Twitter lists: Great idea, but useless so far

Yesterday, I became one of the five percent of Twitter users to get the new “lists” feature, which allows you to sort the people you follow into groups and view all their tweets separately fron the normal timeline.

Just one problem, though. As far as I’m concerned, the feature is useless.

You should just be able to check a box and, BAM, they’re added to that list. Well, it doesn’t work that way. A good portion of the time I’m having to check the box multiple times for it to take, if it will take at all

So, Twitter, please wait until a feature’s ready for prime time before you roll it out.

kthxbai!

Sick of certain people

I’m sick of people that have nothing better to do than come to me when they have a problem and lay it at my feet like it’s mine too.

People that expect me to quiver to their every want and need or help them when they fuck up, but piss and moan when things don’t happen their way.

People who weren’t there for you for years, but now think that they can insert themselves into your life and act like they always were.

Those people need to just get the fuck out of my life.

If they won’t, I’ll be glad to show them the door.

That is all.

If I could ask Roger Goodell anything …

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… I’d ask him about these crazy TV rules the league has.

Last year, when they had the Colts-Patriots game that EVERYBODY wanted to see, we had to miss it because the Texans were on the road playing the Raiders. Apparently there’s some rule that the main markets around a team have to show that team when they’re on the road. Since Beaumont’s considered a main market for the Texans, we were screwed.

Fast forward to today. Today’s a single game on FOX and both the Cowboys and Texans are on there. I’m not sure about the Cowboys, but the Texans are definitely at home.

Not that it matters, since this isn’t considered a Cowboys market.

Take a guess which game the local FOX affiliate picks.

Yea, the Cowboys.

They did this once last year too.

And not because the game was blacked out here. The Texans have sold out every game in their history, even when they went 2-14, so that’s not the issue.

If you look at the NFL TV map for FOX today, you’ll see that places like Cincinnati, San Diego, Miami, and Buffalo are getting to watch the Texans game.

Personally, I think it’s a load of crap that K T Cat can watch my team play but I can’t.

Here’s my question: How in the world can it make any sense at all for us to not be able to watch our team at home when we’ve been forced, under NFL television rules, to watch our team when they’re on the road?

Try to not think about that too long, your head might overheat and explode.

At least our CBS affiliate is good about picking the Texans when they’re on there and FOX only gets a chance to fuck this up two or three times a year.

But it’s two or three times too many if you ask me.

Lawmakers looking to ‘rescue’ a different sort of institution

This time, it’s an institution that’s worth rescuing:

Key state lawmakers said Wednesday they will devise a rescue plan to prevent massive layoffs at the University of Texas Medical Branch, which suffered $709 million in damage caused by Hurricane Ike.

Before legislators intervened Monday, leaders of the state's oldest medical school and the largest employer on Galveston Island were contemplating a one-third reduction in its work force of 12,000.

I really do think that rebuilding UTMB and keeping them from cutting a third of their staff is admirable and should be done.

But there’s one thing about it that I do wonder…

MICHAEL AMADOR, TxDOT
TxDOT crews clear I-45 approaching the Galveston Causeway.

Should we be rebuilding UTMB in Galveston or somewhere inland.

I know, I know, I know. The school’s always been in Galveston and that it pre-dates the 1900 hurricane.

I also know that it would cost a hell of a lot more to take a facility like they have and build everything brand new inland enough that storms aren’t a major concern than it would to repair what is there now.

It just seems like the smarter investment would be to move the largest medical school in Texas to Houston, where you wouldn’t have to worry about pouring $709 billion (or more) into repairs the next time an Ike happens.

And Galveston being where it is, there *will* be a next time.

Of course, with government being what it is, that will never happen.

Oh well.

The bailout: In response to K T Cat

K T Cat announced today that (he or she?) is against the bailout in any form.

I’ll admit that I don’t really get all the factors involved. I know I don’t.

I’ll admit that I’m weary of taking out credit, preferring to pay for things in cold hard cash-in-hand if at all possible.

