A board to discuss annoying trends and fads.
Past and opossible future fads welcome.


One of the most annoying fads to me lately is
that companies now are prefixing things with
an I ,such as Ipaq, Imovie, etc. most likely
due to the IMac craze. Just a couple yeats ago.
it was E.

Oh, and big media has really got to watch
it with the proposals to grab as much control
over the use of their media as possible
(copy protected hard drives, among other
things). People are really starting to
getting angry.

POKEMON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

REAL TV! (ie survivior , temptation island)

I forgot about companies that use 100% false advertising to get people (ie AOL , MLM 'jobs' )

pro sports people who think that $10,000,000 a year is selling them short.

Managers and CEO's that drive companies into the ground with their incompetence, and then lay off massive amounts of people so they can still have their horribly inflated wages without costing the company extra money, and rather then firing the ones responsible for the problems they fire innocent hardworking people that have NO control watsoever over what goes on. (example Nortel)

The experience paradox in trying to get a job (ie you need experience to get a job, but you cant get experience unless you have a job, but you cant a job as you dont have experience as (start over) )

How everything is controversial and has to be agonzied over.

How it's okay for everyone but white males to have clubs , pride parades , say 'you dont like me just because im so and so' etc.

I agree with Chooton about pro athletes, to a point. I can't stand Hockey, but I think a lot of them are underpaid. Basketball players, and baseball players, are WAAAY overpaid!

As for Padawan....don't mess with me: I'm a
Pokemon Master! ;-)

My `fad' problem....selling the names of pro stadiums and arenas to the highest bidder. I'm a Cincinatti Reds fan, and I refuse to call their place anything other than Riverfront Stadium!!

Same with me and Candlestick Park.

"3Com? Where's that? Oh, you mean the Stick! You go down 101..."

For me, just about any catch-phrase that comes out of a food or drink tv commercial.

examples:
"Yo quiero Taco Bell!"
"Wassup!"
"Zesty!"
"Make 7-Up yours!"

Pokemon, Furbys, me, cyberpets . . . .the lot

People sporting Fubu's, Nikes,
Fila, and other "hip" gear from head to toe.
"Sheeple" comes to mind.

The fact that men still have to wear a
collar and leash around their necks in some work
places

Women who scream sexism! Unfair! I'll sue,
but think it's OK for men to put up with garbage.

That many people are easily riled up over
anything

Pokemon!

Inane, supposedly hip commercials in which you can't even tell what product is being sold. The advertising industry must be brain dead.

Guys in the woods, being threatened by, or messing with bears. I've seen at least four commercials for different products in the last month with this theme.

Pokemon

People that refuse to take responsiblity for their actions and blame it all on everyone and everything else.

How celeberties are able to get away with Major crimes with at most a slap on the wrist.

How bad things happen to good people, yet bad things never happen to bad people

Bad managers/CEO's that fire people for no reason , treat employee's like •••• , and cause massive turnover rates and $$ loss for the company, and yet they never get fired or disicplined in any way.

People that refuse to take responsiblity for their actions and/or blame everyone on everyone and everything but themselves

Unfortunately, 100% false advertising is here to stay, and I hate it tremendously! If it's not in what they say it's in what they show, like on TV. I hate ads that presume to speak for me, telling me how I'm gonna feel about something, or if it's the greatest product I'd ever use or whatever. I also hate these two-bit actors they use to make us think that they really have these other jobs, like that cabbie talking about the passenger of his who just happens to have Zantac when the cabbie needed it. I saw him within the last two weeks on two separate tv shows! One was an ep of Law & Order, Special Victims Unit.

Or how about when someone can't get to sleep and they're shown tossing and turning, or they have a bad cold and whaddayaknow! There's a tv camera crew right there filming the whole thing but do they think to help the person(s) in distress? NO! They just keep filming. Well, no wonder the people can't get to sleep!

Then you've got those idiots in fast food ads, like those Taco Bell dorks banging their elbows on their tables to Queen's We Will Rock You, or McD's slogan, "We love to see you smile." Yeah, right. You also love to keep raising your goddamned prices. Yeah, that's really gonna make us smile. Besides, how can they expect us to smile when not every one of their employees do so themselves?

My sister got me a Fubu sweater last year for my birthday. I've only worn it once out in public and got a few looks but nothing major to worry about.

"Sheeple"? Shouldn't that be more like, "Sheople"?

The advertising industry must be brain dead.
Or think the buying public is.

How bad things happen to good people, yet bad things never happen to bad people.
Yeah, that's why people like Buddy Holly die young but old farts like Strom Thurmond seem to live forever. Not only that but ones like him keep getting re-elected and causing even more and often worse problems for the rest of us!

How you have to always be watching your back, because loyalty means nothing now, and there are backstabbers everywhere (this problem is most prevelant is the workplace)

How in elections people often vote for who they think will win instead of who they want to win, and as a result the same guy keeps getting in over and over (ie The Liberals in Canada)

How if your Canadian and ordering from an american web site (say you found a food deal that even with the exchange rate is still a good deal) how some of them have these insane policies like "we do not accept credit cards for outside the USA" (most of them do, so why are the others forcing this rule on us?) which requires doing all this legwork to get the order that it defeats the whole idea of the convienience of ordering online.

