Another day more crap. or something. I guess it's possible for a day to pass without anything significant to gripe about, but if at any point you encounter what they call "The News" you'll have something to gripe about regardless of whether or not you really thought you were paying attention.
It gets kind of frustrating being in the space in between "Computers have always been a thing" and "We wouldn't even be talking about Hilary's emails if we'd just go back to paper". At no point in my life (for the parts that I could've used one at least) was I without a computer. I used to joke that when I was born the afterbirth was an RF switch <vintagecomputing.com>. Despite that, I don't think I got on the internet for the first time until 1997, and then it was only occasional. I never used myspace, missed the Napster thing entirely, and I was making and using mixtapes until I bought my first MP3 player in 2003. Regardless, computer use has always been part of my daily routine and a centerpiece of my entertainment like 'the young people' but I'm still okay sitting for hours without checking my phone, and the few times I've 'checked in' someplace were pretty much because someone or something reminded me to. Something about free wings or something.
I don't know why I'm going on about that in particular, because the things that really irked me today are as follows:
Some billboard company failed to secure their internet-connected equipment which resulted in a WHOLE 'NEIGHBORHOOD' getting Goatse'd. If you don't know what that means count yourself lucky. I'll say it's pretty gross, used to be considered a funny joke, and is definitely NSFW. ARTICLE ON GAWKER
FOX news (often on in my office. If you change it to CNN or BBC there's one guy that complains and/or changes it back. Other than that no one really has a strong opinion either way, which I guess says something about us but whatever) had this whole thing on their morning show about how to change a tire. The little border title that kept coming up on the bottom of the screen during this segment said something about fifty-something % of teens polled not knowing how to change a tire. It's a rehash of something from a year ago (which is probably a repeat of something from a previous year) that seems to want to blame "Tech" for it. Of course, I've got questions and concerns with that whole thing and its 52%:
- How was this asked? If some guy asked me if I knew how to change a tire when I was a teen, I would've said no and moved on. If someone instead asked me to help them change their tire (or said "Change this tire! GO!" I'm pretty sure I would've figured it the fuck out.
- How many of them actually had licenses? I didn't even have a license as a teen, I was 20 before I could drive.
- How the fuck is this tech's fault? If Tire Changing is supposed to be one of those Basic Life Skills that everyone should know, isn't the Parent's fault? If it's supposed to be a thing you can do if you have a license, but you have one and can't, isn't that The System's fault that you have a license you're unqualified for?
Really it's just that I feel marginalized as a techie person that's young enough that hotkeys, spellcheck and reading error messages before clicking 'Okay' or 'Cancel' are just second-nature, but old enough that I don't need to be reminded every commercial break that things I post online stay there forever. Watch commercials on those networks targeting 'adults': you get an ad for a dating site followed by an ad for adjustable reading glasses or extra-large print keyboards. It's like I'm not even worth *trying* to sell things too.
I feel more isolated for that than I do for being an Enlisted Pagan pro gay Minority.
It gets kind of frustrating being in the space in between "Computers have always been a thing" and "We wouldn't even be talking about Hilary's emails if we'd just go back to paper". At no point in my life (for the parts that I could've used one at least) was I without a computer. I used to joke that when I was born the afterbirth was an RF switch <vintagecomputing.com>. Despite that, I don't think I got on the internet for the first time until 1997, and then it was only occasional. I never used myspace, missed the Napster thing entirely, and I was making and using mixtapes until I bought my first MP3 player in 2003. Regardless, computer use has always been part of my daily routine and a centerpiece of my entertainment like 'the young people' but I'm still okay sitting for hours without checking my phone, and the few times I've 'checked in' someplace were pretty much because someone or something reminded me to. Something about free wings or something.
I don't know why I'm going on about that in particular, because the things that really irked me today are as follows:
Some billboard company failed to secure their internet-connected equipment which resulted in a WHOLE 'NEIGHBORHOOD' getting Goatse'd. If you don't know what that means count yourself lucky. I'll say it's pretty gross, used to be considered a funny joke, and is definitely NSFW. ARTICLE ON GAWKER
FOX news (often on in my office. If you change it to CNN or BBC there's one guy that complains and/or changes it back. Other than that no one really has a strong opinion either way, which I guess says something about us but whatever) had this whole thing on their morning show about how to change a tire. The little border title that kept coming up on the bottom of the screen during this segment said something about fifty-something % of teens polled not knowing how to change a tire. It's a rehash of something from a year ago (which is probably a repeat of something from a previous year) that seems to want to blame "Tech" for it. Of course, I've got questions and concerns with that whole thing and its 52%:
- How was this asked? If some guy asked me if I knew how to change a tire when I was a teen, I would've said no and moved on. If someone instead asked me to help them change their tire (or said "Change this tire! GO!" I'm pretty sure I would've figured it the fuck out.
- How many of them actually had licenses? I didn't even have a license as a teen, I was 20 before I could drive.
- How the fuck is this tech's fault? If Tire Changing is supposed to be one of those Basic Life Skills that everyone should know, isn't the Parent's fault? If it's supposed to be a thing you can do if you have a license, but you have one and can't, isn't that The System's fault that you have a license you're unqualified for?
Really it's just that I feel marginalized as a techie person that's young enough that hotkeys, spellcheck and reading error messages before clicking 'Okay' or 'Cancel' are just second-nature, but old enough that I don't need to be reminded every commercial break that things I post online stay there forever. Watch commercials on those networks targeting 'adults': you get an ad for a dating site followed by an ad for adjustable reading glasses or extra-large print keyboards. It's like I'm not even worth *trying* to sell things too.
I feel more isolated for that than I do for being an Enlisted Pagan pro gay Minority.
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