Rantastic #2 - Microsoft Sync

Hey all,

Some of you may think about the future and how awesome it will be to own a spaceship, and control a computer with your thoughts, while the rest of you are too busy drinking, dancing, and driving to care about such trivial things. However, whether you care or not, the future - your future - is being designed for you today.

One future technology by Microsoft is called Sync. You may have seen the ads for Sync availability in 2008 Ford Cars. Sync lets you use voice-activation to use your iPod or cellphone. Currently, Microsoft allows you to pay them monthly for this 'service'. But seeing as how no one cares to pay for it, they are thinking about another business model - spamming you with ads!

I am already annoyed with the amount of spam and advertisement I am bombarded with daily, everything from the radio, the Internets, emails, and even cold calls on my cellphone. But imagine a future world where your own car advertises crap to you! Here's a dramatization courtesy of my friend Stefan:

"Turn car on."
"Want to know what'll turn you on? A NEW ENERGY DRINK!"
"Please turn the car on.""Have you tried Red Bull's new berry flavor?!"
"No, and I dont want any."
"I'll start the car if you drink some new berry flavored Red Bull"
"Im a diabetic."
"Oh. Perhaps you've heard of Pfizer's new ouch-less diabetes tests?"
"I'll walk.""Have you tried Converse's new shoes designed specifically for walking?"
"Die." *door slams*
*muffled from inside the car* "Anyone can die. Have you bought enough life insurance?"

Thought #4 - Gun violence, Gun control, Gun stupidity

Again the people commenting on CNN's article about gun violence amaze me.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/15/niu.irpt/index.html
This article is in regards to the shootings in Illinois. Another mentally ill person managed to get ahold of a gun and shoot around 22 people, killing 5.

Wayne Ellis of Allen, Texas This is a perfect example to support allowing licensed people to carry guns on college campuses and even into classrooms as well as everywhere else. This shooter would have been killed before he could have gotten off more than two shots if other people there had been allowed to legally carry weapons.

Yes, lets give everyone guns and allow them to carry them where ever they go to help stop fun violence. That makes total sense.

My Sociology of Crime and Deviance professor told us about a study on the very first day of his course. He described how in this study people were asked certain questions and there would be an object in the corner of the room; a flower, spoon etc. However, when a gun was placed in the corner of the room, the person gave more violent responses.

Whenever we have a school shooting or massacre or such, its always the same. FOXNews whines about how the liberals will all make this a gun control issue, CNN has a lot of meaningless chatter and so on. Meanwhile all the people making the comments on the CNN website are trying to place blame; its the parent's fault for not raising him better, its the psychologists fault for not monitoring him closer, its the media's fault for all the non stop coverage, its societies fault for not teaching people to love each other, its Hollywood's fault for all the gun violence they sell, its the government's fault that everyone else in the room wasn't carrying guns to shoot him with etc.

Instead of playing the blame game, why don't we just get rid of the one sure factor; the gun. Why is everyone so against making it more difficult to aquire a gun?? What's wrong, you'd rather have innocent people killed by people who should never have guns than just be more inconvenienced the next time you buy one?

Gun ownership is not a right. It is a privilege (one I'm not too keen on - Japan seems to be doing fine with no civilians holding guns) The screening process, and availability needs very badly to be restricted.

To everyone who complains that the right to bear arms is in the constitution hear this: The constitution was created at a time in which everyone was terrified the British would invade and wanted means to protect themselves. It really isn't relevant today.

On a lighter note, why must the "f" key be so close to the "g" key? Every time I write "gun" it turns into "fun".

Rantastic #1 - ABP

Hey all.

I am the new contributor that Kathleen has brought on board for lighter ( however equally vivant and vituperative ) thoughts. These thoughts (really rants) will contain many highly interesting insights into my writing style. This includes my love for things in parentheses ( they are great for sidenotes mid-sentence, especially if you decide to go off on a tangent and start talking about cheese, falling, or other non sequiturs ), as well as my overuse of commas.

Today, I would like to talk about something that has been bugging me for a while. Like many hardworking individuals, I like to eat. During the workday, sometime around Noon, for no good reason, everyone wants to eat at the same time (notice all the commas!!). Near where I work, there is a restaurant called Au Bon Pain (ABP for short). It has recently undergone not only a renovation, but a reimagination. Before, ABP had this crazy notion that people would have to line up, give there order, pay, get a receipt, and wait for the number on their receipt to be called so that they can pick up their food. I guess the good people at ABP thought this process was WAY too efficient, and the wanted people to spend a longer amount of time foraging for food at ABP. The redesign created a "market" feel, where people can go up to a variety of cramped stands to either get or be served different items.

