Hero Inc.

As I write this, I have begun the process of terminating my current Facebook account.  This does not mean that I will be gone forever from the social time waster.  It just means that I am starting anew.

For those that have not been keeping up with twitter posts, the media, or some dude on the street, it seems that the new hip thing to do is complain about Facebook and point the finger the other way. Now I’m not an advocate for Facebook in anyway, but I have tried to hold back in what I have posted to Facebook in an effort to control my privacy.

However, I know that others have not used the same form of caution.  Some have treated the internet as a private conversation between friends when the basic principle of the internet is public.  From the moment you connect to a website, you have already created an open channel between three people (you, the website, and your ISP).  Therefore, I will be creating a new Facebook account and deleting my old one.

Why not leave altogether?  Well, when treated with caution and care, Facebook is a great tool to keep in touch with people.  Notice I didn’t say a great tool to find out what people are up to because that would defeat one of my reasons for creating the new “me.”  Basically, I envision my new facebook account to:

1. Limit the “who the crap is this person” factor.  When I first joined Facebook I was a simple minded freshman in college.  I just wanted to have as many friends as possible in an effort to seem cooler and more connected.  Now I am a simple minded post graduate who knows that’s just stupid.  I don’t need to accept invites from people I know from someone’s 3rd grade best friend’s dog’s original owner twice removed cousin.  If I don’t know you, I won’t add you.  [Let’s just see how long this one lasts….]
2. Reduce my use of the social site even further.  Currently, I only login to facebook to make a comment here or there on someone’s status or create a link back to this site.  Why do I even need to go that far?  Why not try to connect on a more personal level via email, phone call, or meet in person?
3. Contain the amount of personal identity information that is present on the web concerning myself.  With Facebook’s ever growing love of making one’s privates public (yeah, I know how that sounds but its true), I think I need to pull as much off to make a baseline minimum and then decide piece by piece what to add.  If I wouldn’t state where I work by name on my website, why would I do it on Facebook?

Now for those thinking to follow in my (and others) footsteps, check out this handy guide.  As I started the process, I even began to rethink joining Facebook again thanks to the message provided to me when I wanted to limit my full name to the site.

Click above for bigger image

If you don’t want to delete and recreate, then at least check out another handy tool, so that at least you know what is or can be out there related to your identity.

I’ve finished writing, but I haven’t finished migrating to my new facebook account.  Well I guess I know what will be taking up my time later this week.

With Iron Man 2 out of the way, Thor and Captain America on the way, it is time to begin with eager anticipation for AVENGERS ASSEMBLE…or to the regular people The Avengers movie.

The move is roughly two years away and currently only has a director and many rumors. After seeing Iron Man 2, I wanted to discuss the subtle hints that the film provided that could (or could not) lead into The Avengers movie. For those that don’t know and didn’t click on any of my links above, The Avengers is a superhero team in the same way that the Justice League is for DC. The Avengers have been formed with many different heroes, but which group will be selected for the feature film? Well my assumptions are going to be based off small rumors and everything I saw in Iron Man 2. Therefore, STOP NOW if you want to avoid even the mildest of SPOILERS.

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Ok, now that we have those that don’t want to know out of the way, we can continue. In Iron Man 2, Nick Fury and Tony Stark are discussing his review for possible team involvement thanks to the Black Widow’s report. The report states that Iron Man is in, but Tony is out. Interesting, but my real focus of the scene was the monitor behind them with several points being tracked around the world. I was only able to remember the following subset of locations.

• New York
• New Mexico
• Los Angeles
• Atlantic Ocean
• Africa
• South Atlantic Ocean / Antartica
• Central Europe

Well, if I’m doing what most other fanboys are doing out there in fandom, I’m matching a location to a member of the Avengers.

