Facebook Settlement: To File a Claim or Not

If you have been keeping up with the news, there's all this hype over the massive settlement in a case against Facebook over privacy matters that's making its rounds. If the settlement is approved, there's apparently $725 million that's up for grabs.

Is it worth applying? I guess that's a yes and no answer. I mean, the math makes it look like mostly just a big waste of time, and frankly the only ones who will get rich from this whole thing will be the lawyers. You have to keep in mind a few things about the totality of what's actually up for grabs.

For one thing, we can assume that the lawyers are going to keep about 33% of the loot, unless they have negotiated a different amount. Assuming it is 33%, that removes $239.25 million from the money for the claimants.

Ah, but there will also be other fees the lawyers will likely want to recoup. How much would that be? I have no idea. But let's assume it's $50 million just for good measure. We now have a balance of $435.75 million. 

Still a staggering amount of money. Even though Facebook has billions of users, claims are only open to people living in the United States, and that's currently about 239 million users. So, let's say all 239 million religiously submitted their claims and everyone gets their cut.

Everyone gets $1.82 respectively.

Of course, not everyone is going to submit a claim. In fact, the actual number of claimants may be only around 10%. That's 23.9 million users staking a claim on this settlement. So, if that were to be true, claimants might now receive $18.23 each.

I have estimated that somewhere around 50 million people might actually go through the process and fill out the form when all is said and done. That would mean $8.72.

Regardless of how many people fill out the claim form, the bottom line is that none of the money will be felt by anyone at all except the lawyers who collect the lion's share and Facebook who has to pay the settlement.

I suppose if there is any rationale whatsoever to actually staking your own claim it's that if you leave your money on the table, someone else will simply get a bit more for their troubles.

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A Blocking We Will Go

MOST RECENTLY I DECIDED TO CHANGE MY POLICY A BIT WHEN IT COMES TO BLOCKING OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS. For years my longstanding policy on social media has been to engage the other side in any debate, feeling that in order to have a well shaped opinion on any issue one must be able to take in multiple viewpoints, and be open minded when it comes to how any issue is perceived, reported on, and what the opinions of others are. Sometimes I actually do change my position if the opposing argument is strong.

I am a conservative of course. But despite what some hard core conservatives may say, there are actually SOME liberals out there who do have the ability to think and formulate a common sense opinion.

I will admit it is rare. But I am not being fair minded if I simply discount every single liberal as a total idiot.Which brings me around to why I have changed my policy on social media blocking.

There is a trend, and it is certainly not a new one, for many on the left (and let's be fair, some on the right do this too, guys) to, instead of return with a valid and cohesive argument, they will simply start lobbing unfounded accusations, character assassinate, and respond by calling people names.

Racist and Russian bot are all the craze.

When the opposing argument begins to resort to that sort of thing I am of the mind that 1) there is no valid argument the other side can make, and 2) there is no argument I can make to change a mind or make a case for. So, why bother really? What's the point?

Sure. On some days it can indeed be fun. But honestly, more and more it just becomes an irritation. A back and forth of wasted energy that just gets more and more ridiculous and crazy the more you go along with it.

And then there's those lists the left has resorted to creating. They don't even bother to respond. They just put you on some unfounded list that places you into a corner that you really have nothing to do with, and accuses you of having a position you don't have at all.

It does not bother me. I should be clear about that. It does not bother me anymore, really, than being called a racist or a bot or any other moniker the left wants to place on me simply because I happen to disagree with their view of the world.

But it does mean there is no longer an argument.

The thing for me is that I know where I stand on any issue, and so whatever I may be accused of is really meaningless and pointless to try to defend. You cannot rationalize with someone who is simply incapable of seeing the other side's view.

I know I am not a racist. And I am certainly not a bot. So what value is there in trying to defend myself from these kinds of accusations? No matter what I say to point to the contrary, it is going to fall on deaf ears anyway.

So again, why bother.

Part of my policy of not blocking opposing viewpoints was that I thought it was borderline childish. In my mind, every time someone on the left blocked me I would envision a 5-year old clamping his palms to his ears shouting, "I can't hear you, I can't hear you." So my aim was not to become that childish figure on the right.

The problem is that when I offer my viewpoint, I try to support it with facts and reason, and a dose of common sense. Of course I am not always right. I would be naive to think that I could never be wrong. Which is also part of the reason I enjoy a reasonable exchange of ideas, because I am adult enough to acknowledge that I may not always have the right answer or viewpoint, and sometimes the left does.

