Zerox Machine

Why the new Facebook is bad

2009-03-18T20:22:00.003Z

I'm an avid (some would say addicted) Facebook user and Facebook recently decided to change it's home page and tweak various aspects of it's functionality. Not a new thing. The last tweek caused a mild hoo ha, but people soon found that it was actually better than the last one, and once they had found the new locations of their favourite bits, soon shut up and the world was happy once more.

However, last week, Facebook rolled out a new version of itself and in doing so, have created an almighty hoo ha!! Why? Well, I've been challenged on that subject a lot recently and it's hard to say in a short space, but last night I found this article, posted to a small group of Facebook users who are threatening a Facebook "suicide". By that, they mean they fully intend to delete their accounts on a given date, therefore showing Facebook that their new changes mean lost business.

Now, personally, I don't think this will actually work. In fact, I'm not sure what would have a major effect just yet. But I did find this article which describes, much better than I could, why the new Facebook is a major step backwards and suggests things we can do to get it changed back.

It may seem silly getting all antsy about a social networking site that lives off of our personal info, but it used to be a worthwhile trade off. Have the personal details I decide to share with you and you give me a networking model that actually enhances my real world life as well as provide much fun and amusement in the online world.

Anyway, have a read, and maybe it will clarify the matter....

We now have less function, choice, & a horrible, Twitter-like design. Here are action steps, comments, and links to Gawker, Huffington Post (GREAT article), Ars Technica, bloggers, etc.:

(as of 3/18 this Note is still getting revised at least daily)

Major fail. Facebook has gutted their site. What was once unique, deep, & flexible, and good for keeping-up with friends, is evolving into a rigid and equally shallow Twitter clone, except not as good as Twitter for real-time stream-of-consciousness. Assuming facebookers even wanted that. We're on facebook for a REASON (i.e.--it isn't Twitter).

I can put up with virtually any sort of cosmetic change, even their latest cluttered, screen-space-wasting, "simple", child-oriented, large-print, mono-font, photo-laden, extra-super-wide-screen, ad-filled, no-longer-real-time, badly-Twitter-emulating, "ease of use" mis-design.

But the rest of this re-design is mostly "steps backward", removing functionality & choice, and I see few improvements. I don't think they'll un-do all the changes they've made, and I'm not advocating that, but here's SOME of the major steps backward they've taken that they should fix:

Fewer News Feed options: The new single-option feed is the worst of both worlds. For those that liked the old, regular News Feed, which was pretty good, you probably don't like that you're now getting a firehose of trivial information that you didn't used to have to see. And they removed nearly all the ability (Story Types sliders) to customize what it gives you.

Less feed depth: For those that liked to see everything, removing the compact "Live Feed" option is an absolute crime. The new feed gives you all of the trivia, in a space-wasting format, but none of the depth that Live Feed offered. Even if you never used Live Feed, several of your friends likely were. Which means they easily saw more of what you were doing. Which let them get more involved more often in stuff you & others were doing, find new events, friends, groups, etc.

Activity, connectivity, and interaction is going to suffer without Live Feed. Now the most you can see on Home is a random selection of whatever facebook has decided you might be interested in. Long after it's happened. And you will now never see when your friends join events, groups, etc...unless by some miracle it occasionally shows in the randomly disorganized, un-filterable Highlights. You will definitely see every time they give a shamrock to someone though. Whether you want to or not. You will no longer see when your friends edit their profile (because they gained/lost an interest/hobby/job/relationship), comment on photos, etc.

If you miss the Live Feed, you can still use a poor imitation of what it was by going to facebook's mobile site and clicking "Live" under "News Feed"
http://m.facebook.com

You'd have to check it more often, since it carries fewer entries than the old Live Feed. Of course, facebook will probably "improve" this work-around away....

More Twitbook: The Status Update re-design is so bad it will remain permanently un-clear & confusing to people until they fix it. And the new treatment of it greatly encourages, emphasizes, & publicizes heavy real-time Twitter-like updating. Which isn't even real-time because the new feed lags greatly behind the Live Feed and News Feed of before.

And isn't it great how statuses on a user's Wall are no longer bold...so you can't easily tell a Status from a Wall post. Though that, along with the removal of the Status tab from Home, serves facebook's apparent plan to degrade facebook into a stream-of-consciousness, 100 daily updates per-person Twitbook.

Less Wall privacy: They've removed the privacy option which left you the choice of timestamping your activity or not. At least with this bad decision they were a little sensible & decided to reduce timestamping rather than making it required. Except they reduced it so far, you can't even tell what day your friends did things on their Wall! It's all just a blur of "recent activity".

