For about a month now, we at Your42 have been playing with Minggl, a browser toolbar plug-in that serves as a “social interaction manager.” More on what that means shortly.

We're digging it, so much that we rock-paper-scissored to see who would get to write about it. I won. I'm fierce with the two-person hand games.

Minggl works with Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, Twitter, Digg, and Flickr. I use five of these six sites. I geek out on the features of each. I like being able to stay in touch with people and receive updates about what’s going on around town—and yes, even if that update is that my friends are late for dinner, especially when it’s me they’re meeting for dinner. (There's some small—and somewhat perverse—joy in realizing that I'm such an important dinner date that my friends feel compelled to tweet their followers if they're late in meeting me.)

But as much as I love my social networking, I do have some issues with it.

For example, every so often I get too busy or too lazy and it might be ages before I log into one of my sites. By the time I get around to it, I’ve forgotten my password. That actually happens more often than I’d like to admit. I have a freakish memory for phone numbers and birthdays, but passwords continue to elude me.

Also, while each site has different “friends” (my Myspace has mostly musicians/bands; my LinkedIn has mostly business contacts, etc.), and some of those friends have made the crossover from one site to the next, there are others who should have made that crossover but haven’t. That’s because I haven’t taken the time to look at one site, figure out who I want to connect to on another, make sure I haven’t already connected to that person on the other site—and if I haven’t, go through the steps to set up the new connection. Or if my friends haven’t done that with me. All in all, it takes more time to do this than I usually have.

I also get pretty bored fairly quickly with needing to check each site individually to catch up with the happenings.

Enter Minggl. Minggl is already decreasing some of the angst I have around my social networking sites and it's making me a more connected person. As a “social interaction manager” it functions to consolidate my logins and friends across my various sites. Once installed to my browser toolbar and configured to point to my social networking sites, it has lots of features I like.

First, from the Minggl toolbar I can use a drop-down list of my networking sites to quickly move from one site to the other. When I choose a site from the drop-down, I’m automatically logged into that site within seconds. It’s much faster than going to the site separately and logging in. Plus, because I’ve already configured Minggl with my username and password for each of my sites, I don’t have to remember my password.

Second, Minggl allows me to see, in a sidebar, all my friends across all my sites. I can also choose to see only the friends from one particular site, but at the moment I prefer to see everyone at once. This helps me to see where the holes in my connections are. I can see, for example, that I’ve connected to my friend Kilgore* on Myspace, Facebook, and LinkedIn. He goes by “Kilgore” on Myspace, but as “Kilgore Trout” on Facebook and LinkedIn. So he appears three times in my Minggl friends list, and because the list defaults to alphabetical, I can see all three connections at once. I like this, because when I choose to show all my friends across all sites, I can quickly tell how many different connections I’ve made to any one person. If I need to make more, I can.

Third, the Minggl toolbar also has a pretty cool scrolling update feature. I can choose how often I want to see my friends’ updates (basically, every 1 minute to 30 minutes), and at the appointed time increment the latest updates from across my sites scroll within the toolbar. No more logging into each site and checking out my dashboard or each profile to get the latest news on my connections. Because the updates scroll within the Minggl toolbar itself, they’re not intrusive. Better yet, I don’t have to interrupt whatever I’m working on to visit each of the sites to get the update.

I can also update my status across all my sites using the “Status Blaster” mStream toggle within the Minggl sidebar, and/or see the status of all the folks in my friends list, however I'm connected to them.

Minggl has loads of other features I've barely touched, because the specific features I've worked with are what I need to manage my social networking. I like that it’s easy-to-use and is a clear response to what I don’t like about my social networking sites. I’m not a technophobe by any means, and admittedly I'll probably often spend too much time trying to figure out a technology that isn’t friendly in the first place. An intuitive UI is important for me, and this one is looking good, so I believe it’ll be pretty easy to use by even those folks who are uncomfortable with new technologies. I imagine it’ll even promote their usage across their own social networking sites. It’s already done that for me.

This isn't to say there aren't some things that personally, I'd like to see changed, but the changes I'm interested in are largely feature tweaks and are certainly things I can live with right now because I'm already getting tons of benefit from one little download of the Minggl toolbar.

