Tag: Facebook

The Metaverse is Gonna Suck

cannassuerLeave a comment

In the past couple of years, everyone and their brother, mother, and sister have made some outrageous statements about how Web 3, Crypto, NFTs, and the Metaverse are going to be the future of everything. At first glance, it seems very true, NFTs can help artists’ rights, Web 3 and Metaverse will decentralize the internet, and Crypto will decentralize currency, it’ll all be great!

Or so everyone thought. I find it pretty astounding the number of people that were really convinced that it was all gonna work out swimmingly. Sure, I’m happy to admit that at one point I saw more of the advantages in this whole scene than disadvantages, some really cool things have come out of this whole boom. The DAO that tried to buy the constitution(which was completely undermined by the ETH fees), and NFTs that allow access to a restaurant or a real club were all really interesting innovations in the Crypto World. However, in the past couple of years, it has all become an absolutely insufferable party topic for Tesla and Silicon Valley bros alike. Everyone who heard about it on their favorite podcast just had to take it to themselves to mansplain it to every other person they see. The culture around this whole thing just completely devolved into DogeCoin bros and making their ugly bored ape their profile picture. It definitely has cool art but a floor price of 100 ETH is genuinely criminal.

Photo Credit: Yahoo Finance

Not only that, but everyone and their mother who had the money to do it completely took advantage of the lack of laws surrounding this whole scene and absolutely screwed, scammed, and crushed everyone involved. Yes, I am talking about Elon Musk and DogeCoin. If you still believe he actually believed in Doge and wasn’t just doing it to pump it and dump it, you are gullible. Pump and dump schemes were coming out the wazoo, to the point that they gained enough traction to involve influencers such as members of the FaZe Clan. Similarly, popular influencers alike such as Logan Paul were making lazy NFTs and charging thousands of dollars in ETH for an unoriginal picture of a Pokemon with absolutely no exterior purpose or club. And Logan Paul isn’t even close to the only person that has done this.

Photo Credit: https://www.world-today-news.com/

Similarly, everyone has all these high hopes for the Metaverse, but 12 different companies are trying to make their own Metaverse and have made no significant progress. I mean have you seen the Facebook/Meta trailers of their Metaverse it looks so bad. It literally looks like an animated children’s video it is so ugly. Not only that, but Mark made the whole experience seem so underwhelming. Similarly, the Metaverse is realistically going to look and feel nothing like what these corporations are making it out to be. There’s going to be dossing out the wazoo, server issues to rival most Ubisoft games, and more microtransactions than the entire battlefront series I mean imagine what TenCent and EA Metaverse games are gonna be like. Not only that, but Mark’s version of the Metaverse displayed a very calm and normal conversation which I can assure you there will be none of in the Metaverse, it’s going to be a glorified VR Chat Lobby.

Photo Credit: cnet.com

Overall, although the Metaverse, Web 3, and all of its capabilities seemed exciting at first, the lack of legislation and the fact that only big corporations are trying to take over the space completely murders the hype of all of it. The goal of Web 3 has completely disappeared and has just devolved into a disappointing mountain of pump and dump schemes and faulty technology.

“Just Being Miley”

raining17Leave a comment

Miley Cyrus, known for being outspoken and drastically altering her appearance, just opened up about her sexuality and her dislike for labels.

When questioned on Facebook about her sexuality, Cyrus announced that not all of her relationships have been heterosexual, though she did not give any details. Cyrus did not come out as bisexual, however – she stressed the fact that she never wanted to label herself as she wants to be open.

Photo Credit: http://www.eonline.com

Along the lines of labeling herself, Cyrus declared that she never liked the female stereotypes and expectations, and while she never felt like a boy, she never fit in with girls either. Cyrus simply didn’t appreciate the confinement and what was expected of her, but she has grown to live outside of the conventional expectations.

Cyrus’s progressive thinking along with the action she’s taken has caused lots of uproar. However, the negative attention is unfortunate, for Cyrus is an important advocate for similar causes, and doesn’t care about negative opinions or bad publicity. Simply, Cyrus takes action where others won’t.

Dots

Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

I’m not really one to get addicted to games like Candy Crush, or Hay Day. I’ll play a phone game every once in a while when I’m bored, or not doing anything. But lately I’ve been playing this game called Dots every chance I get.