How TV shows often gloriy computer criminals like hackers or the guys that make viruses (okay The Lone Gunmen are an exception because their funny, cool , only doing it to stop 'bad guys' etc)

How Victoms of crimes have almost no rights and are often treated worse then the criminals are treated by the justice system

Car commercials whose key selling point is 0.9% APR financing. I can't even tell the difference between car commercials anymore. There's not a single car commercial that actually sticks out from the crowd.

Call me racist if you want, but: The fact that Fast Food/Convenience store workers on commercials always speak perfectly clear english, with broad smiles.

Laugh Tracks. Some shows seem to be getting rid of them though, like Malcom in the Middle, or the Job.

That eventually, every single major movie star, comedian, or famous person will have a crappy sitcom about single life, parenthood, living life on your own, or a hilarious new job...and will probably be cancelled within two months.

That pepsi seems to think the "Ba ba ba ba ba" thing is actually cool or something. Maybe it's just a joke to see how obviously they can call their consumers sheep without actually doing it.

Carson Daly.

Mark Bowman - Have you read Connie Willis' book "Bellwether?" In it you'll find the real origin of the "i" trend - and she realized it years before it came out! ;-)

Besides, it's a great book.

Actually, the very idea of trends and fads disturbs me. I mean, how come so many people suddenly stop liking one thing and then like another, and the few who still like the first thing are treated as objects of amusement and/or contempt. Just a sign that people are becoming slaves/drones.

As for me, I like what I decide I like, not what society tells me to like.

YOU-LIKE-POKEMON

One of the most annoying trends have to be
popup ads. Popup ads annoy people, and that is not
a good way to attract customers.

One of the more annoying trends is that of the RIAA and the MPAA to accuse all of their customers of being criminals. One would think that that would tick off customers, but no...

I HATE those little graphics that networks and stations stick in the corners of the screen during a program. You know, the ones that say "WKYC" or have the NBC logo or whatever. They distract the heck out of me and then they stick in little advertisements, that say stuff like "Blonde... premiers Sunday" or whatever. Like t.v. isn't distracting enough...

Another disturbing trend is the trend to sue, sue, sue, sue, sue!!! I mean, a guy breaks into somebody's house, trips and breaks a leg, and then has the nerve to sue the homeowner?! What is the world coming to? Doesn't anyone take responsibility for their actions nowadays?

Ok, rant over, I feel much better now.

Embedded MIDI files in web pages are of the devil.

I hate it when a show's credits are shrunk and squished off to the side or a corner in order to pack in yet another commercial. They also, of course, talk over the closing music. Believe it or not, sometimes I actually LIKE to read the credits, but it's hard to do when the text becomes microscopic. I also like listening to the end music.

DK -- I'm hoping the writers can negotiate getting their proper credit during the threatened strike.

However, I don't mind the show being shrunk when the situation requires it. Around this time of year (and always during the BIG SWEEPS EVENT shows), there are a lot of severe storms in this area. So the program is superimposed with the scrawl of what counties are affected. Now they've started putting up a huge map of the state. These graphics cover about 1/4 of the screen. Some other stations in the area squish down the program content, so you can see the warnings, and if they don't apply, you can actually watch the show.

On the same note, while I appreciate being warned when severe storms are in the area, it really, really annoys me that weather-people start acting like world's about to end or something.
"There's a SEVERE Thunderstorm in the area and we're getting reports of PEA-SIZED hail and you should really get away from the windows and not turn on the lights and hide under your bed with a pillow over your head, but stayed tuned to this station for more updates."

I get really annoyed when newspeople break in to a show with a "Special Report," just to tell us that there's been no progress on whatever it is they've been covering. The anchor person goes to the reporter on the scene, who recaps the developments so far, then says that there's nothing new to report. Then they go back to the anchorperson, who repeats what the reporter said, and repeats that there's nothing happening, and that they'll keep us informed. If there's nothing happening, why bother to interrupt the show????Grrrr!!!!!

Or when 'a Big Event' like an Earthquake, or an Eruption, happens and they waste two hours basically repeating information that takes less than two minutes to tell.

Sheesh!

Give the information, then move on, when you have something new interrupt again. Otherwise just put the info you do have on a scroll and have it run on the bottom of the screen.

I think they do this garbage to either look good for a local Emmy nomination or a demo tape for a National news job. Probably both.

Another thing I hate is "gay" being used as a generic insult. As in "This is so gay!" meaning "This is so stup!d!"

Padawan,
don't be so gay.

Are you Ccabe by any chance?

Probably not, and it's probably not his evil twin either!

Well, Ccabe once called himself "Tapioco, the Tapioca Man" and I thought the names sounded similar.

Annoying:

Those idiots who have 200 dB speakers in their car, and seem to feel that *MY* life won't be complete if I can't *feel* the bass line from whatever rap song they're currently playing.

I know what you mean jelly bean. And it's not "just reward" that their hearing will go because of it. That means we have to look foward to them invoving us in other facets of their lives. Think of it. They'll go deaf and start to talk loudly in movie theaters etc., turning up their TV's so all the neighbours can hear their favourite shows. Or should I say *feel* their favourite shows. I hear ya brother!

People that do drive by insults.

Like where your walking wherever and a car drives by and they scream something unintelligable at you as they go by.