Additionally, the Minggl group are open to suggestions, linking from several places within their site to a feedback area where you can suggest new features. I also recently responded to a user survey where I was able to note any problems I've been having and also to suggest features I might like to see. Because the Minggl team has been very nicely responsive so far, I have no doubt they'll take the survey feedback seriously.

Ultimately, I'd recommend that if you suffer from the same woes with your social networking sites as I do, that you give it a try. If you have the same experience with it as I have, you might just find yourself wondering how you've gotten along without it without pulling out most of your hair or cursing your social networking sites into next week.

Let us know what you think.

Have fun,

--Nicki, Your42

*Name changed to protect no one in particular.

***

The headlines yelled: “Author Kurt Vonnegut dead at 84.” An honest mistake. This was not an author who died. It wasn’t a friend leaving his friends. HE would have been the first to admit that. There comes a point in a man’s life when he stands above his fellow men with a vision granted only to those with a different understanding of the workings of the world.

***

It was a vision. It was not a vision in the prophetic sort of way that would-be messiah’s claim to see things but a vision of understanding or misunderstanding. He understood there was confusion in the world. He did not see how. He was already a step ahead of most of us. He tried to show us the chaos. His work was not fiction but an alternate non-fiction. He was not a subtle man. Or he was a subtle man in a way we can’t see. We know he talked about chaos and the convergence of random events in his novels. What we cannot understand is why he refused to write things as the rest of us saw it. It has something to do with his eyes I think.

***

(Brief dabbing of the eyes)

The man never received the Nobel Prize we knew was coming. Perhaps its best to do without the “Nobel” year. Kurt would not have enjoyed that. Better to be known for your works than for your prizes. Of course the large financial compensation that comes with the prize would have spared Kurt from driving his Saab agency into bankruptcy. Something about that just smells of Swedish conspiracy. I can see him smiling.

Kurt was a mentor to most of us. He guided me through my travels in Europe, teaching me the 12 step program as though they were his original idea of life lessons. I never knew the difference until now. Interesting how things happen don’t you think? He would not have wanted me to make this a story with a moral. He would have wanted me to point out the things wrong with myself and decry the mistakes of others. He would have wanted me to smoke (takes out cigar and lights it). Remember, smoke cigars not cigarettes. Cigars are good for you.

***

Dead at 84. Vonnegut liked to stand out. He was a curious soul. Dying a soldier’s death would not have befitted him. The idea of having his body lying face downward with a hole through his chest and his arm bent at an odd angle would have been perfect for a scene in one of his stories but not for his life. Only stupid men die for their country. Smart men fight for their country.

***

And now, to quote Kurt in his piece of work: “Thank you for paying attention, I’m outta here.”

-Sincerely,

Kilgore Trout

Kilgore Trout napisał kiedyś opowiadanie w formacie rozmowy między dwoma drożdżami. Spożywając cukier i dusząc się we własnych ekskrementach, dyskutowały nad celem życia. Z powodu swojej ograniczonej inteligencji nigdy nie wpadły na to, że robią szampana.

Mistrzostwo! Tak mi się to podoba, że chyba to będzie motto całej książki...
Tylko muszę ją napisać. Podobno każdy człowiek jest w swoim życiu w stanie napisać jedną książkę. I fakt ten nie czyni zeń pisarza.... I, jeśli mnie pamięć nie myli, to chyba właśnie mistrz Vonnegut coś takiego stwierdził.

♣Today is the first death anniversary of Kurt Vonnegut. He died last year after an accident that caused him irreversible brain injuries. The quote above was first shared by my friend Mitch-- through text message when we were still drunk conjurers-- truly a great admirer of Vonnegut.

♣Back from College, I considered Vonnegut as imaginary drinking buddy. The time my literary ember sparked with great passion while crouching over the noble and crappy ideas of my favorite books and authors. Back then, I was a drunk conjurer and sometimes an occasional sweet and tender hooligan.

