Random Non-Sequiters
Social networking and businesses. Businesses want you to like them, follow them, be their friends. It's a very weird pursuit.
It's not new. At the dawn of TV, shows were sponsored by this or that product, entertainers were given money to put on a circus in hopes that during an intermission people would take a moment and listen to the product or companies pitch, and then of course, they'd go back to the show.
Now it's Facebook. Like BrandX on Facebook, you'll be able to keep up with all the exciting BrandX happenings, and you might even get a coupon.
Last year, earlier in the year? When was it exactly? Groupon was a huge thing. I kept seeing the retweets in my twitter stream, almost daily about this deal or that. I see very few Groupon retweets any more. Was it a flash in the pan with the sorts of people I follow? Are people still watching everyday for their Groupon coupons and just not retweeting the deals they see? I dunno.
What does liking a brand in social media mean? If I say I like the iPad, does that mean anything to anyone? Surely people see the commercials. There's even a picture of an iPad on my loaf of Wonder Bread right now. (Non-Sequiter) so it must be a big deal right? What does my liking it have to do with anything? Apple has a store in the mall, it's very nice, they have lots of iPads out to play with. They have iPads that they set next to other products that are used to explain how the other products work. Those stores really are better than TV. Whenever you hear about a new Apple product, you don't much need to pay attention to any more advertising, you just need to make a mental note to look at the new gadget and play with it yourself in the Apple Store the next time you're at the mall.
Has anyone else noticed that the cookie aisle at the grocery store is shrinking, but the flavors and types of Oreos seem to just keep expanding? the Oreo section is as confusing now as the toothpaste section. It can be as much a challenge to find just the regular Double Stuf Oreos as it is regular straightforward Cool-mint Crest.
Audio, Video, Pictures, and Text. Am I missing anything there? Just an endless supply of that stuff now isn't there?
It appears there was an
Occupy Grand Rapids event downtown. They held it at the Calder (that big orange red modern art sculpture that you see on everything "Grand rapids"). The Calder is really out of the way for the most part. Certainly that area is not busy at all on a Saturday. But there is ample underground parking on the weekend under it, so I'm sure that was convenient for the demonstrators. the Calder makes for a nice photograph, but as a protest location goes, it's fairly out of the public eye.
Did you know Bureau of Labor and Statistics (sounds like a department that David Letterman would make up doesn't it?) has a page called the
American Time Use Survey it has all sorts of population reports that show how American's of different ages, employment and family size spend their time. I thought it was interesting to browse through some of the different reports.
There's no more Doctor Who (except for the Christmas special) for about a year. There's Tera Nova on Monday Nights. The two episodes I've seen are ok so far, it's not as good as the UK Outcasts show, but it's watchable, and hey, there are Dinosaurs in it. Young Justice has been back on Cartoon Network on Friday nights. Such a good take on the DCU, better than anything in the New DC 52 relaunch so far.
Most of the people on my twitter seem to be diving into various show back catalogs on DVD or Netflix. Well that and Football (and at the moment Baseball). Sports in person is entertaining, but I'm not much a fan when it comes to the televised variety.
I looked at the list of upcoming movies for the rest of the year, and there isn't much of anything on my must see list. Is there anything I'm overlooking that I should be wanting to see?