After a LAN party a few weeks ago, wherein the crew played this very game, I got the urge to pick it up. I already had it installed (I'd used some community CDs at the party), but now I had my new key. Don't worry, this isn't another rant about piracy.
I let it sit for about a week and a half before I actually got the urge to play it. Boy, did I stink it up the first few hours. I'd be lucky if I got one or two kills a round. It was just the learning curve for the game, though, as I didn't experience anything I could consider bullshit (like the common occurence in CounterStrike of putting a whole AK clip into an enemy, just to have him turn and put one bullet in your forehead to get the kill).
Until last night. I found my preferred class (Support. I like's me some light MGs), and I was owning bitches in the face. Then the bullshit happened.
I came around a corner and dropped to my belly. My radar showed an enemy about to round the opposite corner, not 20 feet from my position. I lined up the barrel and waited. He came around the corner, and I opened up. I must have put, at the very least, one bullet in him. At the most? 15. In the middle of my hail of fire, he leapt into the air, and came down on his stomach, facing me. I adjusted my aim downwards, still firing, when he put a snap shot right through the top of my head. I was dead, he wasn't.
What? What the fuck is that? This game prides itself on putting you on the battlefield. Join the Marine Corps and go to far away exotic places and blow Afghanis away. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think our troops, or anyone else's troops, have ever used tactics like that. "Oh noes, someone is teh shooting me! I'd better jump as high as I can, do a belly flop, and then pwn them in teh face!!!11"
And this is as much of an indictment against the players of the game as it is the game itself. Just because the game allows you to do bullshit like that, doesn't mean you should. Certain servers have rules against stupid bullshit that the game allows you to do, and that's a very good thing. Like say, for example, taking a plane and crashing it into the enemy's spawn point. That might have been the historically accurate thing to do if you were the Japanese forces in Battlefield 1942. But Kamikazes don't exist anymore, and it's a stupid bullshit way of racking up kills in a game, where there are no consequences for death.
On the other hand, there are things the game allows you to do that make perfect sense. For example, the support gunner is called so because he has extra ammo bags to resupply teammates. When I get caught dead-to-rights by the enemy with my ammo bag out, I know I don't have a chance to switch to my weapon and gun him down. But I'm not going down without a fight. So what I do I do? I pull out a grenade and toss it. He gets me, but they never notice the grenade. Boom, baby! Death from beyond!
BF2 is really fun, if you're playing with good players. As with all human interaction, though, there's always the complete fucking idiots that bring everybody down.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Monday, October 24, 2005
Copy protection robs us of nostalgia
What follows may be the most bizarre argument against digital media copy protection, but bear with me. I'm not condoning piracy, just hear me out.
In the near future, copy protection on (PC) video game discs will not allow gamers to return to their "roots" and play the old school classic games we loved so well. It's really started already, but the more time that passes, the more widespread (and more bulletproof) copy protection will become, effectively locking us out of our own games. You might not be following me. Let me back up.
A few weeks ago, I was feeling nostalgic and decided it was time to play through the Monkey Island series again. So I went looking for my "Monkey Island Madness" disc that I purchased as part of the Lucasarts Adventure Archive Vol III. It was nowhere to be found. I double-checked, no dice. I started to panic. I got the Archive from the Lucasarts store at least 4 years ago, when they were still selling it retail. You can't get the Archive anymore. Well, not for a reasonable price, anyway, and then it's used.
I really didn't want to plunk down upwards of 80 bucks just to get the first two Monkey Island games again. So I called Justin and asked him to check his collection, perhaps I'd let him borrow it. Score! He had it. After I breathed a tremendous sigh of relief, he made an excellent suggestion. We both have our share of classic games that you can't pick up cheap, or simply just can't get anymore. He said we should back them up on DVD and put them in a safe place, so if any of them should ever be lost, we're not screwed.
I did just that, but I ran into a handful that had copy protection. I managed to circumvent it, so that I could make a perfectly legal backup of a game that I purchased legally. But what happens when the copy protection gets so good that you simply can't make a copy of a game? Wait, it already exists. As far as I know, Starforce is absolutely impossible to crack.
Now we reach my point. Ten years from now, when we gamers want to go back and revisit the classic games from the turn of the century, if we managed to lose or ruin our original game discs, too fucking bad! We've lost the ability at that point to kick it old school, because of the goddamn copy protection.
In the near future, copy protection on (PC) video game discs will not allow gamers to return to their "roots" and play the old school classic games we loved so well. It's really started already, but the more time that passes, the more widespread (and more bulletproof) copy protection will become, effectively locking us out of our own games. You might not be following me. Let me back up.
A few weeks ago, I was feeling nostalgic and decided it was time to play through the Monkey Island series again. So I went looking for my "Monkey Island Madness" disc that I purchased as part of the Lucasarts Adventure Archive Vol III. It was nowhere to be found. I double-checked, no dice. I started to panic. I got the Archive from the Lucasarts store at least 4 years ago, when they were still selling it retail. You can't get the Archive anymore. Well, not for a reasonable price, anyway, and then it's used.
I really didn't want to plunk down upwards of 80 bucks just to get the first two Monkey Island games again. So I called Justin and asked him to check his collection, perhaps I'd let him borrow it. Score! He had it. After I breathed a tremendous sigh of relief, he made an excellent suggestion. We both have our share of classic games that you can't pick up cheap, or simply just can't get anymore. He said we should back them up on DVD and put them in a safe place, so if any of them should ever be lost, we're not screwed.
I did just that, but I ran into a handful that had copy protection. I managed to circumvent it, so that I could make a perfectly legal backup of a game that I purchased legally. But what happens when the copy protection gets so good that you simply can't make a copy of a game? Wait, it already exists. As far as I know, Starforce is absolutely impossible to crack.
Now we reach my point. Ten years from now, when we gamers want to go back and revisit the classic games from the turn of the century, if we managed to lose or ruin our original game discs, too fucking bad! We've lost the ability at that point to kick it old school, because of the goddamn copy protection.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Good Movies? We Don't Want Em
I know I've already talked about it, but Serenity was a great movie. Not only do I think it's the best movie I've seen this year (and will probably hold on to that title), but it's easily entered my Top 10 of my favorite films of all time. Why, then, did it go 3 and out? I suppose it's still showing in some theatres, but not any near me. After 3 weeks. I bet Star Wars is still showing on a handful of screens somewhere.
I can hear you now, "But Heath, Star Wars is so popular, no one's even heard of Serenity!" Well, why not? They showed ads. Critics liked it, they wrote reviews. It opened at #2. Everyone I know who saw it thought it was great. Someone had to fucking hear about it.
As I said, Serenity was great. But for any number of reasons, it failed to do as well at the box office as it should have ($23 million in 3 weeks). For the sake of comparison, let's look at the performance of some other films this year that are nowhere near the level of greatness that is Serenity.
Flightplan. Some shit about Jodie Foster and her kid on a plane. $74 million.
In Her Shoes. Cameron Diaz doing her stupid shit in a chick flick. $23.5 million.
Just Like Heaven. I didn't like it the first time when it was called Ghost. $47 million.
The 40 Year Old Virgin. Funny, but completely forgettable. $106 million.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose. I didn't like it the first time when it was called The Exorcist. Plus, it's not based on a fucking true story, alright? Neither was the Amityville Horror. It's based on made-up shit, which is what every other fucking movie that isn't a documentary is based on. Jesus Christ. $74 million.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I hate Johnny Depp. I also hate unnecessary remakes. $205 million.
Star Wars Ep III: Revenge of the Sith. Yeah, that's right. I said it. $380 million.
I could go on, but I won't. I think you get the picture. All of those movies made more than Serenity, and most of them aren't worthy of carrying Jayne's jockstrap.
Which brings me to my point. The American movie going public has no idea what makes a good movie. They know what they like, which is brain-dead, nonsensical drivel. So that's what movie studios give them, and that's what the theatres run. Genuinely good films like Serenity don't do well, and original, interesting films like Good Night, And Good Luck are never released to a wide audience. And that, gentle readers, is bullshit.
I can hear you now, "But Heath, Star Wars is so popular, no one's even heard of Serenity!" Well, why not? They showed ads. Critics liked it, they wrote reviews. It opened at #2. Everyone I know who saw it thought it was great. Someone had to fucking hear about it.
As I said, Serenity was great. But for any number of reasons, it failed to do as well at the box office as it should have ($23 million in 3 weeks). For the sake of comparison, let's look at the performance of some other films this year that are nowhere near the level of greatness that is Serenity.
Flightplan. Some shit about Jodie Foster and her kid on a plane. $74 million.
In Her Shoes. Cameron Diaz doing her stupid shit in a chick flick. $23.5 million.
Just Like Heaven. I didn't like it the first time when it was called Ghost. $47 million.
The 40 Year Old Virgin. Funny, but completely forgettable. $106 million.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose. I didn't like it the first time when it was called The Exorcist. Plus, it's not based on a fucking true story, alright? Neither was the Amityville Horror. It's based on made-up shit, which is what every other fucking movie that isn't a documentary is based on. Jesus Christ. $74 million.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I hate Johnny Depp. I also hate unnecessary remakes. $205 million.
Star Wars Ep III: Revenge of the Sith. Yeah, that's right. I said it. $380 million.
I could go on, but I won't. I think you get the picture. All of those movies made more than Serenity, and most of them aren't worthy of carrying Jayne's jockstrap.
Which brings me to my point. The American movie going public has no idea what makes a good movie. They know what they like, which is brain-dead, nonsensical drivel. So that's what movie studios give them, and that's what the theatres run. Genuinely good films like Serenity don't do well, and original, interesting films like Good Night, And Good Luck are never released to a wide audience. And that, gentle readers, is bullshit.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
South Park's jumped the shark
I can't pinpoint the exact episode in which South Park "jumped the shark," as I don't watch it often enough to tell, but it's just not that funny anymore. Sure, there may be the occasional chuckle, but I laughed more in the first 5 minutes of Drawn Together than I did during the entire half hour of South Park.
