The "how do you know…" field in Facebook

In Facebook, when you’re defining the relationship you have with someone else, they ask the question:

“How do you know [Friend Name]?”

You can see an example of the options here (ignore the “skip this step” petition.)

The issue I have is that the question “how do you know…” is in the present tense, but the answers are all past tense. From the available answers, it makes it seem like the question you’re really being asked is “how did you meet [Friend Name]” which is different.

When I first started using Facebook, I interpreted the question as “how did you meet…” and then filled in the appropriate answer. For example, I met Adam W. through Fil so I filled that in. The problem is, now when I look at my friends list, it says “You know Adam through Fil.” I consider Adam a friend, and this reads like he’s just a friend-of-a-friend.

So, I’ve basically taken to not filling in the relationship details in these cases, because I feel like it sends the message “we’re not really friends, we just know each other through a mutual person.” All of that could be avoided if they just changed the presentation/grammar. Has anyone else had the same problem, or am I overanalyzing Facebook?

Top 10 Songs to Lift Weights to

I was curious what the intarwebs thought were the best songs to lift weights to, and was disturbed that at each turn I would find songs like “Eye of the Tiger” on the list. A good soundtrack for weightlifting is very different from one for faster-paced cardio exercises. When there is a pile of weight on top of you that’s going to fall on your head if you don’t lift it up, music that makes you want to dance or sing-along is… counter-productive.

So, I’ve compiled my own list off of my existing playlist. I try to dig up more music that fits the mold, but these are, currently, my top 10 favorites. Most of the music on this list is not music I listen to in any other context.

They’re songs that are fairly hard, but aren’t the unintelligible death metal kind. The rest of my playlist is almost all Godsmack. Overall I find their music the most motivating. I could use some more variety though. All suggestions welcome.

Recommended Podcast

If you like movies and/or British comedy, I’d strongly recommend adding Mark Kermode’s podcast to your iPod. I’ve listened to it for several months, and it’s one of my favorites. It’s a half-hour snippet of a longer radio show hosted by Simon Mayo in which, every Friday, Kermode comes in to review films.

They review the movies that are newly released in England, which largely correspond to the US but occasionally they review movies that aren’t out here yet, or review movies that came out here several months ago. Kermode is famous for his rants, and he and Mayo have a great chemistry. It’s very entertaining.

One note about his reviews which is absolutely true (excerpted from Wikipedia):

His emphasis on genre cinema has also meant he often expresses a liking for films panned by other critics, such as Basic Instinct 2 or Lassie because they follow genre expectations.

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Baseball managers

MS and I were talking yesterday about the difference between a manager in baseball vs. a coach in football. My assertion was that comparatively, being a baseball manager looks pretty easy. In any sport, the coach role involves making decisions about who starts, who to draft, developing team camaraderie, etc. So, I consider all of that a wash (pretty even no matter what sport you’re talking about).

In terms of the actual games, it seems like after the lineup is selected, the baseball manager has to make only a handful of decisions, and spends most of the time sitting on the bench doing nothing. In football (and basketball, and most other sports I can think of) the coach is constantly involved in the game, yelling at players, making play calls, etc. In baseball, he basically decides bunt/swing, when to put in a relief pitcher, when to steal, and when to sub people in and out (which isn’t nearly as frequent as it is in other sports due to baseball’s rules). The game mostly runs itself while he sits around. Ironically, baseball is the only sport [I know of] where the manager wears the same uniform as the players, as if he’s really involved and might jump in and play at any time (I believe historically the managers used to also play).

Am I underestimating the role of the baseball manager? I’m not saying they don’t do any work, just that it seems like they have to do an order of magnitude less work than their football counterparts.