Many of the computer science students actually find joy in some TV shows. While not all TV shows are universal, and amazingly, we haven't really been stereotypical when it comes to choosing these shows, but nevertheless, they are great shows.
Specifically speaking, I'm referring to Community. Not everyone watches this show, but it is, without a doubt one of the more popular shows among the computer science group. Community is essentially about a college study group comprising of 7 students and several characters who interact with this group. The story's concept is pretty simple, where character chemistry is easy to concoct because of their various personalities. Most of the show's jokes actually comes from cultural references and meta-humour, which too people like our computer science class is a big deal.
As most people within the program are slightly introverted, it is with great ease that I can make the claim that most of us have not bothered to fit in with mainstream. When I say that, I mean yes, computer science students still have Facebook and Twitter accounts, but they don't generally buy in to mass media, like listening to music broadcast on the radio, or watch Glee (some people in the class do, but they're a small minority). It's without a doubt, that when we watch a TV show that speaks to our hearts, and helps us to use humour to explain why we don't buy in to the mainstream, we'd instantly be hooked.
Community has faced an unfair yet inevitable predicament as of late. Poor ratings combined with flattening character plots are really turning off most of the viewers. Computer science students are not the only ones watching the show, as many people have similar mindsets to computer science students. Therefore, if the episodes start losing the original charisma, it's hard to win the audience. That was what led to Community's hiatus. It was unfortunate, because Community was up against The Big Bang Theory every Thursday. Ratings will definitely fall, when a show of such high calibre, is the rival, and the show is lacking any sign of livelihood.
So, what am I going on about today? It's true that Community has lost its touch from the beginning, and they've gone on hiatus, but ever since last week, they've returned. Unfortunately, they've also lost their touch. The episodes aired are no longer the same joyful meta-humour with references to pop culture. It's become generic, and it's greatly lacking in the same substance from before. Most importantly, it's also lost the elements that made it funny.
Are the writers really to blame again? In a way, yes. A story is only as good as someone willing to tell it. The writers have essentially run out of material to write about. They have to bypass the FCC, they have to be able to appeal to audiences, etc. This has led to Shirley's character being absolutely unbearable, Britta's character being slightly annoying, and Jeff's strange relationship with Annie being overly milked. It has reached the point where characters are just difficult to live with.
However, while I think writers have some room for improvement, I also think that viewers are very odd and fickle people lately. Often times, they criticize a show for not being funny, but I always find these reasons to be rather unfair. They compare it to the previous season sometimes, claiming that the current season isn't as good. Of course, in the case of shows like The Office, the critique is : that it's the same every season. The jokes are similar in nature so that it's consistently funny, but the fact that people are being obtuse about what it's like compared to the previous season isn't fair. In the event of a new show, they claim that it's "too forced", when genuinely it can still merit a few chuckles. I think it's alright to be analytical about a comedy at times, but I feel that most viewers are critical of comedies for all the wrong reasons. A comedy is not meant for you to use it for a novel study (though I wouldn't mind), because the sole purpose is to tickle your funny bone. It's not going to be consistent, because there are times when you aren't feeling in the mood for that specific joke, or you've been too familiar with a specific joke. I think a comedy is meant for laughs only. Either you get the joke or you don't. You shouldn't compare it to what it's like compared to the last time you heard the joke, or compare it to how the content isn't as funny as last season. It should be a brainless matter, and if it doesn't tickle your funny bone, then just stop there, and don't give some convoluted reasoning as to why one shouldn't watch this show.
The airwaves is full of terrible TV shows as is already, so why complicate it? I think new shows should be given a chance, and if it really doesn't suit your tastes, then just ignore it and cut out the ridiculous judgment about how your life didn't benefit from watching it. Life is rarely benefited from watching dramas/sitcoms anyway. Live with it.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Post 01D
Did I ever mention how ridiculously stupid the concept of social networking is?
I think, that I haven't been quiet about how stupid I think it is. Complete with a list of creations that are a result of social networking, especially Facebook, Twitter, so on and so forth, I've been relatively successful at being unaffected by these things. Part of it stems from a lack of want to conform to society, but most of it is to do with the fact that I never saw the point. Why do I need to know what everyone else is doing at any given time of day? Why do I need a computer program to talk with all my friends? Why do I need to tell everyone else what I'm doing, and why do I need them to hit my "like" button?
My latest revelation about social networking is that, not only does news about individuals become news for everyone else, but everyone wants to use it to join in and make it sound like they really do read the newspaper or watch/listen to the news. Case in point, the death of the great Whitney Houston. This is sourced from Gizmodo, where people really couldn't tell Whitney Houston apart from Oprah Winfrey.
In an attempt to start the "RIP Whitney" trend, ignorant fools decide to put up pictures of an African American woman with a simple "RIP Whitney" scrawled below it. It's a surprise they didn't start posting Michelle Obama's pictures first. This begs the question : in what world does Oprah Winfrey resemble Whitney Houston? Of course, because there are posts, there will be comments. One comment even reads : "OMG Oprah and Whitney both died?"
It seems that social media now exploits idiocy and because of idiocy, it even spreads confusion to other idiots on the planet. Being a highly tech savvy person, people have always asked me why I never joined on the bandwagon. I think I have another reason : I'm allergic to idiots, and I don't want to be constantly notified of their existence.
