Jared’s Blog

Last night I was flipping through some channels and I ended up stopping on TLC. Now I could go on a rant about how TLC has become oversaturated by Trading Spaces and similar shows, but this rant has another target: The Duggars. The family has seventeen effing kids! Seventeen! Think about that for a minute. That means there are more Duggars than players you will see in a huddle at one time during Super Bowl this weekend.

The thing that pisses me off the most is that Jim Bob Duggar thinks that every one of his children are “gifts from God.” I don’t disagree that kids are special. Hell, if I was at all religious, I might even agree to the statement about children being a gift from God. But do you have to have seventeen of them!?

More than ever people are concerned about the environment, sustainability, and overpopulation. Humanity can’t figure out how to feed every person on Earth. Scientists work tirelessly to come up with new methods energy production and to reduce our dependence on oil. Birth control comes in many forms and is readily available anywhere in the US. Yet, somehow Jim Bob Duggar thinks it’s OK to manufacture his own brood and then insist the reason is because God gave him many gifts? How about you pull your head out of your Bible and start thinking about what you are doing. Maybe think about throwing on a condom next time you bang your wife, OK?

While trying to buy some gas today on my way home from work, I ran into a problem. It seems SuperAmerica is piloting a new security measure at their pumps. After swiping your credit card, you are required to enter the zip code associated with the card in order to continue with the transaction. Below is the complaint I have sent to the company which explains why prompting for a zip code at the pump provides no additional security.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I strongly urge SuperAmerica to reconsider the decision to prompt for zip codes during credit card transactions at the pump as it does not provide SuperAmerica’s customers any additional security. Furthermore, customers who naively and falsely believe this policy provides additional security are being deceived by SuperAmerica. If SuperAmerica does not consider my concerns, I will be forced to refrain from making any future transactions with SuperAmerica.

The more I think about it, the more I consider myself anti-social. I feel most comfortable when I’m alone. Going days without leaving my house or speaking to anyone doesn’t bother me. Silence is only awkward because of others expectations, not because I feel awkward. Making conversation or small talk is a chore.

While growing up, I was always a shy kid. I was even shy around family I knew, but didn’t see all that often. For instance, I had an uncle, aunt, and cousins who live about an hour away. We’d see them maybe 5-6 times a year so it was never more than a few months in between. It’s not like these people were strangers. Still, every time we pulled up to their house, I felt a slight tinge of anxiety.

In high school, the most socially awkward time in one’s life, the biggest social anxiety problem I had was giving talks in Speech class or dancing with a girl for the first time at a dance. Most everyone else was the same way. I also never felt like I was part of any clique and had friends in all the major ones (jocks, nerds, goths, etc.).

College was relatively the same as high school in terms of befriending new people. Though I think it was in college that I started to become increasingly critical of others. As a customer service rep for a major broadband supplier in the US, for the first time, I was introduced to a large number of people outside the world I had become familiar with. I can remember sitting in my cube one evening and having the realization that the world was collectively a whole lot dumber than I could have imagined. Sure, I had met stupid and ignorant people in my life before. What I didn’t realize was how many of them there are on this planet. It felt a little like Luke Wilson’s character in Idiocray after he wakes up in the future and figures out that he’s the smartest person alive.

Then again, maybe I’m just an overly critical, pre-judgmental asshole who needs to stop selfishly thinking he knows how the world should be. I’m going to go back in my hole now.

It was inevitable. That lovely little friend known as my iPod kicked the bucket last week. I was trying to sync it up so I could listen to some recent podcasts on the road and it was fighting me the whole way.

First it synced about 4 of the dozen or so that I wanted. After a few more attempts at getting it to sync the rest, I got fed up and decided do a full reset. It meant having to re-sync every song in my library (6500 songs takes about 3 - 4 hours), but in the past, it’s fixed my issues.

Well, I think the reset was about as much as it could take. Shortly after plugging it into AC power, it stopped responding entirely to button pushes. I plugged it into my PC, it recognized it, but still wouldn’t transfer. I’ve had drive problems since a few months after I got it. It would randomly freeze and the only fix was a hard smack against the palm of my hand. I’d also done a self-install of a new battery after the original stopped holding a charge and the warranty was up.

