On responding to inane questions

Read the whole thing here

The Question: "You're very patient with people, particularly people who ask the most inane kinds of questions. Is this something you've cultivated?" and Chomsky's response:

"First of all, I'm usually fuming inside, so what you see on the outside isn't necessarily what's inside. But as far as questions, the only thing I ever get irritated about is elite intellectuals, the stuff they do I do find irritating. I shouldn't. I should expect it. But I do find it irritating. But on the other hand, what you're describing as inane questions usually strike me as perfectly honest questions. People have no reason to believe anything other than what they're saying. If you think about where the questioner is coming from, what the person has been exposed to, that's a very rational and intelligent question. It may sound inane from some other point of view, but it's not at all inane from within the framework in which it's being raised. It's usually quite reasonable. So there's nothing to be irritated about."

Noam Chomsky; Excerpted from Class Warfare, 1995, pp. 19-23, 27-31

Customer Service

When I need help that I know will involve talking to an actual person, I should be able to do the following:

1. Go to support webpage
2. With forms (dropdown), I narrow my problem down (to dept., etc)
3. I Enter my phone number
4. Have the company get a technical service representative ready, and then call me
5. I pick up the phone, and instantly start talking to someone in person who already knows my account information, basic problem, etc.

Amazon has customer support where you -optionally signed in to your account- put your email in and select your problem, but they call you instantly and you still have to wait on hold. At least they already have your account information (which was verified by me), and know where to send the call. 

Steps are being made in the right direction, but I still believe customer support is something where a lot of improvements are being made, but the forces at be - money, current systems, laziness - are keeping it terrible. This ultimately means a worse experience for the consumer.

Prescription VS. Description Dictionaries

Every once in a while, sombody notices that some stupid cultural bit (like "LOL") has been added to the dictionary, then they go around complaining about it and the decline of culture - as if culture is something that sites on a number line.

Here are some examples

But whenever somebody complains about whatever decline in English language, I tell them to stop being such a brabbler and learn the difference between prescription and description dictionaries.

The original "Just Google It" was to throw one of these at somebody

Lexicographers (word people, dictionary writers, language analyzers) have two methods of choice when writing dictionaries, Prescription or Description. 

Prescription dictionaries issue judgement. They denote and command proper use/practice of language, grammar, pronunciation, or syntax. Prescription dictionaries are seemingly resistant to changing.

Linguistic description does not establish rules, it is applied taxonomy. A descriptive dictionary reports what people say. If a neologism is common enough, then it goes in the dictionary. It is in these sorts of dictionaries that controversial or slang words/neologisms such as "chillax", "bromance", and "LOL" find home. NOT in prescription ones.

Well, not yet, at least. Language is always changing and evolving and, despite some lexocographer's stubbornness, that change is powered by the people. Language is about communication. If one can communicate effectively, that is what matters. I would like to say that lexicographers in the 'prescription' camp do not care about informal use, but that probably isn't true. Those word nerds are surely losing sleep over spoken abbreviations or anything "meme"-ish.

Language is a form of communication that can be found in both extremely formal and extremely informal environments. It is always changing, and whether certain changes are good or bad is a matter of opinion.

The clash between formal (Yes) and informal (Yeah) language is ever-present and very interesting. It goes back to the creation of English as a language. (If you click one link make it that one).

So stop bitching. If you don't like a word's existence, and think people who say "YOLO" or "Bromance", then just don't use it. Boycott the words you think have no place in language. Also, stop commenting on internet articles. Your opinion that English is declining is uninformed and pointless.
--
Also check this out

Our Contradictory Culture

There were Germanic Tribes in England. (The Angles and the Saxons, sound familiar?). Then some Christians showed up. Instead of the Christians getting rid of the germanic culture by replacing and driving it out, they mixed together. This mix of ridiculously separate, and often contradictory and confusing cultures can be argued to be the basis of modern english and thus a significant amount of both English and American culture, most notably with ideals. This mixing also explains Christmas and Easter, in case you were curious.

We idealize and value all of the following:
LOVE and WAR.
FORGIVENESS and REVENGE/VENGANCE
AFTERLIFE and THE FINALITY OF DEATH
PROVIDENCE and FATE.
Christianity on the left, germanic on right

I could but won't go on. You may argue that we do not idealize war or revenge, and that after death is a matter of opinion/religion. You might have a few good points, because it all differs on an individual scale, but as a culture, (look at the stories we grow up with), these things all mix! It's crazy!

It is because of this mixing that our culture is so contradictory. We love the war hero and pray for world peace. Great stories of revenge are told while forgiveness is the mental law of the land. What is this? Answer: America. This christian/germanic mix is the base that entered america, and the melting pot of america today continues to mix and change. There is no true american culture as america is the combination of culture. Just think about food. We mix things together. It's pretty awesome.

The Chilli-Cheese-Fried-And-Raw-Onion-Pickle-Ketchup-Mustard Hot Dog. And to think this started in Germany, now it can be found nowhere BUT America.

The government as set by our founding fathers set up rules that lets this happen. (Freedom of Religion, etc), but in order to receive the awesome and nifty benefeits of the mix, we have to deal with segregation, discrimination, and biased separation that is inheireit in such a system. Taking something and routing its history is always fun, particularly with food.

So can I be American? I often hear people tell me that I can't say I am American. "But what is your ancestry". America is from somewhere else, so you are from somewhere else, so where are you from?
Well that doesn't make any sense! I was born here! I was raised with American values! (Television!). Why, because my grandfather was born in Germany, am I German? On my father's side, I can't be more American (that's a lie: Native American). I am a direct descendant of Samuel Huntington. (Huntington is even my middle name, people), and you say I am not american. I am a mix of the cultures around me. That's as american as it gets!

