OT: Technology and Geek Stuff Thread

[CGVT]

And it was a funny poke at all the technology geeks....

[froot loops]

I didn't find it all that funny. But I don't read those sites so maybe I don't know where they are coming from. My job has me predisposed to disbelieve anything these companies claim their product can do.

[Larsky]

I didn't find it all that funny.

That's because some parts of it....

You broke the site, clogging up the pipe like retarded salmon, to read the latest announcements of the most trivial jerk-off products, completely ignoring the stories about technology actually making a difference to real human beings, because you wanted a new chromed robot turd to put in your pocket to impress your friends and make you forget for just a few minutes, blood coursing as you tremblingly cut through the blister pack, that your life is utterly void of any lasting purpose.

....are too true (not necessarily for you, but for lots of people you?or, at least, me?know).

Wait, no, I was wrong. The "chromed robot turd" part was definitely funny.

[LightninBoy]

I thought the rant was alittle much from a guy that seems to take thing to seriousily. Who really cares what others think or what makes them happy? If he beleives all that shit, then why tell other to follow his "beleives" then chatize a company for doing the same. What a blowhard.

I don't think it was meant to be taken seriously. I took most of it as irony. Anyways, in my work I'm surrounded by annoying gadget geeks. So I got a kick out of it.

[SeattleLionsFan]

I found it pretty annoying that the douchebag was ripping apart people who like new gadgets...while being employed by a website that caters to, and attempts to develop more, people who like new gadgets.

You know where he won't have to worry about people liking new gadgets? Amish country. Perhaps he should work for amishfarmer.com...

[-Deborah-]

I didn't find it all that funny, either. He has a point here and there, it just wasn't funny. But I realize humor is subjective.

I love Scott Adams' sense of humor:

Excellent New Product for Men
Yesterday 09:50 AM|Scott_Adams|The Dilbert Blog

If you’re a guy, you’ve probably heard way too many times a variation of this not-really-a-question: “Could you hold my purse?”

As you know, there is no way to hold a purse in a manly fashion. After sixty seconds of transporting a designer bag full of Tampons and lipstick, your testosterone will be so low that you’ll be playing field hockey and lactating.

You can try holding the purse in a manly, irregular fashion, but it won’t help. It’s still a purse. And you’re holding it. You big wuss. Say goodbye to your gonads; they’ll be hiding in your torso like two BBs in an airplane hangar.

That’s why I invented the PursePliers ™. They are exactly like regular pliers, but you carry them in your back pocket in all times in case you are asked to hold a woman’s purse. When you hear the call, “Honey, would you grab my purse?” you whip out the pliers and use them to safely transport the purse and its wuss cooties.

The recommended way to lift a purse with pliers is by grabbing the zipper and holding it the way you would hold fresh road kill, at a safe distance from your body, just in case it’s not totally dead. Research has shown that wuss cooties can not cross pliers.

While there is no manly way to touch a purse with your bare hands, there is no unmanly way to use pliers. Your PursePliers can be used in a variety of situations, including shopping for a blouse for your wife, passing the low-calorie salad dressing, and tucking in a baby.

PursePliers: Their time is now.

[-Deborah-]

This one is more relevant to the forum as a whole...

Today I Will Improve Your Sex Life
Wednesday 10:04 AM|Scott_Adams|The Dilbert Blog

I’m reading a great book called “Influence: Science and Practice” by Robert B. Cialdini. It’s full of research and anecdotes about how to influence people. It’s a real eye-opener.

One of the most potent forms of persuasion has to do with people’s innate need to be consistent. Studies show that people will ignore logic and information to be consistent. (In other words, we are moist robots.) According to the research, humans are hardwired for consistency over reason. You already knew that: People don’t switch political parties or religions easily. What you didn’t know is how quickly and easily a manipulator can lock someone into a position.

