This morning after a post-hurricane dog walk I sign on to Facebook to see who still has power. To my surprise, the new Facebook Ticker feature appears in my sidebar showing the following things:

• Posts and the method of posting (mobile, iPhone, etc.)
• New friendships
• Likes on walls
• Comments on everything
• Probably other nefarious stuff that involves Farmville

On iPad Safari, the Facebook Ticker is interfering with the login dropdown. I have to sneak my way through “Edit My Profile” to App and Privacy settings to see if there is a way to disable this thing or control what information goes there. Sloppy Facebook, sloppy!

I jump on a regular computer (Mac running Chrome) and cannot find anything that lets me disable the ticker. There is no little info graphic to explain what the Ticker is and why we would want it, no one-click way to disable this feature that will make many users uncomfortable.

This is a force-fed feature from Facebook, the social media overlords who think their multimillion users will love anything they dish out. I am off Facebook until further notice. Up until now, Facebook has been my social networking safe place. I can create a group of friends that I know I can say anything to. I don’t have to worry about professional and personal business getting mixed up.

I mean, you can look at this public Tumblr tied to my domain name and argue Yves Saint Laurent and midcentury living room and kitchen design are part of my professional life. Whatever. Honestly, the reason I’m so pissed off is that I have no control over what I am sharing.

UPDATE: 

The ticker is gone for me, but instead there are some new inline privacy settings that were introduced with some framing language and a walkthrough. Back on FB for now, but wondering what will happen if the Ticker appears. Let me know if you see the Ticker/see my stuff in the Ticker!!

Found this bike light rubber banded to my handlebars last night from Civilized Bikers. I met the Civilized Biker dude who asked me to vote Jeff Hornstein for City Council District 1 on Tuesday. I checked this dude out and his Facebook is legit.

Candidate #2, Vern Anastasio has a site with ideas that sound awful out of context. I’m talking about “Create an ‘Emerald Necklace’ of Parks along the Waterfront” and “Establish Operation Shovel & Broom”. This dude clearly doesn’t have his messaging together. Does anyone have good things to say about this guy?

The other Democratic candidate is Joe Grace, the Inquirer’s pick with a Pledge to the LGBT Community. Grace is talking about no more SEPTA gender stickers, right to choose and genuine equal rights for all. His language is no BS and he has a good track record with the LGBT community here in Philly. Does this mean he likes bikes too? Probably. Are gay rights and abortion rights more important than bike rights? Uh, yeah!

Committee of Seventy is the place to check out the business for elections tomorrow. They also have a utility to find your polling place. No matter what your views are, you should vote. I’m going to take some time and think about it, because a lot of us here live in Philadelphia. Are you voting tomorrow?

On this day of the royal wedding, I’d just like to say that it is so amazing when two entities are brought together by a sonic force in such a beautiful way. Of course I’m talking about tomato and avocado on a bagel, and the “sonic force” is vegan cream cheese. Don’t get me wrong, I’m married and in love. But when my partner and I got married the news didn’t stop covering important stuff like tornado recovery, day one. Did you see how scary that footage is? I want to hug Alabama.