The new facebook is about shallow-ness, being harder to connect with people, and less choice...less choice in your feeds, privacy, etc. The new facebook inundates everyone with trivia, while at the same time robbing heavy users of all depth. If facebook stays this course, of those that remain on facebook, many will stop using the Home page. Interaction will slow down, facebook will get used more as just an email contact point, and many will rarely login, except to see the trickle of stuff that occasionally gets posted directly to their own Wall.

WHAT TO DO?

Complain to facebook daily:
http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=uex_feedback_home
(my theory is that they'll be able to digest your email better if you make it be 1 issue per email)
Write daily, not just once. Zuckerberg already thinks that after people use the new design for a few days they'll realize they like it. No, they won't.

Join some of the "Bring back Live Feed" Groups (& invite your friends, because many of them may not know the group exists, or that you joined because...there is no Live Feed. And tell them to invite their friends!)
Last I checked, there are 3 big Groups that are about each the same size right now. Which is kind of a shame since we'd attract more notice if we were 1 Group at 3x the size.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=56846233169
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=57945102893
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=57437231871

Complain to the CEO daily: (or even more often) Become a fan of the Mark Zuckerberg page (child CEO of facebook who seems to be in over his head now) and make some comments or Wall posts
http://www.facebook.com/markzuckerberg

Comment on facebook's blog post about the re-design daily: (or even more often)
http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=59195087130

Other Groups? There are some other big Groups against "new facebook"...but most seem to date back to the previous big revision. A few of them have updated their "mission statement" to now be against the new "new facebook", but simply joining those won't bring a lot of notice, the facebook admins realize many members were complaining about the prior revision. Still, I'd join 1 or 2 of the largest, most up-to-date Groups, because they might make some interesting organizational posts to help get things going against this latest revision. Here's a big, older one, with updated activity & mission statement:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=27233634858

Here's a pretty big one that's brand-new and it's trying to also organize a vote and a protest/boycott day:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=74571831419

Here's a large "cause" advocating reverting to prior facebook
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/245918

Again, invite your friends to Groups you join, because it's now a lot harder for them to see when you've found a good one.

Spread the word: The URL for this Note is:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=61010781930
and it is viewable to anyone. Post it to your Wall, put it in your Status (i.e.--"Force facebook to fix this screw-up, here's how: http://...")! Then all of your friends will see it every day.

Let the media know we're unhappy: Please digg this Note by going to
http://digg.com/software/Facebook_s_latest_re_design_gone_wrong_what_to_do

Anyone have other media ideas? Be sure to digg at least some of the articles below. Anyone have media contacts?

Contact your local TV stations (through facebook even?) and make them aware of the controversy on facebook? If you'd like ideas how to do that, at the bottom of this Note is some sample text.

WEB ARTICLES

Read more in-depth, interesting commentary about these and other ways in which facebook has screwed-up with this re-design:

http://gawker.com/5172407/what-was-mark-zuckerberg-smoking-when-he-redesigned-facebook (digg this one!)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/17/BU2416GB4F.DTL (digg this)

http://fakerake.com/2009/298/the-new-facebook-sucks (digg this one!)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-willman/facebooks-lousy-facelift_b_175358.html (digg this one!)

http://matt-erof-fact.blogspot.com/2009/03/10-reasons-why-facebook-now-sucks.html

http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/03/hands-on-facebooks-new-homepage-adds-and-loses-control.ars

http://www.lefteye.com/2009/03/twitbook-thanks-but-i-already-have.html

An editor at cnet.com was already quoted as saying "I haven't seen notable mass grumbling over it. It's clearly been influenced by the popularity of Twitter, and I think it gets the feel of that quick, instant stream of updates without totally mimicking it." And another one posted a shallow, all-positive review. I'm sending those editors an email
:)

WHY THE CHANGES?

Some have theorized the new Twitbook is so Twitter-like that clearly facebook was [erroneously] worried about competition from the much smaller Twitter community.

You can see from this video that facebook thinks the world should be streams:
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/03/sxsw_facebooks.html
But apparently they're only interested in people who want to spend all their time keeping-up with a firehose of trivial updates.

Others suggested that facebook felt the need to dumb-down the site to attract users who are averse to depth and "sophisticated" tools.

Another suggestion is that by strictly controlling what we get to see and how we get to see it, it's easier for facebook to guarantee that we see the ads they want us to see, making it easier for them to make money off facebook.

FUN: If you've read this far, you deserve a prize. How about a new profile picture?
http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn382/balebond/facebook-fail.gif

WHAT TO SAY TO MEDIA OUTLETS

Here is what Elizabeth Whitmore Gloger posted on the Wall of her local TV station: "The mainstream media needs to get involved with the huge backlash going on at Facebook right now. This "anti-update" that was rolled-out last week has people thinking about quitting Facebook entirely, and the rest confused, complaining, and unhappy.

