Project365 day 190

Project365 day 190 2007 07 10, originally uploaded by thepetecom.

AW, COOL!!! I'm all mysterious and whatnot!!!

Yep, me back at ThePlayaBean!

ANTIDEPRESSANTS FOR A THIRD OF THE US

This morning, on CNN Radio's podcast I heard a story reported on that really made me think about America. As reported in [http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007863821|this July 9, 2007 article] at AllHeadlineNews.com, the CDC (Center for Disease Control) has released a study that found that, in America, 118 million prescriptions were given out in 2005 for antidepressants alone. If each of those prescriptions represents one person, that means that more than a third of the population of the United States.

Given that, you must really start to wonder just what is making us so depressed.

Is it that we live in the "Greatest Country on Earth?"

Because if the "Greatest Country on Earth" has this many people depressed enough to take drugs, I'm not sure being the "Greatest" means shit.

Of course, this study will likely be ignored and brushed under the carpet while more and more people start taking drugs to combat their depression rather than dealing with what is making them depressed, either literally through making changes in their lives to make said lives better, or changing their diet to better balance their brain chemicals. (Yes, in some cases drugs are fine, but in this many?)

The point is, this is a serious issue. If fully one third of us are sick, we're facing an epidemic. .

FOUNTAIN, THE (2006)

[asin: B00005JPAR]

Positive Experience/Entertaining? Yeesh--not really. I heard this film was originally much longer--perhaps they cut all the bits that made this movie interesting.


Technically any good? I suppose on an "artistic" level, one could argue the film is deep with meaning and metaphor. However, the story was tedious, boring and predictable. While it was only something like 90 minutes long it felt much longer. The acting was reasonable enough, but the story wasn't grounded in any sort of reality that made sense. Things just happen because the film says they happen and not because of any rational connection to the real world.


How did it leave me feeling? Like I just wasted the preceding 90, or so, minutes. I always expect powerful things from the director of this film (he also directed PI and REQUIEM FOR A DREAM). However, this was a big mushy mess that made very little sense. Sorry, I can't not recommend this one enough.


Final Rating? DNS - Do Not See - Not even if you get it from Netflix. It just isn't worth the effort.

DIY CLOCK "CONTEST" MEANS NEW DESIGNERS WORK FOR FREE

I love electronics and/or toy related DIY projects. I like to call myself an analog (non-digital) hacker. I don't do software, but the idea of jamming some kind of electronic device inside something it isn't normally found inside of fills me with glee. The guy who runs BenHeck.com is a demi-God to me, of course. That said, I make mad dashes to DIY contests. Lately I've been concerned with DIY toy contests, but today, I came across [http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/09/furni-offers-diy-clock-kit-kicks-off-design-competition/|this post] at Engadget.com talking about a DIY clock contest from the euro-cool designy company Furni.

It turns out they've got a short stack of retro "cool" digital and analog clocks and are now selling just the innards of a digital clock to folks who want to enter their [http://furni.myshopify.com/products/diy-clock-parts-kit|clock design contest]. The prize? A shot at having your design in their next collection of designy products.

If that doesn't seem like enough of a rip to you, check out how much the DIY clock guts cost: $24.

Yep, for a clock and a wall-wart for power--as many dollars as there are in the day. Seems like another rip, charging that much for items you could score from your nearest corner drug store for about $14 cheaper (and those parts would come in a ready made case and I wouldn't have to pay extra for shipping!).

The good news is that in the fine print of the contest/product page, they say you don't actually have to buy the parts or even build anything. You can enter the contest with a "decent" drawing or sketch.

I was thinking I'd just do that, but then I had a really cool idea for a DIY toy project :) TheWife and I have been thinking about replacing the clock radio in the bathroom... ^_^ .

Damn--totally forgot to make my point! This is how tired I am today... so, the sad thing is that the Furni folks don't want to have to pay for a designer to come up with a bunch of good ideas (or bad ones) and would rather have regular folks work for free. Of course, because of the way all creative industries are, it's hard for even trained, qualified individuals to get work in their chosen field, people are more than willing to do work for free. As I will be, when I design my own retro cool clock and submit pics of it to them before September 1.

Hey, the Summer of Munny contest got canceled this year, so I've got some time on my hands :)

TONY SNOW MAKES ME LAUGH

So, I'm listening to the podcast version (shortened) of Keith Olbermann's COUNTDOWN show from last night and they run a clip from a Tony Snow press conference where a reporter asks if the White House is in denial about Iraq.

Tony Snow replies by saying "No, the White House is not in denial about the fact, but I think you're in denial about the fact..."

#1 worst way to handle things when someone accuses you of being in denial:

Deny it.

Good plan, Tony! Keep up the good work! .

SPRINT NEXTEL TELLS LOUD CUSTOMERS BYE

Ah, this is wonderful.

You might describe this as fodder for a new "reality" show called: "WHEN CAPITALISM ATTACKS!"

See, so, Sprint/Nextel has closed the accounts and cut off service of more than 1000 customers who called customer service too often. The idea here is that they were costing the company more than they were making the company.

Awww! Is the mighty, big company upset that some of their customers actually demand descent customer service?

THAT'S SO SAD!

