ari's posterous

Between the blog and the twit is the posterous one

...Musing about how many people have sat on this marble step throughout history...

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...and what that number, however vast, means today. Men, women, and children of all ages, races, ethnicities, genders, and faiths have sat here -- and still sit here, flocking in droves and with baby strollers and cheese-its and uttering different languages. They come for the same reason: to gaze at the Washington Monument in front, the statue of Thomas Jefferson behind, and the pursuit of happiness that America represents.

And it is that common reason that brings me here, too; for the first time in over 15 years. I'm accustomed to other parts more proximate to the Mall. But a beautiful day -- on the second-to-last day of the cherry blossom festival and in an hour before a family Bar Mitzvah party -- is to mark my sitting here today.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

You have two choices: Delete your Facebook account or...

...go to great lengths checking and unchecking buttons to hide personal data (friends, pictures) from the world.

The below two paragraphs frame the beginning of:
http://m.gawker.com/site?t=XkFSzNcDNWm5jIiCviJFFg&sid=gawker

"Facebook's privacy pullback isn't just outrageous; it's a landmark turning point for the social network. Facebook has blundered before, but the latest changes are far more calculated. The company has, in short, turned evil. Its new privacy policy have turned the social network inside out: millions of people have signed up because Facebook offers a sense of safety. "For the last five years -- as long as you're relatively careful about who you accept as your friends -- what you do and say on Facebook for the most part stays on Facebook. Katie Couric's daughter first posted pictures of her famous mom dancing silly in 2006, but it took three years for them to leak to us . (Thank you tipsters!) But virtually overnight and without a clear warning, Facebook has completely reversed those user expectations. Their new privacy settings amount to making anything you post on Facebook to be public, unless you go to great lengths to keep your info private.

"The most insidious part of Facebook's scheme to expose user data has been how the company framed them, claiming to want to enhance privacy. In an open letter to his 350 million+ users, CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed he believed the old privacy framework was "no longer the best way for you to control your privacy," and that the new system would give people "even more control of their information." It would be "simpler" and finer-grained."

Click the above link to keep reading. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry