<rant>While this great nation grants you the choice to purchase a domestic or foreign made automobile, make the right choice, purchase American made. This is particularly true in the Detroit area. If I hear one more person who drives a foreign vehicle that lives in the state of Michigan complaining about our current economic situation, I’m going to explode. Michigan’s economy is driven by the auto industry. Whether or not you directly work for one of the big 3 or a supplier of the big 3, your job likely depends on the strength of the domestic auto industry. Pull your heads out of your asses people: buy American made.
When you purchase a foreign made automobile, you forfeit your right to bitch about Michigan’s poor economic status. When you lose your job, when the value of your home decreases, when the quality of your child’s education suffers because the automobile industry is tanking: don’t complain to me about it. I won’t have sympathy for you. When you can’t find a job, I’ll be there watching and laughing.
When I lose my job because the domestic auto industry implodes, I’m going to kick your foreign automobile loving ass.</rant>
I’m SO glad the election is over. The American political regime is such a sham; has been for quite a long time. Frankly I’m not sure it matters who wins anymore. We all know that special interest groups run the country. The person/group with the most money to throw around, gets what they want. So much for Democracy. At least I won’t have to endure all of the bullshit advertising campaigns for a few years.
I suppose it really boils down to this fact: I’ve lost all faith in the American government to do anything useful or productive. The only two things the government excels at is hemorrhaging money and meddling in the affairs of the rest of the world. The American economic engine is severely broken. The government’s solution? Throw $700 billion of tax payer money at the financial institutions in this country. How about a fix, instead of a band-aid?
Next presidential election, I’m voting for Jack Bauer.
From the reviews I’ve read, Spore appears to be an excellent game. One of these days, I’ll actually get around to downloading the demo. That being said, I REFUSE to drop 50 of my hard earned dollars on a game that requires activation. For the uninformed: Spore comes with a three activation limit. After that you have to call EA to obtain each additional activation. EA may or may not choose to grant you an additional activation. They are under no obligation to do so. For a person like myself that re-installs Windows on a semi-annual basis just to keep it fresh, I could easily burn through 3 activations. Also, most avid gamers are continually upgrading their computer hardware. The upgrade may require a re-installation of Windows. Furthermore, what happens if EA shuts down the activation server? This would reduce your copy of Spore to a mere $50 coaster.
I cannot tell you how strongly I disagree with software activiation. While I realize piracy is an issue, all software activation accomplishes is punshing those who pay for it.
EDIT: It appears as though EA does not offer a demo of Spore. I found a demo for the Spore Creature Creator, but not the game itself. If anyone knows where to find a demo of Spore, please let me know.
Regarding my previous xkcd.com post.. While phones that play songs instead of ring tones are annoying, far more annoying are ring-back tones. While most of the population enjoys today’s crappy “trendy” music, I do not. I don’t enjoy talking on the phone. Should I deem it necessary to call you, I REALLY don’t want to hear what your favorite crappy song of the week is. If I do, I’m not very likely to call you again. Don’t use ring-back tones. They anger me.
