I have recently registered with the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Action Center website. I have found it useful in taking steps to become more politically active for issues I am concerned with.
They keep track of goings-on in the technology legal arena, and automate the process of helping you contact your representatives. If you are willing to register with your real name and street address, they are able to automatically route letters to your Sentaors/Representatives. They provide a boilerplate letter, which you can use or supply your own text.
I would encourage everyone to register if there are issues in technology that you feel strongly about. While I do not agree with their stance on every issue presented, I have found it satisfying to be able to stand up and voice my opinion on the ones that I do.
Isn't it funny how one press release can just make an afternoon much more lively?
If you've never spent any time running around an office building looking for equipment that might actually catch fire, I must say it's quite an experience. I did actually locate four monitors on the hit list -- looks like I'll be giving Big Blue a call.
Since I now have a public forum, here are some things that annoy me about today's American culture...
"ripped from the headlines" - I think just about every 60-minute drama series on TV has used this as a tag line. Do we really think that the story about the famous rock star on trial for rape ISN'T based on what you see on the news?
I even heard this gem in a commercial: "It doesn't get any more 'ripped from the headlines' than this!" -- fully acknowledging the cliche that it has become.
"revolutionary" - I consider this to be a revolutionary new blog. Why? Because who would read it if it were just the same old blog?
A revolutionary idea is something that shatters paradigms, that makes people think in new ways, that challenges an ideology, that answers a previously unanswered question.
But a "revolutionary" new toothbrush? Please. The entire idea of a toothbrush is that it wiggles lathery bristles up against your teeth. A toothbrush with batteries that wiggles itself is hardly revolutionary. Now, a toothbrush that cleans your teeth using radio waves or hypnosis... THAT'S revolutionary!
"but wait! there's more!" - Let me guess, you'll throw in a 20-piece matching stainless-steel cookware set at no extra cost? Yeah, I know. If I didn't think your all-singing, all-dancing, electronical whirlygig was worth my $19.99, throwing in a hand-painted macrame hi-fi picture frame isn't going to sway me. Sorry.
the summary crawl - Yes, in an attempt to pack as much information into one screen as a news website, many local and national news TV shows have added "the crawl". I hate it. I'm trying to watch what's going on in the main area of the screen, so I frequently don't notice the crawl until it's too late. I get to see the ends of potentially interesting news stories, such as "... giving out free beer and fellatio to anyone who asks."
cell phones in the grocery store - Come on, you're not THAT important. Hang up and shop.
Microsoft bashers... - ...who don't install an alternative OS because "it's too hard" or because "I still need Windows for stuff". It's easy to hate Microsoft for no good reason. If you really want to make a statement, install Linux or BSD. It's gotten a lot easier in the past couple years.
-zilla - I'm considering renaming this blog "Blogzilla". Except it's probably already been done. I'd also like to propose a new .ZILLA top level domain....
waiters/waitresses who "memorize" orders - You're getting paid to make sure I get exactly what I want. It would really make me feel better if you wrote it down somewhere.
"new car smell" air fresheners - None of them have got it right. Not a one. If you can mimic the smell of "Kiwi Broccoli Breeze", then you should be able to get the new car smell. Heck, every car manufacturer in the world gets it right every time.
Although, I did hear somewhere that the official New Car Smell (tm) is actually SCO's intellectual property. I believe they are bringing suit against GM next month.
long-winded blog entries - Oops.