Is The Sky Falling on Facebook?

January 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment

According to a report today in The Register, recent data from comScore suggests that Facebook, MySpace, and other social networks are getting, well, boring.

And it looks like this is not a seasonal trend.

My gut reaction is that the ‘cool kids’ — those early adopters — who now find the Big 3 social sites boring are off in search of the new flavor. Once that grows tiresome, they’ll move onto something else. Another network like Spock, perhaps.

All this has me wondering that if these social networks are free to use, and people don’t stick with them:

  1. How do you build a revenue model to continue development of the site (Should you for that matter)?
  2. If you are an advertiser and you want to play in the space,  how the heck do you make money?

I think that people will use social networks that offer some sort of tangible benefit to them. LinkedIn can help people do business. Niche social networks that revolve around very specific themes are fantastic for finding new ideas, hearing about new products, and for motivating you to try new things.

The only thing I’ve gotten out of Facebook is bitten by a werewolf, asked to take about umpteen movie quizzes, and oh yes, I have been contacted by a couple of ex-gfs.  What’s the value in that?

I’ll use LinkedIn, though, because I can communicate with people I want to associate with and maybe do a little business in the process.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun maybe once a month to log-on to Facebook and see what’s going on with my peeps. But I usually forget my login info because I have not logged into the site recently. I trust that I am not alone. Any site where users regularly forget their login and password because of lack of use is at risk of extinction.

Posted by seth | Filed Under social networks 

Tomatillo Smothered Tilapia Over Black Beans

January 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment

img_2940.jpg

If you like a fish smothered in a rich, creamy, mildly spicy sauce, you will love this.

Read more

Posted by seth | Filed Under Food 

Onions Fear Me

January 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment

img_2935.jpg

One sight of these black and green specs and they know as soon as my blade kisses their layered skin, I will not cry. I will not sniffle. I will not weep through curses under my breath.

I will ambitiously chop. Chop one after another to smithereens. For French Onion Soup. For a large batches of salsa. For onion tarts. For the love of all food that requires cup after cup of spicy onion.

Seth 1, Onions 0.

Posted by seth | Filed Under Food, Blog 

Will Scottsdale Get Best of Pats, Giants?

January 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I single out Scottsdale, because that’s where the majority of high profile clubs in the Valley of the Sun are.

You remember the stories:

  • Eugene Robinson: Busted on the eve of Super Bowl XXXIII for “allegedly” soliciting oral sex from a prostitute.
  • Stanley Wilson: Overdosing on drugs on the eve of S.B. XXIII - a game in which the Wilsonless Cincinnati Bengals nearly upset Joe Montana’s Niners.
  • Barrett Robbins: Went MIA the week before the Oakland Raiders took the field for S.B. XXXVII.  According to reports, Robbins suffered from bipolar disorder, and has had more incidents since his ill-fated week before the super-big game.  I hate picking on him, but he later had more run ins with the law, and had been fined by the NFL for using the designer steroid THG.

Now it’s 2008. The Forty-Deuce is at University of Phoenix Stadium. Minus Bill “Bellicheat’s infamous (more than famous) sideline taping scandal, these teams have arrived in Arizona with clean slates.  Which begs the questions (ahem):

Who is going to get in trouble (or some more pessimistic might ask, who is going to get in trouble first)?

Keep in mind that the “mean streets of Scottsdale” have been known to land many a celeb in trouble.  Mike Tyson. Lil Wayne (okay, he was arrested in Yuma), and who could forget Matt Leinart’s famous speeding photos (for doing 77 in a 65).

For all of you collective eye-rollers out there, I applaud you for sticking with this post.  This is news that just don’t matter.

If I were to put my money where my mouth is, I would say that the Giants would be the team to slip up in Scottsdale.  I’m not going to name names. Hell, I am just completely speculating at this point; I just think that on the eve of being the most impressive dynasty the NFL has ever seen that New England is far too focused to make any kind of silly mistakes like that.

Forget the fact that Tom Brady may, according to many reports, be injured.  Forget everything you’ve heard.

Someone I used to work with told me that people change when they come here.  No reason or explanation. They just do. Things they normally wouldn’t do. I would tell you what he told me, but this is neither the time nor place.

For the time being, here is the score: Scottsdale 0, Giants 0, Pats 0.

But it’s only Monday.

Posted by seth | Filed Under Blog 

The Dog Ate What?

January 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Imagine for a second that you live in the Phoenix area. Now imagine laying down some serious cash for some tickets to Super Bowl XLII. You give specific instructions to the courier: leave the tickets under the mat OUTSIDE the front door.

Instead, the courier slides the tickets — hell, they might as well be legal currency here for the next week — under the front door.

That’s not a problem, right? Well the courier has no idea that on the other side of the door is a young Labrador with expensive taste. Unbeknownst to the messenger, it’s snack time.

The dog’s owner, Chris Gallagher, came home to find what was left of the tickets, and Buddy fleeing out the doggy-door to the back yard.

Obviously Buddy is either slighted he can’t go to the game, or he is not a Pats or Giants fan.

Read the story in AZ Central here.

As for the tickets, well, they can be replaced.

Posted by seth | Filed Under Blog 

This Top 10 List Might Surprise You

January 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Something in my in-box made me say, “huh. . .” this morning. It’s not that I lose sleep over a subject like the top ten best selling grocery items, it’s was what’s missing. Without further ado, the envelope please:

Read more

Posted by seth | Filed Under rant, Food, Blog 

Next Page »