The Digital Gentleman, looking to make sense of the mess called social media, recently deactivated his Facebook account. This is a series about the resulting misadventures.
I don’t have a Facebook account. Or, rather, I used to have a Facebook account but, feeling a bit contrarian and wanting to get a little bit of time back on my calendar, I shut off my account last week. Perhaps it was all of the IPO hooplah, or the rampant disregard for basic economics precepts. Either way, I shut down Old Blue.
For those of you wondering what the process is like, I can say it’s a bit labyrinthine. The first part is straightforward: go to your “account” settings, then to security, and finally to “deactivate.” But after you click that ominous button, you’re taken on a Facebook-style guilt trip. A page with a bunch of your Facebook friends appears. You will be missed, exhorts the page. They could have at least picked some friends that I am more active with on Facebook—the list of people who would miss me was not compelling enough to make me stay.
Push through these ghosts and then it’s back to standard web practice. Confirm your desire to leave the Social Network. Enter in this CAPTCHA. Confirm again.
Finally, Facebook seems to pause, as if contemplating whether or not to really allow a puny human this degree of agency. It considers for awhile. And then the Facebook login screen appears and it’s over.
As tumultuous as the deactivation process is, it’s really easy to reactivate—just login with your credentials as normal and everything is forgiven. I actually did this on accident (call it Pavlovian) and had to deactivate again. Good one, Old Blue.
Image via 4rilla
Humans and nature. Two quarreling siblings if there were ever any. We generally tend to think of our technology and achievements as being at odds with nature’s design, but sometimes the two combine in mysterious, beautiful ways.
And a perfect example is Manhattanhenge. You can probably guess about what it is from the name. Today, the sun will align exactly with the grid-like street layout of New York City (the streets and avenues of Manhattan are actually 30 degrees off from the geographic north/south line) and create a stunning effect sure to turn even the most jaded New Yorker into a sun-worshiping pagan.
Catch it today at about 7:45pm. Go to the east side of Manhattan and look west along one of the major through streets like 14th, 34th, or 42nd streets.
Send us your pics of Manhattanhenge.
Image via Apple App Store
It shouldn’t be that hard, right? The alchemy of splitting a bill requires no math beyond third grade, and yet, like some cruel Greek myth, a group bill will inevitably come up short, time and time again.
Billr.Me is a (yet another) app that will help you split the food fare fairly. But unlike other apps it has two great considerations.
First, it let’s you assign different costs to different diners, rather than just splitting the total up among the party… Someone order the lobster and four Martinis? Assign it to the right guy or gal.
Second, it’s well designed. You know I love me some good designs. Some cool kids from Rhode Island School of Design and Brown made the app pretty and easy to use. Even the name—using the standard app naming convention of inexplicably dropping a vowel—is easy to remember and helps it stand out from apps with names like “TipCalculator” and “TipBillSplit.”
So pick it up. It’s just a buck. Or tell us how you deal with the picking up the tab.
By now you’ve heard the news. The man. The mystery. The genius. The husband. Zuck’s marriage garnered one million likes and probably more than a few tears. But what about that suit?
First, let me just say that Priscilla looked lovely. Zuck wore a navy suit. For a man known for his fashion proclivities, or lack thereof, it really says something that he got dressed up for his bride.
But a few things. First, a navy suit is nice, and it fits him well, but it’s hardly formal attire. This navy suit is what he should have worn to his road show. The high notches (those little indents on the lapels) are a bit fashion-forward. Further, notice that he has his necktie pulled down and the top button of his shirt undone. I shudder to think this is how he presented himself at the alter, before God and the SEC. He couldn’t have kept it buttoned up for this photo? This pic looks like he’s just finished a happy hour after work, not just married his true love and IPO’d a world-changing company.
Still, congratulations, Zuck. Now about those stocks prices.
What do you think of the happy couple?
Image via Apple App Store
I know what you’re thinking. An alarm clock app? Didn’t we solve the alarm clock problem in ‘92 with some kind of Braun and Nokia monstrosity? Heck, some tech folks don’t even need sleep!
But hear me out. Uniqlo—a Japanese clothing brand whose simple designs and high quality-to-price ratio have created a global sensation—has applied their charming, quirky, and dare I say, effective, aesthetic to the alarm clock. The result is a powerful, entrancing way to wake up, and a testament to the power of good design and good design thinking.