I think, that I haven't been quiet about how stupid I think it is. Complete with a list of creations that are a result of social networking, especially Facebook, Twitter, so on and so forth, I've been relatively successful at being unaffected by these things. Part of it stems from a lack of want to conform to society, but most of it is to do with the fact that I never saw the point. Why do I need to know what everyone else is doing at any given time of day? Why do I need a computer program to talk with all my friends? Why do I need to tell everyone else what I'm doing, and why do I need them to hit my "like" button?
My latest revelation about social networking is that, not only does news about individuals become news for everyone else, but everyone wants to use it to join in and make it sound like they really do read the newspaper or watch/listen to the news. Case in point, the death of the great Whitney Houston. This is sourced from Gizmodo, where people really couldn't tell Whitney Houston apart from Oprah Winfrey.
In an attempt to start the "RIP Whitney" trend, ignorant fools decide to put up pictures of an African American woman with a simple "RIP Whitney" scrawled below it. It's a surprise they didn't start posting Michelle Obama's pictures first. This begs the question : in what world does Oprah Winfrey resemble Whitney Houston? Of course, because there are posts, there will be comments. One comment even reads : "OMG Oprah and Whitney both died?"
It seems that social media now exploits idiocy and because of idiocy, it even spreads confusion to other idiots on the planet. Being a highly tech savvy person, people have always asked me why I never joined on the bandwagon. I think I have another reason : I'm allergic to idiots, and I don't want to be constantly notified of their existence.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Post 01C
The biggest news around the world recently relates to SOPA and PIPA.
SOPA, or the Stop Online Piracy Act, and PIPA, or the PROTECT IP Act (which apparently means Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act), is essentially America's government trying to find new ways to wage war.
Before I go on about America trying to find a new enemy, I just want to point out two things. First off, how much money was spent in hiring the people responsible for making these names sound like they have meaning? It seems like that whole PROTECT thing was a bit of an unnecessary acronym. An acronym within another acronym? That's like using the English language with recursion, i.e..defining a word while using the word inside the definition. Second of all, why does America want to stick its nose into something that is almost impossible to curb now that it has boomed? The Internet boom was so big 10 years ago, that it's virtually unstoppable now. This sounds like an uphill battle, and for at least the third time in America's history, this war is going to end in disaster.
With the troops dragging themselves outside of Iraq, and the impending war on Iran not exactly finalized yet, America has a huge load of money to spend. It just really pains me, because I think I don't see what impending problems America has that would need money. Maybe that's why they're justified into making a decision that would cost $47 million through 2016. One of the things that have been worrying people recently is the shortage of food. The shortage of food is actually attributed to a few things, some of them relevant to the shortage of water and even erosion of topsoil. Of course, in today's society, no one wants to eat any food, so fixing the shortage of water and erosion of topsoil is obviously nothing to be of concern. Again, if anything I just said made sense at all, then of course I'm totally bullshitting the reader. America has a lot of things on its agenda that can make use of $47 million. Might I suggest medical research? Better subsidized sports programs to cut down on obesity and perhaps cut back on the number of heart attacks or cholesterol pill abusers? In fact, why not just a better education program that can educate the next generation?
You see, a computer science student has been taught many many things with regards to security and data communications. If America really intends to go through with PIPA and SOPA, a few things needs to be done. First off, they would need to train personnel to be able to sift through network content, and like the TSA, find ways to track down "illegal activity". They will invade your privacy and find a wonderful way to put you in jail for it. Secondly, after sniffing through all the network content, they have to be able to do something to aggressors. Of course, what world would it be if the hero doesn't get to put the baddie into jail and give them a nice beating for it in the process? That is America, the world where everyone is a baddie but America and its allies.
America, land of the free, and oppressor of the dictator and communists, is now putting a stop on your freedom to go online to do whatever you want. It's funny, because the America is against North Korea for being a dictator and controlling of its people, going so far as to deem the crying crowd at the funeral of Kim Jong-Il to be fake, and yet they are now putting barriers on its own people. The enemy of the state is now officially, the state itself. Let's go further into law with this, The First Amendment. America came up with a list of Amendments, also known as the Bill of Rights. For some reason, violating these is absolutely okay, because the government is doing it. Censorship is now allowed, because America deems that it's okay. America has been condemning censorship since day one. They've spoken out against the Russians, the Cubans, the North Koreans, the Vietnamese, and even their latest and most favourite business partner, the Chinese. Does this mean that the war against everything America believes for has changed? Or does it mean America has finally admitted that they ran out of things to fight for, so they'll fight themselves if needed?
Let's go and talk about costs. Let's sit down and think how far this will go. The $47 million that was to go to these two acts, if passed on January 24th will definitely not be $47 million. Like I said, that money could have been wisely spent in other fields. Then there's the issue about maintenance. Maintenance fees will be on TOP of the $47 million, unless of course, America forgets that it is necessary, in a manner similar to most of their aging technology, then yes, it isn't a huge fee. Then there comes the cost for the legal aspect. Of course, no one ever puts these charges into play until the cases actually go through. The average tax payer, having been shut down from the Internet only wants to reason with the governing body to give him his life back, now has to go to court, and lose a lot of money to the lawyers so that he could be granted freedom he truly deserved. Another ploy against the tax payer.
