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December 18, 2006
Curse you, Zenpundit
I frequently wander over to Zenpundit's place for recommended reading links and commentary. Tonight, after reading his post on Shelfari.com, I found myself utterly engrossed in this so-called "MySpace for Bibliomaniacs".
For those of you who aren't familiar with MySpace, it's a massively popular social networking site, similar in functionality to Livejournal. People create friend-networks, write journals, leave comments (often accompanied by amateurish soft-core photoshop atrocities) and embroil themselves in highschool-type drama. Young celebrities also use MySpace pages to connect directly with fans (or create that impression).
For a while I contemplated building a MySpace page for Aqoul. No good reason really, just wanted to play around with the templates. Realizing that most of our readership was probably too old and/or intellectually arrogant to find MySpace appealing, I decided to abandon the project.
Shelfari is intriguing because the networking aspect is based entirely around books. Users create virtual bookshelves, tag books with categories, submit opinions/reviews and make friends based on shared interests. Adding titles to one's bookshelf is surprisingly painless and highly addictive - see Zenpundit's monstrous collection, created only two days ago.
It occurs to me that a few interface tweaks would make this an excellent dating site for nerds...
Now, regarding Zenpundit's challenge:
Bonus points for Miss eerie if she gets Collounsbury to sign up as well.
We here at Aqoul are well aware of Lounsbury's contempt for trendy, newfangled technology. I predict he'll need at least one bottle of wine and a strong dose of hydrocodone to overcome his fear of bidaa.
PS - Here is my bookshelf.
Posted by eerie at December 18, 2006 11:38 PM
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Comments
let us know when it does become a nerd dating site. until then it's useless to me.
Posted by: drdougfir ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://eerie.aqoul.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at December 19, 2006 09:31 AM
Heh. I enjoy a good cursing.
The " monstrous" collection is only about 10% of what I actually have on shelves and the prospect of getting everything into Shelfari and tagged is daunting.
On the other hand, for the first time, I'll actually have a record of what I actually own and It's fun to cruise collections for new titles. Yours reminded me I wanted to read Three Kingdoms, for example.
Posted by: zenpundit at December 19, 2006 11:09 AM
eh, a picture of eerie. Checking you out girl. mmm mm.
Posted by: Klaus at December 19, 2006 03:28 PM
Well, I was bit bothered by Clive Davis assuming I was male.
Posted by: eerie at December 19, 2006 03:48 PM
now why would he do that? obviously you don't talk about celebs enough.
My main gripe about myspace is that it's so ugly. Impossible to do anything aesthetically decent with its templates. I also detest the 'online friends' goo. But granted, a jukebox music ad network is not too shabby an idea for a musician like me.
I take it 'intellectually arrogant' is not a derogative?
Posted by: Klaus at December 19, 2006 05:16 PM
maybe you should consider a facebook page? friendster-esque quasi-adult style plus some pretty next level features plus an even younger and more net-savvy crowd... I'd totally write on your wall
Posted by: johnaa at December 19, 2006 11:57 PM
so i take it that E will use her real name on FB? that would be very eerie (excuse the pun) to know all of the aqoulite names.
Posted by: drdougfir at December 20, 2006 12:06 AM
Nah, most aqoulites prefer to use aliases.
Posted by: eerie at December 20, 2006 04:43 PM
using facebook with an alias is contra to the purpose of facebook. plus, it's still mostly inhabited by college students and a few high school kids.
Posted by: drdougfir at December 20, 2006 09:17 PM
BTW re this: I take it 'intellectually arrogant' is not a derogative?
I enjoy snarky, overt intelligence. Definitely intended as a compliment.
Posted by: eerie at December 21, 2006 12:07 AM
I have never found much value in online collab tools. Not Linked In, Not that Chat Fad, and certainly not some bizarre online Library nonsense.
It took several years of badgering for people to get me to blog, in any case. When SD first asked, I didn't even know what a blog was.
Posted by: The Lounsbury at December 28, 2006 03:51 PM
come now, L! i'm even on LinkedIn! and i was the absolute last adopter of Facebook.
Posted by: drdougfir at December 28, 2006 06:48 PM
Can't be the last adopter of Facebook since I have not.
I dislike the online collab thing, I don't see any value in it.
Posted by: The Lounsbury at December 29, 2006 03:08 PM
May I recommend Road to Mecca by Asad as a perfect fit for your shelf....and how about some stiglitz/sachs/rajan to balance out the deSoto/easterly/baghwati thing you've got going on there....
Posted by: amine at January 3, 2007 09:06 PM
Thanks for the recommendations, will add them to the pile.
Posted by: eerie at January 10, 2007 01:29 PM
