the lull

The quiet contentedness of this empty room, biting. The coffee stain on the corner, the chipped off paint from the wall, the “ab initio ad infinitum”, the dream catcher, the star chart, the calendar never updated, the freshman map.

I am engulfed in its presence, the simple college life – wake, consume, class, sleep. And the times when it broke from it. Singing in the lounge, a first vote for Hope, random dinners with random people, concerts of unknown bands, four people in one room, the all-niters, sunsets, sunrises, beaches and the food – who can forget the food?

But it’s gone now. The room stripped of all personally but a cover on a bed, a few pillows, and a stack of boxes and bags in the corner.

qualia

And to some extent we are all but reflections of one another transposed in the relation by which we are born. All the breaths in between can be considered variable, infinitely so, but variable nonetheless. And if we consider it that – even so much as that – we fall to the trappings of the unknown regardless. Born under different circumstance, how would I see the world?

Differently, but how much more? Infinitely more?

Facebook Redesign

It has recently come to my attention that facebook redesigned its layout. I don’t go on much, do I?

The most interesting turnout of this change, however, has been the reaction that I have seen throughout the community in large. Having looked at the feedback page, I’ve seen the general distaste of users who simply write “OH NOE, CHANGE IT BACK!!!” – without really specifying the exact wrongs of the new design. It’s, in truth, a simple conservative action which attempts to latch onto a faint sense of familiarity. Even the internet has its conservatism, right?

I myself don’t mind the change – I actually prefer it. Now the news feed isn’t some cluttered piece of crap blending all the different feeds from all the different apps together. Now there is a tabbed design that lets you look for only photo updates, status updates, and posted items. Profiles are now easily readable, with application boxes FINALLY put on a seperate tab – a change I cannot be more happy to see. Generally speaking, the new facebook is cleaner, nicer to look at, more efficient, and complies to many of the philosophies of Web 2.0.

From the complaints I’ve seen, the most daunting of this seems to be the lack of personality put into the main page, and issues with applications. First of all, it’s the person the makes the personality not main page, not the way your apps are arranged. I believe it to be completely possible to convey a sense of personality with the simple implementation of the “personal information” section of the profile.

Second of all, people seem to want apps to give a sense of pesonality to their page. That’s nice and all, but some go much too far. Apps generally clutter the freaking screen. They suck in clusters. It seems to me people want apps, and everything else, into a singular page so they can condense themselves and everything that is them into one place. That does not work with apps. Those pages were rather cluttered and stretched horribly more vertical than horizontal. At least with the new tabbed design, things are generally easier to navigate, and wading through an application “bog” is optional – for those of us who don’t really find them very useful.

As far as the complaints I have? The wall/newsfeed hybrid. It is a cluttered mess.

The most pronounce complaint, however, seems to be this connection with Myspace. The complaint is that somehow the integration of a new design translates to a transformation to a more Myspace feel.

No.

Myspace is Myspace. Facebook is Facebook. What I’ve always believed is Facebook is Facebook because of the people. Myspace is different because of the people. The two genres and flavors have attracted different people.

The only way Facebook can become Myspace if the people change and only the people. Something as superficial as a new layout should not, in any way, determine whether or not such a horrible juxtaposition can be made. Ever. It’s rather shallow.

Overall I like the new Facebook layout. And I’m done with my rant.