I'm a chick. What about those drive by pick-ups? I've always wanted to go up to these jokers and go "your horn and the way you yelled "baby", I'm yours, take me now!" but it's prob. better not to provoke these neanderthals.
Guilty pleasure confession: When I was a kid with a mohawk in the suburbs, we used to drive past long haired rocker types and yell "Punk s*cks!" and the confused looks we'd get!
The dog thing is a pet peeve of mine. I wanna tell people dogs love to be well trained. I live in the city, and ya'd think these owners would teach the poor things to heel. And the worst is when they tell their dogs to "come sit down". The dog hears three seperate commands! I've seen a dog try to do this, it's pathetic!

Hearing the neighbor play that destinys
child song "I don't want to be just another
girl" song almost every day. Once, she played
it 6-7 consecutive times, with hardly a pause between playings with the sound cranked up.,
Talk about annoying :\

I think it might have been Destinys Child, but I don't know for sure.

Agreed on these guys that honk and drive up to women expecting them to "jump in" .

On the other side of the coin , women that get offended by even the tinyist little thing. For example women who scream and yell at you if you do as much as look in their direction.

Back to the other side of the coin, guys who refuse to accept no for an answer and continue to pursue a woman after she has said "I'm seeing someone , and anyway you just not my type." or "I like you , but not in that way" (or some other form of rejection that is meant to say no but in a civilized way)

And finnaly on the other side of the coin, women who always be super suddle and refuse to go out and say what they want/need. If you want something or want to ask if I want to do something then ask! Enough of this suddle hints! I dont read minds , if you want to use hints then at least use ones that make your intentions resonably clear!

And finally, People who can bathe daily, but refuse to. I mean WTF? How can they feel comfortable smelling bad and being "dirty?".

Weapons of mass destruction. Like, that's just sooooo Last Year.

People who give their kids lame, trendy names. For example, naming a girl "Madison." Anybody want to agree with me on this? And you know what the worst part is? Girls getting male names. Just what goes through parents' minds when they decide to name their daughter "Spencer" or "Charlie"?

I kind of like Madison, but it's been around for a decade or so. I hate the plethora of names from popular soap operas. (For example, Kayla's a beautiful name, forever ruined by whatever soap in the late 1980's had a character by that name.)
OK, "ruined" was a bit harsh of me. But I hope you understood my point. Could be worse, I suppose: we could all be numbered, like THX-1138.

I absolutely definitely completely agree with the two above posters. These days it's getting ridiculous. In the words of Blackadder, you half expect to see girls being called Bernard these days. It's even worse when parents go for an exotic name...and SPELL IT WRONG!

TRUE STORY

Someone told me that a family with the surname of "Lear" gave their daughter the first name of: "Crystal" and the middle name of "Shanda"....therefore making her full name: "Crystal Shanda Lear" (Crystal Chandelier)

IMAGINE THE STIGMA THAT POOR KID HAS TO GO THROUGH!

I can imagine much worse stigmas. Besides, how often do you go around announcing your full name? Crystal Lear doesn't seem strange.

"I had three sisters, and they were called Donald, Eric and Basil." --Nursie, from Blackadder II

I once thought the name Liberty for a girl would be different, although someone pointed out it could be shortened to Libby. (That person was older, and remembers "Libby's, Libby's, Libby's on the label, label, label" tv adverts in the US.)
After 9/11/2001, the idea lost its charm, since it would have seemed like jumping on the flag-waving bandwagon.
(OK, so maybe it was a lame idea anyway. It's not like I actually had a girl to name anyhow.)

A rather worse example than 'Crystal Shanda Lear' (particularly as it was entirely inadvertent) happened to a family called Talia, who named their daughter Jennifer.

They didn't realise why she kept being bullied at school until they realised the kids were contracting it to Jenny Talia (Genitalia).

THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED!

People who think that having a distant Irish ancestor is something to shout about.

For 15 years, I worked with a guy named "Dick Bender". I never had the nerve to ask him if he had a difficult time as a kid with that name.

At our school there was a kid called Nick Head, whose name when said fast by examiners inevitably sounded like Dickhead.

I know of a man called Tony Balchin (pronounced Bawl-chin) whose schoolfriends used to delight in tormenting him by spelling out his name without speaking - by pointing to their toe, then their knee ...

>For example, Kayla's a beautiful name, forever ruined by whatever soap in the late 1980's had a character by that name.<

Days of Our Lives

Think of all the Michael Hunts who can't shorten it to Mike.

Speaking of 'Kayla' (and as a cousion of one) may I also mention a few other names I used to like but that have now been irretrievably yuppified:

Brittany
Dylan (male/female)
The aforementioned female version of 'Spencer'
Amber
Jessica
Ashley

Dakota and Hunter (for females and males respectively) are becoming over-done, at least in America.

Oh, and thanks, margie, even though I wasn't losing sleep over which soap it was.

It does seem to be more females than males who get given "exotic" (i.e. silly) names. I particularly dislike it when the parents give transparently masculine names to girls - they should feel ashamed.

How about the increasingly popular tax-free shopping days. How could any consumer object to that (some loss of tax revenue to the state though)?

Are Furbies annoying or what? And my friend had to collect three of those little monsters!!

Test

This isn't a trend yet but it looks like its about to be. And I'm probably going to hate it. It's annoying enough when the news report every little thing that celeb couples do, but it's even worse when they refer to the couple with an amalgamation of their names. Like, when Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez were together, every day there was another pointless story about what "Bennifer" was spotted doing last night. Now, I bring up MSN and there's an article about "Brangelina." This is just going to keep going, isn't it?

