Jetcrack

If someone invites you to download the "Jetman" program on your Facebook account, do NOT do it. You will sit for hours playing a silly little game that makes Pacman look like Halo3 in terms of complexity and storytelling.

Is Facebook Really Worth $15 Billion?

Apparently Microsoft believes that it is. I'm not sure whether this is a testament to the power of the social networking site or whether this is just the beginnings of another internet bubble. Facebook exploded so fast that I wonder whether it may end up being just a fad. Yes, it's exciting to encounter all these people you haven't seen in ages, it makes the first couple months of a Facebook membership fun. Inevitably though, the rate of finding friends wanes once you get closer to adding everyone you've ever known. This is not to say that it isn't still without its appeal, I just wonder what we'll think about Facebook in a couple years.

Virtually a Great City

Apparently Toronto has one of the highest concentrations of Facebook users anywhere in the world. At least we can be a leader in something. Too bad it's not efficient transportation or enjoyable waterfront or evening a winning hockey team.

COPS! ...on Facebook

Some kids were going to hold a bush party in Tillsonburg, unfortunately for them, they decided to announce it on Facebook. Guess what happened.

Why (Global) Villages Suck

Think about that term, "global village," it sounds warm and fuzzy, doesn't it? We all like villages, there's Santa's Village in Bracebridge, Value Village to buy your hipster skinny pants for $2, and the Village People who'll tell you where you can hang out with all the boys.

I think villages though are overrated. I think villages (and indeed all smaller centers, be they "hamlets," "corners," or "towns") are overrated for reasons that are now becoming apparent in the aforementioned global village. In a smaller center, everyone knows what everyone else is doing and what everyone else is saying. Harper (or at least his lackey, Stephen Taylor) is freaking out that his minions are saying things on Facebook that might somehow reflect badly on his government.

Until Facebook (which IDs everyone by their real name) the internet was far more akin to a metropolis than it was to a village. You could make up a name and commit the digital equivalent of flipping off another city-dweller in traffic. Your blog/myspace/whatever was the political/musical/cultural equivalent of yelling "nice turn-signal use, asshole!" out the car window on a crowded street. No one would know who you were or what you did.

Now your every Facebook utterance is traceable to you. It's a village, and now we are finding the idiots.