Nadnerb

Often when writing a blog there are moments of writers block where the best thing you can do is write a post about not being able to write a post. The infamous I have nothing to write about post has been used time and time again and will always be a standby for beginning bloggers. The best thing to write about when you feel like you have nothing is nothing. It’s not always neccessary to have a prize winning post, so even if you find something short and random it is better to post instead of waiting to post some journalistic masterpiece. 

I have many of these moments, and although the urge to write nothing is there, I can’t be a hypocrite. I get angry when I see other people do it and I want people to stop writing post about nothing.  If you really want to start a blog the best thing to do is pick a topic. For instince, this blog has kind of turned into a blog about teaching people how to blog. I am in no way a seasoned blogger and I haven’t really carved a niche for myself.  I wanted this blog to be about lots of things including my love of music, movies, random things on the web, and what I do in my life. Hopefully I can still write about that stuff. So if you have a blog or are thinking about starting one, write about what you want and don’t worry about whether or not your readers like it or what they have to comment on. Make sure your grammar and spelling are correct though or people like my mom will make fun of you. Happy blogging and enjoy writing.

Recently, Facebook has gotten into some hot water over changing their terms of service (TOS) and removing the clause that said when you removed your page all licenses we be reverted to you. But why should you care?
“You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content. ”
This is not a big deal, because you never really planned on deleting your account anytime soon did you? Almost every social networking site has a similar clause. This is really nothing new that they have done. It’s logical to say that they won’t do anything, but why was it necessary to change? If you have an argument with these changes the only thing that you can really question is why they changed the TOS.
While this may be uncool, it’s perfectly legal. There is also a part in the terms of service that says they have the right to change the terms without any notice.
“We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change or delete portions of these Terms at any time without further notice. Your continued use of the Facebook Service after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms.”
Ok, lets get this straight. Facebook changed their terms of service on February fourth. THE FOURTH, not the 14th or 15th. It’s been almost two weeks since this happened. I find it appalling that mainstream media haven’t noticed it since today. Aaron Hockley blogged about this February 9th and nobody seemed to pay attention. He mustn’t have been the only people looking at it then. Why did it take people so long to catch on to it? This proves the fact that a fervor can be created just by a few words (or withdrawal of words). There are now at least 3 different anti-changes groups within facebook and Mark Zuckerberg has published a statement pretty much saying that they did this to make it more secure and clarify why they have these terms of service².
If you ever uploading something on Facebook that you actually thought could make you some money, I have no sympathy for you. Why would anybody willingly give away rights to something that they think could make money? I have many pictures uploaded to facebook. I don’t think any of them are particularly newsworthy or interesting enough to make money from. Facebook will not use your pictures to defame you, that’s common logic. It is never in a companies best interest to make their customers look bad. If that’s why you are complaining then forget it. They won’t release pictures you delete to the public and they have never been shown to sell deleted pictures to tabloids. Ok, maybe they have, but I couldn’t find a source. They make millions of dollars.  In 2008 Facebook was projected to make 300-350 million dollars¹. They don’t need tabloid money. It’s too bad that  they legally own the pictures you have already uploaded, but if you didn’t read the TOS before you signed up, that’s your problem, not theirs.
Facebook is a social media site that thrives on user created content. If you didn’t want to share it with the rest of the world, you never had to post it. It’s each users responsibility to post responsibly. (oohh, I get to be redundant).
People need to pay attention to the sites that they use and make sure that they are comfortable letting a corporation like facebook have the ability to publish, produce, perform and do other crap with what you have created. I have no problem with what Facebook has of mine and I have never posted anything that I really felt was special, except for maybe some concert pictures. If you have a problem with what they have done, tell me, I want to hear a good argument against what has changed. Or back me up if you don’t really have a problem with it.

Please note that I am not an expert on this and I may be missing some key facts. I would really like to know more and if you can give me any more information I would gladly appreciate it.  If I made a mistake, please correct me.

Not really much to talk about (or aboot). It’s St. Patrick’s day and things are good. Being Irish and all I did what every other Irish person does and say yeah it’s st. paddy’s day, woot! I found this great list on omglists.com that I thought was perfect for today. I’ll give you the condensed report but click the link for more.

Top 6 signs you’re NOT Irish:

6-you drink green beer
5-You pinch people who aren’t wearing green
4-You celebrate at an English pub
3-You drink Guinness for the first time in a year
2-You wear something with an “Irish” quote on it. (along the lines of kiss me I’m Irish)
1-You don’t even know why you are celebrating

And now my own:
Top 6 signs you ARE Irish:

6-You’re drinking just because it’s another day
5-You criticize the step dancing because you’ve been there
4-You’re not wearing any green on purpose
3-You nearly forgot it was a day to celebrate.
2-You actually know who St. Patrick is (check the wiki, it’s correct)
1-You hate the fact that the one day Ireland has, has been Americanized and destroyed.

If you got better lists leave them in the comments. Portland has a pretty big Irish community and is able to boast about having the most Irish Pubs in the west. But places that started off truly Irish(I’m looking at you Kells) have turned into something that caters to what America has said about St. Pat’s day. I find it disgusting that many people just see it as an excuse to get drunk. Yeah it may be a stereotype that Ireland has, but it should not be the think we celebrate. It’s great that there are organizations like the All Ireland Cultural Society that bring the truly Irish people together that want to have a good time and remember what Ireland is really about. Ireland is a great country that gets much less distinction that it deserves. There are many pubs that are trying to recreate what Irish pubs are really like, and most of them are just great places to be at any day. I think that if I went to downtown Portland, nearly half of the people there would say something about getting snakes out of Ireland. Good to note that there have never been snakes or reptiles in Ireland and most people don’t know why they celebrate. Oh and Guinness is not the only Irish beer. But on a side note, the drink known as an Irish Car Bomb is great. Half shot bailey’s, half shot irish whiskey, put the two in on shot class and then drop it in a half full pint of guinness, drink it all at once. It’s delicious. That’s really all I have to say. Keep it real P-town. If anyone reads this, click on the links, maybe I can get a real site sometime.

I had an interesting conversation with my family the other day. I said that Pirates 3 was really a bad movie when you try to analyze it. Then she brought up a good point. Shouldn’t we just be seeing movies to have a good time. In general we take critics reviews far too heavily and follow whatever they say. Sometimes they are right, but most of the time everyone disagrees with them. I know that there have been many times when I see a movie they said was horrible but I really enjoyed it. We all need to remember that movies are supposed to be enjoyed no matter what the acting is like or how good or bad the visual effects are. If I make a movie I don’t want people trying to analyze what I meant by doing something. I just made a movie because I wanted to. So please go see movies because they look interesting. But please stop going to stupid movies. Like anything that ends in movie (scary,date, not another teen, etc.) its not worth your time and you should not be giving these people money. And my rant is done. Have a nice day, maybe yours can be better than mine.