Facebook

If there’s one thing that I hate, it’s Facebook photos that have no significance whatsoever. Like a cartoon pig. Or a picture of someone else.

Why the hell should I care about the person that you’re putting in your picture? I don’t know who that person is. I don’t care about that person. If I’m going to your profile, I want to see/know about/find out about YOU, not some toddler that you think is just SO DAMN CUTE that they COMPLETELY BLOW AWAY any practical purpose for anyone visiting your profile.

Also, black and white profile pics piss me off. I use a profile pic as kind of a visual indicator as to who’s posting. If I see Carrie is posting a note, then there’s three posts after her with a similar-looking icon, I’ll assume that it’s her that’s posting. The problem with black/white photos is that they ALL LOOK THE SAME. There’s a generic silhouette, usually a person standing, sometimes shot from above, other times shot from eye level. I can’t tell what this is all about, but it pisses me off when I read something and am like, “Wow! I never knew that about so-and-so!” …only to realize that it’s not really them.

Facebook is turning into the new MySpace. Remember MySpace? Maybe you even still have one. They turned to utter shit when the whole internet found out you could put Flash and CSS in your profile. BAD MOVE. Facebook remedied this by locking your profile in to a set look and feel.

Did Facebook piss a lot of people off? Yes. I would say that most people didn’t migrate over entirely for the aforementioned reason. But look now: Facebook has not only overtaken MySpace, but they’re kicking their ass.

I actually have no idea where this post is going. I’m making lasagna right now, and it’ll be ready in about 35 minutes. It’s carb hell, but I think I can handle it.

Later on, I’ll be posting on code virtualization and portability.

Medicine

It bothers me that defective drugs can be sold on the market and the government continues to allow them to be sold. I would imagine that it’s mostly lobbyists that keep the ball stuck in place. The fact that people need to be hired to “convince” lawmakers that a drug is safe (when the evidence supporting a medication’s effectiveness cannot speak for itself is not enough) is simply outrageous. On top of that, the marketing that goes into those drugs is also absurd. If it were up to me, it would be illegal to run commercials for medicine: medication should only be given when something is wrong. You shouldn’t need to make individuals more aware of a condition that they “might” have to give them a drug that they don’t “need.”

I was thinking earlier that if it were up to the drug companies, the first thing that would be changed would be the side-effect listing on the drug commercials. I would say that at least half of the drug commercials that I see include “may increase thoughts of suicide.” Give the manufacturers more control and you’ll have “makes you more efficient.” “Cases of blurred vision have been reported” becomes “Some say it’s like being drunk.” “May cause nausea and fatigue” changes to “Gives you an excuse to call off from work.”

Socialized medicine can’t come soon enough, IMHO.