Tag Archives: rants

The (sometimes) utter ridiculousness of going green.

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So, it appears that the company I work for, which is otherwise a fairly sane and sensible collection of folks, has decided to "go green". Now, don't get me wrong. I think we should all have some sense of stewardship for the planet, some sense of ecological responsibility. I must confess though, this news from my company has me scratching my head. HR drug a box through the corridors today, and dropped off a present to all the full-time employees.  A water bottle. The idea here is Read more [...]

Athletes, not role models.

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Ahhh, high school. Remember the jocks? The kids that got to do and say whatever they wanted, because they were jocks? Nothing has changed. On April 23rd, professional football player Ricky Manning was sitting in a Denny's with a bunch of his friends, when they noticed a guy sitting alone, eating dinner, working on a laptop. Manning and his gang proceeded to start picking on the guy, who eventually asked the management to have them removed. So what happened next? Exactly what would have happened Read more [...]

Follow-up – MPAA Story

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Apparently, the MPAA has "taken into account" the exact flaw that I described in my earlier post. They specifically asked study respondents how many of the movies they pirated would have been purchased (or viewed in theaters) if they could not have pirated them. Fear not, though...they're still a bunch of booger-heads. According to ArsTechnica, nobody has seen the survey. The press release was merely a collection of talking points, with none of the data revealed. Ars brings up two good points: You Read more [...]

Big Content probably full of crap again – nothing new here.

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Yesterday, one of the agents of "Big Content" (the MPAA) released the news that they had lost over six billion dollars in 2005, due to piracy worldwide. Yet again, they seem to be failing to take a number of factors into consideration. Let me say upfront that piracy is a real issue. I do not dispute that. I think Big Content is losing some real money here. But I also believe that they are overstating their case in an effort to make it easy for the politicians they've bought to get whatever shenanigan-laden Read more [...]

Late fees return at some Blockbusters

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Late fees return at some Blockbusters Yeah, I knew this was going to happen. I hope it bites them on the ass HARD. I can't explain to you why I loath Blockbuster. I just do. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that over the years, I've averaged about $7 per rental when you tack on the late fees. I'll grant you that that issue is my fault. It still chaps my ass though. Another reason I detest BB? I was a charter member of their 3-out unlimited program. Essentially, I paid $24 a month to rent any Read more [...]