An open letter to Facebook: I have friends, so why do you show me mostly stranger’s posts?

August 7, 2016 kleucht 2 Comments

Summary: Right now, 52 percent of my Facebook News Feed consists of photos of people that I don’t know and they don’t know me. Does that make anyone else uncomfortable? What’s the deal with Facebook’s algorithm?

Dear Facebook

What’s the deal? Seriously! Why do you insist on showing me all these posts from people that I’m not friends with? What is the intent of your algorithm?

algorithm

I have 240 friends on Facebook right now which I believe is a very reasonable number. Not so many that I miss important posts in all the noise. And not so few that there’s little content to show me.

But when I scroll through my Facebook News Feed, sorted by Top Stories, it feels like most of the posts are from folks who are NOT actually my Facebook friends. It feels like most of my News Feed is taken up by stranger posts that a friend of mine has liked or has commented on.

I understand the reasoning to show me some occasional stuff outside of my direct friends list, in case that helps me make a connection with my friend’s friend. But it feels like stranger posts are all my News Feed consists of these days.

stranger

So I got all scientific on you. This afternoon, I scrolled through the first 100 posts on my News Feed and I put each post that I saw into one of the following four categories:

my friends acting towards their friends, but they are strangers to me (writing on their walls, tagging them, liking their posts, commenting on their posts)
my friends acting alone (sharing something or posting text or photos or videos on their own timelines)
strangers acting towards my friends (writing on their walls, tagging them, liking their posts, commenting on their posts)
my friends acting towards others of my friends (writing on their walls, tagging them, liking their posts, commenting on their posts)

Here are the results. From my own News Feed. And just as I suspected. I’m being exposed to mostly stranger’s posts. 52 out of 100 were posted by people that I am NOT friends with. My friend liked their post, so Facebook thinks that I also need to see this person’s post, even though we don’t know each other. I’m seeing into the personal lives of all these complete strangers, every single day. Does that make anyone else uncomfortable?

So now every time a friend of mine hits the Like button on some stranger’s photo or post, I have to see it in my News Feed? And now I have to spend more than half of my time on Facebook just scrolling past a bunch of strangers graduation pictures or duck face selfies or political opinions or whatever?

Facebook, why would you do this? What’s your angle? What do you want me to do with all these stranger’s posts and pictures of their town and of their family and of their car or whatever?

Are my Facebook posts being shown to a bunch of people who don’t know who I am and who don’t care about my robots, or my space program, or about my computers, or whatever I’m posting about that day?

What do you think about your Facebook News Feed right now? It is what you expect? Is it what you need? Do you get fulfillment out of it? Or does it frustrate you and waste your precious time? Does it make you uncomfortable?

Please leave any comments or feedback below! And thanks for reading my blog!

Kurt

Miscellaneous

The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978). What has been seen cannot be unseen.

January 5, 2016 kleucht 1 Comment

Wow. I don’t recall actually watching this 2 hour television spectacle when I was 8 years old. But maybe my subconscious blocked it from my memory. It had good reason. This was probably the worst television variety show that was ever made.

Ever.

And that’s saying a lot because there were a lot of really bad variety shows made in the 70’s.

It’s like watching a train wreck. It’s so horrible. And yet you cannot look away.

Try it yourself. This YouTube version is just over an hour and a half long because all the commercials have been removed. There is some copyrighted content in this version so if it gets taken down, just search the Internet for another version.

George Lucas isn’t really to blame for this travesty. He did not produce it. He did not direct it. He did not write it. He didn’t even consult on it. He was starting to work on his follow-on to Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back. He did greenlight the Holiday Special, though. And that started this big ugly snowball rolling downhill.

The special was broadcast only once on Friday November 17, 1978 which was the week before Thanksgiving. It aired on the CBS television network from 8pm to 10pm, which pre-empted both Wonder Woman and The Incredible Hulk.

And then everyone promptly tried to forget it ever happened.

In case you don’t have the stomach to watch a recording of the entire special, I’ll summarize. The main characters from the Star Wars film were in the television special. Reluctantly. In several scenes it appears their hearts were not really in it, though.

“Starring Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia. With Anthony Daniels as C-3PO. Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca. R2-D2 as [pause] R2-D2. And James Earl Jones as the voice of Darth Vader.”

The variety skits in the show had several high profile guest stars. “With special guest stars, Beatrice Arthur, Art Carney, Diahann Carroll, The Jefferson Starship, and Harvey Korman.”

Most variety shows had been filmed in front of a live studio audience or at least had a post-production laugh track added. This special had neither. So every time an actor tried to say or do something funny, the viewer got an uncomfortable feeling like something odd just happened. It’s like when you tell a joke to a room full of people and all you hear are crickets chirping.

Awkward.

The plot, if you can call it that, is very very boring and pointless and only serves to tie together several musical numbers and some attempts at humorous skits. I’m not even going to try to summarize the plot here because it is so long and boring. It centers around Chewbacca’s family on his home planet, though. The main characters in the show are Chewie’s wife, son, and father.