In fact, there's another very funny bit to this, because they want to stop drug dealers online. People who sell over the counter drugs online, are a target here as well. However, it's a situation similar to the disturbing images on cigarette cartons. Why are we doing this? Shouldn't we have educated the children to know better? Does anyone even pay attention to the pictures or will they even pay attention to what happens when they stop these sales? Like the situation in Pakistan, where text messages have a list of banned words, people will find a way around the problem. This opens up new markets of employment where people will now be a certified illegal online drug dealer. Absolutely new, absolutely 100% more dangerous.
So, since America is doing this in the interest of America, where is it? What is it that they aim to achieve? Has America been at war with other people so much that slapping itself in the face once in a while feels right? Now that America is making a move, when will Canada, America's understudy, decide that they need to do the same? Canada has been in the footsteps of America since the beginning. The whole country has basically mapped itself after the country that prides itself in most heart attacks a year, by being within the top 10. We're very close behind America when it comes to rampant morbid obesity, and just about as far behind if not worse when it comes to technology. Canada claims to be a developed country, but we're every bit as far behind as most countries when it comes to technology, efficiency, and literacy. So, why not keep on with status quo and just do what the Americans do, it's what our government does best anyway.
SOPA, or the Stop Online Piracy Act, and PIPA, or the PROTECT IP Act (which apparently means Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act), is essentially America's government trying to find new ways to wage war.
Before I go on about America trying to find a new enemy, I just want to point out two things. First off, how much money was spent in hiring the people responsible for making these names sound like they have meaning? It seems like that whole PROTECT thing was a bit of an unnecessary acronym. An acronym within another acronym? That's like using the English language with recursion, i.e..defining a word while using the word inside the definition. Second of all, why does America want to stick its nose into something that is almost impossible to curb now that it has boomed? The Internet boom was so big 10 years ago, that it's virtually unstoppable now. This sounds like an uphill battle, and for at least the third time in America's history, this war is going to end in disaster.
With the troops dragging themselves outside of Iraq, and the impending war on Iran not exactly finalized yet, America has a huge load of money to spend. It just really pains me, because I think I don't see what impending problems America has that would need money. Maybe that's why they're justified into making a decision that would cost $47 million through 2016. One of the things that have been worrying people recently is the shortage of food. The shortage of food is actually attributed to a few things, some of them relevant to the shortage of water and even erosion of topsoil. Of course, in today's society, no one wants to eat any food, so fixing the shortage of water and erosion of topsoil is obviously nothing to be of concern. Again, if anything I just said made sense at all, then of course I'm totally bullshitting the reader. America has a lot of things on its agenda that can make use of $47 million. Might I suggest medical research? Better subsidized sports programs to cut down on obesity and perhaps cut back on the number of heart attacks or cholesterol pill abusers? In fact, why not just a better education program that can educate the next generation?
You see, a computer science student has been taught many many things with regards to security and data communications. If America really intends to go through with PIPA and SOPA, a few things needs to be done. First off, they would need to train personnel to be able to sift through network content, and like the TSA, find ways to track down "illegal activity". They will invade your privacy and find a wonderful way to put you in jail for it. Secondly, after sniffing through all the network content, they have to be able to do something to aggressors. Of course, what world would it be if the hero doesn't get to put the baddie into jail and give them a nice beating for it in the process? That is America, the world where everyone is a baddie but America and its allies.
America, land of the free, and oppressor of the dictator and communists, is now putting a stop on your freedom to go online to do whatever you want. It's funny, because the America is against North Korea for being a dictator and controlling of its people, going so far as to deem the crying crowd at the funeral of Kim Jong-Il to be fake, and yet they are now putting barriers on its own people. The enemy of the state is now officially, the state itself. Let's go further into law with this, The First Amendment. America came up with a list of Amendments, also known as the Bill of Rights. For some reason, violating these is absolutely okay, because the government is doing it. Censorship is now allowed, because America deems that it's okay. America has been condemning censorship since day one. They've spoken out against the Russians, the Cubans, the North Koreans, the Vietnamese, and even their latest and most favourite business partner, the Chinese. Does this mean that the war against everything America believes for has changed? Or does it mean America has finally admitted that they ran out of things to fight for, so they'll fight themselves if needed?
Let's go and talk about costs. Let's sit down and think how far this will go. The $47 million that was to go to these two acts, if passed on January 24th will definitely not be $47 million. Like I said, that money could have been wisely spent in other fields. Then there's the issue about maintenance. Maintenance fees will be on TOP of the $47 million, unless of course, America forgets that it is necessary, in a manner similar to most of their aging technology, then yes, it isn't a huge fee. Then there comes the cost for the legal aspect. Of course, no one ever puts these charges into play until the cases actually go through. The average tax payer, having been shut down from the Internet only wants to reason with the governing body to give him his life back, now has to go to court, and lose a lot of money to the lawyers so that he could be granted freedom he truly deserved. Another ploy against the tax payer.
In fact, there's another very funny bit to this, because they want to stop drug dealers online. People who sell over the counter drugs online, are a target here as well. However, it's a situation similar to the disturbing images on cigarette cartons. Why are we doing this? Shouldn't we have educated the children to know better? Does anyone even pay attention to the pictures or will they even pay attention to what happens when they stop these sales? Like the situation in Pakistan, where text messages have a list of banned words, people will find a way around the problem. This opens up new markets of employment where people will now be a certified illegal online drug dealer. Absolutely new, absolutely 100% more dangerous.
