More Strange Behavior from Facebook

Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows of my occasional disagreements with Facebook. Heck, this blog was created, due to Facebook having banned another blog for allegedly going against community standards. I dare anyone to objectively read either of my blogs and find anything offensive.

Today, I received another message from Facebook informing me that a link I had posted last year from dumaguetemetropost was also being removed today because it "violated community standards".

The article linked to is entitled "New year heroes", and I had forgotten most of the details of that editorial, but I was certain that there could be nothing in it that warranted Facebook's removal of the link.

With the help of Google, I was able to locate the editorial (linked to above) from dumaguetemetropost.com's archives.

Someone at Facebook has lost their mind.

The editorial is dealing with COVID, and Facebook is sensitive regarding anything posted about the virus, but there is certainly nothing in the editorial to justify Facebook's behavior. There isn't any false information being given, no fake news.

If anyone should be a judge of the community standards of Dumaguete and Negros Oriental, I would trust the dumaguetemetropost over Facebook.

New Bicycle Saddle

No matter how positive an action or activity might be, there is always lurking nearby, a negative. In the case of cycling the positives are many - cycling increases stamina, strength and aerobic fitness. Cycling can improve both physical and mental health, and can reduce the chances of experiencing many health problems.

On the negative side, the most common problem I hear about is the discomfort one can experience in the seat. Your own seat....the butt, your bottom, however you wish to put it.

Judging from the ads I come across on social media platforms, the problem is pretty wide spread (if you'll pardon the expression).

I've come across ads for more comfortable bike saddles, bicycle shock absorbers and padded shorts and padded underwear.

 

The idea of purchasing padded underwear is tempting, but unfortunately most of the bicycle clothing available for delivery in this area is for smaller persons than yours truly. I haven't had a 33 inch waist in quite a long time and I'm unlikely to drop down to that any time soon.

So, for me the obvious choice is a new saddle. One of the more popular saddles advertised is the Vertu Spyder saddle. Several companies advertising on Facebook have that particular saddle for sale.

 

Of the companies selling the Vertu Spyder saddle online, I picked the one with the best price. COD, 899 PHP. The saddle arrived this afternoon - about a week after I ordered it, which isn't bad for Philippines during the pandemic.

I removed my old saddle and had the new one on in minutes. I've already ridden today, so I'll get my first test ride with the new saddle tomorrow morning. I'll be reviewing the ride soon afterwards.

 

Leaving a Facebook Group

I recently became a member of a private Facebook group which deals in photography. The name of the group is not important.

Although I haven't been a member for very long, I'm happy to say that a few of my photos have made it into the finals of some of the monthly contests. Unfortunately, I have decided to leave the group over editorial practices.

Last night, when posting into the "Human interest" category, I was notified that my photos would need approval before they would be accepted. This had never happened to me before, and I was a bit puzzled.

After a little investigation, I concluded that one or more of my earlier photos were deemed inappropriate. It appears that at least one of my photos was guilty of "poorism". I had no idea that such a word existed.

I had uploaded photos of homeless people living on the streets in Dumaguete. I believe that visual images of the way the homeless are treated in a community are important, even if those images put a bad light on the community.

While the owners of this page have every right to exclude any photo they choose, I also have the right to cancel my membership in this group. I will be cancelling my membership to this group today and will request that all my photos posted to their group be removed. 

 

 

Life Beyond F@ceb**k

 

With many tech giants banning Donald Trump from social media platforms, quite a few Conservatives have headed towards newer platforms - like Parler and MeWe. In November, I looked into both Parler and MeWe. I was dissatisfied with Facebook, not for political reasons, but because my blog, sorryalltheclevernamesaretaken had been banned from Facebook because - they say - the blog is a spam site. Nothing I could say or do would change the decision of the nerd at Facebook who is responsible for the banishment.

I didn't care for Parler. It looked sparse to me - more like Twitter. I had never understood the appeal of Twitter so Parlor seemed superfluous.

On the other hand, I like MeWe. It's growing slowing. I don't have the number of friends on MeWe as on Facebook, but it'll take time.