Some concise explanations of just what is wrong, and some of the attempts to make a difference and get Facebook to respond to its users can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=61010781930

Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook backtracked in a big way last year when they rolled out Beacon and the users revolted--will you help us cause another revolution? Facebook becoming Twitter is a huge mistake, and this so-called update was a giant step backwards for what was the best social network out there. There was a reason Facebook attracted 175 million users and Twitter only has 6 million. Facebook just removed most of those reasons. Will you help make a difference?

Happy Christmas from me on behalf of John & Yoko

2008-12-24T20:39:00.001Z

Happy Christmas to all my readers...

WAR IS OVER! (If You Want It) from Yoko Ono on Vimeo.

Hillary's Downfall, and other Downfall related spoofs...

2008-05-11T10:32:00.003Z

This brilliant scene from the amazing film Der Untergang (Downfall) has been spoofed on numerous occasions on YouTube. Here is a currently relevant take on this clip...

And here are some of my other favourites...

2008-05-08T20:33:00.002Z

In order to view the Nseries Widget you need JavaScript and Flash Player 9+ support

Easter or Christmas ?

2008-03-23T10:22:00.002Z

March 23rd 2008 | 10:00 | Suffolk, England:

The same scene 4 hours later...

Bizarre.

Imagine Peace Tower

2007-10-06T09:13:00.000Z

The IMAGINE PEACE TOWER is a work of art conceived by Yoko Ono in memory of John Lennon.

It is dedicated to peace and bears the inscription 'IMAGINE PEACE' in 24 languages.

Its construction and installation is a collaboration between Yoko Ono, the City of Reykjavik, Reykjavik Art Museum and Reykjavik Energy.

The work is in the form of a wishing well from which a very strong and tall tower of light emerges. The strength, intensity and brilliance of the light tower continually changes as the particles in the air fluctuate with the prevailing weather and atmospheric conditions unique to Iceland.

Every year it will light up between October 9th (Lennon's birthday) and December 8th (the day of his death).

In addition the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER will be lit on New Year's Eve, during the first week of spring and on some rare special occasions agreed between the City and Ono.

The electricity for the light comes entirely from the Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant.

Sack Paul Wolfowitz

2007-04-20T19:11:00.000Z

I try not to get too political on my blogs but this deserves special attention.

One of the puppeteers behind George "Dubya" is Mr Paul Wolfowitz. A true Neo Con, he masterminded the Iraq war and then got rewarded with Presidency of the World Bank. This organisation is committed, allegedly, to ensuring fair and equal financial treatment of all nations, especially those in the third world. Sadly, Mr Wolfowitz, a self styled scourge of corruption, committed an act of corruption himself, promoting his girlfriend from World Bank employee to the Government and giving her a huge payrise to boot.

Is this the man you want leading the world bank ?

Political action group www.avaaz.org have set about ensuring justice is done and have created this humourous and poignant video.

Please watch and then add your name to the petition.

AVAAZ

Robbie Williams' Shorts

2007-04-11T13:31:00.000Z

Broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK the other night, these are a set of 6 very clever short films inspired by tracks of Robbie's latest (and in my opinion, greatest) CD, Rudebox. Enjoy !

I couldn't find the actual film for Kiss Me but here is the "Making Of" instead...

This one just missed out on one of the 6 winning slots...

There were two more but they don't appear to be on YouTube just yet. You can watch all of these by logging onto Robbie's site at http://www.robbiewilliams.com/

Sleep Apnoea

2007-04-10T10:30:00.000Z

Whilst bored at home, I have spent man hours scouring YouTube and found the following videos all about Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, a condition I have suffered from for 10 years or so and have been receiving treatment in the form of CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) for the last 4 years.

First up is a short video of a man having a polysomnograph. Watch as he stops breathing, then struggles to take air in, followed by a rasping snore and a pant as he tries to recover....

Next up, a humourous look at some guy's first experience with CPAP. This is what I have had to do every night for the last 4 years and for the rest of my life too....

Here's a spot on the Rosie O'Donnell Show about OSA...

Another personal experience...

A trio of video's from ResMed, manufacturers of CPAP equipment...

