WillWybrow.com

Some people use the Facebook “like” function to indicate approval of “shared” content. That is surely its purpose. But as I’ve already stated, there’s no option for disliking things. Some people have suggested adding such a feature.

Sometimes there’s not really anything to “like” about an update, for example, if I said “the BNP sucks,” I think it’d be reasonable for someone pressing “like” to mean “agree.” Reflecting on this, I thought to myself, “why don’t they add a “dislike” and an “agree” and “disagree” button?

In fact, they could add a list of possible emotional responses to an update and their opposites. Users could choose the appropriate word to match their feelings on the subject.

Or, of course, Facebook could implement a space after each update for users to input their own feelings. That way users would have access to the full expression of opinion that their language(s) allow. In fact, the space could be extended to allow a full comment on a subject to express views more complex than single words. That would be some kind of amazing, let me tell you.

Such are the fevered dreams of technologically-inclined.

I don’t know if I really have the dedication to keep this up… Lately I’ve not been passionate enough nor able to concentrate enough to get much down on the site; I just want to bask in my doom and quietly feel sorry for myself a lot.

I’ll probably do something big to the site soon, overhaul it and archive the blog to a subsection if I can’t keep it up. I’d hate to be one of those people who sits around with an unused blog. It’s not like I’m going to be able to carry on with it for longer than two more months anyway. We’ll see what happens.

I kinda miss the pseudo-anonymity that I used to have before the domain change. When I get out of this mess I am going to resume writing under an anonymous guise and leave this site as something more professional looking.

You’ll know where to find me. Just look for my colour.

Step one: find something that a lot of stupid people love (Lee Evans, Christianity, etc.).

Step two: say that it sucks.

This will guarantee that the idiots come flooding in.

If you missed it, here is the page: http://willwybrow.com/moj.html.

I owe a big apology to Keziah, whom I successfully worried with my brtual prank… I am sorry!

The Guardian had quite an entertaining one: announcing the move from print to Twitter as the primary format for the newspaper.

The funniest one I saw this year would have to be ThinkGeek’s newsletter; I remember them actually getting me with one a few years ago and have looked forward to them ever since.

You can either go one way or the other on April Fools’ Day: a plausible prank or a funny joke. Naturally there will be some comedic geniuses who combine the two successfully, and manage to trick people and tickle people in equal proportions, but I was happy with my plausible-sounding prank this year. Some people got it, and some people didn’t; the earlier in the morning it was seen, the less time you’d have had to realise that it was April the First, so it was more believeable.

Maybe see you next year.

Ideally, we’d be able to set privacy settings in terms of the privacy of our profile page visitors. For example, if your profile is public, you can view other public profiles. But if your profile is private then you can’t.

You shouldn’t be allowed to stalk whilst hiding from being stalked. It doesn’t work like that, world.

Maybe I was a little trigger-happy with the Facebook Like Function earlier:

Facebook just rolled out a crappy “like” function for news feed items. But they forgot to implement it right, or in a way that its users could find really useful (is something that hasn’t been “liked” disliked, or simply overlooked?).

Just go to people’s profiles and “like” every story you can. It’ll piss them off by giving them loads of notifications and it will show that the stupid construct loses all meaning when you want to make sure that you’re not accidentally disliking stuff.

I’m sorry to spring this on all of you so suddenly, but I’ve decided to move away. I have arranged the purchase of two Hawaiian islands and contractors are already building my grand palace there, Fort Will.

It’s going to be filled with loads of computers and furniture and a helipad on top and a dock out the back. Also, loads of swimming pools and pool tables and air hockey and an original Pac-Man arcade game. On the other island I’m building a supercasino and strip club for my new rich friends. Maybe if I remember you guys still, I’ll invite you over to chill with me, but it’s unlikely that I’ll have the time between banging super-hot chicks and buying loads of expensive shit to make me happy.

I know you’re stunned and confused. How did all of this happen so fast? Well, I’ll tell you; I just received an urgent e-mail from a Mr. Williams Baron. I’ve posted the transcript for you all to bask in:

IMMEDIATE PAYMENT TO BENEFICIARY

We wish to notify you that you have been listed as a beneficiary to the total sum of $10,000,000.00 (Ten Million United State Dollars) From the records of outstanding beneficiaries due for payment. According to information gathered from our bank’s security computer we were notified that you have met all statutory requirements in respect of receiving this payment but because of too much taxes imposed by banks, the Financial crime enforcement agency and the I.R.S the said payment has now been arranged in a safe Security-proof box ready for delivery to your address.

This office yesterday has already met with the diplomatic Security courier company that would be responsible for the delivery of security-proof box to you, therefore shipment will commence as soon as we have your final go ahead order. The diplomat who will be bringing in this Consignment (Box) to your address is an expert and has been in this line of work for many years now so you have noting to worry about.

Urgently provide us with the information stated below it would be used for the safe delivery of the security-proof box.

