May the Link Be With You

404 page from GitHub.

Goodbye, Facebook

Got this email yesterday:

Account Scheduled for Deletion
   
Hi Mike,

We have received a request to permanently delete your account. Your account has been deactivated from the site and will be permanently deleted within 14 days.

If you did not request to permanently delete your account, please login to Facebook to cancel this request:

https://www.facebook.com/login.php


Thanks,
The Facebook Team

---

I had deactivated my Facebook account several times over the course of the last few days but kept getting signed in, mostly by forums which use the Facebook comment module, but I had also signed in (and reactivated it) to let a few of my friends know about my decision, those who didn't have my email address.  I didn't want to make some grand announcement, just like those who proclaim "I'm leaving this group!".

There are multiple reasons, the main one being that of privacy and how Facebook tracks you across the Internet, namely with the aforementioned comment module.  Also, I found that Facebook had closed several groups and pages I followed and the only reason they had done so was because they were pro-conservative or anti-liberal/progressive. Their site, their rules, their reasons, but I don't have to put up with that and refuse to do so.  Privacy is rare on the 'net but I won't surrender any more than I need to.

Another important reason was an annoyance; why would people send you a friendship request and then ignore you?  They wouldn't even like a post of mine much less leave a comment under them.  Now, I don't desperately need the attention, but I would comment or like a post on their pages because I wanted them to know I was reading them and I KNOW they had time to at least click the "Like" button because some of them posted multiple times during the day. 

And, speaking of posting, right before I decided to get off Facebook, one woman I know posted 27 different links in the course of fifteen minutes.  That was a record but it was nothing to see a dozen or more posts in a day from her and thanks to Facebook's strange algorithm, they filled up my feed and I didn't see anything from anyone else.   I use an AdBlock extension plus a nifty Greasemonkey script from FB Purity that let me customize my feed, but Facebook was always changing some script to defeat the way I wanted to view their website. It just got to be a hassle.

Anyway, it was astounding how often some folks would post; an old classmate would post dozens of photos of a grandson's baseball game and while  I understand her excitement, I'm not sure why she expected ME to have the same enthusiasm.  I also didn't want to see endless photos of another woman's puppy - sure, it was cute, but not any cuter after 50 photos of the same damn dog.  I also didn't care about someone posting they were eating at a particular restaurant, esp. if they didn't do a review of the food or post a photo of it.

While Facebook is a good way to keep up with old friends and kinfolk, what's wrong with an email now 'n then? I know nobody is going to write a letter and they'd rather text than actually talk to someone but Facebook is akin to trying to be a sniper using a 12 gauge shotgun...you're going to scatter your shots so far apart you'll be lucky to hit anyone.

So, adios, Facebook.  I didn't waste a LOT of time using it, but I wish I had that time back. Oh well, live and learn.

My Sturdy Heart

Your Imperfect Heart is Sturdy

Your heart is imperfect because it is so self-controlled. You are patient and willing to wait for love.

You are not judgmental or biased. You love people for who they are, and you are very empathetic. You forgive easily.

You are lighthearted and optimistic, perhaps too much so sometimes. You would rather get burned than distrust someone all the time.

Your approach to love is both wise as the ages and modern as can be. You are likely to enjoy an untraditional relationship of some sort.

The Imperfect Heart Test

---

I could go on and be very specific to each statement in the result, but will instead say that nearly all  of them are wrong.   I'd say my heart was "hard" now instead of sturdy;  even a rock can shatter when dropped from a lofty height.

What a Leg-acy!

American gymnast George Eyser won six medals during the 1924 Summer Olympics, despite having lost his left leg as a young boy after being run over by a train.   Wearing a wooden prosthesis,  he won gold in the vault, an event which then included a jump over a long horse without aid of a springboard.

This is definitely one case of NOT having a leg up on the competition!

Passion Purpura

Passion purpura - the medical term for a hickey.

Ever played that "either/or" game when you were a kid?  "Would you rather be blind or crippled?" or things like that.   I remember this one:

"Which is worse?  Going to kiss your grandma and she slips you the tongue...or a hickey on a hemorrhoid?"

Post-Eclipse Eye Test