Posts Tagged ‘Opinions’

Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Silence 450x270 Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.

So I was drinking a bottle of Cool Ridge water today (don’t get me started about the bottled water thing, I’m going in a different direction today.) Anyway I noticed on the bottle a big graphic that states “SCREAM IT OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM – One extreme experience like rally driving and sky-diving to win every day.*” So I think to myself that sounds like fun and decide to go to the web site (http://www.getitout.com.au/) to see what it’s all about.

After the page loads I realise that the competition has ended but the site is still going and looks kinda interesting. Basically it is a place where you can upload or link to videos of yourself venting about something. It even looks like they had a mobile tent that would be set up in different places where you could go and they would film you venting about whatever.

Well, if you’re a regular to this blog, you’ll know that I’ve always got something to vent about so I start thinking about what particular issue (out of the thousands) I’m going to vent about. While I’m thinking about it, I figured I’d take a look at the ‘Terms and Conditions’ of entry. That’s when it hit me and I knew exactly what I was going to vent about.

Item 12.

Item 12 is a list of all the things you are NOT allowed to submit.

12. You must not submit any Vent (including Vent topics and tags) that in any way:

  • is harmful (including due to any virus, worm or trojan horse);
  • is threatening;
  • contains any swearing or offensive language;
  • is scandalous;
  • is (or is likely to be) defamatory or libelous;
  • is inflammatory;
  • is obscene;
  • is offensive;
  • contains any nudity or is pornographic or indecent;
  • is profane;
  • is, or is likely to, denigrate, marginalize or offend any person or class of person based on race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, age, sexual preference, religion, disability, political belief or marital status;
  • refers to or depicts drug use or other illegal activities;
  • refers to or depicts violence; or
  • that could constitute or encourage a violation of any law.

So the first thing that springs into my head is “What the hell are you allowed to vent about?”

How pissed off I am at the moment with the weather being hot one day and freezing the next?

Oh shit, I said piss and that’s considered offensive language.

Oh fuck I said shit…

Damn!!!

I can’t think of one thing to vent about that would actually fit within these rules. I can’t even say that “I hate drug dealers who beat up on their girlfriends.” I would be referring to drugs and illegal activities and violence.

When did we become such a pansy arsed, puncey, pathetic, useless society that is so scared of saying anything in case we offend someone that we just don’t say anything worthwhile at all any more?

We have all been raised with the American bullshit sale pitch being rammed down our throats for years. Yay for democracy, Yay for human rights, Yay for freedom of speech. That is, unless you try and actually practice that freedom. Freedom of speech, the right to ‘speak freely’. It should mean exactly that. You can say whatever you want.

The irony of all this is that I actually have more freedom to speak out against my government than I do to speak about something that may actually offend someone.

It’s ridiculous. You should be able to think and say whatever you want. You should be able to speak out against all those rug munching, ranga, midgets, who film porn while being bounced up and down on some dirty wogs knob, even though they are so old  their tits are longer than their stumpy arms.

Just like, those midgets and the wogs should also be able to speak out about anything they want to as well.

Everybody has become way too sensitive. It’s about time we all grew some nuts and hardened up a little. If people actually had the balls to speak up about things instead of kissing each others ring holes, we may actually achieve some things that are worthwhile.

There you go Cool Ridge. That’s my vent. Print that on your web site ya bunch of limp dick, fascist, suits.

twitter Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.facebook Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.linkedin Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.stumbleupon Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.delicious Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.digg Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.technorati Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.myspace Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.friendfeed Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.reddit Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.wordpress Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.bebo Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.aim Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.evernote Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.gmail Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.reader Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.google Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.share save 256 24 Freedom of speech, so long as you don’t say a damn thing.

Selling out to the social networks

Monday, September 14th, 2009

1100s Buildings 450x337 Selling out to the social networks

So I had an interesting day today. I started off by reading my emails as usual and then decided to read an article I had downloaded a few days ago. It spoke of the importance of “social networking” in regards to getting visitors to come to a web site. Well seeing as this is a one week old web site and the visitors statistics are only in the low triple figures, I figured I’d give it a shot.