(1) Your Full Name:
(2) Home Address:
(3) Phone, Fax and Mobile Number:
(4) Company Name/Occupation:

Please you need to maintain topmost secrecy as it may cause problem if found out that we are using this media to help you. You are not to inform anyone about this arrangement until you received your money. You may call me on telephone number: 00447035909633 immediately you receive this message to discuss more. Thank you and God bless

Best Regards,
Williams Baron

See you around, peasants.

Some of my friends keep their own blog. I know I love mine more than anything else in the world. It’s a memory, a possession, a creative outlet, a home and a refuge, all in one place. There’s courage to be found in the rigid face of the upstanding green-flecked columns, wisdom to be sought from the words therein and solace to be found within the back-end and the archives that can’t be rivalled.

I don’t know if any of my friends feel like that about their blogs (I suspect they do not), but I know that everyone likes to know that they are being read.

I don’t use newsfeed software. I never really got into that whole system. But that’s not to say I don’t appreciate it when it’s convenient. That’s why, thanks to my iGoogle page, I have been able to add a “Blogs” tab, where I’ve put boxes from all the blogs that I read regularly, check occasionally (because they don’t get updated very often) and used to check (because they no longer are updated, but I have to be there in case someone starts up again). I’ve managed to put them in approximate order of activity, trying to take into account recency and volume of activity, using “Wybrow’s Algorithm” (I just guessed, and it “feels about right”), and I am definitely going to keep on top of it (unlike what I tried to get going with my feed list page on this website) with new additions from friends, reading everything as it’s published. I check my iGoogle page nearly every day (since there are some tech-oriented newsfeeds on there where I can read about Steve fucking Ballmer whenever I feel like it), so I will always be informed.

I would like to share it with everyone, though… to let others know the other folk who live online nearby. Maybe I will make a “planet” feed aggregator on a new site. Planet Will - incorporating both my and my friends’ posts. Maybe.

Until then; get fucking updating, everyone!

PEE CEE WOOORLD!!!

Hm, I got back earlier from a friend’s house. CJ messaged me telling me his laptop screen was broken, and he had an essay to write. I took my spare 15-inch TFT monitor over to his house to help him out, but it turns out that more than the screen wasn’t working. Never mind. We’re going PC shopping soon!

It was a passing suggestion that we check out some actual shops. While I don’t mind browsing shops (in fact, looking at a shelf of toys is better than an index page where you click, go back, click and go back), they are dreadfully… expensive.

As a little example of how badly computer shops rape you on the price (because they know if you’re in the shop, you probably aren’t interested in/able to shop online), I bought two kettle leads today (the standard shape power cord that goes into the back of your PC or kitchen kettle) on eBay for 99p each. Free postage.

Some years ago (and I struggle to remember how long exactly, but in the vicinity of four or five), my dad and I went to see one of my dad’s former colleagues to give her (she was an older lady) her first home PC. It was excess to requirements at home. I think it sported a 233MHz Pentium processor, and 3GB of hard drive space. Windows 98. Anyway, we either didn’t have spare power cords or forgot to pack them up, so we drove to the nearest computer shop (this was many miles from home, impossible to go home and bring them back in a reasonable time) to pick some up. One for the base unit, one for the monitor. How much did we pay? I’ll give you a moment to guess. Go on, think about it.

When we left the shop (a PC World), we had parted with fifteen pounds and ninety-eight pence. Each of those 99p cords set us back £8. Now, assuming this eBay user is making no profit (false, but for the sake of argument, let’s suppose). This means the PC World markup was 700%. Now obviously this doesn’t hold for everything; if you were paying eight times the internet price for a laptop, you’d be forking out thousands, and nobody would buy them. But on the little things where nobody necessarily knows better, such as USB cables or blank CDs, the price difference is alarming.

I picture the markup of computer components as somewhere in between the staggeringly large and relatively small differences I’ve described. Probably not as ridiculous as eight times the going online rate, but certainly enough to make me never even consider buying from them, or anyone like them (Maplin are just as guilty).

Before any of you leap to the defence of these money-grabbing bastards with claims of more costs than online businesses, don’t forget the inferior service places like this provide. People employed to give advice are thick as shit, because the clever ones will say “buy from online.” A related anecdote: I knew a person who was offered a job there after answering the following phone-interview question: “what brands do you know that PC World offer?” giving a list of brand names with “Dell” nestled discreetly in the middle. Just take any remotely technical query to some of their sales staff to see what I mean. An internet favourite is the classic “how much more does a hard drive weigh when it’s full compared to when it’s empty?” Not my idea but I don’t have an original source. Google it if you want. So yeah, even if PC world have higher operating costs, it’s not nearly worth it. You’re paying to propogate false knowledge and sustain idiocy in a field that’s understood badly enough as it is.

To round things off, if anyone knows a place that’s good for cheap LCD monitors, you’ve got to hook me up. I’m all for saving energy and that, but unless someone can get me a reasonable (as in, reasonably priced) replacement for my two 19″ (a bit vague there, they’re dual 1280×1024 resolution) CRTs (we’re talking in the mid 20s for size), I’m going to have to proceed with destroying the planet. Or steal some.

Interesting fact for the day: there are thirteen pairs of parantheses in this post (including this one).