The app is dubbed simply “Uniqlo Wake Up.” Set your wake up call with the intuitive interface, allow the app to access your geolocation, and the app will generate a lovable alarm that literally sings you awake. The gentle music and optimistic tone of the voice you’ll hear in the morning will have you leaping out of bed with glee.
The main drawback is that the app must be left open when you sleep. Nonetheless, the app can be strangely indispensable, and the aesthetic it, and Uniqlo at large, brings could set the tone for the rest of the decade.
Image via WIRED
Here’s a quick rundown of the iPhone 5 rumors clogging up my search filters. Enjoy.
The Body: It’s widely rumored that the next iPhone will be made of Liquidmetal, a material that is smooth like glass, but tough like steel. It means a thinner, lighter, sexier iPhone. But I can’t be the only one that encases my device behind bulletproof armor, which begs the question: Who cares what the iPhone is clad in since I’ll be changing its clothes anyways?
The Help: Siri is great, but she’s still just your funny friend, not your personal assistant. With boosted processing power, could the iPhone 5 hint at a smarter Siri that is actually useful?
The Due Date: Foxconn workers (dubious, we know) suggest that we could be fondling the iPhone 5 in time to snap Halloween pics. Dare we dream to believe?
What have you heard? Tell us below or @WIREDInsider.
Image via The Creator’s Project
In the future everyone wears spandex and tinfoil on their clothes. Right?
Ok maybe not. If smartphones and smart watches make sense, why not smart clothes? Well there’s a problem: computers require conductive material, while clothes require lightness and flexibility. The Venn diagram for those two don’t overlap much.
GraphExeter expands that overlap. Made of graphene, an incredible, conductive, transparent material, Graphexeter is the perfect thing to, say, embed a computer into a jacket, a solar panel into a hat, or an e-reader onto a sleeve.
Such tech-clothes could be in stores in a few years. Spandex & tinfoil optional.
Image via WIRED
Back in the day, we dreamed of a time when our watches would be more than just a timepiece, like perhaps a two-way radio-a-la-Dick Tracy. Novelty watches sort of peaked in the 80s with a watch that let you watch television. Then the cell phone came, then the smart phone, and watches pretty much took a back seat to tech.
Until now. The Pebble watch is a perfect union of timekeeping: stylish and smart. The phone connects to your smartphone allowing cross-functionality like display notifications from the phone on the Pebble. If you’re the active type, the watch can display exercise metrics garnered from data from your phone. And of course an open-source API is in the works.
On the style side, Pebble is slim and sleek and comes in a multitude of colors. It also has an e-paper display, so it’s extremely easy to read. The only drawback is that, like all your smart stuff, it will need to be charged about once a week.
There has been A LOT of buzz surrounding Pebble, so jump on it. Are you going to get the Pebble? Tell us below or @WIREDInsider.
The WIRED Business Conference is going down even as your eyes scurry across this page, so before you jump out of your Eames chair and head over, here’s a few quick highlights of the upcoming talks at this year’s disruption:
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo. This cool cat has taken Twitter from a “what the hell is Twitter” place to a “Can you spell ‘billion’ with a ‘T’?” place. This guy is old school and new school at once.
James Dyson. Yep, that Dyson. The guy has practically invented every cool thing in my apartment, from the fan to the vacuum. To reiterate: he made vacuum cleaners cool.
Yancy Strickler. Strickler co-founded Kickstarter, which has almost single-handedly monetized the internet.
Daniel Pink. Author Daniel Pink’s works about work has us rethinking the usual 9-to-5 paradigm.
To get in the mood, visit some highlights from year’s past and I’ll see everyone there!
Image via terren in Virginia
The Webbys nominees are up and the votes are flowing in. Don’t worry—I’m not here to subvert democracy by telling you who to vote for. Instead, I’m going to do that other thing democracy is good for: telling you who I’m voting for and why I’m right:
Websites - Lifestyle: While I’m a big fan of Complex, it’s a bit for the young buck crowd. I think epicurious wins out here; it’s lifestyle tips have saved many a boring night.
Websites - Fashion: It’s not easy finding quality fashion content as a guy, but T Magazine does blend great fashion with insightful commentary.
Mobile & Apps - Social: Into_Now is a fantastic app perfect for couch potatoes and discerning media-vegans alike.
Mobile & Apps - Utility & Services: Evernote, the app for everything note-taking, is still reigning champ after years on the market.
Websites - Magazine: WIRED. Heck, you’re here reading this, aren’t you?
Who’s on your ballot? Tell us below or @WIREDInsider.