It's the crazy that closes the door for me. And the crazy is simply getting to be quite thick these days. Even more as Trump derangement syndrome is in full force and the left is all but losing their minds as Trump is clearly winning on a number of fronts. And that's not just my conservative bias saying that. It's obvious.

Speaking of bias momentarily, that is also the one thing that still surprises me just a little bit these days, that the right can have a bias, but can also offer praise to the other side when the other side gets it right and will lambaste even our own when we get it wrong.

I can count on my fingers how many times I have seen a liberal hold one of their own accountable for anything.

Quick Shout: Hollywood Just Needs to Can It About Russia

I’m dumping my @facebook stock and deleting my page because @facebook profited from Russian interference in our elections and they’re still not doing enough to stop it. I encourage all other investors who care about our future to do the same. #unfriendfacebook pic.twitter.com/KHWgZzhhmp

— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) February 6, 2018

WHEN WILL IT END, I WONDER? I am to the breaking point when it comes to this continuing narrative by the MSM and some of these idiots in Hollywood that the Russians essentially stole the election from Hillary Clinton. The thing is that we all know all too well that the facts just DO NOT BEAR OUT. They are beating a dead horse. And it's just making them look even more foolish than we already knew they were.

YES, it has been acknowledged that the Russians did pay for some ads. But what influence would that ultimately have? I mean think about it. What influence did the fucking polls have on swaying republican voters that Donald Trump had no chance of becoming president to stay home?

This is just becoming tiring and stupid. Puerile is a word that also comes to mind.

Ass Kissers At Bubblews?

They are everywhere! We see them at work especially. Ass kissers. Those guys who have their noses so far up the boss' hindquarters you can tell by their smell what the boss had for lunch, and even dinner the previous day.

And at Bubblews, there are a few of those there as well. Of course there are. Like I said before. They are everywhere. Like flies congregating on a fresh kill. Ubiquitous.

Of course, Bubblews is having problems paying its members. And while I cannot beat the dead horse anymore than I already have many times in the past about the fact that like the site and like the concept, I also cannot simply discount the fact that fun aside, the site says it will pay its members.

And yet it does not.

Well, not always. They mostly pay their members. But the real problem is the why factor. That's the part that no one can get to the bottom of. And certainly the CEO Arvin Dixit isn't saying anything about it. He's as hush as a mute.

One member, who I am beginning to think is one of those Bubblews ass kissers I am worried about, Mike Pugh, says, "The Bubblews Team is working both night and day on these issues and due to the fact that so many countless redeem rewards were lost in the process of the cut over from the old Bubblews to the new Bubblews."

My question is where on Earth did he get that answer from? The Bubblews team? The CEO? The president of the company?

No one from the Bubblews team has said a word about payments, or how hard they are working at getting them processed and paid. No one.

Oh sure, the Learning Center on the site says payments may take up to 30 days, and even goes on to say that they plan on taking on more payment processors in the future. But let's be real here. The number of posts both within the Bubblews website, and outside the site are stacking up big time. People are not happy and they are saying so.

And Bubblews remains silent.

Mike Pugh goes on to tell us, "Many of us have tried contacting the Bubblews help email thingy. That didn't work, but I believe it shall begin to work soon for the folks who haven't violated the rules. It's just a matter of time before they catch up to your emails, and please for assistance. Hang in there folks!"

Sure. That sounds like a fine way to sort things out, now doesn't it? Your boat capsizes. A little birdy comes and assures you a rescue boat is coming. Don't try to swim your way to safety. Don't try to hold onto that capsized boat until rescue comes. Just lie there, floating and hoping.

You will not drown I promise you. The rescue boat is being launched any minute now. JUST HANG ON!

Thanks but no thanks, Mr. Pugh. Tread water till your heart is content or stopped for that matter. But I'm not going to take my chances.

So, this is not a life or death situation. Certainly it is not. But it is a situation, and one that has no explanation. So I voice about it. And so do others. Because it is something to be concerned about and is something to be explored, and questioned.

I am not an ass kisser. I feel no fear voicing my opinion. And voicing my opinion does not make a Bubblews hater out of me.

In fact I would go as far as to say that I am a Bubblews lover. I state my concerns because I am concerned. For the other members who clack away at the keys there. For the site that gives us a place to clack away at the keys.

The site says it will pay. When it does not it makes the whole point and the very site itself moot. And that means that the site will have difficulty treading its own water. I don't want Bubblews to drown. I want to be that rescue boat to help save them.

I will continue to beat the dead horse for as long as I can because I do care what happens. As for ass kissers? Well, we all know where they ultimately wind up when the company goes kaput!