The best part of the show is an animated cartoon that features the debut of a new character named Boba Fett. You may have heard of him.

If you suffer through all the way to the end, you will get a special treat. The final musical number sung by Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia. She’s not a terrible singer. But the whole scene is just as uncomfortable as the rest of the show. And the finale isn’t at all inspiring, as it intends to be.

Thanks to Josh and Chuck of the Stuff You Should Know podcast for bringing this production back up from the annals of my subconscious and forgotten memories.

And thank you for reading this!

Kurt
(a Star Wars fan since 1977)

Miscellaneous

The kids are paying attention, Disney. And they disapprove of cursing in Star Wars.

January 4, 2016 kleucht Leave a comment

Today is the last day of Christmas break for my 11 and 13 year old boys, so I just now offered to take them to see their second showing of the blockbuster film Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I was surprised by their lack of excitement.

When I pressed them, they surprised me with their reasoning. They both said that they were turned off by the cursing in the film. They said the cursing didn’t fit in with Star Wars and they said it didn’t fit in with Disney, either.

Wow, I don’t even remember any cursing in the film. I looked it up on the Internet and apparently there were exactly three swear words … one use of “d-mn” and two uses of “h-ll.”

So Disney, if you’re listening … there’s no reason for the Star Wars characters to curse. It just doesn’t fit in with that universe. It feels out of place. Well, at least for kids it does.

It’s been several years since we saw Episodes 4, 5, 6, so we may have forgotten if there was any swearing in those movies.

Thanks for listening.

Kurt Leucht
(a Star Wars fan since 1977)

Health, Home, Property, Safety, Miscellaneous

Down 14 pounds: There might actually be something to this whole “don’t eat wheat” fad

December 25, 2015 kleucht Leave a comment

So I lost 14 pounds in 8 weeks recently.

That’s very close to 2 pounds each week, which is a good healthy amount of weight to lose, if that’s what you’re going for.

Here is my entire year’s worth of Monday morning weigh-ins. Click to see the full resolution image. You can see that I went down and then up and then down again this year. I hope to be more stable than that in 2016. And I think I might know how.

The yellow highlighted section is the 8 week time period where I lost those 14 pounds. You can see that it was very nearly a straight diagonal line for the entire 8 weeks, as opposed to a whole bunch of water weight loss at the beginning with less loss at the end.

So what was my secret for this weight loss?

Well, at least part of it was due to me not eating anything with wheat in it. And I also tried my hardest to avoid added or processed sugar.

Here is the whole story with some excruciating details if you have some time to kill.

Scale

Not a diet

Back in September, a person that I look up to told me about his “strange” eating habits and he also told me exactly why he took up those habits. He said that if I tried these habits the fat would just melt off me.

He was not proposing a diet. He was proposing a different manner of eating. No calorie counting. No exercising. Just five simple rules. Five things to avoid … avoid like the plague.

At the time I was skeptical. But not anymore. There really is something to this.

The rules

The rules are actually pretty simple to remember … but aren’t always super simple to practice in this day and age:

don’t eat wheat
don’t eat flour
don’t eat rice
don’t eat corn
don’t eat sugar unless it’s naturally occurring, like in fruits

rules

Wheat and other grains

So you may have noticed the huge popularity of the gluten free movement recently. Most of the gluten free camp believes that genetically modified wheat is basically slowly poisoning us all. They claim that our digestive system doesn’t fully process this wheat. They claim that it is a pro-inflammatory agent to our body’s cells. And they attribute all manner of diseases and sicknesses to the wheat and gluten in our supposedly natural and supposedly healthy diets. Most wheat haters also dislike barley, oats, and rye for all the same reasons.

wheat

Flour

Most flours are made from wheat, but they contain very little nutritional value … even after being enriched with vitamins and minerals. So the people who are against wheat are even more aggressive in their hatred of flour.

flour

Rice

Although rice is not claimed to be as bad for us as wheat and the other grains, it is suggested by all manner of nutritionists to try and minimize it in your diet. Rice … especially white rice … has very little nutritional value so filling up on it is not really going to be very good for your overall nutritional well being.

rice

Corn

Most people think corn is a vegetable, but it’s actually a grain. And yes, grains are bad for us as I explained earlier. The corn we eat today is highly genetically modified, just like the wheat. And our bodies aren’t super great at processing corn either. And everybody already knows about the high starch and sugar issue with corn.

corn

Sugar

Well, sugar has always been the enemy, so that’s a no brainer. Naturally occurring sugar is probably not going to hurt us too much. But the problem is that we eat the non-naturally-occurring kind of sugar. The processed crystals that we add to almost everything. We eat a lot of processed sugar.

And we drink a lot of it too. If you are addicted to sugary drinks, please please please try to wean yourself off of them. It won’t be easy. It won’t be quick. It’s a full blown addiction. You will get headaches. You will crave them. You will go into withdrawals. But if you drink one 12 ounce soda each day, you are increasing your risk of diabetes by about 25%. If you drink only one soda per week, I will not nag you about it. But if you drink several or more per week, then you are very likely causing your body harm.