♣The one who introduced me of Vonnegut is Joni (Hello! friend, how's life in Heidelberg?). A slacker of that time, Joni was attached to anything that tells tragic-comedy of life. Together, Joni, Mitch, and I would sometimes talked about the works of Vonnegut over bottle of beers and dilapidated love affair of ours. By the way, I still strongly believe that at the time we are still students, Joni and Mitch was the only female (perhaps all with the exception of me) who knew and read Vonnegut in our University.

♣Written last year, it was intended as requiem.

♣Vonnegut was fond of blending science fiction with satire or black comedy. Kilgore Trout, a re-appearing character on his many novels, is one of my favorite characters in Literature. And so on.

♣I used to snatch his books from the musty corners in Recto along with the other authors I care to read. I can feel his fusty books, as Jedi feeling the force, rotting like hell in dingy corners in Recto or book stalls. I remember I bought Slaughterhouse Five for only 30 pesos-- the book reminds me of a luscious dream. I chose Breakfast of Champion over Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich. I finished Slapstick in just a night contemplating every word of it in our bathroom enough to suffocate me from the smoke of Lucky Strike, the night I lingered the scent of my Ice Princess. (I can still remember what song I played while reading the book).

♣Perhaps I’m just vain. Looking for something to write, something he can call himself a grand thing. And Vonnegut is the perfect character, a god in cage whom I can play with. A writer’s death is someone’s vanity. So why am I writing this piece? To borrow from Breakfast of Champion: “Because I felt like it, you stupid machine,” The Man said to the bear.

♣Kilgore Trout summed up our masquerade and what we really are in The Man’s tombstone: Not even the creator of the universe knew what the man was going to say next. Perhaps the man was a better universe in its infancy.

♣I sure will read all his books again, as if reading like a kid for the first time, skimming with awe on its theme and style of episodic non-sequitur stories. Playing with The Postal Service’s Iron and Wine, I wonder how much Lights I could consume reading Sirens of Titan.

♣I’m not sad. My only regret is that I never had the chance to thank him.

♣So it goes.

(Lifted from my ghost blog.)

(citato in “Dio la benedica, Mr Rosewater” e in “Un pezzo da galera”)

(citato in "Dio la benedica, Mr Rosewater")

La regina Margaret del pianeta Shaltoon lasciò cadere il vestito sul pavimento. Sotto non aveva niente. Il suo petto era alto, sodo e scoperto era roseo e fiero. Le sua anche e le sue cosce sembrravano una lira invitante di purissimo alabastro. Così bianco era il loro splendore che dentro avrebbero potuto avere una luce. “I tuoi viaggi sono finiti, Vagabondo dello Spazio” mormorò, con una voce arrochita dalla passione. “Non cercare più, perché hai trovato quello che cercavi. La risposta è tra le mie braccia.”
“Dio sa che è una splendida risposta, regina Margaret” rispose il Vagabondo dello Spazio. Il palmo della mano gli sudava copiosamente. “E io l’accetterò con gratitudine. Ma devo dirti, se volgio essere assolutamente sincero con te, che domani dovrò rimettermi in cammino.”
“Ma hai trovato la tua risposta, hai trovato la tua risposta” gridò lei, stringendosi la testa di quell’uomo tra i seni giovani e profumati.
Lui disse qualcosa che lei non udì. Lei lo scostò da sé e lo tenne a un braccio di distanza. “Cos’hai detto?”.
“Ho detto, regina Margaret, che quella che tu mi dai è una risposta maledettamente buona. Purtroppo si dà il caso che non sia quella che vado cercando sopra ogni cosa.”

(citato in “Dio la benedica, Mr Rosewater”)

Un’America dove quasi tutto il lavoro era svolto dalle macchine, e le uniche persone che potevano trovare un impiego avevano tre o quattro dottorati. C’era anche un grave problema di sovrappopolazione .
Tutte le più gravi malattie erano debellate. Così la morte era volontaria, e il governo, per incoraggiare quelli che volevano morire, aveva eretto a ogni incrocio delle strade principali un Salone del Suicidio Etico, col tetto viola, proprio accanto al tetto arancione di uno Howard Johnson.**
Nel salone c’erano hostess molto graziose, e delle comode poltrone, e un sottofondo musicale, e una sceltatra 14 sistemi indolori per morire. I saloni del suicidio erano posti affollatissimi, perché tanta gente si sentiva sciocca e inutile, e perché morire era ritenuta una cosa patriottica e disinteressata. Gli aspiranti suicidi avevano anche diritto a un ultimo pasto gratis nell’attiguo ristorante.
E così via.