The sandwich section of the new ABP is the most atrocious. If you wanted a sandwich, for example, you would have to go to the sandwich "area", where people seem to be making sandwiches. But do not ask them to make you a sandwich! (I did this the first time I went to ABP after the redesign and got scolded). Instead, they will direct you to the ominous sandwich request form. I shit you not - you must fill out a fracking form in order to get a sandwich. As if I don't get to fill out enough forms at work! The best part is how do you fill out a form? There is no table where you can place the form down so that the stupid 2-inch pencils they provide you with don't poke right through the form. You end up seeing a collection of people hovering near the form and pencil stand, awkwardly trying to fill out the form, while other people are pushing them aside in order to get their precious forms (in order to get a sandwich). It got so bad, that after a week, it became someone's job to stand next to the form and pencil stand to hand out forms and pencils, and collect completed forms, to then hand over the counter to the sandwich creators. It is a clusterfuck of disorganization. I can't wait until there is a cover sheet required on the ABP Forms.

The other stands are strewn about the remaining floor space in such close proximity, that you have no choice but to apologize at least once to someone everytime you go to lunch there. The soup area is a rectangular table with 8 barrels (4 on each side) of pre-fabricated and warmed up soup product. Customers swarm and hover around these barrels (which are too close together), each with a sign above it explaining what ingredients could possibly create a liquid of that color. As people circle the soup table, and finally pounce onto their desired viscous liquid barrel, they tend to knock the arms and elbows of people at other barrels in the middle of ladling some soup into their personal soup container, spilling soup everywhere. Awesome.

The salad stand is sort of in between the sandwich area, the soup area, and the beverage area. This is not a self-serve station like the soup area, nor is there a salad request form, like there is with the sandwiches. No... this time, you can ask the people over the counter to make you a salad and they will. Not surprisingly, this is the best working part of ABP. Unfortunately, it becomes popular, which means the line quickly bleeds into either the sandwich area, or the soup area, increasing the already messed up situation in those respective places.

Finally! You now have acquired your food! But - you have not paid anything for it. Since everything has been decentralized, they have no idea what you wanted to buy from all the different stands until you are done collecting all your items. Paying for the items individually at each stand is not an option (try handing in money with your sandwich request form). And the place is so open, you literally could just leave (especially given the mess of people everywhere). But as you look around, you will see a couple of lines of people dividing the sandwich and salad areas. These people are holding their food and wallet, and are clearly very hungry. Eventually these monster lines lead to cashiers. An employee has the lovely job of organizing the lined up people and directing them to a cashier. Do not ignore this guy, for he is what is standing between you and freedom. If you are lucky, he will expedite your journey and you will be eating soon.

If you have reached this sentence and have not yet understood what I think of this redesign, let me be plain. It is the worst idea I have ever seen in my entire life. Monkeys deciding to eat their own feces makes more sense than this. It is a severe regression when compared to the old design, and the person in charge should be hung by their genetalia, and put on display for all to see in order to prevent this sort of logic from permeating through society. I certainly hope you have enjoyed this rant. If anything, I hope you have at least learned how not to design the workflow of a restaurant.

Thought #3 - Media Manipulation

Has anyone seen the documentary Outfoxed? Its a documentary that focuses on the bias of Fox News and discusses it in detail. I saw it around a year ago and not much of it shocked me considering its not news to anyone that they almost always lean conservative regardless of the issue (or the fact that they hired Karl Rove.) There was really only one moment in that movie that shocked me. This clip right here:

Now, if you don't have the time, speakers, etc. to be able to view this clip here is a breif summary: John Ellis of Fox News, cousin of George Bush calls the election for Florida for George Bush when in fact he should have come to the same conclusion as the AP: Too close to call. This held over for the next 37 days and is probably why the supreme court chose Bush.

That being said 8 years have passed. New election, new candidates etc. But what kills me is the blatant manipulation by all of the media (ABC, CBS, FOX, CNN), turning this into entertainment in an effort to score high ratings, blowing reports out of proportion and giving unequal time to people. Allow me to elaborate:

Firstly, blowing reports out of proportion. The biggest evidence of this that infuriated me, I found on the Daily Show. I'd love to post a clip but I can't find it anywhere. I know it was from either January 21st or January 22nd. It was all of these different networks saying how Hillary Clinton made a racist statement compiled together. Eventually, the actual clip was shown. It was Hillary Clinton talking about how Martin Luther King struggled and had this beautiful dream about equality and how it took him working with a president for it to become a reality. Her point being that presidents are elected for the interests of the people and to acomplish things.

This really made me angry and I'm not even a fan of Clinton! How can the media knowingly skew what the viewers see and frequently report on such a falsity? They know that the viewers chance of seeing the original clip is slim.

Also, the media eagerly chooses for us which candidates stand a chance and which don't. I'm sure we've all seen the correlation between those getting the most votes and who has the most media coverage. Clinton, Obama, Romney and McCain are easily those with the most media coverage. Forget Edwards, Ron Paul, Mike Hukabee, Richardson and did you know there is still a candidate on the Democrat side named Gravel?

We have 24 hour news networks. It isn't like they are strapped for time.

