ONE

For some reason I find myself more likely to click on something that gives me a number (that doesn’t even have to be large) of tips, tricks, tools, designs, hints, etc. “The 35 Best WordPress Themes” catches my attention (and I suspect yours) more than “The Best…” or “Some Awesome…”

TWO

Everyone else is doing it. Isn’t that always a good rule to follow? Hell, if the reason we’re even clicking on links is because other people have said it’s worth checking out, then why not follow the crowd with the numbering thing? Seems logical to me.

THREE

Numbers get a bad rep. I’m gonna go out on a limb and just say it. Are there unlucky words? Nope. But numbers are unlucky. And for some reason it’s alright to “not be good with numbers” while someone who isn’t good with words, well that’s frowned upon. Enough! Show numbers the respect they deserve.

FOUR

It provides an expectation. Even if it’s only 7 reasons, ways or websites that are being highlighted, at least I know what to expect. Without that number there to inform me, I could be reading on and on. Who has the time. This way, I know if I want to begin the process at all.

FIVE

It creates competition. If someone has the 23 Top Twitter Backgrounds, then it stands to reason that another will come along and up the ante. Healthy competition often leads to quality blog posts, and let’s be honest, who doesn’t wanna search through the 743 Nicest Photoshop Brushes?

SIX

Numbers and words were meant to be enjoyed together, like Mac & Cheese and ketchup. Ok, I don’t really eat that. But you get the point. Like two things that go well together, words and numbers are great friends. Don’t be a big meanie and keep them apart. They’ll resent you.

SEVEN

You’re not a REAL blogger until you’ve written a post that uses a number in the title. No really, it’s in the book 56 Rules to Being a Blogger by Jame…ok, you got me, there’s no such book. Actually, I’m sure someone has made a list online somewhere, and I bet it has numbers in it. See? Told ya.

EIGHT

Math is geeky, numbers are used in math and geeks read blogs. See the connection there? No? Well it’s in there. It’s kind of mathematical though, so maybe you should brush up on your math skills. Oh, hey, I know how to do that. Get better acquainted with numbers. Maybe you could write…

NINE

It is actually easier to remember specific blog posts when there are numbers associated. While I don’t have numbers (huh, see…they come in handy) to back it up, I personally have an easier time differentiating entries from one another (in my memory) when it’s The Top 17, The 34 Best, etc.

TEN

Your number keys will be in much better condition than the letters on your keyboard, and then it’ll look all disjointed. You can’t very well have nice new numbers at the top (or on the right, if you have a number pad) while your oft-used letters are worn out, now can you?

ELEVEN

Finally, if you treat numbers well they’ll repay the favour. What’s money? Numbers! How do you call people? Numbers! How do you know how fast you’re driving? You get the idea. Can’t have numbers going on strike, right? Be nice to numbers. It’s not too late. Try it today!

1. Bring Back the Status

I miss going to a person’s profile (or my own) and seeing the status at the top of the page. As of the last big design change, the status just ends up on the wall with the rest of the activity. I think it should go back to being permanent on the profile. Sometimes I don’t even know what my last status was, because it’s buried with all that other stuff.

2. Introduce a “Feed” or “Stream” That Friends Can Subscribe To

I think there should be a “status” or “mood” that describes something that a person wants to say. Kind of a “what are you doing” or “what are you thinking” (which would be the equivalent of the current status), but that there should also be something akin to a Twitter stream, or RSS feed, that friends could choose to “follow” or “subscribe to”. Why? Because then you could post things more frequently without pissing people off, because they’ve chosen to subscribe to your stream after all. You could use it to post links (to blog entries, or to interesting things online), or to talk about things that ALL your friends don’t need to hear about. Such as babies. Because not everyone wants to hear about all the little things your kids are doing. I’m certainly conscious of it. In the homepage News Feed it would simply be another “stream” just like Photos or Links are now. Or better yet have it be at the top where it says Most Recent and Top News.

3. Create An Easy Way to See Peoples’ “Likes”

So Facebook makes this great way that the entire Internet can be shared on Facebook, with the “Like” button, but I don’t have a way to see an individual’s (or ALL my friends’) “Likes”. Or my own. Why do we all Like so many things if our friends can’t go through a section that displays them all? I’d love to see all of the things my friends Like, whether it’s online content or from right here on Facebook. And I don’t mean Fan Pages (or whatever they’re called now). I mean interesting stuff that they’ve deemed Like-worthy.

4. Better Editing Capabilities in ‘Notes’

In the past I’ve tried writing notes but when I attempted to add some links, the whole note became uneditable. At the VERY least, there should be a button to easily add a link to a note (in addition to bold, italic, underline, ordered and unordered lists and blockquote). For anyone used to Blogger, WordPress or just about any other blogging platform, adding links is expected. Notes should have it too! Oh, and when you add tags to a note and save it as a draft, how about having those tags STILL BE THERE when you edit it?