For example, researchers asked people to write essays in support of a random point of view they did not hold. Months later, when surveyed, the majority held the opinion they wrote about, regardless of the topic. Once a person commits an opinion to writing – even an opinion he does not hold – it soon becomes his actual opinion. Not every time, but MOST of the time. The people in these experiments weren’t exposed to new information before writing their contrived opinions. All they did was sit down and write an opinion they didn’t actually have, and months later it became their actual opinion. The experiment worked whether the volunteers were writing the pro or the con position on the random topic.

Most of the truly stupid things done in this world have to do with this consistency principle. For example, once you define yourself as a loyal citizen of Elbonia, you do whatever the King of Elbonia tells you to do, no matter how stupid that is. And your mind invents reasons as to why dying is a perfectly good life strategy.

This research provides a surefire method for readers of the Dilbert Blog to improve their sex lives. Go down to the local mall with a clipboard and pretend to be doing a research experiment. Offer $1 to attractive people who will write a paragraph describing how incredibly sexy you are. (Based on the research, you should offer a low dollar amount so people don’t think they did it entirely for the money.) Tell participants that the research has to do with handwriting analysis of people who are writing opinions they do not believe. Stop after you get 100 people to do it. That’s less than the cost of one meal at an upscale restaurant.

Give the participants your e-mail address and tell them they can get the results of the research study in a month if they contact you. According to the science, about two-thirds of the people who wrote a paragraph on your sex appeal will strongly believe it a month later, no matter how hideous you are. And a few of those people will remember to e-mail you for the results. You’ll still have to close the deal, but I think we can agree that I just did the hard work for you.

You’re welcome.

[SeattleLionsFan]

LOL! That seems accurate to my understanding.

[Larsky]

I found it pretty annoying that the douchebag was ripping apart people who like new gadgets...while being employed by a website that caters to, and attempts to develop more, people who like new gadgets.

To be fair, he is a former editor of Gizmodo. He left to start The Consumerist website, which criticizes the anti-consumer practices of corporations. So I'm not sure accusing him of hypocrisy is exactly accurate.

Interview with Joel Johnson

[Panoptes]

That's because some parts of it....

Wait, no, I was wrong. The "chromed robot turd" part was definitely funny.

That's why I made sure to point out that I bought the least of the trendiest cell phone plans that is a pay as you go plan. I don't need no stinking "chromed robot turd".

My monthly cell phone bill is at about $8 and change.

[Larsky]

That's what happens when nobody calls you. ;)

[Panoptes]

I see your emoticon but I'll add that having such a plan is my preference.

I have a phone stuck in my ear all day long at work. The last thing I want is to be tethered to a cell phone after work. Heck, I don't even have any extras on my home phone. If its busy, someones on the phone call back if you really need to speak to us.

Maybe 10 people have my cell number. More than half are family with a co-worker and some close, close friends thrown in.

I really do hate cell phones. I really dislike people that are on them 24/7 as if they are some sort of on call doctor or corporate big wig. Can't any single person go to any store without walking around talking to someone on a cell phone just because they have such low self-esteem to think that anyone else cares why they would be alone doing something, anything.

Please...Strangers don't care about why you are alone but I do care about having to hear someone elses stupid phone conversation.

[Larsky]

It's a generational thing, IMHO. Some of us older guys (like you and me) have no problem not being available all the time. When I'm at work, I turn my cell off and leave it in my locker. I routinely carry two or three pagers during my day, so the last thing I want is to be taking personal phone calls when I'm talking to a patient.

But a lot of younger people seem to enjoy being "connected" all the time.

[Larsky]

I read somewhere that the majority of cell phone calls are "progress reports."

"Hi, it's me. The plane just landed, so I should be there in about half an hour."

"Hey, what's up? I'm just passing the Willow Pass exit, so I'll see you in about ten minutes."

"Hi. I just got off the bus, and I'm walking up the street. Be there in five."

[Newbomb Turk]

and progress is bad ??