Anyone interested in finding me on MeWe can copy and paste the followin web address: www.mewe.com/i/robertsimms7.  Unfortunately, blogger will not allow me to post these addresses as links. In addition to my regular MeWe account, I've opened a group called - www.mewe.com/join/lifeinphilippines. I'll be able to post links to all my blogs as well as photos from in and around Sibulan, Negros Oriental.

As I write this, this particular blog hasn't been banned. I thought, however, I'd include a screen shot of my banned blog which will be displayed when this post is published.

In Cahoots?

According to a recent Facebook meme, when an "imteresting" photo of Nancy Pelosi's son-in-law, Michiel Vos posing with Trump supporter, Jake Angeli made it's way online, this was definite proof that the so-called "Viking Man" was a fake Trump supporter and a tool of the Left Wing. Many who are inclined to believe conspiracy theories accept this as fact because they don't wish to admit that their side stormed the Capitol building.

Of course, I have no first hand knowledge as to how the two happened to be in a selfie together. I suspect that Angeli, being the attention whore that he appears to be, is willing to pose in a selfie with anyone who asks. It's not clear to me if Angeli had any idea who Michiel Vos is.

I suspect that Vos may be a bit of an attention whore himself, and wanted to be photographed with this outlandishly costumed Trump guy.

I don't buy into the notion that being in the same photograph makes two persons in cahoots......as these photos, huh, "clearly" show. Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink.

 

May We use MeWe? Mais Oui.

 

I mentioned in a post from last Monday that I was looking into an alternative to Facebook regarding social media. I looked into Parler.com but thought it was a bit sparse looking.

Since that time, I've looked itnto mewe.com and found it to be more to my liking.

As I write this post, I regret to say that I've few contacts on MeWe. It's nice that I can post links to my other blog (banned from Facebook) onto MeWe, but with few contacts, it won't send much traffic to the blog.

Be that as it may, I'll continue to make use of MeWe, in hope that I can one day drop Facebook completely.

Anyone interested in finding me on MeWe can go here.

Facebook or Parler?

I wasn't aware of the social media site parler.com until I read about the platform on Matt Archbold's Facebook page. He's using his FB page to tell folks about his new account on Parler. I gather Matt believes there will be more freedom of speech and less censorship on Parler.com.

I like the idea of less censorship. I've had problems with Facebook banning my sorryalltheclevernamesaretaken blog.

I went to Parler.com this morning to set up an account. There were a few glitches in the process, but I put that down to an increase of new accounts. At first glance, I'm not overly impressed with what I found. Compared to Facebook, Parler seems a bit sparse. I'm not at all certain that I could convince many of my friends to sign up.

In fairness, it might be better to compare Parler to Twitter rather than Facebook. However, I for one have never seen the need for a Twitter account. Parler's claim to fame is their site is an alternative solution for people concerned about free speech on social media. Sadly, though, I have come upon one article that Parler isn't the bastion of free speech that it claims to be.

We'll see how this shakes out. As I said, I have an account on Parler.com but it remains to be seen just how much I'll use it.

You Can't Post This

Since the first week of April, this year, my blog, sorryalltheclevernamesaretaken, has been banned from Facebook. I can't post links to that blog on my Facebook page - I can't even send a link to the blog on Facebook Messenger.

I will try to post links from time to time, but the links are always blocked. I'm told that it's because the blog is a "spam site". That's not true, of course. I've disagreed with the decision, but communicating with Facebook is like beating a dead horse.

I tried to post a link to the blog this morning -[My Love/Hate Relationship With The Internet ] with no success.

Screen shots of the response I received are shown below.

 

Michael Moore's Insane Trump Rant

On another of my blogs, I posted my thoughts on Michael Moore's recent rant on Trump having contracted COVID-19.

I wanted to link that blog post to Facebook, but that blog is still banned from Facebook. I've posted a link to that blog post here to get around that ban.

Click on.

Snus Hunt

Thankfully, I gave up tobacco products twenty eight years ago. Prior to quitting, I smoked cigarettes for many years and I know the difficulties tobacco users experience when forced to do without his or her fix.

