What Type of Facebooker are You?

All of my closest friends should know by now that I'm a Facebook junkie. I am logged on almost the whole day and I find it sooooo hard to peel myself away from the monitor. So, imagine my amusement when I read this article on CNN.com about the 12 Most Annoying Types of Facebookers. I immediately identified myself on the list. Can you guess which type I am?

**********************************************************************************

The Let-Me-Tell-You-Every-Detail-of-My-Day Bore. "I'm waking up." "I had Wheaties for breakfast." "I'm bored at work." "I'm stuck in traffic." You're kidding! How fascinating! No moment is too mundane for some people to broadcast unsolicited to the world. Just because you have 432 Facebook friends doesn't mean we all want to know when you're waiting for the bus.

The Self-Promoter. OK, so we've probably all posted at least once about some achievement. And sure, maybe your friends really do want to read the fascinating article you wrote about beet farming. But when almost EVERY update is a link to your blog, your poetry reading, your 10k results or your art show, you sound like a bragger or a self-centered careerist.

The Friend-Padder. The average Facebook user has 120 friends on the site. Schmoozers and social butterflies -- you know, the ones who make lifelong pals on the subway -- might reasonably have 300 or 400. But 1,000 "friends?" Unless you're George Clooney or just won the lottery, no one has that many. That's just showing off.

The Town Crier. "Michael Jackson is dead!!!" You heard it from me first! Me, and the 213,000 other people who all saw it on TMZ. These Matt Drudge wannabes are the reason many of us learn of breaking news not from TV or news sites but from online social networks. In their rush to trumpet the news, these people also spread rumors, half-truths and innuendo. No, Jeff Goldblum did not plunge to his death from a New Zealand cliff.

The TMIer. "Brad is heading to Walgreens to buy something for these pesky hemorrhoids." Boundaries of privacy and decorum don't seem to exist for these too-much-information updaters, who unabashedly offer up details about their sex lives, marital troubles and bodily functions. Thanks for sharing.

The Bad Grammarian. "So sad about Fara Fauset but Im so gladd its friday yippe". Yes, I know the punctuation rules are different in the digital world. And, no, no one likes a spelling-Nazi schoolmarm. But you sound like a moron.

The Sympathy-Baiter. "Barbara is feeling sad today." "Man, am I glad that's over." "Jim could really use some good news about now." Like anglers hunting for fish, these sad sacks cast out their hooks -- baited with vague tales of woe -- in the hopes of landing concerned responses. Genuine bad news is one thing, but these manipulative posts are just pleas for attention.

The Lurker. The Peeping Toms of Facebook, these voyeurs are too cautious, or maybe too lazy, to update their status or write on your wall. But once in a while, you'll be talking to them and they'll mention something you posted, so you know they're on your page, hiding in the shadows. It's just a little creepy.

The Crank. These curmudgeons, like the trolls who spew hate in blog comments, never met something they couldn't complain about. "Carl isn't really that impressed with idiots who don't realize how idiotic they are." [Actual status update.] Keep spreading the love.

The Paparazzo. Ever visit your Facebook page and discover that someone's posted a photo of you from last weekend's party -- a photo you didn't authorize and haven't even seen? You'd really rather not have to explain to your mom why you were leering like a drunken hyena and French-kissing a bottle of Jagermeister.

The Obscurist. "If not now then when?" "You'll see..." "Grist for the mill." "John is, small world." "Dave thought he was immune, but no. No, he is not." [Actual status updates, all.] Sorry, but you're not being mysterious -- just nonsensical.

The Chronic Inviter. "Support my cause. Sign my petition. Play Mafia Wars with me. Which 'Star Trek' character are you? Here are the 'Top 5 cars I have personally owned.' Here are '25 Things About Me.' Here's a drink. What drink are you? We're related! I took the 'What President Are You?' quiz and found out I'm Millard Fillmore! What president are you?" You probably mean well, but stop. Just stop. I don't care what president I am -- can't we simply be friends?

Not sure which type you are? Take the QUIZ.

Source: CNN.com

Do The Math

This article was written by Inday Espina-Varona and was posted on Facebook.

*******************************************************************************

One doesn’t need to be a member of Mensa, or a graduate of Harvard or Georgetown universities, or even “just” of the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo, to appreciate the math lessons brought by Typhoon “Ondoy.”

