Dead Until Dark

Dead Until Dark- Charlaine Harris

I really don't understand why everyone is raving about it... I don't like the voice of the writer, and I don't like the heroine. She's just so dumb. (Going out to rescue a vampire from two bad people armed with nothing but a chain??? Stupidity! Her grandma was killed in the house because the killer wanted to kill her instead, yet she stayed in the house alone after her grandma has been killed??!!! How dumb is she??) And then there's the lack of emotions... The emotions were "told" by the writer, but just told like, a statement. Sookie is sad. You can see her being really sad tho. Yeah, she cried. However, you just don't feel that she is sad.

I have liked books with stupid heroines/writing if only there're lovable heroes, unfortunately, I didn't like Bill... Oh... Vampire BILL! =P (The name is terrible...)
I think Sam do have some potential but the stupid woman had to fall in love with Bill, so...

And about the plot... there's nothing special... Well, it's easy to read, no brain matter needed... and it didn't get really boring in the middle, but it has never been interesting/exciting anywhere in the book.

If you wanna read some fantasy books with vampires/werewolves, etc, pls read the Rachel Morgan series or the earlier Anita Blake series... The plots are better, the heroines are smarter and the heroes are much more interesting...

Don't waste your money on this one.

Force of Nature

Force of Nature- My second book with homosexual heroes in this week in a row. (I have actually finished it a few days ago.)

Wow! Unbelievably good. I really can't believe that I love this homosexual suspense/romance (sorry Ric and Annie, you two are clearly not the main characters in this book). I'm so glad it's so much better than the previous book Into the Storm, because I actually bought the hardcover... =P

You'll definitely enjoy this story about a gay FBI agent and an Academy Award nominee who's also an alcoholic, how they tried to stop the son of a gangster from smuggling one of the leaders of Al Qaeda into the States. (With the help of Annie and Ric of course. They are supposed to be the main cast here.) Sounds interesting?? It is.

Unlike Into the Storm, this one actually have a good action/suspense plot. You need to read the previous books in order to fully enjoy this one. (At least Hot Target.)

I was kinda surprised coz I expected this whole arc like Sam and Alyssa... where we have to endure the agony of seeing Jules and Robin separate in the end of this book...

I am glad that I didn't. However, it also means we have not much chance to see them again (I know there's a novella coming...)

I understand there's a lot of discrimination against homosexual people, and Suz tried to make the world a better place for her son through this book. However, if only there's a little bit less preaching about this through the characters then it'll be perfect. She has already done a really good job in presenting an action story in which the heroes happened to be two very likeable homosexual people.

I think there should be more good novels/movies with characters who are just happened to be Christians. I have never read any really good ones apart from the Outlander series.

More people hate homosexuals than Christians now, but I think the world is changing, I can foresee a world with more people hating Christians than homosexuals in the future. Enough of my own babbling...

What City Should You Live In?

What City Should You Live In?
	You should live in New York City. America's largest city will ensure that you will blend into the crowd. You are the brooding type--introspective, creative, and eccentric--and NYC's cutting-edge, individualistic culture and ambience will appeal to you.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Burma

Unlike the protests almost 20 years ago (I don't remember anything from then, I was too young, just heard this from the news), this time there is the internet. (From BBC)


The protests were sparked by the government's decision to double the price of fuel in the impoverished nation.


Dozens of protesters, including Buddhist monks, were injured, and at least 100 people have been arrested.


Some of the monks have reportedly urged civilians not to join in their demonstrations.


But some witnesses said civilians were shielding monks marching elsewhere in the city.

These monks are risking their lives for the people of their country. What are we Christians doing in our own world?? And when are we going to have that kind of influence/respect in any country?

Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

After a month's wait since its publication, I have finally managed to get my hands on a copy of the latest Lord John novel- Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade.

In 1758, in the heart of the Seven Years’ War, Britain fights by the side of Prussia in the Rhineland. For Lord John and his titled brother Hal, the battlefield will be a welcome respite from the torturous mystery that burns poisonously in their family’s history. Seventeen years earlier, Lord John’s late father, the Duke of Pardloe, was found dead, a pistol in his hand and accusations of his role as a Jacobite agent staining forever a family’s honor.