Thought #2 - Economy, Rebates and Woe

One thing that I always quite enjoy doing is reading CNN stories that allow for comments to be publicly displayed underneath the story. I enjoy seeing what different perspectives people have been having on current issues. One story that the news media seems ever hungry for is anything in which they can broadcast the terrible "Recession" we could be going into.

The part that kills me laughing every time is when they bring on experts who bring themselves around to the question of if we are in a recession. Personally, I find it amusing to watch grown men debate if our countries are in recessions or not at that exact moment in time. The way they report the recession seems like its going to be reminiscent of the great depression and then to watch them argue if we're already in a recession seems to diminish all the current hype. I mean, if we're already in a recession, do we really have it that bad currently?

Anyways, I'm moving away from what I actually wanted to discuss. The CNN comments allow you to glimpse into what people are actually feeling and not what the media tells us they're feeling. Case in point the following:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/24/economy.irpt/index.html?iref=newssearch

Now, If you scroll down to the blue area, where it says "Sound Off" is where more people get their input. The brief summary for those who haven't the time is that some people whine about the horrible economic situation the Bush administration has put them in, others complain about how the cost of living is too high (I hear this one from my manager at work talking to customers at least 2 or 3 times a Saturday for the past year), still others blame the rest for spending beyond their means.
Honestly, it looks to me like it is everyone's fault but their own. That isn't to say it is entirely their own faults as other factors do contribute but everyone who is needlessly in debt made a conscious decision to be there. No, i'm not referring to the single parents who have to use their credit cards to buy groceries just so their kids can eat. I am referring to people who think they can live beyond their means and then get angry when reality hits and they find out they can't.

This whole thing could be avoided with steps from everyone.

The Government

We all know that the Bush administration was a huge fiasco. Still is. Thats too depressing to go into today. I may have this viewpoint because I live in Canada but I don't see anything wrong with raising everyone's taxes a little so that everyone together can help pay for things that really need it. Some people need to look past "socialism" and see that there are actually people who have lost their jobs, single mothers they aren't communist evil, they're people who are down on their luck and need assistance to get back on their feet so they can get on with their lives.

With better social programs (welfare, minimum wage, healthcare), you lift those people out of poverty and in a position where they start making money and then guess what? They spend money!

The Citizens
Regular everyday people need to stop relying on credit cards to aide them in luxuries they know they can't afford. Open a savings account and put any extra you have into it. That way, you're gaining interest instead of owing it!

The concept of "make believe money" has always somewhat frightened me.

In terms of other things that could be done to give the economy a boost (aside from giving people money that will be reclaimed by the IRS anyways) here are two simple things:

1) The Media

The media needs to stop scaring people with the notion of a recession into rapidly selling their stocks so they don't lose their money in it. See the circle here?

2) The Writer's Strike

Alright. We get it. You want residuals for Internet revenue. The DGA got a good deal and now you can too. Both sides need to compromise. In times where the economy is not the best it could be, losing billions of dollars in the economy because of a writer's strike that could be solved with intense negotiations where no one gets childish and walks away from the table and everyone compromises, everyone just sitting staring at each other isn't going to do anything. I support the writers, I really do but it's hard not to think of all the people who don't have jobs anymore because nothing is being produced (hair and make up artists, production staff etc)

I promise you I don't plan on non stop posting everyday. I just didn't think it was best for my only post and my only source of content to attract people should be a boring, freedom of speech column which is for the most part, plain and simple.

Thought #1 - Freedom of Speech

Freedom of speech.

This is something we hear quite a bit in both Canada and the U.S. Being a citizen of both, I commonly compare the two. Freedom of speech is something highly valued in both nations. A great concept it stresses too; the ability to speak your mind without fear of persecution, being 100% entitled to your thoughts and the expression of them. No one can tell you what to say nor can they stop you from saying it.

But if you really think about it who is going to listen? You could have the world's most awesome plan for restructuring the way a government works but who cares. You're no one. You can run for president to have your voice heard but who has that kind of money? Who would donate the money to you so you can be heard. You're no one remember?

Then along comes the internet. People who wanted their voices heard have a place where people who want to listen are happy to spend time reading their thoughts. Happy to spend time contemplating and responding in a respectful manner so that it doesn't matter if you agree or disagree its really just nice to have a debate with someone or at least know that people are interested in what you have to say.

What am I interested in? Well lots. Politics, Social issues, current events (and I'm a news junkie so I am well informed) and really anything. I plan to put my opinions whenever I feel strongly enough right here in black and white for anyone to read. Comment, discuss, debate or contemplate if you enjoy or feel strongly in the opposite direction or just to let me know you're reading. I welcome any sort of comment as long as its made in a respectful manner.

Even if no one reads, I will continue to write although a little disappointed.

Because sometimes it just feels good to exercise your freedom of speech.

P.S: If anyone knows how to properly work this spell check feature I will be eternally greatful. My spelling is terrible and I can't seem to get the hang of it.