So, since America is doing this in the interest of America, where is it? What is it that they aim to achieve? Has America been at war with other people so much that slapping itself in the face once in a while feels right? Now that America is making a move, when will Canada, America's understudy, decide that they need to do the same? Canada has been in the footsteps of America since the beginning. The whole country has basically mapped itself after the country that prides itself in most heart attacks a year, by being within the top 10. We're very close behind America when it comes to rampant morbid obesity, and just about as far behind if not worse when it comes to technology. Canada claims to be a developed country, but we're every bit as far behind as most countries when it comes to technology, efficiency, and literacy. So, why not keep on with status quo and just do what the Americans do, it's what our government does best anyway.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Post 01B
2012 is supposedly the end of the world for most people. The Mayans had predicted this end many many years ago, and people live in fear of what is to come. Let's get one thing straight : if the world will end, what can you do? Stop the world from moving? Maybe travel back in time and change the Mayan prophecy? Seeing that I really can't be bothered with the fact that the world will end, let's just continue shall we?
To start, telemarketers. Has anyone ever had the feeling that there is no end to these people? If memory serves me right, I was supposed to be on that "do not call list" that was so big a few years back. The fact that I'm still getting phone calls confuses me, and since putting yourself on the "do not call list" isn't changing things, I'll resort to other means of ending these meaningless and rather annoying phone calls from telemarketers. To start, I'll go with tricks that allow for easy ways to end these phone conversations, or if you would rather take the long route, I have ideas that can help make it excruciatingly painful to sit through a phone conversation with you.
Let's start with the quick and easy.
The Accident
Step 1: Answer the first few questions as quickly as possible
Step 2: Randomly hang up
The Disaster
Step 1: To perform The Disaster, here's what you need : calmness in your voice
Step 2: Answer positively to whoever is on the other side of the phone for the first few tolerable questions
Step 3: When you've had enough, quickly shout either of the following phrases in a huge panic before quickly hanging up
Step 1: Answer the phone casually as if you don't care what happens.
Step 2: When asked how you're doing today, tell them that you've got diarrhea and haven't had a proper bowel movement in the last week, and that you'd really like to be on the toilet seat right now rather than go through the conversation of what they're trying to sell.
/**The hang up should happen now for quick and easy, but if you wanna make the phone conversation really long, move on to Step 3*/
Step 3: If they haven't let you go yet, wait for a short while, and suddenly sniff and say : I smell something
Step 4: If they ask you what's going on, just tell them you think you're finally passing gas.
Step 5: Suddenly shout : "OMG I'VE SOILED MY PANTS!" and hang up.
The Know-it-all
Step 1: Calmly go through the usual procedures
Step 2: When they get to the part where they inform you that the phone call is recorded, ask them : "Are you also picking up your background? It's awful noisy on your end."
Step 3: They'll try to fix their phone, so you tell them : "Is that your supervisor back there? Tell them I said hi, and to be nicer to you."
Step 4: If they seemed stunned for even a split second, hang up.
The Foreigner
Step 1: Practice saying "What?" and "I don't understand!" in English with an accent and with as many grammatical errors as you can think of.
Step 2: As they talk to you, use ONE particular accent and keep repeating the above phrases
The Colonial
This works best if someone is calling about technical support you didn't ask for, or if the operator on the line doesn't answer (it's a habit of theirs these days, to not answer for the first half a minute)
Step 1: Appear to negotiate whatever it is that they're trying to sell
Step 2: Partway through, talk in a really croaky voice and tell them: "I'm not interested in what you're trying to sell, Cylon (pronounced "sigh-lawn") and you'd best hang up before I send my Vipers out to blast a hole in that ship you call a base star"
Of course..be creative with this, because it is a Battlestar Galactica reference.
Case in point : I once had a guy call me telling he was calling from "windows" regarding an issue with my computer. My reply was : "My home computer runs Linux, how'd you get this number". That stunned him, and that's when I launched into The Colonial. True story.
I think you understand the gist of the short ones, so let's move on with the tough and excruciating ones.
The Depressed One
Everyone has bad days, and faking one as if you're drunk off your rocker is a nice touch to totally mess with the telemarketer.
Step 1: Prepare a list of things that makes a day horrible. Have you got one? Good!
Step 2: When they ask how you're doing, tell them that you had a bad day.
Step 3: You can wait for them to ask if everything's alright, or you can go straight into asking : "did you want to hear about it?"
Step 4: Don't wait for them to answer and go through the list of bad things that can happen to you.
Step 5: Add a sob here or there and add a catch to your throat if you want. The key is to keep talking and not let them get a word in.
Step 6: Open a soda pop can if you want, and pretend to drink it every now and then while ranting.
Step 7: End with an attempt at popping pills to commit suicide or a determined : "I'm gonna go get that person for what they did to me" and quickly hang up.
The Babbler
Step 1: Wait until they need your input. They can be asking for information, or whether or not you're interested
Step 2: Tell them that you're 100% uncomfortable with what they're doing. Do not attack their job, but continually attack the fact that their job is invading your personal space, that you don't feel comfortable, and that you want them to leave you alone.
Step 3: At this point, you can move on to The Depressed One or you can continue to berate them with feigned intellectuality by using larger words or more complex sentences that essentially says how much you don't agree with talking about your personal life over the phone. Include the fact that they could have just sent an SQL query to register you into something you don't want to be a part of.
Step 4: Quickly tell them you're not interested, you're uncomfortable and if you're really scared, threaten to call the cops and hang up.
