For those of us that play a lot of games on Facebook, we may have hundreds of friends.  As of this writing I have over 600 friends and most of them are game friends.  After you add a friend to a game, you are not required to keep the friend in you Facebook account.  However, they can be a good resource if you decided to play multiple games because some will also play multiple games.  Additionally, it’s a good way to communicate and get help if you need it in a game.

Privacy Concerns

Having a few hundred gaming friends does lead to privacy concerns because you don’t really know these people.  Granted, some will become close friends even if you never actually meet them, but most will not, so you may not want them to know your phone numbers, address, or other personal information.  At the same time, you may have family members and/or close friends that you do want to have access to your personal information.

I have found the easiest way to take care of these concerns is to create two groups of friends.  Facebook calls these groups ‘List’ so I will use List from this point on.  You can create more than two Lists but as the number of friends grow it becomes harder to manage.  For most people, I think two Lists are sufficient.  Making a List is easy, just click on ‘Friends’ on the Facebook bar.  If you haven’t made a List you should just see ‘All Friends’ on the ‘Friends’ List on the left side of the page.  Clicking on ‘Make a New List’ does just that, it makes a new List.   I have called my two Lists Facebook Family and Game Friends.  No matter what you called the Lists, think of them as the people that you want to see everything and the people who you want to limit what they see.  Hence, the names I have given my lists, Facebook Family and Game Friends. Once you have your Lists, it is time to start adding friends to them.

To add people to your lists just click on first list and either start typing the names, or if you have a lot of friends it may be easier to click on ‘Select Multiple Friends.’  If you select ‘Select Multiple Friends’ you will see all of your friends with their avatar and name.  Just start clicking on the names to add them to each of your lists and save it.  Once you are done, move your mouse pointer over ‘Settings’ on the Facebook bar and select ‘Privacy Settings’ from the drop down menu.

Privacy Settings

On the Privacy Settings page you will see four links: Profile, Search, News Feed and Wall, and Applications.  My main focus with this post will be for your Profile so you will want to click on ‘Profile.’   On the Profile page you will see a bunch of drop down boxes and you will want to use ‘Custom’ setting for most of the drop downs.  Selecting ‘Custom’ from the drop down box brings up a dialog box, and most of the time you will be using the option ‘Some Friends.’  Here is how my Profile page is set for the Basic settings (yours may be different depending on what you want your friends to see):

• Profile - Friends Only
• Basic Info - Friends Only except for Game Friends. Select ‘Custom’ from the drop down, then select ‘Friends Only.’ At the bottom of the dialog box under,’ Except These People,’ enter Game Friends or whatever you called your list to limited access.
• Personal Info - Friends Only
• Status Links - Everyone
• Photos Tagged of You - Custom. In the dialog box select, ‘Some Friends,’ and enter Facebook Family or whatever you called your list so that everyone can see. Under the drop down box you will see ‘Edit Photo Albums Privacy Settings.’ If you want to limit what photos are seen click on this link. This page is much like the Profile page with drop down boxes for each album. Select Custom and then select Some Friends and enter Facebook Family for the albums you want your close friends to see.
• Videos Tagged of You - Custom > Some Friends > Facebook Family.
• Friends - Only Friends
• Wall Post - Box checked for, ‘Friends may post to my wall.’ ‘Only Friends’ in the drop down.
• Education Info - Custom > Some Friends > Facebook Family.
• Work Info - Custom > Some Friends > Facebook Family.

Once you are done with this section, click on ‘Save Changes,’ then at the top of the page select, Contact Information.  On the Contact Information page there are more drop downs.  Here are my settings:

• IM Screen Name - Custom > Some Friends > Facebook Family.
• Mobile Phone - Custom > Some Friends > Facebook Family.
• Other Phone - Custom > Some Friends > Facebook Family.
• Current Address - Custom > Some Friends > Facebook Family.
• Website - Only Friends
• Your email address - Custom > Some Friends > Facebook Family.

Once you are done with this section, click on ‘Save Changes.’  You are now done with the ‘Profile’ settings but you will want to test your settings.  At the top of the page there is a box titled, ‘See how a friend sees your profile.’  Enter a Facebook Family member in the box and press enter to see what that person will see.  Do the same for Game Friends.  If all is well you can make other privacy settings by going back to the main Privacy page and selecting each of the other settings i.e., Search, News Feed and Wall, and Applications.  The settings in these areas are self explanatory if you slowly go through each and read the pages.

