Why are so many people leaving Facebook?

Bajillions (hahaha) of subscribers love…err, are subscribed…err, are enchained-enslaved to FB, right?

ABC News reported “that there’s a mass exodus from Facebook.” I don’t know what counts as a mass, but why are people leaving FB? Well, the story provides Araceli Cruz’s take from March of 2013.

Alternatively, just watch Extremely Decent Films’ “A Facebook Update In Real Life”:

No, I’m not quitting. I know there are some quit-FB sites, and I know that Danny Sullivan has reported that Google searches for “delet…” are autofilled with “delete facebook account” as the top item and that “how do I delete my facebook account” is trending up in search frequency over the past few years, but I’ll stick with it. I only check it once or a few times a week, anyway.

Global light maps

NOAA-NASA Satellite Image

I look at maps frequently and at length. I find them fascinating. Aerial images also appeal to me, because they have a map-like quality. Among those that have intrigued me are images of Earth showing lights at night. I came upon a new one to me recently and am sharing it here, in case others might has a similar interest.

I snagged this image from a section of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Web site devoted to the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite. Interested readers can go to the page called “Our Earth at night” to read lots more, but here’s a snippet to explain a bit.

Ahh, Brubeck

As the 1950s turned to the 60s, my family wound up in southern California. Our parents got a stereo, and my brother Frank and I started snagging records from lots of sources (nearby stores, Columbia’s record club, and more). We bought 33 rpm LPs, which were a departure from our elder siblings’ purchases, which had been 45 rpm recordings.

Some covers Brubeck et al. 33 rpm LP albums

CL 1397 “Time Out” by the Dave Brubeck Quartet was one of the big hits we bought on our subscription from Columbia. Oh, we got the Kingston Trio, the Lamplighters, Barbara Streisand, and a host of other artists available through the catalog at that time. But we played the Brubeck album a lot. And when subsequent albums became available, we bought them.

Waiting for My Fool Heart

Here we were last night at the C’ville test screening of My Fool Heart, the film I mentioned a couple-few years ago. Folks were filing into the Paramount Theater on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall. Jim Waive and Sian Richards were in the lobby when we arrived, but we just said “Hi” quickly to them and then hustled into the house as we wanted to get good seats. This was the view from the second row of the balcony waiting for the series of slides showing coming events to end. Though it looks a bit sparse in this photo, once everyone left the party in the lobby and took seats, there was a good house.

View from the balcony of the scene in Charlottesville’s Paramount Theater at the test screening of My Fool Heart 20121117 [Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
John@johnwillslloyd.com]

Madness on the DT Mall?

Did you know that there’s a mad woman loose on Hookville’s downtown mall? It’s more than an idle rumor. It’s actually The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giradoux, re-imagined by Kay Ferguson and a troupe of veteran players who have been engaged in intense physical training for months as they developed their version of the 1940s play.

The Madwoman of Chaillot is the story of a witty, eccentric woman who rallies a band of artists, workers, and down-and-out characters in a clever plan to disrupt avaricious plans of powerful figures who are bent on sacrificing beauty to obtain profits. As Ms. Ferguson says, the story sounds a lot like “Right Now, USA.”

The first performance is 6:00 PM 6 September 2012, and it’s running all through the month of September. The troupe is using a novel approach to the production, starting with a first act for free on the mall, then parading to The Haven, where they’ll accept donations for the second act, part of which will go to The Haven. Read all about the project, the players, and more.

Technology in the wild

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have wasps nest in the headphone jack of your computer? How about border guards questioning why you’re transporting a computer with a dead battery? Dolly Joseph doesn’t question why these things occur. She’s lived them, and she connects them in an enlightening post about technology and the environment. Recommended.

Yay, grads!

Randall Munroe’s take on
post-secondary majors.

Over on XKCD (one of my all-time-fave cartoons), Randall Munroe has done it again. He’s produced another marvelous interpretation of the state of the world. Just while I’m finishing up the review of my students’ final exam work and am looking forward to commencement exercises, he’s rendered a cool commentary about higher education that comes flitting through my experience like a butterfly…or is it shooting through like a meteor…or cannonball?

