I had 2 minutes to arrive at the Caltrain Station, and therefore gave myself that much time to compose a rant and close up the computer. Mission accomplished. Ranting can be done anytime anywhere.
Rant on:
What happened to all the pay phones?
I guess the people who are too poor to have a cell phone are to be penalized again for not having enough money.
Hey, poor folks. Since the rich people can't make enough money off of pay phones, your poor ass is going to have to wait until you get home to make that call.
Even if it is an emergency.
Unless you can convince Richy Rich to loan you his phone.
You know how anxious the rich are to loan their cellphones to those who are far less fortunate. Not.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
80's music
I can't take it anymore with the label "80's music!" These words, "80's music," are typically used as if the only music that was created or existed in the 1980's was the popular new wave-ish and "pop" songs of the period.
You know...Aha, Duran Duran, The Psychedelic Furs, and ABC. That stuff.
Hey, people. There was a lot more than that music released in the 1980's! And what about the 1880's and further back in time?
You know...Aha, Duran Duran, The Psychedelic Furs, and ABC. That stuff.
Hey, people. There was a lot more than that music released in the 1980's! And what about the 1880's and further back in time?
Saturday, May 10, 2008
What happened to commitment?
If you were born after 1983, this might describe you. I make no apologies. I rant.
Often people make "plans" to meet these days, but do not nail down the specifics. Why? I posit that it is due to the technological ease with which they may contact the other party and change things regardless of geographical location.
It used to be that we would make plans to meet a specific person or people at a specific place at a specific time. Now it's usually, that maybe so-and-so will meet so-and-so and some other people might join us, or might not, and we'll meet around the such and such area.
What the fuck is this? Is it so damn hard to pick a specific place and time and say you'll be there and be done with it? And why do you have to call at the time we are supposed to meet to announce that plans have changed? Is it because you can? Is it the technology that made them do it?
It seems that people don't commit to plans, because they can always contact the other party and change the plans.
Am I missing something? Am I wrong? Of course not; I am the NetRanter.
And it's not only the after 1983ers who do this, though certainly it affects them much more than the others. It's not necessarily 1983 exactly, but certainly those born after that time are more certainly more likely to be seen exhibiting this behavior.
Is it so damn hard to commit to a time and place and meet there.
Any why are the plans constantly changing or changing right at the time that you were going to meet in the first place. Is it disrespect for the other parties who you agreed to meet. Is it that when people who are all in this age range are used to making plans like this and not committing to each other, and therefore when they make plans to meet someone who is not used to this that it just sticks out really dramatically and seems weird. I believe this is probably the case. I think that people these days are just not committing to specific plans, and I'm the oddball to notice it and point it out. Can't I just adjust to the times and stop being an old fuddie duddie?
I know that I used to call people at home when they were home, due to the fact that there were no answering machines...let alone voice-mail, and talk to the people directly. We would make a plan to meet at a specific place and time and then we would all work to be there at that time and place, because we had committed to the plans. Also, there was usually no way to contact the people close to the time we were due to meet, since everyone was on their way to the meeting place or at the meeting place already. If there was an emergency you might call the meeting place and try to describe the people you are going to meet. "I have an emergency, and I need your help. I'm trying to reach a customer named, 'Greg Thompson,' who is a tall guy with dark hair. Can you see if he's there? I'm supposed to meet him, but our friend Rob, was in a terrible traffic accident and we're calling from the hospital." Something like that.
Hey, is this why companies also act like this collectively? The plans they make are not specific and they fall through on their commitments and change their plans.
Is this human nature?
There are too many questions to be answered here, and I'm supposed to be busy ranting. You tell me!
Often people make "plans" to meet these days, but do not nail down the specifics. Why? I posit that it is due to the technological ease with which they may contact the other party and change things regardless of geographical location.
It used to be that we would make plans to meet a specific person or people at a specific place at a specific time. Now it's usually, that maybe so-and-so will meet so-and-so and some other people might join us, or might not, and we'll meet around the such and such area.
What the fuck is this? Is it so damn hard to pick a specific place and time and say you'll be there and be done with it? And why do you have to call at the time we are supposed to meet to announce that plans have changed? Is it because you can? Is it the technology that made them do it?
It seems that people don't commit to plans, because they can always contact the other party and change the plans.
Am I missing something? Am I wrong? Of course not; I am the NetRanter.
And it's not only the after 1983ers who do this, though certainly it affects them much more than the others. It's not necessarily 1983 exactly, but certainly those born after that time are more certainly more likely to be seen exhibiting this behavior.
Is it so damn hard to commit to a time and place and meet there.
