September 2015

I’ve been deleting many blogs from my blog roll over the past week. It is becoming very common for “bloggers” to simply link to another person’s blog entry or to simply cut and paste the article with maybe some effort to identify the originating source. The copied blog entry is then framed in ads, click through requirements and other money grabbing experiences, all so that the “blogger” can make ad revenue with little effort.  

This irks me.

What happened to the time not so long ago when people generated original content and shared it through a blog or other sort of medium? Do people no longer have the will to think? Do they rather to be fed the same drivel repeatedly until it becomes the truth?

I’ve mentioned many times before that I am not a fan of advertisements. I don’t mind a static ad in a magazine or a newspaper. I’ll even tolerate ads in the margin of a web page, but when the entire page is blocked by an ad or I’m forced to answer a survey or I have to search for a “close” button to get an auto playing video to stop blaring at me, I lose* all interest in consuming whatever I was intending to consume by falling for the click bait.

I think one of the reasons that we have such stupidity front and center in media these days is because people keep regurgitating the stupidity in an effort to grab more ad dollars. Every time I read a headline that says, “you won’t believe it when…” or “your jaw will hit the floor when you see this…” or “what happens next will astound you…” I want to slap the three closest people to me across the face and/or throw a lamp across the room and scream “please stop the insanity!”

The fact that my Facebook stream has become a constant source of this idiocy, despite my best efforts to hide, delete, muffle, silence or stomp out this sort of thing adds fuel to the fire that makes me want to throw a lamp. One of my recent revelations about my childhood is that there were a fair number of idiots that were part of my past. The regurgitation of the idiotic has amplified this. I miss my ignorance.

There is no solution to all of this because it’s just going to continue and no one has the gumption to stand up to this sort of content presentation on the Internet. 

Get rich quick by doing nothing. Welcome to the 21st Century. 

*please note the way I spelled that word. 

There was an event at the Apple Store in SoHo yesterday, a “meet the developers” event that apparently featured the Kardashians. Admittedly, this made me vomit a little in my mouth. Naturally, my take on this is that it’s the perpetuation of everything that is wrong with our society, what with having a game where you can be a Kardashian or something. I think the latest version of AbFab said it best when they likened the Kardashians to spreading the herpes and multiplying like head lice. I don’t know why I care to be angry about the existence of the Kardashians, except that their existence is constantly in my face. It’s bad enough that they infest my Twitter feed, are all over the television, are constantly referred to in casual conversation by people with little to talk about and are thrusting Caitlyn Jenner at us constantly, but now Apple events as well?

Another reason to seriously consider moving to Linux (again).

There is a woman with a busted up Android phone sampling all the music on her non iDevice. Without headphones. At full volume. In the Barnes and Noble cafe.  The staff has spoken to her several times about this but she doesn’t care.

Because she’s entitled. And she has no manners.

All smartphones and the like should default to vibrate mode. I don’t want to hear your ringtone, I don’t want to know what you’re watching on Facebook (because it’s never as hilarious as the headline claims it will be) and I certainly don’t want to hear your phone call with your divorce lawyer over your speakerphone.

What the heck happened to respecting those around you? Have people completely forgotten about common courtesy?

The answer seems to be “it would appear so.”

It’s like these folks that can’t be bothered to park between the lines in a parking lot. They just don’t give a damn anymore. They don’t care about the people around them and they don’t care about anaything outside of their little world.

Though I’m one for a smaller government, I believe that people should be licensed to use anything with more tech horsepower than a Speak ‘n Play. If you don’t have a license, you can’t get on the Internet..

Ignorance. It’s what’s happening in 2015.