No one's posted in a while, and you know why? Because we're under the heel of the damn boot that is the American workforce. We are wage slaves, or more accurately, salary slaves in the case of my cohort and I. But who really gives a toss? It's the same thing, we show up every day, clock in, and our main goal is not to get yelled at too much, or not have to do anything too degrading to keep our jobs (such as tell clients directly, "Yes, I really do care about your problems and they WILL be fixed, by God!") - all so that, if we're lucky, we can fuck around for fifteen minutes and not have to face the grim reality: we are sliding ever faster down a slippery slope.
At the bottom of this chasm is adulthood and real life waiting with open jaws, sharp teeth, and waggling tongue - all of it looking shockingly like the Great Pit of Carkoon, the resting place of the ever hungry Sarlacc. Boba Fett got out, but he had Mandalorian Combat Armor, a disintegrator, concussion grenade launcher, and a jet pack. How the fuck am I am ever going to get out? I have a B.F.A. in Acting and minors in computer science and English. Unless I hit it big, I am stuck. Hell, I would trade hitting it medium just to get out of the tedium which is this nine to five (or more accurately, nine until whenever the hell I finish).
This whole scenario is the old American way, nothing shocking about it, not in the least. But there is a new American way, my friends, and it comes to you dressed in false hopes and in the guise of progress. The new American way is the backhanded promotion, full of responsibility, but with no authority, and of course, no pay increase. It's a target on your back people - a big red bullseye that says, "SHOOT THIS IDIOT FIRST!" I am wearing several right now, and everyone from Corporate Snipers to petty thugs seems to be licking their chops. I am the camel in the desert, slow as shit and headshots like a motherfucker. No leading required...stationary targets are fun. I say this only because I was on a conference call yesterday with the client and the helpdesk, catching flak from them while simultaneously getting yelled at by several of my employees over IM. And the office cat wanted his belly scratched...everyone's a critic. I'm 25...and you're telling me this is what I have to look forward to for the next 40 years? Excuse my while I refill my mug and sweeten it with my tears of joy...
In other news, Baseball officially kicked off in Japan the other day, and I had intended a post to talk a ton of shit about the Red Sox and also the A's and their moneyballin' ways. Let me sum it up like this: Thank God for the beginning of baseball, because in April, you still believe anything can happen. I hate the Red Sox, but they are a bunch of class acts for refusing to go to Japan unless their coaches got paid the money they were promised. However, why the hell these guys need what is essentially my year's salary for a short trip to Japan is beyond me. And the A's suck, classically. They have teams that make great runs during the regular season built around smart choices, inexpensive players, and young talent, but they never make the full run, always lose in the playoffs (when they make it) and have a mass exodus of young talent every year because they can't afford to keep these guys. Bravo, really, keep up the good work. There is no argument for huge inflated payrolls, as my beloved Yanks have missed the Series completely for four straight years, and the Mets, well, those sorry boys just don't know how to win...even I felt bad for them last season. Anything short of them making the World Series this year results in some major re-engineering of the team...bold prediction of the season number one. Many more to come...
Bold Prediction 2: Yanks in 5.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Blue Light Special on Eat my $#!T, isle 42.
Following up with J's "WTF topic of the day" I came across a rather sickening article today. Talk about one steaming heap of flaming bad luck dropped on your doorstep with a note attached made of coal and uranium with writing etched in boiling blood saying: "Your lives are hereby forfeit. Have a nice day. - WalMart A.K.A America" and when you look up you see a Lamborghini peeling out of your driveway with the WalMart Smiley Face flicking a cigar out the window and flipping you the bird.
Wow. Just: wow. Way to be the biggest dick imaginable, WM. I'm sure they're reasoning goes something along the lines of "Well, if we shelled out for every unfortunate sucker who gets nailed by a truck and has a living being sprung forth from their womb blown to bits halfway across the world (and has to constantly re-live being told that for the first time due to the injury), where would our company be then?" I think you mean to say "How will I get my 7th iPhone, my 5th house slave, my upgraded fantasy package from my call-girl service, and my plot of land on the future Mars mining colony this year then?" Why not just come out and say it? You've already got your head far enough up your ass that you can see what all those complimentary doughnuts are doing to your arteries, you just look like more of an idiot trying to mask your fuck-headed nature at this point. But hey, watch those falling prices, right?
