Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion

Subject: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Artful Codger
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 03:28 PM

If you also object to the new in-your-Facebook features newly littering Mudcat pages (particularly, the non-scrolling folderol in the lower right) please let Max know by posting a message on this thread. Many of us care not a jot for Facebook, and don't appreciate such persistent nagware being added to the pages. Floating bloaters bode ill of the other types of annoyances we may be inflicted with under the rubric of "social networking" or "value-added experience". Such user-disrespectful screen cluttering is a quick way to lose valued contributors.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: artbrooks
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 03:35 PM

Sorry, but I don't see any of that on any of the mudcat.org pages, so I have no idea what you are talking about. If you are speaking of something on the Mudcat pages at Facebook, I really don't think there is a thing that Max or anyone else can do about it.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: fat B****rd
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 03:36 PM

That's what I say..

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 03:38 PM

I love Facebook.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Jeri
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 03:41 PM

He might mean the "share" icons for Facebook, Twitter, Google, and a couple other places. They're pretty small, though, so I can't see they're that intrusive.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: GUEST,999
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 03:42 PM

I keep getting a red Error thing in the lower right-hand corner of Mudcat pages. Often in the lower left-hand corner a a message that says

waiting for www.facebook.com etc. WTF is that about? Does anyone know?

I think Facebook is the most intrusive site on the internet. What shit!

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 03:43 PM

I see nothing.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 03:48 PM

The share icons are great ~ it is so easy to share on Facebook with those and they definitely are not intrusive. I hadn't noticed the red error thing until you pointed it out :) I don't see anything else either.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: GUEST,999
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 03:52 PM

So let me ask this: what's to "Like" with a thumbs up sign? And why would something on Mudcat be any of Facebook's business?

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 04:00 PM

I think the thumbs up is to say you like Mudcat. There are some very interesting threads on Mudcat that are worth sharing on Facebook. It isn't that it is Facebook's business but sometimes a particular thread about a particular song, say, may be of interest to someone's Facebook friends so they share it.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Will Fly
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 04:07 PM

I see a "facebook" sign in white on a blue background - about 1" wide - fixed to the bottom right of the Mudcat page.

I wouldn't be a member of Facebook (or MySpace) if you paid me, but I suppose I can ignore yet another boring link to it.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: GUEST,999
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 04:08 PM

Thanks. But why is Facebook on Mudcat? That's what I don't understand.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: GUEST,999
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 04:11 PM

Like
Be the first of your friends to like this.


Yippee.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Jeri
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 04:11 PM

Usually when you "like" something, you get updates on Facebook when there's something new. It seems just as easy to check here.

And for the record, I've got all the stuff blocked in my main browser, so I don't see it here.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: GUEST,999
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 04:13 PM

How can I block it, Jeri? I detest Facebook crap.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: gnu
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 04:14 PM

Huh? I don't do face.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: JedMarum
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 04:27 PM

I don't get it. What's the beef?

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Jeri
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 04:32 PM

I use Firefox and have the Firefox add-on "Adblock Plus". This should be a link for Adblock Plus for Google Chrome, if it works. (If it doesn't, you can always Google it.)

I've said this before, but I was OK with some ads, but they really started interfering at some point. It's easy enough to use another browser if I want to see what people are talking about.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Jeri
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 04:36 PM

Jed, I get the impression the icons are bigger and more intrusive for some people. I also think some folks are just offended by other social networks or mention of them They exist to sell things to us. I just don't buy what I don't need... except sometimes ice cream or sparkly things.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 04:53 PM

I think Facebook and Twitter are fine. You choose who you want be friends with. No nasty arguments like on Mudcat.

It's all a lot hullabaloo.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Bernard
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 05:04 PM

Hear, hear...

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Charley Noble
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 05:22 PM

Not to worry. I like many of the features available on Facebook. I do a lot with photo albums there. I probably get more constructive feedback from friends there as well, compared with Mudcat. But Mudcat is still the best for song research and chat about arcane topics.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Continuity Jones
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 06:11 PM

Facebook is what you make of it. I love it and use it loads. If someone or something interrupts I don't care for, I just delete them. It's an amazing resource for keeping in touch with friends and family. It's a blank canvas, up to you what you put on it.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 06:13 PM

Well said CJ. Something you cant do on Mudcat.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: catspaw49
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 06:39 PM

Sorry.....just tried IE7, Firefox, Opera, and Chrome....nada...zilch.

All I get are the tiny share/like icons and I can't believe those are a problem.