Now unlaid ghosts from the past are stirring. Lord John’s brother has mysteriously received a page of their late father’s missing diary. Someone is taunting the Grey family with secrets from the grave, but Hal, with secrets of his own, refuses to pursue the matter and orders his brother to do likewise. Frustrated, John turns to a man who has been both his prisoner and his confessor: the Scottish Jacobite James Fraser.

Fraser can tell many secrets—and withhold many others. But war, a forbidden affair, and Fraser’s own secrets will complicate Lord John’s quest. Until James Fraser yields the missing piece of an astounding puzzle—and Lord John, caught between his courage and his conscience, must decide whether his family’s honor is worth his life.

I have finally finished reading it last night. WOW!

Considering the fact that I don't even like Lord John, and I don't like mysteries (I don't think this is not really a mystery tho), I don't particularly like the homosexual stuff, this story managed to engage my emotions as I have never expected.

As always, Diana managed to weave beautiful canvas, scenes that interlock with each other and so much details you'll surely miss on the first read. The depth of the struggle & conflict of Lord John, how it was written, wow! I can just say I'm stunned. (It became even more unbelievable after reading the interpretation of a critical scene near the end in the Books & Writers Community forum by Herself. How can this scene be written?? WOW!)

You cannot find better novels in character development/vivid creation of scenes/skilled use of words than those written by Herself. Mind you, these are not for light reading. =P And I'm afraid one do need to read the Outlander series to be able to fully appreciate the book.

The Link??

Lok Fu Shopping Centre appears in every single promotional material for the Link. It's like the best of ALL the public housing estate shopping centres.

And even before the Link bought all these, all these politicians have been warning everyone-- one day all these poor people will suffer coz the shops will be forced to close when business is just about money...

Well... look what I see in the Lok Fu Shopping Centre today... all the shoe shops are closing... Is it really because of the Link??!! (sorry for the poor quality, I tried to "snap and run" as I don't want to look like a fool, taking pics of these shops... =P)









I bought a pair of sandals (tho I seldom wear them, but it's so cheap... with the closing sale... HAHA!!)

If the Link is really closing all these relatively "cheap" shops down, then the livelihood of some of the people can be really affected... hmm...

For those of you interested in what I actually do...

I do a lot more than that, but haha, it does a pretty good job summing up what I do and it's real funny...

Ernie Almighty?

Chambers lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in Douglas County Court, seeks a permanent injunction ordering God to cease certain harmful activities and the making of terroristic threats.

The lawsuit admits God goes by all sorts of alias, names, titles and designations and it also recognizes the fact that the defendant is omnipresent.In the lawsuit, Chambers said he's tried to contact God numerous times."

Plaintiff, despite reasonable efforts to effectuate personal service upon defendant 'Come out, come out, wherever you are,' has been unable to do so,'" Chambers said.

The suit also requests that the court, given the peculiar circumstances of this case, waive personal service. It said that being omniscient, the plaintiff assumes God will have actual knowledge of the action.

The lawsuit accuses God "of making and continuing to make terroristic threats of grave harm to innumerable persons, including constituents of Plaintiff who Plaintiff has the duty to represent." It says God has caused "fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes, pestilential plagues, ferocious famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects and the like.

"The suit also says God has caused "calamitous catastrophes resulting in the wide-spread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth’s inhabitants including innocent babes, infants, children, the aged and infirm without mercy or distinction."

Chambers also says God "has manifested neither compassion nor remorse, proclaiming that defendant will laugh" when calamity comes.

Chambers asks for the court to grant him a summary judgment. He said as an alternative, he wants the judge to set a date for a hearing as expeditiously as possible and enter a permanent injunction enjoining God from engaging in the types of deleterious actions and the making of terroristic threats described in the lawsuit.

After reading this part from a Chinese newspaper excerpt (posted by my friend who was very angry), I was thinking WHAT A STUPID GUY (referring to Ernie, not my friend)... sigh... then I read this

State Sen. Ernie Chambers is suing God. He said on Monday that it is to prove a point about frivolous lawsuits.

Chambers said senators periodically have offered bills prohibiting the filing of certain types of suits. He said his main objection is that the constitution requires that the doors to the courthouse be open to all.

It seems that this guy is not stupid after all. Haha! =P With quite a good sense of humour actually. =P I think this can be made into another movie-- Ernie Almighty. The details of the suit can be found here. It's hilarious!! This may not be the best way to do it, but certainly a creative way.

Long wait... my TBR list growing...