• New York – Most might jump to Spider-Man here. I certainly did. However, the Spider-Man franchise is not currently in Marvel’s possession. However, the Hulk is and he just happened to star in a recent reboot of the franchise and it took place in…yes…say it…New York. I’m all for The Hulk as a member of the Avengers but I like him even more as the villain. A hero that can’t control his powers, I believe, might provide more drama and story than some alien beings being sent to destroy/take over the earth. Apparently Iron Man 2 is already helping out in continuity because in the background of the scene between Tony and Nick, a news report is being given of the attack at the university that appeared in The Incredible Hulk.
• New Mexico – If you stayed through the credits of Iron Man 2, you already know the answer to this one. The scene showed that S.H.I.E.L.D. had found Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. Thor, a norse god, is one, if not, the strongest heroes on earth. If Thor isn’t happy, no one is happy. I’m pumped for this one as Thor is a very intriguing character and his movie is lining up to be something special as well.
• Los Angeles – Easy one, Iron Man. I mean, the man lives in Malibu. Let’s just take Nick’s comments as more of a way to push Tony forward as a hero and not the fact that Marvel can’t pay for all of these heroes together.
• Atlantic Ocean – This must be the one and only “first avenger,” Captain America. Iron Man 2 gave us his first shield as well as the possibility of Iron Man creating the element for creating his new shield. In the comics, Cap’s frozen body was found somewhere in the North Pole or northern Atlantic ocean. Marvel’s ultimate goal was to do Iron Man 2, Captain America, Thor and then The Avengers. Therefore, we have to have Cap to lead the team. Time to see what a real boy scout can do.
• Africa – Another no brainer of sorts. We will stay away from Storm or the X-Men due to a separate franchise and Marvel wanting to build on their “less known” characters. This choice also gives us a more diverse group with the inclusion of Black Panther. Many in Hollywood (Tyrese Gibson and Wesley Snipes) have been trying to get a Black Panther film off the ground for years. I’ll support the inclusion here.
• South Atlantic Ocean / Antartica – Here’s the stretch because I gaurantee most people don’t know who he is and when I describe him, I’ll get the usual response of “That’s just an Aquaman rip off.” We are talking about the prince of Atlantis, Namor. Namor is one of the first mutants/heroes from Marvel. He is often depicted as a villain as he chooses his people of Atlantis over those on land every day of the week if he can. Just think of him as good cop/bad cop, but the good cop always calls in sick.
• Central Europe – For this one I had to turn to the internet. Some are pointing to the Red Skull, but I’m not thrilled with that idea. Why spend a whole Captain America move on Red Skull only to bring him back so quickly to face the Avengers? No. This one needs to be something new. A female? We have the Black Widow, but her background is Russia not Central Europe and why would S.H.I.E.L.D. need to track her? Then again, I listed Iron Man on this list and they are tracking him. Then I guess I have to go after my final long shot with two “originals,” Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Both can be linked back to Central Europe in some form or fashion so they will have to do.

Well that’s it. Not the best team I could pick but then again I don’t have to do the picking. I’d really like to see a team of maybe 5 (Iron Man, Thor, Cap, Hawkeye, Black Widow) so that each can be built in his/her own right. I don’t want characters lost and thrown in just for the purpose of being there, but I would really love to see Hawkeye being portrayed by Jeremy Renner.

Every time I see the following commercial/promo/trailer, I am just pumped up beyond belief.

That’s right people! World Cup time is almost upon us. A time where everything the Olympics promises actually comes true. Here’s hoping the Hall Monitors of the World provide some excellent drama and even more pride. Let’s just say I plan to arrive late for work on certain days where USA will be playing live.

And if you need more pumping up, here we go. Time to RISE UP!

I’m not sure if it was fate or f8 (pronounced the same) that brought my interest into creating a post pertaining to social media but nevertheless, I’m here and proud of it.

The last few years, the buzz terms in the internet mainstream world have been centered around the aspect of each person on the web interacting socially thanks to new products and services.  We’ve all heard of social media this and that, and I know a few of us are getting sick and tired of it (but not as much as the term iPhone killer).  However, each day it seems that the aspect of the social mediasphere comes out to help or hurt us.

Let’s take a look at is out there (and of course do so in alphabetical order).