*La pronuncia americana di 2BRO2B è molto simile a quella di To be or not to be?, Essere o non essere?
** Catena di ristoranti economici

(citato in "Dio la benedica, Mr Rosewater")

Today is Kurt Vonnegut's birthday. He would have been 85. Unfortunately, I didn't discover him until after he died: I first picked up Slaughterhouse-Five in June, two months after he sustained fatal injuries after a fall in his Manhattan home. Slaughterhouse-Five was so good I read it in two days. Then I read Cat's Cradle in two days, and Timequake and Hocus Pocus on my vacation in July. I read Galápagos in August, Breakfast of Champions in September, and Slapstick in October. I started Mother Night on Saturday. I am going to read every Vonnegut novel and short story ever published. I am very close to owning them all, which I display on the top level of my bookshelf. It's my Vonnegut Compendium.

I am obsessed with Kurt Vonnegut, if you can't tell from the above paragraph. In case you haven't read his books, he writes in the voice of a child, which makes reading a breeze. He filled the pages with his own crude drawings, often accompanied by straightforward captions. In Breakfast of Champions, under the heading "Female underpants looked like this:", is a drawing of female underpants. Thanks to that same book, I know Kurt Vonnegut thought of assholes as giant asterisks.

Some people are afraid to pick up Vonnegut because he's science fiction. What they don't realize is that Vonnegut can't be classified into any single category. Almost all of his books, with a few exceptions towards the beginning, are openly narrated by the author. In other words, Vonnegut makes his own presence known throughout the pages. Sometimes he even interacts with other characters, most famously in Breakfast of Champions, where, at the end, he finally comes face to face with Kilgore Trout. Trout is Vonnegut's alter ego.

Vonnegut is no dramatist. He won't leave you hanging. In fact, he often starts by revealing the story's outcome, and instead of writing something linear, discusses the plot and characters with the reader (or perhaps himself). His style, humor, and underlying message that humanity is going down the drain are unique and inimitable.

I'm going to celebrate Vonnegut's birthday by reading some more Mother Night. If you're a fan, here's a short story you can read.

The literary crowd has certainly become touchy lately, in a rather amusingly Stalinistic manner. There was a time when an author who (at best) paid tribute to another author, or (at worst) ripped another author off, was simply ridiculed and sunk into obscurity, but NO LONGER. Now if an author is perceived as having stolen something from someone (even unconsciously), or fictionalized moments the way we all do (without reprimand), the author is tarred and feathered, and not just in the town square: on national television, and in the mass media. Viswanathan should consider herself very lucky that she hadn't had the misfortune of falling into Oprah's book club yet, Lady O is probably just getting hungry again after having eviscerated and feasted on James Frey's inner organs on her worship program, and would probably love to take some nibbles.

In the spirit of this new witch hunt I suggest we also strip James Joyce's Ulysses from bookstores for stealing Chaucer's style, as well as the styles of all the major early English writers; The works of H.P. Lovecraft should be taken from all bookstore shelves for stealing the style of Edgar Allen Poe; the works of Robert Anton Wilson should not only be taken from bookshelves, but also burned for not only stealing from Joyce, but from all the early English authors Joyce stole from; The writings of Hubert Selby Jr. should also be tossed for ripping off Joyce; The writings of the VC Andrews impostor should be deleted from shelves for impersonating VC Andrews; the vast work of Kilgore Trout should be burned for ripping off the vast work of Theodore Sturgeon; the writings of Robert Ludlum should be stripped from stores for stealing from Tom Clancy; The entire Little Miss series should be eliminated for ripping off the Mr. Men series.

I could go on.

Actually, I could go on and on. And on and on and on.