And finally, a humourous video from Jack Dare about CPAP sex ;o)

As I find more interesting and informative stuff, I will post it. In the mean time, if you wish to find out more about Sleep Apnoea and CPAP, check out the following links....

http://www.britishsnoring.co.uk/

http://www.sleep-apnoea-trust.org/

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=340

http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/Mosby_factsheets/snoring.html

http://www.isat.ie/ (especially for GammaGoblin !)

http://www.besttreatments.co.uk/btuk/conditions/36794.jsp

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/sleepapnoea1.shtml

http://www.sleeping.org.uk/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/checkup_20060330.shtml

http://www.lunguk.org/snoring-and-sleep-apnoea.asp?dis=32

http://www.priory.com/cmol/obstruct.htm

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/40001277/

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/27001179/ (An Epworth Sleepiness Test)

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/27001175/

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/559/

Hurt

2007-04-10T09:46:00.000Z

I'll hold my hands up and admit that I have never really gotten into Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznors musical vehicle. I know he is greatly admired and respected but, for some strange reason, I haven't explored him. Maybe I will whilst I am at home recovering.

Anyway, one song of his I do know is "Hurt" and only because of the incredible cover Johnny Cash did of it. The haunting tune of drugs and desperation was turned into a bitter sweet eulogy by the man in black. The video was a prime example of the power of music and imagery together. It has become one of my all time favourite songs and it takes me through a whole gamut of emotions every time I hear it.

Whilst browsing through a favourite blog of mine, the very arty Ektopia, I found this new cover version of the song by none other than Kermit The Frog !! And it has a wonderful video aswell !!

Now, at first, I expected to be laughing out loud to this one, but as I watched, I found myself feeling a similar set of emotions to those I feel when watching Cash's version ! Yes, there is humour, but there is also some very touching moments, made more powerful by the fact we associate Kermit with innocence, fun and laughter.

Enjoy Sad Kermit and his version of "Hurt"...

And for completeness, here is JC's version....

And Trent Reznor's live rendition... (Amazing projections in this)

Long time, no see !

2007-04-07T15:17:00.000Z

Yes, it's been a while !

For the last six weeks or so, I've been working away in places like Birmingham & Liverpool so it's difficult to keep these things up when I don't always have an internet connection.

The other reason is that on Wednesday, I had a Septoplasty on my nose and also a Reduction of Turbinates.

Basically, I have never been able to breathe through my nose properly and coupled with my Sleep Apnoea, it's always been a pain. However, last year it started to get worse. So bad, in fact, that at times, I simply couldn't breathe through my nose, not even with my CPAP machine pumping however many PSI it does down my schnozz ! I'd wake up in the middle of the night, feeling like I'd got an elephant sat on my chest. It was initially thought that I had nasal polyps, but when I went to see the specialist in February, he diagnosed a deviated septum and acute Rhinitis. The fix ? An operation to cut the nasal wall, break the cartlidge underneath and re-align it, then stitch it all back together. Finally, a trimming of the turbinates (the things that warm the air up as you breath it in) would give me much clearer passages and alleviate the problem.

Well, the operation went swimmingly. I had it done privately through my companies free health insurance plan, so it was a very pleasant experience all round. I'm now home for 2.5 weeks recovering but things aren't that great. Because of my Sleep Apnoea, I have to wear a nasal mask at night that is connected to a pump. This applies pressure to my airways when I sleep and keeps me breathing. But when you have an op on your nose and the fecker swells up inside and gets very congested, this nasal mask is as good as useless. The first night after the op wasn't good, but then I was in a High Dependency Unit, wired up to all sorts of monitoring devices, and I had a nurse sat with me at all times. It was the second night that was the killer.

Not being able to use my mask meant that I was in for a rough night's sleep anyway, but being unable to breath through my nose meant that everything was going through my mouth and with my constant snoring, rasping and coughing, my uvula got sore and swollen, so much so that it was dangling on the back of my tongue making me gag !!

My girlfriend then became my hero as she drove a 122 mile round trip to get me a full face mask which covers nose & mouth and I used this last night.

My normal mask (Respironics Profile Lite)

My new full face mask (ResMed Mirage 2)

What they look like on (No, this is not me !)

Better, but I still woke up every hour or so with a mouth like the inside of a Turkish transvestite camel drivers jock strap !

Of course, my nose is also sore and tender and I know it will get better, but it's really getting me down. If anything, it's the sleep deprivation. It's very hard writing this to be totally honest. Oh, and I am automatically banned from driving until I am back on my CPAP so I'm stuck indoors pretty much for the next 2 weeks :(

So I guess I'll have no excuse posting here now, will I ?!?! LOL ;o)

The photo that has everything....

2007-02-17T19:26:00.000Z

Australia Day in Perth

This amazing photo was sent to me today by an Oz friend.

