So, I saw this and couldn’t quite explain it:
Order Google Android Phone Mascot 3-Inch Do it Yourself Figure
It’s pretty clear what you’re getting – an Android figure and some markers so you can do your own custom design on it, but…. Why?
I guess if you’re the creative type, it would be pretty amusing. And at $6.99, it’s not that big a deal if you do it “wrong” and have to start over, right?
I host a website for a local business. I offered them a pretty sweet barter deal when I was in negotiations with them, and they passed on the offer. I still update their schedule on the website and post weather related delays/closings when I remember, but it’s a money pit and time suck in every other regard.
Recently, when I added the 2010-2011 class schedule, I added a twist – in order to get to the schedule, you have to read through my explanation as to why the site isn’t run by the studio, and you’re asked whether or not you feel the website is useful by clicking “yes” or “no”. I was simply trying to gauge whether or not I should continue the endeavor – for free – or figure out something else to do with it.
Then I started getting snide comments in the emails – I have a comment form on the site. I make it clear, both in the footer of every page and also in the comment form, that the site isn’t run by the studio, but by a parent who feels they should have one. The most recent comment was:
Nobody asked you to do the website so you shouldn’t complain. We get the schedules in the mail and they are also in the paper. We have never had a problem before. No offense but I think you have stepped into territory that has nothing to do with you.
So now I’ve taken a different approach.
When you click the “no” link, you’re blocked from accessing the site. If you make a snarky, anonymous comment on the comment form, then you’re blocked from the site. The only way to get off either of those lists is to send me another email, along with your “reason” for being blocked:
Common reasons for being blocked:
“banned” – leaving negative feedback via the comment page, without using a valid email address. If you can prove you can play nice with the webmaster, he will let you have access again.
“said_no” – you indicated that you don’t find the website useful – if you don’t find it useful, then why are you coming back???
“abuse” – it has been determined that your computer is accessing the website too much and you are being blocked for that reason.
Am I being petty? Maybe. Am I pushing the limits, considering it’s a domain that I registered but the business belongs to someone else? Probably.
Do I care anymore? Not really. It’s getting to the point where it’s clear to me, at least, that they need a website. It’s 2010, and it seems like they’re finally getting internet access on their office computer. What they plan to do with that, I don’t know, especially since they do ticket sales (and recording of said ticket sales) all by hand. The schedule looks like it was cut and pasted.
I’m not knocking their “old fashioned” way of doing things – what I am knocking is their refusal to even think of joining the rest of us in the 21st century.
Still experimenting with WP, but want to start trying to get into the habit of a post a day sort of thing. We’ll see how _that_ goes….
here’s a fun animated .gif from “Hot Fuzz”….
Snippet of "Hot Fuzz"
I don’t recall why or when, but I used eBay to sell off my Bakelite Morse code telegraph key (very much like this one). I honestly don’t even remember WHY I had it – I just did. It was cool, especially since it also had the Morse code “key” right on it – making it easy to learn.
I regret never learning Morse code. Sure, I know SOS (… — …) but that’s it. It was like French in high school – seductive, alluring, but out of my reach for reasons I didn’t understand. I understand now, but thanks to the internet, I don’t need to learn it.
.- … -.- / .- -. -.. / –. — — –. .-.. . / .– .. .-.. .-.. / .–. .-. — …- .. -.. . .-.-.-
But the point of this post? John McCain. If you’ve watched him in the debates recently, you might have noticed the same thing I did: he blinks. A lot.
If you think about John’s service to this country – something that might have come up at some point in this election season – you’ll find that he was a POW. And one of the things that POW’s were often made to do – by coercion or even by simply breaking them – was to record a propagandized “confession.” In some cases, such as Jeremiah Denton, they were able to use Morse code to send a message to people watching the video. John McCain made one such message, although it apparently didn’t include a “secret” message.
I bring this up because of the blinking. Is John McCain sending us all a message? There’s hours of footage of him talking, both at debates and just doing stump speeches and campaign stops. Does anyone have the time to look at a video or two and see if there’s a pattern? If we can get a “transcript” of his blinks, perhaps we can figure out his message to his “friends”….
Interestingly, when I was writing this, a Google search on the terms “morse code pow film” and the first result was “Film Shows McCain’s Release as POW.” There is also a forum post on Snopes that discusses McCain possibly using Morse code during his propaganda film – apparently he didn’t.
Over on Democratic Underground they discuss his blinkiness – and someone mentions Morse code there. They seem to be joking about it, but I don’t see any evidence out there that anyone has done any actual checking on this.
Leaving the politics out of this for the moment, I think it’s an interesting challenge: look at his blinks and see if he’s sending a message – consciously or sub-consciously. While we’re at it, we could take a look at Barack Obama’s blinks, just to make things far.
Anyone up for the challange?
[[battle.thongsdaily.com]]
That’s right, battle of the thongs. Pick your favorite, vote, and see who wins.