That's why I will never install Ubuntu or Fedora or any of the preconfigured distros. Arch Linux installs just the bare minimum needed to have a working (non-gui) OS, and then I can pick and choose just the packages I actually want to use. The package manager takes care of any dependencies, but it also doesn't install irrelevant crap.

That said, I could never expect my technophobic friends and family to do any of that. They get confused finding the command prompt (or knowing why they would ever want to use it) on a new Windows install. I used to be one of those annoyingly strident Linux fanboys smugly saying "To fix your computer, just install Linux" but that was before 10 years of playing tech support to the two or three who listened to me. Now I still preach the wonders of Linux, but with a lengthy disclaimer making it clear what it will NOT do that they expect it to do just like Windows.

Did I just imagine the social groups that built up around dialup BBSes (which is how I met my wife), Usenet, even MUDs and web forums before Facebook ever came along? People were griping that computers were eroding the value of face-to-face communication almost from the first email that was sent out.

I'll certainly agree that Facebook has accelerated that trend, but it's a trend that began 30 years ago.

I don't put anything on Facebook that I wouldn't say in public, even though I have all my private data limited to friends I personally know (unlike some FB users, I don't "friend" any random passerby who sends a friend request, or friends-of-friends, etc.) So if that worries you, don't do it... but I am aware of the cost of having a "free" way to keep in touch with friends and relatives all over the world, and I'm willing to pay that cost.

1) Because FB doesn't push your content onto people who don't want to read it

B) Because if you want to quickly notify 200 people of some major news ("After searching for the last three years, I finally got a job! The only drawback is I have to learn how to say 'Do you want fries with that?' in Swahili.") sending 200 emails isn't the most efficient way to get the information out.

How did this off-topic flamebait get modded insightful? Yes, Facebook is full of people who think the world wants to know what they had for lunch and how great they are. It's also full of people who don't know any other way to have a social life (not like those of us who read and comment on Slashdot all the time). And it's full of people who just like sharing good news and bad with their friends and family in a way that makes it easy to share with all of them quickly, and find out in a few minutes how all of them are doing when you don't have time for 150 phone calls a day.

Either the parent poster has never actually seen Facebook and is just parroting the trash talk that the smug digirati like to spout, or (s)he only has friends who post shallow, narcissistic crap. As for me, when I see a close friend announce the birth of a new baby or mourn the loss of a loved one to cancer, my first thought isn't "Yeah, you narcissist, you're really getting off on all the attention you get telling us how great you are". No, I share in that friend's joy and sorrows because that's what friends do.

I hate Facebook, I really do -- for the privacy violations, for the constant flood of ads, for the pointless so-called "games" that are just revenue boosters with no creative content whatsoever -- but I also see it for what it is, and I know how to use it to meet my needs (keeping up with friends and family on a large scale) without giving my life over to the less pleasant aspects of it.

It's not just for the US anymore...
http://www.freecycle.org/group/?noautodetect=1

Freecycle is the perfect matchmaker between folks who are getting rid of stuff and folks who are looking for stuff. You think nobody in their right mind would want this old piece of junk? Think again!

Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with The Freecycle Network®; I just participate frequently.

If I had mod points I'd bump you up because that's exactly what i was going to say; instead I'll just post what is really just a cleverly worded "me too" by way of supporting you.

OK, I give up. What am I seeing here that should fill me with outrage? The fact that the web server knows someone visited the site and clicked repeatedly on a nonfunctional button? Sure, they have an IP address to go with that (unless you use an anonymizer), but there are so many more blatant abuses of my privacy that stuff like this doesn't even move the needle on my outrage-o-meter.

I also fail to see the connection with Google here. Any idiot can include an onkeydown event trap in their script. Heck, I can do that and I'm exceptionally stupid.

I do wonder about the scalability of such an enterprise, though. Assume 10-20 clicks per visit, plus a few dozen keystrokes if they start and/or complete a form... add to that the need to tie every keystroke and click to an IP address, and pretty soon you're talking about serious storage when your daily hit count is in the millions.

Doubleplusungood! A smartphone / pad / whatever has a completely different input framework and completely different surface area to display stuff on; it's absolutely stupid to try to make stuff that works in that environment also work on a desktop where you have full keyboard and mouse input, and comparative miles of real estate for the display.

On the other hand, I'd be thrilled if they would at least synchronize the layouts of their various desktop versions. On Linux, preferences is under the Edit menu; on Windows, it's under Tools. Do they think there's no overlap between users of the two OSes so nobody will ever be troubled by the rearrangement?

Exactly. Just the same as oppressive dress codes and micromanagement of our time logging at your typical office, those rules are in place because some jerkass had to take advantage of the lax rules to the point that the bosses *had* to put a stop to it. And the rule has to be enforced equally for all employees or you are in line for a discrimination suit.

That moron who took a two hour lunch along with three 30-minute smoke breaks, or the one who showed up to a meeting with bankers in cutoffs and flip-flops, or the returning vet who just had to wave around that captured Afghani assault rifle (with a fully loaded clip)... they're the ones responsible for more oppressive rules, not the top brass.