In other news, I found a steal of a bargain on a new MP3 player. I currently have a 1gb Creative Muvo which I nabbed way back in the day for about $140. That's kind of disgusting to think about nowadays, but this was about 4 years ago when the only other real option were $300 iPods or similarly priced Creative alternatives. I'll tell you what: my Muvo rocks. This thing is still pounding away and will kick the shit out of an iPod shuffle any day of the week with its *gasp!* lcd screen so I can see what I'm listening to and actually change settings, it's FM tuner, Equalizer presets, line-in recorder, voice recorder, and folder-mode playlist sorting. And it came with a rubber slip cover/belt clip AND armband. I'm definitely keeping it as my workout MP3 player, but......
Well, lo and behold 4 years later and I'm dicking around on the internet and I find this. Please also check out the CNET review. I went with the 8gb refurbished model for $95. "Oh, no, B-Moto, not REFURBISHED!" Yes, refurbished. I've got so many refurbed tech products for massive discounts that have NEVER caused problems, it's not even funny. In fact, I have never had any refurbed gear that has gone bad. Granted, I only get gear from manufacturers that I know make quality products to begin with, but still. So, compared to this model's direct competitor, the iPod Nano, I can firmly say again:
Eat my shit, Apple.
I'll put up a more specific review once I get the thing, but just look at the specs. Beautiful screen, customizable interface, excessive non-proprietary software/data format compatibility, SD card slot expansion capability, FM tuner, Voice recorder, and half the price of the nano. If you MUST be a slave to trends, maintain your hipster status, and feel like you can justify sacrificing all those nice features for a touch-scroll wheel (Though I'll admit, it's pretty nice, and I don't know why Creative decided to do away with their competing touch-scroll bar), then you can save a little pocket change and sell yourself to Apple for a little less than usual.
That's all for today. PEACE!
- B-spot out.
"No, you touch it"
Wow. Just: wow. Way to be the biggest dick imaginable, WM. I'm sure they're reasoning goes something along the lines of "Well, if we shelled out for every unfortunate sucker who gets nailed by a truck and has a living being sprung forth from their womb blown to bits halfway across the world (and has to constantly re-live being told that for the first time due to the injury), where would our company be then?" I think you mean to say "How will I get my 7th iPhone, my 5th house slave, my upgraded fantasy package from my call-girl service, and my plot of land on the future Mars mining colony this year then?" Why not just come out and say it? You've already got your head far enough up your ass that you can see what all those complimentary doughnuts are doing to your arteries, you just look like more of an idiot trying to mask your fuck-headed nature at this point. But hey, watch those falling prices, right?
In other news, I found a steal of a bargain on a new MP3 player. I currently have a 1gb Creative Muvo which I nabbed way back in the day for about $140. That's kind of disgusting to think about nowadays, but this was about 4 years ago when the only other real option were $300 iPods or similarly priced Creative alternatives. I'll tell you what: my Muvo rocks. This thing is still pounding away and will kick the shit out of an iPod shuffle any day of the week with its *gasp!* lcd screen so I can see what I'm listening to and actually change settings, it's FM tuner, Equalizer presets, line-in recorder, voice recorder, and folder-mode playlist sorting. And it came with a rubber slip cover/belt clip AND armband. I'm definitely keeping it as my workout MP3 player, but......
Well, lo and behold 4 years later and I'm dicking around on the internet and I find this. Please also check out the CNET review. I went with the 8gb refurbished model for $95. "Oh, no, B-Moto, not REFURBISHED!" Yes, refurbished. I've got so many refurbed tech products for massive discounts that have NEVER caused problems, it's not even funny. In fact, I have never had any refurbed gear that has gone bad. Granted, I only get gear from manufacturers that I know make quality products to begin with, but still. So, compared to this model's direct competitor, the iPod Nano, I can firmly say again:
Eat my shit, Apple.
