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One question I get a lot, is why my wife and I have so many animals.  We currently have seven dogs, and one cat.  For six months last year, we had two cats, but only five dogs.  It does get a little crazy, but I don’t regret it for a second, the choices Kelly and I have made.  I think it’s instructive, for others, to know why we ended up where we did.  This post is just a summary of why we’ve adopted who we’ved adopted.

We had Ozzy, our beloved cat who passed away last year,  because some person in Rochester, NY didn’t spay or neuter their cats, and then let the litter apparently run loose.

We have Ralphie, because a divorcing husband and wife didn’t want him any more.

We have Peedee because some breeders didn’t think he’d make a good breeder, so he was unwanted.

We have O-Ren because someone either didn’t care enough to find her when she went missing, or because someone didn’t want to take care of an active dog.

We have Kaylee and Jayne because a family moved out of their home and left them to fend for themselves for three weeks.

We have Lemmy because some neighbors of ours let him loose in the wild when they lost their home to foreclosure.

We have Mags and Finnick because someone didn’t want them anymore.  This same someone neglected to treat Mags when her leg was broken.

All of these guys live with Kelly and I on our somewhat large property with good sized house and good sized fenced in backyard.  One reason for our desire for home ownership was so that no one could ever tell us we couldn’t have so many animals.  I don’t regret anything about them, and I go to sleep with a clear conscious.

 This past week the popular iOS was release for Android.  I’ve mocked a little the idea behind Instagram, which is downgrading your photo with effects and squarish dimensions, but with it now on Android, it was probably time to take a second look with an open mind.  I installed the app and took my first Instagram picture:

http://instagr.am/p/I9qbJWLo6-/

I get the social aspect of now better than I did before, so I can see how iOS users like it, but the Android version just isn’t very good.  The biggest problem is that the developers ignored the design language of Android and just attempted to copy the interface to Android.    Maybe it works in iOS, but on Android it’s extremely clunky.

My biggest gripe is that they make sharing on the app more difficult than it needs to be.  Since it’s inception, Android has always been better at sharing than iOS with it’s “Intents”.  Almost anything can be shared via anything.  Instagram virtually ignores this huge feature of Android and hides it behind clunky interface decisions.

Overall, it was pretty disappointing and I’m sure it will be used by Android haters as “proof” you can’t write good looking apps for Android, which is a shame.  The release also highlighted (allegedly) a whole raft of classism by users of Instagram on iOS.  I’m not sure how pervasive that all was, but in the end it just reflected poorly on iOS users.  I hope the Instagram people go back to the drawing board and learn the proper design language.  It’s a no-go for me otherwise.

Pictures from outside

Some time over a week ago, I deactivated my Facebook account.  I deactivated versus deleted because I wanted to see how much I was using it, and if I was using it for anything important.  Well, over a week later (I guess since I can’t remember which day I deactivated), things are just fine.  I haven’t missed it and here’s why.

Facebook is just boring to me now.  As Facebook has added more and more “functionality”, the content less and less about sharing and connecting, and more about playing a part online.  It’s not even Facebook users doing this, it’s the way Facebook is built these days.  You can’t help but play a MOORPG social networking game when you use Facebook.

Everything added in the last year has added clutter, slowed down the website, and hidden content via EdgeRank.  When I started slowly cutting down friends and pages I was getting notifications from, I noticed tons of updates I was never seeing, things I would be legitimately be interested in.  Hiding content from me when I have not indicated that I want that content hidden is a big no-no.

So, my social networking is limited to Google+ and Twitter.  Twitter I use passively, as I don’t have a big following at all, but there is a lot of interesting stuff beng posted by the people I follow.   On Google+, lots of interesting things are happening.  My family and most of my friends aren’t on Google+, but I’ve met new people and have discussions all the time on topics that just aren’t as popular (or as accessible) on Facebook.

I’m not gonna say “Facebook sucks” or anything like that, but just that it isn’t really for me anymore.  If you like it, great.  If you’re kind of sick of it and wonder if you can do without, the answer is yes.  Lots of good content out there and many ways to get to it, if you’re sick of playing a MOORPH social network.