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Fingers Were Meant to be Inky

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June 5, 2016 / Ken Crooker / Babble, Fountain Pens, Ink, Paper, Reviews, Social / Leave a Comment

I’m Now on Facebook

Visit me on Facebook at the Fingers Were Meant to be Inky Page

I’m not a big Facebook user, primarily because they refuse to notify me ONLY when someone tags/mentions me or posts to my wall. I got tired of wading through pictures of people’s lunch and reading vague and cryptic “some people” complaints. If they’re going to notify me of everything, then I don’t have the time for it.

That said, I know that’s where the majority of people hang out and where they look to share content and engage with each other. So I finally got around to making a Facebook page specifically for posting my reviews and posts related to fountain pens, ink, and paper. I’ll be posting all my old reviews, new reviews, and other fun stuff.

So if you use Facebook, be sure to stop by to say hello or to follow me there. Thanks!

Fingers Were Meant to be Inky on Facebook!

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April 4, 2015 / Ken Crooker / Babble, Commentary, Conspiracy, Entertainment, Social / Leave a Comment

Are We Destined to be Googlized Pod-People?

I’m a member of Google’s Opinion Rewards program, where they throw a few pennies at me in return for filling out surveys. They’ll add between 10 cents and a dollar’s worth of credit to my Google Play account in return for filling out surveys. These credits can be used to buy music, books, apps, or movies. It’s pretty cool.

Yes, I am fully aware of Google’s motives here. They want my data so they know what types of advertisements to put in front of me. It’s called “targeted advertising” and it makes a lot of sense. Advertisers will pay Google a lot of money to serve their ads to specific groups, and this leads to more “clicks per impression.” Amazon and Facebook do the same thing. Lately I’ve noticed fountain pen ads on all sorts of random web pages I go to. Targeted advertising at work.

Most of Google’s surveys are related to shopping habits. Today, however, I received a survey about my ability to move about my home unencumbered. My initial thought was, “Oh, they must have an advertiser who manufactures devices for people with disabilities.” I answered the question, got my $0.20 in credit, and thought to myself, “Gee, pretty soon Google will know more about me that I know about myself.”

Then it hit me: The realization that this could all be setup for a darker, more chilling reality.

What if targeted advertising is just a disguise for something far more sinister? Is Google trying to engineer replacements for all of us? Could they potentially gather enough data to reconstruct our DNA? Do they want to replace us with Googlized clones of our current selves? Are we destined to be search-friendly pod-people?

Seriously, is this how the Body Snatchers scenario is going to go down?

Donal Sutherland in Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Donal Sutherland in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, © Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc., 1978

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February 18, 2014 / Ken Crooker / Social, Tech, Tutorials / Leave a Comment

Did You Know You Can Block Facebook Games?

So you logged into Facebook to find the 46th request of the week to play Monster Face Punch from your Facebook friends. You’re sick of getting these invitations. You hate monsters, and the last thing you want to do is spend time punching one in the face. (Note: There is no Monster Face Punch. I made it up, so stop looking for it.)

Instead of screaming, “For the last time, I don’t want to run a match-three mafia farm!” at your screen, you can simply block the game in Facebook so that you stop getting those requests. Cool, eh? Facebook wants to make money by sucking you into more Facebook games and pages, so they don’t make a big fuss about this blocking feature. But it’s there.

Here’s how you can do it…

… Read More

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What’s Next?

You may have noticed that I haven't posted anything in a really long time. Sorry about that. Once we started up the St. Louis Pen Show and the St. Louis pen meetups, most of my free "pen time" started going into those activities.

My goal was always to write very thorough reviews with lots of great pictures, and that takes a ton of time. The writing, editing, and photo editing for one review took up a full weekend, and that doesn't take into account actually using the pens and taking notes along the way. With all I have going on, it just wasn't sustainable to keep this site going on a consistent basis.

Will I ever come back and start doing reviews again? Maybe. But not anytime soon. I am still around, though. You can catch me at the monthly St. Louis Area Pen Meetup & Eats (SLAPME) events, the St. Louis Pen Show, and a handful of other pen shows around the country.

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