It pretty much has all the vital ingredients for a photo - a beach, a sunset, fireworks, fork lightning and, would you believe, in between the fireworks and lightning pyrotechnics, McNaught's Comet! (click the photo for a slightly larger version where the comet is more clear)

Damn those ozzie's ! ;o)

Pavement art

2007-02-03T16:54:00.000Z

I love work like this :) It does, however, surprise me that this rarely gets labelled as graffiti and works of genius like those by Banksy do...Hmmmmmmm

Strangely Compelling

2007-01-29T20:30:00.000Z

Noah takes a picture of himself every day for 6 years...

Axis Of Evil Productions

2007-01-25T19:30:00.000Z

Back in the day, when I was struggling to find a way out of the hum drum that was the retail trade, I got a job at Choices Video, a national chain of video & game rental stores. I was the manager at two of the branches in Norwich and whilst at my second branch, I recruited a young northern monkey by the name of Andy Bennett. He was a cocky fucker, with a degree in Film Studies and a big knowledge of movies (which is why I employed him). He lived in a townhouse in the centre of Norwich with an assortment of reprobates; a guy called Weazel was the strangest and most endearing of them all. At one point, whilst having a rough patch with the now ex wife, Andy let me move in with him and I experienced true student/graduate life for the first time, and realised I hadn't really missed much, in fact, I was quite relieved that I had not followed that path !! LOL

Anyway, I tried to stay in touch, as you do, after we moved our separate ways but the odd email here and there was all that ever came from it. I still get the occasional mail from Andy, but not out of some heartfelt desire to get reaquainted, no. It's merely that I am a name on a list of email contacts to which he sends adverts and dates for his theatre company, Axis Of Evil Productions.

He has teamed up with a couple of other guys to produce what they describe as a live sitcom on stage ! There are various episodes and they have received, by their own admission, rave reviews. So much so that they are off to perform at this years Edinburgh Festival.

But, at last, he has dragged his sorry Yorkshire ass into the century we call the 21st, and gotten not only a web presence, but a MySpace page which houses some excellent clips of their Coalition production, but also some film clips too. I wonder if he's aware of the fact Rupert Murdoch now owns Myspace and dies it sit well with his moral code of ethics ?? ;o)

Axis Of Evil Myspace Page

As much as it ails me to say, do check them out because they're actually very good and I need to arrange a visit to see them, even though I know that Andy will do his usual round of diatribes about me being Italian and how Yorkshire is the centre of all things good known to man :o)

A Short History of the USA

And yes Andy, I'm still a fat bastard :o)

Enjoy :o)

Tailpipe Man

2007-01-21T17:37:00.000Z

Funniest pic I've seen for a while. Used by a friend to describe a pissy little arsewipe that inhabits the FIAT Bravo Owners Forum, called Roger Ramjet (RR) and tries ever so hard to be big, clever and very trollish, but simply comes across as a cunt.

My theory is that he's about 43, lives with/shags his Mum and is on some sort of medication. Anyway, this made me chuckle :o)

UPDATE: I have found the unedited version of this pic. Look away if you do not wish to witness the true horrors of Tailpipe Man !! LOL

Spiders On Drugs

2007-01-14T18:02:00.000Z

Via Sparkle Train

In the 1960s, Dr. Peter Witt gave drugs to spiders and observed their effects on web building. This short film about the results of the experiment was created by First Church Of Christ, Filmmaker.

Banksy Shop

2007-01-12T21:25:00.000Z

Via Ektopia

You may know the artist Banksy from some of his work that has grabbed both headlines and attention for being witty, insightful & making a bloody good point. Check out his site for some utterly brilliant and thought provoking grafitti he did on the Israeli "anti-terrorist" wall. Genius.

Well, this highly original artist has now opened his online store at his website.

Only difference is that the 12 items on offer are actually free !!

12 high quality prints, available in 3 different sizes each. All you do is download and print.

I think if you were to cut Banksy in half, the word original would be written right through him :o)

Apple iPhone

2007-01-09T22:00:00.000Z

Via Engadget

Offical Apple iPhone site.

Ok, time to officially get moist around the gusset. After much speculation, Steve Jobs announced the Apple iPhone today. It's real, it's official and it's out in the US in June and Europe in 3rd Quarter 2007.

Nokia & Sony had better start quaking in their boots.

I'm a massive Nokia smartphone fan, but this is extremely tempting. Thankfully, I'm tied to my current contract until June 2008, enough time for this thing to bed in and any bugs or issues to rear their ugly heads. Saying that Apple have a pretty good track record of getting things right.

One to watch.

An interesting view from Retro Thing can be read Here

Crazy Road Junctions Pt.3 !

2007-01-07T21:37:00.000Z

Submitted by GammaGoblin via The Daily Mail

Xiamen, South China.....

There is a very good reason why we have yellow boxes on the junctions !! ;o)

Crazy Road Junctions Pt.2 !!