They gave me a nickname while at work. Spencer. when I didnt answer my boss wrote me up.My name is x, not Spencer. Later on they wrote Spencer is a guy who works deligenlty , etc. The real guy Spencer (last name) left 6 months ago.

when I didn't answer to Spencer they made me do pushups! (im not in the army)and my contract I signed said nothing about doing pushups ! they can write me up whatever-When I complained to my assistant manager's boss they fired me.

someone called last night and asks my wife how to spil ourr lasttt name.,she said it, Double you u.only 2 letters? Uh??

they can't handle that?

Nit.

This isn't a trend yet

Oh heck yeah, it is. You're behind the times if you think otherwise. Yes, it's stupid, but to show how long it's been going on, it's been well over a year since Bennifer ended and Bennifer 2.0 (Affleck and Garner) began. So if it ended that long ago, it started even longer before that.

I think the worst one is Tomcat. (Tom + Katie, if you didn't know, like that one wasn't horrid enough without the stupid compound name...)

Before Bennifer, I think it was mostly limited to fictional "shipper" designations, like Spuffy for Spike + Buffy. Still dumb, but much less so than for real, live people.

Local television stations breaking into regular programing to give a weather update about a likely storm nearing the area. Sometimes, the regular program image is reduced to a picture-in-picture during such a warning, but the worst offenders just step right on top of the show altogether, so that you miss a portion. The fact is, I don't need a weather update about 5 inches of rain, thunder, and lightning, unless it's accompanied by a tornado 10 minutes away from my house. Let me watch my show, and save it for the news show! And for that matter, news stations shouldn't break into regular programming to tell us about some famous person/political figure's death, or a big pileup on Route 72, unless I'm likely to take immediate significant action upon hearing the news. Prime example: When Yassir Arafat died a year or two ago, CBS broke into the last 5 minutes of "CSI: New York" to give us the "breaking news". So viewers missed the conclusion of the show (which was consequentially re-run in its entirety the next night, but many viewers didn't know this and missed the re-run). Bear in mind that local news programs were scheduled to start at the conclusion of "CSI: New York", 5 minutes later. Couldn't CBS have waited 5 minutes? Again, save it for the news show!

Madison Michelle is on tv guide in our area.Mz Michelle?

I'd like a earthquake report before it happens during our Star Trek show, Ryan. I ran out of the house one day in 83 for the Fresno Ca 6.5 quake! I was pushing carts during the Sf 7.1 quake in 89. I told em the Bay Bridge went down and the reporter mentions the Golden Gate bridge fell. Wrong bridge?

I'd like a earthquake report before it happens during our Star Trek show, Ryan. I ran out of the house one day in 83 for the Fresno Ca 6.5 quake! I was pushing carts during the Sf 7.1 quake in 89. I told em the Bay Bridge went down and the reporter mentions the Golden Gate bridge fell. Wrong bridge?

Per my original message, an earthquake report would be fine (I used the example of a tornado). An earthquake is a major event for a particular geographical area, and the inhabitants of that area should be warned, if possible, regardless of what's on TV at the moment. I'm objecting to things like "thunderstorm warnings" or "severe rain warnings". Unless flashfloods, mudslides, etc. are coming, we don't need to know until "The News" comes on. If this stuff was that important for the general public to know, the local networks would step on commercials to give us the message. But they don't, because it's not worth the resultant monetary loss.

We got 7.9 quakes in Japan-Indionesia now.Wonder how they feel? There was one 7.9 in Russia somewhere too.

a Book I read We are the Earthquake Generation had those dire predictions about Earth changes, I read it in the 70s.

We got 7.9 quakes in Japan-Indionesia now.Wonder how they feel?

You know, large earthquakes have been hitting the Pacific Rim for all of recorded history. It's not new.

usage of the word "Tight" as a "cool word"
(we all know "radical" and "gnarly" was much better


Bloated guis- I am a command line fanatic
myself, but I've had to use web sites that were
absolutly bogged down in Flash, Java and are
very hard to navigate and use on a slower machine
(most of the machines still in use out there.)
And what about consideration for the blind
who use text-only browsers and a speech
synthesizer to get information from the web?
How about people using older equipment,
especialy those in the third world? Too
many sites that are bloated also tend to lack
much useful content?


The industry's additude and keeping users as forever newbies-
I know it';s not the whole industry, but
it seems that some of the big players are
doing a good job on keeping people ignorant and computer illiterate. I have no problem with
people who use a computer to send pictures
of their grand kids, or browse the web and
dont wantr to get into the technical side of things, and the GUI is a great way
to introduce non-technical users to the computer but the industry seems to be "keeping"
the path to ther technical side pretty well
hidden from new users. Another thing
that irks me, though probaly done to reduce
the need for technical support, are shipping
computers with "restore" cds that wipe out
the "c" drive, or in some cases _ALL_ of the psrtitions, with no option to install without format or to even do a componet install of
the software that came preloaded with the computer. I also am irked about the additude too
many people in the industry seems to have about the user's machine, and that that the (software
writers) can do just about anything they want to
with the users machine. Spyware is a prime
example of this, and it has really gotten out of hand lately.


usage of the word "Tight" as a "cool word"
(we all know "radical" and "gnarly" was much better


Bloated guis- I am a command line fanatic
myself, but I've had to use web sites that were
absolutly bogged down in Flash, Java and are
very hard to navigate and use on a slower machine
(most of the machines still in use out there.)
And what about consideration for the blind
who use text-only browsers and a speech
synthesizer to get information from the web?
How about people using older equipment,
especialy those in the third world? Too
many sites that are bloated also tend to lack
much useful content?


