Facebook Advertising: Borrowing personal data to trouser additional revenue

I had a facebook profile for a couple of months until I was inundated with friend requests from people I’d deliberately lost touch with.

As an offline person, I really can’t comprehend why you would need a facebook profile if you kept your offline world in order. I keep in touch with my friends by phoning them occassionally, meeting for a drink and partying together.

I always thought that Mark Zuckerberg would use my profile data to trouser some additonal cash and guess what? He’s about to!

That’s right folks. He’s going to use information on your profile to serve up targeted advertising. I’m sure at one point I can remember something about ”We will never use your personal information….”

So I think I might log back in to facebook and update my interests to: gerbil racing, knitting and dwarf throwing.

Can’t wait for Mark to serve those up.

Coming to a petrol station near you: Google Maps

For all those of you without maps, GPS or the intuition to ask for directions, you’ll soon be able to log on to Google Maps at 3500 petrol stations across the US and print out maps and query local amenities selected by the gas station’s owner (such as Strip Clubs as Stan from Mashable applauds!)

The thought of taking local advice from gas station owners on what to do and where to spend your time is a whole new blog.

Online Video/Streaming TV

I can see the point if you feel the need to watch video/tv content at work/at your pc or if you’ve gone to the trouble of hooking up your PC to your family television.

Sure, I like to view the odd clip at BBC News but sitting at your PC to watch an episode of Lost or at worst a whole series? Is that what people really do?

I have a 42″ plasma TV downstairs with sofas to recline on and a kitchen nearby…the perfect place to relax with friends and loved ones. Why would I want to view it on my PC? Don’t get me wrong, my office chair is comfy and it’s only one flight of stairs to the kitchen. Are there really people who come home from work, log on and watch an evening of entertainment on their PC? Or is everyone streaming media throughout their homes?

Introducing Offline 2.0

I’m a strictly offline person with a blog. As they say across the pond, “You do the math(s).”

I’m a 30 year old guy and a friend of mine at work convinced me to start this. I reckon he’s fed up of me questioning the validity and usefulness of some of the internet startups he keeps telling me about!

I enjoy reading news on the internet and that’s about it. Youtub, Farcebook, Sh***space…forget it.

I recently stumbled upon a couple sites that prompted me to start this blog. They are (in no particular order: Mashable, Techcrunch and Venturebeat)

Mashable and Techcrunch really focus on previewing and following pure internet startups while Venturebeat focuses on the broader range of technology startups.

These sites are the reason I started this blog. There seems to be a whole host of internet/social (?)/web 2.0/video streaming sites that are a complete waste of time. I notice from some of the reports that these attract vast, incomprehensible, inconceivable amounts of investment and valuations. Here I am. Offline 2.0.