The latest novel by my No. 1 fav writer Diana Gabaldon opened on its first week of sale #8 on the New York Times bestselling list. And I have ordered it before it was published... however, I have just got it today... HAHA!! So happy!!

I have also got the latest book by Suzanne Brockmann-- Force of Nature as well. It is on the NYT list as well... (I couldn't wait for Jules and Robin's story... so I got the hardcover as well... Her previous books in the Troubleshooters series are such good military and suspense fiction. Unlike those written by men with great action plot, where the heroes have relationship/sex with the female characters, purely to satisfy the "Jame Bond" complex of readers/writers in my opinion, because you can find no other reason why these people would suddenly sleep together, other than the adrenaline rush, I suppose. The plot may be exciting, but the characters are usually poorly developed... As for women, lots of them tried writing romantic suspense out there, but the end result is usually something that is neither suspenseful nor romantic =P However, it's very different for her books. I have always loved reading her books, really good action plot and characters whose development and relationship evolved around the plot, but her skills seemed to be deteriorating in Into the Storm, I hope I didn't waste my money on Force of Nature...)


It was not until today that I realised I've got two books on the top of my TBR pile with homosexual heroes... =P HAHA!!

Rachmaninov Symphony No. 2 in E minor

I used to have a neighbour who loved singing karaoke, and obviously with no idea that his voice was a significant cause of noise pollution.

I also have some neighbours who love turning their music up, as a result I am often forced to listen to whatever they happen to like... REPEATEDLY!

Recently a few weeks ago, I was listening to my fav piece of symphony from Rachmaninov (this is the only piece I like actually, haha!!), and surprisingly noted that someone who lives near me was also playing the same thing at the same time as well... Yesterday, the same thing happened, what a coincidence...

It's not some pop music, not even Mozart or Beethoven or "popera" Pavarotti... and I live in a public housing estate... which makes the chance of this happening quite rare...

Listen here.

I scored last night?

Are you surprised by this title??

I was when I saw this statement- "I scored last night" on a kid's T-shirt in CHURCH today... Maybe it's just my dirty mind, but that was the first thing that came to my mind... until I saw the back of the T-shirt, it was a Nike Basketball T-shirt... (If you're not surprised, or have no idea what I mean, pls click on the word score and see definition 36a.) I'm pretty sure it's supposedly to be a wordplay, well, some may find it funny, but I don't think people would wear it to church when they realised what it meant?? I don't think parents would buy it if they knew...?? Maybe I'm wrong...

I remembered when I was a kid my father used to tell me never wear T-shirts with words you don't understand. Though in this case, all the words are pretty easy to understand... =P

I see quite a lot of T-shirts with meaning like these in shops in TST these days, just wondering how many people who buy them know what is really written on these T-shirts... =P

What can a mom do to penalise her 61-year old son??

Still quite a lot apparently.

Mother took away her 61-year-old son's allowance
Says he stayed out too late and didn't tell her where he was
Woman also asked police to make son behave
Police helped to make up; allowance restored

I must be joking right?

Read this

Unbelievable... Yep. It's 61 NOT 16...

Ever lived 22 years in a motel??

For David and Jean Davidson, it is home.

They arrived in 1985, and enjoyed it so much that they never left.

"We have everything we need here - and the staff are like family now. We only have to walk across the car park for meals.

"There is just no reason why we'd want to go home."

The couple's love affair with the Travelodge began 22 years ago when they stopped in Newark, Nottinghamshire, during a visit to see a sick aunt.

When she died four months later they packed their bags, locked up their one-bedroom flat in Sheffield and moved into the roadside hotel.

In 1997, they decided it was time for a change.

Mrs Davidson, 70, who is wheelchair-bound, said yesterday: "I really like living here - it's so convenient. Our room is on the ground floor so there are no stairs or lifts to deal with.

"We don't get hit with huge heating bills over the winter and it's safer than a lot of places these days.

"For us it's a better and cheaper option than an old people's home and we're well looked after."

The couple have spent no less than £97,000 on their hotel costs over the course of 22 years — a sum which could have bought them a two bedroom terrace home in the Lincolnshire area.

The couple, who have a 54-year-old son, now have their own housekeeper and give and receive Christmas, birthday and anniversary presents from staff.