I know it's a huge cash cow for Comedy Central, and it has fan boys all over the place. And I'm not one of those people who don't "get it." I got it, in fact, I have the first 3 seasons on DVD. You know, back when the show was consistently funny. I may pick up Season 4, and possibly, Season 5, but just for Red Sleigh Down. In fact, that's the last episode of South Park I've seen that was more good than bad. But there comes a point when their tool for "yelling at America," in Trey and Matt's own words, gets old and stale. Tonight's episode was a jab at the response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which might have been funny when Jon Stewart was doing it a month ago, when it was actually relevant.
Another example was the episode from last season about picking the school's mascot, and they had a choice between voting for a giant douche or a turd sandwich. We get it, guys, George Bush and John Kerry were equally bad, as are all politicians. Ha ha. Although I did like P. Diddy's "Vote or Die, mother fucker, mother fucker, Vote or Die" campaign.
As I said, I once enjoyed South Park, and there have been some truly classic episodes over the years. But now we're on 9 seasons? Come on, time to pack it in. The Simpsons wasn't even any good after 9 seasons, and The Simpsons is widely agreed to be the best animated TV show ever.
I know it's a huge cash cow for Comedy Central, and it has fan boys all over the place. And I'm not one of those people who don't "get it." I got it, in fact, I have the first 3 seasons on DVD. You know, back when the show was consistently funny. I may pick up Season 4, and possibly, Season 5, but just for Red Sleigh Down. In fact, that's the last episode of South Park I've seen that was more good than bad. But there comes a point when their tool for "yelling at America," in Trey and Matt's own words, gets old and stale. Tonight's episode was a jab at the response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which might have been funny when Jon Stewart was doing it a month ago, when it was actually relevant.
Another example was the episode from last season about picking the school's mascot, and they had a choice between voting for a giant douche or a turd sandwich. We get it, guys, George Bush and John Kerry were equally bad, as are all politicians. Ha ha. Although I did like P. Diddy's "Vote or Die, mother fucker, mother fucker, Vote or Die" campaign.
As I said, I once enjoyed South Park, and there have been some truly classic episodes over the years. But now we're on 9 seasons? Come on, time to pack it in. The Simpsons wasn't even any good after 9 seasons, and The Simpsons is widely agreed to be the best animated TV show ever.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Stem Cell Research Breakthrough
A new study on stem cells has produced what I think is spectacular results. Researchers were able to gather stem cells (from mice embryos) without destroying the embryo. Here's the full article. (Link's broken. What the hell is it with Yahoo News and their links breaking after like a week? Do they not archive anything? Oh, well, here's an article, it's only relevant for two days, then we'll throw it away, wheeeee!! WTF.) Here's an excerpt.
But Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of pro-life activities for the Catholic bishops conference, said PGD itself is unethical. It poses a risk of harm and is mostly an effort "to select out genetically imperfect embryos," he said.
Aww, it poses a risk of harm. A lot of prenatal procedures pose a risk of harm, like the sampling of amniotic fluid to check for birth defects, or CVS testing. Does that mean they shouldn't be performed? In some cases, yes. But just because the chance for harm is there, doesn't mean it outweighs the possible benefits.
And what the fuck is wrong with selecting out genetically imperfect embryos? I wouldn't want a kid who would have a significantly lower quality of life than normal because he had Down's syndrome, didn't physically develop properly, or was going to have a terminal illness and not live past the age of 10. Oh, but that's right, fundies don't like abortion. Every life is sacred, even if it's a fucked up one. They take the moral highground, but if push came to shove, they'd think twice about carrying an "imperfect" baby to term.
Let's look at the other technique outlined in the article.
As with normal therapeutic cloning, they took eggs whose DNA-containing nuclei had been removed and inserted in each one a nucleus from a body cell of a mouse. But before the insertion, they blocked the action of a key gene in the nuclei, to ensure the eggs could not produce an embryo that can implant in a uterus. Yet, the eggs divided and grew enough to yield stem cells.
Doerflinger disagreed, saying the technique appears to create and then destroy an embryo, which would make it unethical.
The technique appears to create an embryo? It appears? Is that your professional, scientific observation? No, it's just your kneejerk reactionary bullshit. Let the folks with the doctorates say what appears to happen, dickwad.
But not all fundies are as ignorant as Doerfucker, there.
But the Rev. Tad Pacholczyk, director of education for the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, called the approach a step in the right direction. Scientists are already discussing a modified version in which adding the nucleus to the egg would result in a single stem cell, not an embryo, he said.
One of the new mouse studies borrowed a lab technique used in fertility clinics, called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis or PGD. It is used to screen embryos for genetic disorders.
In the study, researchers plucked a single cell from eight-cell mouse embryos, which were about two days old. While fertility clinics use such a cell for genetic testing, the researchers cultured the plucked cells and found they behaved like embryonic stem cells. The embryos, meanwhile, went on to produce mice.
The result suggests that when clinics do PGD, they could let the cell they remove divide into two, and use one resulting cell for genetic testing and the other to establish a stem cell line, said Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass., an author of the study.
That's fantastic. Now the fundies don't have a leg to stand on in their relentless opposition to stem cell research. If you can get stem cells without destroying an embryo (or in their words, "taking a life"), then what's the fucking problem? Well, a lack of a logical reason never stopped fundies. Look at the very next paragraph of the article.But Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of pro-life activities for the Catholic bishops conference, said PGD itself is unethical. It poses a risk of harm and is mostly an effort "to select out genetically imperfect embryos," he said.
Aww, it poses a risk of harm. A lot of prenatal procedures pose a risk of harm, like the sampling of amniotic fluid to check for birth defects, or CVS testing. Does that mean they shouldn't be performed? In some cases, yes. But just because the chance for harm is there, doesn't mean it outweighs the possible benefits.
And what the fuck is wrong with selecting out genetically imperfect embryos? I wouldn't want a kid who would have a significantly lower quality of life than normal because he had Down's syndrome, didn't physically develop properly, or was going to have a terminal illness and not live past the age of 10. Oh, but that's right, fundies don't like abortion. Every life is sacred, even if it's a fucked up one. They take the moral highground, but if push came to shove, they'd think twice about carrying an "imperfect" baby to term.
Let's look at the other technique outlined in the article.
As with normal therapeutic cloning, they took eggs whose DNA-containing nuclei had been removed and inserted in each one a nucleus from a body cell of a mouse. But before the insertion, they blocked the action of a key gene in the nuclei, to ensure the eggs could not produce an embryo that can implant in a uterus. Yet, the eggs divided and grew enough to yield stem cells.
This modified technique, called altered nuclear transfer, has been championed by Dr. William Hurlbut of Stanford University, a member of the President's Council on Bioethics. He said the abstract cluster of cells the egg produces is not an embryo but a "non-embryonic entity" that lacks an embryo's developmental potential.
"You don't create a living being," he said.
That's also fantastic. What do you have to say about this one, fundies?Doerflinger disagreed, saying the technique appears to create and then destroy an embryo, which would make it unethical.
The technique appears to create an embryo? It appears? Is that your professional, scientific observation? No, it's just your kneejerk reactionary bullshit. Let the folks with the doctorates say what appears to happen, dickwad.
But not all fundies are as ignorant as Doerfucker, there.
But the Rev. Tad Pacholczyk, director of education for the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, called the approach a step in the right direction. Scientists are already discussing a modified version in which adding the nucleus to the egg would result in a single stem cell, not an embryo, he said.
Seen in that light, he said, the mouse study "is very encouraging. It reminds us that we have certain tools at our disposal in the scientific armamentarium that can be used in the direction of seeking an answer to the ethical impasse."
He's not saying this is the answer, but he's not putting his fingers in his ears and humming, either. Maybe this means we'll actually have some real progress in the stem cell arena, and start fixing shit. Maybe. I wouldn't count on it.Sunday, October 16, 2005
Andy Milonakis is a Moron
No, that's not strong enough. Andy Milonakis is a fucking moron. Unlike probably everyone else on the planet, I'd never even heard of this douchebag until a few weeks ago, when he was the guest on Too Late with Adam Carolla.
Before he came out, Adam showed a video clip to familiarize us with his "work." It was this fat bastard kid singing a song about how the Superbowl and other things were "gay." Already, I hated him. I actually watched the whole show, even though absolutely nothing that came out of his stupid mouth was funny. Adam was still funny, but even so, it was definitely a net loss of funny.
I completely forgot about him until tonight, when I was watching a video clip of a house party at Kevin Smith's place, and guess who was there? That's right, Andy Milonakis, stinking up the place with his stupid, kiddie bullshit that apparently everyone thinks is funny but me. I then got the urge to look him up on IMDB, because I wanted to know how the hell this dumbass got to be famous. I didn't find that out, because I was too dumbstruck looking at his birthdate.
January 30, 1976. Now, IMDB is not typically known to be 100% reliable, but if something's clearly wrong, it doesn't stay that way for long. I also checked Wikipedia (again, not exactly the best source of information, but generally correct), and it says the same thing. In fact, the Wiki entry states that he has a growth hormone disorder.
So let's say that's true, and this asshole really is 29 years old. Is he fucking retarded? Because that's the only reason I can think of why he would act like a 12 year old without actually being one. And if he isn't 29, he's a still a fucking idiot for lying about his age and expecting people to believe it, even though he's clearly a snot-nosed punk kid who thinks all his "jokes" are pure gold. Fuck Andy Milonakis.
Before he came out, Adam showed a video clip to familiarize us with his "work." It was this fat bastard kid singing a song about how the Superbowl and other things were "gay." Already, I hated him. I actually watched the whole show, even though absolutely nothing that came out of his stupid mouth was funny. Adam was still funny, but even so, it was definitely a net loss of funny.
I completely forgot about him until tonight, when I was watching a video clip of a house party at Kevin Smith's place, and guess who was there? That's right, Andy Milonakis, stinking up the place with his stupid, kiddie bullshit that apparently everyone thinks is funny but me. I then got the urge to look him up on IMDB, because I wanted to know how the hell this dumbass got to be famous. I didn't find that out, because I was too dumbstruck looking at his birthdate.
January 30, 1976. Now, IMDB is not typically known to be 100% reliable, but if something's clearly wrong, it doesn't stay that way for long. I also checked Wikipedia (again, not exactly the best source of information, but generally correct), and it says the same thing. In fact, the Wiki entry states that he has a growth hormone disorder.
