David S. Atkinson's Blog, page 194

Do We Really Want That Much Ted Nugent?

Everybody seems to be getting a big laugh right now because Neil Young chastised Donald Trump for using Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World” in his campaign. It sounds as if Trump might not have secured the appropriate permissions, but I haven’t really checked. He might have ( I don’t know what fair use defense or music rights clearinghouse could potentially be involved, music rights can be very complicated), but I don’t know. What I’m concerned about is what happens if candidates can only end up using music from artists who support them.

I mean, I at least support politicians having to appropriately secure rights and avoid copyright infringement. But, what if candidates end up only being able to use music from actual supporters? That might be fairest to the artists…but there is a way this could go really, really bad for us.

What if the only artist who supported Donald Trump was Ted Nugent?

Now, this is a nightmare scenario here. I don’t even know Nugent’s opinions on Trump. There are something like 800 candidates right now. I’m sure Nugent probably supports one of the republicans, but I have no idea which. But, for the sake of argument, let’s assume Nugent supported Trump and he was the only artist who did.

Are we really ready for the much Ted Nugent?

Think about it. Donald Trump has access to a LOT of money. Whatever song he uses, it could conceivably flood us. He could subject us to a LOT of Ted Nugent. Some people might actually care for Ted Nugent, but what about the rest of us? Do we really want that much Ted Nugent?

I’m just saying, snicker about the Neil Young thing all you want, but let’s hope this doesn’t carry to too much of an extreme.

Is Trump Pulling Our Leg?

So…Donald Trump has thrown his hat in the ring for president in 2016. Why am I mistrustful that this is real?

I mean, didn’t he hype up running in both 2000 and 2012 only to not do it? It’s possible he was serious and merely decided against it then, but it’s also possible he was just messing with us. He might be serious now and wasn’t then, or he could be just more committed to messing with us this time.

I can’t be sure.

After all, there are so many ways he could be messing with us. He could be doing this to get publicity for his shows or other endeavors. He could be putting pressure on other candidates. He could simply like fooling portions of the populace.

It’s just too hard to say right now. Trump is Trump, and I don’t always know what that means. Regardless, I’m skeptical that things are as plain as he is putting them forth. Trump is a crafty man.

An Answer To Jeb Bush Announcing His Presidential Candidacy

Apparently, Jeb Bush has formally announced his bid for the presidency. I haven’t looked into him too much yet, so I haven’t really formed an opinion on that. However, I do have an uninformed and reflexive reaction. In the absence of any intelligent consideration of the news, I’ll offer that instead:

Today I’m All Like:

Today I’m all like:

Let’s hope tomorrow is better.

Amazon Third Party Sellers Should Be Banned If They Don’t Have Products

Well, it happened again. I bought an item from another Amazon third party seller only to receive a cancellation several days later because it turned out that they didn’t have the item. I’d understand…if this wasn’t something like the hundredth time this happened.

(Note: This was a used video game. I still try to support my local independent bookseller whenever I can because I love my local independent and Amazon keeps torquing me off.)

Seriously, the viability of Amazon’s third party sellers only works if you can reasonably trust that they actually have the products that they are offering. They come up with all kinds of excuses, but the bottom line is there are many, many sellers who offer something they don’t actually have. Then, when there is an order, they try to get it quick and cancel if they can’t. They do this to keep inventory costs down, but it really makes ordering through third party sellers suck.

Now, I know that that there are times when a screw up happens and they really thought they had something that they turn out not to. However, this happens way, way too often for that. Some sellers do it habitually. There comes a point where it simply isn’t believable, and this is where Amazon should put their boot down.

After all…they allow the third party sellers on their site. They should be able to figure out if a third party seller is doing this habitually, and penalize them for it.

I’ve been reluctant to use third party sellers frequently because of this. If Amazon wants to keep people using their third party seller system, they ought to crack down on this at least a little.

If they don’t care though, then they can go right on ahead with what they’ve been doing.

[END RANT]

Noooooooo!!!!!!!

Noooooooo!!!!!!!

Marge and Homer Simpson to call it quits

Oh wait, this is probably just another thing that will go back to normal by the next episode. Never mind.

Walmart DJ Name Suggestions

Apparently, Walmart will be getting rid of their current music set up and will actually be getting a DJ. This seems really weird to me. Regardless, though the A.V. Club already suggested DJ WalBanger, I thought Walmart could use a few DJ name suggestions. Here’s what I came up with:

– DJ RollBack

– DJ MakinMethinMyCar

– DJ SaveJamsSpinBetter

– DJ Couldn’tGetaJobDJingAnyPlaceThatPaidBetter

– DJ OfWalmart (People of Walmart, get it?)

I don’t know what Walmart will think of any of these, but they’re welcome to use my ideas on this. I like to help.

The Same Picture Of Jon Konrath Every Day Spot The Differences Game Answers

Yesterday I asked you all to play “The Same Picture of Jon Konrath Every Day” spot the differences game. How many differences did you spot in the two panels below?

Here are the answers:

– The left panel is the copy of “The Same Picture of Jon Konrath Every Day” picture. The right is the copy of the copy.

– Jon Konrath is thinking about Robocop in the left panel and Lunchables in the right.

– The left panel is on the left. The right panel is on the right. Duh.

– The meaning behind the left panel is you should buy a copy of Thunderbird.  The meaning behind the right panel is you should buy a copy of Atmospheres. The meaning behind the middle panel is you should buy a copy of The Memory Hunter (note, only the really special people can see the middle panel).

– You were thinking about NyQuil while looking at the left panel whereas you were thinking about Robitussin while looking at the right.

See how easy that was? How many did you get?

The Same Picture Of Jon Konrath Every Day Spot The Differences Game

Let’s play “The Same Picture of Jon Konrath Every Day” spot the differences game. How many differences can you spot in the two panels below?

Lord: Please Don’t Destroy Denver

Lord: please don’t destroy Denver. I live here, so I’d appreciate it. Seriously, whatever Denver did…Denver is sorry. Please don’t try to destroy us. I live here and would appreciate that. Thanks.

Seriously, one neighborhood recently got four feet of hail in a single storm. I repeat: four feet of hail. More recently, another neighborhood got enough rain at one time that the streets were flooded because the water couldn’t drain fast enough. One friend reported he saw on the news that there was a foot and a half of rain in about an hour. I don’t know if that’s completely accurate or not since I didn’t verify, but one thing is certainly clear.

Some god, somewhere, is angry and has it out for Denver. Please don’t kill us, Lord.

I’ve actually gotten pretty lucky where I live. I had a lot of hail and a lot of rain, but no four feet of hail and no flooded streets. Still, how much longer can I be safe if the Lord persues his/her/it/their vendetta? Not long, I’m sure.

Granted, Denver is still probably doing better than the recent floods in Texas or the recent drought in California. I don’t think that necessarily means Denver is safe, though.

Who knows what’ll be coming next.