Dots is a game which gives you a square filled with different colored dots. The object of the game is to connect as many dots to their like color as you can in 60 seconds. It’s incredible difficult. And incredibly addicting.

It lists the high scores of the week, and some people are in the 800’s. I’m still stuck in the 300’s. My friends and I compete against each other, reveling when we have the highest score, and desperately trying to catch up when someone steals first place. I haven’t been first place in a while, but it’s still fun.

I’m glad I’m addicted to Dots and not Candy Crush though. At least with Dots I can kinda claim it’s a mind-stimulating game. Candy Crush just seems pointless. I mean all you’re doing is moving around candy.

So for all of you looking for a new game to be addicted to, or at least try out, I recommend Dots. It’s pretty fun.

 

Spotify

kirbyfullyloadedLeave a comment

I have a love/hate relationship with Pandora.

On one hand, I like streaming free music and getting exposed to new artists and songs.

On the other, I hate not being able to select specific tracks, artists, fast forward, rewind, repeat or organize songs into playlists.

And then there’s the thing where you can only skip so many songs that you dislike… yeah.

I was driving to school the other day and heard a special on KCRW or maybe it was NPR… Anyway, I heard a radio program on the free online streaming site, created by Swedish startup Spotify AB.

It talked about the increasing problem of pirating music, with people using things like Pirate Bay and other illegal downloading services.

Spotify is a legal streaming service, created in October of 2008.  It’s free and unlike Pandora, you can select specific artists and tracks.  They have a surprisingly large selection of music and the search process is easy and intuitive.

You can link it to your Facebook account, and check out what your friends have been listening to.

I love sea shanties, and I found the most beautiful version of my favorite shanty, “Leaving of Liverpool,” by the High Kings.

Irish music in general is just fabulous.

Collages

kirbyfullyloadedLeave a comment

I’ve decided that I really enjoy making collages.

There’s a free app for the iPhone called InstaCollageFree that lets you make super cool compositions.

Electing to exercise my assembling talents on my friends, I made a series of Catalina Sea Camp collages to pass time.

Sonia Grunwald, Melissa Ballard, Ursula Granirer, Isabel Kirk, Alex Dierking, Brooke Browning, Kimmery Galindo, Roxi Harvey, & me

The app gives you a bunch of different frames you can just load your pictures into.  I personally like the one that looks like a postcard, with a stamp reading, “True Love” in the corner.

You can adjust the background color and the color of the lines between the pictures.Read More »

That Song.

Yourcupatea1 Comment

Record Player.

I have recently become addicted to one song. When I say addicted I mean I have listened it on loop for over a week now. Believe me a song has to be pretty special for me not to get sick of it and  The Shins , “New Slang” is exactly that.

When I saw a Facebook status saying how excited my friend was for the new “Shins album” I thought I better give this band a listen and that’s exactly what I did. I logged on to Spotify, typed in The Shins and listened through their numerous albums. Little did I know that I had actually had listened to many of the songs before including “New Slang.”

It was so familiar to my ears and as I listened to it I recognized it strangely from the hit TV series Scrubs. It was one of those songs that you hear, love and search for, but can never find it on YouTube and other search tools.

So now that I know the title and band of  that song, I have not stopped listening and I am very excited to hear new material from this New Mexico indie group, The Shins.

My Best Friend and My Worst Enemy

rangerthecat3 Comments

FACEBOOK.

I love it too much.

It keeps me busy when I’m bored or want to know something, yet it distracts me whenever I have more crucial and important things to be doing.

As much as I hate to admit it, it’s true: Facebook does more harm than good sometimes, ESPECIALLY during final exam week.

That is why my friend and I have decided to change each other’s passwords, allowing only a small amount of time to each other each day to check their Newsfeed and respond to messages.

I already miss it, and it’s only been 2 hours since I have been logged on. But, it’s definitely for the best. It will help me study A LOT, and I mean a lot. Being on Facebook means Tetris Battle will always be a lurking temptation, and once I start that I wouldn’t be able to stop.

Also, not having a Facebook for a while will help me focus on other things in my free time and slowly break my addiction (hopefully).

