The song, in its own right, is a classic. The Muppets Show & Sesame Street (happy 40th anniversary) are also both classics. The Muppets performing Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody is ... well ... sure to be a classic. And they even squeaky cleaned the murder part of the song.
While this may not be funny, in a ha ha out loud way, it is something that puts a smile on one's face. It sure put one on mine.
With the plethora of weird and bizarre things that comes my way, I wasn't sure which one to write about. So instead, I wanted to share five links of weird & bizarre things I read about recently.
A 2-year old Brazilian boy in the hospital after complaining from pain in his body. After no visible reasons for his pain, x-rays show a totally different story. If I was to take a guess, at the risk of sounding stereotypical, I would say magic or something like that is sure to surface as a motive.
In Japan, already the slimmest industrialized nation, people are fighting fat to ward off dreaded metabolic syndrome and comply with a government-imposed waistline standard. Metabolic syndrome, known here simply as “metabo,” is a combination of health risks, including stomach flab, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, that can lead to cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Concerned about rising rates of both in a graying nation, Japanese lawmakers last year set a maximum waistline size for anyone age 40 and older: 85 centimeters (33.5 inches) for men and 90 centimeters (35.4 inches) for women.
I strongly recommend you read the comments as there may be a false representation of the facts.
There seems to be an increase of these funny classifieds that's parallel to the decline of newspapers. Perhaps it's how some people are trying to leave their imprint on the news sources of yesteryear. ▣
It's no surprise that Facebook has garnered a lot of negative press over its privacy overhaul from a week or so ago. As soon as one logged into Facebook, the company asked that they personalize their privacy settings. That is, they asked all 350 million or so users to read, understand and act appropriately to the major privacy changes they've made. And in a step, which may have been done with good intentions (although I highly doubt it), Facebook "recommended" some settings of its own. Most of you should have already gone through the exercise, but if you have not, it's worth mentioning that I personally do not recommend Facebook's "recommended" privacy settings.
The privacy announcement itself, the preceding open letter (from Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg), and the announcement made five months earlier made it apparent that Facebook was revamping its privacy policy, settings, use, etc. The changes were thought to be about simplification and putting more control for the user on the behemoth social networking site. After all, Facebook has received criticism for its confusing privacy settings by such groups as the Canadian Privacy Commissioner and the Norwegian consumer protection agency. While they may have simplified the privacy settings, they unfortunately also took away some settings making at least one particular area "publicly available information."
This all made the simpler privacy settings seem as if it was done with the intention of encouraging users to be more transparent in a very indirect fashion. One might even suggest that it was done in a mischievous manner. Coupled with some of the negative (for the user) changes made, and it comes as no surprise that Facebook is receiving quite a bit of negative publicity. Facebook apps (like the quizzes), for example, have been a point of contention, given the amount of personal data access the developers of such apps have. This raised eyebrows with the very same Canadian Privacy Commission that had previous concerns (see above); along with the ACLU. Naturally, the amount of privacy changes, and the manner in which Facebook suggests settings prompted the ACLU to be concerned once again; and rightfully so.
Other groups include the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which did a very thorough review of some of Facebook's good, bad and ugly privacy changes. I highly recommend you read it if you're serious and curious about how much of your personal data you share on Facebook.
As of earlier this evening, there was a report talks about how Facebook is suggesting that you lie can change your personal information to protect yourself. That's a good idea, but keep in mind that you may be in violation of Facebook's Terms of Service. As an additional measure, I strongly recommend that you review your own Facebook privacy settings in detail and ensure that you're not making them available to "everyone."
With the recent Google announcement of real-time search (partnering with Twitter, Facebook and others), having a privacy setting of "everyone" now means literally EVERY ONE. Even worse, once the search engines get a hold of the data, it's cached on another (their) system where changing your settings on Facebook may simply be too late. It's no longer in Facebook's hands/systems to secure in accordance with your changes. At this point, simply put, your data has left the building.
Still, I advise each and every one of you to take the time to understand and customize your privacy settings. Doing so will help protect yourselves, your family and any kids you know who use the service. Knowing, of course, that there's a balance that must be achieved between the extreme ends of absolute security on one end, and very public on the other. I invite you to read about how to protect yourself (4 things to do); and to watch the following video to help you get started with customizing your privacy settings.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTpa3AS39uA
With 350+ million users, it's worth noting that it may simply be too late. Most have seen the privacy announcement, made changes and/or ignored it and have simply moved on using Facebook how they always have, unaware of the ramifications.
At the end of the day, is Facebook secure for me to use? Despite some of the losses in user security/privacy controls, the ongoing negative criticism, and with the right settings in place, Facebook is still a very usable and joyous social networking site. If not careful, however, it could easily find itself in the social dump of yesteryear along with many others; which I won't mention (ahm ... MySpace, Friendster, etc.).
Update: Facebook today, December 17, 2009, was challenged on privacy changes/rules. ▣
By now, the mission of TOMS Shoes is well known: When you buy a pair of their shoes, you help provide a child in need with new shoes. It's called the "One for One" movement and it has helped the company emerge as a leader in conscious consumerism.
When it's a holiday season for you and yours, TOMS is asking you to "choose Shoes" for the occasion. Forget holidays; whether it's a gift for yourself, a friend, or someone in your family, giving TOMS Shoes this holiday also means that a child will receive a present that will help them grow up healthy and happy.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysE2VlyvdnI
TOMS "One for One" is not a gimmick intended to boost holiday sales. Instead, it is the basis of the company's business model. Blake Mycoski didn’t just want to start a charity to put shoes on the feet of children who needed them — he wanted to do something more sustainable, something that didn’t rely on asking for donations.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt3BQQ6dQaQ
Innovative thinking, running a for-profit business and giving globally can all coexist ... and inspire others in more ways that one.
Got an inspirational story to share, please let us know in the comments. ▣
