to your main page. Probably it's set to News Feed or Live Feed.
2. Look to the left column, where your friend groups and apps are listed, click on "More"



3. Find Status Updates in the list and drag it to the very top. Now click on it to close the list and make it your default view.


And that's it! Now you don't have to choose between a jumbled list of postings and updates or an amalgamation of information overload. For now, at least.

Lazy weekend

Actually, that's not entirely true, but there wasn't much on the books.

We decided yesterday to go out to Langford for a trip to Costco and Glenwood Meats with a friend of ours. Unfortunately, we ran into trouble as people were lining the streets and rail line to get a glimpse of the Emperor and Empress of Japan as they travelled on the E&N -- at least that's what we think was going on; there were no signs and nothing on the news later for the kickoff to the Langford Summer Festival (thanks for the update, Hubby). So, after some delay (because Glenwood Meats was on the far side of the impromptu parade route), we did manage to get both stops done and also sneak in a trip to the evil Wal-Mart in search of lawn ornaments on clearance.

After that, I napped. A lot. I'm still not sleeping well (I think I need to hibernate through the heat... in a nice cool, damp cave somewhere) so I find I am napping almost daily.

Then I hung out with Kiddo, sorting and playing with LEGO, for the most part. We found two sets still in boxes that she'd never opened (that's how much LEGO she has!!). She did most of the small one last night (finishing the set -- a Star Wars Pit Droid -- this morning) and now is working on the larger set.

Today, I got some much needed yardwork done -- trimming, weeding, staking and repotting one tomato plant from the greenhouse. I am pleased that we are starting to get food from the garden -- more than just the odd bit of lettuce and clump of radishes. It is very satisfying, though I doubt this year the garden will pay for itself. Maybe if I can master year-round planting and harvesting...

On Facebook, I decided to buy an ad to get more fans for FrugalVictoria.com. Before the ad started, I thought I was doing well with 47 fans. Since the ad has been running (it finishes tonight), I've more than trippled that number to 144 fans and counting. (I'd be happy to share more details if anyone is interested in the mechanics and costs.) What it's done, though, is made me feel more obligated to keep the website fresh and interesting. I may have to do that for my Creative Miscellany page, too.

The Digital Class System

Apparently, there is one.

(I mean, aside from those able to afford regular/any computer access versus those who cannot.)

Social scientist Danah Boyd proposes that Facebook is the upper/upper-middle class counterpart to middle/lower class and marginalized Myspace.

I'm not sure I agree completely, but one thing is for sure: Facebook is the equivalent to a country-club or gated community -- you cannot even search others' profiles until you join. Myspace on the other hand is a garish strip mall, or maybe even a carnival complete with hucksters and garish lures. I don't like Myspace primarily because of its in-your-face crappy design ethic; it's as though the creators learned HTML back in 1997 and built in the capacity requirement for clashing text, ugly background tiles, and inflexible table widths.

Perhaps what is more telling is that libraries are embracing Facebook and are enhancing it to allow students to interact with library catalogs and library staff.
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