Maniacal Rage: The Problem with Facebook's "Places"

Here’s the thing about Facebook that really gets under my skin: They are slowly incorporating the features from every other independent web application on the internet. This is not inherently a problem—companies get bigger and they begin to have the resources to widen their feature set—the issue…

I wholeheartedly agree. Facebook Places is incredibly boring. It literally does nothing but check you in to places and let your friends know where you are. You should be pissed off that boring things like this get super popular because of their installed user based. But in Facebook’s defense, the Facebook Places has a lot of potential due to the sizable user base and the stuff we’re already sharing on/with Facebook.

While I find Facebook Places boring, I’m not ready to write it off, yet. Places (as I will refer to it from now on, with the capital ‘P’), I wouldn’t call it an offensive gesture to check in services. In fact, I think Places will bring a lot of users who’ve ignored Gowalla and Foursquare into the checkin app fold. As a fan of checking in to places, this can only be a good thing.

I’m also certain that Facebook is taking an Apple-esque approach with Places, starting with the bare minimum and expanding outward based on what how people seem to be using it. Sure, Places 1.0 may be boring, but once we can start Place-tagging our photos, notes, statuses, and even friend connections, this might get more interesting.

I mean, how cool would it be to accept a friend request and tag it as a friend you met at a conference or at a coffee shop?

I don’t see Facebook ever getting into rewarding users with real-world prizes and collectible virtual items like Gowalla or, to a lesser extent, offering frequent patron titles like Foursquare, but that’s not really the point. Facebook doesn’t need to make a game out of checking in. They’ve already got the users and games isn’t really Facebook’s things.

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-8-22)

  1. CatCall (23)
  2. Beck (6)
  3. Gnarls Barkley (6)
  4. Northern State (5)
  5. Wu-Tang Clan (3)

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

Inkling - Interactive textbooks for iPad

chartier:

Brilliant:

Textbooks don’t have to be text. They don’t have to be books.

thedailywhat: Simpsonized Thing of the Day: “Scott Pilgrim Vs Springfield” — professional Simpsonizer Dean Fraser provides Total Film with a few exclusive renditions of Scott Pilgrim characters as residents of Springfield, USA. [totalfilm.]

thedailywhat:

Simpsonized Thing of the Day: “Scott Pilgrim Vs Springfield” — professional Simpsonizer Dean Fraser provides Total Film with a few exclusive renditions of Scott Pilgrim characters as residents of Springfield, USA.

[totalfilm.]

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-8-15)

  1. CatCall (12)
  2. Bush (5)
  3. Wu-Tang Clan (2)
  4. Hootie and the Blowfish (1)
  5. No Doubt (1)

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

Picplz — Mobile camera, Twitter, and Foursquare checkin rolled into one

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

6,050 plays

topherchris:

Scala & Kolacny Brothers — Creep (Radiohead cover)

(via topherchris)

Creep has got to be one of the most-covered songs on the planet. Still, the original is so good that the covers are all pretty special on their own.

This is the Scala & Kolacny version, made popular in the recent trailer for “The Social Network”.

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

13 plays

“WE ARE SEX BOB-OMB!! ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!!!!”

I can’t tell you enough times how much I loved Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. I’m going to avoid doing a post on just how amazing the movie was and instead get into how amazing the movie’s music is.

The score is amazing. Definitely worth getting, even if you’re not into scores. The fight music is pretty great.

After finishing the books, I was a little concerned about how they were going to handle all the bands that appear in the book and how they were going to make.

Needless to say, they nailed it.

Sex Bob-Omb (which is pretty terrible in the comic) had their music done by Beck with vocals by Mark Webber (Stephen Stills). Crash and the Boys’ music (including the 13 second track, “I’m So Sad, So Very, Very, Sad”) was provided by Broken Social Scene, and Clash at Demon Head was provided by Metric with vocals by Allison Brie (Envy/Natalie Adams).

heatherdshelton:

thedailywhat:

Bieber-Seeking Missile of the Day: J. Biebs gets nailed hard with a water bottle during an appearance sponsored by Sacramento’s 107.9 The End.

[reddit.]

He deserved it. His lyric (notice it’s not plural) is obnoxious.

Look, I know it’s “hip” to hate on the Beib’ these days. But let’s face it. Most of you aren’t going to do anything about it but mock that song he has and comment on how lady-like he looks.

Well friends, it appears as if someone finally stepped up and said “No. I’m going to do something about this.” and hurled they’re weaponized water bottle at the Beib’s suspiciously covered forehead.

There’s hope, humanity. There’s hope.

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-7-25)

  1. Broken Social Scene (16)
  2. M.I.A. (11)
  3. Hard-Fi (6)
  4. Daft Punk (5)
  5. Soulja Boy Tell Em (3)

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz