1. Meme was coined by Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene
2. It is defined as conveying the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation
3. It is derived from the Greek word “mimema” meaning something imitated
4. The study of memes is known as Memetics
5. It is intended to provide a definition for the way ideas and trends move through society as genetic traits move from generation to generation through genes
6. Genes are considered to move vertically from generation to generation,  although with current genetic research it’s possible they may even move horizontally within a generation at some point in the future
7. Memes are considered to move either vertically or horizontally
8. Good examples of memes that move vertically are cultural trends like racism, speech patterns, pizza crust preferences and the type of BBQ sauce you consider to be the only true BBQ
9. Good examples of horizontal memes are fashion, slang, and the belief that Al Gore truly deserved a Nobel Peace Prize
10. A fad is considered to be a phenomenon that becomes popular for a very short time.
11. A fad technically fits the description of a horizontal meme since it is transmitted and imitated
12. The short time period indicates that it is a failed meme, a dead end on the cultural evolutionary tree
13. Thankfully!
14. Although Jams were awesome – why don’t we wear those anymore?
15. Calling your short lived internet fad a meme will make you feel more important
16. You’re not
17. Calling it a meme will make you feel more sophisticated
18. You’re not that either
19. Calling it a meme might confuse more people into taking part though
20. So I don’t blame you for doing it
21. But I still find it a little annoying
22. And I just wanted you to know…
23. That the meme you are participating in is just a glorified fad
24. And as long as you are OK with that, then go for it!
25. If “internet memes” are your thing you might want to spend some quality time with Encyclopedia Dramatica

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The company that I work for has a self-funded health plan and is always looking to positive ways to cut costs.  The most recent push is a weight loss competition with some pretty serious rewards if you can reach a weight loss goal and maintain it for two years.  Along with that is a 90 day walking challenge, we were equipped with a nice pedometer and are to track our steps.  The goal is to hit 10,000 steps 6 days a week for 3 months.

On weekends this goal hasn’t been too difficult to meet, but as a desk jockey and cube dweller, the weekdays have been a challenge.   The reward for all this walking is a gift certificate to a sporting goods store and the extra time it’s taking to walk all these steps won’t be worth that reward.  What makes it worthwhile isn’t the extra exercise either, because it’s not a huge amount.  What makes this a valuable pursuit is that it’s laying down new and healthy habits in my life, and I am a creature of habit.

What healthy habits have you taken on and what have you done to make them stick?

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I’ve also been playing with the ads some since Google is just ignoreing the fact that referral ads go totally bonkers instead of fixing them. Let me know if you find anything too obtrusive and out of the norm for web ads or if you have any suggestions.

What does this mean for Knetwork readers? More Content! Yay! Look for Franklin’s first post this evening.

 Also, congrats to reader Josh.  Your GrandCentral invite has been sent!