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Topic #174: Google recently released Google+, a new social network. Do you think you need another social network? Do you prefer real social networks (people you actually see regularly), or are you happy with the digital social networks you use? Or do you avoid them all on principle?

Even though I use (and like to use) the Internet frequently and take advantage of it to reach out to many people at once, I’m not a huge fan of interactive social networking. I used to be a heavy user of Facebook about four years ago, but I eventually got tired and annoyed of it; sure, you can use it to keep in touch with all your friends, but you also inevitably have to deal with the idiots that are on that website as well.

Then, a few years later, I switched over to Twitter and stopped using Facebook completely. Twitter allowed me to social network without worrying about other people annoying me. Sure, people could send me @replies, but none of those showed up in my timeline. When someone visited my profile page, they would only see stuff posted by me, not by anyone else (unlike my Facebook wall, which was filled with random stuff posted by my “friends”). This helped a lot with my obsessive-compulsive tendencies to keep everything formatted and organized perfectly.

A lot of people say that Facebook is a great way to share stuff you write and make (like blogs, photos, and videos), but I think it’s pointless to put them on Facebook when I have a website. My website is much easier to navigate than Facebook (at least I think so), the URLs are much simpler (they consist of words and numbers that make sense rather than randomly generated ID numbers), and it’s not shrouded in tons of other people’s content. Best of all, I get ad revenue for stuff I put on my website while I don’t get a single penny for anything I put on Facebook.

So now that we have the fact that I don’t like interactive social networking out of the way, am I excited for Google+? I’m definitely going to try it out like I did with Google Buzz and Google Wave, but I’m not sure if it’s going to catch on. It’s helpful that it’s made by Google and will most likely be integrated with the stuff I use everyday – if it’s right there, there’s a higher chance that I’ll use it than if I have to go to a different website. Another huge factor is how many people will end up using it – if not enough of my friends and followers get on it within the first handful of months that it’s open to the public, I’ll most likely get bored of it.

So back to the question – do we need another social network? No, I don’t think so, but if it’s able to bring something completely new and revolutionary into social networking (which I’m pretty sure Google will eventually be able to do), then yes, I think it’s worth creating. Similar to how MySpace is dying off, if Google manages to make a social network as revolutionary as Facebook was compared to MySpace, it’s very possible that Facebook could face the fate MySpace is facing now.

I’m fine with both real and digital social networks, but interacting via digital social networks tends to save more time and require less effort. I email and instant message a lot, and the number of people I’m able to communicate with is much greater than what is realistically possible in real life.

Quote of the Day

Ed Lam wanted to know where bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad-cow disease) came from, so he asked:

“Where did mad disease cow from?”

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Topic #173: Do you prefer the aisle or window when traveling? Why?

When I’m on an airplane, I prefer sitting next to the aisle rather than the window.

I’m not really a fan of sunlight, so if I were to sit next to the window, I would have the cover closed any­way.

I also tend to get airsick quickly and frequently, so sitting in the aisle would help me reach the bathroom in time to vomit in the toilet and not make a mess all over the airplane. Yes, I realize that there are disposable vomit bags available to use, but I don’t really like the idea of throwing up in one and holding onto a bag containing my vomit until I get an opportunity to dispose of it.

It also lets me go to the bathroom for non-vomiting purposes, both to use the toilet and to give myself something to do to pass the time. Yes, I randomly walk up and down the aisle when I’m bored on an airplane.

Tip of the Day

If you’re writing something and you feel something prickly in your ear, put down your pen immediately and find out what’s wrong.

If you don’t and you instead choose to finish your sentence, you will soon notice that the prick was actually a mosquito, and that you now have a mosquito bite in your ear.

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Topic #171: Do you believe in free-will? Can you prove what you believe?

I believe in free will because I believe that everything that I choose to do is based off of my choice. But I think it’s impossible to prove that what I believe is true.

Someone who believes in fate more than free will could just as easily argue that we made our choices not because we chose to, but because fate made it happen.

I think this is a pointless topic to argue about because there’s no strong evidence supporting either side of the argument.

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Topic #169: If given the choice, are you the kind of person who takes the red pill, or the blue pill? Why? When do you willfully do the opposite?

I looked up the red pill and blue pill conflict on Wikipedia and found two very different definitions for what each pill does.

In the introduction and core summary section of the article, it states that the blue pill represents the “blissful ignorance of illusion” and the red pill represents the “sometimes painful truth of reality.” If that was the case, I would always take the red pill; regardless of how hard or painful something might be, I always like to get a real­istic overview of what I’m facing so I have an opportunity to better adjust myself to the potential threats.

However, in the image caption, it shows Morpheus’ quotation: “You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.” This implies that if I take the red pill, I will not be facing reality, but instead be taking deeper into an illusion or hallucination. In that case, I would probably take the blue pill so I can return back to normal.

My misunderstanding of this concept might be because I watched the Matrix movies a very long time ago and barely have any recollection of what they were about. But based on the information I am provided, my choice depends on the situational effect of each pill.

I think the only reason I would ever voluntarily choose the blue pill over the red pill is if I was already in extreme duress, and my body and soul became too weak to be able to properly face reality. In that case, when I’m at the point where all or almost all hope is lost and I have nothing to gain by knowing the truth, I would go with the blue pill to find relaxation and comfort.