While I was out for tea this last weekend, a friend of mine asked me if I had a Friendster account. Ah Friendster, the poor predecessor of Myspace and Facebook that got left in the dust. The site boasts of having “over 50 million profiles,” which is not much compared to Tom on Myspace’s 203 million friends. No offense to Tom, but not even everyone is his friend [some people choose to delete him…I’ve been nice and kept the fellow Cal alum]. After opening their doors to every Tom, Dick and Harry on the planet, I am sure that Facebook has a sizable community as well. For some reason, I think that Friendster might be doing okay overseas, but is really tanking in the States. Even their dorky Jansport backpack backgrounds can’t save them now.
Why all the bitter blood over Friendster, you ask? Well here’s a little story on my recent user experience. I logged on after approximately 3 months to add my aforementioned chai-going pal. I had a number of changes to make as I realized that most of my pictures were outdated, my favorite tastes had changed, and my “about me” section sounded uber-dorky. I also saw that they had swiped the personalized URL idea from Myspace, and the “It’s complicated” relationship status from Facebook. Way to go, wannabe copycats. I submitted my fancy URL like 4 times, and it kept leading back to my old page without the modifications.
After that, I decided to edit the text and photos. After making my grand total of photos on the site a lucky number 13, I was told that I could post 980+ more photos of myself. Do the internets really need like 1,000 pictures of me being a total dumbass? I think not, thus making this an unnecessary feature. Revising the photos and amending the text took several attempts, despite the “changes successful” message that I received after every update. In addition, I checked out their media section with videos from You Tube, and presumably, music. I eventually gave up because of the lack of direction on how to insert a different video on the profile page, or embed a music player. The only item that was really easy to update was the new “Featured friends” section. Think of it as the “Top 8″ on Myspace, but a tad less seamless. Finally, I tried to alter the background to something more me, which for some reason didn’t stick. Most likely because it was an indirect message–Friendster is so NOT me anymore.
What’s up? I’ve been feel really out of sorts really. Almost like I am leading a weird double life, but not for a cool reason [like a secret agent or something]. At least I am kinda worn out like it. Ugh.
Anyway, I wrote an impromptu poem tonight and I thought I would share it with y’all. I guess the best way to describe my mood is as this; many factions of my life are right where I want them, whereas other parts just are so far from what I expected. I guess that is all part of being in your early 20s, but I am having one of those times where I am not enjoying it. With my new job starting on Monday, I really feel like this is the next chapter in my life. I just wish the other departments could catch up. In any case, here it is as an abstract. Enjoy!:
I am a huge Star Wars fan, and enjoy Family Guy. This past Sunday, I happened to catch the hour-long Family Guy dedicated to Star Wars. Seeing the worlds of two of my faves meld together was a wonderful experience.
Not that I encourage pirated videos, but if you get on to You Tube fast enough, you can watch the entire episode [In parts, of course]. Check ‘em out quick because you know how those big networks love to hastily yank their content off the internets.
Mmm Jabba Griffin likey Princess L!
Who knew Louis would be such a great Princess Leia or Peter, a natural Han Solo? With the original musical score, and real film footage, I give this episode an A+. Way to go, Family Guy!
Posted on September 25th, 2007 by neha | 5 Comments »
This time next week I will be sitting at a desk in my spankin’ new cube, on my work computer at Revision 3. Excuse me for a moment while I totally freak out!
Although I am very excited, I am starting to have some of the first day jitters. It’s a comfort already knowing most of the people I will be working with, but I am all grown-up now. Allow me to explain; the last time I ever worked with these folks I was a naive 19 year old intern. Now, I’ll be a full-fledged producer. I know I have the skills and I can’t say how psyched I am to be working with such talented people–from Patrick Norton, Jess Corbin, Prager and Sarah Lane–that’s what I call and all-star company!