Now all of these tips and tricks are meant to make a fun task out of the menially telling the telemarketer to bugger off and leave you alone. I know of people who just hang up. Another good idea is to just always pretend to never be at home, that you're the housemaid or something. I do not condone attacking telemarketers, as done in 40-Year-Old Virgin (spoiler alert), where Catherine Keener told Steve Carrell (who was faking as a telemarketer) that he should get a real job and moves on by saying a lot of unfriendly things to him. I think that they're just doing their job, and we should respect them, and only disrespect their employers by wasting their time.
For all I know, you can reverse The Babbler and only ask the telemarketer how they're doing, what they thought of the weather, etc..etc, as if you guys are at a cigar bar talking about the day.
With that, I'm going to sign off. Have a great new year, and have fun;).
To start, telemarketers. Has anyone ever had the feeling that there is no end to these people? If memory serves me right, I was supposed to be on that "do not call list" that was so big a few years back. The fact that I'm still getting phone calls confuses me, and since putting yourself on the "do not call list" isn't changing things, I'll resort to other means of ending these meaningless and rather annoying phone calls from telemarketers. To start, I'll go with tricks that allow for easy ways to end these phone conversations, or if you would rather take the long route, I have ideas that can help make it excruciatingly painful to sit through a phone conversation with you.
Let's start with the quick and easy.
The Accident
Step 1: Answer the first few questions as quickly as possible
Step 2: Randomly hang up
The Disaster
Step 1: To perform The Disaster, here's what you need : calmness in your voice
Step 2: Answer positively to whoever is on the other side of the phone for the first few tolerable questions
Step 3: When you've had enough, quickly shout either of the following phrases in a huge panic before quickly hanging up
- OH NO! MY DOG HAS RAN OUTSIDE!
- OH NO! MY STOVE/OVEN IS ON FIRE!
- OH NO! MY [someone close enough to you that requires your attention] JUST FELL [optional : in the shower]!
- OH NO! MY WIFE'S GONE INTO LABOUR!
Step 1: Answer the phone casually as if you don't care what happens.
Step 2: When asked how you're doing today, tell them that you've got diarrhea and haven't had a proper bowel movement in the last week, and that you'd really like to be on the toilet seat right now rather than go through the conversation of what they're trying to sell.
/**The hang up should happen now for quick and easy, but if you wanna make the phone conversation really long, move on to Step 3*/
Step 3: If they haven't let you go yet, wait for a short while, and suddenly sniff and say : I smell something
Step 4: If they ask you what's going on, just tell them you think you're finally passing gas.
Step 5: Suddenly shout : "OMG I'VE SOILED MY PANTS!" and hang up.
The Know-it-all
Step 1: Calmly go through the usual procedures
Step 2: When they get to the part where they inform you that the phone call is recorded, ask them : "Are you also picking up your background? It's awful noisy on your end."
Step 3: They'll try to fix their phone, so you tell them : "Is that your supervisor back there? Tell them I said hi, and to be nicer to you."
Step 4: If they seemed stunned for even a split second, hang up.
The Foreigner
Step 1: Practice saying "What?" and "I don't understand!" in English with an accent and with as many grammatical errors as you can think of.
Step 2: As they talk to you, use ONE particular accent and keep repeating the above phrases
The Colonial
This works best if someone is calling about technical support you didn't ask for, or if the operator on the line doesn't answer (it's a habit of theirs these days, to not answer for the first half a minute)
Step 1: Appear to negotiate whatever it is that they're trying to sell
Step 2: Partway through, talk in a really croaky voice and tell them: "I'm not interested in what you're trying to sell, Cylon (pronounced "sigh-lawn") and you'd best hang up before I send my Vipers out to blast a hole in that ship you call a base star"
Of course..be creative with this, because it is a Battlestar Galactica reference.
Case in point : I once had a guy call me telling he was calling from "windows" regarding an issue with my computer. My reply was : "My home computer runs Linux, how'd you get this number". That stunned him, and that's when I launched into The Colonial. True story.
I think you understand the gist of the short ones, so let's move on with the tough and excruciating ones.
The Depressed One
Everyone has bad days, and faking one as if you're drunk off your rocker is a nice touch to totally mess with the telemarketer.
Step 1: Prepare a list of things that makes a day horrible. Have you got one? Good!
Step 2: When they ask how you're doing, tell them that you had a bad day.
Step 3: You can wait for them to ask if everything's alright, or you can go straight into asking : "did you want to hear about it?"
Step 4: Don't wait for them to answer and go through the list of bad things that can happen to you.
Step 5: Add a sob here or there and add a catch to your throat if you want. The key is to keep talking and not let them get a word in.
Step 6: Open a soda pop can if you want, and pretend to drink it every now and then while ranting.
Step 7: End with an attempt at popping pills to commit suicide or a determined : "I'm gonna go get that person for what they did to me" and quickly hang up.
The Babbler
Step 1: Wait until they need your input. They can be asking for information, or whether or not you're interested
Step 2: Tell them that you're 100% uncomfortable with what they're doing. Do not attack their job, but continually attack the fact that their job is invading your personal space, that you don't feel comfortable, and that you want them to leave you alone.
Step 3: At this point, you can move on to The Depressed One or you can continue to berate them with feigned intellectuality by using larger words or more complex sentences that essentially says how much you don't agree with talking about your personal life over the phone. Include the fact that they could have just sent an SQL query to register you into something you don't want to be a part of.
