BLADAM - Topic - People and relationships

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DISCLAIMER: This is my personal blog. The blatherings here aren't (necessarily) the views of the current company I work for, companies I've previously blessed with my presence, my loving parents, the Illuminati, or anyone other than me, me, me!

Privacy, paranoia, and Plaxo

For those of you reading my blogs and primarily interested in the TIPS category, I'll get the useful / utilitarian part of this post out of the way first:

The Plaxo service is pretty darn cool. Despite some annoying quirks, it's useful, it's fun, and it's free. I definitely recommend giving Plaxo a try.

What is it? Well, in a nutshell, Plaxo is a service (with optional software) that allows you to:
- Keep your addressbook up-to-date pretty effortlessly.
- Send out contact-info changes to your friends easily.
- Access your entire addressbook securely on the Web from anywhere.

Read on for my detailed thoughts about Plaxo.

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- Blathered by Adam on Saturday, February 28, 2004 at 21:14 Permalink
- Filed under Geekery • Society • People and relationships • Tips
- Commented on by 13 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

Celebrating Love

Many folks asked me how my Valentine's Day was. As a single-but-not-angsty guy, I noted that the following made my Valentine's Day a happy one:
- My roommate is dating a really nice guy.
- I'm blessed with great friends and family.
- Hundreds of people in my city of San Francisco -- who happen to love someone of the same sex -- have gotten married.

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- Blathered by Adam on Monday, February 23, 2004 at 3:00 Permalink
- Filed under Society • Law • People and relationships • Politics
- Commented on by 2 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

Fascinating perceptions of online social networks

I was just chatting with a smart British friend of mine about the new social networking site, orkut.com, and it was like we were speaking a different language.

She simply couldn't fathom why anyone "would need a computer program to make friends," and, to my great surprise, she hadn't even heard of Friendster. This, mind you, is a highly-educated woman who works in technology for goodness sake. And here I thought that the only people who hadn't heard of Friendster had been living under a rock for the last few years.

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- Blathered by Adam on Saturday, January 24, 2004 at 17:25 Permalink
- Filed under Geekery • Society • People and relationships
- Commented on by 7 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

The New (much) Improved Friendster

Well, if you're as much of a geek as I am -- or even if you just are a geek wannabe and voraciously read the tech rags -- you've likely already heard about Orkut.com.

Well, I've had a chance to play with it for a day or so, and it's rather fascinating. Though clearly not-yet-perfect, it's still fun and quite a bit ahead of Friendster in many ways.

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- Blathered by Adam on Friday, January 23, 2004 at 14:24 Permalink
- Filed under Geekery • Society • People and relationships • Google
- Commented on by 9 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

Reflecting upon a wonderful man—the late Paul Simon

It was with great sadness that I read about the death of Senator Paul Simon.

Though always a fan of his thoughtful politics and respectful demeanor, I particularly have fond memories of the time I met him in person one chance evening.

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- Blathered by Adam on Tuesday, December 9, 2003 at 19:19 Permalink
- Filed under Personal • Society • People and relationships • Politics
- Commented on by no one yet. Bummer. Check out the full entry page to leave a comment or trackback!

On being being universally loved… or not.

One of the hardest things I've had to face is the fact that it's very difficult -- and perhaps not necessarily optimal -- to be liked, much less loved by everyone, all the time.

This may seem like an especially obvious notion, but hear me out

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- Blathered by Adam on Monday, November 10, 2003 at 5:38 Permalink
- Filed under Personal • Society • People and relationships
- Commented on by no one yet. Bummer. Check out the full entry page to leave a comment or trackback!

Haunted by words

Yesterday evening, I was reading an emotional and heartfelt apology from a woman who was literarily sobbing her regrets. She had posted nasty thoughts about a (former) friend in an online forum, and she wishes she could take it all back.

Two thoughts immediately came to mind:
1) Why the heck is she posting this in a movie forum?
2) What a moron!

I've done some pretty dumb things, but I'd never be that stupid, I chuckled to myself.

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- Blathered by Adam on Monday, September 22, 2003 at 21:36 Permalink
- Filed under Personal • People and relationships
- Commented on by 3 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

Where do kids fit on the Internet?

Earlier today, I got an Instant Message out of the blue... from someone who had visited my SmileZone site and noticed the IM address on my contact page.

After brief introductions, I learned that she's nine years old! And surprisingly articulate for such a young kid, too.

She was looking to make friends and have a chat but I, alas, didn't have much time for bantering this afternoon... and at 32, I felt a bit awkward chatting with a nine-year-old anyway.

As politely as I could, I wished her a good day and good luck... but I wasn't prepared for what came next.

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- Blathered by Adam on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 at 15:58 Permalink
- Filed under Geekery • Society • People and relationships
- Commented on by 3 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

A “friend"ly misunderstanding

As I've blogged about in the past, I've recently become a member of several social/business networks online in an effort to expand my social circle, learn about new areas, see and be seen, and yeah, get a cool job.

One of the most useful aspects of these sites, especially Ryze, is the "friends" and "friends of friends" features. Specifically, you can delineate which fellow contacts online are your friends, and this designation is disclosed to others viewing your profile.

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- Blathered by Adam on Saturday, July 19, 2003 at 11:04 Permalink
- Filed under Society • People and relationships
- Commented on by 3 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

Anonymity in online communities

What role should identity privacy play in online communities?

In some Internet message forums, participants are expected or even required to use their full names on their posts. However, there are likely far more boards online in which privacy is more highly prized, and often for understandable reasons (sensitive issues discussed, and so on).

Here are benefits and disadvantages of name disclosure as I see it:

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- Blathered by Adam on Monday, March 24, 2003 at 17:03 Permalink
- Filed under Geekery • People and relationships
- Commented on by one person so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

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