http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/fd9ffd9c-dee5-11de-adff-00144feab49a.html

So I was reading the above article about the "rise and fall" of MySpace, which is basically a relic now. I thought this paragraph totally hit the nail on the head:

The two sides differ profoundly over where responsibility lies for the site’s decline. Former MySpace executives say News Corp dragged its feet over implementing Ajax, a program that allows users to send a message, an e-mail or to post a comment on their friends’ pages without having to open a new browser window. Facebook was quick to embrace Ajax but MySpace did not follow suit, partly because to do so would have reduced the number of page views the site generated and therefore its advertising revenue. “It would take five steps to post a comment or send a message, so five different pages would open,” explains another former executive. “There would be ads on each of those pages, so we were making money. We went to News Corp and said: ‘We want to change this but in the short term our revenues will drop.’ It became a long back and forth. [They] were pushing back – they wanted to make sure we weren’t going to drop our revenue numbers.”

Basically, on Facebook, you can do just about everything from one page. You hardly even have to scroll down. The other day I wanted to search for my friend Emily's MySpace page. She's not in my top friends, so first I had to scroll to the bottom of the page and click "all" under friends, then go to the letter "E" under my friends list, then find her profile. On Facebook, if I want to search for a friend, I just start typing their name in the search bar and it pops up. I'm there in one click.

Updates are the same. Everything's in a single feed on Facebook, but on MySpace, you have to click separate links for comments, updates, bulletins, blogs, etc. And in Facebook you get a real-time notification that allows you to go to view new updates with one click.

MySpace has tried to fix some of this stuff by making incremental improvements in their home page, but it's too little, too late. They need a complete re-design of how the site works. They deliberately sacrificed usability for short-term ad revenue, so when Facebook came along with a much simpler and easy to use interface, people didn't need to waste time on MySpace anymore.

I still check my MySpace. But I don't keep up with my friends with it; that's what Facebook is for. I don't really blog much anymore, because since my friends so rarely check MySpace, nobody really reads them. Basically, I keep up with bands on here. That's about it.

So. Add me on Facebook if you haven't already: facebook.com/mikebot. Peace out biznitches.

Hey, a myspace blog that no one will read! Woohoo! Man... I miss this part of MySpace.

Anyballs, I used to be really down on iTunes movies. $10 for movies with no extra features that can't be burned to a DVD? Come on. Really.

But I've sort of changed my tune. You can get HD movies now, and they've started including the DVD extras. Everyone knows that Blu-ray is going to have a short lifespan, because digital distribution is the way of the future. iTunes HD movies are cheaper than Blu-Ray movies too.

And yeah, you can only burn them to a data DVD, but if I ever want a TV (ha!) you can get Apple TV. But I'd probably just get a bigger monitor, or even hook up my PC directly to my TV before I did any of that.

So yeah. I say this as I'm about to buy Star Trek. Awesome movie. HD + extras. $20. Doesn't sound so unreasonable.

I spent some time overhauling my blasphemous, evil atheism blog. I added some features to make it easier to navigate and find content, stuck a feedburner link at the top, and tried to make it just a little sexier. Just a little though, because I don't want to risk making it too sexy. Someone could get hurt.

Anyway, check it out. Hopefully it makes you think. The blog I mean, not the redesign. Well, maybe the redesign too. Whatever. Prepare the goat!

http://apostasies.blogspot.com

I am constantly exposing myself to new music. Just this week I've bought two Opeth albums (old ones), a Bloodbath album and EP, the two songs currently available from Scar Symmetry's forthcoming album, and an album by a Brazillian virtuoso guitarist named Kiko Loureiro. I've also been hopping around MySpace, listening to random stuff like Owl City. When I discover new music, I really listen to it thoroughly and try to soak up the subtleties and nuances that the composers were trying to embed in their songs.  

