Archive for Technology

Reader responses.

I’m well overdo for replies, so here it goes:

“There is no such thing as “real hip hop” in my opinion. What is real hip hop??? That’s like saying I only eat real pussy… it’s all the same thing, some might smell worse than others.” -Jeff

Wow, that’s probably the best analogy I’ve ever heard. I think I speak for everyone when I say we could use another guest post from you.

And while we’re here, everyone should go to this site to vote for Jeff’s son Brayden in a cutest baby contest.

“Music isn’t dead now….As a whole though, the music scene in itself does suck heavy hairy balls. You’ve gotta dig deep and into other places to find truly great music these days. Hip Hop though, will never be able to be saved. The vocoder killed it. T-pain…ugh.” – Alex

What’s interesting about this post is that almost everybody interpreted it differently. Alex thought I was saying music is dead, half the dumbasses from undergroundhiphop.com thought I was saying Aesop Rock sucks and the other half thought I was implying that Jay-Z is the definition of ‘real hip-hop.’

In reality, I was just pointing out that people who claim mainstream rap isn’t real are arrogant assholes. Nothing more, nothing less. And I could’ve picked any one of 100 artists to use in place of Aesop – I just chose him because I am most familiar with his music.

By the way Alex, have you reviewed the new Jada yet?

“Thankfully photo shop was invented as well.” – golublog

Very true. And even if you don’t use photoshop, all you need is that one lucky shot from just the right angle to hide your 6 other chins. Facebook can be very deceiving – it’s like the beer-goggles of the internet.

“(Facebook) has hit my age group like a ton of bricks: I would’ve NEVER been in contact with 99.99999999% of my “friends”. Granted, “contact” is a loose term.” – Nobu

I couldn’t agree more. At least once a day I see one of my ‘friends’ online and think “who the fuck is that?” But it does make it easier to find out if that girl in your InDesign class has a boyfriend.

Speaking of which, has anyone noticed how social networking has completely changed the dynamics of dating – and perhaps more importantly – breaking up? When I get some time I’m going to write a full post about this.

“The simple answer to that would be….When is the last time you’ve seen 80 thousand show up to see a guy paint a picture? Sports generate dollars, and the stars in those sports generate more dollars to the sports. Fair? Maybe not. At the end of the day like most things it’s all about a dollar.” – Payneinsider.com

If there was any post I could take a mulligan on, it would be this one. Not only was it poorly thought out and executed, but Living the Dream has to be the stupidest title ever – so thanks for the feedback Payne. We should do a podcast soon so you can straighten everyone out about everything sports related. 

Damn that woman is hurting us more than the f’ing “don’t tase me bro” guy. – Julio

I shouldn’t even justify this. UF has won 4 National Championships in the last 4 years – so the least you can do is take a little heat for having a brain-dead Congresswoman.

Theory # 1: All you’ll ever need to know about looking good.

Facebook has a number of great qualities. You can keep in touch with old friends. It’s a convenient way to send out mass invites to parties. Even the updates are a good outlet for random thoughts that nobody but you cares about. But mostly, facebook is great becasue it’s going to do what no president, parent or public service announcement has been able to do for 30 years – stop obesity.

Call me a dreamer, but I believe in facebook. That’s because it has completely changed the way we interract with each other. And mostly for the better.

You see, prior to this miraculous invention, there was really no incentive for people to stay in shape (unless you were concerned about cancer,
degenerative arthritis, diabetes, gastroesophageal reflux, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, infertility, respiratory difficulties, stress urinary incontinence or ulcers – but since none of that effects your appearance, who really cares? In fact, I’d go as far as to say several of those ailments could actually help you drop a few pounds – but I digress.) People could cruise along on a steady diet of Oreos and Fanta for the better part of a decade, and then bust their asses for a few months before their 10 year reunion to make sure they looked good for the backup tailback they lost their virginity to Sophomore year.

With facebook, people don’t have that luxury. Everyone you once knew is now getting a minute-by-minute update of exactly how your life is progressing; so the second that fupa start popping out, people are going to notice.

Perhaps even more powerful is the revenge factor. This applies to everyone who had no friends in high school and was forced to take their cousin to prom. Facebook offers the perfect opportunity to subtly say:

“Look at me now assholes. I bet you’d cut off your left nut for a chance to pin my knees behind my ears.”

It’s a very real phenomenon – I have at least a dozen facebook ‘friends’ that this applies to. (I suppose it’s possible they just decided to get healthy, but I’d say that’s about as likely as Ms. California lighting the torch at next year’s Gay Games.)

Of course, none of this matters since all the weight will probably be put back on as a result of people’s need to show how cool they are by drinking massive quanities of alcohol and then posting the pictures online – but I think it’s a good start.

Living the Dream

One of the things I love about Amsterdam is the art. Just walking through city and seeing the canals and architecture is an experience. Well, I was on one such walk last week and noticed a guy on the corner selling some paintings he had done. And these weren’t Crayola scribblings or watercolors. These were some really cool paintings – as in if I could paint like this, women would be lining up to have my children. And yet he was on the corner peddling his work for a few Euros a piece. He wasn’t even making enough money to rent a private studio.

So why is Kobe Bryant’s ability to throw a ball through a large metal circle worth $20 million a year while this painter’s ability to replicate a 3-dimensional cathedral on canvas isn’t worth a fraction of that? They’re practically identical; both are fun to look at, interesting to discuss and in absolutely no way make anybodies life better. Perhaps if we valued practical occupations like teachers and social workers the way we value athletes, the economy wouldn’t be falling apart. (I have no idea why this would be the case, but it sounds like it could be true, doesn’t it?)

