Sacrifice a Friend for a Whopper

The real question though is, how does one “defriend” someone on Facebook?
Settings –> Privacy Settings –> Block List

Burger King has just come out with a new promotional stunt called, ‘Whopper Sacrifice’. This new app made for Facebook gives the user a coupon for a free Whopper if they “defriend” at least ten of their friends and they only allow one coupon per account so people don’t have to go overboard. This new campaign by Burger King will cause some rifts in relationships between people.

What would you do for a BK Whopper?
If you go as far as “defriend”ing your friends on Facebook, that is low. On the other hand, most likely everyone who has a Facebook account has added friends from their old schools or people in their new schools that they only have talked to once or twice and it was in the hallway. Face it, everyone has friends or acquaintances from school or from work that they never talk to anymore. We all fall into that classic situation where we add old friends or new friends on Facebook but only post on their walls once or twice and never talk to each other again, let alone never see each other again. Sometimes we even add people we know from another friend BUT NEVER TALK to them, hence the Facebook group, “I hate it when people add me on Facebook but never talk to me.” Adding people on Facebook but never talking to them alludes to the fact that you probably just want to stalk them and want to see their pictures.

Well it is a good thing we are like that because adding people we don’t talk to makes it much easier to sacrifice them for a Whopper. It actually pays off to add someone you don’t talk to anymore. Instead of twisting in agony or living those sleepless nights where you just don’t know how to tell your friend that a Whopper is more valuable to you than they are, you can just “defriend” all those people who probably won’t care if you “defriend” them. Chances are, if they have the same application as you they would have done the same thing so its pretty much guilt free sacrificing a relationship for a tasty Whopper. The bad part though is that once you “defriend” someone on Facebook, it will show on your newsfeed showing everyone what an evil, backstabbing, douche/bitch you are. It is just best to modify your news feed so that no one sees your actions for apps on Facebook.

If I know Burger King, which I don’t then they would have some function on their new application that allows someone to “defriend” people on Facebook. BUT if you really want to “defriend” someone on Facebook because you had a falling out or you just don’t really want to see their face anymore, just go to Settings –> Privacy Settings –> and on that page that shows up is an option for you to block someone. Once you block that person any trace of you will be distinguished from their eyes. They will not be able to see any of your posts that you write on mutual friends’ walls, won’t be able to see tagged pictures of you, and they will not be able to search for you. If you unblock them, you will have to add them back as a friend so be careful who you block because if you become friends again or what not it is going to be awkward trying to explain to them why you had to add them again.

I really think this is a stupid idea because so many people can abuse it and it does show how low someone is willing to go just for a burger. You can easily make a new Facebook account with a couple of your friends and then add them, add the application, and then “defriend” them. Also I’m pretty sure that once someone “defriends” ten people, they’ll be given an e-mail with the coupon on it and that person will send it to all his friends so they can abuse this campaign. Although BK probably has put a coupon identifier/code in place so this scheme does not happen.
I won’t be adding this application on my Facebook page because it’s just rubbish, I wouldn’t want to sacrifice a person for a Whopper and even though I know I will be sacrificed by the many people I don’t talk to anymore but have on Facebook, well that’s life what can you do about it?

By the way, defriend is not an official word in the English Language yet.

Youtube Goes 16:9

Youtube or Google just recently and quietly for the most part released their new widescreen video player  The update came out without any front page news and it came out fast.  First there was the old school square box player that everyone is accustomed to and in the next hour, the widescreen player shows up.  It just appeared out of no where without any explanation, even though you don’t really need the explanation as to why.  They pretty much made the viewing box wider.  It is better for the human eye to watch things in widescreen becasue that is what we see naturally and things are less distorted that way.

