Wow, thank you anonymous person for your question. I guess this has some topicality for you? o.0 I've seen a number of posts over the years where people explain why they choose to follow people on Twitter, but I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone explain why they unfollow, so perhaps I'm breaking new ground! (though I doubt it)

I guess some people take unfollows fairly personally. I even admit I have on occasion. But it truly isn't the end of the world and it can happen for a number of reasons. Here are my usual triggers:

1. Spam. I try very hard not to follow anything vaguely spam-ish to begin with, but I've seen some seemingly reasonable accounts suddenly become very annoying. That said, I've received a few spam DMs from people who let their accounts get compromised and I almost never unfollow them unless it happens repeatedly. Also, depending on how much I value your other tweets, I generally don't unfollow if you throw in the occasional #ad tweet.

2. You unfollow me. Let's face it - reciprocity is a beautiful thing. I follow very few accounts that don't follow me back. In general, if you're not going to listen to me, I don't see why I should listen to you.

3. You *repeatedly* say something offensive/hurtful. Everyone can inadvertently throw a sharp elbowed tweet some times (fingers being sometimes faster than brains), so it's not like I have a zero-tolerance policy or anything, but if you repeatedly troll then I don't have time. Surprisingly, with as decidedly partisan as I am, that does not mean I unfollow if you disagree with me on politics or specific issues. Some of my best Twitter convos are with people I strongly disagree with.

4. Finally, I guess you could say immaturity. I almost said "negativity" but that doesn't really cover it. If you're emotionally incontinent, express yourself only in the extremes (i.e. everything is either "LOVE" or "HATE"), you engage in constant caps lock orgy, or are set off on a tirade by things not even addressed to you, chances are I will unfollow sooner or later. That's not to say I don't enjoy an occasional rant (I actually enjoy those very much), but when the tone of the aggregate of your tweets suggests someone with less emotional maturity than my 3-year old daughter, I have to throw in the towel. Honestly, I don't know how some people keep track of all these lines they draw in the sand of the Internet.

So there you have it. My main reasons for unfollowing (there are other reasons, but not statistically significant enough to detail). If I have unfollowed you, I hope you don't take it personally -- unfollowing is usually an attempt on my part to disengage *before* I say something that could make someone feel bad. While it would be lovely if everyone were best friends, that is not realistic. The best we can do is to try and make accommodation for each other, keep your mind open, and failing that, try and behave politely to one another. I'm reminded of something called Postel's Law (http://bit.ly/sExOTE) "be conservative in what you send, liberal in what you accept" -- this is what I try and do on Twitter (and in my life in general), but I suspect if Mr. Postel were on Twitter he'd probably have to unfollow some folks too -- it tends to breakdown if you're dealing with people who do the opposite.

It would be a shorter to list the things I'm not irrationally picky about, but here at least are the highlights:

* hyphens
* food (ingredients & preparation)
* Written & spoken language
* politics
* clothes (not fashion per se, just more simple = better)
* technology
* Efficient & elegant solutions

. . . so basically everything I'm geeky about :)

Who: People who like the idea of Facebook but dislike the actual implementation, as well as people looking to consolidate a growing number of social media interactions I think. I like what I've seen so far, but still a long way to go - as expected, I think. As to do we need it? As long as all the current ones have something missing or implement things we don't like, there's always room for new ones :) Currently user Twitter mostly, Google+ more and more, occasionally Facebook - as well as Flickr and probably a couple more.

I'll give my three faves: Half-Life 2 is the best by far, followed by Civ 4 (5 is okay, but not just not as good) and Team Fortress 2.

I have to choose? Damn. Here are my choices in order of preference: a, d, b. As for option c, who the hell would pick that? Oh, and you forgot option "e. have a conversation with Smaug." :)

This little Coleman I picked up for the family camping trips. Thank you. Thank you. I'll be here all week. Don't forget to try the veal.