Manning Up

Sometimes it can be a really tough thing to do. To man up, that is. To admit that you are wrong. But we are all, at times wrong, even if in the heat of the moment we simply choose not to acknowledge that fact.

 

Enter the sauce. The problem with the Internet sometimes is that it allows us to have access to it any time, day or night, drunk or sober. And therein lies the problem.

 

Hey, even Geraldo Rivera posted some rather interesting photos of himself once, the result of which, he said, was due to a little too much time on the bottle. So it happens to the best of us.

 

And so it happens that I engaged in a discussion on my Facebook page which was clearly picking a fight, one which I got, and one which ultimately was even a contradiction to myself and my own thinking on the matter.

 

The auto company bailouts.

 

I'll admit, I am not a GM guy. I'm Ford all the way. And Ford has proven itself, in my opinion, to be far superior to GM in more ways than one as a company. But that really is a different argument entirely.

 

I wrote, "A Cadillac Escalade is about as impressive as a portrait of Barack Obama. My recommendation. Sell your Escalade for something American." The comment was derived a bit out of my discontent with GMs current problems not being forthcoming, allegedly, about issues with some of their cars. But I'll admit the comment was probably a little bit off base.

 

The argument that ensued became an argument against the bailouts. For the record, below, are links to the at least two blogs I wrote on this site about the issue, which clearly show that I was in favor of the bailouts. And for the record, my position on this has not changed.

 

So, this is my official attempt to man up, tell it like it is, and make a formal and public apology to the person with whom I engaged the discussion with. I walk away with my tail between my legs.

 

http://springboardblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/gm-and-ford-may-get-50-billion-to-help.html

http://springboardblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/compromise-in-auto-bailout-plan-is.html

 

Image is from http://www.morguefile.com

Is Bubblews Hard Up For Cash

If you have never heard of the website, Bubblews, perhaps it is time to give it a look. In fact, the site is actually a fairly good money maker if you happen to be one of those who likes to find new ways to make a little extra dough working online.

So, what is Bubblews? I tend to call it sort of like a Facebook on steroids type of a deal. You basically can write about anything you want, and you get paid one penny per view, one penny per like, and one penny per comment.

Not a bad deal.

That all out of the way, there is one thing that affects those pennies. A little glitch the site has from time to time that returns a message, "you already liked this news," even when you did not.

For quite some time that glitch disappeared, and thankfully so. But now it is back with a vengeance, which makes me think. Do they, Bubblews, know how to turn this on and off? Because these guys are programmers, right? They know their stuff when it comes to building and operating a website, right? This can't be that difficult of a bug to figure out...

Not if you know what you are doing. Which, as I've alluded to, I think they do.

So the question for me becomes, is Bubblews hard up for cash? Or is it more along the lines that they want to save a penny here and penny here for themselves and hide behind a glitch that can be turned on and off as easily as a light bulb?

One of two things has to be the answer, because the only alternative answer is that they are amateur programmers that don't know their ass from a hole in the ground. I'm trending toward the latter not being the case.

So, it is a great site that offers up interesting earnings opportunities. But I cannot help but think that something is rotten in Denmark when it comes to this glitch.

So, to those fine people over there who run Bubblews, let me also offer you a word of advice. You are a public site. And many of us write in more than one place than just there. You say you want to be the next Facebook or Twitter. That's a great idea, and I think they may have an opportunity to get at least close one day. But this will not be how to do it. Not with glitches that are annoying and that deny writers a penny here, and a penny there. And certainly not by not knowing how to fix a simple little coding problem.

When you eff it up, you will be called on it for the world to see. You want existing members to stick around and new members to show up, you better get it right. You better do your members right. Because the Internet universe is vast, and so long as I place the word Bubblews in anything I write outside of it, or anyone else for that matter, it could well find its way right underneath your own link to your own site. And it may just cause someone to think twice.

I'm just saying.

HOW DO I MAKE FACEBOOK CHAT EMOTICONS

I think it's at least fairly safe to say that most everyone who uses the Internet also happens to at least have a profile on Facebook. It's become a very popular place for all sorts of personality types, and is used by many to get out ideas and to network. Mainly it's just a great place to keep up with the folks in our lives who we happen to be closest to.

For now, it's the "in" thing to do.

One of the things we like to do on Facebook is chat, and because of that, emoticons, as they are commonly called, have become a very big part of the english language. Emoticons of all sorts have even made their way into every day writing—much to the chagrin of many, mind you.

But how do you make them? The emoticons, that is? Here's a great article I found on HubPages which shows all of the variations. There's probably many more than you thought there were.




HOW TO MAKE FACEBOOK CHAT EMOTICONS

Facebook Chat Emoticons