Special Interest Group on CRAP

Everyone probably gets these emails telling you that you have a long lost uncle who was an official in Africa who left you $21 million, and if you’d just send $1,000 to them then they will wire you the money. They are called 419 scams. About once a year I also get an airmail letter [...]

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I’d like to know what the hell happened to the “do not call” list. Why are assholes always calling me trying to get me to extend my warranty? Actually I know – they are slimy scammers who will sell you absolutely anything you are willing to pay money for. Still, why do we have these [...]

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I’ve been wondering whether I should just let the blog die, or whether I should revive it. We all look for outlets for our writings, but blogs seem pretty dead to me lately. Maybe some day…

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I’m as tired as anyone of the economy suffering one hit after another. The parade of bad news has turned into a constant drumbeat, and there is no end in sight to the fall of the economy. At the same time, I’m getting really tired of hearing bailout news for every big company that gets [...]

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Today my wife and I received text message spam on our cell phones from AT&T. The offer said we could download a free application (except that standard data rates apply). It’s amazing that these assholes continue to find new ways to alienate their customers. And they wonder why they have no customer loyalty. Anyone have [...]

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I somehow ended up with a machine with Windows Vista on it. Ok, it was a mistake. I know that now. When you get a new machine, one thing you have to do is go back and reinstall all those things that make a machine usable. Since I work on computer science research, I occasionally [...]

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My wife handed me a newspaper article saying how to opt out from direct marketing lists, and how to opt out from preapproved credit offers. These have single-handedly created a market for personal shredders, and I’m tired of filling up landfills. When I went to the web site of the Direct Marketing Association*, they lead [...]

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There is a crying need for a button on most consumer electronics these days. I call it the “FUCK YOU” button. I’ll offer a few examples: You put a DVD into your DVD player, but none of the buttons on the remote will function until you finish watching the promotions, the FBI copyright warning, and [...]

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I recently went to buy a dock for my iPod, to try and play music from the iPod through my stereo system. I read a bunch of reviews of devices, and opted to purchase a Keyspace Tuneview through Amazon. Step 1 is realizing that you aren’t purchasing it through Amazon, but that’s typical (and extremely [...]

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That title is a phrase that cannot be constructed in American politics. We somehow seem to have forgotten the meaning of “religious freedom”. Romney has a press conference to explain why a member of the fourth largest christian sect in the United States is qualified to be president in light of his unorthodox religion – [...]

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