5. A “Draft” (And Autosave) Option in Messages

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve started writing a message to someone and then navigate to some other part of Facebook to check something, and then I lose my whole message. Come on, Facebook! Add an autosave option, or at least a way to save a draft. We’re all used to this in email and elsewhere. Bring it to Messages. I know it’s partially my fault, but I can’t be the only one who has done this.

6. A Slideshow (Including Full Screen) Mode for Photos

I actually wrote to Facebook last year with some suggestions, one of which was to have better viewing options for photos. As it stands now you have to keep clicking through photos in order to see all the pics in an album. Lame. For a brief period, users had a sneak peek at something Facebook still hasn’t launched, and I believe it was something like what I’m suggesting. It remains to be seen how exactly it will work. Anything is an improvement. I would love to have the option to press play and just scroll through photos (maybe even adding albums from multiple friends).

7. The Ability to Download Photos (or Albums) in Full Resolution

How awesome would it be if a user could check off a box that says “Allow others to download photos in their original resolution” for either individual photos or for entire albums. That way, the choice is still the uploader’s, but once they agree it would allow people to get better quality photos from Facebook. Sure, it would take more storage space for Facebook to save the original, higher resolution pics (I don’t think they do at the moment, but I could be wrong) but maybe the option could be checked off BEFORE a person uploaded the pics, so the high res photos would only be saved for those who WANT to share them.

8. An Obvious and Easy Way to View Videos

It was hard enough to navigate to ALL your friends’ videos before, but now it’s also not obvious how to even view ONE person’s videos. Or your own. It’s under a person’s Photos. Really?! Makes no sense. And to see all the videos uploaded by your friends, you have to click on Photos on the left side of your homepage then underneath that you’ll see Videos. Come on Facebook. Make it a little easier to find these.

9. Let Users Choose What to Display on Their Profiles

I may be wrong, but I don’t think there’s a way to choose what to display in the left-hand sidebar of my profile. Remember when you could show Links or Photo Albums there? If there’s a way to still do that, I can’t figure it out. And I design websites for cripes sake! Why not make it easier to showcase or highlight Photos, Videos, Links, “Likes” or even an RSS feed from another website? I get that Facebook doesn’t want to become MySpace, with all those fugly customizations, but how about a LITTLE control over what content a user gets to showcase?

10. Make It Easier to Customize and Design a Public Version of Profile

Like it or not, having links to Facebook (and Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, etc) on a website is pretty much expected. Whether or not it actually helps in any way, people are used to seeing it. Sure, businesses might want to create a full-fledged Facebook Page (what used to be called a Fan Page) but what if an individual doesn’t want to (or know how to) do this? It can be overkill for someone who only wants to display a profile pic, basic contact info and maybe highlight some content (writing, photos, videos). An improved public profile could serve as a super tiny website. As it stands, sure you can go into privacy settings and choose what the general public can see, but it’s more work than it should be, and the result isn’t very attractive. And the profile pic is the same that’s on your full profile. I may not want to send prospective clients to a profile that shows me and my baby (or in the case of many people, JUST a baby). Why not have the ability to choose a different pic for this public profile. And a better looking showcase of info and content? And imagine including photos that have a slideshow, that person’s “Likes”, public Notes and the ‘stream’ (as I’ve mentioned above). Would be SO much better than what it is now!

What do YOU think Facebook could do better? Feel free to leave a comment with your brilliant ideas!

Earlier this week I watched Roland Emmerich’s new watch-everything-get-destroyed-athon and I must say that I enjoyed it, for what it was. Here’s a very brief (quasi stream-of-consciousness) account of some of my thoughts while watching, in roughly chronological order.

- Neutrino’s?

- Is that possible?

- Wow, I’m half done my popcorn and the movie’s barely started.

- Give your dad a break.

- Woody Harrelson makes an awesome crazy guy.

- Would you just listen to John Cusack?

- Go, go, go, go!

- Holy crap…goooooooooooo!

- Wow, I’m sitting in Southern California as I watch it get destroyed.

- Gooooooooooo!

- Was that a subway?

- Haha. As if!

- Seriously?

- Yeah. THAT could happen.

- Well, isn’t THAT convenient?

- That would really suck.

- I don’t wanna get struck by a huge tidal wave in 3 years.

- I REALLY need to go to the bathroom but I don’t wanna miss this.

- How are you going to make it to China NOW?

- Oh, of course. How silly of me.

- Did they just…

- You built HOW MANY of those things in 3 years?

- Well, that’s not very nice.