Spaw

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Bill D
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 06:49 PM

With this thread at the top, I suddenly see a huge ad box beside it with a clickable link saying "Go to Facebook.com"

I'm beginning to feel paranoid...

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Max
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 06:56 PM

Oh you Artful Curmudgeon, you know how I love your demands and ignorant, reactive, grumpy, hurtfully stated wrongness that spews out daily for just about anything that ever changes. If it weren't for folks like you, the world would just be too awesome and no one could ever stop smiling or get enough sleep.

I'm exerting myself to not go on a rant here, but just having the button, the thumbs up, does wonders for a Web site like ours. It basically tells me everything about you (assuming you have a Facebook account) each time it is loaded, combining my stats with Facebook's infinite knowledge about you. And just like them (just a bit less in your face), I use that data to determine how best to serve you, what kind of things you like, how you navigate the site, what the best time to do my backups and maintenance is, and what kind of threads a left handed pregnant woman east of the Mississippi likes to read on days that it rains.

I'm just experimenting at the moment, no need to worry, you will soon have control of what you see and don't see around here, please bear with me for a spell till the upgrade will be forced down your throats and all hell breaks loose. My intent here is ultimately for the passerbys who've come to get lyrics (60% of our traffic) and who will soon be fully funding our little community here with their eyeballs.

Thanks fuckers.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Jeri
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 07:08 PM

I blocked everything when we got stuck in molasses. I probably don't need to have it all blocked, and I'm missing what others are complaining about that I never noticed before.

Max, when you change something, people gotta complain. Sometimes, it's me. Resistance to change is a normal part of being human.

Fucker, out. (This fucker's off to look for chocolate--fucker NEEDS some chocolate.)

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: quokka
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 08:39 PM

*like* ... thanks Max for all your amazing hard work :-)

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: catspaw49
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 09:25 PM

I like the pseudo-rant but that's just me.......I still can't see the problem. That might be just me too.........


Spaw

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Artful Codger
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 09:32 PM

It's not the tiny icon at the top I'm referring to. It's a big floating Facebook image (button or whatever) that appears in the lower right of the viewing pane and is unaffected by scrolling. If you're not seeing it, you may be running a different browser (I use Firefox with the Adblock Plus extension).

Blocking Facebook isn't a feasible option to avoid garbage like this, because there are times when one wants to view someone's Facebook page for some reason (without having to become a Facebookie).

And Max, if people like me don't express our displeasure early, developers assume everyone likes the things you keep cluttering the screen with. I stopped watching TV partly because of the distracting garbage they clutter up the screen with, distracting from the program I'm actually tuning in to watch. If this is "value-added viewing", why don't they overlay it on the commercials instead??

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Artful Codger
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 09:38 PM

BTW, in addition to the tiny Facebook icon up in the header area, I was seeing a big-ass Facebook image. No explanation about what either was doing there, or a note that Max was "experimenting only". What are we to think?

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: bobad
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 09:44 PM

Do you always shit on the carpet when you're a guest in someone's house?

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Max
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 09:44 PM

Worst case scenario, of course. Yes, that is protocol around here when you don't understand something. Freak the fuck out is always prudent and fair.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Little Robyn
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 09:51 PM

I love facebook. I'm in touch with other catters regularly - Skarpi and Cats - and Azizi who doesn't often visit here now.
But I'm also in close contact with family who live miles away from me. I used to phone them maybe once or twice a year but now I can see what they're doing any time I want to. And I can pass on little messages or ideas very easily. It's almost like being back home - like jumping back in time to when we were all kids together.
And then there are photos or videos that can be shared without any effort. I think I'm spending more time on facebook than at Mudcat - and I don't have to read the complaints or swearing that creeps in here!
Robyn

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 24 Feb 12 - 11:34 PM

I'd rather have the Facebook stuff that Max has on Mudcat than the Facebook stuff that Facebook has on Facebook. At least the Cat's is (on my screen anyway) tiny and behaves itself. Whereas somebot at FB seems to think I am the sort of person who loves giant brown cupcakes with dog-turd-size (& shape) mounds of the most startlingly turquoise, plastic-looking icing known to Western civilisation. (Who but the west even has stuff like that?) The effin thing is huge, revolting, and never off my page. Hate to think what sort of cyber vibes I'm putting out if that's the advertising I attract. Oh yes: and shamrocks. Lots of shamrocks.

So Max's wee icons are blessedly discreet, and you know what? If it helps him in any way - any way at all - then I am happy to give them screen space.

'Nite all... it's fourbloodythirty in the ayem here.