Any why are the plans constantly changing or changing right at the time that you were going to meet in the first place. Is it disrespect for the other parties who you agreed to meet. Is it that when people who are all in this age range are used to making plans like this and not committing to each other, and therefore when they make plans to meet someone who is not used to this that it just sticks out really dramatically and seems weird. I believe this is probably the case. I think that people these days are just not committing to specific plans, and I'm the oddball to notice it and point it out. Can't I just adjust to the times and stop being an old fuddie duddie?
I know that I used to call people at home when they were home, due to the fact that there were no answering machines...let alone voice-mail, and talk to the people directly. We would make a plan to meet at a specific place and time and then we would all work to be there at that time and place, because we had committed to the plans. Also, there was usually no way to contact the people close to the time we were due to meet, since everyone was on their way to the meeting place or at the meeting place already. If there was an emergency you might call the meeting place and try to describe the people you are going to meet. "I have an emergency, and I need your help. I'm trying to reach a customer named, 'Greg Thompson,' who is a tall guy with dark hair. Can you see if he's there? I'm supposed to meet him, but our friend Rob, was in a terrible traffic accident and we're calling from the hospital." Something like that.
Hey, is this why companies also act like this collectively? The plans they make are not specific and they fall through on their commitments and change their plans.
Is this human nature?
There are too many questions to be answered here, and I'm supposed to be busy ranting. You tell me!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
What's with all the packaging!?
OK, racing fans...I have had this gestating ready to burst onto the scene, and now it is released to the world.
Packaging:
Buy anything in the United States. Go do it right now, or look at the last thing you purchased. You can't see the thing you purchased. There's too much packaging for you to see it.
Packaging has become a way for companies to deceive you. Easy example: gummy bears. Go to the candy counter and check this out. Some of the box packages for gummy bears (same for worms and other candies too, but let's stick with the gummy bear example for the sake of specificity) have a big box and a clear window where you can see the sealed "clean" contents...the bears through the window.
Here's the deception. The only place in the box that has any "contents" is the window where you can see the product. The rest of the box, which is usually at least another 50% of the size of the box is completely devoid of content.
That's right. It's frickin' empty.
It's like a poorly performed magic trick from a kid who just wants to "fool" you, stick out his tongue and wail, "nah nah, nah nah nah," at you.
Tell me. Do the companies that package their products this way think about how this impacts their image and their potential for future sales?
When I've been ripped off this way, I avoid buying the company's products ever again. I don't need to get ripped off again. Certainly not in the same way. I can see how this method can fool customers initially, especially in venues where the customer doesn't get to inspect the package before the buy the candy...I've had this happen to me in movie theaters...back in the days when I might buy candy at the theater rather than beforehand, which I don't do these days due to too many incidences of this type of thievery...and that's what it is. It is outright deception. It's just too little money for an individual to pursue a lawsuit based on it.
Depending on the type of product, packaging is also an indicator of something else that seems embedded in our culture. Call it germophobia or even a desire to get things in their "virgin" state.
This happens not only with food, but with other items as well. Think of some of the smaller things you might buy. Let's say a single small pack of stick style gum at the grocery store. You'll get the package of gum which has a seal, many layers of paper, the stick of gum, the aluminum-like wrap around it and the paper around that, and the paper that separates each individually sealed piece.
But that's just the product itself.
You'll also get a receipt, which is often-times about 3 inches by 11 inches or more. Plus it will be put into a large paper or plastic (your choice where you still have the choice, but that's another rant) bag, which itself is several times the size, weight and volume of the product that you just purchased. And you'll often get a bunch of coupons that target your possible future purchases.
And what happens to most of this packaging most of the time? OK, you're ahead of me on this one. Trash-ola. Of course. And whether it actually is biodegradable or not is not what I'm pissed about, rather it's just the volume.
Let's look at the positive side though, right? You must need the receipt, right? Sure. If you need to prove that you purchased a pack of gum.
Incidental.
And you could request a receipt if you really needed it. Hell, you could write your own receipt for something that inexpensive and in most cases this would be acceptable proof.
Also, the receipt doesn't have to be so frickin' big, does it? No. It doesn't.
So, then the bag must serve a purpose, right? Again...no. The product is already packaged. What purpose would the bag serve. If it was just raw sticks of gum, perhaps you might put them into something, but it's not needed for such a heavily packaged item.
And why are so many items packaged at all or so much? There seems to be an obsession with getting something that is "new."
For so many things...what is new?
