modern-and-awkward

Facebook Gaydar Emerges From Breakthrough MIT Project

Ryan Tate · 09/21/09 11:51AM

Are you quietly stalking someone and too dense to figure out their sexual orientation from Google searches, Flickr party photos and real-life gossip? Well, a couple of MIT geniuses invented just the tool for you.

Why Is Everyone on Twitter So Maddeningly Positive?

Ryan Tate · 08/27/09 11:02AM

It's so hard to start a good fight on Twitter. Praise someone effusively, it gets "re-tweeted" endlessly, while nice juicy feuds get smothered in the crib. Every Twitter user is president of his own fraternity. How stale!

The Sinister March of Net Niceness

Ryan Tate · 08/25/09 10:48AM

Wikipedia, once an internet free-for-all, has announced it will now screen changes to certain articles. The New York Times' ethics columnist, meanwhile, is joining the eternal backlash against anonymous blogging. Two steps toward a nice, peaceful, boring and neutered internet.

Jordan Golson · 10/16/07 04:16PM

A Justin.tv "lifecaster," who sports a head-mounted camera wherever he goes, is a huge jerk to a very polite movie-theater manager who asks him to remove his camera when he enters the theatre. Then he gets worked up and defensive when people call him out for his rude behavior. Ah yes, this must be what Al Gore envisioned when he invented the Internet. [TechCrunch]

The Pledge to Not Suck at the Internet

Nick Douglas · 10/15/07 02:39PM

The Internet is not an excuse to be boring, stupid, or cruel. Well, cruel's fine. So join me in taking the Pledge to Not Suck at the Internet. Those who pledge get no actual privilege or prize, and the false sense of superiority is a redundant prize for you, but you can maybe make a newsletter for yourselves.

Why I won't digg your lame story

Nick Douglas · 09/10/07 08:02PM

I would do plenty of things for you. I'd drive you to the airport. I'd be the gunner while you drive the Warthog on Halo. I'd pretend you really can play the guitar. But I won't vote for your lame story on Digg.

Improve your life by going schizo: How and why to double up your online profiles

Nick Douglas · 07/09/07 09:22PM

Have you ever seen a social network that lets you file people under "acquaintance"? The biggest headache on sites like Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn is deciding your friend threshold. Don't take my word for it — MySpace founder Tom Anderson has a private profile, and even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg might have doubled up on his own site. Instead of making you wade through bad friend requests and pointless updates from people you don't know that well, the double-profile technique puts you in charge of your own friend network. Here's a three-step technique for splitting your online presence between your "friends" and your real friends.