I just hope that I can deliver. Even when I went into my job at CNET, I felt a little anxious. I was a college kid then, and it was my first real gig so that was in some sense justified. I’m not nearly as nervous this time around, but there is still stuff to do. Little things like getting used to the commute, finding out where to eat lunch, and getting my sleep schedule back on track. I’m guessing my usual 12 hours of sleep is going to be cut into—significantly. At CNET, I was lucky to get like 6 hours, if that. Basically, moving my life to what it was before I took my 2 month hiatus in one week. A daunting task, but so necessary.
I am looking forward to working again. I feel that I am one of the lucky people, meaning that I actually love what I do and find it to be exhilarating. Getting into the swing of working, rejoining the web 2.0 happy hour circuit…man I can’t wait! But, I still have cold feet and one week to warm them up. Here I go…
Posted on September 24th, 2007 by neha | 7 Comments »
This week, the emoticon turned 25, which is kind of bizarre to me. I mean, Professor Fahlman, are you trying to tell me that the horizontal smiley face is older than the Apple Lisa, the original Windows OS, and the person writing this blog?
In any case, it’s interesting to think about how emoticons have changed the way we communicate online. Without a “smiley” at the end of some of my chat dialogs, I would come across as a real B, I’m sure. Plus where would online sarcasm be without a little *wink* ;) here and there? Emoticons truly represent us when our facial expressions cannot online. I don’t think there will ever be a replacement to person-to-person contact, but these little guys aide the possibility.
It’s also pretty amazing to see how many emoticons there are available in most chat clients. I use Trillian, and there are like hundreds of them, some not even being in smiley form. Those come in handy especially for those instances when I need to send someone a car icon for no real reason in the middle of a chat…which happens never. The new emoticons have become quite fanciful, barring unnecessarily ridiculous, but I still very much appreciate the original smileys. Those almost never get lost in chat client translation [whereas an angel icon turns into a collection of symbols like 0;-}<], and also transfer my feelings on the web.
In an anthropological sense, seeing that even back in the 80s the conveying of emotions was a valid concern reveals the birth of social networking today. That is, the need to identify a person behind the screen. A human behind the machine, sharing and interacting all in real time. Chatting without colon-dash-end parentheses would be rather boring and dry. Additionally, there would be no such thing as an emoticon war. Wait…we all do that, right?
The emoticon: representing the human condition on the internets since 1982. Happy birthday, dear friend <3. Oh, and that “less than three” is a heart, for the laymen.
Posted on September 21st, 2007 by neha | No Comments »
When we first met, there were definite sparks. This colorful guy was the type of person that would change his appearance on the drop of a dime, knew my favorite songs, and even got along with most of my friends. But things changed as someone better came along. He was educated, simple, and had some backbone. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t change certain things about him. As a constellation, he promised to let me add things to his personality, making him more complete.
The first flashy gentlemen I was referring to is my dear friend Myspace. The second, who swept me off my feet, is none other than Mr. Facebook. I’ve been with Myspace longer than Facebook, but I can’t help but be a little disenchanted by it. This parallel or personification is justified; being with a social network is a type of relationship. In this case, there are two “guys” vying for the users attention.
Good old Yahoo! photos is closing it’s doors in just a few days. All Yahoo users have the option to download all their photos, or migrate to Yahoo! owned Flickr. I may be one of the last users of the traditional Yahoo! photos, but any site that is geriatric approved [note: my mother can understand it] deserves some appreciation. Sure it wasn’t all web 2.0 fantastic, but it was easy to use. As everyone and their dog now has a online photo blog, I am thinking it’s time to join the masses. Not to say that I haven’t been there before…
I still remember the first time I danced around joining Flickr. I was in college, it wasn’t owned by Yahoo, and I was looking for a way to share high res pics with my chums. Flickr seemed to be the only alternative at the time, though the page format seemed confusing to me. After all, it was one of the first sites to use the Web 2.0 module. In any case, I was turned off by it and stuck with what I had;Yahoo!, TextAmerica, and Webshots.