But I know that it doesn’t always work that way.

I mean, after I’m established in Fort Worth (or wherever I end up in my “get the hell away from the coast” move) I’m probably going to want to buy a house with a fenced-in yard for Bruiser to run around in and all of that.

And, unless you’re rolling in dough, you have to take out a loan to do so.

The reason I support the bailout is because, without it, I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that. If I can’t do that, then most Americans won’t be able to. And that spells problems.

Sure it’s hot happening now. However, I keep hearing that it will begin to happen unless something’s done. Will it? I don’t know, I’m not smart enough to answer that. I do, however, think that this country should do everything in it’s power to prevent that from happening.

Of course, our politicians in Washington are more concerned with keeping their jobs than looking out for us and preventing that kind of disaster from happening. I didn’t vote for you to do what’s politically popular. I voted for you to do what’s right for this country, not throw it in the toilet so the big kitty cat can flush just because something’s unpopular.

Round and round it goes!

I’m not of the persuasion that says “don’t re-elect anybody.” but right now that might not be such a bad idea.

The last thing I want to think about when watching the Olympics...

...is politics.

Which has to be exactly why I saw ads for both McCain and Obama while watching them yesterday.

Now, to those of you in battleground states, it might seem odd that I'd mention that I saw a commercial, but you have to realize that Texas isn't exactly one of those states where they're fighting tooth and nail for your vote. All I can say to y'all is that, if it's anything near as bad as what we dealt with from Obama and Hillary back in February/March you have my deepest sympathies.

Obama ran an ad I'd never seen before during the daytime coverage. Either late morning or early afternoon, I'm not sure which. All I remember is that it was about his flawed energy plan.

John McCain's "Celebrity" ad

McCain's ad, which I saw during prime time, was the infamous "Celebrity" ad.

I'd seen this one before because, when this one came out, it got so much attention on the news.

I'm not even about to start going into what I think about that ad. That's been discussed too many places to even bother bringing it up here.

Is it too much to wish that I could just be left alone during the Olympics? I mean, really. Sports is my great escape from all the stupid bullshit going on in the world. Why do you have to take that from me?

Technorati Tags: Olympics,politics,commercialls

An open letter to Twitter

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Dear @Twitter,

I love you. I love your service.

But you know what I don't love about you?

All the fucking spambots.

It seems like I can't post an update without having some spambot "follow" me.

Seriously, it's to the point that I hesitate updating because I know I'll have to go and block one or two of these bots.

I know enough about tech to know that this has to be some sort of automated process.

I beg you, please find a way to stop this shit from happening. Add a CAPTCHA requirement to follow people. Don't allow following via the API. Limit the amount of follows that people can do an hour.

Just do something.

Sincerely,

@fatelvis04

Technorati Tags: Twitter,spam

So, can we please put this thing about how the All-Star Game decides home field for the World Series to rest?

Probably not, but I can hope right?

After watching that insanity last night (the AL winning 4-3 in the 15th), I'm more convinced than ever that it's the biggest crock of bullshit in all of sports.

Every other major professional sport decides who gets home field/court/ice by who has the best record. Why the hell can't baseball do that?

Sure, you could argue that you want the game to mean something. But a 15-inning war of attrition with the way rosters are handled in an All-Star game played two teams in which the vast majority of players involved will not be playing in October shouldn't decide anything.

Neither should any game that's played in that style.

Is it really too much to want the two teams that make the World Series decide who gets home field based on what they did over 162 games?

I guess so.

Either way, it sure was a hell of a game, wasn't it?

And, no, I couldn't resist breaking out the old Lit Up Lidge avatar I'd made while he was still an Astro, seeing as how he struck again. :)

Technorati Tags: All-Star game,MLB,home field advantage

Yea, thanks doc, you obviously want to see me so much

I go to an eye doctor in Houston.

I've been going there for probably about 20 years now. Seeing as I'm just 23 now, that should say something.