Step 4: Quickly tell them you're not interested, you're uncomfortable and if you're really scared, threaten to call the cops and hang up.
Now all of these tips and tricks are meant to make a fun task out of the menially telling the telemarketer to bugger off and leave you alone. I know of people who just hang up. Another good idea is to just always pretend to never be at home, that you're the housemaid or something. I do not condone attacking telemarketers, as done in 40-Year-Old Virgin (spoiler alert), where Catherine Keener told Steve Carrell (who was faking as a telemarketer) that he should get a real job and moves on by saying a lot of unfriendly things to him. I think that they're just doing their job, and we should respect them, and only disrespect their employers by wasting their time.
For all I know, you can reverse The Babbler and only ask the telemarketer how they're doing, what they thought of the weather, etc..etc, as if you guys are at a cigar bar talking about the day.
With that, I'm going to sign off. Have a great new year, and have fun;).
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Post 01A
Exam season has started, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Perhaps the last four months were filled with some sort of joy and happiness, but it can't be said that it was all fun and games. For starters, the web course had seen a drastic change, and it went from a fun and helpful course, to a ridiculous and time consuming course that wasn't helpful at all.
That aside, academics is not the topic of this blog, so I'll digress. as anyone seen the new YouTube layout? It's been there for about two weeks, and the more I see it, the more annoyed I get. YouTube has changed its layout more frequently lately, because Google believes they can make it better in the hopes that they can trump Facebook. It started off as an innocent tweak, really. I never looked at YouTube as if it's a social networking site at first. I always looked at it like a video sharing site. That's all changed now.
Because the norm of society is to always be in the know of what Johnny from down the street is doing at any given time, everything is taking the form of Twitter and Facebook. People don't need to talk anymore, or share photos of their vacation to Cabot. All they have to do is put it online so that everyone can see. What I find most ridiculous is that people don't think they're loud enough in real life, so they need to broadcast what they're thinking to everyone and anyone in the form of Twitter. It just seems like everyone has to know about you right now, in spite of where you are and what you're doing. With the dawn of the smartphone, I think people have managed to take that concept and brought it literally everywhere and anywhere.
Of course, it didn't end with just pictures and simple 140 character blurbs, so that's when Facebook makes an even greater assault. Many people have Facebook accounts, and they're practically replacements to homepages and blogs. Every now and then, people do something (i.e..upload a photo/video, visited some place, liked something, wrote something on someone else' wall) and that is now documented as an event. It automatically is loaded up onto Mark Zuckerberg's networks and the whole world can see. That's the last straw really. People have wasted so much time to go on about how they're unique and individual, but here they are, putting their personal lives into the hands of Facebook and trying to grab attention. If you're so unique and individual, why do you need to join in with other people who believe they're unique and individual by showcasing it on Facebook?
That's perhaps what's gotten into Windows Phone 7 and YouTube. "Events" or anything, that is new, is now posted like a news feed. That's why the new YouTube is so annoying. It now lists everything, like a news feed in the similar fashion that Facebook is doing. Windows Phone 7 has been even FOCUSING onto the fact that it was all about having your friends' events appear as a huge news feed. While I understand that catching up with the times is necessary, can someone explain to me why following in the footsteps of Facebook is necessary? It's precisely the same reason why a lot of the population does not like the new Windows Live Messenger. This Facebook obsession has to stop. If it can't even give people the freedom to enjoy their favourite webpages, then I think it's intruding into people's lives. That alone, is crime worthy of punishment.
That aside, academics is not the topic of this blog, so I'll digress. as anyone seen the new YouTube layout? It's been there for about two weeks, and the more I see it, the more annoyed I get. YouTube has changed its layout more frequently lately, because Google believes they can make it better in the hopes that they can trump Facebook. It started off as an innocent tweak, really. I never looked at YouTube as if it's a social networking site at first. I always looked at it like a video sharing site. That's all changed now.
Because the norm of society is to always be in the know of what Johnny from down the street is doing at any given time, everything is taking the form of Twitter and Facebook. People don't need to talk anymore, or share photos of their vacation to Cabot. All they have to do is put it online so that everyone can see. What I find most ridiculous is that people don't think they're loud enough in real life, so they need to broadcast what they're thinking to everyone and anyone in the form of Twitter. It just seems like everyone has to know about you right now, in spite of where you are and what you're doing. With the dawn of the smartphone, I think people have managed to take that concept and brought it literally everywhere and anywhere.
Of course, it didn't end with just pictures and simple 140 character blurbs, so that's when Facebook makes an even greater assault. Many people have Facebook accounts, and they're practically replacements to homepages and blogs. Every now and then, people do something (i.e..upload a photo/video, visited some place, liked something, wrote something on someone else' wall) and that is now documented as an event. It automatically is loaded up onto Mark Zuckerberg's networks and the whole world can see. That's the last straw really. People have wasted so much time to go on about how they're unique and individual, but here they are, putting their personal lives into the hands of Facebook and trying to grab attention. If you're so unique and individual, why do you need to join in with other people who believe they're unique and individual by showcasing it on Facebook?