I had installed a plugin while setting up this site, that added the social networking links at the bottom of each page. I really had no idea what they were for other than I’d seen them on a heap of other blogs. So I set about clicking on the links and signing up to all the networks.

Holy smokes that was a bigger job than I thought. There was a whopping 22 of them, all of which needed me to go through the sign-up process. You see, I’ve avoided the whole “social networking” fad in a similar way that you might avoid coming into contact with the plague. Back in the real-world I’m not a big fan of socialising or networking. So up until now I couldn’t imagine why I would want ot do it online.

I’m more of a one on one kinda guy. I like to hang out with one friend at a time so that the time together is quality rather than shared and watered down. I’ve never been one for groups and I’ve always hated parties and big gatherings.

Alright damn it… I’m antisocial… There I admit it. In a world that pressure us all into being social beings and team players, I like to walk alone. A dangerous thing to admit, I’m sure. I can be genuinely happy and content in my own company with nothing more than my thoughts. In fact the idea of living alone in a lighthouse out at sea for six months, is quite appealing. (if anyone knows where I can apply for a lighthouse keeper job, please leave a comment with the details.)

But walking alone does not bring people to my web site. And no visitors, means no point to writing for it. So I’ve sold out completely and I feel a little dirtier because of it. I ended up spending the majority of the day signing up and submitting articles to these networks. I even started a Twitter account. Please have mercy on my soul (you know that thing I’m losing a little bit of each day…)

The worst part of it all is that after spending all day signing up to these 22 networks and feeling some sense of achievement, I did a quick search on Google only to find that Wikipedia has a list of 156 social networking websites…

Holy hell!!!

So what does all of this mean? I have no idea. I guess I just need to keep on playing the social game and see if it attracts people. You never know, I may end up becoming a twitter junkie with ten billion friends. Oh dear God, what if they want to meet me, you know, for real…

twitter Selling out to the social networksfacebook Selling out to the social networkslinkedin Selling out to the social networksstumbleupon Selling out to the social networksdelicious Selling out to the social networksdigg Selling out to the social networkstechnorati Selling out to the social networksmyspace Selling out to the social networksfriendfeed Selling out to the social networksreddit Selling out to the social networkswordpress Selling out to the social networksbebo Selling out to the social networksaim Selling out to the social networksevernote Selling out to the social networksgmail Selling out to the social networksreader Selling out to the social networksgoogle Selling out to the social networksshare save 256 24 Selling out to the social networks

Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

There are endless things to complain and wine about CityLink and other toll road companies. And I’m sure many of them are the same around the country and possibly the world.

“Why should we pay tolls when we already pay road tax?”

“We were promissed there would be no tolls, when the road was being built!”

“Wasn’t that road a public road and free to drive on before?”

But I would like to focus on two issues that I haven’t heard mentioned before. I don’t claim to be a lawyer and have limited legal knowledge, but these issues seem to go against what I would believe to be legal.

I became aware of these issues after returning home from a recent trip. I had been on the road for three months and, as you can imagine, all I wanted to do was to get home. I had been driving for a number of hours as I approached Melbourne and as I got passed the Tullamarine airport I realised that the roads had changed quite a lot since the last time I had been on them. Somehow, in the confusion, I found myself on the CityLink tollway. I was irritated but thought, at least I’d be home quicker.

I personally believe that being tolled to drive on roads when we pay road tax, petrol tax, and a number of other taxes that should go towards road upkeep, is wrong. So I protest the best way I can and normally avoid the toll roads completely. On the odd occasion when they just can’t be avoided, I will purchase a Daypass.

On this particular occasion I figured I would call up when I got home and purchase the pass. They allow you three days after the travel time, to purchase a pass. Anyway, five days later and I realised I had forgotten to call them. I jumped on the phone and spoke to one of their customer service people. I was told I could no longer pay for the daypass and would have to wait for an invoice to be issued with an additional “administration” fee.