Yesterday, I stopped by the Apple store and picked up a 160GB Classic. I’d been planning on only getting an 80GB, but I remembered Apple’s recycling program. Bring in any iPod, working or not, and they’ll give you 10% off any iPod purchase the same day. Not only did I get rid of the old brick, but I got a nice little discount. When it was all said and done, I got double the space for only $40.

My biggest complaint is that they no longer include an AC adapter in the box. Something that’s not a problem for me because I still have my old one. The other minor annoyance is that the backlight now stays on the entire time the iPod is connected to a PC or in my car whereas the previous version turned off after a few seconds.

Update: Yesterday, I got a Griffin Reflect case for my iPod too. It’s shiny!

Growing up, I was always encouraged to read. Whether it participating in the local library’s summer reading program, earning pizzas in my school’s reading program, or just plan enjoying a book on my own, I loved to read as a child.

Somewhere along the way, I changed. Maybe it was my fascination with technology. They didn’t have books in Star Wars, they had holographic devices to get their information and entertainment on. Maybe I associated books with school and school with being forced into things I didn’t want to do. Those stories we were assigned in English class always seemed to drag on no matter how many pages they were. Maybe, my tastes simply changed and reading books no longer seemed like a fun thing to do.

Whatever the reason, books simply don’t interest me and they haven’t for a long time. That is not to say I don’t read. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I spend large chunks of my day reading online. I track over 60 feeds in my RSS reader and that number grows all the time. On my Facebook profile under “Favorite Books,” you’ll find one entry: The Internet. And I wasn’t trying to be funny or clever. I really do only read the Internet.

The bigger question is, “Do my habits make me dumb (or dumber than I would otherwise be)?” The benefits of reading are proven and well understood. Higher intelligence, better vocabulary, and a better understanding of others are all skills improved by reading. Am I missing out because I choose to stare at words on a screen rather than on a page?

The reading I do online is probably much more than I would ever read out of any single book in one day and it’s from a varied number of authors and sources. That logic would indicate that I am somewhat ahead of the game. Although, one might argue that the sources I’m reading from aren’t as high quality and therefore are less stimulating. Regardless, I think I’m fairly well versed in culture, above average in vocabulary, and intelligent for the most part. I’d be interested to hear what others think.

I opened up my email yesterday to find an invite to the Hellgate London beta test. I had signed up months ago and forgotten about it. And if you aren’t a hardcore video gamer, then you’re probably thinking, “Great! What is Hellgate London?” right about now.

Hellgate London is a new MMORPG coming out next week. The publisher, Flagship Studios, is comprised mostly of ex-Blizzard North employees. Blizzard North, of course, was the studio that put out both Diablo games. Hearing the words “Diablo” and “MMO” in the same sentence is enough to make most any gamer salivate. Myself included.

However, Hellgate London is not a Diablo sequel, nor is it set in the Diablo universe. With all the demons and medieval weaponry, the game does have a very Diablo-inspired feel to it. In terms of gameplay, it is first and foremost an RPG. You quest, gain experience, develop skills, and collect armor, weapons, and items. The cool thing is it also includes things you’d normally see in a first person shooter. You use the standard movement keys (W, A, S, and D) to move around, but the camera is locked to your mouse. One click is equivalent to one swing of the sword or one shot from your gun. At first the hybrid gameplay style is confusing; especially coming from a traditional MMO like WoW. After a few minutes, I was able to rid my mind of the typical MMO controls though.

Ever since I got bored with WoW and stopped playing (about a month ago), I’ve been looking for something to fill that empty feeling. Like the avid reader, I always have that game that I’m “playing.” I think Hellgate London is going to be it. I found another detail that made the game even more enticing. There is no required monthly fee.

Instead, there are two classes of accounts: paid and unpaid. For only the price of the game, you get access to the online component for the life of the game. Paid (”Elite”) accounts get access to exclusive content for $9.95/mo. I can tell you, after paying $12.99/mo (Blizzards 6 mo bulk deal), $9.95 looks like a bargain. It seems as though they have a pretty good idea of how upgrading or downgrading your account is going to work too.