I'll put up a more specific review once I get the thing, but just look at the specs. Beautiful screen, customizable interface, excessive non-proprietary software/data format compatibility, SD card slot expansion capability, FM tuner, Voice recorder, and half the price of the nano. If you MUST be a slave to trends, maintain your hipster status, and feel like you can justify sacrificing all those nice features for a touch-scroll wheel (Though I'll admit, it's pretty nice, and I don't know why Creative decided to do away with their competing touch-scroll bar), then you can save a little pocket change and sell yourself to Apple for a little less than usual.
That's all for today. PEACE!
- B-spot out.
"No, you touch it"
Who's eating shit? The consumer
Just to follow up on what B-spot said about refurbished products...I don't buy it. I've witnessed first hand why many people are turned off by refurbished products. My girlfriend has a printer that doesn't print, a DVD player that didn't play DVDs, and a TV/VCR/DVD combo that at least worked as a TV. In baseball terms, that .333 is a career year, but this is electronics where anything under 99% can kiss my ass.
For further proof, I am the proud owner of one hella boss 60 gig PS3. This thing is badass. And I got it for a song because it was refurbished and my buddy hooked me up with his instore discount. Too bad I can only play for 30 minutes before the damn thing freezes. But oh what a great 30 minutes it is...
J-town out.
For further proof, I am the proud owner of one hella boss 60 gig PS3. This thing is badass. And I got it for a song because it was refurbished and my buddy hooked me up with his instore discount. Too bad I can only play for 30 minutes before the damn thing freezes. But oh what a great 30 minutes it is...
J-town out.
Shit from Robots from the Future, you mean.
I should have probably mentioned that I sacrifice ipods and sometimes small children to the Gods of technology, so I think that has some bearing on the varying quality of J's and my electronic karma. Being Asian also helps.
I also do considerable research before I purchase anything, looking specifically at track records for hardware failures. For instance, I would never buy a refurbed Xbox 360 because of all the red ring of death scares. Nor would I buy anything refurbed from Sony these days (I bought a refurbed portable Sony CD player waayyyy back in the day and it was awesome and still works, but these days I hear weird things). They have a horrible record for mechanical failures and repair (though I can't fault J on his PS3 purchase; that thing is a beaut. Oh, and for what it's worth, I sat and played that rig and right at the point he was sure it would freeze on me, I went on and kept playing. I'm telling you, these things have DNA recognition in them....) Manufacturers with good track records: Canon, Creative Labs, Apple is hit and miss (though flash-based mp3 players are generally less prone to failure than hard drive based ones). Long story short: read both the customer and professional reviews of anything you buy. If people are complaining that it craps out on them right after the warranty runs out, DON'T BUY IT.
If you don't want to go refurb, Creative Labs still takes a dump on Apple's lawn with its regularly priced products.
I also do considerable research before I purchase anything, looking specifically at track records for hardware failures. For instance, I would never buy a refurbed Xbox 360 because of all the red ring of death scares. Nor would I buy anything refurbed from Sony these days (I bought a refurbed portable Sony CD player waayyyy back in the day and it was awesome and still works, but these days I hear weird things). They have a horrible record for mechanical failures and repair (though I can't fault J on his PS3 purchase; that thing is a beaut. Oh, and for what it's worth, I sat and played that rig and right at the point he was sure it would freeze on me, I went on and kept playing. I'm telling you, these things have DNA recognition in them....) Manufacturers with good track records: Canon, Creative Labs, Apple is hit and miss (though flash-based mp3 players are generally less prone to failure than hard drive based ones). Long story short: read both the customer and professional reviews of anything you buy. If people are complaining that it craps out on them right after the warranty runs out, DON'T BUY IT.
If you don't want to go refurb, Creative Labs still takes a dump on Apple's lawn with its regularly priced products.
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