“We know Travelodge has really loyal customers throughout the UK but the Davidson’s are unique. They have made a Travelodge their home. To recognise their remarkable loyalty, we are going to rename their room from number one to ‘The Davidson’s Suite’ and mount a plaque in reception.”

Read it on Daily Mail or the Times

Friends and Facebook

Facebook study reveals users 'trophy friends'
It's hard to make close friends on Facebook, study says

The circle of friends of internet users is expanding vastly, with some acquiring millions of new pals as if they were collecting action figures, stamps or collectables.

However, the overwhelming majority are merely nodding cyberacquaintances and the number of core friends remains mostly unchanged, at only around five people, according to a new survey.

Earlier work by Prof Robin Dunbar at the University of Liverpool showed that most people have an average of 150 people in their social network, with a core of around five close friends, reflecting limitations on the capacity of the human brain.

Another unusual feature of virtual socializing is "defriending" where people are removed from a list of friends, rather than allowed to "fade out", as in real life. One colleague did this because his new friend used poor English, he said.

Despite this extraordinary flux of making and breaking friendships, the actual number of close friends "is approximately the same as in the face to face world," said Dr Reader.

There are "good evolutionary reasons" why this should be. Making friendships means investing time, even money, in another person. To ensure that investment is worthwhile, face to face contact is invaluable, he said. But "it is very easy to be deceptive on the internet."

Of all the sites, the majority - 90 per cent - of close friends have been met face to face. "Face to face contact is a requirement for intimate friendships."

Even so, it's a good way to keep in touch with hundreds of people I have known in my still kinda short life... =P I don't ever add friends whom I don't know. 5 close friends... hmm... I think I have slightly more than that... but I have to say that's a pretty close estimate...

I think this answered my previous question, one simply doesn't have enough capacity in his/her brain to have this many friends. HAHA!!

Facebook... again?!

I've been adding more and more friends on Facebook, and browsing through their pages and the groups they have joined...

I have joined a group called-- People Who Always Have To Spell Their Names For Other People, I'm not talking about my first name, but my last name AND my Chinese name... which is unbelievable because both are such easy, though I have been called so many different names since I was in kindergarten... sigh... even from people I have known for some time... sigh...



Back to some more interesting group names, here're some more for my friends at work
I Hate Stupid Consults From Stupid Doctors
I'm a doctor and I hope my patients don't see me on facebook....
"Things I learned on "Grey's Anatomy" that I didn't learn in medical school

And some selected items from the last group... I have only watched 1 or 2 episodes of Grey's Anatomy while I was in Auckland, my only impression was that it was more about relationship (especially sex) than medicine... =P I remembered I've been sitting there for 1/2 an hour watching character A slept with B, then C with D, then E with F... (sorry I don't know/remember the characters...) quite boring actually, but this list is hilarious! And these mistakes are present in almost EVERY medical drama... (Sorry to the fans of the series)

