Where are the people when the cameras are off?

I saw this quote today here (a decent read too):

Democracy requires of its citizens qualities that it cannot provide. Politicians can conjure an exalted vision of a prosperous, healthy, free society, but no government can supply the qualities of honesty, compassion, and personal responsibility that must underlie this vision.

Jürgen Habermas, German philosopher

It made me think about a recent episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (don't worry I'll connect the dots) about a woman with 14 kids to take care of. I think it was the season premiere and I only saw part of the show. It was a heartbreaking situation this woman was in. Regardless of all the details, I think most would agree it was tough for the woman to raise 14 kids on her own. Add to the fact that she was trying to do it from three hotel rooms and it just gets tougher.

Watching the show, it became pretty apparent that a great deal of people new of this woman's plight. It seems quite a shame that a game show of all things has to step in to help out a family like this.

Where were all the volunteers and people that came on this show to help BEFORE they were chosen by Extreme Makeover? For some reason, it always seems to take a natural disaster of some magnitude to get neighbors to help each other.

I guess the reason the quote reminded me of this is we can't expect the government to take care of everyone. We can't expect for miracles like this game show to rescue people either. We can, I would hope, expect that a community would lend a hand where needed to help others who are struggling. Are we losing those qualities such as compassion?

Where are the strings Mr. Paulson?

If you ever wanted to know why we're in this financial mess all you need to do is listen to Henry Paulson's testimony yesterday in front of the Senate Banking Committee. He flat out says, "we can't have too many strings attached to this money or the companies might not take the offer from the government."

Are you kidding me?

That isn't a direct quote since I can't seem to find a real transcript online. But he quite clearly isn't in favor of doing anything to fix this mess and only desires to throw more money at the problem. Are we really that stupid that we're going to hand over all this money with nothing in return? NOTHING! Come on.

The only strings I think Mr. Paulson is familiar with are the ones attached to him being pulled from afar by the organizations he's proposing giving all this money to. The executives of these firms must be salivating just listening to him speak.

We'll have to see if our legislature has any brains at all but if they give this money away, the state of our US Government is much sorrier than I could have ever imagined.

The Trillion Dollar Bill

A few months ago, I did the most amazing thing. I printed out a green piece of paper with the numbers $1,000,000,000,000 stamped on it. (For those having trouble counting zeroes, that's One Trillion Dollars.) It looked just like a genuine trillion dollar bill.

In fact, it was so good, all the area banks agreed too that it was just like a genuine trillion dollar bill. I asked for a loan against it and all of the banks were more than happy to oblige. They were practically falling over each other to loan me money.

Of course, the interest payments were huge! To help make the payments, I loaned some of the money I got from the banks to others.

I had so much money I needed to loan that I just gave it out without a whole lot of thought. I hired a ton of people to help me loan the money out and didn't give them a whole lot of instruction except that I'd give bonuses to the people who loaned the most, I didn't care how. They gave it to people I didn't know very well. They even went so far as to talk people into taking a loan when they didn't even need it. Most of these people, just to make sure they were good for it, gave us some green slips of paper too so I could use it as collateral. The slips of paper looked OK and my loan agents said they were fine so I knew they were good. They were about the same as my trillion dollar bill with just a few less zeroes in it. It was all legit. I even compared their bills to mine and wow, the similarities were amazing. It was almost as if they got them the same way I did.

The whole thing was a win-win situation. I was making money, other people were making money, the banks were making money. The economy in the area was boosted significantly of course. A trillion dollars is a lot of dough. The influx of capital was doing wonderful things. Even the CEO's of the banks were getting rich. Most of them took some of the payments I was making and bought really nice homes and cars and other expensive baubles. It was a lot of fun!

Some of the people I loaned the money to decided to upgrade their houses. Wow, it was amazing. The houses were selling like crazy. There were so many people with so much extra money in the area (which I'd given them as loans), that the houses that were selling for $100K before were now selling for $400K and $500K. The economy was screaming. Real Estate values shot up into the stratosphere. People were coming from all over to get loans and buy houses.

