A lot of people are becoming more and more dissatisfied with Facebook and its features, not to mention the recent fiasco over who owns the content according to changes in the TOS that were reverted back to the original.

As for a semi-regular Facebook user, one who just drops in daily to check if there are any interesting updates, I find it somewhat intrusive, and as it tries to lure me in to use it as a junkie would, there’s still a long way to go before I consider Facebook as something of an essential service for me to use as ubiquitously as possible, despite a huge amount of loyal fans and users.

Sarah, from sarahintampa.com, noted in her post that she wants to use Facebook for both personal and professional purposes. And I totally get it, even if I don’t have her problem of being a famous Internet celebrity, one that entails a number of people asking her if it’s okay to follow her, which means she has to follow them also. For those who don’t know her, she writes for Read Write Web, among other things. Anyway, she points out that there’s no option for Facebook users to follow someone without also being followed. That is a big turn-off. I’m not saying Facebook should be like Twitter, wherein you can follow someone without them NEEDING to follow you, and you don’t have to follow someone who wants to follow you. It’s just that there are no options to filter the people you follow into groups or cliques.

True, the essence of a community is giving and receiving, but one can only take so much, and sometimes, people who follow you mindlessly click on the invite friends button to add every single app available in Facebook. Upon seeing another request to play Mob Wars, or to join a cause to feed some poor schmuck, I am reminded by my priorities. Sitting atop my priority list is getting out of debt, and I doubt spending hours and hours of playing vampire or pirate will help me do that, and neither will joining a virtual 5K run to help cure cancer. How do you cure cancer by running? Virtually? This tires me out just thinking about it. I believe in causes. Most of them are noble. But I think there’s a better way of promoting causes, and being transparent about it. Will someone be donating something somewhere if I accept your request for joining a cause? If so, how come it isn’t published somewhere other than Facebook? Don’t you think something this big won’t be covered by major news sources? What, Facebook is the only avenue you know of promoting your cause? Yeah, right. I have about five pesos in change sitting in my drawer that I can give you. How do I give you that?

For a big company, Facebook should have made a dedicated page for events/causes that users can join. All the members SHOULD get are notifications, in digest form on a weekly basis, of the new events/causes that may be of some interest. I don’t want my friends, all two of them, to simultaneously invite me to join some cause that I MIGHT not believe in. The application page also needs a lot of work, in the sense that Facebook HAS TO CREATE ONE FIRST. And it should all be OPT-IN, and not shoved down your throat. And again, notifications should be in place for new applications added every week instead of getting the same request to add a trivial game from all the people you follow. As Facebook grows, it’s only normal for the public to expect more from the service as the amount of time people spend using it increases, and Facebook is somewhat slow in responding to these expectations.

Then again, this article is just a big rant on how ineffective Facebook is. And no, spending more time to fully experience what Facebook is all about will NOT contribute to checking off priorities on my list. Poking me will only result in physical violence and injury.

Got any pet peeves or raves about Facebook? Let’s hear it in the comments section.

In my previous post, I mentioned that I was tweaking my desktops, both Windows XP and Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex. I was supposed to post screenshots of my desktops but something delayed me in doing so. That something was Windows 7 Beta. I was finally able to install it on my system, and I now have a triple-boot system (XP, 7 Beta, and Intrepid). I made the mistake of installing the 64-bit version of 7 Beta, and I’m glad I did. It was definitely a lot faster compared to the 32-bit version of XP, but it wouldn’t make much difference if both were 64-bit. So far, the beta version of Windows 7 is living up to the hype. Read the rest of this entry »

This past few days, I’ve been playing around and tweaking my desktops, both Windows XP and Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex, and I must say, it has been quite an eye-opener.

For my Windows XP, I chose the Enigma desktop, which involves patching a UXtheme file that allows you to use unofficial Windows XP themes and visual styles. I chose Enigma because of its simplicity and minimalism. It basically adds functionality and productivity to a desktop without eating up much of the resources. Exactly the whole point of a minimalist desktop. The package includes config files for both Samurize and Rainmeter. I tried both and I decided it’s better to use Rainmeter as it is more flexible than Samurize. Those with free time should check this out.

As for my Intrepid desktop, I didn’t really do much with it. I recently installed Gnome-Do and I finally “get it.” With only a few keystrokes, I can post microblog updates, add tasks to remember the milk, launch an app, or basically do anything, except brew coffee or make me a sandwich. I also opted to use a darker theme, Dust, that is surprisingly not included with the default distro. However, I still don’t know if I should stick with Screenlets for displaying of stats and stuff, or go with the minimalist Conky that conks out every once in a while. I have yet to find a suitable theme/setup for my Intrepid desktop, but I’m sure I’m bound to find one sooner or later.

But for a dual monitor setup, I think this will all change.