So let's say that's true, and this asshole really is 29 years old. Is he fucking retarded? Because that's the only reason I can think of why he would act like a 12 year old without actually being one. And if he isn't 29, he's a still a fucking idiot for lying about his age and expecting people to believe it, even though he's clearly a snot-nosed punk kid who thinks all his "jokes" are pure gold. Fuck Andy Milonakis.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
An Open Letter to Firefly Fans
Dear Firefly fans,
Fuck you. Fuck you in your stupid asses.
Allow me to explain my vitriol towards you worthless bunch of degenerates. I, myself, am a Firefly fan. While I didn't catch the series during the short time it was on the air, I did check it out on DVD at the urging of a friend. I fell in love with the series, and purchased the DVD set a few weeks later. That was about a year and a half ago.
So when I found out that there was going to be a Firefly movie called Serenity, I was ecstatic. I couldn't wait for it. When I heard about it, the release date was set for April of 2005. What a fantastic birthday present that was! I was extremely disappointed when it was pushed back to September, but I waited ever so patiently.
On opening day, Sept. 30, I got off work, ate, and went to the theatre to buy my ticket. There was a large line, and I seriously hoped everyone in the line was there to see Serenity. Unfortunately, they weren't, and the theatre was less than packed. Still, my experience in that theatre was totally unique. The movie was amazing, the audience participation was great, the acting was fantastic, it was just awesome. I couldn't wait to see it again.
What's more, is that I knew, I just knew, Serenity was going to take that opening weekend. It would be #1 at the box office for that weekend, out of all the other movies that were playing. It had to be, since I felt it was better than Episode III (and I thought Episode III had been the best movie of the year).
I wanted to hit someone when the report came out. Flightplan was #1? Some bullshit about Jodie Foster's kid on a plane made more money than Serenity? Ok, Serenity was #2, but it only pulled in a measly $10 million? The DVD sold half a million copies at roughly $40 a piece, to say nothing of how many times those DVDs have been rented at Blockbuster or loaned to friends, or how many people have downloaded the episodes off the internet. So of all the people who've been exposed to Firefly, only a million of them could be bothered to buy a ticket?
Everybody and their grandma saw Star Wars, simply because it's fucking Star Wars. But where were the Firefly fans? Why weren't they telling their friends to see Serenity, because it's fucking Serenity? I know I did. Where was the word of mouth? Joss depended on you to spread the word, and get people to go see Serenity, because the marketing campaign wasn't nearly enough. When there's a property that no one's heard of because the fan base is so limited, it is the fans' responsibility to make people hear about it. Sure, you ranted and raved about it on your cliquey little sci-fi web-boards, but does that shit ever get out to the mainstream? Hell no, you're preaching to the choir, dipshits.
Clearly, you dropped the ball. Serenity only opened in 2000 theatres (which is a hamstringing right from the start, Flightplan got 3400), and now, in only it's third week of release, my local theatre cut it down to 2 showtimes. And how did Serenity fare last weekend, after opening with $10 mil at #2? It slipped to #8 with only $5 mil additional, bringing the grand total to 18. 18 million dollars is fucking pathetic for an awesome flick like Serenity when shit like Just Like Heaven pulls 43, Flightplan gets 60, and The Exorcism of Emily Rose rakes in 72. I bet The Fog will make a mint, too, even though the film it's printed on isn't worth wiping my ass with.
So fuck you, Firefly fans. If it's anyone's fault Serenity doesn't do well, it's yours. The responsibility was on your shoulders to make Firefly live again, and you failed. Miserably. Congratulations on killing a great series. I hope you're proud of yourselves.
Fuck you. Fuck you in your stupid asses.
Allow me to explain my vitriol towards you worthless bunch of degenerates. I, myself, am a Firefly fan. While I didn't catch the series during the short time it was on the air, I did check it out on DVD at the urging of a friend. I fell in love with the series, and purchased the DVD set a few weeks later. That was about a year and a half ago.
So when I found out that there was going to be a Firefly movie called Serenity, I was ecstatic. I couldn't wait for it. When I heard about it, the release date was set for April of 2005. What a fantastic birthday present that was! I was extremely disappointed when it was pushed back to September, but I waited ever so patiently.
On opening day, Sept. 30, I got off work, ate, and went to the theatre to buy my ticket. There was a large line, and I seriously hoped everyone in the line was there to see Serenity. Unfortunately, they weren't, and the theatre was less than packed. Still, my experience in that theatre was totally unique. The movie was amazing, the audience participation was great, the acting was fantastic, it was just awesome. I couldn't wait to see it again.
What's more, is that I knew, I just knew, Serenity was going to take that opening weekend. It would be #1 at the box office for that weekend, out of all the other movies that were playing. It had to be, since I felt it was better than Episode III (and I thought Episode III had been the best movie of the year).
I wanted to hit someone when the report came out. Flightplan was #1? Some bullshit about Jodie Foster's kid on a plane made more money than Serenity? Ok, Serenity was #2, but it only pulled in a measly $10 million? The DVD sold half a million copies at roughly $40 a piece, to say nothing of how many times those DVDs have been rented at Blockbuster or loaned to friends, or how many people have downloaded the episodes off the internet. So of all the people who've been exposed to Firefly, only a million of them could be bothered to buy a ticket?
Everybody and their grandma saw Star Wars, simply because it's fucking Star Wars. But where were the Firefly fans? Why weren't they telling their friends to see Serenity, because it's fucking Serenity? I know I did. Where was the word of mouth? Joss depended on you to spread the word, and get people to go see Serenity, because the marketing campaign wasn't nearly enough. When there's a property that no one's heard of because the fan base is so limited, it is the fans' responsibility to make people hear about it. Sure, you ranted and raved about it on your cliquey little sci-fi web-boards, but does that shit ever get out to the mainstream? Hell no, you're preaching to the choir, dipshits.
Clearly, you dropped the ball. Serenity only opened in 2000 theatres (which is a hamstringing right from the start, Flightplan got 3400), and now, in only it's third week of release, my local theatre cut it down to 2 showtimes. And how did Serenity fare last weekend, after opening with $10 mil at #2? It slipped to #8 with only $5 mil additional, bringing the grand total to 18. 18 million dollars is fucking pathetic for an awesome flick like Serenity when shit like Just Like Heaven pulls 43, Flightplan gets 60, and The Exorcism of Emily Rose rakes in 72. I bet The Fog will make a mint, too, even though the film it's printed on isn't worth wiping my ass with.
So fuck you, Firefly fans. If it's anyone's fault Serenity doesn't do well, it's yours. The responsibility was on your shoulders to make Firefly live again, and you failed. Miserably. Congratulations on killing a great series. I hope you're proud of yourselves.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Gametap
Saw an ad for Gametap on TV tonight, but I had no idea what it was, since the ad was some shit about the alligators in Pitfall talking about teeth whitening. Then I was reading Computer Gaming World and saw an ad for it that actually made sense. It showed a bunch of screens for classic games, and said "A new world of video games has arrived" and that I could play them from my broadband connection.
This intrigued me (why couldn't the commercial have said that?), so I checked it out. It's a monthly fee service kind of thing, but you can play old school games on your PC. I watched the tour video, which explained there are "hundreds" of games at your fingertips, just load em up and play. I should have thought about that hundreds comment, but didn't, and instead started geeking out at the thought of playing some Mutant League Football, or Final Fantasy 2 (of 4, or 5, or whatever the hell it is in the continuity, it was fucking 2 on the SNES, goddammit), or Mega Man 3, or Eternal Champions, or...I could go on all night.
Imagine my chagrin when I took a look at the list of available titles. They've got some 32X games, quite a few Atari 2600 titles, two (2!) Dreamcast games, a shitload of Genesis games (including Eternal Champions, sweet), and some Windows and DOS games, but no Nintendo games.
At all.
How the hell can you have old-school games without Nintendo? I fucking grew up on Nintendo! I still remember my Dad giving me a stereo for my 5th birthday, and feeling extremely disappointed (I wasn't into music then). He asked me what I really wanted, and I told him I wanted a Nintendo. So he took the stereo back and bought me an NES. Hot shit, man, that Nintendo started it all for me. And here's Gametap, who had lured me in with a shitty commercial, an intriguing magazine ad, and a sexy video tour, only to kick me in the nuts by not including Nintendo games.
Now, in Gametap's defense, there are some possible explanations for this. 1) They're a new service, so perhaps they haven't gotten around to adding Nintendo games yet. If so, great, I'll partake of the gameage once they do. 2) Nintendo is being a bunch of dicks and not allowing their content to be distributed in this way. Perhaps because of the rumored feature with the Revolution having access to Nintendo's back catalogue. Again, if this is so, that's ok, because I can get my Nintendo fix with the Revolution.
So even without the Nintendo games, Gametap is still a very interesting idea. But given the extent of their PC titles (Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow is one of the games available) I would think they could also throw in some PS1 and PS2 games, hell, even Xbox games. And they've got Master System, Genesis, 32X, and Dreamcast games, where's the SegaCD love? Perhaps those are part of the "new titles added weekly" bit.
I'll be watching, Gametap. You're not getting my money yet, but you might.
This intrigued me (why couldn't the commercial have said that?), so I checked it out. It's a monthly fee service kind of thing, but you can play old school games on your PC. I watched the tour video, which explained there are "hundreds" of games at your fingertips, just load em up and play. I should have thought about that hundreds comment, but didn't, and instead started geeking out at the thought of playing some Mutant League Football, or Final Fantasy 2 (of 4, or 5, or whatever the hell it is in the continuity, it was fucking 2 on the SNES, goddammit), or Mega Man 3, or Eternal Champions, or...I could go on all night.
Imagine my chagrin when I took a look at the list of available titles. They've got some 32X games, quite a few Atari 2600 titles, two (2!) Dreamcast games, a shitload of Genesis games (including Eternal Champions, sweet), and some Windows and DOS games, but no Nintendo games.
At all.