While in college, I stuck up random streams of images on my Textamerica Moblog. I got bored and creeped out by that site [hello stalkers], so I tried out Webshots my last two years at Cal. As a free service for a few pictures, it worked well. After a while, I lost interest in posting pictures, perhaps because of the lack of community and boring interface.
Alas, I never really found a place to settle on photo sharing. Sure there is SmugMug, Zooomr, and a bunch of vowel-lacking photo sharing sites.Somewhere in between creepy TextAmerica and snoozy Webshots, there has to be a happy medium and a place where I feel like I belong. Is Flickr the missing link? Should I give it another shot?
Posted on September 16th, 2007 by neha | 4 Comments »
Usually when one thinks of the word “shiny”, positive thoughts come to mind. A shiny car, a shiny new penny, and the rad indie-punk band, Shiny Toy Guns. The word and aforementioned things are nice, but there are a few situations where we shouldn’t all shine on; noses, bald heads, and finally, laptop/desktop LCD screens.
The good news is that shiny noses and heads can be dabbed down with powder foundation. The bad news: the treatment for an LCD screen is not as simple. While visiting my Uncle up north, I was wowed by his new HP widescreen laptop for its multimedia displays [via Windows Vista], along with sleek design. I was not, however, impressed by the uber shiny screen.
I’ll admit it. Now that I’m single, I’ve perused Match.com a couple of times, but have never come across anything that peaked my interest. Today, that all changed. I happened to land on a profile of a worldly, Ivy league cutie, who reads The Economist and has a Zen center. The thing is–I refuse to become a member.
I’m not saying there is anything wrong with being on a dating website [I know plenty of people happy as a result of them], but I just feel like Facebook and Myspace should somehow be enough. I know that both are meant to be used as platonic networking sites. I’ve been a Myspacer/Facebooker for years now, and have used both for that purpose successfully. The thing is, if someone who was a potentially good fit was even on those sites, would I approach them? Probably not, as I am kinda old fashioned with the dating scene. What happens when you see a hot person who lives within 25 miles, likes the great outdoors, exceeds your height requirement [6 ft…wowza!]–but is on a dating site? After all, Match.com’s tagline is “It’s okay to look.”
Maybe I should not have looked to begin with…perhaps it’s not really “okay.” I suppose it’s a community just like the other sites and there is always a catch. You always have to join as well; Reciprocate with your profile on the site. I think the idea of being linked to a dating site is also something that isn’t quite accepted in social circles yet. The funny thing is that I have a number of friends who are members, to whom I have sworn secrecy to never tell. Plus, it’s always so random when you see someone you actually know on the dating site of your choice. Their profile with their likes and dislikes in poetic prose–you can’t help but smile and feel a tad bit of an “aww…how sadly dorky.”
As you may already know, I have been on the hunt for a job for a couple of months now. I had some really great offers which I have appreciated. After much deliberation, I have finally decided on where I am going to end up.
Say hello to one of the new Producers at Revision 3! I am very excited to be joining the very talented team already in place and cannot wait to contribute to the programming. The reason why I chose Revision 3 is simple–I believe in what they are doing and have always been a huge fan. When I was an intern at TechTv, Cupid’s bow had hit me and I knew instantly that was where I wanted to work post-grad. Unfortunately, the company was bought and repackaged… and my dreams were crushed.
Caption: A throwback to TTV SF. Reunited and it feels so good!
With Rev 3, I have a second chance. I will be working under Miss Sarah Lane herself, which is a huge honor. When I saw what she did at TTV, it inspired me to focus on tech journalism. I have come full circle and am very gracious for this opportunity.
What I know now is that I will be producing segments, and still dabbling into on-camera stuff as well. I am also one of the three gals who work there, so that should be very interesting. Anyway, I think it’s going to be a great fit for me and I look forward to learning and growing at this organization. Three cheers for Rev 3!
Posted on September 9th, 2007 by neha | 17 Comments »
