Meta: facebook and old acquaintances

I am not adding people just because I recognize their names, especially when all I can call up using the name is that they went to college with me. I am, for the moment, adding people I remember being friendly with in high school, even if I can recall no specifics.

I haven't decided what to do about the person who, on first glance, I had no context for, and on a closer look I think is my second cousin (who changed her first name some years ago, and appears to be using her husband's surname, and I don't think I'd known she was married, so my immediate thought was "who on earth is Sarah Charles?"). There are cousins I would add if they turned up, because I like them, even if we're not close these days. She's, well, more distant than that.

I could have a lot of "friends" on facebook, but all it would prove is that I'm 45 and have an unusual enough name that a quick search on it is useful.

Meta: facebook and old acquaintances

I am not adding people just because I recognize their names, especially when all I can call up using the name is that they went to college with me. I am, for the moment, adding people I remember being friendly with in high school, even if I can recall no specifics.

I haven't decided what to do about the person who, on first glance, I had no context for, and on a closer look I think is my second cousin (who changed her first name some years ago, and appears to be using her husband's surname, and I don't think I'd known she was married, so my immediate thought was "who on earth is Sarah Charles?"). There are cousins I would add if they turned up, because I like them, even if we're not close these days. She's, well, more distant than that.

I could have a lot of "friends" on facebook, but all it would prove is that I'm 45 and have an unusual enough name that a quick search on it is useful.

the NY Post lives down to its reputation

It took Rupert Murdoch's New York Post about a month to go from putting the oath of office on the front page of the paper to publishing a stupid, racist cartoon about President Obama. I'm not linking to it here, because it's ugly, offensive, and not remotely funny. I can't boycott the post, because I stopped reading it years ago for reasons only partly political. (When I was growing up, before the Murdoch days, my parents got it as well as the NY Times, because the Post had late sports results and cartoons.)

I was reminded of this by a friend who posted, comments disabled, but with a link to a story that included the cartoon. She expressed surprise that it wasn't all over her friends list; I suspect this is a combination of people figuring it's been mentioned in the regular press and doesn't need to be discussed here, and a weary "yes, it's run by obnoxious right-wingers, big surprise." The president's press secretary settled for a remark to the effect that the NY Post isn't very newsworthy.

the NY Post lives down to its reputation

It took Rupert Murdoch's New York Post about a month to go from putting the oath of office on the front page of the paper to publishing a stupid, racist cartoon about President Obama. I'm not linking to it here, because it's ugly, offensive, and not remotely funny. I can't boycott the post, because I stopped reading it years ago for reasons only partly political. (When I was growing up, before the Murdoch days, my parents got it as well as the NY Times, because the Post had late sports results and cartoons.)

I was reminded of this by a friend who posted, comments disabled, but with a link to a story that included the cartoon. She expressed surprise that it wasn't all over her friends list; I suspect this is a combination of people figuring it's been mentioned in the regular press and doesn't need to be discussed here, and a weary "yes, it's run by obnoxious right-wingers, big surprise." The president's press secretary settled for a remark to the effect that the NY Post isn't very newsworthy.