How the hell can you have old-school games without Nintendo? I fucking grew up on Nintendo! I still remember my Dad giving me a stereo for my 5th birthday, and feeling extremely disappointed (I wasn't into music then). He asked me what I really wanted, and I told him I wanted a Nintendo. So he took the stereo back and bought me an NES. Hot shit, man, that Nintendo started it all for me. And here's Gametap, who had lured me in with a shitty commercial, an intriguing magazine ad, and a sexy video tour, only to kick me in the nuts by not including Nintendo games.
Now, in Gametap's defense, there are some possible explanations for this. 1) They're a new service, so perhaps they haven't gotten around to adding Nintendo games yet. If so, great, I'll partake of the gameage once they do. 2) Nintendo is being a bunch of dicks and not allowing their content to be distributed in this way. Perhaps because of the rumored feature with the Revolution having access to Nintendo's back catalogue. Again, if this is so, that's ok, because I can get my Nintendo fix with the Revolution.
So even without the Nintendo games, Gametap is still a very interesting idea. But given the extent of their PC titles (Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow is one of the games available) I would think they could also throw in some PS1 and PS2 games, hell, even Xbox games. And they've got Master System, Genesis, 32X, and Dreamcast games, where's the SegaCD love? Perhaps those are part of the "new titles added weekly" bit.
I'll be watching, Gametap. You're not getting my money yet, but you might.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
What the hell?
I don't live in the ghetto. I don't live in the best of neighborhoods, but I can honestly say that there aren't drug dealers on the street corner, O.G.s aren't busting caps in people's asses, and the crime rate is probably average compared to the city as a whole.
Why, then, does some asshole have to squeal out at 11 o'clock at night? Every fucking night? So you've got a fast car, whoopty shit. Great job on the tires, there, do you go through a set once a month? And just what the hell are you in such a goddamn hurry for?
Maybe it's a "guy" thing. He's got the fast car that compensates for his tiny dick, and by squealing the tires, he's demonstrating to all his bitches that he's the shit. That's great, but how about you do your stupid fucking mating call in someone else's goddamn neighborhood.
Why, then, does some asshole have to squeal out at 11 o'clock at night? Every fucking night? So you've got a fast car, whoopty shit. Great job on the tires, there, do you go through a set once a month? And just what the hell are you in such a goddamn hurry for?
Maybe it's a "guy" thing. He's got the fast car that compensates for his tiny dick, and by squealing the tires, he's demonstrating to all his bitches that he's the shit. That's great, but how about you do your stupid fucking mating call in someone else's goddamn neighborhood.
Armchair Economists
Even though I am one, I hate economists. Insert old joke about how economists predict the state of the market the way meteorologists predict the weather, but it's true. We apply simplified models to an immensely complicated real world, and we're not always right (in fact, we're usually not).
But if you had asked me six months ago, a year ago, or even 5 years ago what I thought was going on with the real estate market, I would have told you the exact same thing: we're in a bubble, that won't last forever, and it will burst, sooner or later. So why had I been hearing, from economists no less, that the real estate market is not in a bubble? That high home prices and low interest rates were here to stay? They took the same classes I did, studied the same models and theories I did, why the disparity in our predictions?
I really don't have an answer to that question, other than the aformentioned joke about predicting the weather. What really pisses me off, though, is that once a month for the last six months or so, every time I open the business page, I see another report on the state of the market. The first report, about six months ago, was something along the lines of "Prices continue to rise, no end in sight." Next month, it was, "Prices will continue to rise, just not as much as expected." Then, "Prices beginning to level off, but still increased." It was about this time that the Fed increased interest rates for the second quarter in a row. The next report was like, "Prices rise slightly, but will most likely not decline." Then, "Median prices remain the same." Finally, the Fed raised rates again, and I saw, "Prices fall slightly, but may bounce back soon."
Do you see a fucking trend here? I sure as hell do, and you don't have to be an economist to recognize or understand it. Home prices cannot keep rising indefinitely, not when rent is staying the same, more houses are constantly being built, and the Fed keeps raising interest rates. Sooner or later, Joe and Nancy Shmoe aren't going to be able to afford the payment on a 30 year, $600,000+ mortgage. The only reason they have been able to is due to low, fixed rates. Once folks can't afford the payments, they aren't willing to buy new houses. Once enough folks stop buying new houses, while construction on new houses continues, prices come down. When prices start falling, the speculators who thought real estate was a "good investment" start selling, which forces prices down further. This phenomenon is called a feedback loop, and it could go on for a while. That's where the bubble bursts. How far will prices fall? I have no idea, but they will fall.
So, getting back to the armchair economists that seem to think this real estate bubble is any different than previous bubbles, I have a question for them. What the fuck is wrong with you? Did you get your degree online, is that it? Or were you too busy drinking and partying with your frat buddies to actually learn the material? Or maybe you're just too fucking stupid to apply the theory, so you spout the same nonsense every other non-economist is spouting about how it's a "new economy." It wasn't a new economy then, and it's not a new economy now. Dipshits.
But if you had asked me six months ago, a year ago, or even 5 years ago what I thought was going on with the real estate market, I would have told you the exact same thing: we're in a bubble, that won't last forever, and it will burst, sooner or later. So why had I been hearing, from economists no less, that the real estate market is not in a bubble? That high home prices and low interest rates were here to stay? They took the same classes I did, studied the same models and theories I did, why the disparity in our predictions?
I really don't have an answer to that question, other than the aformentioned joke about predicting the weather. What really pisses me off, though, is that once a month for the last six months or so, every time I open the business page, I see another report on the state of the market. The first report, about six months ago, was something along the lines of "Prices continue to rise, no end in sight." Next month, it was, "Prices will continue to rise, just not as much as expected." Then, "Prices beginning to level off, but still increased." It was about this time that the Fed increased interest rates for the second quarter in a row. The next report was like, "Prices rise slightly, but will most likely not decline." Then, "Median prices remain the same." Finally, the Fed raised rates again, and I saw, "Prices fall slightly, but may bounce back soon."
Do you see a fucking trend here? I sure as hell do, and you don't have to be an economist to recognize or understand it. Home prices cannot keep rising indefinitely, not when rent is staying the same, more houses are constantly being built, and the Fed keeps raising interest rates. Sooner or later, Joe and Nancy Shmoe aren't going to be able to afford the payment on a 30 year, $600,000+ mortgage. The only reason they have been able to is due to low, fixed rates. Once folks can't afford the payments, they aren't willing to buy new houses. Once enough folks stop buying new houses, while construction on new houses continues, prices come down. When prices start falling, the speculators who thought real estate was a "good investment" start selling, which forces prices down further. This phenomenon is called a feedback loop, and it could go on for a while. That's where the bubble bursts. How far will prices fall? I have no idea, but they will fall.
So, getting back to the armchair economists that seem to think this real estate bubble is any different than previous bubbles, I have a question for them. What the fuck is wrong with you? Did you get your degree online, is that it? Or were you too busy drinking and partying with your frat buddies to actually learn the material? Or maybe you're just too fucking stupid to apply the theory, so you spout the same nonsense every other non-economist is spouting about how it's a "new economy." It wasn't a new economy then, and it's not a new economy now. Dipshits.
Monday, October 10, 2005
It's Aliiiive!
It was never actually dead, just...dormant. But I'd like to get back to semi-regular blogging. It's so cathartic to write about whatever, get things out and such.
I went back over the existing posts and made some edits (deleting certain company names so as to avoid any possibility of retribution, making updates to situations, etc.). To bring you current in my situation, I've left COP IT not by my own volition (I was laid-off, as the budget no longer allowed for my position), and after a long and painful 5 and half months of unemployment, began work as a CSR (Customer Service Representative) at Kaiser Permanente. Yeah, yeah, I know, big step up. But I see it as a stepping stone. Kaiser's a huge (servicing 8 million members nationwide, and 6 million in CA) organization, with tons of potential for advancement. Just a matter of time, really.
Not much else to tell right now. I've got a couple rants on the real estate market, gas prices, and a few political situations (even though I don't follow politics nearly as closely as I did before), but I'll save those for later when I'm more awake and angrier.
I leave you with an anecdote. A few weeks ago, Justin and I were on our way to a movie, when these two kids (in their early 'teens, I'd say) just strolled out into the street. Justin had to slow down considerably and actually swerve, and the kids never picked up speed, but rather glared at us as if we were at fault. Look, I understand the whole "invincible" feeling when you're a punk teenager. I remember that. But this sort of behavior is not limited to idiot kids, it exists in adults who should know better and don't. Never put your life into someone else's hands, even if you trust them, and especially if it's just some guy who you've never met. I mean, it doesn't even take a bad or drunk driver for you to be killed in that kind of situation, what if he dropped a cigarette in his lap? What if the sun temporarily blinds him? What if his brakes fail? Whoops, you're fucking dead, asshole, all because you thought it was cute or funny to stroll out in the middle of the street.
I went back over the existing posts and made some edits (deleting certain company names so as to avoid any possibility of retribution, making updates to situations, etc.). To bring you current in my situation, I've left COP IT not by my own volition (I was laid-off, as the budget no longer allowed for my position), and after a long and painful 5 and half months of unemployment, began work as a CSR (Customer Service Representative) at Kaiser Permanente. Yeah, yeah, I know, big step up. But I see it as a stepping stone. Kaiser's a huge (servicing 8 million members nationwide, and 6 million in CA) organization, with tons of potential for advancement. Just a matter of time, really.
Not much else to tell right now. I've got a couple rants on the real estate market, gas prices, and a few political situations (even though I don't follow politics nearly as closely as I did before), but I'll save those for later when I'm more awake and angrier.
I leave you with an anecdote. A few weeks ago, Justin and I were on our way to a movie, when these two kids (in their early 'teens, I'd say) just strolled out into the street. Justin had to slow down considerably and actually swerve, and the kids never picked up speed, but rather glared at us as if we were at fault. Look, I understand the whole "invincible" feeling when you're a punk teenager. I remember that. But this sort of behavior is not limited to idiot kids, it exists in adults who should know better and don't. Never put your life into someone else's hands, even if you trust them, and especially if it's just some guy who you've never met. I mean, it doesn't even take a bad or drunk driver for you to be killed in that kind of situation, what if he dropped a cigarette in his lap? What if the sun temporarily blinds him? What if his brakes fail? Whoops, you're fucking dead, asshole, all because you thought it was cute or funny to stroll out in the middle of the street.