The industry's additude and keeping users
as forever newbies-I know it's not the whole
industry, but it seems that some of the big players are
doing a good job on keeping people ignorant and computer
illiterate. I have no problem with
people who use a computer to send pictures
of their grand kids, or browse the web and
dont wantr to get into the technical side of
things, and the GUI is a great way
to introduce non-technical users to the computer but
the industry seems to be "keeping"
the path to ther technical side pretty well
hidden from new users. Another thing
that irks me, though probaly done to reduce
the need for technical support, are shipping
computers with "restore" cds that wipe out
the "c" drive, or in some cases _ALL_ of the
partitions, with no option to install without format
or to even do a componet install of
the software that came preloaded with the computer.

I also am irked about the additude too
many people in the industry seems to have about
the user's machine, and that that they (software
writers) can do just about anything they want to
with the users machine. Spyware is a prime
example of this, and it has really gotten out of hand lately, and some companies are pushing
the envelope to the point of doing things
that are jut about illegal.

In one case I've
read about a couple weeks ago, a media
player (can't remember the name of it, other than
it started with "RAD") installation program actualy
uninstalled Ad-Aware without the users permission!
AdAware is a utility that scans for spyware and
gives the user the option to remove whatever
it finds. The author released a new version
of the program that gives the user the option
to remove Ad-Aware and continue install, or
leave Ad-Aware alone and not install the player.
I still think this is crossing the line, but
still not as bad as what the previous version did.

(Borderline) facist/one-sided/unfair ELUAs
(End users licence agreements) -I'll leave this
up to the readers imagination, because this post
is now getting way to long, and I don't want to add
to the 1000+ typos and grammar errors that usualy
crop up in my huge rants.

Disclaimer: (Borderline) facist was not refering to a company named Borderline being associated
in anyway with Facism. :-)

Well, you did choose to install that product.

Yes, but he also chose to install Ad-Aware. RadLight didn't like the fact that Ad-Aware labelled it as spyware, and allowed the user to remove the spyware, so the installation removed/disabled Ad-Aware.

Well, reinstal Ad Aware.

That •••• Klex (sp?) virus is incredibly annoying. Every day I get at least half a dozen copies of it in my inbox, fortunatly because I use netscape 4.5, it wont show the attachments, but it's still annoying. I really wish people would think before opening attachments. (in my opinion ISP needs to start blocking e-mails with this worm attached, it's almost always a specific size, and often all they need to do is block e-mails that size. In whole though, I think they all need to disallow executable attachments)

Wiggers are easily the worst.

"Klez", Chris.

Outsourcing. McDonalds used to be the last great refuge. Now McD's will be outsourcing the "Do you want fries with that?".

In a few days this has got to end up being a hoax. I mean it is just too weird.

Or if it is hoax and I did not notice they misspelled yahoo!! or something then, ScottN, you got me.

I'm sure I posted this somewhere before as a "prediction", now it has come true.

During a show I watched in the last week, there was an animated promo during the show for the movie "Robots". This had nothing to do with the show or the network, it was just an advertisement that intruded on the current program. It's bad enough that networks have to promote their own shows during other programs, usually at a very important point in the show, but to just have any old ad? This is really starting to *two* me off. (An old George Carlin reference, 10 points if you get it.)

The stupidity of me ordering a cheeseburger in Massachusetts and, instead of transmitting the order to the kitchen, sending it to the clearing house in West Virginia where it gets mangled into a California Cob Salad and transmitted to the kitchen is just too much to believe. The order can be just as easily magled locally without that middle step. (Hey, if you can't be right, be fast.)

My guess:

One of the reasons (not the only one, though)that your order gets mangled is that the kid with the headphones is taking an order at the indoor counter at the same time. A few years ago McD's decided to eliminate the dedicated window clerk. It was at that point the downsizing/outsourcing actually occurred. If the story is true, then McD's has decided that there is too much lost time and mangled orders not to have window clerks, but they still don't want a full time window clerk in every store. Communication technology allows one clerk to cover several stores. And centralizing allows the clerks normally covering different areas to coverone another should one area suddenly experience high traffic.

It makes perfect sense...

If you are woozy from breathing the fumes in an overheated mascot costume.

Tom, Speak for yourself. My local McD's has a multiple drive-thru clerks. One does nothing but take orders, and the others fill them.

Taking it to the most (politically incorrect) limit, I can actually see them outsourcing this to Bangalore, just like they do with PC tech support.

#Outsourcing. McDonalds used to be the last
#great refuge. Now McD's will be outsourcing
#the "Do you want fries with that?".


Seesh, they might as well dig up an old 486 from
the dumpster, stick where the drive through
menu/intercom is, and use that to take orders.
If they want to eliminate American jobs, and maximize profits(sic), why the gymnastics of
going overseas and back?

OK. Here we go. Newest favorite rant.

Why is Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's baby front page news? Why is Britney Spears baby front page news?

Who really gives a d@mn?

I'm sure there is someone somewhere who thinks they give a dang. I mean look how long Springer's been on the air.

But yeah you're right.

ScottN, I could give you a logical reason for that if you want.

It's because Americans have been taught/encouraged to compare themselves to others in society, as in how do people rate. It's similar to that wearing fashionable clothing at school gag that goes on. What goes in your head and in your heart isn't important, it’s how you fit in with society. Part of that includes celebrity worship, and idolatry which is why anything that happens with celebrities makes news.

