MickipediaThe education of Micki Krimmel

8 Ecofriendly Facebook Applications - Fresh Greens (usnews.com)

MUTO, a wall-painted animation by BLU

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

blublu.org

via Bartknows

Fatty fatty facebook.

I rarely use Facebook. Myspace even less. It’s my own fault. I’ve ruined these services for myself by accepting too many friends. They have now become useless. I need a way to set levels of friends. Some people should be invited into the outer circles of my world without being given the key to my soul. I don’t value a YouTube “friend” the same as my boyfriend. Sorry, but I’m more interested in what my boyfriend has to say. At least typically… It’s too much work to customize my experience on Facebook and Myspace and in the meantime I’m overloaded with too much crap. Who are these people anyway? It’s a shame too because I’m missing out on some real connections with actual friends.

Facebook is just too fat. Every time I open it, I feel this huge weight drop on me. Oh shit, I’m gonna have to dig through a million messages to find anything important. I don’t give a fuck about who owns me as a pet or who threw what at me. It’s simple, really. I SHOULD BE ABLE TO CONTROL MY OWN GODDAMNED EXPERIENCE. I should be able to tell you what I care about and that should define how Facebook looks to me. Don’t get me started on YouTube. I can’t even bring myself to open that shit.

Email is the same. Messages are sent to these pits to die. If you need to get in touch with me right away, call me. Twitter me. IM me. Do something where you know I will receive the message in a timely manner. How did email become the de facto mode of communication? How do you know I’m checking my email? What if I don’t check it today? Then what happens to your message? How does it become my fault that I didn’t respond to your stupid email? By sending a message to the pit of death, you are making assumptions about MY behavior. You are assuming that I’m going to be checking my email today. You assume that I read my facebook messages. How am I supposed to know which email/facebook messages are worth reading? Do you really want to mix up your important message with all the spam from YouTubers?

I’m the one that has to manage all this shit. I’m the one that has to decide who to respond to and when. Why do my tools put all the power in the hands of the people sending me messages? Why do I feel powerless when I’m opening MY email/MY facebook/MY myspace?

Sorry for the rant. If I owe you an email, try calling me instead. kthxbai.

See also.

LADD Sirens vs. Fight Crew

link

Summer hiatus is over! The teams are practicing again and the next bout is just around the corner. Get your tickets now, VIP seats are selling out fast!

As for me, I’ve been out of practice for most of this month thanks to 1) a badly sprained ankle and 2) a horrible ear infection. Both are on the mend now. Try outs are tomorrow! I’m not feeling as confident as I have been but I’m gonna give it a shot. I figure the worst that could happen is I don’t make it. That means another few months as Fresh Meat. That ain’t so bad. I can still skate which is all that really matters. I can’t wait to get back on the track! So wish me luck tomorrow! I’ll check in and let you know how it goes.

Chasing the Flame

Have you ever heard of Sergio Vieira de Mello? Over the next two years, three high profile media products (book, documentary, feature film) will tell his story. Vieira de Mello was a long time UN diplomat and widely respected human rights advocate. He was killed in a suicide bomb attack in Iraq in 2003. This week marks the 5 year anniversary of his untimely death and the launch of a campaign created in his honor, Chasing the Flame.

…a new campaign designed to educate Americans on Sergio’s life and lessons … and using his story to ignite a dynamic constituency that demands a smarter foreign policy for the United States.

Fueled by the trilogy of media projects, this campaign will educate, connect and activate a new constituency using an advanced online presence and a series of offline initiatives including in-person events and media outreach.

Created by my friends at Cause & Affect, Chasing the Flame got underway this week with the launch of the blog. Samantha Power, Pulitzer-prize winning author of Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World, introduced the campaign:

We launched this site on the five year anniversary of Sergio’s death because it didn’t seem adequate to light yet another candle, to reminisce about his successes and failures in the field, or to celebrate the remarkable A Team that was killed or wounded with him in Baghdad. This year, five years after the attack, with Russian troops having invaded Georgia, humanitarian workers being targeted in Afghanistan, and so few of the lessons of Sergio’s life heeded in geopolitical circles, it seemed a good moment to try to generate a debate on how dignity and security could best be promoted in foreign policy today.

While alive, Sergio was known as the “go to guy,” and these days the absence of such a go-to person is felt daily. The United States and Europe are speaking with multiple voices on the Russian invasion. Rivalry and differences among China, Russia and the United States have greatly undermined the Security Council and its capacity to meet this and other threats to international peace and security…

If the events of the past few years have piqued your interest in foreign policy, please join Samantha Power and the growing group of scholars, activists, humanitarians and citizens from around the world to discuss how this movement can have the greatest impact possible. Make your voice heard at chasingtheflame.org.

Advertising’s Image of Women

My favorite part about this video is that I had to prove I was 18 to watch it. “This video may not be suitable for minors.” Too bad minors don’t have to sign off on the advertising.

link to video

Jean Kilbourne’s pioneering work helped develop and popularize the study of gender representation in advertising. Her award-winning Killing us Softly films have influenced millions of college and high school students across two generations and on an international scale. In this important new film, Kilbourne reviews if and how the image of women in advertising has changed over the last 20 years.

With wit and warmth, Kilbourne uses over 160 ads and TV commercials to critique advertising’s image of women. By fostering creative and productive dialogue, she invites viewers to look at familiar images in a new way, that moves and empowers them to take action.

Thanks, Irina, for sharing this.

Kevin Kelly — The Technium

Happiness as Your Business Model

The future of Web Browsing by JJG

Aurora (Part 1) from Adaptive Path on Vimeo.

Paris for President

Happiness as Your Business Model

Atheist Richard Dawkins blames Muslims for 'importing creationism' into classrooms | Mail Online

America’s Addiction and the New Economics of Strategy - Umair Haque

You've got too much e-mail - Los Angeles Times

SoCal earthquake a powerful reminder of Twitter’s potential; VentureBeat