Many sugar haters go as far as to say that processed sugar either causes cancer or feeds it. Whether that turns out to be the case or not, you have to agree that naturally occurring sugar is probably better for your body than artificially created and processed versions. Right?

sugar

No, no, no? So what CAN I actually eat?

Basically grain is the enemy. Well, grain and sugar. If you strictly cut off grains and added or processed sugar items from your menu, you will lose weight. Even without exercise.

Fat is NOT the enemy, so don’t worry about fat free or low fat foods. Calories are not even the enemy. There is absolutely no need to count calories. Just eat a reasonable portion and then eat again when you get hungry again. Don’t eat just because it’s time to eat. Eat because you are hungry. That’s good advise for anyone. Not just people who are trying to lose weight.

Eat all kinds of oils and fats without worry. Eat all manner of meats (red, poultry, pork, fish, shellfish), eggs, vegetables (fresh or frozen), leafy greens, fruits, nuts, seeds, berries, beans, legumes, oils (olive, coconut, avocado), butter, almond butter, honey, mushrooms, dairy, toppings, condiments, etc.

This plan is in the same vein as the “hunter/gatherer” diets that are popular, like the Paleo Diet, but not nearly as strict. For example, there is no restriction on dairy like in the strict Paleo Diet.

hunter

Suggestions

I get it. It’s hard to avoid breads and chips. Those things are everywhere!

I ate a lot of meat and cheese and mushroom omelette and scrambled egg dishes for breakfast during the 8 weeks that I was being strict and trying to lose some weight. But fruit smoothies are also a good idea or a nice change from the eggs. Flour-free banana pancakes are difficult to make without burning them, but they are a super tasty treat.

Here are a handful of lunch and dinner ideas. Taco salad without the chips. Any type of salad with meat on top. Avocados on top of just about anything … salad, meat and cheese, etc. Baked or grilled fish fillet with spices or blackened. Marinated chicken breast or pork chops or steak with toppings such as mushrooms, peppers, onions, avocados, cheese, sun dried tomato, etc. Cook any meat in wine. Add jerk or blackened spices to any meat. Soups. Dips without the chips. Zucchini with lemon juice and spices. Polish sausage or brats with sauerkraut. Eat any manner of sandwich wraps and soft tacos, but eat them with a knife and fork and leave the tortilla shell behind. If you want a juicy burger, load it up with toppings and condiments and eat it with a fork and knife and leave the bun behind.

Now what?

Since I lost the weight that I wanted to lose and I’m now at what I believe to be my ideal weight, I’m adding in occasional suger and occasional wheat and other grains. But I will try to minimize my sugar intake and my wheat intake with the hope that I will maintain this weight over the long term.

I will provide an update to this post when the jury has reached a verdict on the long term viability of this plan.

Thanks for reading this article and thanks for your interest.

Kurt

Computers, User Interfaces

iPhone Lightning connector: low volume on audio output

November 22, 2015 kleucht Leave a comment

I recently traded in my old iPhone 4S for a new iPhone 5S (yes, I know I’m a whole generation behind) and needed to buy all new accessories since the power and data connector changed from a 30 pin to a new-fangled Lightning connector.

lightningconnectorplug-294352

I always listen to iPhone podcasts or Pandora music in my car during my commute to and from work, and I had to buy a new FM transmitter because my old one was shorted out. My car does not have an audio input jack. Nor does it have a cassette deck. So my only option in that car is an FM transmitter. Those things are pretty expensive, by the way.

So I bought a fifty dollar (ouch!) FM transmitter from Best Buy which I was pretty excited about initially because my old FM transmitter was just a 5mm stereo jack and it did not power/charge my iPhone, but this new one charges the phone and pulls audio simultaneously using only the Lightning connector. That eliminates the separate charging cable I used to use on my old phone.

10369659

Here’s the catch. The audio coming out of the phone’s Lightning cable is hard coded in the phone to be at about 25% of full volume and there is no way to change it. So the audio level is quite low when I use this FM transmitter and I have to turn my car stereo up all the way and sometimes that’s not even loud enough! Very frustrating.

Also, FM transmitters are far from ideal. They get static from all kinds of different sources. It’s very difficult to find a frequency that doesn’t have static on it which interferes with the listening experience.

Turns out that Apple won’t let the user adjust the volume coming out the Lightning connector because manufacturers of docking products (like home stereo systems and alarm clocks) need it hard coded to a known level for various reasons. I’m not clear on the reason they chose to make the volume so low, but some online posts mentioned that it is a safety feature to keep users from blowing their ears out.

So don’t buy Lightning connector docking products, like an FM transmitter, unless they have their own internal audio amplifier. Most alarm clocks and stereo docking stations do, but I don’t know of any FM transmitters that do. I had to learn this lesson the hard way. Hopefully this blog post will save you the trouble.

Kurt