Additionally, it’s because we’ve been encouraged to gossip, despite the obvious evils that can come from gossiping. Combine idolatry and gossip with a slow news day, and you get why its front page news.

The thing is, I don't think we ever have slow news days. If we looked beyond our own borders for once, there's plenty of news out there to report on.

Shoes with retractable wheels!

Why is Britney Spears baby front page news?

Why does Britney Spears even rate an entire show-length interview on Dateline? And MSNBC, in its need to fill air time, will probably run it again (and again and again.)
(Now, Mick Jagger or Paul McCartney I can see them giving an entire show to. Or even William Shatner.)

You are quite correct Josh M. I try and check out the BBC (Or the beeb as our brit friends say) There is always somethign going on somewhere that would outrank the gossip/trash that the media presents here.

But then again if people started thinking about things they wouldn't be able to sell the mass consumerism/consumption BS and people might actually start paying attention to how messed up the corporations have messed thigns up here in america.

I don't know how to tell you this, but TELEVISION EXISTS FOR THE SAKE OF ADVERTISING, NOT FOR THE SAKE OF BROADCASTING WHAT WE WANT TO SEE!

Um duh isnt that what I just said? Broadcasting is about mass consumerism and keeping the masses fat dumb and happy.

actually, it's about scaring the public...

you need this or your skins going to flake off...

Do you have bad breath... would people tell you if you did...

Walmart is hurting the *Insert Random Wal-Mart Victim Here* so call Wal-Mart and tell them what a . . . they are.

I studied the media for grad school, so I am familiar with this debate. Television programming is soleley to keep the commercials apart. That said, it doesn't stop creators and the audience from demanding that it be good filler and not wasting our time with it if it's not. I only have so many hours in the day. I don't have time for Britney Spears or her nonsense so I don't.

Unfortunately, Scott, the answer to your question is "because people will watch it". While consistently good programming will bring out the audience (Lost!) so, sadly, will that which just panders.

Mark, I have no objection to *ENTERTAINMENT* shows headlining that crud. I am wondering why supposedly hard news shows (CBS/NBC/ABC Evening news) lead off with it and spend more time on it than on items that directly affect people's lives.

My guess is media mergers and alternative news (primarily the Internet)--news organizations are being pistol whipped to bring more eyes in front of advertisers.

I'm just glad they don't do like the Truman show and hawk products too blatently during the show. I mean its kinda bad enough the way the product placements can be rather glaring depending on their obviousness or their absence. (Don't you love it when a show or movie can't get product placements and everything in the world is generic. I forget which movie it was but they even scraped the nameplates off the cars.)

I loved the quote that was said on B5 (Garibaldi was trying to get a guard to let him go somewhere by saying he was on tv and the guard said he doesnt watch TV) the guard said: "TV is a vast wasteland filled with innappropriate metaphors ruled by the media elite."

Yeah the news is not even about bringing the news but driving people to the commercials. Why else do they do the "and coming up godzilla is attacking the city but first these messages...." I also blame Tivo and other stuff like that that helps people jump past the commercials for the loudness of the advertisers.

I hardly watch network TV any more, but even on cable the shotgunning of ads can be annoying. Just watch 20 minutes of The Dog Whisperer and see how many times they play that Beggin' Strips commercial.

BACON!!!

Disney has renewed its role as an annoying trend. Miley Cyrus is performing in my city tonight at the largest available venue, which just happens to be located on my college campus.

Phrases I'd no longer like to hear anymore."You go girl," "They have more money than God,""Our child is smart,scary smart,"time for new stuff.

I wholeheartedly second that, Mike. "You go, girl" is like some kind of phonetically-triggered group-think, at least from the sound of it. I can't help but wonder where it started. (Imagine us saying, "You go, boy!"..!)

"More money than God", I guess, is just a lazily-used expression in lieu of someone creating something new. I caught myself using it once, and that was it. No more!

I've noticed lately how on news-oriented legal and political discussion programs, many, many of the guest "experts" on everything all are using the phrase "at the end of the day" ad neauseum. "At the end of the day, it all comes down to who shows up at the voting booth", or "At the end of the day, the case will come down to forensics". It's really annoying, and actually makes the phrase "you can indict a ham sandwich" sound fresh and original!

I've also noticed(actually my mom pointed it out several years ago to me)BobL on how everyone is now using the word amazing over & over all of the time.It's a decent word but folks need to ease up on it & find other words that would fit a situation.Also,while the phrase "If I tell you,then I'd have to kill you" was clever at one time,it now needs to be retired.

Don't those Christmas cards sent by family or friends with a form letter about how wonderful & perfect their lives are drive you up a wall? "Greetings,Well it has been another stellar year in the Miller household.Bob received that huge promotion at work,so we celebrated by going on a cruise,buying all of our dream cars,& moving to the lake.The kids are just doing amazing. Ron is the football quarterback & we had another winning season.Hooray!He was accepted by both Harvard & Yale.Donna was homecoming queen,is on the honor roll,& is considering a career as a model.We must live right.Kisses." I want to put a hit contract out on folks like this.By the way,that last line about living right was part of a real holiday form letter from a cousin of mine.I had to quit on them after that.

Yeah..they just ooze with humility, don't they?

"Starts Christmas Day"

IMO theatres should stay closed on Christmas day. Pretty sad that anyone should have to work on Christmas day, especially for something as frivolous as movies.

