Why is it to me - Google+ just seems like a ghost town that's nice to be around.. Or even a village where there isn't that many people but there is enough there to get some good information and have a good time..
Whereas Facebook is more a downtown city - with some people too busy to say a word to you to they will leave a post and dash off and if they have time to comment back they will - but now its not so much of a Social Faux Pas if someone was to not reply to a comment on Facebook.. You will have some close friends that you will talk to, look at, and actually take notice of on your News Feed and the rest are just people that are there and that you do not know..
And then we have Twitter - I am unsure of what to say about Twitter really - I haven't really spent that much time with Twitter to say a lot about it.. It more just seems like somewhere that you can put random links, comments and photos or videos onto.. In a way though now - Twitter has become a Social Media advertising platform for celebrities.. Not just to advertise products, but themselves also..
However, I believe that all 3 are quite diverse in their approach to Social Networking.. Although Google+ will need to differentiate itself some more from Facebook to get it's foot in the door and be recognised as a Social Network of its own instead of trying to steal the thunder of Facebook - which makes people angry to just think about.. I mean Twitter did it didn't they - they created a more diverse approach to Social Networking - even though there are so many people that still don't get Twitter (including me) it is still a hugely popular Social Networking Site and even though I don't get it that much, I still post stuff to it.. Whereas when I'm on Google+ I still find myself longing for the safety of Facebook with all my friends.. And I try so hard to post things I find on Google+ to Facebook for all my friends to see (as most of them are not on Google+).. But when I can post things to the entire world I guess they would see it.... Eventually..
But after all I think I'm going to stick with all three and see how this pans out.. For any people with paranoia or who watch way too much Alex Jones, this would be a bad idea due to the digital footprint I would be leaving, but ah well - if I ever wanted to remove all my digital footprint from the internet, I would probably just Google it :)..
Yesterday as part of my daily YouTube and Game Trailer binge and encountered a chilling, interesting and brilliant trailer for the 2013 game 'Watch Dogs'.
Here's the plot for the game taken from Wikipedia:
The storyline of Watch Dogs is built around the concept of information warfare, data being interconnected, and the world's increasing use of technology — questioning who exactly runs the computers they depend on. Set in a version of Chicago, Illinois simply referred to as the "Windy City", it is one of many cities to feature a supercomputer known as a "ctOS" (Central Operating System). The system controls almost every piece of technology in the city, and contains information on all of the city's residents and activities which can be used for various purposes. The game will follow an anti-hero named Aiden Pearce, a highly skilled hacker described as a person who uses both "fists and wits." The gameplay demo shown at E3 depicted Aiden's attempt to assassinate a media mogul named Joesph DeMarco, who had been wrongly acquitted on charges of murder.
Also I have included the trailer for the game below:
Now most of the elements of this game are false and made up for dramatisation of the game's storyline. However after viewing the trailer I took a step back and thought - "Most of my life is actually online", this is no revelation or secret - its obvious and also as obvious that I'm not alone.
We do everything online now. From shopping to chatting. Creating documents and banking. The people who collect this data are sitting on a gold mine and they're already tapping into it. If you search anything on Google and then go to other websites such as YouTube you will get personalised advertisements for the things that you were searching for. Now anybody tech savvy will inform you that this is just using cookies and the like to track your movements on the web to be able to give you relevant content for a more personalised web browsing experience. Now on one side of this, this is very true.
However this would just be showing you the tip of the iceberg as Facebook does the same thing but on a more grand scale - Facebook looks into your profile ans gives you advertisements based on your profile. Such as dating services when your listed as Single and restaurants when your listed as In a Relationship.
You may just be thinking at this time that I'm just talking about advertisements. Well yeah as that is the main thing that they need to run these websites and also attempt to get more money out of your pocket. However there are many other examples of data collection that aren't just about the advertising game. By viewing certain web pages, videos, buying things from shopping websites and more are all collected. And by people viewing these things they can work out what your world views are, what type of person you are and also how to be able to change your thoughts and beliefs to those that are more like what they want.
This is the new premise of the world now. I'm not saying STOP USING THE INTERNET. I won't stop, because its a beautiful thing. The massive amount of information shared across minds is something that mankind has to be proud of. However what you must remember (as the story of Watch Dogs depicts), is that this is a collection of information. Information that can be obtained and used in ways of influence - good or bad.