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Oh mama, I'm in fear for my life
Last weekend was interesting. I had the best steak dinner, and the worst dinner of my life (all in the same meal), saw Styx and REO Speedwagon in concert, bowled a 92 in my second game ever, ogled some sweet-ass cars, and left a casino with more money than I walked in with.
Let me take it from the top. I left Friday evening for Reno, with Justin, his mom Nancy, and her fiance Bill. After the 3 hour drive, we checked in, and went to that steak dinner. It was my pleasure to be introduced to Justin's aunt Judy and her husband. If I had known what I was getting into, I probably would have left.
Judy is...hard to describe. In fact, mere words cannot capture the essence of Judy. And I think that's a good thing. Let's just say that if I had to choose between having a conversation with Judy and having my nuts slammed in a car door, I'd have to think about it. The steak was great, the best I had ever had, and to this day, have ever had. But the whole dinner experience, with Judy, and her husband John, is an experience I hope I soon forget.
So after that horrendous dinner, I was ready to go back to my room and sleep for a day. But I only got about 6 hours. The next day, Nancy and Bill had to go to fabulous Doyle and take care of some business. So Justin and I had the whole day to do whatever. We didn't feel like gambling our hard-earned money away, so we went bowling. We both stunk up the first game (Justin won 63-54), but we tied with 92 on the second. Damn, that was fun.
So that evening was the concert. Styx rocked the house, REO Speedwagon, not so much. I enjoyed both bands, but Styx was definitely better, and they only had one original member.
The next day, before we headed back to Stock-town, we stopped at "National Auto Museum" or something or other. It wasn't Harrah's Auto showcase thing (which I understand is fucking huge), but most of the cars were donated by Harrah's casino. It was awesome. Bill took like 200 pictures with his digital camera. I can't wait to see those.
On top of all that, Nancy and Bill gave me a graduation present (100 bucks!). So when I walked into the casino, I had a twenty in my wallet. When I left, I had six twenties. So there you go.
Let me take it from the top. I left Friday evening for Reno, with Justin, his mom Nancy, and her fiance Bill. After the 3 hour drive, we checked in, and went to that steak dinner. It was my pleasure to be introduced to Justin's aunt Judy and her husband. If I had known what I was getting into, I probably would have left.
Judy is...hard to describe. In fact, mere words cannot capture the essence of Judy. And I think that's a good thing. Let's just say that if I had to choose between having a conversation with Judy and having my nuts slammed in a car door, I'd have to think about it. The steak was great, the best I had ever had, and to this day, have ever had. But the whole dinner experience, with Judy, and her husband John, is an experience I hope I soon forget.
So after that horrendous dinner, I was ready to go back to my room and sleep for a day. But I only got about 6 hours. The next day, Nancy and Bill had to go to fabulous Doyle and take care of some business. So Justin and I had the whole day to do whatever. We didn't feel like gambling our hard-earned money away, so we went bowling. We both stunk up the first game (Justin won 63-54), but we tied with 92 on the second. Damn, that was fun.
So that evening was the concert. Styx rocked the house, REO Speedwagon, not so much. I enjoyed both bands, but Styx was definitely better, and they only had one original member.
The next day, before we headed back to Stock-town, we stopped at "National Auto Museum" or something or other. It wasn't Harrah's Auto showcase thing (which I understand is fucking huge), but most of the cars were donated by Harrah's casino. It was awesome. Bill took like 200 pictures with his digital camera. I can't wait to see those.
On top of all that, Nancy and Bill gave me a graduation present (100 bucks!). So when I walked into the casino, I had a twenty in my wallet. When I left, I had six twenties. So there you go.
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
6-figures, here I come, baby
I'm coming to get ya! *bum bum beyowh bum bum beyowh* Foxy Lady!
Jimi Hendrix rocks.
Anyway, I can't wait for my stuff to get here. You see, I've ordered some books, and a laptop. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
A few weeks ago, I overheard Ben talking to Marisa (the assistant Dean) about a new position. It would be for a Mac tech, although preferably the person hired would be proficient with PCs as well. This was my chance.
About a week passed, and the opportunity arose. Ben was telling me about the position. We need a Mac expert (which I'm pretty damn far from, as of this writing), as about 10% of the University uses Macs. The position would be 9 months out of 12 (summers off) and be re-evaluated every year. Ben mentioned that the only reason the Provost was persuaded into providing the money for this position was because we have no one who can support Macs.
At this point, I said something like, "He couldn't be persuaded to pay for another PC person, huh?" To which Ben replied that if that was the case, he would have just hired me. Excellent. I had suspected that, but here was proof.
So anyway, I went on to say that it would be too late for this year, but perhaps I could do my Mac homework, and be able to take on that duty next year. Ben said that was a great idea.
So I bought a book called "Switching to Mac," since it's specifically geared towards PC users who want to learn Macs. I also bought an iBook for which to hone my craft.
But that's not all. I've been talking to Josh about certifications, and we both want to get certified. He holds an A+ (which covers basic hardware and tech support), but I've got enough experience that it would basically be a waste of time and money for me to go for. He suggested I get a Network+ (all about networking), and that we both get our MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) in Windows XP. Starting pay for holders of that particular certification is 40-50k. Experienced MCSEs haul in 6-figures.
Needless to say, I ordered some cram manuals for those exams. I'm gonna study my ass off, because when I get certified, it's on.
EDIT (10/10/2005): Or not. I've since decided that PC/Mac support just isn't for me. It was fun while I was doing it, and I learned a lot I wouldn't have on my own, but I'm an economist, with a degree in economics and a minor in business. I simply don't have the qualifications to do high-level tech support, and don't really want to.
Jimi Hendrix rocks.
Anyway, I can't wait for my stuff to get here. You see, I've ordered some books, and a laptop. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
A few weeks ago, I overheard Ben talking to Marisa (the assistant Dean) about a new position. It would be for a Mac tech, although preferably the person hired would be proficient with PCs as well. This was my chance.
About a week passed, and the opportunity arose. Ben was telling me about the position. We need a Mac expert (which I'm pretty damn far from, as of this writing), as about 10% of the University uses Macs. The position would be 9 months out of 12 (summers off) and be re-evaluated every year. Ben mentioned that the only reason the Provost was persuaded into providing the money for this position was because we have no one who can support Macs.
At this point, I said something like, "He couldn't be persuaded to pay for another PC person, huh?" To which Ben replied that if that was the case, he would have just hired me. Excellent. I had suspected that, but here was proof.
So anyway, I went on to say that it would be too late for this year, but perhaps I could do my Mac homework, and be able to take on that duty next year. Ben said that was a great idea.
So I bought a book called "Switching to Mac," since it's specifically geared towards PC users who want to learn Macs. I also bought an iBook for which to hone my craft.
But that's not all. I've been talking to Josh about certifications, and we both want to get certified. He holds an A+ (which covers basic hardware and tech support), but I've got enough experience that it would basically be a waste of time and money for me to go for. He suggested I get a Network+ (all about networking), and that we both get our MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) in Windows XP. Starting pay for holders of that particular certification is 40-50k. Experienced MCSEs haul in 6-figures.
Needless to say, I ordered some cram manuals for those exams. I'm gonna study my ass off, because when I get certified, it's on.
EDIT (10/10/2005): Or not. I've since decided that PC/Mac support just isn't for me. It was fun while I was doing it, and I learned a lot I wouldn't have on my own, but I'm an economist, with a degree in economics and a minor in business. I simply don't have the qualifications to do high-level tech support, and don't really want to.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Where's my shotgun?
Because I need to blow some people away. Grab a sandwich, something to drink, and sit down. Here's a little story.
I come into work on Monday morning, and Ben tells me that OIT (the other IT department on campus) is looking for some help with the student check-in this semester. Apparently, they want to make sure that student's computers have virus protection and the latest security updates before they plug them into the network. Makes sense. So I send the coordinator lady an e-mail expressing my interest. She e-mails me back ten minutes later and says I need to come to a training session either Wed or Thurs. I reply, saying I'll come to the Thurs session. All this occured before lunchtime on Monday.
Fast forward to today, 1:55 pm. I show up at OIT, ready for the training that's supposed to take place from 2-4. They're not ready. 10 minutes later, I get called in. I walk into the conference room, and I swear I've stepped into the wrong room. There's no one there (besides me) that doesn't work at OIT. I hesitantly take a seat, and wait for some clarification that this is, in fact, the wrong room. It turns out that I'm in the right place afterall. They hand out a step by step "training manual" and then commence with a 45 minute spiel on how to install and update McAfee VirusScan, go to the Windows Update site and download critical updates, and set up Wireless Networking. All of which I already know how to do.
Here's the sad part: the other folks didn't. A few of them did (those heading the presentation), but the others were completely clueless, based on their questions. Just to clarify, these people work in IT. They use/troubleshoot/support computers every day. It's their fucking job.
Which begs the question: Why are the regular employees wasting their time to do this check-in? If they had put out a listing asking for students, they would have gotten plenty of replies. Hell, students already know how to install programs and run Windows update, they wouldn't have had to waste the time and money to hold not one, but two 2-hour training sessions and print up 2-3 dozen manuals. That's the way OIT does things, though. Extremely inefficiently.
So after that guy gets done blathering, another lady steps up to talk about HEAT. HEAT is a program that OIT has a hard-on for. We use it at COP IT only because OIT does. Basically, it's a program that we can record trouble calls in, mainly so there's a record of the work we've done. Sometimes, when we can't complete a task (such as needing a network port activated) we assign the HEAT ticket to someone who can. It's actually a nice system, to keep track of what's been worked on where, and by whom. Extremely useful in certain situations.
OIT, on the other hand, uses HEAT for everything. Call them on the phone, it goes in HEAT. Send them an e-mail, it goes in HEAT. Ask them a question in person, it goes in HEAT. This bitch has to talk about how they've set up automated HEAT tickets for frequent issues. Including one for if a student asks directions. To a building. That's right, if someone wants to know where the Registrar's office is, they put it in HEAT. She goes on to explain that this is so they can generate reports on what the most prevalent problems are, so they can release training material and help users help themselves. Great idea on paper. OIT must have burned that paper and pissed on the ashes, though, cause it doesn't work that way.