To quote Chazz Palminteri:
“Mantle makes $60,00 a year.
How much does your father make?
If your dad needs money, go ask
Mickey Mantle. See what happens.
Mickey Mantle don’t care about
you. Why care about him?”

So let’s get our shit together people and stop wasting billions of dollars on athletes and musicians – after all, bloggers need to eat too.

I just got back from a long weekend in DC – meaning I got to spend 2 exhilarating mornings at the airport. I’d rank the unpleasantness somewhere between attending a funeral and getting chlamydia.

The misery started the minute I arrived. Groups of people were standing around the self checkin machines trying to figure out how to get their tickets. It was like watching the opening scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Now I know as 26-year-old I’m a bit more tech savvy than some of the older folks, but honestly, if you can’t figure out how to type your last name and press the print button, then maybe flying isn’t for you. After all, those seat belts aren’t going to put themselves on.

So after about 20 minutes of watching people stare aimlessly at computer screens, It’s my turn to check in – only I’ve been waiting in line so fucking long that they’ve now closed the self checkin for my flight. So I get in another line and wait to speak to an attendant. After about 10 minutes I finally get my boarding pass but am unpleasantly surprised to find it costs $25 to check a bag, which is strange since I’m pretty sure I paid for my ticket already. So of course I say “no thanks” and decide to carry my bag on.

After showing my boarding pass to about 14 different people, I finally get to security. Now it’s not that I don’t want to be safe, it’s just that I don’t think taking off our shoes and throwing out our shampoo is protecting anyone. And I know some guy once tried to blow up a plane with his Airwalks, but the whole process just seems so contrived. I can’t wait until some genius tries to sneak on a bomb in his underwear and TSA implements it’s groundbreaking “free balling” policy.

So now I’m about to board, only the attendant at the gate informs me that there is no overhead room left for my carry on. How strange. It’s almost as though people don’t want to pay $25 per checked bag so they try to cram 2 weeks worth of luggage in the overhead compartment. So I just give him my bag and hope it arrives in Ft. Lauderdale, which it thankfully did.

Oh yeah, and my trip was great.

There needs to be some kind of rule on facebook that you can only change your relationship status once a week. I’m sick of seeing couples fight via facebook updates. In a relationship…single…it’s complicated…in a relationship. If you haven’t been broken up for at least a week, then just leave your status alone and see how things play out. The only thing more pathetic than changing your facebook status to ‘single’ right after a fight with your girlfriend is showing everyone how big a pussy you are by taking her back and changing your status to ‘in a relationship’ 45 minutes later.

By the way, I’m not a big fan of the new facebook homepage (and not just because it renders most of the previous paragraph irrelevant). Maybe this is just the advertising student in me, but it seems desperate of facebook to try an emulate what twitter is doing. They should have found something new or something that only they can claim and then exploited that as their main feature. And honestly, I can’t believe so many people even care about what others are doing on a minute-to-minute basis. Who gives a shit if you’re taking a shower or walking your dog? (And no, the irony is not lost on me that 90% of the people who read my blog link to it from my facebook status updates. I guess I should be thankful that people take such a strong interest in what others are doing.)

Speaking of internet postings, my dad has this really interesting theory about the future that I am completely on board with. He thinks that because of all the ridiculous crap young people like me put on the internet, there will be some sort of statute of limitation on online pictures/videos/etc. being used against people. For example, if John Doe is running for governor, and a video surfaces of him peeing on some girl’s face when he was in college, it can’t be held against him as long as it happened more than 7 years ago (my example, not my dad’s). And while you can’t force people to just disregard something because it happened more than 7 years ago, I think we will learn to block it out – sort of like how nobody holds it against 80’s bands for wearing spandex, makeup and long teased hair because ‘everybody was doing it.’

First of all, I’d like to give Apple credit for their great customer service. Last week my hard drive crashed and they replaced it at no cost in only 2 days. Yesterday, a friend from school was having trouble with her trackpad, and not only did they see her in just a few minutes (it’s our last week of school and she was having a borderline panic attack in the store), but they replaced her battery (the underlying problem) at no cost. Then today, another friend’s computer crashed (also a student in their last week of classes…apparently nobody should let me near their computer). Apple saw her right away, is fixing it at no cost and even packed up her data for free just in case the hard drive got messed up during the repair. (I know this sounds like Apple products don’t work well, but lets just say not all of these ‘crashes’ were Apple’s fault.) Keep this in mind when you are all shopping for your next computer.

Anyways, have you ever gone to a costume party but forgotten at some point during the evening that you were still dressed like an idiot? I was on my way to a redneck barbeque the other day and went balls to the wall with my attire – but after about 20 minutes I completely forgot what I looked like. So I go into Publix to buy some burgers. Head over to Mobil and fill up my tank. All the while looking like Joe Dirt but walking around like some big shot from South Beach. This scene played out another half dozen times throughout the night with bartenders, acquaintances and random people I met at Fat Tuesdays.

At one point I did become aware of my attire. Strangely, this was right around the time I pulled into what might be described by some as ‘the ghetto.” Keep in mind, I’m driving around with a shaved head, General Burnside beard and rocking a wife beater – the only thing missing was the burning-cross hood ornament.

So I pick up my friend and we make our way over to the barbeque. She lives near this “ghetto” so I’m feeling pretty safe about the situation – but then she turns to me and says: “Hey, you know that show the first 48? They filmed an episode right there,” and points to some dilapidated apartment building. The whole situation was just very strange.

This is the part where I should be neatly concluding my story, but thanks to various final campaigns, my brain stopped functioning sometime Tuesday evening. Hopefully next week I will be able to form more coherent thoughts.

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