I hope this helps make you feel a little more secure on Facebook.  Also, don’t forget when adding friends, make sure to put them in the right list.

Larry

Zynga Games makes many of the games that are played heavily on Facebook.  I can’t speak for My Space because I don’t have an account, but from looking on the Zynga website I believe the same games are played there as well.

As far as I can tell, Zynga games are all basically the same with a different theme.  Four of the games that I have played are probably written on the same code base, and I assume the same is true for the others I have not played.  Pirates, Mafia Wars, Vampire Wars, and Street Racing are all played the same way.   Three of the games I am most familiar with, Pirates, Mafia Wars, and Vampire Wars, all have a number of tasks to perform.   They call these tasks different things in each of the games like Plunder, Jobs, or Missions, but they are all tasks that can be performed to gain levels in the games.  There is also a way to fight your opponents, i.e. other game players on Facebook.  In Pirates and Mafia Wars it’s called “Fight” and in Vampire Wars it’s just “Combat” but they do the same thing, i.e. fight other game players.  Of the games I’ve listed, they all have a number of items that you can buy like weapons, vehicles, and property.  They may be called by different names but they have the same function and are used for attack and defense.  Supposedly, they offer attack strength and defense against an attack by someone.  I say supposedly because no matter how much of this you have it seems that it does very little in determining the outcome of a fight.

After playing these games for many hours, the conclusion I come to is the games are skewed very heavily in favor of the one that does the most fighting.  As an example, in Mafia Wars I was a Master Capo at level 87 with 559 members in my Mafia, with attack and defense items for each of my members and lost a fight to a Master Street Thug (one of the lowest titles) at level 70.  This person was 17 levels below me and I still lost the fight because the person who fought me had won more fights than I.  This doesn’t seem fair to me.  I think the algorithm used to determine the winner of a fight must weigh more heavily in favor of the higher level player. This needs to be corrected by Zynga.

Larry

About six months ago my wife created an account on Facebook and started playing games like Pirates, Mouehunt, and Horse Racing.  She talked about it all the time and was spending exceedingly more time on the computer.  She now has friends all over the world.  She just recently exchanged a gift with someone in Australia.  I thought this was just crazy and couldn’t get my mind around it.  I then went into my old Facebook account and started playing a game called, Mafia Wars.

Mafia Wars is a very addictive game where you build your family and fight other families, virtual families that is.  I quickly went from no friends to over 300 in a few short weeks.   I then started playing Pirates and Vampire Wars too adding even more friends.  They say that 5 minutes on Facebook turns into 1 or 2 hours.  Whoever they are, it’s true, you just completely lose track of time.  I started staying up late and my life started to suffer for it.  One of my new friends calls it Face Crack because it’s so addictive.  I am now trying to wean myself from the games but it’s not going to be easy to rid myself from them completely.

One thing that I have found from this experience is that some friends that you add, like distant family members, that you don’t have that much in common with will stay that way.  I’ve sent private messages to family members and never receive a reply.  For me, this takes the social out of Social Networking.  Why have these people as friends if they won’t even talk to you.  I have since started to delete these family members from my Facebook account, and hopefully I’ll completely wean myself from the games over time.

To me this has been a good experiment but now I want my life back the way it was.  I’ll keep the complete strangers that I talk to, even if they live half way around the world, and delete the family that won’t even acknowledge my existence.

Larry

It is always difficult when transitioning from one President to another but for me it’s been especially difficult.  Going from a semi conservative President to an ultra liberal one has been difficult.  However, it could be that the changes have been coming at us too fast.  It seems that every day there is more bad news or another bail out, and every time the President speaks Wall Street sinks a little lower and we all lose.  We all need a time out and think that everyone in government needs to stand back and take a deep breath. Failure is a way of life and trying to save everyone may lead to saving no one.