- Damn! That’s a hell of a way to go!

- Gooooooooooooo!

- You tell them, Mr. Super Moral Scientist Guy!

- Whew, that was close.

- Swim John Cusack, swim!

- Now what are you going to do?

- I can barely get up, I have to go so bad.

What you are about to read is my opinion, of course. You may disagree wholeheartedly with my decisions, but did you come up with this silly idea and then scour the Internet to find the songs? Nope. For better or worse, that distinction is mine. Now, for the 9 best songs with “boom” (or “boum”) in the title.

Best

9. “Boom Boom” by John Lee Hooker

Why It’s Rated This Way: This is the original Boom Boom, but I couldn’t rate it any higher than 9th in The Best, because it’s just not that catchy. Awesome artist, but this song isn’t as boomtastic as some of the other entries.
“Boom” Count: 8
Best Line in the Song: “When you talk like that/you knocks me out/right off of my feet”
Also Worth Checking Out by John Lee Hooker: One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer

8. “Boom! Shake the Room by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

Why It’s Rated This Way: Although this is a classic from my teen years, and it’s got a hugely head-bobbing hook, the lyrics are pretty whack. It clearly had to make The Best list but I couldn’t justify giving it better than 8th. Sorry, Will.
“Boom” Count: 17
Best Line in the Song: “The the f-f-f-f-fresh p-p-p-prince is who I am/So tell my mother that I never wrote a whack jam”
Also Worth Checking Out by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince: Summertime

7. “Boom” by P.O.D

Why It’s Rated This Way: This song is simple and yet oddly satisfying when in the right mood. Granted, it sounds like many of their other songs, but I think it deserves a spot in The Best nonetheless.
“Boom” Count: 20
Best Line in the Song: “Me and my crew, we stay true, old skool or new /Many were called, but the chosen are few (were a few)”
Also Worth Checking Out by P.O.D: Tell Me Why

6. “Boom!” by System of a Down

Embedding disabled by request but check it out here

Why It’s Rated This Way: Although I love S.O.A.D and would gladly give them a spot above The Vengaboys and Britney, this song just isn’t as good as some of their others. The message is great, but the melody isn’t quite there.
“Boom” Count: 40
Best Line in the Song: Four thousand hungry children leave us per hour from starvation/While billions are spent on bombs/Creating death showers
Also Worth Checking Out by System of a Down: Spiders

5. “Boom Boom Boom Boom” by The Vengaboys

Why It’s Rated This Way: Love them or hate them, The Vengaboys make music that sticks in your head. This is definitely one of those songs, as silly as the lyrics are. It’s better than some, but not as good as others – hence the midway in the list.
“Boom” Count: 50+
Best Line in the Song: “Let’s spend the night together/From now until forever”
Also Worth Checking Out by The Vengaboys: 24 Hours, a lesser-known Vengaboys song.

4. “Boom Boom Boom” by The Outhere Brothers

Why It’s Rated This Way: I realize that number 4 is pretty high for such a crass and simplistic song, but gawdamn it’s catchy! Maybe it resonates with me because I was just entering teenhood when this caught on. Either way, it’s a classic boom song and I stand by my rating.
“Boom” Count: 50+
Best Line in the Song: “Geronimo/Look out below/Here comes the Brother with the offbeat flow?
Also Worth Checking Out by The Outhere Brothers: La La La Hey Hey

3. “Boom Boom” by Britney Spears

Why It’s Rated This Way: I know, I know. Despite the atrocious Ying Yang Twins being featured, this song represents a booty-shaking comeback for Britney. You can deny it all you want, but I think you secretly like this song.
“Boom” Count: 42
Best Line in the Song: “I don’t think you should wait/One minute might be too late”
Also Worth Checking Out by Britney Spears: Do Something

2. “Boum Boum” by Enigma

Why It’s Rated This Way: Honestly, I only discovered this song when researching “boom” songs, and I love it. It blends some hard hitting moments with soft, ethereal ones to create a magical journey through, oh I can’t keep going….it’s just a great song.
“Boom” Count: 17
Best Line in the Song: “Simplicity, complexity, oh what a tragedy/Reality, insanity, strange normality”
Also Worth Checking Out by Enigma: Return to Innocence

1. Chicka Chicka Boom by Scholastic and Discovery/Education

Why It’s Rated This Way: Have you LISTENED to this song? Wow! I first heard it days ago and I can’t get it out of my head. Just epic!
“Boom” Count: It doesn’t matter. The number 1 spot doesn’t have to deal with “boom” counts. (Plus I’m tired of counting)
Best Line in the Song: “The whole alphabet up the…oh no!”
Also Worth Checking Out by Discovery: Boom De Ya Da