2007-01-07T17:10:00.000Z

More road madness, this time in Vietnam !!

Love Is A Wonderful Colour

2007-01-06T22:34:00.000Z

Via AVATV, a cracking song by the Icicle Works. Memories flood back....

Crazy Road Junctions Pt.1 !!

2007-01-06T22:22:00.000Z

Via Sparkle Train.

This utterly amazing piece of footage shows a junction in a city in India. I sat here, gobsmacked at how nothing collided and then remembered an episode some years ago where a local council was experimenting in controlling traffic at a very busy junction. It was a notorious blackspot and one day they just switched off the traffic lights, and all of a sudden traffic stared moving quicker and there were no accidents !!

This footage just has me gobsmacked every time I watch it.

Silent Star Wars

2007-01-06T22:18:00.000Z

Found via Sparkle Train, one of my new favourite blogs :o) This is bloomin' hilarious !!

Thanks Matirx :o)

Banana Skins

2007-01-06T11:54:00.000Z

Well, it's FA Cup 3rd Round day today. Along with the Cup Final itself, this is probably the biggest football day of the year. Plenty of lower & non league sides do battle with bigger professional clubs to further their involvement in the biggest football trophy competition in the world.

The pick of games today has to be Macclesfield V Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Liverpool V Arsenal and funnily enough, my team Norwich City travelling to Conference side Tamworth. I am, as ever, utterly pessimistic about our chances. We make a terrible habit of going out early doors to much lower teams and this game is being televised too, so now we can humiliate ourselves in front of millions of people, not just a few thousand !!

Seriously though, I've just seen the team sheet, and we should wipe the floor with them.

But, this is the FA Cup. Anything can, and usually does, happen.

I'll be back in 2 hours or so. Start placing bets on what kind of mood I'll be in !! LOL ;o)

UPDATE: Well, we won comfortably by 4 goals to 1. Would've been nice to have kept a clean sheet, but to be totally fair, Tamworth's goal was a worthy effort which even received copious applause from the travelling City fans. So, the giddy heights of the 4th round beckon and talk starts of a possible cup run ! ;o)

Shadows

2007-01-06T10:20:00.000Z

As you may have read earlier, I recently completed the autobiography of Adam Ant. It was a great book and with a bit of my Christmas money, I bought the "Best Of" DVD that came out at the same time. It contains virtually all the single videos, except one or two of the early ones (copyright bollox, so I'm told) and compliments the book nicely. Disc 2, however, is the revelation and the catalyst behind this post.

It features a documentary made this year and was broadcast on London TV in December 2006. This version features another 25 minutes of footage and it's not a bad piece of work, although it seems to be inspired by these historical decade shows we see all too often nowadays. It's redeeming features are the interviews with Adam & Marco, but in Adam's case, these are also the most upsetting.

Until I saw this, I don't think I could ever say that I had truly seen someone where I could legitimately use the phrase, "He's a shadow of his former self". Adam looked so delicate and fragile in this film, so vulnerable and timid, it really was very upsetting. Why ? Well, you must remember, when I was growing up and Adam was a big part of my life, he was this energetic, brave, feisty, workaholic warrior, full of gusto and verve. He was a successful and very active artist and his live shows were pure and raw energy. Now, ravaged by Bi-Polar disorder and having suffered many years of it undiagnosed, it has left him in a withered state, speaking in monotones and almost struggling to summon the effort to smile. It truly broke my heart. I admire the guy totally and always have. I marvel at the way he has coped with a very debilitating illness and am so glad he is still with us, but it is mightily sad to see him like this.

I didn't just love his music. I loved his art. I loved his ability to entertain and inspire. The music world, and the world in general, lack such people nowadays. Adam insists there is still good music in him, which I don't doubt for a second.

Let's hope we get to hear it soon :o)

Oh, and in the vain hope he may read this, thanks Adam, for everything you have done for me without knowing.

P.S. I sat in bed this morning with my little girl and we watched some of the videos together. She absolutely loved them. You could see how his total showmanship just leapt out of the screen and excited her. The old bugger can still knock 'em down 20+ years on ;o)

Please also visit these sites for more information on mental illness...

Royal College Of Psychiatrists

National Association For Mental Health

Supermarket Self Service Checkouts

2007-01-05T19:19:00.000Z

Ask my girlfriend what one thing she does not make me do, and that's the food shopping ! She does not want to witness violent murder, dismemberment or gutting of other customers whilst she tries to choose what cheese we should be having !

I hate food shopping.

I hate the people you find in supermarkets.

With a passion.

In the past, I have had to stop my trolley and just walk out of a supermarket before I actually committed the act of murder on some inbred fuckwit.