But sometimes, I rediscover those old obsessions and I remember how amazing they are to me. Recently, I've been on an Opeth kick. I haven't really listened to them much since I obsessively saturated my speakers with Watershed after it came out last year. Then some random memory prompted me to pop in Ghost Reveries, which is probably my favorite album of theirs. It was like listening to it for the first time again, and I was totally captivated by it.  Not too many bands can serenade you with classical guitars, jazz-infused solos, melodic vocal harmonies or a solitary piano one moment and erupt into death growls and blast beats the next, all intertwined in the same 10-minute song.

Some bands just impact you in a way that's impossible to imitate. And sometimes no matter what other musical obsessions you find, you keep coming back to those ones that really captivated you when you first discovered them. For me, only a handful of bands have done that consistently — Opeth's genre-defying beauty, Children of Bodom's blazing speed and virtuosic guitar/keyboard duels, Behemoth's tightly orchestrated chaos, or Scar Symmetry's incredible vocal and guitar work. No matter how much I busy myself with new obsessions, something keeps pulling me back to those bands, and the experience of their music is never stale.  And yet, I keep listen to new music, buying new albums and trying new genres. Because I never know when I'll find something worth re-discovering.

I still check this old thing every day. Mainly because it's bookmarked. If you haven't added me on Facebook already, WTF is your problem? Do you hate me? Well FUCK YOU. I hate you too! And your mom! Seriously though, add me on Facebook. Sorry to Tom, since he basically turned the whole social networking thing into a massive cultural phenomenon, but Facebook's just a bit better (actually, a lot better) for keeping up with people.

BUT, MySpace is not without its charms. Sure, its hips are a little wide, and its face is kind of homely and plain, but it's still kind of sexy when the lights are off. Wait, what was I talking about? Oh yeah! Meat.

I realized that I have problems with buying meat, and I should maybe not do it anymore. Not because I want to become a vagi... errr, vegetarian, but because I am lazy. Thus purchased meat has a tendency to sit in my fridge and spoil before I remember to cook it. Being a single guy, I don't cook fancy meals a whole lot. Just give me some peanut butter and a spoon and I'm content. So I buy meat thinking that I will cook an amazing meat-based dinner, then I procrastinate, then I just forget, then I open my fridge and think, that's weird, I don't remember farting. And I have to throw out all this spoiled meat and spray Febreze all over my apartment. I feel bad. I cry. Jesus smites me. I cry some more. Stupid meat.

So, yeah folks, that's my life. Meat and guilt. I still play guitar a ton. I still cannot play 14 notes per second like Alexi Laiho, but godfuckingdammit, I'm working on it. I'm working out a lot, and actually have lost weight in my quest to be Jason Statham's stunt double (sans thinning coif). I met a pretty girl recently, and I like her a lot, possibly even more than my guitar. Also, you know how in so many of my pics I have a five o'clock shadow, or in some cases a beard that looks like it's made out of rusty brillow pads? Well, I'm not really doing that anymore. Turns out I don't hate my face.

Anyway, that's all you get. I'm going to shower and then begrudgingly drag myself to Walmart to get the two stupid things I forgot last time. Go die! Just kidding. Come over and help me eat all this meat, then go die. Which you may, given the state of the meat.

- Mike

I did this a few years back... I think for my 25th. It seems like, with the big 3-0 having just passed, I thought it would be a fine time to reflect on some of what I've gotten out of being around for so damn long. As it happens, I had a hell of a time thinking of thirty things, so maybe I need to start a bucket list or something.

1. Flakey, mean, douchebaggy and assholish people are simply not worth your time. Cut them out of your life completely and never look back.

2. Most people are good people.

3. Pancakes taste better when shaped like letters.

4. When you find something you're passionate about, go for it. Give it everything you have, and you won't regret it. The only failure is not trying.

5. Find the humor in everything, most of all your own life.

6. Telling yourself to "be more confident" is like telling yourself to "be happier". It's worthless advice. If you develop competence, confidence will follow.

7. When you fuck up, don't beat yourself up. Life happens, and sometimes it's hard and it hurts... a lot. Forgiving other people is important, but nothing's more important than learning to forgive yourself. Forgive, learn, and grow.

8. Everyone dresses to fit in. Try dressing to stand out.

9. When you're in a relationship with someone, trust them. If you can't bring yourself to do that, get out. Life is too short to do things half-assed, especially love. 