Well, lately they've been pissing me off.

You know how you get those little cards in the mail that remind you that you need to schedule an appointment soon?

Yea, well, I haven't been getting those lately.

I've got an appointment scheduled for next Monday since I realized my eyedrop prescriptions, which were written to be good for a year, expire this month.

Seeing as I was supposed to be back to see the doc in six months, that's great.

Just. Fucking. Peachy.

I'm starting to wonder if they really want my business or not, seeing as this happened last year too.

I'm planning on a conversation with my doc about it. If they fail to get me a card again I'm seriously going to consider dumping him for a doc here in Beaumont.

Technorati Tags: eye doctor

Dear Pinnacle Systems,

FUCK YOU!

I've been using one of your TV tuners for well over a year and a half. I've tolerated your crappy hardware and buggy software because it got the job done.

Well, tonight it didn't.

Ya see, I set it up to record House for me tonight while I was out playing softball.

When I got home, I hopped onto my computer to check it and I see an error message that PMCloader.exe encountered a problem and needs to close.

I checked my videos folder, nothing there.

DAMN YOU!!!

Because of some "problem" with your crappy software I missed the first episode of House since the strike!

THANK YOU VERY FUCKING MUCH!!!

Your tuner will be replaced ASAP.

Thanks for nothing,

Justin

Technorati Tags: Pinnacle Ststems,TV Tuner,software bugs

Local high school's targeted mentoring a prime example of the hypocrisy of race relations today

The ACLU is making an inquiry over an assembly at a local high school:

West Brook High School administrators on Wednesday defended a black-male-only mentoring session that has prompted a recent inquiry by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The March 29 program, dubbed the "Big 3 Conference," was an invitation-only event for the school's more than 800 African-American males in the ninth, 10th and 11th grades.

The sessions were divided by grade-level and addressed issues such as education, test scores, crime, family and gangs.

[...]

"I think it's really problematic on its face," [ACLU Foundation of Texas legal director Lisa Graybill] said by phone Wednesday. "Targeting a specific ethnicity for a program I find extremely worrisome."

[...]

"On what basis is the conclusion being drawn that black people need some kind of special intervention and to what end is that intervention tailored?" Graybill said.

I'm a West Brook alum (Class of 2003) and I can recall a couple of instances where students were pulled for targeted assemblies, which are listed after the jump:

• My freshman year there was one where all the girls in the entire school were pulled for some sort of women's health awareness thing, something I'm glad I wasn't forced to attend.
• There was one where all the Asian students were pulled out of class for some sort of assembly. I don't remember any details on that one.

Dividing people up by color, creed, or whatever else is wrong, no matter the reason. Martin Luther King preached it and I believe it.

That belief is the reason I have such a problem with this. It's similar to how people like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson claim to preach equality whilst trying to differentiate themselves, to make themselves special in one way or another. That's not equality, it's hypocrisy. I sincerely believe that people like that do more to damage race relations in this country than they do to improve them.

What they did is wrong, it's that simple. There's no excuse for it.

Now I'm not going to go screaming for people to be fired or anything but I do believe that the people involved come out and man up to their mistake. Just come out and apologize so we can all get on with our lives.

But what do you do about the issue of hypocrisy in race relations? I believe that if people would just look back at the message that MLK left us and stick to those principles then the hypocrisy would go away.

The straw that broke the camel's back

I finally had it with the hockey team.

A couple weeks back I bought a playoff ticket package.

On Monday I went to the office to pick them up and was told that parking wasn't included with the packages this year.

I was like "WHAT?"

Ya see, the free parking with the packages is what makes the packages such a bargain to me. That's $5 a game I'm saving. $85 if all the potential games were played

So I left, muttering to myself and extremely pissed.

On the way home it hit me that this was definitely the straw that broke the camels back, so I decided to turn around and drove back up there and demanded my money back.

