Facebook Becoming Relevant Again?

It’s difficult to say the last time I actually used Facebook for something other than procrastination.  I rarely log on, status updates come about once a month, and in general I’ve found Twitter to be a much better service.  However, Facebook’s recent changes may bring it back into my life.

It seemed for a while that Facebook had abandoned the college community that once fostered it, but they seem to be turning back towards university  networking now.  Under the Groups feature, Facebook has now added a “Groups at (Your University).”  I do not know if this feature extends towards high schools, but I would hope not.

Groups at X is an amazing addition to Facebook.  It brings back the networking I was looking for when I originally created my account.  Based on what I’ve seen, the new Groups feature allows you to connect with people in your major, classes, and even dorms.  I no longer have to sift through endless updates from high school and work friends when looking for what’s new on campus. 

There are also Groups within Groups at X.  Groups for parties, giveaways, campus tips, etc.  Allowing the users to create and explore groups of their own is probably the best way to bring Facebook back into the social market.  Now I can finally stop wasting my time solely on Twitter.

Screenshot of Groups at Pitt below:

John Bush Arguing The Constitution Doesn't Protect the People

John Bush speaks at LibertyFest West on the idea that life under the U.S. Constitution is not ideal, and promotes the idea of Agorism.

From February 11, 2012.

Obamacare at the Supreme Court

Through my roommate, I've recently stumbled across full audio transcripts of Florida v. Department of Health and Human Services.  While lengthy, listening to the full, unedited court discussions is very enlightening; it is refreshing from the political-spin that is often portrayed as news on the Internet, TV, or radio.

Days 1 and 2 are embedded within.

 

Milton Friedman on Donahue

This is a video of Milton Friedman's appearance on Donahue.  Friedman was a large proponent of the Chicago School of Economics, which is very similar to the Austrian School.  In my opinion, this is a great introductory video to understanding true free-market economics. 

Google Chrome Profiles and Command Prompt

At home, my computer is often used by my sister or father, which can lead to nervous moments when they load up Google Chrome. (I spend my free time with National Geographic.) To fix the problem, I decided to create a second Chrome profile that only I knew about and it would be loaded through Windows Command Prompt or PowerShell for ease of access. Small note: this is all done under Windows 7. If you have XP or below, the directions are quite different and can be found via a quick search on Bing.

Creating the Profile

Those of you who regularly use Firefox are probably familiar with it's built in profile feature.  In Chrome, this feature can be mimicked manually.

Step 1:
Locate your Default Chrome profile.  This is where your normal browsing information is stored.  In Windows 7, it can be found here:

C:\Users\YOURNAME\AppData\Google\Chrome\User Data\

Step 2:
Copy and Paste "Default" back into "User Data."  This will be your new profile so you can give the folder its own name.  Before you complete this step, you may want to clear your history, as this step will export cookies, URLs, etc. and it may take a while.

Step 3:
Now open up command prompt or PowerShell and change directory to Chrome's Application folder.  Then run this command:

chrome.exe -user-data-dir="..\User Data\YOURPROFILE" -first-run

This step will have your profile run as if it was just installed on your computer. This way, adjusting the settings, setting up sync, and adding themes or extensions will be much simpler.

Step 4:
Now create a shortcut to "chrome.exe" under the Application folder.  This shortcut can be placed anywhere.  Right click on it and hit "Properties."  Edit the "Target" field to look like this:

C:\Users\YOURNAME\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe -user-data-dir="..\User Data\YOURPROFILE"

This makes it so that anytime the shortcut is hit, your Chrome profile loads.

Step 5:
Now the profile is ready. These next steps cover running your profile from cmd or PS.

Running Your Profile From cmd or PS

Running this from the shell is quite simple, and I have it this way so nobody can click my profile from the Start Menu or Desktop.

Step 1:
Add the shortcut to your profile in your custom path. If you plan on running this from cmd, you should probably have a path set up for running batch or ps scripts. If you don't know how to do this, there are many tutorials available online.

Step 2:
Setting the actual script is only a few lines. Simply copy and paste this into Notepad and save it as "chrome.bat." Then when you want to run chrome, you can just type in "chrome" and any arguments you need.


@echo off
if(%1)==(-i) goto i
if not(%1)==() goto normal
goto end

:i
start C:\Users\YOURNAME\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe -incognito
goto end

:normal
start PROFILENAME.exe.lnk
goto end

:end

:: Sahil Amin // sahilamin.com


To run normally, just type in Chrome, and your profile loads. To start Chrome in Incognito, type in "chrome -i" and the default profile incognito loads. Be sure to edit the paths and file names!

Ron Paul Speaks Reason

I couldn't agree more with what this man has to say. Found via Political Byline