10. That thing you know deep down you really want to do but you're afraid of regretting it? Suck it up and live a little.

11. There's no right way to be happy. If dancing makes you happy, dance. If creating music makes you happy, create music. If playing World of Warcraft makes you happy, you may need a girlfriend.

12. If you make a promise, keep it. If you make plans and ask for a raincheck at the last minute, make good on the raincheck.

13. Fashion is important, as is creativity. And, above all else, wearing clothes that fit.

14. You don't have to impress anyone. Let them like you for who you are. Trust me, they'll be plenty impressed.

15. Some acts of kindness are too great, too selfless, to pay back. So, spend the rest of your life paying it forward.

16. Don't give in to wishful thinking and superstition. Use your brain.

17. It's okay to be dedicated. But don't be obsessed. A good life requires balance

18. To make a proper hard boiled egg, place the eggs in cold water and bring it to a boil. Cover, turn off the stove, and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Dump the water and cover the eggs with ice water.

19. When it comes to culture, have an open mind. Go to the opera. Listen to the death metal album. Try the obscure ethnic cuisine. You will always find plenty of stuff you don't like. But every now and then, you'll be surprised.

20. Don't make excuses for why you're not happy. You have only yourself to blame.

21. If you need to feel sad for a while, feel sad for a while.

22. Don't spend so much time taking care of other people that you forget to take care of yourself

23. You are not okay to drive after those drinks.

24. Alcohol is expensive, and you know what you get in return for your investment? Gynocomastia, a thinner wallet, headaches, unnecessary drama, and bad sex with unattractive people.

25. I don't care what anybody says, guys wearing girls' jeans is one of the worst fashion trends ever, and it accompanied some of the worst music ever.

26. Sometimes you have to try things more than once. A great many of my favorite things took a few tries.

27. If you really want something, get it, even if you have to make sacrifices elsewhere to afford it. Anyone who says money can't buy happiness has never played a USA-made custom guitar.

28. When it's obvious that someone is not arguing with reason and logic, don't even try to engage them.

29. You can't change people's minds. You can lead them in the right direction, but they have to think for themselves.

30. Learn to be comfortable being alone. But not too comfortable.

Dear Everyone Else,

Please, get off the @#$%& road. It's become clear that common-sense rules and etiquette of driving have escaped you, and not only are you a danger to me, but you're really annoying the hell out of me, too. Look, most of my daily drive to work takes place on single-lane roads, and hardly a day goes by when I don't see you swerving erratically — often into the oncoming traffic lane — because, I find upon closer inspection, you are so busy rummaging through those important papers you tossed carelessly into the passenger's seat or taking that important phone call that you don't really have time to pay attention to the road. Hey, I get it. You're important. Things have to get done. But really, I don't want to be late for work because I had to call 911 after you drifted into oncoming traffic or drove off the road, and I'm really not too eager to see (other) people hurt or killed because your car is a mobile office. So if you don't plan on using the car for, ya know, driving, please, get off the @#$%& road.

And let's talk about some basic rules of driving etiquette, yes? First of all, when the speed limit is 40, you do not go 25, especially in a single-lane road. I realize that with everything else you have to do besides driving it can be hard to pay attention doing 40, but some of us have places to be, and I'm pretty sure I didn't see Ms. Daisy in your car. And is it really too much to ask that, when changing lanes, you use your signal? Once you've already swerved into the left turn lane in front of me at the last minute, it's really not that big of a deal that you turn your signal on. I mean, I pretty much figured that out from the fact that you are now in the left turn lane and I had to slam on my brakes to avoid plowing into your rear bumper.

Oh! And you know how you look really awesome in that new Corvette and you want to speed ahead of all the other cars at the intersection when two lanes are about to merge into a single one? I know, no one wants to be last in line, and hey, as long as you are willing to hit the pedal hard and get ahead of everyone, it's no sweat off my sack. But if you're going to try to merge ahead of people, don't just drift aimlessly in the shrinking right lane and expect me to slow down to let your impatient ass in. We both know that you're only shaving a few seconds off your trip — seconds that would easily be regained if you quit arguing with your dumb girlfriend on your cellphone while you drive.