Guide To This Post: (1) Read the XKCD cartoon. (2) Return here and then

Charity for the 1%?

It seems like it’s a good time to remember some history. Do you sometimes forget relatively recent history? G. Santayana was reputed to have said something about (paraphrasing for syntactical fit) those of us who don’t remember the past being condemned to repeating it. Of course, ancient history may be inaccurate (did Nero really fiddle while Rome burned?), and this recent history might be, too. But see for yourself. Check this little bit of history from 2008 about how downtrodden the 1% were back then.

Thanks, This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

Getting More Serious

Barbara Hansen of USA TODAY used GMI Ratings, Standard & Poor’s data, and other USA TODAY research to analyze the pay of chief executive officers of US corporations in 2011. Matt Krantz and Ms. Hansen reported the results of that analysis 28 March 2012. Here is a listing of the top 10 earners for 2011. Ms. Hansen’s table, available with the story they reported, can be sorted in other ways to allow one to see data on 151 companies’ executive’s earnings.

COMPANY	EXECUTIVE	TOTAL
Viacom	Philippe Dauman	$43,077,942
Honeywell International	David Cote	$35,378,249
Walt Disney	Robert Iger	$31,363,013
Marathon Oil	Clarence Cazalot	$29,911,662
Altera	John Daane	$29,576,725
Motorola Solutions	Gregory Brown(1)	$29,313,864
IBM	Samuel Palmisano	$24,221,865
Johnson & Johnson	William Weldon	$23,362,939
United Technologies	Louis Chenevert	$22,878,306
American Express	Kenneth Chenault	$22,490,401
Qualcomm	Paul Jacobs	$21,722,333
Coca-Cola	Muhtar Kent	$21,161,811
Cooper Industries	Kirk Hachigian	$21,116,678

Now, I don’t begrudge people making money, especially if they work hard, and I presume these men work hard, probably as hard as I do. And it’s not about me and them. But, what does one do with this sort of money. In one year, they’re making more than what a well-paid teacher made (including nice retirement and health benefits) over the past 35 years. Equitable?

Well, if these men gave 1% of their incomes to an endowment for a local school for five years, that would amount to something. Those schools would suddenly have budgets that would allow them to buy curricula that they might not otherwise be able to purchase, given the anti-tax and anti-education mood of many neighbors. And, if these savvy business men said, “You have to buy curricula that have a proven track record of success with the funds from this endowment (and here are the sensible rules for deciding what counts as such a curriculum),” then they might be “giving back to the community,” as their similarly wealthy athletics stars say.

In fact, mayhaps we could just ask that these way-wealthy folks would form coalitions and tackle problems such as this, just as the Buffet, Gates, Broad, and other families have addressed international problems. Mr. Atlanta Falcon Matt Ryan, Atlanta Coca Cola Mr. Muhtar Kent, Mr. Atlanta Hawk Joe Johnson, and Mr. Atlanta Braves Chipper Jones…y’all could do some good works among you, if you formed a team. Just 1-2% of your incomes a year for a three-year run for schools, boys-and-girls clubs, community music programs, shelters for indigent elderly folks…. Do you think you could afford 10%?

Who’s the 99%?

Rev. Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir have an answer to that question. It’s actually pretty obvious, ’cause the 1% (really the one-tenth of one percent) are all those folks you and I see pretty much every day. May Day is just around the corner.

Checking e-mail with Wendy McNaughton

Wendy McNaughton, who draws lots of wonderful things, dropped a classic Thursday 19 April 2012 in her blog. I’ve come to think of e-mail as evil. It’s overtaking my life, I have great intentions of only spending certain periods of time using it each day, but I find myself turning to it still at other times. There is so much of the stuff. I am obsessed with cleaning out all the unopened documents. People call me to ask me if I’ve read their messages. Yikes!

So, go and enjoy Ms. McNaughton’s send up of e-mail. And, after you’ve looked at her blog post, scoot over to her Web site and scout about a bit. Admire her map of the neighbohoods of San Francisco or her bit about the SF Public Library