A few months ago I was coming out of an office & saw that the woman behind me was carrying a package.So I held open the two doors for her as we headed to the parking lot. She never said a word to me.Most folks do say "thank you" whenever I do that,but you do get ones who do not.But,I still hold open a door when I can.

When they do that, do you ever say "you're welcome" with as much sarcasm as possible?

No I don't Chris.I once saw someone do that after not receiving a thank you,the offending party came back with "don't mention it."

I HATE those little graphics that networks and stations stick in the corners of the screen during a program...then they stick in little advertisements...
NBC has taken to filling the bottom quarter of the screen with ads for upcoming DVD releases. Recently, it pasted an ad for the DVD release of The Bourne Ultimatum over the screen in an (increasingly rare fresh) episode of Law & Order - SVU. Yes, I know that GE owns NBC and most of Universal, but come on already. Let me see 100% of the action, especially when new episodes of shows are in short supply, due to the writers' strike.

Steriods!Barry is gonna go to jail
---------------------------
Mike- I open a door for the nice 70 year old woman and her husband said I can do that! he called me my color to and went to complain to a cashier who didnt see what happened!

Hang in there Barroid,you are a good person.The reality is that the majority of folks do thank me when I hold open a door for them.Only a few are ignorant,rude,or both.Don't let the bad apples ruin your day,they aren't worth it.

hey mike i was 6 or 7 when i did that.I was going to the JC penny toy dept but when he got mad i led him to Women's bra dept, of course the then 20 year old lady didnt see this

how about A-Riod?


aol sports

Here's one that gets my eyes rolling : when the newscasters do cute plays on words. Newscaster:"Next,here's a story that will be creating a buzz.Then the story is some segment about bees & beekeepers. I've nothing against a story about bees,but let's drop the cutesy-putsey talk that's supposed to pass for being funny or clever.

Xmas ads start after Labor day in some cities..

Merry Christmas anyways!, especially ScottN!

And a Happy Chanukah to you, !.

cutting up tv shows or movies for the darn commercial time!

Amc movie chanel showed em in its completeness, then this!

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the stores are into Easter stuff after xmas!

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read a book called 2012 end of the world.. the Mayans calendar ends dec 22, not 21...1 more day makes a differance.

So if the Mayans are right we don't need to do any Christmas shopping in 2012? ;-)

Kam ,I'm gonna go to Dizzyworld and die there!

I won the Monopoly game pieces twice in the 80s.


One free coffee, one set of french fries.I got the free coffee. The cashier didnt give me the free french fries. The managaer threw me out while I was waiting for it!
-------------------------
(I refused to participate any more. If I won the Million bucks...)

My dad won $2.00 and was told to cash the check right away.The bank thought it was a joke.

>read a book called 2012 end of the world.. the Mayans calendar ends dec 22>

I plan on going to Cincinatti. According to Mark Twain, thaey are ususally 20 years bedhing the times.

spike tv squishes the end titles for most of Voyager ,Next generation or ds9...or have ads for wrestling and such..


can't read em if you are nearsighted...or farsighted too...

Every channel does that now. Only syndicated shows include complete end title sequences.

Comedy Central's reruns of 'Scrubs' put the end credits at the front of the episode under the teaser in a small box. I wonder if that's why sitcoms got into the habit of putting goofs and little gags in under the credits back in the 90s, to try to keep syndicatiors from stepping on their credits like that.

Mythbusters shows the credits during the finale of the show. I wouldn't mind except that they squish the picture to fit them in.

My kid got his first ticket at jr college. he blames me for it , of course. I told him to show his parking stub and stuff to the ticket giver.anyone knows the fine btw?

How could we know the fine? We don't know what Jr. College it's at, and odds are it's specific to that college.

i found out.25.and parking in a handicap zone is $275!(plaque that's) not yours, anyway.I got yelled at, badly.

Well,once again the telecast of the Academy Awards segment paying tribute to those individuals in the industry who have passed away came up short.Many are left out due to time constraints we are told.Okay,here's some suggestions on obtaining more minutes so that more time can be devoted to this segment.Firstly,get rid of the portion of the show where the current president of the Academy comes out & mind-numbingly explains the voting procedure. Nobody cares,nobody remembers.Secondly,they must,must end what is supposed to pass for humorous,witty banter between the award presenters.It is scripted & rarely is either one of those things & the presenters seem to be well aware of this as they look very uncomfortable when they do it.Thirdly,do we really need to see & hear all five of the nominated film songs? I don't,& like my other two suggestions it merely eats away at precious time.I'd rather see a longer tribute segment than any of that other nonsense.

I always wanted to see some crusty old curmudgeon finally get an Oscar and make an acceptance speech that goes over the time limit and get really (angry) when the band tries to cut him off. I can imagine him looking pointedly at the band and saying, "I've been in this business more than 50 years. I won an Oscar tonight, which it the point of these awards, and you want to cut me off after 30 %&#$%@#% seconds? One of those •••• songs got four @*(#@ minutes!!! Hell, it takes presenters longer to walk on stage!"

If the Oscars are about anything, it should be about the winners. However, we all know it's about the dresses, the faux pas, and Best Picture only.

Sunday's broadcast was the lowest rated ever.

Sunday's broadcast was the lowest rated ever.

Good. It's just a bunch of industry insiders stroking themselves, and trying to convince the rest of us we should care.