Graphics Quality Settings

You play at "Great" graphics? That's cute. I use my GTX 670 to pump it all the way up to Fantastic. 

I am the worst at this

I draw art that is fridge-worthy. By fridge-worthy, I mean terrible in every way other than the amount of effort that went into it. My drawings are those that people look at and hesitate, searching - deeply searching - for something kind to say about it. Because you wouldn't want to hurt my feelings.

Drawn from reference by a 19 year old in 25 minutes

Why do I bring this up? Because I am trying so damn hard! I have set a lofty goal of one digital painting every day. Ever. Single. Goddamn. Day.

So everyday I will make an art. Create something of some kind, while I work towards being a better drawer and digital artist/painter. Everyday I will upload the piece here: creation.hunterdyar.com. Why upload my terrible art? Is it because I enjoy criticism? Well, no. In fact: I don't care what you think! haha! I am showcasing my work as a motivational technique to keep myself creating. I have to post something every day.

This took almost 1 1/2 hours, and I was tracing.

If I miss one day of practice, I notice it. If I miss two days, the critics notice it. If I miss three days, the audience notices it. - Paderwski

It's about being productive and getting better at things. More specifically, getting better at things that I suck at.

In the future, it may be fun to look back and see just how bad I was, and note my improvement. More likely, I will look at that blog months from now and start crying at the clear evidence that shows so little improvement. (ctrlpaint.com, help me!)

If nothing else, it will remind me to practice juggling, writing, unicycling and billiards more often. Because If I don't do that, my self-confidence and self-esteem might drop to dangerously low levels.

Why todo list apps suck

There are a lot of todo list apps. I am working on designing another one, because the market apparently isn't flooded enough. Actually, it is more than flooded, and here is why: Developers use todo list's. They like having apps to help them out. They try to find a good todo list app. Every todo list app is complete rubbish, and they think "I can make something better". So they do. And then it's slightly better rubbish. Some todo apps are gorgeous, others are feature filled, others are themed for specific things like weddings or travel plans. They all suck. Why is this?

I have tried about a thousand todo list apps, the one method I stuck with for over a year was this: Every morning, or the night before, I would write the day's todo's on a post it note, and stick it in my back pocket, or to my notebook in my side pocket. I would check it often, and get things done. It didn't help me manage any long projects, but it worked well for daily tasks and as a reminder. A todo list app needs to have that quick-check daily items, as well as be able to help manage long tasks. 

I am going to try really hard not to call out any individual app, unless it's in at least some positive light.

My hand writing really is this terrible

Only available in one place

People may carry their phones everywhere, but damnitall, I don't want to take my phone out or reach for my iPad when I am sitting at my computer. There are a lot of todo lists apps that are just for iPhone or iPod, not nearly as many for the web, as software, or for android devices. There are even less that are available on all of these platforms. A good todo list needs to follow the user, and sync across devices. I want an app that can sync across devices. I don't even need offline support! (but it would be nice). Existing on ones phone is essential these days, which sucks, because there are a lot of web-only todo list apps that are really good except for that one thing.

They are ugly as hell

There is a problem trying to put a host of features one-click away. You have a lot of stuff to click on. Also, a lot of todo apps still believe very strongly in the glossy button, and don't we hate that? Todo.txt may be powered by a great txt file system, but it came from a command line and it's apps are also ugly! Other apps rely on some tricky interface to separate themselves, like super-advanced post-it note emulation or a wooden theme, looking like a "real" piece of paper, and these all look like crap! The novelty wears off very quickly and then the design gets in the way. Frankly, list's arn't that hard to make look good, but they are really hard to make look great. And most apps just look OK. Completely average. Who wants that? Notable exception: Clear.

Many todo lists would look the same even on this phone

You only have one type of item

Most todo lists treat all tasks the same. Something that is either DONE or TO DO. This is a simple and not very useful way of looking at things. An essay due in 3 weeks is the same as a daily reminder to do some pushups. This is wrong! Items that are different should be treated differently. I want to create a daily item (for me, things like juggle, practice piano, exercise, stretch, etc) that automatically gets added every day. It would be nice to be able to look at stats/history of these daily items. Todo list apps should be able to work with the Don't Break The Chain technique (which I am fond of).

No Hierarchy

Todo list items are not simple. The best todo list items (that is, things that will actually help you get things done) are small single-minded tasks. There is one action to complete them. One should break apart items as much as possible, and watch their progress. Many todo list apps have one level of hierarchy: projects. There is no reason not to treat any task as something capable of having children. I may have a project a boatload of branching children tasks. Often, todo list apps get too intrusive at this step, and there are too many steps to jump through to create a project, which - inside of the todo list code - is a whole separate and frustrating process with deadlines and Gantt charts and a slew of other unused features.

Free Services that disappear

Read this blog post, written better then I could. Basically good services that are free go away because they arn't making any money. This is why I am afraid of Wunderlist, which seems to be one of the best services out there.

This is how much I hate useless features!

Filled with useless features

Wow, app, I am glad somebody thought ahead to password protect my todo app inside of my password protected app, And golly-gee I sure am glad you mark the location I create and complete my todo's! That is super-duper helpful and not bloating or slowing down your app at all!

Other Minor Annoyances

• Character limit on tasks
• Dedicated for daily tasks, no long term tasks (TeuxDeux, you are almost a winner)
• No customizing font, color, etc. Damnit, I want yellow Comic Sans!
• More than two buttons to create a tasks. 1 to open the app, the other to create task. Any more than that, and something is wrong.
• Only good for one thing - (such as just daily tasks, or project management). When somebody needs something else similar, they have to find another tool.
• Typing on a phone stinks, compared to pen and paper.
• No offline access
• Force sync on every app launch slowing you down
• Writing on paper, crossing things out, crumbling things up - it just feels better.