Ben informed me that after OIT had rolled out HEAT, they told him about the reporting capability. He goes, "Great, can you send me a report on this and this and this?" And they go, "Uh, well, we have to send someone for training on that." So they send the guy to get trained, and he comes back and makes the report. Ben gets it, and it looks real nice, but contains no useful information whatsoever. Great job, OIT.
So anyway, I've just spent an hour and a half sitting in a conference room, learning absolutely nothing. "Ok, that's it, we're done." So I go to leave, walking back down the hallway I came from initially. I start to turn into a doorway that I thought was the way to the exit. I quickly realize that it's some guy's empty office, do a 90 degree spin, and continue back down the hallway. A split fucking second after I took my one and only step into the office, I hear a voice from behind me down the hall, "Whoa, not that way."
I ignored the prick, but I was extremely pissed. See, even though OIT does exactly jack and shit, and their employees are just this side of brain-damaged chimps, they got a brand spanking new building last year. Inside and out renovation and expansion. I really wanted to whip around and say, "Well, if you fucks had a building the size of your IQs I wouldn't have gotten lost, now would I?" but I just wanted to get out of there.
So I'm walking over to the COP IT office, fuming, and I flip open the manual to the page that lists the schedule for the check-in weekend. It says who's supposed to be where, and when. There's just one problem: I'm not on it. Remember when I said that I got in touch with the coordinator on Monday? They held a training session on Wednesday. The manuals they handed out then had mistakes, so they reprinted them for today. I was informed today, Thursday, that they still had mistakes, and would have to be reprinted a second time. So, they had 3 days and a reprint in order to put me on the schedule, and they couldn't get it done. At this point, I wasn't surprised.
I had always suspected that this was the way OIT operated. The reason all their employees are always so busy isn't because they're actually solving problems, it's because they're organizing/attending fucking meetings and committees! No one knows what anyone else is doing at any given time, and they don't care. What's worse is that they don't even try and get better. If they run into something they can't handle, they call someone else. There's no communication, so that guy has to try a bunch of shit the other guy already did, and if he does manage to fix it, neither one of them has learned anything. In fact, they actually get dumber, because as they increase their "specialty" knowledge, they forget everything else that actually makes them a useful team member.
You know what I say? I say give us OIT's budget, and their building. We get to choose who gets hired (competent professionals), who gets fired (all the fucking morons that work there now), and what projects to tackle. Then, the faculty and staff fills out a survey six months in. If at least 50% think it's better than before, we get to stay in control. If not, things go back to the way they were like it never happened. Except that as the employees of OIT were fired, they were lined up against and wall and executed, that is.
I come into work on Monday morning, and Ben tells me that OIT (the other IT department on campus) is looking for some help with the student check-in this semester. Apparently, they want to make sure that student's computers have virus protection and the latest security updates before they plug them into the network. Makes sense. So I send the coordinator lady an e-mail expressing my interest. She e-mails me back ten minutes later and says I need to come to a training session either Wed or Thurs. I reply, saying I'll come to the Thurs session. All this occured before lunchtime on Monday.
Fast forward to today, 1:55 pm. I show up at OIT, ready for the training that's supposed to take place from 2-4. They're not ready. 10 minutes later, I get called in. I walk into the conference room, and I swear I've stepped into the wrong room. There's no one there (besides me) that doesn't work at OIT. I hesitantly take a seat, and wait for some clarification that this is, in fact, the wrong room. It turns out that I'm in the right place afterall. They hand out a step by step "training manual" and then commence with a 45 minute spiel on how to install and update McAfee VirusScan, go to the Windows Update site and download critical updates, and set up Wireless Networking. All of which I already know how to do.
Here's the sad part: the other folks didn't. A few of them did (those heading the presentation), but the others were completely clueless, based on their questions. Just to clarify, these people work in IT. They use/troubleshoot/support computers every day. It's their fucking job.
Which begs the question: Why are the regular employees wasting their time to do this check-in? If they had put out a listing asking for students, they would have gotten plenty of replies. Hell, students already know how to install programs and run Windows update, they wouldn't have had to waste the time and money to hold not one, but two 2-hour training sessions and print up 2-3 dozen manuals. That's the way OIT does things, though. Extremely inefficiently.
So after that guy gets done blathering, another lady steps up to talk about HEAT. HEAT is a program that OIT has a hard-on for. We use it at COP IT only because OIT does. Basically, it's a program that we can record trouble calls in, mainly so there's a record of the work we've done. Sometimes, when we can't complete a task (such as needing a network port activated) we assign the HEAT ticket to someone who can. It's actually a nice system, to keep track of what's been worked on where, and by whom. Extremely useful in certain situations.
OIT, on the other hand, uses HEAT for everything. Call them on the phone, it goes in HEAT. Send them an e-mail, it goes in HEAT. Ask them a question in person, it goes in HEAT. This bitch has to talk about how they've set up automated HEAT tickets for frequent issues. Including one for if a student asks directions. To a building. That's right, if someone wants to know where the Registrar's office is, they put it in HEAT. She goes on to explain that this is so they can generate reports on what the most prevalent problems are, so they can release training material and help users help themselves. Great idea on paper. OIT must have burned that paper and pissed on the ashes, though, cause it doesn't work that way.
Ben informed me that after OIT had rolled out HEAT, they told him about the reporting capability. He goes, "Great, can you send me a report on this and this and this?" And they go, "Uh, well, we have to send someone for training on that." So they send the guy to get trained, and he comes back and makes the report. Ben gets it, and it looks real nice, but contains no useful information whatsoever. Great job, OIT.
So anyway, I've just spent an hour and a half sitting in a conference room, learning absolutely nothing. "Ok, that's it, we're done." So I go to leave, walking back down the hallway I came from initially. I start to turn into a doorway that I thought was the way to the exit. I quickly realize that it's some guy's empty office, do a 90 degree spin, and continue back down the hallway. A split fucking second after I took my one and only step into the office, I hear a voice from behind me down the hall, "Whoa, not that way."
I ignored the prick, but I was extremely pissed. See, even though OIT does exactly jack and shit, and their employees are just this side of brain-damaged chimps, they got a brand spanking new building last year. Inside and out renovation and expansion. I really wanted to whip around and say, "Well, if you fucks had a building the size of your IQs I wouldn't have gotten lost, now would I?" but I just wanted to get out of there.
So I'm walking over to the COP IT office, fuming, and I flip open the manual to the page that lists the schedule for the check-in weekend. It says who's supposed to be where, and when. There's just one problem: I'm not on it. Remember when I said that I got in touch with the coordinator on Monday? They held a training session on Wednesday. The manuals they handed out then had mistakes, so they reprinted them for today. I was informed today, Thursday, that they still had mistakes, and would have to be reprinted a second time. So, they had 3 days and a reprint in order to put me on the schedule, and they couldn't get it done. At this point, I wasn't surprised.
I had always suspected that this was the way OIT operated. The reason all their employees are always so busy isn't because they're actually solving problems, it's because they're organizing/attending fucking meetings and committees! No one knows what anyone else is doing at any given time, and they don't care. What's worse is that they don't even try and get better. If they run into something they can't handle, they call someone else. There's no communication, so that guy has to try a bunch of shit the other guy already did, and if he does manage to fix it, neither one of them has learned anything. In fact, they actually get dumber, because as they increase their "specialty" knowledge, they forget everything else that actually makes them a useful team member.
You know what I say? I say give us OIT's budget, and their building. We get to choose who gets hired (competent professionals), who gets fired (all the fucking morons that work there now), and what projects to tackle. Then, the faculty and staff fills out a survey six months in. If at least 50% think it's better than before, we get to stay in control. If not, things go back to the way they were like it never happened. Except that as the employees of OIT were fired, they were lined up against and wall and executed, that is.
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Possessing a PhD doesn't make you smart
You might know a lot about whatever subject you completed your doctorate in, but just because you have a PhD doesn't mean you're necessarily intelligent.
Case in point. Today, I had no less than four professors come in demanding (well, not really, they asked politely, but they were rather urgent) that I do/fix/install something or other. The semester starts in 2 and a half weeks. I can handle those requests, and get them up and running in no more than 2 days. This is just the tip of the iceberg, however.
In an ideal world, these professors (and the myriad others to come) should have periodically dropped in during the summer to catch up with goings on, and make sure nothing had changed drastically that would shoot their careful planning all to hell. Now, for the profs I helped today, they're fine and dandy. But what about the folks who show up the day before classes start (or even the same day) and realize they need a program installed, their computer needs to be hooked up, their profile needs to be copied over, and/or their OS needs to be updated? Well, they're simply shit out of luck.
You might think I'm being harsh. Surely, I can help these poor, untimely professors. Oh, I can help some of them. But when a dozen professors are requesting all of the services I mentioned and need it done in a day, that's just plain fucking impossible.
The worst part is that they never get it. It can happen to them once and they'll still do the same thing the very next year and every year after that. Hey Pavlov, your dogs are misbehaving. Why do they do this? Is it chronic procrastination, or just plain stupidity? Hell if I know. But I do foresee quite a bit of overtime pay in the next few weeks.
Case in point. Today, I had no less than four professors come in demanding (well, not really, they asked politely, but they were rather urgent) that I do/fix/install something or other. The semester starts in 2 and a half weeks. I can handle those requests, and get them up and running in no more than 2 days. This is just the tip of the iceberg, however.
In an ideal world, these professors (and the myriad others to come) should have periodically dropped in during the summer to catch up with goings on, and make sure nothing had changed drastically that would shoot their careful planning all to hell. Now, for the profs I helped today, they're fine and dandy. But what about the folks who show up the day before classes start (or even the same day) and realize they need a program installed, their computer needs to be hooked up, their profile needs to be copied over, and/or their OS needs to be updated? Well, they're simply shit out of luck.
You might think I'm being harsh. Surely, I can help these poor, untimely professors. Oh, I can help some of them. But when a dozen professors are requesting all of the services I mentioned and need it done in a day, that's just plain fucking impossible.