Some of the people that bought houses early got more loans against the equity in their houses and bought more stuff and in some cases, another home. Spending was rampant. There was just so much money around it was insane.

Then something happened. Some of these people who bought these homes and took out loans ran out of money. Some of them couldn't make the payments on the loans they had. When those people couldn't make payments to me. I became really strapped for cash.

I had no choice but to take the green slips of paper with the numbers from the borrowers and cash them in. Some people took them and that helped. After a while though, those places stopped taking them and then others stopped. Pretty soon, no one would take them from me. Even the houses these people had weren't worth what the loans were for so I couldn't even use those. Now even I couldn't make my own interest payments to the banks.

I had no choice, I took my crispy trillion dollar bill to the banks and gave it to them. They tried to use it and some, for a short time, took it. Someone spread a rumor that it wasn't worth anything and so the banks stopped taking it. The other banks got nervous and wanted their money but all these banks had was the crispy bill I'd given them and the other banks wouldn't take them. They panicked and started contemplating closing their doors. The local economy was in a shambles. Everything started to come crashing down.

Thankfully, the government thought this economy was special. They couldn't allow a TRILLION dollar economy to just evaporate. There were thousands of jobs alone in this economy that did nothing but handle these crispy green slips of paper I got from all the other people that I loaned money to. What would these people do? Hundreds if not thousands of other jobs were there buying and selling all the real estate. There were even more people that worked to help keep track of my crispy trillion dollar bill. The jobs couldn't just go away. Imagine the ramifications?

So, to help things out, the CEO's of all the major banks got together and hand delivered the crispy trillion dollar bill I gave them. Amazingly, the government cashed it. They didn't think it was as crispy as it should be and the shade of green was a bit off but the risk to the economy was just too great so they cashed it. The government gave a trillion dollars to the banks in exchange for my loan, the loans I made, and all the loans on the houses. The funny thing is, no one can make the loan payments still.

The CEO's were initially concerned but the government didn't seem to bring up their extravagant lifestyles. They didn't even give them a course in detecting counterfeit bills. The government just asked them politely to not make the same mistake again. They said they'd check back in about 50 years to make sure they didn't have any more crispy trillion dollar bills.

I guess they didn't want to burden them with too many rules. It's a free market they said. It worked before, it works now, it should still work. Why mess with something that works they said? The healthcare system has done it for years and it seems to be fine so why mess with the banks?

Sadly, the crispy bill really isn't worth that much. The government kind of knew that though. They have lots of these types of bills. They've even made up a few of their own. With millions and millions of people in the country, its only a few extra dollars in taxes per person so it isn't a big deal.

So, while the CEO's sat around on the beaches of their private islands printing up some bills of their own and reminiscing about how they almost lost it all, the government posted the crispy trillion dollar bill on eBay.

Bidding starts at a dollar. Any takers?

Pangea, the iPhone, and Customer Service

Evidently, Brian Greenstone of Pangea Software doesn't appreciate the value of word of mouth, goodwill, or anything else that might help promote their product. I asked a simple question regarding their new iPhone game called Billy Frontier and was basically given the finger. Whatever! A simple Yes or No would have been sufficient.

If he wants to treat potential customers as worthless crap then that is his prerogative just as much as it is mine to blog about it.

All I can say is, "Good luck Brian!"

Here is the very brief exchange:

Initial Message:

Can the blood/gore be turned off in this game? It looked interesting and the price was right but if it has the blood and gore, I won't be buying it.

Reply from Brian Greenstone:

You're joking, right?

My Reply:

Never mind. I was going to buy Enigmo and Billy Frontier for the iPhone and had contemplated purchasing Enigmo for the Mac but your snide remark fixed that.

Reply from Brian Greenstone:

You're joking, right?

