Category: Disliked

Upset, dismay, or otherwise unenjoyable.

Categories
Disliked Endured Narrated

As The Casket Turns

(When we last left our intrepid hero, he spent [over half an hour on the phone with Microsoft support](https://vjarmy.com/archives/2007/05/a_call_to_18004myxbox.php).)

Coming home tonight, I noticed a small white box sitting in front of our door. It was obviously damaged.

“That’s odd,” I thought to myself, “I don’t remember ordering any pa…*oh, don’t tell me that’s…*”

Sure enough, it was my Xbox 360 return box – or as it has affectionately been termed (and reviewed), [the 360 casket](http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/760/760269p1.html). And it was in bad shape.

The Coffin Arrives

Multiple edges torn, corners bashed in. Why? Because the box was single-ply, with no re-enforcements. The protection the 360 gets is limited to a plastic bag with multi-lingual statements of “WELCOME” all over it and two pieces of fairly squishy foam core.

In The Coffin

Arne, “Xbox Community Manager”, decided to accuse me of scapegoating Microsoft for the box damage, so [while I was taking him to task](http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6514423&postcount=3153), I conducted the true method of discerning which of two boxes was better: I let Buttons decide.

Buttons Chooses The Better Box

The casket – which has been re-enforced with about 8 pieces of weatherproofing tape – will make its way to a UPS store over the next few days.

But I’m not too sad – as I found out today that I’m in the Warhawk beta.

Categories
Disliked Found

The Day The World Ended

[NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/books/12vonnegut.html):

> Kurt Vonnegut, whose dark comic talent and urgent moral vision in novels like “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “Cat’s Cradle” and “God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater” caught the temper of his times and the imagination of a generation, died last night in Manhattan. He was 84 and had homes in Manhattan and in Sagaponack on Long Island.

Not the sort of news I like starting my Thursday with.

EDITED TO ADD: The [Metafilter obituary thread](http://www.metafilter.com/60215/Kurt-Vonnegut-Dies-at-84) is worth visiting, more than any other MeFi obit I can remember.

Categories
Debated Disliked

Pry My iPod From My Cold, Run-Over Hands

NYC blog-types are up in arms today over [Carl Kruger’s proposed “no-ipod-or-cellphone-while-walking” ban](http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2007/02/07/banning_ipod_ce.php).

> “While people are tuning into their iPods and cell phones, they’re tuning out the world around them… If you want to listen to your iPod, sit down and listen to it. You want to walk in the park, enjoy it. You want to jog around a jogging path, all the more power to you, but you should not be crossing streets and endangering yourself and the lives of others.”

It’s good to know that after a landmark election, particular in NY state, we are still giving government jobs to the batshit insane.

Before we get to the snark, here’s the simple, logical response I’ve been pitching in response all morning:

* If you’re crossing a street – with or without an iPod – in such a way that you are a danger to traffic and those around you, then you must not have the right of way.
* Logically, this means you are crossing against the light.
* This, of course, means that you are jaywalking, which is literally defined as “to cross or walk in the street or road unlawfully or without regard for approaching traffic.”
* We already have laws against jaywalking that are barely enforced.
* Why do we need another law?

Okay, on to the snark. Other distractions to ban around NYC:

* **Tourists that stop dead on the sidewalk of Times Square.** I’m constantly running into people taking pictures or gawking at neon signs. This is dangerous.
* **Stairs.** They are often slippery and/or wet, causing injury and possible death.
* **Rain.** Rain is distracting. Also, wet. Again, safety hazard!!!
* **Children.** Not only are they a distraction, they are a waste of taxpayer resources.
* **Cars.** Did you know the #1 cause of accidents on NYC’s roads are automobiles? It’s true! They must be banned immediately.
* **Light.** Our tourist friends have proven that any sort of shining object can lead to a disaster. Total darkness is much safer.
* **Evening.** On second though, plenty of bad things happen in the dark. Why, 74% of NYC crime occurs between the hours of 6PM and 6AM! Let’s get rid of 12 hours in the day.
* **Sound.** What’s more frightening than a car backfiring, a glass breaking, or a loud siren? Abolish noise, and we can focus on the task at hand – putting one foot in front of the other, repeatedly.
* **Knowledge.** You know the saying about curiosity killing the cat? ONE DEAD CAT IS TOO MANY PEOPLE.

I look forward to our non-existence going forward.