The worst part is that they never get it. It can happen to them once and they'll still do the same thing the very next year and every year after that. Hey Pavlov, your dogs are misbehaving. Why do they do this? Is it chronic procrastination, or just plain stupidity? Hell if I know. But I do foresee quite a bit of overtime pay in the next few weeks.
Monday, August 02, 2004
How does an Average Joe cope?
What do they do when something goes wrong with their computer? Do they buy a new one? Or take it in to a store/tech place that overcharges them for a bunch of problems that they didn't have? Or does everyone have a resident computer tech in the family that they call to help out?
The reason I'm wondering about this is that I recently replaced my video card. It's actually a downgrade, but only a slight one (Radeon 9800 Pro to 9700 Pro). The only thing is, once I swapped the card, my computer refused to boot. It would get to the POST screen, and then freeze.
"What the hell?" I was heard to remark. Maybe the CMOS needs to be reset. I've got onboard video and onboard sound on my mother board (and a video card and sound card plugged in), so maybe my computer thought both video cards were present, or something. I flip the jumper to reset the CMOS, and turn my computer on. It goes to the POST screen, and I press Delete to get into the Setup. I arrow down to disable the onboard video, and my computer freezes. In the CMOS Setup. No, I'm not kidding.
"What the fuck?" my remark is now upgraded to. Let's try the other video card, maybe it just doesn't like this new one. I swap it, reset the CMOS, and boot back up. I go into the Setup, same result, frozen computer.
Now I'm getting pissed. I try another, much older video card. Freezes in the Setup. I go back to the 9700. I tear my computer apart, unplugging everything except the processor, and then plugging it back in. Resest the CMOS again, and boot up. I get into the Setup, disable the onboard video and sound, and save. It reboots, and goes into Windows. I dance a jig. I then turn it off.
Later that night, I surf the web, listen to some music. This goes on for about a half hour, and I get a Blue Screen of Death. Some cryptic error message about IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL. I've seen this before, and researched it. Basically, it can be caused by a hundred different things. Chances are, though, if you're changed something recently, that's the problem. So my video card is conflicting with something else. I reboot, and download new drivers. Other than making my computer slow as molasses (why the hell can't ATI test their new drivers before releasing them? But that's a whole other rant), I still get a BSOD ten minutes later. It's late, so I power off my computer in anger and decide to work on it the next day.
I power it up first thing the next morning, and it doesn't boot. No beeps, no monitor turn on, it just sat there, whirring its fans. Hit the reset button, no dice. "God fucking dammit." Reset the CMOS, reboot. POST screen, CMOS Setup, freeze. Power off, remove the video card and sound card, reset CMOS, power up. Boots into Windows. I stress test it, works fine. I continue to use it for almost 2 hours, no problems whatsoever. At this point I'm thinking something's screwy with my AGP slot or something, and have resigned to return my case/motherboard for replacement.
Today, I talked to Ben (my boss at COP IT) about the problems I was having. He said I should try flashing the BIOS. Duh, why didn't I think of that. So that's what I did tonight, reset the CMOS, disabled the onboard sound and video, and plugged my cards back in. I've been running for 45 minutes, no problems. I'll have to buy Ben lunch tomorrow.
The reason I'm wondering about this is that I recently replaced my video card. It's actually a downgrade, but only a slight one (Radeon 9800 Pro to 9700 Pro). The only thing is, once I swapped the card, my computer refused to boot. It would get to the POST screen, and then freeze.
"What the hell?" I was heard to remark. Maybe the CMOS needs to be reset. I've got onboard video and onboard sound on my mother board (and a video card and sound card plugged in), so maybe my computer thought both video cards were present, or something. I flip the jumper to reset the CMOS, and turn my computer on. It goes to the POST screen, and I press Delete to get into the Setup. I arrow down to disable the onboard video, and my computer freezes. In the CMOS Setup. No, I'm not kidding.
"What the fuck?" my remark is now upgraded to. Let's try the other video card, maybe it just doesn't like this new one. I swap it, reset the CMOS, and boot back up. I go into the Setup, same result, frozen computer.
Now I'm getting pissed. I try another, much older video card. Freezes in the Setup. I go back to the 9700. I tear my computer apart, unplugging everything except the processor, and then plugging it back in. Resest the CMOS again, and boot up. I get into the Setup, disable the onboard video and sound, and save. It reboots, and goes into Windows. I dance a jig. I then turn it off.
Later that night, I surf the web, listen to some music. This goes on for about a half hour, and I get a Blue Screen of Death. Some cryptic error message about IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL. I've seen this before, and researched it. Basically, it can be caused by a hundred different things. Chances are, though, if you're changed something recently, that's the problem. So my video card is conflicting with something else. I reboot, and download new drivers. Other than making my computer slow as molasses (why the hell can't ATI test their new drivers before releasing them? But that's a whole other rant), I still get a BSOD ten minutes later. It's late, so I power off my computer in anger and decide to work on it the next day.
I power it up first thing the next morning, and it doesn't boot. No beeps, no monitor turn on, it just sat there, whirring its fans. Hit the reset button, no dice. "God fucking dammit." Reset the CMOS, reboot. POST screen, CMOS Setup, freeze. Power off, remove the video card and sound card, reset CMOS, power up. Boots into Windows. I stress test it, works fine. I continue to use it for almost 2 hours, no problems whatsoever. At this point I'm thinking something's screwy with my AGP slot or something, and have resigned to return my case/motherboard for replacement.
Today, I talked to Ben (my boss at COP IT) about the problems I was having. He said I should try flashing the BIOS. Duh, why didn't I think of that. So that's what I did tonight, reset the CMOS, disabled the onboard sound and video, and plugged my cards back in. I've been running for 45 minutes, no problems. I'll have to buy Ben lunch tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
The DNC
Or Democratic National Convention, for those not familiar with the acronym. Did anybody see the coverage of this last night? Good stuff. Al Gore, Jimmy Carter (who ripped Bush a new one, BTW), Hillary and Bill Clinton all spoke. Man, oh man, how I wish Clinton was still President. He's one charismatic son of a bitch.
Which begs the question: Why did Al Gore cut Clinton out of his Presidential campaign? Ok, so there was this scandal and that scandal, and he eats babies or something, but so what? The American people, as a whole, didn't care, because he was the best President we had had in a quarter century. If Clinton had been campaigning for Gore, the election in 2000 would have been a foregone conclusion. We know Gore won, but with Clinton on his side, there would have been no room for Bush to steal the election, because he would have lost by a landslide.
Regardless, I think Clinton should still be President. The only reason he's not is because some conservative bastards thought it would be a good idea to pass an amendment that limits Presidents to 2 terms. The reasoning was that the founding fathers wanted to escape British rule, so having a President for more than 8 years (like Roosevelt) would be too much like a monarchy. They forgot one key difference, though: when the President is ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE, it's not a fucking monarchy! If the people are willing to vote for the same man 10 times in a row, that man should be able to serve as their President, plain and simple.
So I say, instead of worrying about passing an amendment to ban gay marriage, or allow non-native US citizens to run for President, we should remove the Presidential term limit. Clinton in 2008!
Which begs the question: Why did Al Gore cut Clinton out of his Presidential campaign? Ok, so there was this scandal and that scandal, and he eats babies or something, but so what? The American people, as a whole, didn't care, because he was the best President we had had in a quarter century. If Clinton had been campaigning for Gore, the election in 2000 would have been a foregone conclusion. We know Gore won, but with Clinton on his side, there would have been no room for Bush to steal the election, because he would have lost by a landslide.
Regardless, I think Clinton should still be President. The only reason he's not is because some conservative bastards thought it would be a good idea to pass an amendment that limits Presidents to 2 terms. The reasoning was that the founding fathers wanted to escape British rule, so having a President for more than 8 years (like Roosevelt) would be too much like a monarchy. They forgot one key difference, though: when the President is ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE, it's not a fucking monarchy! If the people are willing to vote for the same man 10 times in a row, that man should be able to serve as their President, plain and simple.
So I say, instead of worrying about passing an amendment to ban gay marriage, or allow non-native US citizens to run for President, we should remove the Presidential term limit. Clinton in 2008!
Monday, July 26, 2004
Fucking Post Office
Those goddamn incompetent bastards. Is Lance Armstrong the only one of them that's worth a damn? Do they think just because he's doing so well, they can fuck up right and left and be covered? Sons of bitches.
I'm subscribed to Gamefly. It's a great service, think Netflix but for console games. I've been a subscriber for about 7 months (not consecutively, but only because school intervened). In that time, I have never recieved a game more than 3 days after it was shipped, and they have never recieved a game more than 3 days after I dropped it in the mail.
Until 3 weeks ago. I rented Spider-Man 2, which arrived at my house on a Saturday. I finished it that weekend, and dropped it in the mail on Monday. I figured they would get it on Wednesday, and ship out another game. Wednesday came and went, and it still showed that it was out. Thursday, same thing. By the end of Friday, I was worried. I checked the website to see what I could do, and they said to wait 7 days after mailing a game to report it lost. On the next Monday, I did just that. They were real nice about it, said they'd look into it, and shipped my next game.
Fast forward a week and a half. I get Rainbow Six 3. After I'm finished with it, I drop it in the mail. That was last Wednesday. It's Monday night and it still shows as out. *deep sigh* I'm probably going to have to report this one lost, too.
Here's the thing that makes me see red: there's a bit on their website that says any account that has too many lost games is subject to investigation and/or termination. Now, I understand why this blurb is there. I'm sure there are fucksticks out there that rent games that they like, and then decide they'll report them lost instead of returning them or paying for them. But I would never do something like that, and more importantly, haven't done that with these two games.
However, there is a very real possibility that if this happens again, my account will be terminated, and I may never be able to join again. Why? Not because I'm a thief, but because the post office is filled with fucking morons (or thieves, possibly) who wouldn't know their asses from a hole in the ground. Because of their incompetence (and nothing else), I may have to go back to renting games from Assbuster and Shittywood Video. And that makes me so angry that I want to kill someone. Thankfully, I don't have a firearm handy.