I won't even get into the whole issue about blood and gore in video games except to say that this is basically a carnival shooting game. A switch to turn off the unnecessary blood and gore would have been nice. Of course, I'm assuming this game does have the blood and gore but only from the descriptions I've seen and a screenshot. It would be funny if it didn't even have it at all.

The only reason I wanted to turn it off is I have young ones in the house who like to pick up my iPhone and play it and I'd rather not have them have the blood and gore if they inadvertently make their way into this game. (yeah, I could lock the phone but I don't feel like hassling with it)

Are we really that stupid?

Further proof that we're a bunch of dumb retards (probably a more appropriate word should go here).

Can we really not stand up to these companies? Are we really going to let them roll over us like this? We must be the laughing stock of the world. Look at how much we're paying for SMS messaging at AT&T. This isn't much different from the rest of the cell phone companies. It is insane.

On top of that, I get to pay for SMS Spam? I don't use SMS messaging if at all possible and neither does my wife. I've had a number of instances where SMS messages obviously not for either of us yet I get the pleasure of paying for it on our bill. Just the shear fact that we have to pay for incoming messages and incoming calls defies comprehension. Particularly with regards to the SMS messages is it so incomprehensible since the cost to the carrier is so low.

Now you might say I should block unauthorized numbers. Well, Verizon is kind enough to allow me to do that so I don't get charged $.20 a pop but only if I sign up for the control/security plan for $4.99/month. I'm being fleeced. Fortunately, I won't be with Verizon much longer on this phone.

Text messaging and cell phone costs are ridiculous. Internet access is expensive and starting to be limited. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac go belly up and have to be bailed out. Most of our debt is owned by foreign countries. The list goes on and on.

And the best one of them all, we have the absolute worst election system in the whole world. (excluding fixed elections by "dictators" of course...) When will this whole process be fixed?

When will we take a stand?

Remembering 9/11

I'm sure there will be tens of thousands if not millions of posts today about remembering 9/11. This is like a drop of water in the ocean I'm sure.

Either way, I truly hope everyone in the US will pay their respects to those that died that day in 2001.

Unfortunately, the sad state of affairs in rebuilding at Ground Zero is perhaps the biggest failure the US could have in respecting those that died. The Empire State Building was built decades ago in only a few years. Yet, seven years after 9/11, we can't even get a memorial built? How has it come to this.

The US needs to get its crap together and fast. The delays and squabbles and inability to act at Ground Zero is the manifestation of so many problems in the US and it makes me sad.

So I say lets get 'er done! Let's make those that died and their families proud by getting the US back on its feet again. The first step is right there on the tiny island of Manhattan where the world is watching...and waiting.

Bad luck strikes again at Microsoft

First the Seinfeld advertisement and now a new snafu for Microsoft. Is it possible for them to stop stepping in poop?

In what is an incredible stroke of bad luck and a monumental fiasco with dire consequences, Microsoft has unwittingly unleashed a horror of horrors upon their potential customers. Recently, as stated here, Microsoft had intentions of mimicking the success of Apple's Genius support system throughout a number of Best Buy and Circuit City stores. Unfortunately, the memo and official agreements signed by Microsoft and the corresponding consumer electronics stores contained a terrible mistake.

While Microsoft intended to supply "Gurus" to all the stores to help sell and promote Vista on the PC platform, they instead ended up supplying "Grues" to all the stores. Most of the stores first discovered this terrible error when the last person out of the store turned out the lights and the poor soul was eaten. Most recently, a power outage at night in a Best Buy was the scene of a terrible massacre with all the shoppers and employees disappearing in a bloody feast for the grues.

Just when you thought Microsoft's public relations nightmare couldn't be any worse, Microsoft outdoes itself once again.

Thanks to Microsoft, shopping at Best Buy and Circuit City will never be the same again. The best advice is to keep the iPhone flashlight app ready at all times.