Social Media	Description/Thoughts
	Use?: NO It’s a shame that this is the first on our alphabetical journey because when I first describe it to people the reaction explains where most think it is headed. According to the website, Blippy is “a fun and easy way to see and discuss what everyone is buying.” That basically translate to a service that syncs with your credit cards and shares with your friends any and all of the purchases that you are making. Sure, there are controls to allow one to moderate what purchases are shared, but essentially the concept is over sharing one’s pride in the capitalistic society. I can see why businesses would want people to use the system because there is big money in providing consumers with a close relationship in the items people want to purchase and people they know that purchase it. Think about it. Aren’t you more likely to buy a product that one of your friends as purchased because you have real feedback you can trust on if the money was well spent? Since this is the latest social media site (started in December of 2009), we will just have to see if it catches on, even though I know I’m just not that interested in it.
	Use?: PUSH Back during my days in college, Digg (that’s D-i-g-g.com) was my premier site for receiving my news of all flavors. I participated in its social aspect by “digging” stories in order to inform the masses of the particular interest in the story. Wait, I’ve gone too far ahead of myself. Back up. Digg was created by Kevin Rose as a social news website. The basic idea is that the masses now have the power to dictate what stories should be of interest. Everyone’s been there. You go to your favorite news site (CNN, BBC, and yes even FoxNews for some) but the stories that you see presented are not what you find important or interesting. Digg provides you the ability to submit stories from across the web and other users can “digg” the story in order to move it to the front page for more people to see it. The more diggs a story receives, the more popular it is. Each story can also be commented on from Digg as opposed to going to the story’s source. However, outside of college I just don’t have time to participate in the “digg” process as I once could. I still go to digg, but only to view the first view pages of content or the top diggs of the day. And sometimes, I’m even drawn back to leave a comment here or there just because I can.
	Use?: YES Wow, where do I begin on this one? Facebook is one of the fastest growing websites out there, but it is also one that I see becoming the most flawed and dangerous. We all enjoy using Facebook as a way to reconnect and catch up on all of our friends, but how many people really stop to think about all of the information we are providing to it. Its current and potential track record of not giving a crap about the information they are storing or its potential for security issues is shocking. The most recent issue that allowed one to see the personal chats and other information of anyone’s friends was met with a “oops” from the website instead of “we will make sure this never happens again.” I have many friends that are looking to take down their pages which is their choice. I don’t know if I am going to go that far because I can really connect to so many people so quickly. However, I will be looking to minimize the data that I provide to them in order to protect myself and identity online. Maybe their policies and thoughts on security/privacy will change in the future so that we can all be more comfortable in using a site that started with a great idea.
	Use?: YES I originally was against the idea of social media being used to track my movements. Then I changed my mind about the whole thing. Was it the aspect of my new smartphone or just becoming more aware of how something like Foursquare worked? Who knows! At least I do know that Foursquare is just as addicting as it was to play four square with my roommates back in college. Foursquare allows one to “checkin” to locations while out and about. I was drawn to this application with my recent move to San Francisco, which is a major user of the application. Having more people in my general vicinity using it really pushes me to get out and learn the city’s ins and outs. I also control when I want to “checkin” and I can easily track where I have been as well as what places I want to return for business. Overall though, the most addicting part of Foursquare is the ability to earn badges. I often feel like I’m a Boy Scout again, except this time I’m more interested. The badges can be humorous or based on the regular tasks one might perform (such as riding the BART). 10 badges and 4 mayorships and I’m craving more and more and more.
	Use?: MAYBE Ah yes, Linkedin. For those not in the know, Linkedin is the facebook of the business world. Instead of “private” (yes I know that is a relative term after my comments above), it is “public”. It is almost the aspect of posting your resume and network contacts to others online. Your network of “friends” is your network of colleagues. I have previously pushed to not join another online system, but my work has encouraged it for recruitment purposes. Maybe it isn’t a terrible idea to join so that I can connect others professionally as opposed to just socially. Anyone else have thoughts here, besides “yeah join”? So far I’d say Linkedin is working out well because any news stories I hear about it are few and far between which means it is either on its way out (which I doubt) or it is doing something right and people don’t have anything to complain about.
	Use?: NO Here it is. If Facebook is the king of social media, Twitter is the queen or co-king. Since its inception, I have had a hatred for Twitter and its community. I didn’t understand the point of sharing public 144 character messages to the world. Do I really want to know one’s bowel movements cycle? Do I care about the sudden idiotic thoughts that enter one’s mind? I certainly do not. However, as I become more aware of the service’s capabilities, my feelings towards Twitter are changing. In the best example I can give, recently there was a virus issue that affected many across the US and rendered many computers useless for several hours. In order to find out how widespread the issue was, I turned to a recent update by Google where you can search the real time tweets. That day, I searched for “virus” and saw that the issue was not centered to just me, but many locations across the US (Clemson, Chicago, Kentucky, etc.). I continued following the google search and found that many were leading me to why the error was occurring thanks to McAfee’s screw up in an update. Twitter in this scenario worked perfectly for a global messaging system. Just think of its uses during disasters or other real time tracking (epidemics, political situations, etc.). I’ve also used it to find out updates regarding the Android 2.1 update for my HTC Eris. Now this does not mean I’m going to go out and join, but at least my mood when I hear other’s make references to it doesn’t result to pure hatred. And I will still wait with anticipation for my twitter based idea to be implemented.

*YES => I am a member of the social club
*NO => I am not a member of the social club
*PUSH => I am a member but the account stays idle
*MAYBE => I am not currently a member but the status of our relationship could change

So what’s next? Well if I had to guess it would follow the movement of turning the tv into the next social revolution. With TV’s moving to integrating internet capabilities, one could interact with other viewers of a TV show in real time and also encourage others to check out a new show or upcoming episode.

With the recent release of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx), I found the need to help my transition to the new version of Linux that I currently use at home (desktop and netbook). I have become quite comfortable at making certain transitional changes upon upgrading, but why do I need to spend the time to fix a manual step that I can automate?

The script was initially created to make two changes:

1. The location bar in the file explorer is defaulted to graphic based, instead of my personal comfort of text based
2. Ubuntu 10.04’s movement of the minimize, maximize, and close buttons to the left of the window as opposed to the right

The script, found here (right click, save as), simply runs two simple commands within a terminal. However, why type these commands (each on a single line) in when you can just run the script? Like I said, I’m lazy.

gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/general/button_layout" --type string 
  "menu:minimize,maximize,close"

gconftool-2 --set "/apps/nautilus/preferences/always_use_location_entry" 
  --type bool "True"

Hopefully I will update the script later to include a few of the following features:

• Import a synaptic package list of applications and install them
• Modify the splash screen background image
• Copy a backed up Home folder
• Create separate script to be run before moving to the latest version of Ubuntu to backup the installed applications, bookmarks, and home folders

If anyone wants to help out or have suggestions, let me know.

I’ll try to give a full review of Ubuntu once I spend more time with the OS, but as of right now, its AMAZING. Purple suits me much more than the old brown did.