Several weeks passed and eventually the invoice arrived by mail. At first I didn’t think much of it and put it in my ‘bills to pay’ tray. Then, a few days later, I started thinking about it. How did they get my address? I have never given it to them. When purchasing a daypass over the phone or online or even at one of there touchscreen kiosks, I have never had to give my address or any personal details.

Now, of course I know how they got my address. It’s registered to my license plate. But how did they get access to this information? A normal person like you or me can’t get someone’s personal address just by presenting a license plate number. As far as I’m aware, it is illegal for the government to hand out that kind of information. So why does CityLink, a non-government, commercial entity, have access to our personal information. Isn’t this a breach of privacy?

But it doesn’t stop there…

I returned to the invoice to eventually pay the damn thing and read through it. In big bold type at the bottom of the page was a warning. If this bill wasn’t paid on time Victoria Police would issue me with a fine.

How on Earth had they managed this? Remember CityLink is a non-government, commercial entity. They are just like any other big corporate company run by a CEO and owned by the share holders. How have they got the Victorian Police Force to handle their debt collection? Do they pay Victoria Police for this service, or is it another burden on the tax payers? I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t get the Police to fine any of my late paying clients, as I’m sure you couldn’t either. Although I think we’d all agree that it’d be nice to have them backing us up.

Like I said earlier, I have little legal knowledge but I’d love to see some comments from anyone that knows how CityLink is able to do this. I have sent an email to CityLink to ask them directly about these issues. If they respond I will write a follow up post as well as endeavour to find out more information.

twitter Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?facebook Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?linkedin Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?stumbleupon Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?delicious Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?digg Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?technorati Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?myspace Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?friendfeed Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?reddit Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?wordpress Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?bebo Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?aim Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?evernote Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?gmail Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?reader Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?google Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?share save 256 24 Is CityLink conducting illegal operations?

Have we forgotten how to listen?

Saturday, September 5th, 2009

People, as a whole, (and I know I’m over-generalising here) are very good at talking. We talk about anything and everything. The weather, our favorite sports and teams, how we had a good day or (more often) a bad one, and a great many other subjects. Some people keep their talking to light subjects with little meaning while others, like myself, plunge into the depths of knowledge and reason and talk about the meaning of life and how it could be better and other equally brain melting subjects, also with little meaning.

As I sit and ponder these things, I wonder, not about how meaningful the topics of conversation are, but more of who the hell is listening to all these things being said. You see for all our ability to talk and communicate and share, it seems very few of us actually have the ability to listen to other people. I wonder if it has always been this way or is it something that has progressively worsened as we are more and more ferociously, bombarded with more and more voices from every possible angle.

We can’t even go for a drive in the country without the ever-present screaming voices of billboard advertisements and road signs. Is it our attempt to shut these voices out that have lead to us shutting out the voices of those whom we should actually want to hear. Our families, our friends, those trying to help us or those offering something that we actually want.

Maybe we should all just shut the hell up for a while and allow one voice in at a time. One that we can really focus on and listen to. A voice where we actually hear every word. We may be surprised at what we all can learn from our own silence.

twitter Have we forgotten how to listen?facebook Have we forgotten how to listen?linkedin Have we forgotten how to listen?stumbleupon Have we forgotten how to listen?delicious Have we forgotten how to listen?digg Have we forgotten how to listen?technorati Have we forgotten how to listen?myspace Have we forgotten how to listen?friendfeed Have we forgotten how to listen?reddit Have we forgotten how to listen?wordpress Have we forgotten how to listen?bebo Have we forgotten how to listen?aim Have we forgotten how to listen?evernote Have we forgotten how to listen?gmail Have we forgotten how to listen?reader Have we forgotten how to listen?google Have we forgotten how to listen?share save 256 24 Have we forgotten how to listen?