Rumor: Betty Crocker and Microsoft Teaming Up

It appears the rumors are circling now that Microsoft is poised to make a major announcement next week. News on the street is Microsoft will be pairing up with Betty Crocker to produce a new version of a Vista PC that is "moist and chewy like cake so we can just eat them while we're working."

As messed up as the Seinfeld/Gates ad is, it would appear it is right on the mark. The new versions of Vista rumored for release later this week are:

• Vista Carrot Cake Edition
• Vista Devil's Food Cake Edition
• Vista Vanilla Edition

Betty Crocker is expected to be catapulted into the top PC producer position as a result of this new product announcement. Other editions and flavors of Vista are being worked on and are expected before the end of the year.

The "Right" Microsoft Ad

I think Microsoft shouldn't have beat around the bush with their latest ad with Seinfeld. If they really wanted to play to the previous generation, they should have just pulled out all the stops and done it right by making a much stronger reference to an era gone by.

Here's how it would go:

Sting Enters a Room Full of CD/DVD Duplication Machines

Sting: Hey, Richard.

Richmeister: [ looks up from desk, smiles ] Stiiiiing! Der Stingelhoffer! Making copies! The McStingster! Stingatola! Stiiiiiiing!! [ pause ] Sting-a-ling-a-ding-ding-ding-dong!

Sting: [ gesturing to the copiers and showing the disk in his hand] I'm just here to make some copies.

Richmeister: [nodding head] Alright, the Stingernator! Making some copies. The Stingolator making copies.

Sting: That Apple crap is selling way too well so I'm here to flood the market with bootlegs of Vista to bring up market share.

Richmeister: [using hands to make like an explosion] The Macinator, blowing Vista out of the water. Stingdupulator not a happy camper. Vistola being crushed. [crushes soda can on desk]

Sting: It's not being crushed. People just don't appreciate the finer points of configuring a PC for a truely cutting edge OS.

Richmeister: [nodding head] Vistipula needing to much RAM'o. Programmators at Micromeister writing the bloatware!

Sting: [waving hands like to stop] Your making a lot of nothing. RAM, CPU, Graphics Cards...they're all cheap commodity items now. Programmers don't need to be efficient any longer.

Richmeister: [in a voice like a pirates parrot] Aye Matey, so the Stingalita becomes a pirate. Stingo the Pirate'O! Sqwawk!

Sting: If you love something, you have to set it free!

Richmeister: Stingerator...making the references to his old songs...Stinger the Singer.

Sting: Stop turning every breath I take and every move I make against me.

Richmeister: Oooh, the Stingernator, recycling the old material. The Recyler recycling.

Sting: The bottom line is, we need more copies of Vista out there in order to have more fields of gold for Microsoft. No matter what it takes.

Richmeister: The Captain Stinger, running out of the time just like the Microsofty.

In comes Mike Myers as Wayne from Wayne's World

Wayne: I heard there were some most excellent bootlegs here. Party On!

The end...

Sorry you've reached your cap, please tune to cable Channel 13 and watch crap instead!

If you think downloadable content is the future of home entertainment, read this first!

As long as there are hard caps on downloading content, no matter how high they are, the days of downloading your favorite movie or watching a show anytime you feel like are going to be short lived. All Comcast wants to do here is set a precedent and then they'll gradually lower the cap, little by little, just like my half-gallon of ice cream is now 3/4 of a 1/2 gallon.

People are going to miss the point if they let this slide through. 250GB per month, 2500GB/month, 25GB/month? It doesn't matter. Just the setting of a limit is enough. Once it starts, good luck stopping it. It'll be just like the cell phone industry and phone company. Every little feature will be charged for.

Oddly, just when the phone companies are figuring unlimited use is a good thing, the cable companies are going the other direction.

Hopefully Google, Apple, Netflix, and anyone else doing downloadable content will have a thing or two to say about this. FiOS might actually be a good deal by the time it rolls through my neighborhood. (that'll be in 2020 probably but who knows...)