Diary of a Network Geek

Or, as I like to remind people, correlation is not causation.

I pride myself on my logic and reason. Perhaps, too much so. I’m relatively well read and I actually paid attention in Science, History and English classes, but I’m always surprised at how little I really know. And, think about all the things that people have said or claimed without any real evidence. Just like a Facebook meme, these “facts” get repeated over and over until people start to take them as the actual truth.
For instance, did you know that an undercover police officer can, in fact, lie to you about being a police officer? Or, that Vikings never had helmets with horns on them? Or, that Napoleon Bonaparte wasn’t actually short? Or, that frogs won’t try to escape water that is slowly brought to a boil? Or, how about one of my personal favorites, “irregardless”? Yeah, that is TOTALLY not a real word.

And, no, you don’t have to go to Snopes for these, they’re all collected at Wikipedia’s List of Common Misconceptions.
So, read up before heading out with your friends tonight and correct that poor, misguided drunk spouting off in the corner!
And have a great weekend!

This post originally appeared on Use Your Words.

Soon, you’ll need a passport to enter Facebook.

No, not really.  Well, probably not, but I’m sure Zuckerberg wouldn’t mind issuing passports and currency!
Regardless, in this case, I’m talking about an art project with a social consciousness that I read about on Gizmodo; Facebook ID Cards.
Those of you who know me, know how obsessed I can become over realistic, but fake, marginalia, like stamps, currency, government documents, and, of course, identification cards just like these.  Things like passports and driver’s licenses are the ephemera of our lives that we often use to define who we are and identify us to strangers, especially those in authority.  We tend to take them for granted, but someone designed them and they serve some purpose, whether it’s to tell a police officer that we are certified to drive or Facebook’s security goons that we’re allowed to access our friendlist.
So, no, it hasn’t happened, yet, but I suspect it will one day.

And, did you notice that they astutely included a QR Code in their design?  Remember that article I linked to earlier in the week?  Might want to read that again…