Go outside under an overhang and watch it. Or throw open the windows, turn off the lights, and put on the 1812 Overture (my mom taught me that one).

Um, I'd have to say being antisocial and able to sit for long periods of time playing quietly by myself. Oh, and also being a smart-ass - that was evident pretty early on.

Very rarely, but occasionally it does happen. More often will do it based on someone's bio. Amusingly, I've had a number of people say they followed me because of either my avatar and my bio :)

Hell, a good number of them are on Twitter: @KatMByrne and Things 1 & 2 (wife and kids); @KyleeLane and @Toasterlicious (my little sisters); @CthulhuChick (my #MUPSinHeLP), my friend Julie (my best friend I've known since we were 13), @TheKarpiuks (The neighbors I *wish* I had), and my friend David (who I've known since college). Oh, and with a cameo by @WilliamShatner because . . . he's William-freaking-Shatner.

None - I only want to go to the future damn it! *fiddles with flux capacitor I bought off eBay*

brain - nothing else even comes close

So very, very hard to choose. Since they used to do Looney Tunes / Merrie Melodies cartoons on Saturday morning when I was a kid, can I count those? Because honestly, those are my favorite cartoons ever, any category. For what would normally be classified as a Saturday morning cartoon, I'd have to go with Scooby Doo followed closely by the nostalgia-over-quality-choice of Super Friends #ChildOfThe70s

Yes - everyone in the gaming industry needs to follow the example set by Valve. Answer to piracy and sluggish sales is lowering the damn prices

Less awesome

In order of usage frequency: 1) "Woohoo!" 2) "Thank goodness!" 3) "Thank Cthulhu!" 4) "By Odin's beard!" 5) "By the marinara of the FSM!" 6) "That's cool, but whatever" 7) "I'd thank someone else, but I'm a secular humanist, so go me!"

BTW, answer key as to when I use these:
1: Overexcited puppy Jason (Thus the high frequency count);
2: Polite Jason;
3: Slumbering Jason;
4: Only do this one on Thursdays;
5: You'd think I reserve this one for being in like-minded company, but no, I like to use it on southern baptists;
6: Hipster Jason
7: Fully self-actualized Jason, aka Smart-ass Jason

Stupidity. I simply find it painful to deal with. Ignorance I can handle, but stupidity is so often a choice and it just unnerves me that some people decide they'd rather remain uninformed.

I definitely don't have a physical type and always found the idea of one silly. I've been in relationships and just been attracted with women who were completely diverse physically. Now personality type is completely different. I was always quite predictable there, and never really felt much attracted to anyone outside of my type (smart, funny, smart, straightforward, smart, and curious about the world *grin*)

Yes, definitely would take someone with me. First and most obvious would be my wife @KatMByrne. Next I'd have to take along the kids, wouldn't I? Hmm, can you homeschool in a Tardis? Shades of Sherman and Mr. Peabody . . . for that alone it would be a good idea. :)

Truly awesome question! I've given this some thought before and I think I would open a bistro-style place serving a small menu, but with dishes in a wide variety of styles.

One style of cooking seems too limiting to me. As much as possible, food would be locally sourced, sustainably grown/raised, and served with a simple presentation. I think the focus should be on the quality of ingredients and the techniques used in the preparation.

Would want a relaxed atmosphere - the kind of place you really want to go for a Sunday brunch, weekday dinner, or for drinks and snacks late at night on the weekends.

And probably one night a week, I'd want to do an evening devoted to experimenting. Molecular gastronomy, new techniques, new ingredients. Find out from patrons what they liked and what they didn't.

As for location, it could be anywhere, but my goal would be something like relationship that Alice Waters's restaurant Chez Panisse has with Berkeley and the surrounding area.

Finally... the name? That's definitely the hardest part of this question! The Byrne Bistro? Bistro With Soul? The Geek Gourmet? Umm, yeah - probably will depend on location, my mood, and me making up my mind :P