There are more. There's the time last night when you were driving down that dark street with only your parking lights on (you have to look at the road, not just the lights on the inside of the car), or the time you came flying out of Walmart and I had to swerve into the oncoming traffic lane to avoid t-boning you. Really, I could go on all day. But I don't want to. I just want you to either learn how to @#$%& drive, or get off the @#$%& road.

Sincerely,

Mike







NO.

A disturbing article in the New York Times [link] shows a significant knowledge gap between scientists and the general population on some pretty important issues. An excerpt:

There are basically two forces to blame here: religion and politics. Obviously that's greatly oversimplifying, but that's the root of each. Some people just have a hard time accepting evolution because of their religious convictions, regardless of the fact that evolution is supported by mountains of evidence and is the unifying theory of all modern biology. And global warming has become politicized, primarily by the always-entertaining neoconservative movement (if you're into comedy that sounds like it should be ironic, but isn't) , thanks to ignorant clods like our own beloved Senator Jim Inhofe.

What's bothersome to me about this is how much we are setting ourselves back by neglecting our greatest intellectual achievements. It's not just global warming and evolution either; there's a profound ignorance about science among the general public that suggests that our education system is failing us in the places it should be most valuable. I love reading about science, even subjects that are a bit over my head. I read books on evolution, anthropology, theoretical cosmology, primatology, psychology, psychiatry, sociology, and just about anything else I can get my hands on. That inquisitive spirit has illuminated my perspective so much that I think it's an incredible shame that much of what I read isn't common knowledge.

The article closes by suggesting that scientists must find new ways to engage with the public. That's true. There are some powerful anti-scientific cultural forces at work, and we've got to find more creative ways of defeating them. Science is cool. It's interesting. It's humbling. It's enlightening. And it's purely to our detriment that it's pushed aside for the sake of our religious or political insecurities. Science is challenging us to put aside our childlike, selfish views of the world. I think we need to grow up.


Here's a start. A fascinating little documentary on gorillas I watched last night:

When I started college, I originally wanted to be a physical therapist. I liked the idea of taking the core concepts of fitness and exercise and using them to help people in unfortunate circumstance. Summer of 2000, I took a job as a physical therapy tech and had chance to get some hands-on experience in the field. And you know what I found? People annoy the crap out of me.

Without exception, the people who had the slowest recoveries, expected to be waited on hand and foot, and experienced the most pain (or were at least the biggest drama queens) were people who were fat and out of shape. Of course, being fat and out of shape made them that much more likely to be in the hospital in the first place. I realized that the job was not right for me because I really just didn't have any sympathy for a lot of those people. The way I saw it, they brought it on themselves with years of poor lifestyle choices, and to whine and complain like children without showing an ounce of gratitude was not something I was willing to entertain.

Actually, children were much better. I considered going into pediatric PT, because the kids didn't have time to bring such situations upon themselves. They were the victims of accidents, diseases, cancer, etc. And they didn't whine remotely as much as the adults did. In the end though, I decided I'd rather work with a healthy adult population. Personal training seemed like the right fit.

And what a fit it is. Some people come looking for sympathy, and I tell them to suck it up and get to work. Most of the people I work with, fortunately, are taking some initiative and really want to make significant changes. So I end up getting paid to tell people to shut up and do 20 more reps. It's pretty fantastic. I don't make nearly the money I'd be making if I were a physical therapist, but it's a small price to pay. And every so often, a client tells me that I've helped them change their life. And I smile inside knowing that I never did them the injustice of feeling sorry for them.

Man, I've been busy. I was going to write up a quick critique of Francis Collins' The Language of God, but it ended up being this whole big to-do that I've been working on for better than a week. And just as I was wrapping up the critique of the book, I came across an essay Collins wrote for the Templeton Foundation, and decided to go ahead and critique that too. So, um, congratulations if you actually manage to read all this stuff:

Review of the book

Commentary on the Templeton essay