social sites.

You know I have a twitter account. Surprised? You shouldn't be. I bet you have one too. A lot of folks do. I have one, and my neighbor , and his wife, and their kids, and their dog. Really, They have one for their dog.
There is one gal I follow. She is pretty, and demure, and like most popular pom-pom girls on the cheerleader squad makes comments in a soft and invalidating manner about her life. She has thousands of followers, and she makes comments of what she is going to do and where she is going. With all those followers, I fear for her safety, but then again maybe that's what she wants. (I am still working on this theory.)
I sometimes think she has a picture of some model, and she does her thing wearing thick rimmed glasses and and braces on her teeth. That may be wrong but in anycase, its a fun picture in my mind, and believe you me, it's a scary place.
So, I am making all these comments for a reason. Does your family have a "facebook"? A "twitter"? "Myspace"? Do they get on there all the time? Maybe just once or twice? I am asking you for a reason and it's simple. Some dude in NJ is asking you ban yourself from these sites. He's asking your kids (if you have them) be banned until they are 18. He IS a principal of a school, and he is asking for a voluntary bann because of Online Bullies. It does make sense, but so does havig a pacebook page for your dog too. right?
I am not sure I completely agree about self banning yourself, but, the under 18 thing,.. I am for it. There is no reason you should give an opportunity until they can take care of themselves. But this is not new people. It ain't
Once a long time ago I was a member of AOL. You know That America online thing? When they had a following of 300,000 folks and everyone was nice and honest, (alomost honest) and CIVIL to each other. Now, they are declining, and it looks like Romes history and all. (except without the gladiator sports) They found all the problems of online dating and socializing. They worked out the kinks in email "netiquette" and frankly they were the pioneers of internet. I know there was compuserve, and other places, but it did not matter. AOL was it.
Now, along comes the better new and improved sites and online services, and dialup gave way to DSL. It's amazing how things have come along, but still everyone has this fascination to connect, but can't seem to connect to their own home or family. It's almost like living in a house full of cash, and jewelry, and food and large screen tvs, and sports cars and leaving the doors wide open for everyone to see. Would you want to take a shower nude and in public on the busiest street in your town? And yet, folks still share things about how their husbands cheat, or their going to meet their old flame, or their kids are smoking pot. Do you really know who is reading this?
Think about this. Eveything you "socialize" with is now public knowledge. Your kids are there too. Public knowledge. I would think there is a pedaphile getting himself off to your kids picture. Or worse, to YOUR pictutre.
Think I am sick?
Who let their kid on facebook? Think about this and then call me sick. Who is waving the red flag in front of an angry bull?(I think the matadors of the bull fights are more safe these days then facebook or twitter)
But Hey, man, it's FACEBOOK!!
It's totally safe, and they are secure so there couldn't be pedaphiles on there stroking it to your kid right? RIGHT?
Trust me they are and it's not as secure as you might think. As long as people remember Melissa, Code red, Welcha and Klez, you are NOT SAFE. Which is why pedaphiles pay money to stroke it to your kids face, and you're there flaunting your life to anyone who might want to take more than a fancied interest to your daily drama. Some folks are using common sense, and don't talk,.. and yet others walk on the edge and flaunt their beauty. (OLE!)
I might seem unfocused, and on many tangents tonight, but it's because I saw this "principal in NJ" ask what should be the Parents job to ban their kids off of facebook. Quite frankly, He should ask folks to just get off facebook and enjoy their kids more. People bitch about privacy, but put intimate details of their life where its public knowledge. Trust me I am not sick, I just know where your family reunion pictures are ending up. (OLE!)
I will write still on here. showing what I know and don't know. (OLE!)
I will ask you to just look at what you are writing. Is it really what you wanna say? (OLE!)
My last thing here matadors aside: Why are you showing off you most treasured assets in such an impersonal way?
For me, I think I will take in the bullfights tomorrow. It's safer, and much more personal. I can remember it just fine, and I hope whomever I take with me will want to talk about it to me,.. if not, it'll be on facebook tomorrow by 9 pm local time in TJ. (OLE!)

Ipod, Ipad, Iwhatever,....

