Extreme dorkiness may be hazardous to health.
September 17, 2007 | Written by Marcy Jarreau
Well, internet gaming finally killed someone. After 3 days of "binge gaming" a man in southern China died of "exhaustion."
I am sure we're about to see a lot of scared parents on the Today's show trying to put restrictions on "addictive" games.
I do not hold the game responsible. Every other year or so we hear about a football player in Florida who dies of heat exhaustion. It's another sports related death! People just need to be more careful when gaming for days on end in Internet Cafes with hundreds of other likeminded competitors.
Here are three ideas I have come up with to make marathon gaming safer:
- Fluids! Provide cold water before, during and after games in unlimited quantities.
- For heaven's sake, take a break. An 8 minute break every 60 minutes can save your sight and possibly a life.
- Find a buddy. Have a buddy check in on you periodically. They will notice if something strange is going, and possibly give helpful tips on difficult levels.
And remember, it's just a games...like seriously.
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eLationships: Breaking up is hard
September 11, 2007 | Written by Marcy Jarreau
I am not in the minority when I let you know that I stalk guys I am romantically interested in on the Internet. It's a pretty common practice, and most people will admit to it.
I Google them, I seek them out on facebook and myspace, and once I find them I stalk all of their friends or associates and especially their exes...if I can figure out who they are.
If someone is IN a relationship it's pretty easy to figure it out. Their significant other is probably number 1 in the top friends on myspace, facebook will even link to the mates profile. If they blog then chances are so does their honey and you can find this on the blogroll. I mean you aren't in a relationship with someone if you don't have a hyperlink to prove it.
So what happens when things turn sour, feelings fade, and your status is suddenly listed as single at 1:24pm? Do you delete your friendship, and every post about or from the ex, then unlink them from your life?
I am currently stalking someone who has an ex link. I am not sure what it means. It could mean it was amicable split; they have remained friends, and still care about one another's lives. But more realistically they just don't want to seem petty to all their mutual friends.
And then there are the nasty break ups. These are more fun to witness. It's when people write nasty things about one another and explain in great detail what the other person did to ruin their life and why you should un-friend them!
I have never had an online break up so I am not sure how I would handle it. But I am more than interested to hear your horror stories. Please, share details that are awkwardly intimate with me/the rest of the Internet.
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A Feast of Love, Brought To You by Craigslist
September 5, 2007 | Written by Clarke Levidiotis
One of my favorite guilty pleasures online is scouring the section of craigslist.org called Missed Connections
Even the most mundane postings are, in my opinion, riveting.
Part of the appeal of Missed Connections is the romantic notion that you might be reconnected with someone you've seen in passing on a city street or random subway car, if they fatefully happen to be looking at the right site on the right day. While I'm all in favor of this romance, I am a bit dubious about the percentage of Missed Connections postings that have actually resulted in a happy union between strangers (though the site is currently compiling Missed Connections success stories, possibly for a documentary). But regardless of how effective it is in coupling people off, Missed Connections remains a fascinating phenomenon for multiple reasons:
- In a city distinctively adorned with status symbols and frequently separated by race/class, Missed Connections transcends the boundaries of socio-economic background, sexual orientation, and even age. There are postings from every corner of every borough, some describing well-groomed Park Avenue beauties, some about Williamsburg hipsters, some written by jaded middle-aged people, some from wide-eyed twenty year olds, gay people, straight people, etc. It's just as much a melting pot as the city itself is.
- It's a collective art project: some of the postings are as elegantly crafted as a haiku or limerick. It's obvious that the authors put effort into their creations with the knowledge that the general public has access to their words, not just the object of their affection. It is a true forum for self-expression instead of just an online bathroom wall to be anonymously scrawled on.
- Many postings are written by men and women who are utterly hopeless that their crush will ever read their piece, or by people who have no intention of ever confronting their crushes (the "You're my married neighbor, so this would never work" or "I am your boss so this would be entirely inappropriate" category) but who are still desperate to spill their guts. So in this sense, it is a public diary where the anonymity of the Internet allows people to profess their feelings of tenderness for strangers, co-workers, ex-wives, etc. In this way, Missed Connections is a receptacle of emotion that probably helps to keep scores of edgy, repressed New Yorkers more psychologically fit than they might otherwise be. It's like therapy, but free.
- In a roundabout way, it promotes togetherness: although both the process of viewing Missed Connections and creating a Missed Connections post are completely anonymous, its function is to lessen the anonymity both of the city and of the Internet itself. Many popular so-called 'social-networking' sites encourage users to bask in the anonymity of the Internet (think about how easy it is to stalk people on MySpace or Facebook from the comfort of your own home). Missed Connections does the opposite by encouraging users to leave the comfort of online interactions and venture back into the real world.
I'm considering starting to submit daily Missed Connections posts about people I encounter on my way to work. They would be more friendly than lovelorn, I think---while I don't routinely fall in love on the subway, I am a careful observer of other people's clothing and choice of reading material. Something along the lines of "This morning on the Q train. You: bespectacled man reading Kafka. Me: brunette in yellow blouse. I just wanted you to know I liked your bowtie". It might be a nice way to give back to a website that has provided me with countless hours of entertainment.
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