I find it really irritating that ALMOST every newspaper that has a website requires you to sign up and login just to read a damn story! What is the point really? Is it to get my email address and sell it to the highest bidder? Probably not, as most have a privacy policy. Is it to send me emails about current events? Nope, as I don’t get any emails from the online papers I have signed up for. Is there some online newspaper contest to see who can have the most subscriptions? Possibly…but stupid nonetheless!

Some of you are probably thinking, “What is the big deal, just sign up.”

Well, I’ll tell you why. My contact information is none of their business and not integral to them providing information. Maybe someone just sent me a link to an interesting story and I have no further interest in EVER reading that paper again, other than to read the link I was sent. Do I really need to sign up on a news site for the Nowhere Chronicle of Small Frickin’ Town, Iowa? All it really does is make me ignore the link altogether and the website misses out on possible ad revenue from me possibly clicking on an interesting ad I see on the page displaying the article. Or maybe they miss out on me seeing a link to another interesting story and actually becoming interested in a particular columnist or area of the country and becoming a regular reader.

So again I ask what is gained by making me sign up? If anyone has the answer, please tell me.

This has been a brewing peeve of mine for a while now but this post stems from a simple google search looking for St. Patrick’s Day events in Denton. It brings up a couple links from the Denton Record Chronicle with some possibilities, so I click and get the idiotic crap page asking me to sign up. NO!

Hell, it would even be better if they all used one service to consolidate logins for all papers. How am I supposed to remember if I signed up for your stupid website 4 years ago? I could have been with some other ISPs email address that I can no longer access and can’t remember the password either, but just know I have signed up at least 2 times before on this stupid site! ARGGHH!!!!

EDIT: I must edit to mention the fact that once I was able to retrieve my temporary password (as I actually did have a login from who knows when), but I could not login to the member area to change it because of the crappy programming on the site and the broken contact page to yell at them about this problem with a link to this rant!!!

When we signed up for Blockbuster Online, there was a limit of 3 movies out at a time. According to their FAQ and my account settings, the package we have is still a limit of 3 out at one time. However, we have 4 movies sitting next to the TV right now, with another one getting here tomorrow, I presume.

I imagine this is a glitch in their system or maybe a spring break bonus for current members so they can keep their kids busy during this off period for the kiddos. Hell, it could even be that they are finally righting their wrongs of years ago when I worked long, hard hours for a measly wage (and free movie rentals) for Wayne Huizenga and his Blockbuster Empire.

If this is a new feature for my account level, we are almost always guaranteed to have an unwatched movie sitting at my house with the rate that we watch movies.

If this is a glitch, we will be back to waiting a day or two with no Blockbuster movies to watch….

Commonly Confused Words Test

More proof regarding my previous post.

Either that or proof that not enough people have taken the test.

Philip’s Score

• Advanced
• You scored 93% Beginner, 93% Intermediate, 87% Advanced, and 66% Expert!

Compared to users who took the test and are and in your age group:

• 100% had lower Beginner scores.
• 100% had lower Intermediate scores.
• 100% had lower Advanced scores.
• 100% had lower Expert scores.

Tasha’s Score

• Advanced
• You scored 80% Beginner, 93% Intermediate, 87% Advanced, and 61% Expert!

Compared to users who took the test and are and in your age group:

• 100% had lower Beginner scores.
• 100% had lower Intermediate scores.
• 100% had lower Advanced scores.
• 100% had lower Expert scores.

I was browsing around the web the other day and saw a website (I don’t recall which one) that happened to use the word “peeples” (our last name) as a substitute for “people”. I became curious so I did a Google search for “my peeples” and returned over 300 links to this phrase! The phrase “my peeps” results in over 90,000 links!

Now I can almost handle the use of my nickname (peeps) as a common slang term, and even as an obscure name for a disgusting marshmallow treat, but has this IM, ghetto-internet speak gotten so out of control that PEOPLE will deliberately misspell a word and even type an extra letter just because they want to sound hip?

Abbreviations? Fine, I will shorten a word or two on a quick email to a friend or even an IM, but then writing something on a public, semi-permanent medium, I try to portray some level of intelligence by writing somewhat properly and without the use of ghetto-internet speak.

I’m sure anyone who reads this will feel compelled to post a goofy comment using the word “peeps” or “peeples” in an incorrect context, but know that one day the wrath of the Peeples clan will strike you and will torture you in ways not even imagined during medieval times. Your reproductive system will rot so as to not infect future generations with your genes. If you already have children, they will be forced to endure rigorous tutoring and brainwashing until they can learn to turn off the jive-speak when communicating on a public medium.

P.S. No Easter candy jokes either or all the above actions will happen to you too!