Category: Society

  • Dystopia Arrives

    The dystopia genre has enjoyed a lot of attention the last decade with hits like The Hunger Games, Blade Runner 2049, and Automata as a few examples. To me, a dystopian film is set in the near future with a focus on society more than technology. In my late teens and early 20s I loved…

  • I wanted to support the Red Cross during Harvey… (but I can’t, so I need alternatives…)

    File this under “blogs I didn’t expect to, or want to write tonight”. With hurricane Harvey causing incredible damage and distress to Texas, many of us are looking for ways to help. I’d love to be down there in a boat rescuing animals or humans, bringing free bottled water (as opposed to the horrible alternative),…

  • The Problem with Facebook…

    Maybe that was a bit of a ‘clickbait’ title, since the list of problems with Facebook is epic, tragic, and depressing. So let’s go with, “tonight’s example of an ongoing problem with Facebook”. One of my biggest gripes about the social media platform is that after all this time, they still do not give us…

  • Shan Yu had a point.

    BOOK: Have you ever read the works of Shan Yu? SIMON: Shan Yu, the psychotic dictator? BOOK: Yep. Fancied himself quite the warrior poet. Wrote volumes on war, torture… the limits of human endurance. SIMON: That’s nice… BOOK: He said “live with a man 40 years, share his house, his meals, speak on every subject.…

  • Smile! And your favorite charity benefits.

    Recently, Amazon implemented a program called ‘Smile’ that allows you to select a charity who will get a small portion (0.5%) of your purchases. The beauty of this program is that you select your charity one time. Every visit to Amazon after that, they donate. Even better, if you forget to go to the ‘smile’…

  • Unsung Hero

    Not fond of sharing commercials, but this one is powerful.

  • Stupid Recursive Advertising

    I am sure there are many more examples, but after a recent Corona commercial it reminded me of previous I had heard. Cases where advertising uses a recursive theme. For those not familiar, you have recursive definitions and recursive acronyms, but the latter is more geek humor while the former is a mathematical thing. At…

  • Moving toward 10%…

    I took notes for this blog in October, 2010 and never finished it off. The concept of the tithe goes back thousands of years. Most people I know associate it with churches in England hundreds of years ago. These days I can’t say I have heard of many, if any at all, following the practice…

  • Saving the world, one dollar at a time…

    From time to time, I am asked if I want to donate a dollar to $CAUSE. It happens in retail establishments like Whole Foods, Safeway, Regal Cinemas, and even gas stations. The causes range from charities fighting disease to helping my state recover from wild fires. In some cases, they don’t even ask for a…

  • Not All Charities Are Created Equal

    I support charities. Quite a few of them actually. Maybe it isn’t the best use of the money I donate, as dozens receive small amounts, rather than one or two receiving a sizable donation. I know that with few exceptions, it seems like my donations are mostly wasted, and it has me questioning my support.…