I had a talk with Quincy (one of the guys working in the office) where he kept trying to change my mind, telling me that "but this year we have kids prices." I responded "So? Do I look like I have kids?"

Needless to say, they didn't change my mind.

So they tell me that since they'd already deposited my check they'd have to cut me one, but the person who could do that wasn't in and wouldn't be for the rest of the day.

So I called Quincy this morning to see about what time he's supposed to be in and get told "about 10" and that they'd call me back when he got in. I gave them my cell number to get me that way.

About 11:30, still without a phone call, I decided to go treat myself to a birthday lunch at Frankie's, a locally-owned Italian place. Had lasagna, it was great. Then again, I don't think I've ever eaten anything there that I didn't like.

Now let's get back on topic...

While I was in the restaurant I called Quincy I'd been talking to about this and got his voicemail. I asked for an estimate of when he'd be in because "I've got things to do this afternoon." I didn't, but he didn't need to know that.

About 1:30 I called again and talked to him. He said something to the tune of "Oh, he's been in for half an hour, let me go talk to him about it."

WELL THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME KNOW WHEN HE GOT IN, QUINCY!!!

Then there's the whole matter of how you manage to keep a job if you're supposed to be in at 10 and don't get in until about 1? Guess it doesn't really matter if you won't be there much longer anyway...

Anyways, he told me that I could bring in the tickets and they'd mail me a check in about a week.

So I took them in.

Pissed me off that I had to go through all that to get my money back, but who ever really is willing to be more than accommodating when people want money back?

My take on the whole mess between the hockey team and Jefferson County

Simply put, you can't blame this mess solely one side.

Jefferson County is to blame because they county don't seem to be terribly willing to accept the fact that they're going to lose money on Ford Park no matter what they do. That's just the nature of maintaining a venue like that. Places like that are like parks. You don't have them to make money, you have them to improve quality of life for the area's residents and the economic impact that a facility like that generates.

But it is my belief that the team shares a lot of blame too. If they were really enthusiastic about being back after this year, they would have picked up the option written into the lease (PDF) in section 3.b (page 4 of the PDF) by September 30th. They didn't.

The team argues that the lease terms allow for them to have another season under the same terms, pointing to the "Force Majeure" clause in the contract (Section 17, pages 20 and 21 of the PDF) which they believe applies because of the 2005-06 season's cancellation due to Hurricane Rita.

What the team fails to mention when pointing to that clause of the contract is the settlement reached between them and the county after Rita. The agreement that basically gave the team two years rent-free. It's been everybody's understanding that the two rent-free seasons compensated them for the lost season and that another season would not be owed.

In fact, the team has never said anything about being owed a fifth season before last week when they sent out that email I posted.

I requested a copy of the settlement (as well as a few other documents) from the team so I could see whether they were truly owed another season or not.

I received no reply to that email.

In that same email I requested a copy of the notice to vacate and any correspondence indicating that negotiations had been terminated or that they would not be allowed to play in Ford Arena. I requested these both because not only were they not contained in the documents released by the team, but the county denies ever doing any of those. Of course, I didn't receive those either.

The claim that all negotiations were terminated has already come out to be false, as a new offer was submitted to the county today by the team.

The fact that the team is unwilling to generate these documents leads me to think that none of these claims are true.

I don't appreciate being lied to by anybody, much less by people who I'm giving money to.

With that being said, I'll buy playoff tickets. Part of me thinks I shouldn't even do that, but I've been rooting for these guys all year and it'd be tough to not see them through to the playoffs. But I will not buy the $357 package that would lock up my current seat for the entirety of the playoffs.

Nope, I'll be buying the cheapest full-playoffs package, which runs $187.

After that, I won't give the team another cent IF they do happen to come back. I just refuse to give money to people that lie to me.

Of course, if the team decided after reading this to generate the requested documents, I might change my mind.

But I doubt it.

