THE SOCIAL NETWORK

So what I like about Facebook is that when people make announcements – new job, new baby, etc. – there are always a bunch of comments that are exactly the same. "Congrats!" "Congratulations!!" "So happy for you!"

But then there's always the one that sticks out. It goes a little something like "It's Facebook official!" That comment is special because while the other comments are sincere in their sentiment, the true sentiment behind this one is "So happy I knew this before all of you chumps! And I wanted all of you to know that!"

Because really nothing is better than using your buddy's special moment to publicly establish the pecking order of their friendships.

MILLER TIME: HARVEST SOUR

This is a drink I found in the new iPhone app Bartender's Choice. While most cocktail apps range from bad to terrible, this one is actually pretty great. Here's my version of the Harvest Sour. I used Demerara syrup instead of simple syrup and I think that worked well.

1 oz. Templeton Rye
1 oz. Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
3/4 oz. lemon juice
3/4 oz. Demerara syrup
1 egg white (about 1 oz.)

Dry shake. Shake with ice. Double strain into a chilled glass. I like a big ice cube in there. Enjoy.

THE STATE OF GOOGLE, GOOGLE+ AND FACEBOOK

“Google was the rich kid who, after having discovered he wasn’t invited to the party, built his own party in retaliation. The fact that no one came to Google’s party became the elephant in the room.”

James Whittaker on why he left Google.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE "SOPA" ANTI-PIRACY BILL

So if this bill passes, anonymously pouring millions of dollars into political campaigns would be allowed to continue. However, linking to this video of John Tesh reporting on the touching final episode of Perfect Strangers would be stopped at all costs.

Well done, America!

MAKEOVER, MAKEOVER. MAKEOVER, MAKEOVER. MAKEOVER, MAKEOVER. MAKE-OV-ER!

Okay, Chicago, here's the thing. North Center is a great neighborhood. My favorite, really. But what is the deal with the crappy name? If you are picking a place to live and your options are Wicker Park or Lincoln Square or Bucktown or Lincoln Park or Logan Square or the Ukrainian Village or Lakeview or Wrigleyville of Roscoe Village or Andersonville ... you're gonna pick one of those. You are not going to pick "North Center."

But it's still a great place to live. So clearly North Center needs a name makeover.

So here it is: LINCOLN VILLAGE.

Nice, eh? It's the neighborhood between Lincoln Square and Roscoe Village. Ah? AH? See what I did there?

YOU'RE WELCOME.

MILLER TIME: THE GETAWAY

Yes, I know "Miller Time" should technically involve drinking some sort of Miller Brewing Co product. But it's my blog and I'll do what I want.

This is a drink from Derek Brown at The Passenger in Washington, DC. It's a very simple drink to make but has a fantastically complex taste. Anyone looking for an excuse to drink rum in the winter should have at it.

1 ounce Cruzan Black Strap Rum
½ ounce Cynar
1 ounce lemon juice
½ ounce simple syrup

Shake ingredients with ice. Strain into a glass. I like it on the rocks. Enjoy.

YOU BETTER WATCH OUT

So I went to the mall today and Santa is there taking pictures with people as part of some sort of pitch for Microsoft Windows. Santa says to me, "Hey! Come take your picture with the big guy! Well, the other big guy! Ho ho!"

I'm pretty sure Santa called me fat just then. Let's just stick with the lumps of coal, Santa. No need to add insults.

LATE TO THE PARTY

Oh. Hello, Blogger app for iOS. I didn't think you were coming. We can probably grab an extra chair and squeeze you in between Facebook and Twitter. Have you met my new friend Instagram? Over there are Gowalla, Tumblr and my friend Foursquare from New York. I think you met Flickr once at a party back when we were all in California. Google+ was here earlier but I don't know where she went. We've actually all been here for a while but I think Untappd still has a tab open if you want to grab a beer. Anyway, I'm glad you could make it out. It would be really cool if we could all hang out together more often. I'd love to make that a thing.

I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF

So I don't know what to do with this blog. I started it way back in 2001. Yeah. More than 10 years ago. Before there was a FaceSpace. Before I even knew what a CMS was. Back then the blog was just a big long HTML file that got longer and longer with each post.

But then things changed. People wanted comments and to be able to link to posts and such. So the whole shebang moved over to Blogger and that worked out just great from the fall of 2004 all the way up to last year. But then Blogger had to go and mess with things which forced my URL change and a whole bunch of other problems. Yadda yadda yadda I haven't updated this in over a year.

Enter the march of time. Now we've got the Facebook updates and the Twitter updates and all this stuff and who has time to read blogs? Nevermind crappy personal blogs? That's a good question.

Meanwhile, Google has let Blogger languish into an embarrassment. I read that updates are coming soon, but c'mon. Let's go. Not to mention the fact that there is no official Blogger app for iOS, yet there is one for Android. Tell me, Google ... which do you think is more likely: I'll ditch my iPhone for Android so I can use a native Blogger app OR I'll ditch Blogger for Tumblr or WordPress so I can manage my blog from my iPhone.

And so there it is. The elephant in the room. Or, since Tumblr has a thing against the letter 'e' I guess it's the lphant in the room. I don't know what to do. I just know I miss the exercise of writing in bursts that are over 140 characters.

NEW BLOG URL

Hello? Oh, hi. Yeah. We're going over here:

blog.kenneymarlatt.com