Random

• Everyone seems to love Facebook. But frankly the emperor isn't wearing any clothes. There are four reasons why I find Facebook annoying -- even five:
1. You have to log in in order to access information -- just like AOL was in the early days.
2. The set-up is counter intuitive to me. I'm still trying to figure out which link goes where -- why messages people send to me never show up in my box -- and I've been playing with it for months.
3. It's become a spam and virus conduit.
4. The interface is boring and blue.
5. There are all of these meaningless "causes." For example, awareness of green issues is good but there are people who actually think they're doing something about global warming by sending bits of green cyber fluff back and forth.

I'm not bailing (yet). So many people connect there that I will continue to put up with it because I like the people. But going to Facebook is not a satisfying experience for me.

• Facebook, which isn't really making any money, is trying to buy Twitter, which isn't really making any money either. I do like Twitter -- but for the life of me can't figure out how they think they're going to make enough money to stay in business. What's the business model? ~ link

• Mesa, Arizona is trying to fix itself by building a new city center southeast of the old city, and the Economist has taken note. ~ link