B xxx zzz-zzzz

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: EBarnacle
Date: 25 Feb 12 - 01:06 AM

What icon?

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: GUEST,PeterC
Date: 25 Feb 12 - 04:18 AM

I saw the same icon as Artful Codger when I read this thread yesterday, Its not displaying now.

It was nothing to do with "like" buttons, it was large, non scrolling, and not something that I had seem before on any site.

I did wonder if Mudcat had been hacked and it would link to a virus download. I didn't investigate.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 25 Feb 12 - 05:20 AM

No matter how recent an innovation (hell, I didn't even know what the Internet was when Mudcat started up much less have access to a computer) it only becomes Traditional in relationship to something slighter more recent. I think that's the essence of Folk really - the reactionary impulse in us all that dwells in the autistic gene we all have someplace. How many Folkies does it take to change a lightbulb?

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 25 Feb 12 - 05:51 AM

One to change the bulb and ten to complain that candles were better?

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Andrez
Date: 25 Feb 12 - 05:53 AM

AdBlock Plus also has a version for Safari here: AdBlock for Safari

AdBlock for Firefox is available here: AdBlock Plus for Firefox

Click to Flash for Mac is also useful and the safari version is available here: ClickToFlash for Mac

This little beauty lets you choose whether you want to see images or not. You get a greyed out box on the web page but if you actually want to see something like aYou-Tube clip etc you can click on it and it plays just fine. Its just that the thing doesnt intrude as when some junk adsjust start playing the moment you get onto a page.

Its not hard finding the versions for other browsers and operating systems via google

The bottom line is that I dont want Ads of any kind appearing in my browsers and especially dont care for having my browsing habits logged any more than I can avoid. At present the tools above ensure I have a clean Ad and logo free Mudcat page.

If I cant have an Ad free experience on Mudcat then its adios from me, not that that will make one whit of difference to anyone else.... and not should it, it should be up to individuals to resist the commercialising of the Internet and even basic social media like this.

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 25 Feb 12 - 05:58 AM

One to change the bulb and ten to complain that candles were better?

Nice. The answer I generally give is one to change the bulb and ten to sing about how good the old one was.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Nick
Date: 25 Feb 12 - 06:25 AM

You can always check on what Facebook has on you (unless in the US)if it concerns you as I'm sure you know

Get-yer-data

I'm not sure whose quote was (something like)-

"So live your life that you could give your parrot to the town gossip and sleep at night"

Access to converse and conet with others comes at a price but for me the benefits have always outweighed the negatives.

I'll probably tweet this thread just to keep being modernish.

I liked yesterdays tweet from Stephen Colbert -
"Anyone who thinks marketing's becoming too intrusive is just jealous that corporations are better at remembering birthdays"

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Nick
Date: 25 Feb 12 - 06:27 AM

And, Max, I wish I could put my spelling mistakes right so I don't look silly :)

Connectrather than conet.

I eed a new keybord

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Vic Smith
Date: 25 Feb 12 - 06:33 AM

Why does Max feel the need to resort to foul language (24 Feb 12 - 06:56 PM) as soon as someone disagrees with changes that he makes on Mudcat?

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Nick
Date: 25 Feb 12 - 06:34 AM

And, Artful Codger, they have probably been bugging your phone and checking your emails for years

I have met the enemy and they are us

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 25 Feb 12 - 06:40 AM

> I wish I could put my spelling mistakes right so I don't look silly :)

Great post, nowt silly about it. (This from the gal who brought you The Dike of Windsor and Westmonster.) (Those are genuine bona fide typos, BTW. At work in a posh antiquarian bookshop in the days of manual typewriters and un-deletable mistakes.)

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Nick
Date: 25 Feb 12 - 06:45 AM

Bonnie -

An aside.

One of the great things I've always thought about Kindles that makes them different than books is that if you could hack into them (which of course you can) you could change books. Harder to do with the printed word.

Mischievous - dangerous - or what?

I thought I'd start by making the beginning and end of Finnegan's Wake not join up.

:)

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 25 Feb 12 - 06:48 AM

LOL! I'd reverse the time sequence in all of Thomas Hardy's novels so things went from bad to marginally better, instead of the other way around.

Subject: RE: Say NO! to the Facebook intrusion
From: Nick
Date: 25 Feb 12 - 06:49 AM

Vic - it's his party and he can cry (or swear) if he wants to.

Seems reasonable to me

Personally I've always preferred 'foul' language to foul thoughts.

Problem of being a liberal (wind up word...) I guess

It's a great thought that you could invade a country or take over the world by saying 'fuck' to people. I must try it.