Certainly I don't want used food, but I don't think that will surprise most people. The way food is packaged, might lead one to conclude that it is packaged so much to insure that you are the first person to touch this food item. Rarely is that going to be the case. Most food comes from something living, so by its very nature it not only was touched by something else, it was something else. It has been transformed by the many things and people that have touched it.
There's room here for another rant about the germophobia here in the U.S., but let's focus and save that for another time.
So many rants, so little time.
Hell, these days the clerk may just ask you, "Do you need any help to your car with that?" To which I would be tempted to answer, "Yes, since you put so much damn packaging around it!"
Packaging:
Buy anything in the United States. Go do it right now, or look at the last thing you purchased. You can't see the thing you purchased. There's too much packaging for you to see it.
Packaging has become a way for companies to deceive you. Easy example: gummy bears. Go to the candy counter and check this out. Some of the box packages for gummy bears (same for worms and other candies too, but let's stick with the gummy bear example for the sake of specificity) have a big box and a clear window where you can see the sealed "clean" contents...the bears through the window.
Here's the deception. The only place in the box that has any "contents" is the window where you can see the product. The rest of the box, which is usually at least another 50% of the size of the box is completely devoid of content.
That's right. It's frickin' empty.
It's like a poorly performed magic trick from a kid who just wants to "fool" you, stick out his tongue and wail, "nah nah, nah nah nah," at you.
Tell me. Do the companies that package their products this way think about how this impacts their image and their potential for future sales?
When I've been ripped off this way, I avoid buying the company's products ever again. I don't need to get ripped off again. Certainly not in the same way. I can see how this method can fool customers initially, especially in venues where the customer doesn't get to inspect the package before the buy the candy...I've had this happen to me in movie theaters...back in the days when I might buy candy at the theater rather than beforehand, which I don't do these days due to too many incidences of this type of thievery...and that's what it is. It is outright deception. It's just too little money for an individual to pursue a lawsuit based on it.
Depending on the type of product, packaging is also an indicator of something else that seems embedded in our culture. Call it germophobia or even a desire to get things in their "virgin" state.
This happens not only with food, but with other items as well. Think of some of the smaller things you might buy. Let's say a single small pack of stick style gum at the grocery store. You'll get the package of gum which has a seal, many layers of paper, the stick of gum, the aluminum-like wrap around it and the paper around that, and the paper that separates each individually sealed piece.
But that's just the product itself.
You'll also get a receipt, which is often-times about 3 inches by 11 inches or more. Plus it will be put into a large paper or plastic (your choice where you still have the choice, but that's another rant) bag, which itself is several times the size, weight and volume of the product that you just purchased. And you'll often get a bunch of coupons that target your possible future purchases.
And what happens to most of this packaging most of the time? OK, you're ahead of me on this one. Trash-ola. Of course. And whether it actually is biodegradable or not is not what I'm pissed about, rather it's just the volume.
Let's look at the positive side though, right? You must need the receipt, right? Sure. If you need to prove that you purchased a pack of gum.
Incidental.
And you could request a receipt if you really needed it. Hell, you could write your own receipt for something that inexpensive and in most cases this would be acceptable proof.
Also, the receipt doesn't have to be so frickin' big, does it? No. It doesn't.
So, then the bag must serve a purpose, right? Again...no. The product is already packaged. What purpose would the bag serve. If it was just raw sticks of gum, perhaps you might put them into something, but it's not needed for such a heavily packaged item.
And why are so many items packaged at all or so much? There seems to be an obsession with getting something that is "new."
For so many things...what is new?
Certainly I don't want used food, but I don't think that will surprise most people. The way food is packaged, might lead one to conclude that it is packaged so much to insure that you are the first person to touch this food item. Rarely is that going to be the case. Most food comes from something living, so by its very nature it not only was touched by something else, it was something else. It has been transformed by the many things and people that have touched it.
There's room here for another rant about the germophobia here in the U.S., but let's focus and save that for another time.
So many rants, so little time.
Hell, these days the clerk may just ask you, "Do you need any help to your car with that?" To which I would be tempted to answer, "Yes, since you put so much damn packaging around it!"
Netiquette rhymes with Bullshit
If you are tired of people telling you what is acceptable and what is not based on years (let's face it...now decades) worth of outdated ideas based on standards that are no longer used, then you're in the right place.
Want to do things your own way? Blaze your own fucking path? Perfect.
What is with the constant stream of articles, complainers, and style bullies who continue to insist that typing in all caps means that you are screaming? Have these people ever read or written anything?
Let's get something straight here. The invention and use of the internet (yes, I stopped capitalizing "internet" as of this moment in a blaze of glory to cut my own path) is not the first time that the English language has been used in writing. Here's a shocker: The internet and the people who use it are not in charge of how I interpret what is written.