So, when the need arises, and there is no alternative, it's a challenge for the rest of society to avoid my murderous intentions whilst I get whatever it is we need.

But, recently, supermarkets have been introducing self service checkouts. Void of the pond scum that supermarkets seem to employ for checkout assistants, these devices promise a swift procedure and actually make my experience a little calmer. No more waiting for the dumb ginger bitch on the till to question the price of Vagisil or argue whether the coupon was vaild anymore. A simple swipe through a barcode reader, and you could be on your way in seconds rather than hours.

But I forgot to factor in the highly common "ignorant" gene found in a large proportion of the human race. People who cannot read clear instructions, ranging from "baskets with 10 items or less" signs to which way to scan an item.

Far from actually alleviating a problem, they have simply exacerbated an existing one. The problem with a vast section of mankind that says they are pre-disposed to be totally ignorant cunts.

I love these devices and I have now realised that the supermarket is actually trying to help people like me, but sadly, their valiant quest is being foiled by the dumb fucks that seem to be far more prevalent than ever before. Maybe they should install a device infront of these checkouts that scans for intelligence and rejects anyone falling short of a pre-determined level of common sense.

I love my local village shop and feel that the few extra pence I spend per item there is worth the reduced stress from having to deal with the ignorant plebians we experience all too often in our supermarkets today.

By the way, the guy in the pic at the top isn't me, but it was the best pic I could find. The look on his face seems to mirror the cuntish wankers you see trying to figure out these machines on a daily basis.

Geek Alert !! My new phone.

2007-01-03T20:37:00.000Z

I'm a bit of a mobile phone geek at heart and have been through quite a few models since my first brick, back in the early 90's. Just before Christmas I changed contract and took the opportunity to get a new phone too, which is what you see above, the Nokia N73. It's the latest Nokia "smartphone" which runs on their Series60 platform which currently stands at version 3. It runs the Symbian operating system (9.1) and is jam packed with features, including the normal phone functions, a superb screen, a camera with a Carl Zeiss Tessar lens, complete with aouto focus, zoom and a mechanical shutter. With the 2GB MiniSD card installed, I currently have 1000+ music tracks, resplendent with full IDv3 tags and album art, plus loads of games and other really cool apps. It's by far the best Series60 phone I've owned, although I did want the N80, but it wasn't available on the plan I wanted.

It really is a powerhouse of a phone, made better by the internal tweaking I have carried out where I upgraded the firmware from Orange's crappy and very buggy version to the Nokia Music Edition :) All the instructions to do this can be found at All About Symbian, the net's premier Symbian resource.

I've also just acquired the adapter that will allow me to hook it up to my in car HiFi system for plenty of mobile MP3 goodness :o)

As for my S60 past, see below....

6680

6600

7650

But I still have a soft spot for this pre S60 baby...

7110

There you go, geeky moment over, you can relax now :o)

Female Beefeater to guard Tower !!

2007-01-03T11:45:00.000Z

Dear God !!! The whole world's going to hell in a handcart !!!

For the first time in their 522 year history, there will be a female Beefeater ! (Note: the picture above is not her, just the only image I could find at short notice !)

Actually, good bloody luck to her. I hope she has a great time. Let's be honest, the Yeomanry is more symbolic than functional, although I fully respect their job and position. As a spokeswoman says, her appointment will be less rare as more women carve out long term careers in the armed forces. To qualify for selection a candidate "must have served a minimum of 22 years in the forces as well as boast a long service and good conduct medal". It's even more of an achievement when you realise there are only ever 35 serving members of The Yeoman Warder of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary !

Good on ya lass :)

Big "Fucking" Brother

2007-01-03T10:08:00.000Z

Brace yourselves for a number of weeks of pure cuntyness as "Celebrity" Big Brother starts tonight. Another bunch of failing Z List wankers will put themselves up for display and humiliation for the next month or so and the office will resound with inane chatter about who made an even bigger twat of themslves on last nights episode.

Rumours are abound about possible contenders, and in another bizarre Ant related moment, even Adam was touted as a possibility, although the official website says his management vehemently deny this. I truly hope so.

These shows were strangely interesting when they first started and I'll openly admit to watching and enjoying the first couple of BB's, but the incessant slew of shows featuring the most talentless pieces of shite this, and other countries have to offer, desperate to relaunch their failed careers and willing to humiliate themselves even further in doing so has reached ridiculous proportions. We now face a continuous stream of this crap, 24 hours a day. The BBC redeem themselves ever so slightly in making sure there is a good level of entertainment and the celebrities they use are actually currently successful people with busy careers but I do resent my licence fee being spent on such programming.