The implementation of the new wide screen is very nice and thought out well.  The viewing box is about 30% bigger, or longer.  The size of the new player is perfect because it actually does not affect the rest of the page.  The screen is not too big for the user as it does not take up the whole entire page and it spaces the comment area more so the comments are easier to view.  Looking at the new player could get the user confused as many people are already used to the square box but after a few seconds, the whole confusion dies down and people will adapt quickly to it.  Most people these days now have widescreen televisions, so it does not take a while for the user to adapt to the new settings.  The new video player, has kindly spaced out the commenting system and the comments do now look more appealing to read.  They do not looked bunched up together and only taking up one small column of the layout.  Instead the comments now take up about half the page underneath the video player.  The only other thing that people will look through in Youtube after they watch the video are the comments, which are pretty important…for people to call other people n00bs and just to make fun of in general.  There was no major change to Youtube’s layout with the release of the new video player so people can adapt slowly towards the new player.  Good thing there was no major layout change or else there would be another ‘Marc Zomberg’ fiasco on our hands which would piss A LOT of people off including me.  Well not the actual layout change but the people who get pissed off about the change and start posting up video responses or join groups on Facebook to get the old layout back.

Anyways, the layout is pretty good and more spacious.  It actually somehow seems more viewable and more aesthetically pleasing compared to the old video player.  Unfortunately, due to the fact that many people who post up videos do not have access to video cameras that record in widescreen mode and as well as video editing tools that will convert 4:3 to 16:9 (even though that could get very messy).  Dam you Window’s Movie Maker, DAM YOU!  As a result, the user will see the awful dead space that occurs when you view a 4:3 video resolution in a 16:9 resolution, it looks awful and the dead space can be distracting.  It is a new step for Google though as they will be changing things up a bit in the industry.  Youtube has become the norm for video watching these days that pretty much whatever Youtube will do, other video hosting sites will do the same.  It will be no surprise that other video sites will copy Youtube and modify their players to naturally go widescreen to make things look better. In a few months, every single video player on the internet will have 16:9 capabilities (even though a couple of them already had it before Youtube).  Video editing programs will now all have widescreen resolution features.  Actually they already do, but the ones for free..no they don’t, but they soon will.  Then people will be able to post up videos of themselves ranting about in 16:9 and we get to see more of how dirty their house is.

Why They Won’t Go Back to the Old Facebook – Zomberg Style

So anyone, still join that Marc Zomberg group yet? There’s almost a million members!

I got notice from Thomas who commented on my previous Marc Zomberg post that the Marc Zomberg group is now close to a million members. What is really interesting to me though is the fact that the group’s creator Jakob Peterson is now part of the San Francisco network instead of the London network. Could it be? He moved to Silicon Valley and is now working for Facebook? I still say no.

So I was wondering if Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook will ever revert back to the old layout. With how things are going, I’m pretty sure they won’t go back. Let’s go back in time and see why:

1. Remember the time when they permanently switched to the new Facebook?
That was around the beginning of September. I did not really care as I was already used to the new Facebook. I have to ask again, so has anyone else joined that Marc Zomberg group yet?

Has anyone ever heard of the saying, ‘Change is good’ or any sort of variation of it? I’m pretty sure we all have. What I really hate about people complaining about the new Facebook is the fact that they complain and they don’t do anything, they do not even send feedback to the people at Facebook. So from that, there is less of a chance they will change back to the old layout.

There is also the fact that if Zuckerberg actually looks at the groups that want him to change back to the old Facebook, I’m pretty sure that 10 million won’t do the job. There are OVER 100 million ACTIVE users on Facebook. If Mark were ever to consider changing back to the old layout how many people would be needed to get him to change his mind? I’m pretty sure over 50 million people would have to sign a petition or join a group or something. So I’m sorry Zomberg, I know you have probably the most group members on this subject but even if you do reach 10 million, you only represent a tenth of Facebook’s users. Do you actually think Zuckerberg will go back to the old layout to please a tenth of his users? What about the other 90%?

There are also the hacks that are being spread around letting users go back to the old Facebook. The company has patched a couple of them up, but now a lot of people still have the old layout. I don’t know if Facebook keeps stats on who managed to get back to the old layout or not but this really sucks for those who have tried and can not go back to the old layout (like me). With the people changing back to the old layout, they don’t have to complain anymore. As a result, probably about 20% (I just made up a random figure) of Facebook’s users have the old layout back. Probably over half of these people will stop complaining about the new Facebook thus probably over ten percent of Facebook’s users will be unaccounted for in trying to go back to the old Facebook. As a result, these hacks can be counter-productive and will give skewed statistics on who really wants to go back to the old Facebook or who still wants to keep the new layout.