So many things electronic we have at our fingertips these days. We have things and they have "apps". We have Phones, but we "text" to our friends. We communicate to all we know and and "don't" know. all ones and zeros traveling about making things convenient for us. As we look around to find a place to eat or find a bookstore or anything, we look to our gadets that we wear and dial to find, communicate and "look up" to find what we want inthe same fashion one might find an empty cigarrette bow on the street gutter.
So, I might ask you why am I mentioning this? Well I have to wonder with all this, what would happen if it all got turned off tomorrow? What if for some reason we had no way to even "call" someone while out on the road or even at the market? Could you decide what to do or even could you navigate to your favorite place? Have we become so dependant on our I gadgets that we are prone to a kind of mental incapacity?
I read a story a long time ago about how a people on an alien planet were so dependant on a gadget, that it even thought for them. It was the extended brain for which the individual would be able to do whatever they do without hinderance or distractions, but if it broke, or died, the individual would be helpess. They wouldnty even be able to eat, let alone feed themselves if they got any food.
Does this sound familiar now? Does it look at any way close to what we are buying into? This is not a diatribe to make you hate anything. Nor is it an anti tech speech. Its a reminder that Long ago these things were not around and the human race by and large managed to survive. Funny that we strive so hard to become like those folks I had read about. It seems to me we are attaching ourselves to a device to think and tell us what to do. Why? Are we as a whole afraid to think for ourselves and god forbid make a mistake? Or is it that we want to be able to go about what we do best, and not be hindered by social and personal pressures. Something to manage ourselves to do what?
I do not fear technology, but I do fear what technology can do if it is used as a crutch rather than an enhancement. to me the will of thinking independantly, to chose, and to deide has taken a back seat. if you think I am by any means being irrational, I dare you to do this. Turn off all your gadgets for ONE day. Just one day. Tell me if you survived. or better, if you DO survive, take a picture of your self (with a non digital camera) and frame it. it will be your proof that you survived. Or not.
So go ahead and resume speed.
answer that cell phone, or return your text.
find that new diner and get your gps to take you there.
Did you chose it? Or did it chose you?

Food for thought.

Why you like Satelite TV

So you have cable? Do you like it? I didn't. The customer service sucked, and when I went to satellite TV, it was shittier than cable TV. So I went back. Still I couldn't stand the shenanigans the Cable folks were pulling so "back to a dish" I had one that was cheap and it fit my bill. but they went under and I was pissed. So I have another and its "okay" but I will never go back to cable until they can prove to me they are equipped to talk to me and not AT me.

But, one learned a lesson the other didn't seem to. You see one is switchable by nature (the dish folks)and if you haven't noticed the cable TV people don't give a rats ass shit about you because they carved up their little monopolies like the phone companies did years ago. Not my opinion, it's a fact for life. So one GETS a recurring revenue, the other can't depend on it unless they kiss your ass like you're royalty. (without the poparotten folks)

And, Since the cable folks take for granted that you WILL be a customer if you choose to be, its already been planned for. Really you think I am crazy, but honestly they plan their budgets on folks leaving and switching already at some weird rate and voila, its a budget you live with. Don't worry, its existing customers pay for it, they just don't know it.

Now, you can leave them, and go "dish". Think its cheap? Look at this for a minute: equipment, installation, "a dish", and then if they learned their damned lesson, customer service calls because the installer is overworked and underpaid. ( I have talked to a couple of them) The Dish can have troubles like, Wind, snow, rain, cloudy days and the occasional insect infestation. This happens and if you call to get it fixed, its a small fortune to pay for it. (unless you do it yourself)
Still the cable folks are just as rotten. They will charge if a flake has fallen off their "box" and call it abuse. Voila!! Small fortune for a bill.

So, the Satellite TV seems at a disadvantage right? No. It really isn't.
One, The cable folks REALLY DO get their shit from a dish like the "dish folks at home" I know because guess what? I fix those giant pieces of crap on a regular basis. I won't bore you with the details, just the facts. The rotten media folks beam their crap onto a satellite, and then it goes to whomever has a subscription to that satellite, and then it gets pumped to all those dishes and there is your TV signal. The difference is that the cable folks turn around and send it on a wire to those who don't want an eyesore on their roof.
Now problems aside, you are in a way bypassing the cable folks and their BS and crappy transmission equipment provided by a manufacturer in France. (Or Germany) The signal will come to you regardless of what happens, and if you get a UPS for your "BOX" you will know why your neighborhood is toast and your neighbor will watch with you. So really its a deal.
And, the prices are coming down. So is the customer service for most folks subscribing. It is a lot better. They (like the long distance companies of old) remembered you can leave and so they will be nice to you.
(You see that's what I find funny about the LECS for phones these days is that with cell phones being crapped out like last nights dinner, its no wonder the LECS like SBC, Qwest, and Verizon don't see this or act like it won't happen )
But, the cable companies seem to be unworried. Somehow, they are better and bundle their service to prove it. But, My bet is on how much the billing, installation and programming mistakes they make. I think my last count was 12 problems per customer "gained" My last interview was 19.
That's cool, because the "dish folks" are waiting for you. The rain dries, the snow melts, the bugs will die after a can of raid, and the clouds pass. The install can be directed by you, and as long as you are on a budget and stick to it, you wont be disappointed. Just learn to do things like clean off the dish. (carefully of course)

What Sony Doesn't Tell you

So you wanna know the truth? SOny Sucks!!. really they do. I fix the damn things on a regualr basis so I know what is wrong with them. Like this last one I did,.. its a sweet unit. It can surf the net and has a great setup for wirless or bluetooth. But the fuckin' fan is always going OUT!!. Who the fuck makes a great unit and then fucks it up by going to some backwards manufacturer and making a cooling fan that breaks like a one dollar trink you get at the five and dime? Sony does.

I speak truth,.. check out the magazine that like to endorse things independently. Its some consumer magazine that is really good to be mentioned on. They reported the same thing. I knew it long before. But I have to shut up. But here I don't care. I am a loon with an opinion right. I am stating my opinion.

Screw Off Sony!!!