Turn left here

This is the corner right by my apartment. It makes me laugh every time I walk by...

Google Buzz was not an "opt-in" service

With all the recent, um, buzz about google buzz and its privacy concerns, I keep seeing articles talking about people opting into the service and then deciding they don't like it. I've seen comments on blogs where people say something along the lines of, "well, you clicked to join it." The thing is, this just isn't true.

When buzz was first pushed to your gmail account, you were presented with a screen that looked like this:

I can see why people would think that you had to opt-in. The button that says "Sweet! Check out Buzz" must clearly sign you up while the link that says "Nah, go to my inbox" is obviously the option to not sign up. That's just false though. Both of those links took you to the exact same place. I don't remember the exact URL, but I believe both options were https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&shva=1#buzz or something similar.

I'm not pissed at google for creating a poorly thought out social networking option. I'm pissed at google for making it look like it was a choice.

2010 Numbers

I'm happy to report that the numbers for 2010 year-to-date are in and Margelisms' readership is through the roof! Despite not posting anything for 7 months, I got 4 hits so far this year. Thanks, readers. I couldn't do it without you!