So bye bye for now, Facebook! You’ve got nothing on me for a while.

TETRIS BATTLE!

rangerthecatLeave a comment

Tetris Battle is one of the most addicting games I have ever played in my life.

I used to make fun of people at this school who played it, including almost all of my friends. But one night I succumbed to the temptation and got sucked into the never-ending addiction.

Tetris is one of the oldest games for computers. I remember playing it when I was younger on my parents big old desktop computer.

Now, it is even more fun than ever to play a competitive version through an application on Facebook. You are allowed 2 minutes of time where in you and your opponent battle it out to see who can get the most points. At the end, depending on who wins or loses, you earn or lose stars, which help you earn a higher rank and win money so you can buy new cool features for the game.

The winner is determined by the number of “Lines Sent” – Higher number means you’re the winner!

You can play against one or more person at once, and also request to play your friends.

I know it’s terrible how much I love this game now. I really should be studying for final exams, but tetris battle is always lurking in the background, calling my name and waiting to distract me!

Technology

rangerthecatLeave a comment

I have come to the realization that I have a terrible addiction. And that addiction is technology.

I am slightly ashamed to admit this, to be honest.

I am probably not helping myself much as I sit here in front of my computer screen and type this blog, simultaneously on Facebook in another window. There is an unfortunate dependence I have seemed to build for the use of technology, and as much as others may not want to admit it, I have noticed it in them as well.

The internet is out of commission around campus, and it has been for about a week. At first, everyone was bugging out because they have no access to Youtube and Facebook.

WHAT?!?!?! OH MY GOD WHAT AM I GONNA DO?!!

I freaked out for a second, but then I realized something.

I have become way to dependent on these things. When was the last time I sent a letter by mail? Or researched from a source other than the internet? When was the last time I spent a day without texting my friends constantly? It has been a long time since these things have happened. I have forgotten the value of things unrelated to technology.

A break from the internet is a good thing for us OVS students here on campus. I feel like it has given me a chance to enjoy other activities that I like but usually neglect, like playing guitar, reading a book, or even just enjoying the outdoors.

So bye for now, technology. I’m taking a break from you.

The Social Network Review. Who was the bad guy?

shredicusmaximusLeave a comment

So I just watched the Social Network for the second time with my mother and sister. As it turns out, Armie Hammer, one of our neighbors in Santa Monica, played the Winklevoss twins in the movie. This fact however is there just for show and provides no bias in any way. Here’s my observation this time around when I could focus on the movie and not have an alcohol joke made every 5 minutes or the phrase “heyyyy, that’s inappropriate” made more than once.

So we know that Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg, is the founder of the internet phenomenon facebook.com and the main character of the movie. He starts off working with the Winklevoss twins and their associate Divya Narendra on a site called HarvardConnection.com. It basically does the same thing facebook does. Zuckerberg allegedly steals their idea and starts facebook. The movie has just as much footage of the lawsuit in 2008 as it does flashbacks to their days at Harvard in 2004. So with the movie  basically summarized, here is my question: Who was the antagonist?

Now we know that we as a film audience are incensed to support little Zuckerberg against the big bad Winklebi however, look at the qualifications. Zuckerberg makes his girlfriend break up with him at the beginning of the movie and then writes a scathing blog entry about her. He then insults the entire female population at the school by comparing their looks on facemash.com. This gives him 6 months academic probation. He alienates his only friend Eduardo Saverin by almost completely removing him from the company even though he was the co founder, and of course, is accused of intellectual property theft by the Winklevoss twins. If this is truly how facebook is created, then Zuckerberg is no different than any other typical CEO who will step on anyone to reach the top.


Now in the mean time, all the Winklevoss twins and Narendra are guilty of are being the bump in the road for this creation to take place. Yet really think about it here before you either think rationally or act typical. They were only normal kids with an idea at an ivy league university who they feel had robbed from them. The idea was revolutionary and worth a lot of money so they did what they thought was right. Whether it be physical appearance that portrays them as bad guys or if you thought their actions were wrong, they were only doing what they thought was right. After all, many people agree that Eisenberg protrayed the facebook founder as a socially awkward jerk. Should all this be true, then we as a film audience have some thinking to do.

You be the judge.