Category: Rants

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In-App Agony

Posted on By Tom No Comments on In-App Agony
EdTech, Gear, Rants

Most apps for smart phones, whether iOS or Android, are relatively inexpensive.  They are certainly cheaper than the programs for PCs and Macs over the past decade or so.  As computing power increases and memory gets cheaper, software seems to pick up added bloatation, so it’s also nice to see powerful applications in a streamlined package.

Even though streamlined, powerful apps are fairly cost effective, there is on trend that bothers me – the “In-App Purchase.”  You purchase a cheap application, or perhaps find a free one, only to find that inside the app you have to purchase additional components to get it to do what you want.  I’ve found this to be the case with photography and music-related apps quite frequently.

For example, TC-Helicon’s VocalJam app is $6.99 in the app store.

IMG_0136

By itself it’s a pretty good program. However, if you try to click on the effects buttons on the left side, you get the following message:

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80% Won’t Post This

Posted on By Tom 6 Comments on 806 Won’t Post This
Internet, Rants

…and that’s a GOOD thing.

Take a look at this popular Facebook status update…

Every person has 1000 wishes. A cancer patient only has one wish, to get better. I know that 97% of Facebookers won’t post this as their status, but my friends will be the 3% that do. In honor of someone who died, or is fighting cancer – post this for at least one hour….

Now look at this one….

Today I’m going to pause to remember all those who are suffering from cancer, as well as their friends and family who are affected by this terrible disease.

…or this one…

Please remember my friend _____, who is battling cancer right now. Feel free to repost if you know someone else that might be concerned about him/her.

The first one is trite and passive aggressive. The last two have similar messages and concerns, and the second even encourages reposting, but to me are much less offensive. There is none of the guilt-inducing “you can’t be my friend if you don’t copy me exactly” sort of language. To me the last two messages are much more effective.

Danielle Foster, a contributing writer at Suite 101, describes this type of Facebook activism very succinctly:

The purpose of raising awareness about an important cause is to inspire people to reflect on the issue. The hope is that after awareness is raised, action will follow. Do status memes promoting awareness accomplish action, or are they merely providing short-lived entertainment and self-validation?…

…What this whole message is really doing is fishing for validation under the cover of supporting cancer victims. If you are the poster’s true friend, you will re-post the message because being that person’s true friend makes you a great person who would not dare dis-honor cancer victims, or the poster’s friendship with you, by not re-posting. You are this person’s friend aren’t you? You don’t hate cancer victims, do you? You had better re-post.

Read more at Suite101: Raising Awareness With Facebook: Does It Work? http://www.suite101.com/content/raising-awareness-with-facebook-does-it-work-a319040#ixzz1D6NkBMuF

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My Creepy Life (.com)

Posted on By Tom No Comments on My Creepy Life (.com)
Internet, Rants

MWSnap 2010-09-30, 14_08_49

I’m sure you’ve seen the commercials. A very attractive woman wants to know who might be searching for her online. She logs onto MyLife.com and seems delighted to find that lots of people have been searching for her – old high school chums, past loves, etc., etc. She naively reacts as if this is a GOOD thing. Of course, my first thought is – STALKERS! Perhaps the image below is more realistic:

cyberstalking

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Adventures in Used Autoland

Posted on By Tom 2 Comments on Adventures in Used Autoland
Miscellaneous, Rants

I believe I mentioned that my truck died. The cost to repair it would have been more than I what I would pay for a new truck. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to replace the truck, but it was Laura who talked me into it, saying that she liked having a third vehicle available.  It just had to be a small one she could drive to get gardening stuff. So, we set a budget for that amount and decided to see what we could get.

I had already test-driven a couple of trucks and had some candidates in mind. I had looked through the papers, and I had checked several online websites. Having done my research, I felt like I had a fairly good grasp of the market for small pickups, so on Saturday I set out to see what was really available. I did get a truck, but I’ll save that for last

Used car dealers run the gamut, from cliched plaid jacket wearing caricatures to some decent folks just trying to make a living selling cars. I think I ran into just about all of them. I stopped at one place where the salesman puffed a cigarette the entire time. He apologized, saying that the only time they are allowed to smoke was when they were out on the lot with customers. What??? I left.

I stopped at several little lots along Poinsett Highway. On close inspection, the little trucks on their lots led rough lives. It was a good thing that no one came out to answer questions or let me take a test drive.  Eventually I made my way to Toyota of Greer.  This is where things really took a turn for the bizarre.

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Bing, Buzz, Bip Bop Boo

Posted on By Tom No Comments on Bing, Buzz, Bip Bop Boo
Internet, Rants

Social_Icons

What’s the buzz, tell me what’s a-happenin’,
What’s the buzz, tell me what’s a-happenin’,
What’s the buzz, tell me what’s a-happenin’,
What’s the buzz, tell me what’s a-happenin’,

Why should you want to know?
Don’t you mind about the future?
Don’t you try to think ahead?
Save tomorrow for tomorrow;
Think about today instead.

– “What’s the Buzz?” from Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Back in the Good Ol’ Days „¢, AOL had dominance in the online world. It started as a self-contained entity with its own news, shopping, and social interactions. The “Internet” was this other stuff that you had to pay extra to get to on a per minute basis, unless you purchased AOL’s more expensive unlimited plan. In fact, less savvy users often thought that AOL WAS the Internet, and couldn’t imagine accessing information through any other method. Browser? What’s a browser?

Fast forward a decade or so and we like to think we’re so much better off with so many options, especially within the realm of searching and social networking. However, there’s much evidence today’s social networking corporations have the same attitudes as AOL did. They only want you to play in their sandbox.

Bing

Let’s start alphabetically with Bing.com. While not a social networking site, they have inherited all of the exclusivity of their parent company, Microsoft. They have even invented their own malady, Search Engine Overload, to scare others toward their “decision” engine.” I think what sent me over the edge was when I tried to install their Bing 3D Maps, supposedly their answer to Google Earth. I go the following message:

Make Bing my default search engine and prevent other programs from interfering with my choice.

If I had checked that box I would have been locked into Bing permanently, I guess. The second part of that statement, “interfering with my choice,” is deliberately misleading. If you click this box, you have no choice.

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