Guest Post - Exercising my Freedom of Thought

Greetings from your guest blogger for the week, Jacob the Syrian Hamster! I normally blog over at The Scratching Post, but this week I'll be filling in for Justin while he's gone doing who knows what. I'm a happy little rodent from San Diego, California. I have no plan for this at all and will just be blogging whatever comes into my furry little head.

I take requests.

So this morning we were driving in to work and we got behind a car with lots of bumper stickers. I mean a lot of them. The one that struck me as the best said, "Exercise your right to think for yourself." That in itself was ironic as the entire car urged me to simply agree with the driver on a wide range of issues. What was doubly ironic was the fact that the driver didn't seem to have thought for themselves at all.

One bumper sticker claimed that "A village in Texas is missing its idiot" apparently referring to George W. Bush. It's hard to see that as evidence that the driver had been thinking for themselves. President Bush was a jet fighter pilot and has an MBA from Harvard. Either the driver has an impossibly high standard for idiocy or they bought that bumper sticker because it made fun of someone they hate, but don't actually know.

A second bumper sticker said, "How did our oil get under their sand?" A similar question unasked by the driver might have been, "How did my bread get in their wheat field?" or perhaps "How did my water get in the Colorado River?" While single-celled organisms consume only what they control, civilized humans do not.

Maybe a truly apropos bumper sticker would have read, "My car has severe rust. These bumper stickers were cheap and prevent further decay."

Now that would have been thinking for yourself.

The continuing political drama that is my mind

As readers of mine know, I did a post on the presidential candidates.

Then I felt dirty about it.

Unfortunately, doing a post about politics is sort of like Pringles in that once you pop you just can't stop.

I keep desiring to do posts about politics because they're extremely easy this time of year as they will be until November.

But I hold back.

I hold back because I wanted it to be a fun place for my random and (all to rarely) funny musings.

Not about politics.

Hell, the only reason I did the fast food candidates post was because I thought it'd be a fun little funny post that made a point. And it accomplished that.

It's not easy to spit out posts like that. It was the kind of concept that doesn't hit me all too often.

It's just something I don't like blogging about.

Maybe I need more kittens to get this out of my system.

Why the hell would you want to brag about this?

Hey, grandkids, I made oil go over $100 a barrel:

The man behind the record rise in oil prices to $100 a barrel was a lone trader, seeking bragging rights and a minute of fame, market watchers say.

A single trader bid up the price by buying a modest lot and then sold it immediately at a loss, they claim.

[...]

On Wednesday, one floor trader bought 1,000 barrels, the smallest amount permitted, and sold it immediately for $99.40 at a $600 loss, said Stephen Schork, a former floor trader on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the editor of an oil market newsletter.

"They absolutely overpaid," he told Radio Four's Today Programme.

"He paid $600 for the right to tell his grandchildren that he was the first in the world to buy $100 oil."

Thanks, asshole. Just thanks.

Thanks to this prick we all got to hear the reports that the sky was falling because oil hit $100 a barrel, a story that led the Houston Chronicle's web site through part of the day yesterday.

Nevermind that gas prices are already $2.99 a fucking gallon and that this prick's little stunt will probably help them to go up.

And then there's the appearance (to me at least) that the whole oil market runs on fear of stuff happening instead of stuff actually happening, but that's another matter for another day.

And, seriously, why the fuck would you want to brag about being the first person to buy oil at $100 a barrel anyway? Is that really something to brag about? Sounds to me like someone needs to throw that guy in the looney bin.

I support alternative fuels and energy conservation for one simple reason: so we can put an end to all the bullshit drama that goes on in the oil markets today.

Updated: I'd do something about how the new Zune software kicks ass, but...

...I'm stuck with this:

Bad omen if you're stuck trying to update firmware for 20 minutes.

UPDATE: After uninstalling and reinstalling the Zune software, it's working fine now.

Well fuck you too, Microsoft

NOTE: After reading this, you may think that I need anger management classes or something. I probably do, but the only thing I can think of that would make me more pissed is if I'd bought an iPhone before yesterday's $200 price drop.