That's perhaps what's gotten into Windows Phone 7 and YouTube. "Events" or anything, that is new, is now posted like a news feed. That's why the new YouTube is so annoying. It now lists everything, like a news feed in the similar fashion that Facebook is doing. Windows Phone 7 has been even FOCUSING onto the fact that it was all about having your friends' events appear as a huge news feed. While I understand that catching up with the times is necessary, can someone explain to me why following in the footsteps of Facebook is necessary? It's precisely the same reason why a lot of the population does not like the new Windows Live Messenger. This Facebook obsession has to stop. If it can't even give people the freedom to enjoy their favourite webpages, then I think it's intruding into people's lives. That alone, is crime worthy of punishment.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Post 019
Apple computer may be the most valuable IT company to date, but most of what it is today, actually narrows down to one man, Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs was more than just a CEO. He was an innovative man, who never really stopped moving forward. Yes, ideas for a touchscreen phone wasn't new, an mp3 player whose real specialty was its large hard drive and the clickwheel can hardly be passed as amazing, but there was a thin layer of icing on these products that make the average consumer so amazed.
There always is this unspoken exclusivity whenever it came to an Apple product. It's like an invisible ward whenever passing the Apple store in the mall, or walking by those black tables at your local big box electronic store. Much like Steve Jobs, these were the vessels that carried these minimalistic, yet very mysterious devices. The one thing that made Apple so outstanding was not because their products were usually more expensive than their competitors or because it was so much prettier, but because how well they worked.
In the last few years, Apple has been rolling out with updates, refreshes and even newer generations of each product within a 12-16 month product cycle. It was a move to declare war against the conformists. Conformists have now done everything they can, to stand still in time, as they continue to purchase machines that never got any better ever since 2002. Apple aimed to win these conforming consumers over, by wowing them and showing them, that machines cannot stand still. This moved in accordance to Moore's Law, and actually explains very well, how society defied it, and tried to stay still after the advent of Windows XP. Everyone was finally able to get their hands on a computer without freaking out at the cryptic bits and pieces of Bill Gates' software because Windows XP worked. Windows XP sat around for at least 4 years before Vista came about and was widely rejected. People still clung on to Windows XP. It was madness. It was wrong.
Steve Jobs' greatest achievement was to really show these people that there was a better alternative. The dawn of the Information Age has caused the speed at which things should be done to take a rapid increase. So, with that, Apple started to get an upper hand on the war.
Steve Jobs, being just as charismatic and just as innovative as the products he oversees, have finally won the people over. Apple is no longer just an exclusive club waiting to die. It was a growing party. To drive the point home, Steve Jobs even presented himself, in a minimalistic form with the turtleneck and jeans, just to embody the spirit in which Apple will work. Every machine ever since the iPod nano has been absolutely nothing short of phenomenal. Did they have faults? Of course. The release of the iPhone in 2007 was often ignored because no one was ready for it. The MacBook Air was too impractical. That list can grow.
However, Apple did not stop. They only made better and better machines, with improved battery life, better form factor, yearly OS tweaks. It was amazing. Apple is no longer that beige box in the corner of every late 90's elementary school classroom. Apple is now, in everyone's pockets, purses, jackets, backpacks, labs...you name it. For this, we salute you, Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs was more than just a CEO. He was an innovative man, who never really stopped moving forward. Yes, ideas for a touchscreen phone wasn't new, an mp3 player whose real specialty was its large hard drive and the clickwheel can hardly be passed as amazing, but there was a thin layer of icing on these products that make the average consumer so amazed.
There always is this unspoken exclusivity whenever it came to an Apple product. It's like an invisible ward whenever passing the Apple store in the mall, or walking by those black tables at your local big box electronic store. Much like Steve Jobs, these were the vessels that carried these minimalistic, yet very mysterious devices. The one thing that made Apple so outstanding was not because their products were usually more expensive than their competitors or because it was so much prettier, but because how well they worked.
In the last few years, Apple has been rolling out with updates, refreshes and even newer generations of each product within a 12-16 month product cycle. It was a move to declare war against the conformists. Conformists have now done everything they can, to stand still in time, as they continue to purchase machines that never got any better ever since 2002. Apple aimed to win these conforming consumers over, by wowing them and showing them, that machines cannot stand still. This moved in accordance to Moore's Law, and actually explains very well, how society defied it, and tried to stay still after the advent of Windows XP. Everyone was finally able to get their hands on a computer without freaking out at the cryptic bits and pieces of Bill Gates' software because Windows XP worked. Windows XP sat around for at least 4 years before Vista came about and was widely rejected. People still clung on to Windows XP. It was madness. It was wrong.
Steve Jobs' greatest achievement was to really show these people that there was a better alternative. The dawn of the Information Age has caused the speed at which things should be done to take a rapid increase. So, with that, Apple started to get an upper hand on the war.
Steve Jobs, being just as charismatic and just as innovative as the products he oversees, have finally won the people over. Apple is no longer just an exclusive club waiting to die. It was a growing party. To drive the point home, Steve Jobs even presented himself, in a minimalistic form with the turtleneck and jeans, just to embody the spirit in which Apple will work. Every machine ever since the iPod nano has been absolutely nothing short of phenomenal. Did they have faults? Of course. The release of the iPhone in 2007 was often ignored because no one was ready for it. The MacBook Air was too impractical. That list can grow.
However, Apple did not stop. They only made better and better machines, with improved battery life, better form factor, yearly OS tweaks. It was amazing. Apple is no longer that beige box in the corner of every late 90's elementary school classroom. Apple is now, in everyone's pockets, purses, jackets, backpacks, labs...you name it. For this, we salute you, Steve Jobs.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Post 018
October 4th is a day that was perhaps slightly over-hyped in my world. Part of me had wished for a change starting in the early morning. I had gone to bed, thinking that I could make a difference. I would step up and really let loose a volley of well-constructed phrases that not only explained to the prof of my web components course that despite my respecting him for that PhD title that he holds, I do not agree with his teaching methods.