See, I used to be a Sprint customer. Notice the emphasis there. I left Sprint years ago, why?

The bad customer service.

The really sad thing here is that the original idea of a "corporation" was to more efficiently provide goods and/or services that small businesses weren't able to do on their own. The interest was in providing these products and/or services.

Well, somewhere along the lines, things changed. I've heard there was a law that was passed making it a legal requirement of corporations to make as much money as possible, in the interests of their investors. The idea, there, was to protect the investors from fraud. Of course, you'd expect fraud laws to do that. I guess fraud laws are too vague or something.

ANYway, so here comes Sprint complaining that they have to use profits gained from other customers and spend them on these "problem" customers.

Sorry guys, there's a little thing called "the cost of business." This was something you knew could happen going into it and refusing service to a customer is essentially breaking the sentiment in which corporations were first allowed to form in the western world--to provide a people with a product and/or service.

But who cares about the original idea behind a corporation these days? Most folks don't even know that corporations have almost all of the same rights we humans have. The only thing they can't do is vote, but these days, that doesn't amount to very much power, does it?

So, current Sprint customers--I hope you stay happy with your service! Because if you aren't and decide to not give up until you get your money's worth, you might not be given a choice.

Ah, freedom!

Might I suggest you freely move to T-Mobile?

They're my fave :)

Read more about this in [http://www.abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=3361743&page=1&Business=true|a July 10, 2007 article] at ABCNews.com. And enjoy how the copy editor of the article calls people who don't give up on getting customer service "whiners" in the article's subtitle: "Frequent Whiners Told to Take Their Cell Phone Account Down the Street". Hey, they can't all be those people who are just never satisfied. .

Project365 day 189

Project365 day 189 2007 07 09, originally uploaded by thepetecom.

All right, so it's a bus shot! I haven't posted one in a while and I'm
sure by now you're way more sick of seeing me the way my laptop does! :D

ARTICLE ON PROCRASTINATION

I just stumbled across an article on fighting procrastination linked to on LifeBlogger.com

Meh, I'll blog on it later... .

SERIOUS TURKISH HECK ABOUT TO BE UNLEASHED IN IRAQ?

Reuters.com is [http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL0922793720070709|reporting] that 140,000 Turkish troops are on the border between Turkey and Kurdish Iraq. Here's a cutting:

The Turkish army has 140,000 soldiers along its border with northern Iraq as part of a "great mobilization", Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Monday.

Turkey's armed forces have urged its government to allow an incursion into neighboring, mainly Kurdish, northern Iraq to crush up to 4,000 Turkish Kurdish militants who use the region as a base to attack security and civilian targets inside Turkey.

Rumors of a possible Turkish incursion have rattled financial markets and have drawn warnings from the United States, Ankara's NATO ally, to stay out of Iraq.

"There is a great mobilization on Iraq's northern international border that the security services and intelligence (agencies) estimate at more than 140,000 military personnel with all sorts of equipment," Zebari told a news conference.

This is huge and if so much as a single Turkish soldier sneezes over the border into Kurdistan, we could easily be seeing a serious escalation of the Iraq war. We might even see more people starting to accept what we're seeing in the Middle East (including Afghanistan) as World War III.

Hopefully the Turkish mil will chill and not invade. Who the hell knows how the Kurds and the other Iraqis will view a Turkish incursion? While it looks like they won't be able to react to another Iraq Attack, more players means just that--more players. More violence, more death, more confusion regarding an end to this war.

Special thanks to [http://angryindian.blogspot.com|AngryIndian] at NowPublic.Com for [http://www.nowpublic.com/turkey_enters_iraqi_borders|covering this story] while most major news sources are not. Yes, it's at Reuters.com, but that's about the only place it's at.

AngryIndian also blogs about how Turkey stealthily sent some if it's troops across the border into Iraq to target some people they feel are responsible for terrorist attacks in Turkey. The government of Turkey denies this, of course. Read more about this part of the story in [http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20070606_turkish_forces_enter_iraq/|a June 6, 2007 post] at TruthDig.com or in AngryIndian's [http://angryindian.blogspot.com/2007/07/khaleej-times-online-turkey-has-140000.html|original post from July 9, 2007].

Keep watching the skies... .

FREE CONSTITUTION! JUST 2 DOLLARS! SERIOUSLY!

So, on a whim today, I decided to take a break from the boring dayjobedness and see if I couldn't track down a free copy of the United States Constitution online. It's one of those books that, as an American, I feel like I should read. I'm familiar with parts of it, but can't remember ever reading the whole thing straight through.

After a bit of Googling, I was able to track down this web page offering a free copy of the US Constitution--however, the shipping is $2:

http://www.constitutionfacts.com/index.cfm?section=bookstore&page=bookstore.cfm

So, head on over and order one. It's time we all had a thorough gander at this great old piece of paper!

Of course, based on how (NOT) respected the Constitution is by the United States Government, the website offering the free USC could be a front for the CIA who is secretly keeping track of everyone who orders one.

Of course, if that's true, you're already on their list for visiting ThePete.Com!

WHOOPS! ;)

I kid Big Brother, but I love him!

No, seriously. I love Big Brother!

HE RULES!

hahahaha .