EDIT (10/10/2005): Apparently, 7 games lost is the magic number for Gamefly. It doesn't matter how long you've been a member, how many games you've rented and successfully returned, and how many games you've purchased from them, if you rent 7 games and don't return them, they cancel your membership. And they don't let you rejoin unless a) one or more of the games are returned (which would be easy if I had stolen them, but since I didn't, I'm screwed), or b) you pay for the lost games (which again, would be easy if I had stolen them, but I'm not about to pay for something that some shitlicker at the post office stole). So, as much as I love Gamefly, and would give anything to be a member, I'm not. All because of the post office.
I'm subscribed to Gamefly. It's a great service, think Netflix but for console games. I've been a subscriber for about 7 months (not consecutively, but only because school intervened). In that time, I have never recieved a game more than 3 days after it was shipped, and they have never recieved a game more than 3 days after I dropped it in the mail.
Until 3 weeks ago. I rented Spider-Man 2, which arrived at my house on a Saturday. I finished it that weekend, and dropped it in the mail on Monday. I figured they would get it on Wednesday, and ship out another game. Wednesday came and went, and it still showed that it was out. Thursday, same thing. By the end of Friday, I was worried. I checked the website to see what I could do, and they said to wait 7 days after mailing a game to report it lost. On the next Monday, I did just that. They were real nice about it, said they'd look into it, and shipped my next game.
Fast forward a week and a half. I get Rainbow Six 3. After I'm finished with it, I drop it in the mail. That was last Wednesday. It's Monday night and it still shows as out. *deep sigh* I'm probably going to have to report this one lost, too.
Here's the thing that makes me see red: there's a bit on their website that says any account that has too many lost games is subject to investigation and/or termination. Now, I understand why this blurb is there. I'm sure there are fucksticks out there that rent games that they like, and then decide they'll report them lost instead of returning them or paying for them. But I would never do something like that, and more importantly, haven't done that with these two games.
However, there is a very real possibility that if this happens again, my account will be terminated, and I may never be able to join again. Why? Not because I'm a thief, but because the post office is filled with fucking morons (or thieves, possibly) who wouldn't know their asses from a hole in the ground. Because of their incompetence (and nothing else), I may have to go back to renting games from Assbuster and Shittywood Video. And that makes me so angry that I want to kill someone. Thankfully, I don't have a firearm handy.
EDIT (10/10/2005): Apparently, 7 games lost is the magic number for Gamefly. It doesn't matter how long you've been a member, how many games you've rented and successfully returned, and how many games you've purchased from them, if you rent 7 games and don't return them, they cancel your membership. And they don't let you rejoin unless a) one or more of the games are returned (which would be easy if I had stolen them, but since I didn't, I'm screwed), or b) you pay for the lost games (which again, would be easy if I had stolen them, but I'm not about to pay for something that some shitlicker at the post office stole). So, as much as I love Gamefly, and would give anything to be a member, I'm not. All because of the post office.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
Go read this and then come back. (Don't bother, the link's broken. If I remember correctly, it was an article about how Linda Ronstadt was banned from performing at some hotel after recommending her audience go see Fahrenheit 9/11.)
Finished? Ok, so is anyone reminded of that shit that happened with the Dixie Chicks a while back? That was bullshit then, and this is bullshit now. "People paid money to see a show, not a political forum." Oh really, so now suggesting people see a particular movie (that just happens to be about a certain politician) is akin to holding a political forum? Fuck you.
And then they throw her out of her room, and ban her from ever performing again? All over a simple comment about Michael Moore and Fahrenheit 9/11? I'm pretty sure there's a free speech issue there, if Ms. Ronstadt felt like pressing the point.
This kind of activity only serves to lend credence to the idea that we, as a country, are headed towards a "1984" style of society. Any sort of dissension, anything that goes against the grain, anything that questions the authority is immediately responded to with rage, retribution, and attempts to silence the dissenter. After what happened to the Dixie Chicks, and now Linda Ronstadt, I think it's clear that the conservatives control the discourse. They can say and do anything to those who disagree with them, and their supporters and the fence-sitters will eat it up with a spoon.
On a related note, at Yahoo (where I found the link to this article) there's a sidebar that lists Opinion and Editorial columns. Every last one of them was decidedly pro-Bush, and dismissive of Ronstadt's comments and/or Michael Moore. What was that about a liberal media? Here's a debating tip for you: if the evidence doesn't back up what you're saying, you don't have a valid point, asshole.
Finished? Ok, so is anyone reminded of that shit that happened with the Dixie Chicks a while back? That was bullshit then, and this is bullshit now. "People paid money to see a show, not a political forum." Oh really, so now suggesting people see a particular movie (that just happens to be about a certain politician) is akin to holding a political forum? Fuck you.
And then they throw her out of her room, and ban her from ever performing again? All over a simple comment about Michael Moore and Fahrenheit 9/11? I'm pretty sure there's a free speech issue there, if Ms. Ronstadt felt like pressing the point.
This kind of activity only serves to lend credence to the idea that we, as a country, are headed towards a "1984" style of society. Any sort of dissension, anything that goes against the grain, anything that questions the authority is immediately responded to with rage, retribution, and attempts to silence the dissenter. After what happened to the Dixie Chicks, and now Linda Ronstadt, I think it's clear that the conservatives control the discourse. They can say and do anything to those who disagree with them, and their supporters and the fence-sitters will eat it up with a spoon.
On a related note, at Yahoo (where I found the link to this article) there's a sidebar that lists Opinion and Editorial columns. Every last one of them was decidedly pro-Bush, and dismissive of Ronstadt's comments and/or Michael Moore. What was that about a liberal media? Here's a debating tip for you: if the evidence doesn't back up what you're saying, you don't have a valid point, asshole.
Sunday, July 18, 2004
The Last Post about (name of national electronics chain removed for the protection of the guilty), I swear
I swear this is the last post about (name of national electronics chain removed for the protection of the guilty), because I'm done working there. I've bitched a lot about that place, but let me give you the 411 on the straw that broke the camel's back.
I was working at COP IT on Friday, and Ben asked me if I could come in on Sunday to do some work at the South Campus lab. I said sure, since (name of national electronics chain removed for the protection of the guilty) hadn't called me with my schedule at that point.
Fast forward to dinnertime on Saturday, my phone rings. I don't answer it, since I'm eating, but when I get the message, it's my manager. "I need you to come in tomorrow from 11-7. Ok, thanks buddy."
*raised eyebrow, mouth agape* Let me get this straight: I'm working part time hours, getting part time benefits and part time pay, and yet you want me to work an 8 hour shift on a Sunday?!? Fuck you, buddy.
I call back and let them know that I had a prior commitment to my other job, that I had made on Friday (I actually said that, just to be clear). After I finish the explanation, the lady I was talking to says, real pissy, "So you won't be able to make it in, right?" Yeah, bitch, that's right. Did you even hear what the fuck I just said? No, of course you didn't, you stopped listening after I said, "I can't come in tomorrow, because..." She just assumed I was lying about my other job in order to get out of working, I guarantee it.
So today I was working at the University, and my phone rings. It's my manager. He asks me "what the deal" was with today. So I explained to him that I was working at the University. He asked when I would be done. I said about 2 or 3. He says, "So you can come in after, then?" I said, "Uh, yeah, I guess I can do that."
After I hung up the phone, I was super pissed. I did some thinking about the costs and benefits of working at (name of national electronics chain removed for the protection of the guilty). Benefits: money. Costs: my free time, less hours at COP IT (where I get paid more than at (name of national electronics chain removed for the protection of the guilty)), my moral fiber, pain in my feet and back, and self-respect.
I called back and told my manager that I quit. I gave him some bullshit about how I thought I'd like retail sales, but it just wasn't my cup of tea (which is half the truth, really, I never thought I'd like retail sales), and that I was thankful for the opportunity, and terribly sorry about quitting (again, half the truth, I was thankful for the opportunity, but sorry I took it). He didn't seem too upset, so that was good.
So that's the last you'll hear about (name of national electronics chain removed for the protection of the guilty). Fucking cockknockers.
I was working at COP IT on Friday, and Ben asked me if I could come in on Sunday to do some work at the South Campus lab. I said sure, since (name of national electronics chain removed for the protection of the guilty) hadn't called me with my schedule at that point.
Fast forward to dinnertime on Saturday, my phone rings. I don't answer it, since I'm eating, but when I get the message, it's my manager. "I need you to come in tomorrow from 11-7. Ok, thanks buddy."
*raised eyebrow, mouth agape* Let me get this straight: I'm working part time hours, getting part time benefits and part time pay, and yet you want me to work an 8 hour shift on a Sunday?!? Fuck you, buddy.
I call back and let them know that I had a prior commitment to my other job, that I had made on Friday (I actually said that, just to be clear). After I finish the explanation, the lady I was talking to says, real pissy, "So you won't be able to make it in, right?" Yeah, bitch, that's right. Did you even hear what the fuck I just said? No, of course you didn't, you stopped listening after I said, "I can't come in tomorrow, because..." She just assumed I was lying about my other job in order to get out of working, I guarantee it.
So today I was working at the University, and my phone rings. It's my manager. He asks me "what the deal" was with today. So I explained to him that I was working at the University. He asked when I would be done. I said about 2 or 3. He says, "So you can come in after, then?" I said, "Uh, yeah, I guess I can do that."
After I hung up the phone, I was super pissed. I did some thinking about the costs and benefits of working at (name of national electronics chain removed for the protection of the guilty). Benefits: money. Costs: my free time, less hours at COP IT (where I get paid more than at (name of national electronics chain removed for the protection of the guilty)), my moral fiber, pain in my feet and back, and self-respect.
I called back and told my manager that I quit. I gave him some bullshit about how I thought I'd like retail sales, but it just wasn't my cup of tea (which is half the truth, really, I never thought I'd like retail sales), and that I was thankful for the opportunity, and terribly sorry about quitting (again, half the truth, I was thankful for the opportunity, but sorry I took it). He didn't seem too upset, so that was good.
So that's the last you'll hear about (name of national electronics chain removed for the protection of the guilty). Fucking cockknockers.
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