1. Residents perform (and direct) complex surgeries without an attending present
2. Surgical interns rotate through OB/Gyn
3. Asystole is a shockable rhythm (I saw this on the Taiwanese medical drama recently shown on TV as well...)
4. Anesthesiologists are a myth (except when needed to run out of the room in a panic) !!!!!!! (This is true even for ER!!! I mean on the TV series!)
5. A major university teaching hospital has only a surgical residency program and no medical students
6. Patients need only oxygen via a nasal cannula while undergoing surgery
7. Surgical residents dictate all care given to every patient in the hospital
8. A surgical resident has more power than the chief of surgery
9. Orthopedics residents perform any type of surgery, including Gyn surgeries
10. The chief of surgery runs the hospital
11. Internship lasts for 3 years
12. World-class neurosurgeons live in trailers
13. Clinical brain death leads to absolutely no long-term neurological consequences and has an extremely short recovery time
14. Interns perform fellowship-level procedures after studying for a couple hours
15. There is no ancillary staff at most hospitals
16. Surgeons run the ER
17. Informed consent is a myth
18. Organ transplants are given to patients with an "in" with the chief of surgery
19. Interns perform surgeries solo on the first day of internship (all we really needed to know about surgery we learned in medical school)
20. Cardiothoracic surgeons routinely perform appendectomies
21. Nurses play no routine role in patient care
22. Doctors routinely develop romantic relationships with their patients
22a. This is in no way frowned-upon
23. Familial consent is not necessary to perform an autopsy
24. HIPAA is a myth
25. OB/Gyn training includes pediatric cardiothoracic surgery training
26. Intubation is not a standard, accepted medical practice (see #6)
27. Interns routinely perform their own MRIs
28. 100% recovery of functioning is routine after every surgical procedure
29. Surgical interns insert epidural catheters without supervision (also, see #4) Well, at least these script writer KNEW about epidurals... =P Can that be a consolation?
30. Symptoms of a cerebellar herniation mimic those of a common cold
31. Surgeons know enough medicine to run a clinic
32. The Bell Commission rules seemingly haven't reached all hospitals yet
32a. Despite seemingly working 100+ hours a week, interns still have time to look beautiful
33. Cardiothoracic surgeons manage arrhythmias intra-op (see #4) They also give blood transfusion... =P in most medical drama...
34. Face masks are optional in the OR
35. Interns must, in addition to sleeping with an attending, pass a test in order to move on to PGY2
36. You can keep your license after cutting a patient's LVAD wire on purpose and "going on probation" for the hospital with no legal consequences
37. It is completely professional for medical staff to fight each other in front of patients
38. Unlike other forms of alcohol, tequila actually does not impair your ability to render decisions on critical medical issues
39. Hospital shifts start at a decent morning hour
40. Surgical interns have time to eat lunch. Sitting down. All at the same time.
41. Residents schedule their own surgeries (and can cancel them for personal diversions)
42. Standard first-line treatment for hiccups is chlorpromazine given IM, without consent
43. Standard first-line treatment for GERD is endoscopic fundal plication
43a. H2 blockers and PPIs are a myth
44. Bacterial endocarditis "is nothing to worry about"
45. Toxic megacolon "just happens" and "is nothing to worry about"
46. Placenta accreta is an obscure medical term that only OB/Gyn's seem to know
46a. It is standard to attempt a vaginal delivery with a diagnosis of placenta accreta
47. It is impossible to determine the paternity of a fetus while it is still in utero
48. Regulations regarding hospital privileges and state licensing are a myth
49. The five lowest-scoring interns on the "intern test" do not get asked back to the program (see #35)
50. "Do you have any pain?... Any... anything?" constitutes sufficient history-taking when a patient has been in a car accident
51. General surgery interns routinely work in the NICU
52. Orthopedics chief residents preside over general surgery residents
53. This chief of surgery, when he reaches his mid-50's, should probably step down for being "too old"
54. PGY4 Orthopedics residents are the only available surgeons with enough expertise to bounce back and forth between 3 concurrent surgeries

Introvert??

Just read this description of an introvert from a link on a friend's blog. (Red words are my own comments)

Do you know someone who needs hours alone every day?
ME!

Who loves quiet conversations about feelings or ideas, and can give a dynamite presentation to a big audience, but seems awkward in groups and maladroit at small talk?
May not be able to give DYNAMITE presentation, but I think I'm ok when I'm presenting/talking something I know...

Who has to be dragged to parties and then needs the rest of the day to recuperate?
ME! I just dislike going out. And really need a day to recuperate after "playing"...

Who growls or scowls or grunts or winces when accosted with pleasantries by people who are just trying to be nice?
Well, I do that sometimes... =P

Just wondering how many people would actually think that I'm an introvert...

Read the whole article here.

Write what you know

Read this incredible story about a Polish murderer. Will the book become a bestseller? =P

God vs evil

I didn't post this is the wrong blog, I figured even non-Christians can benefit from this, so here's something from my fav theologian-- NT Wright. This is part of his answer for the question-- "Why would a merciful God allow disasters -- natural or manmade -- to happen?"

Big Question, Bigger Assumptions

This is one of the big ones, of course, and if there was a straightforward or easy answer someone -- Irenaeus, Aquinas, whoever -- would have come up with it. The problem is contained in the assumptions in the question: 'a good God' and the like. We are never, repeat never, in a position where we can size up God and decide what such a being ought really to do. A lot of people today assume, vaguely, that God ought to be running things, stopping earthquakes, preventing road accidents, whatever. They seldom stop to imagine what their own world might be like if God really stepped in every time we were about to do something wrong.

The Bible doesn't pose, or answer, the question that way. It tells a long, complex narrative about a plan launched by the creator God to heal creation. This plan, begun with the call of Abraham, reaches its climax in Jesus and his horrific death, and works out from there, not to the rescue of souls from a doomed world, but to the healing and renewal of the whole creation. That is the framework within which we may be able not indeed to answer the question as posed, but to grapple with the actual world in which evil remains so powerful yet Jesus and his followers declare that the creator God is becoming king.