Note: I have the same opinion about the Grammies, the Emmys, the Tonys, and any other "Awards show".

I only had it on while I was doing other things -- I certainly didn't watch most of it (as I used to, many years ago) -- mainly because I have only seen one movie in a theater in the last year. (Spider-Man 3)

I have the same opinion about the Grammies, the Emmys, the Tonys, and any other "Awards show".

I didn't even bother to watch the Oscars either, as I didn't see any of the nominated films (which, with the possible exception of Michael Clayton, were so out of touch with what the mainstream moviegoing public sees.) The only time I went to a movie theater in 2007 was to see the theatrical showing of "The Menagerie." I stuck with my usual Sunday night viewing - American Life TV's reruns of St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues and LA Law. Still great, even after two decades.
The most annoying fad to me is Hannah Montana. Marketed to the extremus, and annoying ad nauseum. Thank heaven I don't have a 8-10 year old daughter. Who'd want every toy, DVD, movie, etc Miley is on or in. I just don't get it.
I don't understand why Amy Winehouse won a Grammy, and has gotten so much critical acclaim. The whalesong from Star Trek IV is more musical than her voice, and her drugged out behavior is nothing to admire.

American Life TV's reruns of St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues and LA Law.

I love '80s night on AmLife!!!

I don't understand why Amy Winehouse won a Grammy, and has gotten so much critical acclaim.
I understand even less now. I woke up this morning and channel surfed a bit before forcing myself out of bed. When the cable box landed on VH-1, I thought I had reached the depths of hell. No, it was just Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" video that was playing. That woman can't sing for anything (if you call what she does singing.) I can't believe that she was even asked to record the title track for the next James Bond film Quantum of Solace. (She quit, as her producer said that she's unable to record anything now. Small wonder.) Contrast that to Turner Classic Movie's Sunday night telecast of Frank Sinatra's superbly entertaining 1965 special A Man And His Music. Sinatra, despite his faults, knew how to entertain. And, entertain me he did. Maybe I'm getting too old, but the ability to entertain is something sorely lacking with most currrent musical "artists."

Kids these days!

The fact that human respect and decency seems to have taken back seat to money.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same". Bleh X{

Newscasts that say "$SOMETHING_HORRIBLE!!!! For more info, see our site at www.$STATION.com".

Example, "Five hospitals fined for mistakes. If you want to know which ones, just log onto our website at www.****.com!"

You're a fracking NEWS BROADCAST!!!! Give us the news!!! Don't just try to increase your website's traffic!!!!!

I personally can't stand the horrible seques, puns, and unfunny banter between newscasters, especially when they offer their own opinions on the news. It's one reason why I don't watch network news.

dont know where to put this, but a 888-685-0042
shows up 5 times in 10 minutes, i answer and no one is on the end, just heavy breathing..or nothing...anyone else got this?

Heres a page with information on the number. It appears to be yet another telemarketing scam.

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-685-0042/2

I checked it and its a Westgate vacation something or the other,, wanna 80 percent off vacation to las vegas?

at least it was to my cell..

now a 650-9117 number calls and my wife thinks I gotta girl friend in Lalaland.

(I can it anything I want.Maybe Uclainthe smog)

Starbucks coffee company bought a coffee synthesizer or something?
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also they closed down 600 stores last month for failure to make a profit. the one in save-off
offers free coffee, customers only.. One employee (I worked with at safeway )got the customer's free coffee. he didnt pay for it,his manager found out on his break and he got fired instantly.

Uhm, anyone got the 80 percent off las vegas trip again? I got it yesterday and this time i used 7 f - you
words and they called back the manager of Wyndam vacations telemarkerter says what'your problem?????
geez, I am on the National no Telemarkter list too, the other day was 15 times in 30 minutes on my cell, it has that registred.
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also I got a 31 million $ inheratince(sp) from Pavirotte (sp) the famous opera singer...wow I didnt even meet him.anyone got this too?
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anyone please reply. thanks (sorry for the tipos Calley.)

And they called again, and again starting at 9am local time...

Gee , the cell didnt ring for me or my wife for the 80 percent off Wyndam vacation
.Must be labor day.

Now Walmart is calling me up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up
today on the cell phone.

Now I get a number who refused to speak to me when i do answer
in good faith!

I don't know where else to put this, but one of my latest guilty pleasures is CNBC's The Suze Orman Show. Financial guru Ms. Orman answers viewer questions sent in, I assume, via her website. The best part is a segment about 25 minutes in titled "Can I Afford It?" In it, a viewer tells her what s/he wants to buy, and Ms. Orman "approves" or "denies" it by analyzing the cost in relation to the callers' stated assets and liabilities. Some of the stuff people want is really boneheaded. One recent show had a caller wanting to spend $3000 for front row tickets to a Britney Spears show. She "denied" the request, as he would have paid for the tix out of a big chunk of his savings. (I can't see three cents, much less $3000, for Britney Spears tix.) Catch it sometime; I hope you're as amused as I am. Or, maybe it doesn't take that much to amuse me these days.

a guy stole a bunch of lottery tickets at a 7/11 ,he scratched them off and he didn't win anything but
jail time.

cop: What if you won the million $?

Thief: Uh, ....

Why do they keep putting screws on battery covers nowadays on so many electronics? Is this meant as a child safety feature or something?

What I really hate is when they put everything in blister packs that are impossible to open at hall with your bare hands. Not to mention the waste this produces.