Then there is the hideous amount of extra coverage by the papers and magazines, the internet forums full of stalkers in the making (the official CH4 BB forum is a VERY scary place !) and the radio.

Do you remember when game shows actually featured real life people ? When was the last time we had a proper Mastermind tournament, won by a taxi driver, because he displayed an education and immense intelligence ?? Not even sunday evening game show classics like Family Fourtunes feature real people anymore !! Hell no, that's too "boring" ! Let's glorify a fat, pig faced, in bred lump of lard and give her all our money and attention. Or let's take a person who's sole ambition in life is to make a career out of pretending to be someone else and make our own celebrity. We no longer reward hard work, intelligence and effort and we now glorify stupidity, ignorance and laziness and make other people believe it's a worthwhile thing to aspire to.

Don't even get me started on the "talent" shows !!!

Stand And Deliver !

2007-01-03T09:36:00.000Z

Well, seeing as I stole one of his lyrics for the title of my blog, I guess it's only fitting that my first proper post is an Adam Ant related one :o)

I've just finished reading his autobiography, "Stand And Deliver" (which I got for Christmas) and a most fascinating read it is too. I've been a fan since the late 70's when, as a young and very impressionable child, his music and style spoke to me like no one else had since The Beatles. Until I saw Adam, I had only ever wanted "to be" Paul McCartney, playing bass. Within a few months of being exposed to Adam, I knew I was to be a drummer. I instantly connected with Adam's ideals, his mindset and his music. Sure, it wasn't deep & meaningful stuff, it wasn't the angry political punk or social commentaries offered by certain Ska bands, but it was pure showmanship, total theatre and deeply fascinating. I got all kinds of stick for dressing up in a similar fashion, although I'm sure my mum actually liked it !

Sadly, what many people think of when they hear the name Adam Ant now, is of a crazy old 80's hasbeen, and they could be no further from the truth. Suffering from Bi-polar disorder, Adam has been through a personal hell and has been suffering for a lot longer than many would know. His personal "fix" was to work his bollox off and spend time flying around the world and moving from one relationship to another. Some if his descriptions were very familiar having suffered from a form of depression myself.

The book is a revelation and also a confirmation of many things. It's highly interesting, not only bringing back many fond memories of those times but also filling in blanks about his life & the music industry which had often evaded me.

Hopefully, the new compilation DVD will be waiting for me when I get home tonight and the memories will really come flooding back.

So, I guess a welcome is in order...

2007-01-02T21:45:00.000Z

After fellow blogger Gamma Goblin made the suggestion, here is my new, non music related blog. A place where I can sound off, vent my spleen, spit venom, sing praises, be political, be contoversial, be a tosser, be in total control and simply not give a flying fuck :o)

What can you expect ? Hmmmm, not sure, to be perfectly honest. There will be all sorts I hope. Anything that wouldn't fit on my other blog, Failed Muso, and stuff that I tend to post in other blogs comments, which is why GG suggested it in the first place !

The other day, whilst pondering this blog and it's creation, I could think of a myriad things to put in here. Now I'm a bit stumped. Funny how moods take you, isn't it ?

I'm determined to keep this regular. I keep a lot of pent up frustration about the world, society and things that piss me off, so I'm hoping this will be a cathartic process for me.

By all means comment on any post you find that inspires you to do so, but be honest, dignified and not afraid to stand by anything you say. That means that anonymous bollox will, for the most part, not be welcome or tolerated. Have the courage to stand by your opinions (as long as they are informed opinions) and be counted. Anonymity is the shield of the uneducated and ignorant. Ultimately, this is MY blog, MY webspace and MY little corner of cyberspace. I have the final say, and if you don't like it, deal with it or fuck off ;o)

So there you go. I hope you enjoy reading my shit. I hope that maybe you will take something from here. I hope that you may learn something from here, if not from me, from something you find via this place. Feel free to link to posts here. All I ask is for credit where I am the original author, and if I am not, then please credit the person who is.

And for anyone wondering about the name, it comes from the Adam Ant song Zerox. It's an all time favourite of mine, and whose lyrics are extremely relevant today. However, this is in no way whatsoever an Adam Ant fansite/blog/place of worship. There are plenty of really good places for that, namely adam-ant.net. I am a fan, and have been for nearly 30 years, but I just nicked the title as I thought it fitted with my ethos. Why did I choose it for my blog title ? Well, I am becoming increasingly convinced that all I do in life is pick up information from all over the place and then copy it for others to enjoy. I am also increasingly convinced that this is what we all seem to do in one form or another. I might expand on this theory later but for now, why not get hold of a copy of Zerox and enjoy some antmusic ;)

Thanks for stopping by. And as my daughter is very fond of saying at the moment, see you soon.