Maybe in the end this is just the ramblings of a mad man, and all of this was just brought on because of my YouTube binge of Alex Jones - I believe this would be most likely.
However what I can be certain about, is that Watch Dogs is going to be an out of this world game. With excellent graphics and a solid, semi-realistic storyline, which will have people gripped from the beginning. But we will have to ponder over how the story mirrors real life for a while, because the slated release date is 2013.
But as an appetiser, have a look at the game play video below - from E3 - to take you back to reality.
After watching the brilliant film, From Dusk Till Dawn, I took a moment to contemplate what people are really afraid of and what they should be afraid of.
If we go into a movie theatre to be scared by something it is usually one of the following:
- Vampires
- Werewolves
- Zombies
- Supernatural or Unnatural Beings
- Mega Crazed Murderous Rapists
- Demons
- Hell Spawn
- Aliens / UFOs
- Secret Government Groups - such as the Men in Black (X-Files not Will Smith)
- Various other things that have never been proven to be in / of this world now or ever before
As you can probably determine by the above list, none of the things listed are real - apart from the Mega Crazed Murderous Rapists (but it's not like you will come across one on a daily basis or even yearly - perhaps biyearly). And it is for this reason that I started to wonder why we are actually afraid of these things in film. None of these things have ever been reported on in local news or even national news.
Whilst having these thoughts I took myself outside of my house in the early hours of the morning to have a cigarette. At that point I thought of the things that people should really be afraid of. I was there smoking. Doing something that in all probability will be the end of me, unless I quit. But you will never see a film that depicts a man dying of cancer to be classified as a horror. When really, if you think about it, with the statistics, facts and figures - it is incredibly scary.
People will do this all the time - they will watch a horror movie and be afraid to venture into darkness because a vampire or ghost or UFO might be there. And the reason they need to venture into the darkness of their own home is to get their cigarettes or tenth drink of the night. Two things that could kill you. Is that not scary?
Now I'm not trying to put out any anti drink or anti-smoking message, if I was I would be being a hipocrit. Plus if people started to stop then that would drive the prices up for me. And that would be a fearful thought to have.
Before watching From Dusk Till Dawn I also watched a film with Will Farrell called Everything Must Go. This film was about a guy who loses his job, his wife and his home, due to his long running drinking problem. To many people, the prospect of that happening is scary. But this film was an excellent comedy. And I know the same story filmed and written in a different way would have probably become a drama. But never would it be a horror.
Obviously all of these irrational, and albeit silly, fears of things are not contained just to film. There are so many examples of people being afraid of things, that they don't need to be - in the real world, but as there are so many, I wouldn’t want to bore you with a list of them right now.
After having all these thoughts I decided to come up with a list of the things that would scare me if they were put into a horror film. So here goes.
Maybe if anyone from Hollywood is reading and they would want to make something on this list into a horror, I would add some of those sudden flash scenes in horrors that make the industry thrive.
- Losing your job
- Not being able to pay bills / rent / mortgage
- Loved ones dying - family, wife (some may hope for this), husband (and this too), girlfriend, boyfriend or friends
- Becoming painfully, violently or fatally ill
- Being infected by various diseases
- Etc.
Whilst creating my blog I tried to type a long description about what it was going to be about. But after I had typed it I discovered that I was limited to 500 characters and not the 500 words that I thought it was.
However because I was quite proud of the description I had written, I decided I would copy and paste it here so that I can get it out of my system.
I was going to be a little OCD with my blogger account and meticulously separate all of my blogs into individual categories with possible sub-categories.
At the time this seemed a perfect idea, but then I just wanted to make it simple, one blog, one RANDOM blog for all of my ideas, thoughts, reviews (media / life) and rants about things that will possibly appeal to most people - hopefully even make you believe that your not alone (even though you most probably are).
So, lets get started, here it is - My Random Blog.
I will write more posts when I can think of what to write about.
One thing though. Today I feel like I can be more creative, now that I have started a blog. I can actually have my thoughts and reviews saved in the cloud for whomever I want to let see. This feels strange...