Thanks to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and a number of her aides, we know that national government deserved a pat on the back for topping its disaster-relief effort success benchmark (Katrina, heaven help us). Rainfall in 24 hours -- Ondoy: 455 millimeters; Katrina: 250 millimeters.

By afternoon of September 29, the death toll was at 250, and mounting. Half a million were homeless, 1.8 million affected – their homes intact but valuables destroyed by inundation in filthy waters.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) estimates property losses at P2 billion. (P5 billion as of 7 pm) But NDCC chief and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro says paralysis of many enterprises, from small neighborhood stores to multi-million-peso manufacturing plants, costs the country hundreds of millions daily.

We’ve also learned that President Arroyo, Vice President Noli de Castro, and all Cabinet officials are donating their salaries for the next two months to help relief operations. The President and the Vice President get P50,000 (P70,000 for the President) a month; Cabinet members, P30,000.

That means the President is giving P140,000 – enough to buy one six-seater wooden banca with engine or three rubber boats (P37,000 each).

I mention boats because these were the missing links in Onday rescue and relief operations.

I still don’t know how many vehicles were blocking rescuers’ paths on Saturday afternoon. I do know that at around 6 pm of that day Teodoro was admitting the mighty NDCC had 25 rubber boats – half without engines. (Of course, the vehicles blocking rescuers were not left on the streets by joy-riding delinquents but by workers and students and other folk who were not told noon would find them in danger of drowning.)

The dearth in rubber boats and bancas meant that people were trapped on rooftops for 12 hours and longer. By afternoon of the 28th, the NDCC said government workers had rescued 8,000 – of the half a million homeless and many more affected. Do the math.

Metro Manila has a 15-million population. It has 1699 barangays (as of June 2008). For every barangay to have one banca would cost the government P169 million. Rizal province, equally devastated, has 188 barangays, another 18.8 million. That’s not even 20% of the price of President Arroyo’s 1-billion dream jet.

Do the math. For P1billion, the government could buy a fleet of 10,000 bancas.

But we don’t even have to talk about Mrs. Arroyo’s Christmas stocking. Let’s just focus on her gustatory delights during a recent US trip.

A leaked report said that while Filipinos mourned the death of former President Corazon Aquino, Mrs. Arroyo and her allies were feasting and drinking at the hoity-toity Le Cirque in New York City, to the tune of $20,000. Another leak said the presidential party also had a $15,000 lunch in a Washington D.C. steakhouse. Still another report said a second expensive dinner had occurred in Le Cirque. If this last dinner cost only $15,000 the tab for all three feasts would have reached P2.45 million. Do the math: 25 bancas.

Still, those dinners represented just a fraction of expenses in that US trip. A report by gmanews.tv quotes Susanna Vargas, Malacañang’s deputy executive secretary for administration and finance, as saying that Mrs. Arroyo’s party spent $66,000 in Washington D.C. and $59,000 in New York for various service tips (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/170245/arroyo-party-gave-away-p6m-in-tips-during-six-day-us-stay). That’s P6 million. Do the math: 60 bancas.

But even that is just spare change to Mrs. Arroyo’s overall travel expenses, which sparked outrage when a Commission on Audit report showed these had been partly funded by contingent funds – by their very nature, monies set aside for emergencies. Because Mrs. Arroyo, the economist, couldn’t balance her travel budget, some P95 million incurred by the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) were charged to the Palace’s contingent funds.(See above url).

Do the math: 950 bancas -- more than half of what Metro Manila-Rizal would need if each barangay is appropriated only one banca.

It is said that every peso that goes to the pockets of corrupt government officials is a peso taken from public services. I’m going to ignore the ZTE scandal, which was a preempted scandal, and focus on the ill-gotten wealth of General Carlos Garcia, former Armed Forces comptroller.

The good general is accused of skimming P300 million from the AFP’s budget. Even if you don’t care about soldiers dying because of a dearth in rescue equipment, you can do a different kind of math: 3,000 bancas.

I think P300 million is a very conservative estimate. Garcia’s son, Tim, just posted a “million-dollar bail,” according to an article by Peter Davis for “The Daily Beast” website. Do the math: 490 bancas.

If Davis’ description of the young Garcia’s Trump Towers hothouse pad and its contents is true, add another $2 million. (Another 980 bancas). No way did his old man stop at P300 million. But you get the math.

The cited cases alone are enough (P550.45 million) to equip each Metro Manila-Rizal barangay with 2 bancas with change left for petrol. Or 14,877 rubber boats.

And we’re not even talking about Mikey or his father.