I tried to install the newest beta of Windows Live Writer, the program I use for composing all of my blog posts, and got this wonderful note when I opened the installer:

Um, hello, I'm the guy that shelled out $250 for the Vista Ultimate upgrade, what the FUCK did I do to you to get this bullshit.

From a little reading, it appears that the issue is the new combined installer that Microsoft's come out with that doesn't support x64 operating systems. "Yet."

Whoever's brilliant fucking idea this was needs to be drug out into the street and shot. Multiple times. And then buried in the city dump.

Yes, I know, there's a hack to get it to install. But you really fucking think that I want to fucking dig through thousands of lines of fucking code in a fucking hex editor to get the motherfucker to install? Or, even better, if I even know how to fucking do it? Hell fucking no.

Fuck you Microsoft. No, really, fuck you.

Oh, and if you weren't counting, that's twelve times that I said fuck. Make that thirteen.

The No Fun League hates people who use the internets

(Hat-tip: Deadspin)

The NFL, in their infinite marketing wisdom, has stumbled upon a grand idea: Limiting online video.

In a move designed to protect the Internet operations of its 32 teams, the pro football league has told news organizations that it will no longer permit them to carry unlimited online video clips of players, coaches or other officials, including video that the news organizations gather themselves on a team's premises. News organizations can post no more than 45 seconds per day of video shot at a team's facilities, including news conferences, interviews and practice-field reports.

Is this bullshit or is this bullshit?

Honestly... this is ridiculous. All the NFL wants is for us to get all the video from the team's sites. And that fucking blows. I'm not going to the Texans web site to get my news on the team. Hell, when I had season tickets the only time I ever went to their site was to check the roof forecast (their guess on if the roof would be open or not). Simply put, I don't trust the team to tell it like it is on their site. I want to hear from independent people who don't have to kiss the team's ass for fear of losing their jobs.

I didn't renew my season tickets and I doubt I get them again anytime in the forseeable future. Hell, if this is the case, I might just stay away from football this year, although it's not like watching the Astros has been pleasant this year.

At least Houston Chronicle NFL writer (and Hall of Fame member) John McClain had a humorous take on it:

Technorati Tags: NFL, No Fun League, internet video

UPDATED: Joey, have you ever been to a Turkish prison?

Last week I said I was going to write something about Turkish prisons.

That one never got written... mostly because I kept wanting to reference Captain Oveur from some 1980's movie.

But an idea came to me once the sleepwalking topic was posted, so I'll be integrating them into one story.

A semi-related rant (UPDATE: And an update) below the fold, so be warned.

Laurence addressed all the people voting for someone without listening to the podcast. And you know what, I totally agree with him!

I'm just not gonna be so nice about it.

I've got nothing against Jenny, I really don't. She's great.

But I do have a problem with people who tell the other eight people (and that Z guy), who bust their ass putting their submissions together that their work just doesn't matter.

So, I started to listen but my attention span was extremely short, I had no interest in listening to a guy (a bunch of guys...) I've never heard of before and so I jumped straight to the voting.

Screw listening. I just voted for you. You are winning!

Thank you, all you ignorant fucking human sheep, for coming in and taking a shit on the entire idea of the contest. It's not a fucking popularity contest people, it's a "who had the best story" contest. Either listen and vote your conscience or fuck off, ok?

Now, seriously, I'd like to thank those of you who contribute. Without y'all the weekly challenge wouldn't exist. I'd also like to thank all the people that listen and vote their conscience every week, you guys are awesome.

Let's just not have all this happen again, ok? :)

FULL DISCLOSURE: I did vote for her, but because I thought her story was the best. What can I say, I go for the odd stories.

UPDATE: Jenny's disqualified herself from the contest. As Laurence says about it:

A rare instance of honor among bloggers and podcasters.

I'm saluting you right alongside him.

Technorati Tags: sleepwalking, turkish prison, weekly challenge, 100 word stories, human sheep