Contact

A friend of mine told me I haven't called her in months, I told her it's just months, not years! :)

Frankly, I didn't try to keep in touch with most of the people I knew. (I didn't realise how many people I have forgotten until the recent Facebook fervor.) I usually tried to keep in touch with my "good" friends, but I realised some of my "good" friends in primary school have even forgotten about me, like "Who are you?" when I tried to add them as my friend on Facebook. =P

As one grows up (NOT grows old, please note that!), and the friends' list grows longer and longer, can one really keep in touch with all these people??

I'm already so busy and tired that I have no energy to do the things I should be doing.

Now with MSN, Facebook, the world seems to be a much smaller place, it is MUCH easier to keep in contact with friends, BUT you spend extra time to talk to friends you would not see otherwise if these tools didn't exist. =P

When I saw an "ex-good friend" of mine smoking on my way home today (she wasn't a smoker back then), I realised even with these tools, there're still a lot of good friends whom I really need to call.

How can one have time for all these??

What kind of world will it be?

A colleague of mine told me her 9 year-old son has NEVER taken a bus in his life... Another colleague of mine told me some time ago that she needed to go and see her daughter off in the airport because her school choir was going to Vienna!!

I was going to church by bus on my own when I was nine. And I didn't go to Vienna until I was 21 using my own money.

When these children grow up, what will the world be like?

(I read on Ming Pao today, a story about a very rich billionaire-- Tin Ka Ping, who donated almost all his money to schools and universities, he doesn't even have a car of his own and need to take MTR every day. His wife and he spend HK$3000/month only... What a contrast...)

Facebook

Like many people, I have become addicted to Facebook. This is an article I found on Time.com about Facebook.

Facebook is, in Silicon Vall--ese, a "social network": a website for keeping track of your friends and sending them messages and sharing photos and doing all those other things that a good little Web 2.0 company is supposed to help you do. It was started by Harvard students in 2004 as a tool for meeting-- or at least discreetly ogling--other Harvard students, and it still has a reputation as a hangout for teenagers and the teenaged-at-heart. Which is ironic because Facebook is really about making the Web grow up.

Whereas Google is a brilliant technological hack, Facebook is primarily a feat of social engineering. (It wouldn't be a bad idea for Google to acquire Facebook, the way it snaffled YouTube, but it's almost certainly too late in the day for that. Yahoo! offered a billion for Facebook last year and was rebuffed.) Facebook's appeal is both obvious and rather subtle. It's a website, but in a sense, it's another version of the Internet itself: a Net within the Net, one that's everything the larger Net is not. Facebook is cleanly designed and has a classy, upmarket feel to it--a whiff of the Ivy League still clings. People tend to use their real names on Facebook. They also declare their sex, age, whereabouts, romantic status and institutional affiliations. Identity is not a performance or a toy on Facebook; it is a fixed and orderly fact. Nobody does anything secretly: a news feed constantly updates your friends on your activities. On Facebook, everybody knows you're a dog.

Maybe that's why Facebook's fastest-growing demographic consists of people 35 or older: they're refugees from the uncouth wider Web. Every community must negotiate the imperatives of individual freedom and collective social order, and Facebook constitutes a critical rebalancing of the Internet's founding vision of unfettered electronic liberty. Of course, it is possible to misbehave on Facebook--it's just self-defeating. Unlike the Internet, Facebook is structured around an opt-in philosophy; people have to consent to have contact with or even see others on the network. If you're annoying folks, you'll essentially cease to exist, as those you annoy drop you off the grid.

Facebook has taken steps this year to expand its functionality by allowing outside developers to create applications that integrate with its pages, which brings with it expanded opportunities for abuse. (No doubt Griffith is hard at work on FacebookScanner.) But it has also hung on doggedly to its core insight: that the most important function of a social network is connecting people and that its second most important function is keeping them apart.

1 billion!!! WOW!!

I love all the additional functionality! Although I'm not 35 or older =P

I have recorded all my trips with the Trips application, and some of my books with the iRead application... and we can give free virtual gifts to friends as well... Not to mention I have found dozens of long lost friends...

Yeah, I know I'm addicted... =P