2. Do you remember the time when Facebook introduced the news-feed feature?

There was so much outrage and controversy over this new feature Facebook introduced in September of 2006. Many people felt like that their privacy was being invaded. It would be easier for ‘creepers’ to lurk around their friends’ pages and see what they wrote and their new pictures they posted up. Obviously attached with the new feature was the privacy options which not a lot of people actually have used to an extent that kept their personal life private. Sure there are people that have chosen a couple of privacy options like choosing to not have any of their wall posts or pictures they posted up presented on the news-feed but that is pretty much it. After two years now, there are still people who have not chosen to set their news-feed options to not present any of their posts.
I remember all the controversy and the heated debates and how users hated the news-feed invading their privacy. If it was a real danger to anyone or a real annoyance then Facebook would have taken the news-feed off the website. Sure there have been modifications to make it safer to be on the website and make it easier to modify the feed, but its still there.
It has been two years now and everyone who uses Facebook is alright with the news-feed, many don’t even mind it. All that controversy and revolt from its users has just died away with time and now its a norm to have the news-feed with you.
Plus, everyone in general through human nature are attention whores and some can be narcissistic. If you turn all the options for the feed off, then everyone will forget you and no one will talk to you and post up on your wall. You will have a lonely existence and be an outcast, is that what you want? Its pretty embarrassing to have Facebook and not have anyone post on your wall don’t you think? So yes, the news-feed is an invasion of your privacy but then again, we all are attention whores and if we turn everything off on the news-feed, well we don’t get any attention at all and there goes our sorry miserable lives.

3. Do you remember the time when Facebook changed their layout?

I remember back in late 2006 or early 2007 maybe January of 2007 but Facebook actually modified their layout. Does anyone remember this? I remember with the older layout that you can access your pictures, your events, your posts, and your updates all at top of the user interface and then all of a sudden Facebook changed this layout to what we now call the ‘old’ Facebook. I was not used to this new layout, all the photos, applications, posts, and etc can only be accessed on this little box on the left side while all your settings and advanced features were put on top of the GUI (I really can’t remember what the old Facebook looked like, so this description might be inaccurate.)
Just like now, so many groups popped up asking/demanding/threatening Facebook to change back to the old layout. What is really funny is that over time, I saw a lot of my friends leave these groups and soon no one really cared about the older layout anymore. Everyone became used to the old Facebook over time and Zuckerberg never had to revert back to the older layout.

4. Do you remember the time when everyone just forgot about it?

I bet you by the end of this year 2008, those who still have the new layout will be fine with it and have finally adapted to the user interface. By the middle of 2009 these ‘go back to the old Facebook’ groups will be no more because people don’t care about the layout as they have now become accustomed to it. It is just like the news-feed and it is just like when they changed the older layout to the ‘old’ layout. Everyone will forget about this by then and not care.

When They introduce a completely new layout in a couple of years (I’m thinking 2010/2011), another user revolt will occur and all these groups will pop up asking Facebook to go back to the this current layout. Ironic. Don’t you think?

5. Do you remember the time where everyone said that Facebook is so addictive?

A lot of people are addicted to Facebook. If they don’t like Facebook anymore, then they should move to another social networking site. But who really wants to make a new account on a strange new social networking site and rebuild their profile to the status that its Facebook counterpart had? Facebook is just too good to let go. The layout is phenomenal well the old one, the interface is nice to use. People don’t have to click all these random links to get to where they want, and the colour scheme is amazing(ly safe). There are so many other social networking sites like Facebook, but Facebook has set the bar and it will be really hard for any other site to remotely even compare to it. Well there is Twitter but I’m pretty sure most high school/college students won’t have a use for that site…yet. So the idea of leaving Facebook all together will be really hard as one will be left out of the loop while they make a new account on a different social website and not have anyone to talk to on that site.

So these are my five reasons why they won’t go back to the old Facebook. So what I suggest for you to do, is to find a new social website you like and become a wolf, and not a sheep. Or you could actually do something and give some feed back to Mr. Zuckerberg on what you really think about the new layout.

