The problem with the Friends You May Know feature wasn’t in the graph algorithm, it was with me. It was indeed identifying people I knew, but knowing them was not the same as being friends with them. I called it the People I Know, But Don’t Really Like box.

To fight back against The social graph analyzing Man, I started hitting x next to each of the recommendations. As I did I would battle back the algorithm as it ran out of new recommendations for the day, only return a few weeks later with a group of people I was a little less connected to. Slowly but surely the recommendations became meaningless. Until it finally hit rock bottom.

Yesterday, Facebook recommended Jessica to me. It explained that we both went to the same University so surely we know each other. Jessica and I had absolute no mutual friends. Not one. I was surprised that algorithm had become so desperate for me to grow my social graph that it had begun resorting to recommending complete strangers. I wondered what other strangers homepages were recommending becoming friends with me, or maybe I was the only one so hostile towards the recommendations.

I knew all of its efforts would be fruitless. I had already realized what the algorithm or the clever coder behind it simply did not consider: I had no more friends. Facebook has done such a good job that my friends list was simply, complete. I could imagine the meeting in Facebook HQ where some quiet intern asked “What happens when they run out of friends?” only to have their question waved off. “Inconceivable!”

Well I’m here to tell you Facebook, I have reached that state. Facebook – Please quit bugging me to add friends, I will as I make new ones. Instead, do something really cool with all that sidebar space. I’m sure you’ve got some great ideas.

And have some self-confidence. Just because my Friend list is growing does not mean I’m jumping ship for Twitter any time soon.

I’ve always been a bit confused about the reckless amount of hyper surrounding Twitter. The functionality it provides is nothing more than 90s era IRC with cute animated birds and a 140 character limit. I was convinced the people who live and breath Twitter were making general assumptions about the reach of Twitter based on their smaller social group. Turns out Vallywag thinks so too.

Said Vallywag post is titled “Do You Twitter? How Adorable” and it makes the point that Twitter has “consumed the media elite”, but their view of it’s success is distorted because they only see how their colleges use it. “By the numbers, though, Twitter is an inconsequential nothing.”

My Twitter page is essentially tweets from a handful of variably frequent posters and the few dozen remaining followers that do nothing other than add icons to my followers list. I do very little tweeting myself excepting the odd response at one of those aforementioned heavy Twits.

Twitter, for me, is just one more site I need to check every day. My followers/following list is without exception, a subset of the social graph I already have represented in Facebook or Google. The only thing Twitter serves to do is further segregate the conversation I have with my friends.

For my part, I’ve been building a small script that polls and synchronizes my status across Facebook, Twitter, and GTalk (I’d like to add Live Messenger too, but there’s no easy API to get/set, *hint* for those MSofties reading this). Of course, that only solves my side of the conversation. The other direction remains fragmented.

I hate when people drive while talking on their cell phones. I hate when people talk on their cell phones on the street loud enough for everyone to hear that they’re being dumped. But most of all, I hate cell phone companies.

Disclaimer: I own a cell phone. I have no land line in Vancouver so this is the only way my parents can get a hold of me. It’s a Rogers pay as you go phone. I was given the phone for free and bought the SIM card on Craigslist.

The local Rogers cell phone shop comes by our company every few months to offer employee pricing on plans and phones. I went down and talked to one of the guys who came to the building to take a look at the deals. At first, the deal looked quite reasonable. $20 a month for a quite a few minutes, free evenings and weekends, etc etc. I told the guys I’d think on it and would stop by their shop after work.

A did a bit of digging back at my desk and came up with some concerns. I liked the Motorola L7 they had on discount, but I really wasn’t looking to replace my iPod and for the price I know I’d be happy with the L2. If I wanted to go all out, I’d be looking at the SE 810i because of the 2 Megapixel camera. I also wanted to know what my final monthly bill would be, considering all the various rebates and promotions. I just wanted a single number. I went back to the shop with the intention of buying a phone and a 2 year plan. I left with nothing.

I asked, pointing to they flyer they had given me, “What are these fees you mention here in the fine print?” The guy I was dealing with said flat out, “Don’t worry about those.” Now I wish I was quicker on my feet because I should have said “So you’ll cover them with the deal then.” But I just stood there, awestruck. I mentioned I’d be looking at the L2 and I actually had to fight with him to stop trying to sell me the L7. Instead he just wanted to sell me the POS phone they were almost giving away with the plan, one that I wasn’t really looking forward to hauling around. I was told shouldn’t worry about needing caller ID or long distance either, just go with this plan now and then figure out later what I might actually need. After 15 minutes of trying to get straight answers from numb nuts, I thanked him for his time and left.

I know used car salespeople that aren’t that pushy. In fact, I don’t know one that is.

What kind of industry needs to bind their customers in 3 year terms in order to make profit? Why are customers so desperate to leave that they have to be legally tied to stay? How come looking for a cell phone carrier is really just a competition to see who sucks less? All of this frustrates me to no end. I’m a gadget guy, I like the idea of cellphones, but I cannot bring myself to deal with the high pressure scare tactics that the carriers employ on a daily basis.

I think car salespeople used to be synonymous with this kind of consumer experience, but they’ve grown past this stage. It’s time for a new provider to adopt the Toyota model. Or the credit-union model. Someone please give me an alternative to the lesser of three evils situation I’ve got right now.

My opinion doesn’t hold much clout on the grand scheme of things, but what are blogs good for if not used as a shameless outpouring of unrespected opinion. Just watch, I bet I’m on the leading edge of this thing. So this is me officially declaring that Digg has jumped the shark.

After weeks of being bombarded by “Apple does something” and “The Wii will have every feature ever” articles, after Kevin having to be un-democratic and skew the formula to benefit the lazy majority, Digg has become completely worthless.

Say Hi to Happy Days and Tom Cruise for me Digg.