Another Facebook Update
Posted Nov. 19th, 2008 by Richard Blaine
Just a quick update on the Great Facebook Experiment:
- I now have 112 friends
- The first girl I ever had a crush on has found me. Too bad she’s married…
- What am I supposed to do when somebody buys me online drinks? WHat the hell is a Lil Green Patch? And I don’t even want to know about “kidnapping” or “poking”.
Seriously folks – exchaging vacation pictures is one thing, but sending imaginary farm animals to someone crosses a whole new line…
I’m glad to hear that your Facebook experiment is going well.
I’ve had a Facebook profile for 4 months now, and so far, I only have somewhere around 78 friends (and that’s a generous estimate), so 112 for you after just joining the game is a pretty impressive number. Are these all people you know personally. See, I’ve pretty much limited my Facebook Friends to people I have once known in person, which is where the high school and college classmate finder comes in handy.
And BTW, (Lil) Green Patch is an application found on both MySpace and Facebook developed by a small, independant Silicon Valley start-up called Green Patch, Inc or Green Patches, Inc. It is a philanthropic internet programing company whose principle charitable cause is to raise money to stop Global Warming.
Their current single beneficiary is an international nonprofit organization called “The Nature Conservancy,” which works to replenish the ravaged and diminishing rain forests of South America.
Sponsors of the application contribute donations to Green Patch, Inc. to be awarded to The Nature Conservancy so that they can buy up rain forest acreage and preserve it for replenishing. So far, the (Lil) Green Patch applications have raised enough money to save well over 5 billion square feet of rain forest land.
Every time a (Lil) Green Patch participant sends 10 plants to their Facebook Friends, they save one square foot of South American rain forest. For every plant that is sent to a burgeoning Green Patch, the applications’ sponsors donate money. There’s also an option for Facebook members to purchase square footage outright using a convenient PayPal plug-in at a going rate of 100 sqft. for $20.00, I think.
I’ve contributed directly to the cause by purchasing square footage and by sending my 24 daily limit of plants to Friends every one day I am signed into Facebook. So far, I’ve saved over a 128 sqft. of rain forest.
(Lil) Green Patch is not only about sending and receiving plants to one another. Each person is encouraged to help another nurture and maintain their Green Patch, cleaning up virtual overgrowth and weeds, irrigating, sending away pesky vermin and taking snapshots of the garden wildlife.
For maintaining a Green Patch, each participate has to purchase tools and decorations in the virtual Store using virtual money, called “GreenBucks.” You earn GreenBucks in various ways, including cleaning up other people’s gardens, participating in secure, convenient online surveys from consumer studies groups, and simply by signing in each new day to (Lil) Green Patch, one earns 50 Greenbucks. There is also an option to purchase Greenbucks outright using the PayPal plug-in at a going rate of 900 Greenbucks for $3.00.
It’s important to earn lots of GreenBucks, because you need plenty of virtual money to purchase new plants to send to your Friends. Each new plant costs 200 GreenBucks, and there are over 50 or 60 varieties of plants that one can purchase over time, one plant at a time. The makers of (Lil) Green Patch are kind enough to offer a weekly limited edition virtual plant and fruity avatar for people to send to Friends free of cyber-charge.
All in all, I think it’s a pretty cool application for a good cause, and while not all of my Friends participate as wholeheartedly in the endeavor as I do, I still find that I am doing a fair job of growing my own garden, giving virtual gifts to friends and saving the rain forest along the way.
Hopefully, with such a detailed explanation, you won’t go on thinking that (Lil) Green Patch is just some damned trivial, fanciful, annoyingly cute, pointless application meant to waste everyone’s time. It’s worth your consideration and participation, for sure!
And on that note… Have you experienced the auspicious exchange of karmic blessings that is the “Good Karma” Application? It’s another one of my favorites. You get good karma sent to you in all different varieties by sending good karma to your friends or to wanton, needy, beleaguered strangers who have requested it. I practice “Good Karma” religiously on Facebook, because I enjoy giving out my blessings, but most importantly, because I could use all the good karma that I can get from people–even if it’s just a virtual game. It’s the intention behind the action of giving that counts for something. Check it out! If you’re into that sort of thing.
Who knows? Maybe you’re more a type to be into something like MobWars or StarWars or Gambling and Drinking Game Applications. With the over 6,000 applications offered in Facebook, there truly is something for everyone!
Hope you appreciate the detail of my essay here. Hope it gives you some answers and some solace. Good Luck with your continuing Facebook experiment! I’m sending PEACE, TRANQUILITY and COMPASSION as karmic blessings to lighten your spirit and to ease the tensions of your conscience and soul. Blessings!
– Matt(e)o | QHereKidSF
Oh, and Richard! On a sympathetic note, I have to say I do know what it’s like to run into a boyhood crush on Facebook.
The first boy I ever fell head over heals for and dreamed about in naughty fantasies and cherished (though unrequited) was the kid I tutored in French Class as early as the 8th grade and all through High School. Just recently, he found me on Facebook (HE CAME LOOKING FOR ME!! Can you believe it!).
Sadly and to my dismay, he is still straight and hitched romantically with this really gorgeous specimen of woman who is also on Facebook.
I confirmed his Friend Request, but I have not sent him a message to open up a dialogue yet, out of still adolescent angst and bashfulness. I just don’t know what to say!
HOW ABOUT SOMETHING ALONG THESE LINES: ??
“Hey Aaron, did you ever know that you were my first gay crush as a young man, and that the crush lasted six whole years through until graduation and a parting of our ways?”
OR
“What gives? Why on earth would a cool, handsome kat like you want to reconnect with a nerdy, disfigured, drama queen kid like me? I thought you had enough of my batted eyelashes and slobbering, lustful smiles when we were kids.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
BTW, You’re supposed to return a drink to some who sends you one or at least, say “Thank You!”
And farm animals can be cute and endearing, but it’s a whole other question if they are just pointless.
Would you ever be into sending out and receiving virtual HUGS from Friends on Facebook? That’s another application, by Jambool.
Check out their Fan Page on Facebook to see all the other corny, kitsch applications they have created. Jambool is the maker of the “Good Karma” Application. FYI.
Remember, it’s the thought that counts!
HUGS, like (Lil) Green Patch and Good Karma, are simple gestures of kindness offered over the silent but lively threads of cyberspace.
If they annoy you, you could always just “ignore” them or “block” them. Then you’d never have to be bothered by such trifles again in Facebook.
I love those features! They’ve gotten me out of some pretty deep holes of “todonothingness.” Ahhhh, such close escapes! Hehehehe.
Peace Out, Brotha…
– Matt(e)o | QHereKidSF
Does that mean you resent my African Safari gifts?
I have windows 7 on box files and i want to install it on a computer. do i download the entire folder which has setup1.box, setup2.box, win7-hp….,and windows7upgradeadivsor, or do i just burn the setop1.box and setup2.box? and how do i get the laptop to recognize it? do i have to convert the box files to an iso file? THANK YOU
______
Refluks