I wanted to tell him that he was difficult to follow. The fact that he runs to his laptop, to the whiteboard, scribbles some random note, and decides to pass it off as teaching irks me. I want to point all these flaws out to him, but I find myself sitting back and just giving up. While leaning back in my seat, I raise my feet so that my legs are parallel to the ground. Using my arms I push onto the underside of the table behind me, and start stretching my shoulder muscles. I started to stare blankly at the screen and realize, why this was a useless idea. He hadn't listened two minutes ago when my fellow peers tried to explain that there are nonexistent classmates on their team list.
This is what perhaps causes the biggest pain for me, as I find that I do not seem to get the motivation to make something of my education when the educator doesn't seem to give me the support I'm looking for. Strike 1. I'm feeling that this is becoming a write-off day.
The high point of the day must be Chevy's demonstration at Yonge Dundas Square. Having the chance to parallel park the Chevy Orlando, and test drive the much hyped Chevy Volt, I feel that I can only shake my head at the thought of new cars. Most new cars have New Car Syndrome. The steering racks are all now electric-assisted power steering. There is no feel to the front wheels. It's like turning a very loose circle, with no feel of how much force is fighting back from the road. That's before I get to the windows. New cars have large windows up front and ever shrinking windows till you reach the back, where you're lucky if the designer didn't decide to put a spoiler in the middle of your rear window, cutting down the already small window to something even smaller. I should get used to looking out of a porthole, because that's what rear windows will look like in the future.
Then came the news from Cupertino. For months, I had been preaching of the arrival of the iPhone 5. I spoke of a larger screen, an 8MP camera, the A5 processor, faster speeds, a replacement touch button instead of the home button, and a slimmer design. The A5 processor, 8MP camera and higher speed came into fruition by means of Moore's Law, but the rest was all gone. Not only was there no iPhone 5, but there was an iPhone 4S. It was lackluster. It was boring, it was stupid, and it seemed recycled. Apple had spent extra time to push this out, totally trumped our expectations of a summer launch just so they can have a presentation for a machine that clearly was sub-par by Apple's standards.
Perhaps graphics will be a change. Maybe I can ask a question that can solve my problems. I could finally solve my headache from last night. Perhaps I was wrong. Not only was it difficult to present my problem when there was nothing to explain my situation, I also couldn't get any pointers to solving the problem. This was too much to handle.
I'm dubbing this disappointment day. It's not so bad that it'd be considered a bad day. However, it's so difficult to comprehend how so many things can just fall short of expectation on the same day. October 4th : Disappointment Day.....*sigh*
I wanted to tell him that he was difficult to follow. The fact that he runs to his laptop, to the whiteboard, scribbles some random note, and decides to pass it off as teaching irks me. I want to point all these flaws out to him, but I find myself sitting back and just giving up. While leaning back in my seat, I raise my feet so that my legs are parallel to the ground. Using my arms I push onto the underside of the table behind me, and start stretching my shoulder muscles. I started to stare blankly at the screen and realize, why this was a useless idea. He hadn't listened two minutes ago when my fellow peers tried to explain that there are nonexistent classmates on their team list.
This is what perhaps causes the biggest pain for me, as I find that I do not seem to get the motivation to make something of my education when the educator doesn't seem to give me the support I'm looking for. Strike 1. I'm feeling that this is becoming a write-off day.
The high point of the day must be Chevy's demonstration at Yonge Dundas Square. Having the chance to parallel park the Chevy Orlando, and test drive the much hyped Chevy Volt, I feel that I can only shake my head at the thought of new cars. Most new cars have New Car Syndrome. The steering racks are all now electric-assisted power steering. There is no feel to the front wheels. It's like turning a very loose circle, with no feel of how much force is fighting back from the road. That's before I get to the windows. New cars have large windows up front and ever shrinking windows till you reach the back, where you're lucky if the designer didn't decide to put a spoiler in the middle of your rear window, cutting down the already small window to something even smaller. I should get used to looking out of a porthole, because that's what rear windows will look like in the future.
Then came the news from Cupertino. For months, I had been preaching of the arrival of the iPhone 5. I spoke of a larger screen, an 8MP camera, the A5 processor, faster speeds, a replacement touch button instead of the home button, and a slimmer design. The A5 processor, 8MP camera and higher speed came into fruition by means of Moore's Law, but the rest was all gone. Not only was there no iPhone 5, but there was an iPhone 4S. It was lackluster. It was boring, it was stupid, and it seemed recycled. Apple had spent extra time to push this out, totally trumped our expectations of a summer launch just so they can have a presentation for a machine that clearly was sub-par by Apple's standards.
Perhaps graphics will be a change. Maybe I can ask a question that can solve my problems. I could finally solve my headache from last night. Perhaps I was wrong. Not only was it difficult to present my problem when there was nothing to explain my situation, I also couldn't get any pointers to solving the problem. This was too much to handle.
I'm dubbing this disappointment day. It's not so bad that it'd be considered a bad day. However, it's so difficult to comprehend how so many things can just fall short of expectation on the same day. October 4th : Disappointment Day.....*sigh*
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