Who is This Marc Zomberg?

If you are a Facebook addict, you must know who this Marc Zomberg is. I surely do not. In light of the recent social network shattering events that have taken place over the past few weeks, Facebook’s members are trying to revolt of the new layout. Many people have even threatened to leave Facebook or even worse delete their accounts (haha, good luck trying to delete your account). Ooooooooo, the company is scared. Many groups have popped up onto the radar asking/demanding/threatening Facebook to bring back the old layout. The group that stands out from the rest is, “IF 10 MILLION JOIN MARC ZOMBERG WILL BRING BACK THE OLD FACEBOOK.” As of right now while I am writing this 561 767 people have already joined. They are one-twentieth of the way there. It is a really interesting group especially with the fact that it claims ‘Marc Zomberg’ will bring the old layout back. A quick search on the internet reveals that ‘Marc Zomberg’ is…well, yea you can’t really find anything about this Zomberg guy. A closer look at the group reveals a message stating,

“Today I received a message from Marc Zomberg the founder of the greatest company and he told me to make this group he wants to know how many people really want the old facebook back, so he could bring it back.

Now we need everyone who want the old facebook back to join this group and invite everyone because he gave us only 20 days to do this.

Hurry up and invite we have only 20 days to do this.”

REALLY?!?!?!?! REALLY?!?!?! Are you cereal?!?

A man named Jakob Peterson from London has created this group. Who is this guy in the first place? I don’t know, is he actually part of Facebook’s staff? Probably not, so why on earth would this ‘Marc Zomberg’ tell him about this revolutionary idea? It pisses me off when I see someone join this group. Either for lawls or for being serious. I have a feeling that A LOT of people do actually think that ‘Marc Zomberg’ created Facebook and not this random computer programmer that attended Harvard named Mark Zuckerberg.

The name in the group probably is a play on of Mr. Zuckerberg’s name but I surely do not think that he will take it seriously or even think about changing the layout if someone purposely offends him and his name or ‘accidentally’ spells his first and last name wrong. In fact, he may even be mad about it and will keep the new layout as it is without any option of letting anyone change back to the old one. If that is the case, then this group is actually counter-productive and will actually do more harm than good. All this group has done is given attention to its creator.

If you hate the new layout so much then deactivate your account (don’t try to delete it, ’cause it is nearly impossible) and stop using Facebook then that will show this Zomberg fellow who’s boss. If you’re too addicted to Facebook, well substitute your addiction with Orkut and make Google much more happier. I mean we all use its search engine, we all click on its ads, and a lot of us have tried out its new internet browser, Chrome . So please, if you hate the new Facebook so much, just leave and this will force the company to revert back to its old ways.

Get Back to the Old Facebook

Wanna go back to the old Facebook?
Sign into facebook and replace the URL with: http://www.new.facebook.com/?fbnew_opt_out=1
If that does not work, replace the URL with:
http://www.new.facebook.com/FacebookPreviews?
If that does not work, replace the URL with:
http://vupload.new.facebook.com/video/

Either one of them should work. I myself am not going to change the layout as I’m used to the new one already so have fun.

Everyone hates the new facebook layout. It seems as if no one wants change and with all the complaining, I find it really hard to comprehend why not that many people have sent feedback to the company to get back to the old layout.

I for one actually like the new facebook layout. I actually do not have to scroll down to get to my posts anymore and all the information for my friends and others is just a click away. I was never a fan of the applications, thus I liked the fact that my account page was clean. Many times I would always go to someone’s page and all I would see are all these new applications they have and I could never find their information or their wall more importantly.

It is a shame though how Mr. Zuckerberg and company have not given his people the option to switch back to the old Facebook layout after they took the new one out of beta.

I for one am used to the new layout now as I’ve been using it for about two months, ever since they announced it and the URL manipulation you had to do in order to get to the new layout. I do not really care about it, but everyone I know, all my friends and their friends all hate it. They all want to get back to the old Facebook. Guess what? Thankfully, there is a way.