Larry

In my memory, Christmas started for me with our annual trek to find the perfect Christmas tree.  My father and I would make our way to a few favored tree lots to find that special tree.  Pennsylvania in mid to late December can be pretty cold and I can still see and remember the smell of wood burning in old cut out oil drums as we searched the dimly lit tree lots.  What fun it was.  It wasn’t until much later in life and after looking at old photos of that time that I realized the trees were not that great.  Even knowing this now doesn’t diminish or detract from the good memories I will always cherish of being with my father on these cold nights.

The next part of Christmas that I can remember was the long wait for the big day to come.  However, the one thing that I remember most about Christmas day was when we all gathered for our Christmas meal.  My uncle and his wife would spend most of the day with us.  We played games, talked, ate, and played, talked, and ate some more.   Some 50 years later this is what I remember most.

My wife asks me the other day, “What was your favorite gift?” and I could not find an answer.  Now that I’ve given it more thought family and friends are what I think of the most.  The gifts I received are long gone and forgotten; it’s the people I still remember.

So whatever your circumstances, rich or poor, believer or non-believer, savor the times with your family and friends.  Those moments are irreplaceable.  Fifty years from now your memoirs will be of the people for they are the gifts.

Merry Christmas,

Larry

I think this pretty much says it all.

Larry

I’ve giving this quote a lot of thought since I saw it some time ago.  It is especially poignant due to some turmoil within my family.  I will not go into detail here but if you’ve read some of my other posts throughout this site you can probably get a good feel for the problem.

Mothers for the majority of us have always held a special place in our hearts, I know that mine did.  And from reading some notes sent to my grandmother from my father it seems it was true for him also.

My father was in the Army National Guard before World War II and then called to active duty.  He wrote his mother often sending post cards from various places from where he was training.  Even during the war he sent her Western Union telegrams wishing her happy birthday.  It seems that all of my grandmother’s sons did much the same no matter where they were.  Looking at old photographs the picture doesn’t look much different.  There were many family gatherings at home and mother was always with them.  My grandmother died shortly before I was born in November of 1953. She had just turned 56 and no doubt her passing was very difficult for them.

My mother was also very important in my life and we were very close.  Nothing would have ever gotten between us for it was something that I would never let happen, and I looked at her as a friend and confidant.  She was very special to me and her passing in May of 1977, 2 days after her 56^th birthday was the most difficult time I’ve ever experienced in my life.  It has been 31 years but I think of her often and pray to her for guidance.  I know that she is always watching me and I feel her presence in my life.

Children and mothers never truly part - Bound in the beating of each other’s heart.

I miss you Mom!

Larry

I know where McCain’s focus will be and that’s why he has my vote.  Think about it. This is a wake up call.

Larry

For me, I’m getting to the point where I can’t watch anything on TV anymore especially the news (if you can call it that).  I’ve almost stopped watching late night TV altogether.   I’ll never watch Letterman ever again and now Leno isn’t much better.  Last night Leno told well over 10 jokes about McCain’s age and hammered Palin.  I counted 1 joke on Obama but nothing as hard hitting as the Republican jokes.  I’m just sick of it.  There needs to be some balance and there isn’t any.

Did you see The View attacking McCain and the stuff that Chevy Chase and Matt Damon said about Palin?  These actors need to go back to their holes and stay out of it.  I had liked some of these people as actors at one time but I think that my money will be better spent on something else in the future if you know what I mean.    You know what they say, “Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”

Its one thing to have a disagreement with someone on the issues, it’s totally something else to be down right mean.  The bias is over the top.  Even if it is hard to take, I hope the Democrats keep hammering to insure a big Republican victory this November.

Larry

There comes a time in your life that you just have to say enough.  I’m not going to deal with this any longer.  I’m not going to try to make it all better.  Even thought it hurts to break up, the pain is just too great to stay together.  Some things, no matter how hard we try, just cannot be fixed.  It’s a sad truth and it is a hard decision but the decision finally has to be made.  The decisions of life are hard and at no time has anyone ever said they would be easy.

I, like many others, have been dealing with a family issue for many years now and I can no longer beat myself up over it. There comes a time that you just have to realize that life isn’t a fairytale and sometimes there isn’t a happy ending.  I finally came to grips with this today.  I’m going to walk apart and cut the ties that have long ago worn thin.

I pray that God will somehow understand my decision and forgive me.

Larry