What bugs me about people rant #1 · Wednesday March 26, 2008 by colin newell
Anyone remember a time when Google offered a service for those people so busy that they did not have time to search the net – so they could call up Google… and get an operator on the line… to get someone else, a living person, to find what they were looking for… Naturally, this idea did not last long.
Makes you wonder: Is this one of the main reasons that the Planet is doomed? Or is there another reason?
Discovered this today – note photo above left: If you are way too busy to spend the minute and a half registering for my coffee website, there is a web site you can go to that has a userid and password already created just for you!
Uh-huh. And how screwed up is this?
I deleted the userid and password that was created for my website.
If only to screw with these lazy people. I mean, if you are going to visit the CoffeeCrew website, I have certain expectations…
And speaking of lazy. My favorite story is the one about the lady who contacted me from Southern California (and what a horrible place that is!) – She sent me a list consisting of question after question about coffee basics… all of which is on my website about one click or two away from the main page.
But no.
She was too busy.
And so I asked: “All of this is on the website. Why don’t you look it up?”
And she replied: “I am way too busy to spend anytime reading your website!”
It begs the question: How do stupid people survive? Is there an army of sympathetic people out there that have pity on the lazy and stupid people… kind of carrying them along… day by day. Or is it just a case of random chance? Everyone survives despite an assumption of a more logical outcome? Who knows?
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Gas Price Rant #9 Hosed at the Pump · Friday March 14, 2008 by colin newell
One for the “I did not know that…” books.
Did you know that when you buy gas for your car and pay at the pump with your ATM, Debit or Credit-Card, the Gas station company puts a Hold on a portion of your line of credit?
What this means is – The gas company blocks out a portion of your line of credit so they know they will actually get paid for the gas you bought.
Ok. Sounds fair so far I guess. But how much of your money are they holding on to anyway? $10? $20? $30? $50?
Wait for it. Are you sitting down? They hold $100 or more!
If you are strapped for cash, you can actually buy $7 worth of gas from your gas station, cross the street to the grocery store and have your credit or debit card denied when you buy food – because the already greedy gut gas companies have put a hold on your money.
Outraged? You should be!
The gas companies say that they are just protecting themselves…
Of course, in 2008, you would think that the software (or hardware) does not exist to allow the gas companies to hold a small amount of money on your credit or debit for a few moments until your transaction is complete – (truth is – it does and many gas stations hold this amount for a few minutes til after you have replaced the gas nozzle in its holder…) And yet many, if not most, of them keep your buying power on hold for upwards of 24 hours! Why?
So you know – this is a common practice for car rental companies and hotels… and not surprisingly. But gas stations? Why?
It is a sad, sad World · Tuesday March 11, 2008 by colin newell
U.S. House Democrats have failed in their attempt to overturn President Bush’s veto of a bill that would have prohibited the CIA from using water-boarding and other harsh interrogation techniques on terrorist suspects. Quoted: “we need to ensure our intelligence officials have all the tools they need to stop the terrorists…”
Torture doesn’t work you moron. Study after study has proven this. Beat someone hard and often enough they will agree to anything to make it stop.
President Bush had vetoed the bill on Saturday and House Democrats could not muster the two-thirds majority they needed Tuesday to force the bill into law despite the veto. It would have limited the CIA to the 19 interrogation methods approved by the U.S. military. That would have banned water-boarding, a technique which makes the person being interrogated feel like he is drowning.
Meantime, while the War in Iraq is guzzling 12 billion dollars a month, George Bush is lampooning (and thumbing his nose at) fellow politicians (and the rest of us) with an off key version of The Green, Green Grass of Home with lines like:
That old White House is behind me, I am once again carefree, don’t have to worry `bout a crisis in Pyongyang. Down the lane I look, Dick Cheney is strolling with documents he`d been withholding, it’s good to touch the brown brown grass of home.
I think future generations will look back on this phase in Human history with great shame; murder, mayhem and genocide all gleefully advocated by George W.
Avril Lavigne launches World Tour from Victoria · Thursday March 6, 2008 by colin newell
Overheard moments after the concert ended…
“How does a Vancouver Canucks game differ from an Avril Lavigne concert?”
Well. It seems that after paying over $60 for her, slightly over one hour, show…
Well… “You are the loser.”
I am aware that she has, what, 2 songs that have garnered radio play in the last 2 years or so…
Lemme see… Sk8r Boi… and… Thinking… Thinking…
At a little over $1/minute for Avril (hey, Video games cost more than that!), the average fan might not notice the time passing – but as a music reviewer, it is like being in a room of heroin addicts after a quad-shot of my favorite espresso.
And as a devoted fan of American and Canadian Idol (more pre-fab music in the works), I have noticed that there is a finite pool of musical talent on this continent… and with each trip to the trough, that supply gets more and more scant. And no, I am not saying that Avril is not talented… because she has broad appeal to her legion of teen and pre-teen girlfriends…
It’s just… I hope this is not the future of live music: Where (largely prefabricated) bands trot out their hits in staccato fashion in under an hour… and graceless at that.