Even in these days of ECQ, cigarettes are still relatively easy to come by, but for those using smokeless tobacco (aka snuff, "dip") finding the fix isn't the same. Even under the best of times, it is nearly impossible to find dip in Dumaguete.

My friend, "B1". is stranded here in Negros due to the travel ban during these covid19 days. B1 is one of those who use smokeless tobacco, and not expecting to be stranded here indefinitely, he did not bring enough to last longer than two weeks. Needless to say, he's not happy.

I wanted to help him in his time of desperation.

I thought of another friend, "B2" who also dipped and I contacted him to see if he could help. B2 knew a brand of dip called Snus was available for delivery from Cebu and he suggested I Google "snus in Cebu". Doing that, I was led to the Facebook page of Swedesnus.

I wasn't quite sure that Swedesnus would be able to deliver Snus during these days of Quarantine. While on the page, I saw that another of my Facebook friends, "R" liked the Swedesnus Facebook page. I contacted R and he told of his friend, "J" who sells Snus locally.

Long story short, I contacted J who provided a cell phone number for B1 to text. I've since heard from B1 who tells me he has hooked up with J and will soon have a supply of Snus.

All in a days work.

Temporary Passes

In a post from Thursday, [ECQ - Day One ] I include a photo of the three color coded passes issued to residents of Dumaguete city. Being residents of Sibulan, we were issued a different pass which is valid within our town. There doesn't appear to be a restriction on which days the residents of Sibulan can move about in Sibulan, but non residents of Dumaguete can enter that city only on certain days.

The photo at the beginning of this post is of a temporary pass. Below is an explanation of the protocol for non residents entering Dumaguete as posted onto Facebook:

REMINDER to NON-RESIDENTS who want to enter the city:

Secure a temporary safe pass to enter the city, which is only allowed on the following days:

 
SUNDAYS 7:00 AM - 12:00 PM
TUESDAYS 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM
THURSDAYS 7:00 AM - 12:00 PM
 
They may voluntarily surrender before the checkpoint their driver's licenses or original copy of the Certificate of Registration to be granted the temporary safe pass.

They must also comply with these policies: No helmet, No Entry and No Face Mask, No Entry.
Every person is subject to thermal scanning. Any person who has a temperature of 38 degrees Celsius and above shall be refused entry.

The driver's license or original copy of the Certificate of Registration will be returned to the owner upon exiting the same checkpoint and upon surrender of the temporary safe pass.

ONLY residents from Cluster 1 Bacong, Dauin, Zamboanguita, Valencia, Sibulan and San Jose will be allowed entry but only to buy basic necessities, food and medicine or access medical assistance and essential health services.

PERSONS belonging to Clusters 2, 3 and 4 will only be allowed entry to access medical assistance or essential health services in the city.

These measures are adopted to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to keep the city safe.

(Source: Executive Order No. 19 series of 2020 signed by Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo)

My New Blog

I've been blogging since 2006. I've started, and finished a number of blogs, but the one I've used most consistently over the years is Sorry, All The Clever Names Are Taken.

I've been thinking that the name of that blog was just a bit too clever. It works well when using a link, but it's cumbersome when telling the name to someone and expecting them to remember it. I've been lazy, and in spite of wanting to create a new blog with a easier name, I've been putting it off.

Circumstances have pushed me to finally follow through on the plan to create that new blog.

Due to the COVID19 causing havoc around the globe, the area where I'm living in Philippines has been placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and I wanted to begin writing about the situation and my experiences living under the ECQ. I wrote that post this morning, (ECQ Day One ) and attempted to put a link to that post onto my Facebook page.

Unfortunately, I was unable to post the link. Facebook said the blog was banned due it's not following community standards. I couldn't understand how or why that happened. I put the same post onto another of my blogs, and the link was accepted on Facebook. With all that, I've decided the time was right to create a new blog under an easier name to get across - hence, robertsimms.blogspot.com. Perhaps, one day, if the url is available, I'll use my name with a dot com or dot net.

This will mark the first post on the new blog. It will also be simultaneously posted on Sorry, All The Clever Names Are Taken.