I'm often astounded by how uninformed people are on the information superhighway. It seems like they'll give an email account to just anybody these days... wait a minute....
I got a chain email today urging me to sign a petition to the FCC because somebody else had gotten together a petition with 287,000 names on it to shut down all religious broadcasting. Honestly? In engineering, we have what we call a sanity check. Sometimes, you can get so bogged down in calculations that by the time you get an answer, you've forgotten what it means in real world terms. So you do a sanity check. Does the answer you've come up with actually make sense? If you were designing a bath tub for an elephant and determined that the dimensions should be 2' x 3' x 1', then no, you did something wrong. It is likewise absurd that an agency of the US government would (officially) consider shutting down all religious broadcasting.
However, for the sake of the conspiracy theorists out there, let us don our tin foil hats and research the issue. Amazingly, the same internet that facilitates the transfer of nonsense also allows you to check on the truth of said nonsense. Snopes.com is a great source for determining the truth about urban legends and email chains. I like to go to Google.com, though, because I prefer to go straight to the source - in this case, the FCC. Here in all its glory is the official FCC denial of the supposed attempt to deny us the pleasure of televangelists.
I like to get the official word on things because I can then send the link back to the sender of the email as well as everybody on the distribution list. I find that a small amount of shame does wonders for de-cluttering my inbox.
Another thing that irritates me about chain emails is the blatant diregard for the eyesight of the recipient. Amongst all the the email addresses of the last 5000 people to forward the message on, it is next to impossible to figure out if it is Microsoft or AOL sponsoring the email beta test. I've come up with a solution for this, though. Do you know how much spammers pay for confirmed email adresses? As long as I have to be inconvenieced, I might as well be making a profit.
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Nerds are about the most predictable creatures on the planet because we are, above all, creatures of habit. We don't like change (unless it's the new XBOX, or a faster processor) and we don't like risk (eBay makes me nervous). We just want our toys, three square meals a day, and to be taken out for a walk once a week.
About Me
Name: neil
Location: Island of Misfit Toys
Occupation: Rocket Scientist
I am a nerd. I went to math competitions and played in the marching band. I can program the VCR and fix the toaster. I can tie my shoes and occasionally match my own clothes. I own four graphing calculators, know what reverse polish notation means, and can compare the strengths and weaknesses of Science Fiction authors. I am the next step in the evolutionary chain.
Location: Island of Misfit Toys
Occupation: Rocket Scientist
I am a nerd. I went to math competitions and played in the marching band. I can program the VCR and fix the toaster. I can tie my shoes and occasionally match my own clothes. I own four graphing calculators, know what reverse polish notation means, and can compare the strengths and weaknesses of Science Fiction authors. I am the next step in the evolutionary chain.
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Are there really such things as metric terrorists? Are there people so twisted that they'll use the beauty and simplicity of base ten to cause fear and mass hysteria? Oh yeah, the French.
4 comments:
you really are so cynical but I love you anyways
Seriously, there is no better way to let everyone know you're an idiot than by passing on chain emails. The ones like this are particularly stupid, although I think I hate the ones that promise you your crush will call you even more. Or the ones that say you will die if you don't forward it.
You're so feisty! Seriously, what would we have left to mock if there weren't people sending chain emails. I think they serve a useful social purpose. No matter how bad your day has been...no matter how many dumb mistakes you have made...you can always say to yourself--'Well, at least I didn't fall for any ridiculous chain emails today!' You can build yourself up and feel so much better about things--knowing that, at least for one more day you are not the biggest dork in the world. Embrace it!!!!
I seriously know tons of people that have made tons of money with that email beta test. I'm a lawyer, and I know the law. They have to pay... Oh wait. This isn't a chain post.
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