Pulse Of Open Source

Is Twitter the ultimate in technology stopping people from concentrating? Plus some info is v. mundane?

Why do we need real time updates on people who are doing exactly what you’d expect them to be doing, which wasn’t very interesting anyway? Surely there is a limit to how many updates we need, at some point people should just live their lives instead of constantly reporting them.

Eg. at parties aren’t you there to socialise, you can blog it later if you want. Or MPs in parliament who are twittering instead of actually being MPs, while in the House of Commons! It isnt’ their job to report on it, that is for journalists, they are there to do it!

Apparently now tests show that if you take away all the interruptions to someone’s work, they have to interrupt themselves every few minutes because they cannot concentrate on one thing…I’m getting like that myself.

Do you think that people have taken twittering too far?

Some choose to tweet what they ate for lunch while others tweet more significant events…

http://www.wptv.com/content/health/story/abortion-tweeted-on-youtube-twitter-Angie-Jackson/4G_K8RJ9dEG2TP85Uw_Llg.cspx

Do you think that she was wrong for posting this on twitter? Should some subjects be off limits?

How can we improve the NBA?

According to Parade Magazine, the NBA has suffered a $400 million dollar loss this season. Attendance for 18 of the 30 teams has been down.. it’s not looking good.

http://www.parade.com/news/2010/06/06-6-ways-to-fix-the-nba.html

-What can we do to improve the NBA?

BQ- What are your thoughts on the six rule-changes mentioned in the article:
——–

1. CHANGE THE FOUL-OUT RULES.
“Instead of ejecting a player after six foul,” says agent Steve Mountain, who represents Orlando’s Jameer Nelson, “assess a technical for fouls six and seven, and eject after eight. This would keep the best players in the game longer.”

2. INCREASE SCORING.
“Shorten the 24-second shot clock to 20 seconds to make for more possessions,” Falk says. “Or create a four-point play. People thought the three-point shot would destroy the game, but it added to it instead.”

3. RAISE THE AGE LIMIT.
“You should have to be out of high school for three years to play in the NBA,” Falk says. Playing college hoops would allow athletes to develop a fan base that they could carry with them into the pros.

4. ENCOURAGE QUIRK.
“There’s a reason why Charles Barkley, who is retired, is still getting endorsements,” says Sports Illustrated writer Jon Wertheim, who has covered the NBA for 13 years, “and, say, Tim Duncan and Carmelo Anthony aren’t. Today, the players with personality often have the color bleached out of them.” Blogger Bethlehem Shoals of FanHouse.com advises, “They should Twitter all the time. It could be a lifeline to these guys’ personalities.”

5. CHANGE THE TRADE RULES.
“Eliminate or significantly reduce rules that require salaries of traded players to match up,” Mountain says.

6. SHORTEN THE SEASON.
The NBA’s season comprises 82 games. Reducing the number of contests could make each one matter much more to players and fans alike. As Falk explains, “In pro football, there are only 16 games, so every game is critical.”

can someone reword this paragraph a little better?

W/ Txt Msging Takin’ Over, Duz Spelling Count N-E-more?

Lyke, omg, I jst got a txt frm my bff Elizabeth (aka “Lizzie-Babes”) tht sed she broke up w/ hur bf. I asked hur, “r u ok?”. She sed, “idk atm. Brb, g2g. Ttyl on fb aftr dnr, k?” n dat was da last I hurd of hur, but it was all lyke – lyke DRAMA!!
I hope you understood all that. You probably did, unless your above the age of 40 (it’s ok, old people). So, why don’t we just change everything into shorthand? After all, the military does it. The government does it. Plenty of company’s do it – UPS, IBM, KFC.
So, whose fault is it for short-hand writing? There is no one to blame specifically for this “mishaps”. Nor should anyone be blamed for shorthand writing. It just sort of happens. People get lazy, or they are in a rush, or they are limited to only 160 characters per text message (140 for all you Twitter fans out there). But, what about all those people (mainly teachers and fusspots/goody two-shoes) who want us to speak properly? Should schools and institutions go so far as to ban this kind of behavior if it arises in their vicinity? Should they not even allow shorthand to be spoken? After all, those dumb, formal, five paragraph essays that we always have to write in English class are never how people write in the “real” world, anyways. So, should people be allowed to write with a certain degree of slang in school? Or at least talk shorthand? I guess that is up to them to decide, but one thing is clear. Language is always changing – always. Whether its through the use of technology, or said verbally. Words are always being added to the dictionary. And words are always being lost in the dictionary. And new words are created everyday, everywhere, in every region of the world.

I hate technology, but have a degree in computer science. What do I do?

I got a Bachelor’s degree in computer science last year. When I went into university I genuinely wanted to do something I was interested in. I like math and programming in high school so it seemed like a good fit.

But that was then. I can’t stand the thought of “technology” these days. I hate the idea of Facebook and “social media”. The big reason is that I’m a loner and don’t have friends, so I can’t join anyway. But I hate the idea of putting your identity and entire life online. I hate Twitter because the 140-character limit is just stupid. I don’t have a iPhone or iPad or Blackberry, actually I no longer even have a cell phone – largely because I don’t have anyone to call, but really, why do people need so many devices? It’s just a way for companies to make money off people buying stuff.

I saw an article on Yahoo today where a woman says 100% of all men she dates loves “technology” and gets the latest gadgets. Guess I’m undateable… and I know less about technology than almost everyone else. There was also the article criticizing Obama for saying iPads and XBoxes are overused (I agree). But at least he has a Blackberry.

OK, I know not all jobs involve the Web. But even in my last job, I had to work on a website for a company’s internal use, basically an interface connecting to a database… but my boss worked on other projects that I wasn’t involved in which involved links to Twitter and all that stuff. The thing is, since I lost the job I’m NOT advancing myself and getting myself “up to date” with technology/programming, I’m quickly losing whatever skills I once had.

Do you think I should start my career all over again? Don’t say “do what you’re interested in” because I don’t know what else I’m interested in. I already did online personality tests and it usually lists CS/IT as one of them. Give me concrete suggestions. I heard someone say that I should go to grad school in CS and do something researchy… but it’s hard for me to go to grad school because I didn’t buddy with profs during my undergrad.
spyke: I understand, I don’t have a job either. But I never made you read my question.