Archive for the ‘Internet’ Category
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
I’ve just returned from a high school debate with my daughter in which the topic was “That MySpace is a waste of space”.
Pros from the Teenage Users
1. An effective way of learning first hand from people from around the world.
2. A means of self expression
3. A way for people to become famous - self promotion for bands, designers, artists
4. A cheap way to set up online conversation
Cons from the Teenage Users
1. What should be private quickly and easily becoming public (e.g. parties)
2. Bullying finding a new insidious channel
3. Identity fraud - misrepresenatation or identity theft
4. Addiction leading to distortion of priorities, distracting from education, exercise and face-to-face communication
And More
The students didn’t cover the banality of MySpace conversation, bad design, the domination of the media by self promotion and commercial interest, and the trivialisation of friendship. There was no comparisons of MySpace with Facebook, Bebo or other social networking sites.
I found it ironic that 13 year olds are debating an internet phenomenon that, in theory, they have had no experience of. The minimum age for starting a MySpace page is 14. And yet it would seem, from talking to the students there, that many teenagers have had their own site well before their 14th birthday, just by lying about their age. By the time they reach the age of 14 they’re bored and have moved on. Or their parents have discovered their site…
Tags: MySpace
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Monday, March 10th, 2008
Straightfrommybrain.com, the brainchild of Stephen Wildish, has produced a hilarious take on Facebook for archetypal seniors. I wonder if this is what is in store for the present generation of Facebook addicts…
Applications
Photos from the War
Knitting Groups
Events and Funerals
Stanna Stairlift
Colostomy Bag
News Feed
George Summner is attending Edgar Jones’ funeral.
Gordon Norris joined the group I like to stop suddenly in the street.
3 of your friends just got poked with a walking stick. Poke back?
Edgar Jones has died… would you like to attend the funeral?
Victor Grantham has added the pipe and slippers application.
Constance Edwards joined the group I still pay my bills with cheques and old money.
Edgar Jones is not feeling too perky today. 
Faith Ogden wrote a note on that nice young man from the shop’s wall:
“Ooh thankyou dearie for popping over my tripe and porridge oats. I don’t know what I’d do without you, you see my children never call anymore and I’m practically a hermit.”
Charles Sunnington added the meals on wheel application.
Al Bridges and Cliff Richards are now friends.
Status Updates
Vera is complaining about modern music. Where’s the melody?
Stanley Goodwin is trying to keep warm this winter.
Edna Williams is annoyed about immigration.
Ted Stapleton is excited about his new cardigan.
Upcoming Events
Sitting at home watching Corrie with a cup of Earl Grey Tea.
Deaths
Saturday November 10
Bertie Coston
Sunday November 11
Gerald McTavish
Larger Copy at Straightfrommybrain.com
Tags: Facebook
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Sunday, February 3rd, 2008
I’ve been enjoying the revival of an interest in the game of Scrabble on Facebook, through the Scrabulous application. We have Scrabble at home here and enjoy the occasional boardless alternatives of ‘Take Two’, and 15 Speed Scrabble. (See Wikipedia for these and more). But it’s fun having a few games on the go at once, with family members and friends around the world.
Scrabulous was launched in July 2006 by Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, two entrepreneurs from Kolkata, India. The application took off when it was integrated into Facebook. Only problem is that Hasbro and Mattel, who own the rights to Scrabble in the US and elsewhere respectively, are now suing Facebook and the Agarwallas, claiming, quite rightly, that they have no legal right to use the board game settings and name in an online setting. Apparently there’s an online version of the game in the wings. In the meantime 600,000 Scrabulous Facebook users are enjoying what could be a temporary pleasure. Many, myself included, have joined Facebook groups campaigning to find a win win deal in which Hasbro, Mattel and the Scrabulous brothers can work together.
Here’s my best game so far, played with Julie Furner, a youth worker in New South Wales. Six of the first eight moves between us were words using all our tiles - scoring an extra 50 points per word. Solving anagrams in cryptic crosswords, something I do most nights before I go to sleep, has come in handy in this game.
Here’s a list of tips for scoring well in Scrabulous (and Scrabble)
1. Always check to see if you are able to use all your letters. If need be, use an online anagram solver to train up in the skill.
2. Make the best use of triple and double word scores, if possible putting high scoring letters on the pink and red squares. Triple and double letter scores aren’t too bad either.
3. Look for common ways to form words. Using S, ED, ING and ER can give you useful leads.
4. Get to know your two letter words. There’s a useful list provided in Scrabulous. There is some controversy in this field however. The official Scrabble dictionary, for example, lists ZO (Himalayan cross between a yak and a cow) while the Scrabulous dictionary has ZA (slang for pizza).
5. Place words in ways that form several other words, ideally using double and triple word and letter squares twice. (This is where the two letter words are so important).
Tags: Facebook
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