Edit:

OK so, after a few tries and some research I have realized that Facebook has not migrated all of its users to the new facebook and some accounts will have the option to get back to the old Facebook once the URL is replaced with the one above. Unfortunately, I can’t get back to the old Facebook layout, I just tried. Many people are in luck though as they have successfully done it.
Then there is also the fact that the company found out about this little hack and now has patched it.

The New Facebook is Here

Looks like the new Facebook will be here to stay. Its seems as if the people at Facebook are going full force into the new design. Even though many of the users hate the new redesign of the site, many people have been getting messages after signing in saying,

“New Facebook will soon be the only Facebook. Soon we’ll be switching Facebook over to its new design.”

Thirty million of Facebook’s users have actually checked out the new platform (which is about 35% in total) and many like it. Stats indicate that a lot of users using the new design have reverted back to the old Facebook though, but still that information is not enough to convince the company to leave it be. Facebook is trying to let people know about the new design which will give them a better idea of whether or not its users like it or not.

It does not matter what will happen though. Facebook will change its design and just like what happened with the news feed and such, everyone will hate it and then there will be groups and petitions to go back to the old Facebook.

Careful of What You Post on Facebook Part 2

I could not manage to find out where on the internet I saw this interesting story, but I finally found it today. I did not write it in my original article Careful of What you Post on Facebook as I could not find it but now I did and I believe this deserves a separate post.

If you are planning to take a sick day so you can party all night long, do NOT post any of it on Facebook. Kevin the intern found out the hard way.
Basically it all comes down to this: Kevin was an intern at a banking company in New York, he worked somewhere along wall street or so. He e-mails his boss saying that he needed a sick day in October to take care of some family issues. His boss uses Facebook and uncovers pictures of Kevin at a Halloween party the same day he was supposed to take care of some “family issues.” The worst part about this story is that Kevin was dressed up as a fairy at this Halloween party and his bosses sent a picture of him around to everyone in the office. Now that is very, very embarrassing.

Facebook Water Fight

Has anyone joined in on the new Facebook trend, creating events to have a super massive public water fight? Someone and has this crazy idea of having a public gathering in a park or on the street all in the fun of having a big huge water fight. Everyone brings water guns, water balloons, and water bottles, and also having the decency to destroy prized gardens.

Nowadays, people don’t destroy gardens, they hit people. The latest staged water fight in London ended in a not so fun manner. A woman squirted a man with juice and he ran after her and knocked down hard! I mean, hard!

Oh yeah, some kids were also thrown off horses too.

Jewish Activists Hack Facebook

So it seems that Facebook has a new problem on their hands now.  A group called the Jewish Internet Defence Force (JIDF) has been able to hack their way into a Facebook group titled, “Israel” is not a country! The activists managed to erase all the people affiliated with the group from the group’s page, and as well delist the group from Facebook.

This act is considered to be a last resort as apparently many have complained to Facebook about this group and Facebook has done nothing about it.

What will Facebook do now?

New Facebook Layout w/ Picture

It seems as though that Facebook will go live with a new design soon. It was supposed to be today but I guess the new redesigned layout is in only beta for now.

What it seems like is that the new layout is completely different. They completely changed the whole entire user interface and how one would look at it. The new layout offers users to see their accounts with tabs. Basically all the information boxes like personal information, education, business/school are all separated into tabs just like what you would see in Firefox

This is a new proposed layout that they have. It’s completely different than the current UI but we’ll have to see how well it does. There hasn’t been any major changes to Facebook as of yet leading me to believe that this could be fake, in beta, or they did some last minute things and decided not to release it today. Either way, if this proposed user interface becomes the new Facebook, this will take some time getting used to.

I personally don’t like it as it seems all cluttered and it makes the user click more to get to information that in the old user interface could have been right in front of them. Many will like it, many will not. I’m pretty sure there’s going to be about a couple hundred new groups petitioning to go back to the old Facebook and that this new design is shit just like when the current user interface was implemented about a year and a half ago. It’ll just take some time getting used to, and then everyone will forget what the old UI looked like.

Oh yeah, there’s probably going to be some new exploit that comes out with this UI creating havoc around those who have fallen victim to it.