While it is true that writing in all capital letters, or as some would write it..."in all CAPS," is not exactly proper, I CAN WRITE HOWEVER I FUCKING WANT!
Let's analyze the thought of this being equivalent to screaming. First of all. It is not screaming. Although, the interpretation of language is the realm of the reader, not the writer, though some set of often accepted standards do exist. If you could control the way your expressions were interpreted, then you would always be completely understood. However, you are not always understood. This is true even when you think you have expressed yourself very clearly.
Have you ever had a misunderstanding with someone in person? Has this ever happened even when you thought you were extremely clear in your communiciation? Yes, I thought so. Actually, I knew this to be true, but I was being modest. See how quickly my modesty went out the window?
TYPING IN ALL CAPS CAN ELIMINATE THE WRITER'S ABILITY TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES BY NOT USING LOWER CASE CHARACTERS, BUT THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT THEY ARE SCREAMING. YOU COULD USE lower case TO emphasize IDEAS, INSTEAD OF EMPHASIZING THEM IN upper case. SETTING A SET OF STANDARDS FOR YOURSELF AND APPLYING THEM IS your option, NOT NECESSARILY
theirs. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LET them CONTROL YOU. SEE WHAT I DID THERE? fuck THEIR RULES!
And who is perpetuating these old "rules" anyway? You'll quickly find that it's people who are looking to find rules so they can live by them, and not by people who are looking to forge their own path in the world.
Do you need more rules to live your life? If the answer is "yes," then you are in the wrong place right now. Go away! Stop reading this. Go read "The Rules" or something like that. There are tons of people who are very happy to tell you how to live your life and make things work in their favor. Do you really need that?
Embrace this opportunity to break out of that mold. LIVE WITHOUT their rules! control your own life!
This is a place to explore and find the rules that we may mistakenly accept and embrace, sometimes without knowing what those rules are.
If you think of some rules that have been set and that people, yourself included, are foolishly following, then let me know. Post them here. These are perfect topics for future rants by yours truly.
-NetRanter
Want to do things your own way? Blaze your own fucking path? Perfect.
What is with the constant stream of articles, complainers, and style bullies who continue to insist that typing in all caps means that you are screaming? Have these people ever read or written anything?
Let's get something straight here. The invention and use of the internet (yes, I stopped capitalizing "internet" as of this moment in a blaze of glory to cut my own path) is not the first time that the English language has been used in writing. Here's a shocker: The internet and the people who use it are not in charge of how I interpret what is written.
While it is true that writing in all capital letters, or as some would write it..."in all CAPS," is not exactly proper, I CAN WRITE HOWEVER I FUCKING WANT!
Let's analyze the thought of this being equivalent to screaming. First of all. It is not screaming. Although, the interpretation of language is the realm of the reader, not the writer, though some set of often accepted standards do exist. If you could control the way your expressions were interpreted, then you would always be completely understood. However, you are not always understood. This is true even when you think you have expressed yourself very clearly.
Have you ever had a misunderstanding with someone in person? Has this ever happened even when you thought you were extremely clear in your communiciation? Yes, I thought so. Actually, I knew this to be true, but I was being modest. See how quickly my modesty went out the window?
TYPING IN ALL CAPS CAN ELIMINATE THE WRITER'S ABILITY TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES BY NOT USING LOWER CASE CHARACTERS, BUT THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT THEY ARE SCREAMING. YOU COULD USE lower case TO emphasize IDEAS, INSTEAD OF EMPHASIZING THEM IN upper case. SETTING A SET OF STANDARDS FOR YOURSELF AND APPLYING THEM IS your option, NOT NECESSARILY
theirs. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LET them CONTROL YOU. SEE WHAT I DID THERE? fuck THEIR RULES!
And who is perpetuating these old "rules" anyway? You'll quickly find that it's people who are looking to find rules so they can live by them, and not by people who are looking to forge their own path in the world.
Do you need more rules to live your life? If the answer is "yes," then you are in the wrong place right now. Go away! Stop reading this. Go read "The Rules" or something like that. There are tons of people who are very happy to tell you how to live your life and make things work in their favor. Do you really need that?
Embrace this opportunity to break out of that mold. LIVE WITHOUT their rules! control your own life!
This is a place to explore and find the rules that we may mistakenly accept and embrace, sometimes without knowing what those rules are.
If you think of some rules that have been set and that people, yourself included, are foolishly following, then let me know. Post them here. These are perfect topics for future rants by yours truly.
-NetRanter
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)