Nobody Likes an Innovator

At least until the innovation is useful to them.
Can't say much, but let's just say I had an idea recently that I have good hopes for, but some people I've shared it with are lukewarm to it, or outright dismissive and insulting to it. Doesn't discourage me though, since I've gotten use to such attitudes from other people.
Stepping back though, I am sure my experiences are not unusual, at least for other creative people. If you know such a creative person, don't be overly critical of their ideas, because their ideas may live up to their hopes instead of down to your doubts. Besides, many of us would prefer we discover if our ideas are bad by trying them.

Good Experiences

Recently I had the opportunity to build a new computer, so I did. An important part of any build is the case, as it not only needs to be functional with your parts, but it also needs to look good to you. The case I wanted and ordered was the Corsair C70 Vengeance  and now that it's all set up, I really am happy with it. I was also happy when I pulled it out of the box, but in between there was a time when I was less happy. This was because there was a decent sized dent in the face plate, and I just hadn't noticed it at first. It's not a serious dent, but it is aesthetically displeasing, so I contacted Corsair asking if I could get just the face plate replaced. All I did was ask and shortly thereafter I was asked what color the case is, and once I told the person I dealt with, a replacement was sent out. That's it. No formal RMA request on my end. Corsair just sent out, at their expense, a replacement part, and even told me I did not have to return the old one.
Of all my experiences with computer hardware companies, this is either the best or tied for the best. If it is a tie, the tie is with HP, but then I also had an extended service plan with them, so that may have influenced the process some.

Also, the new Humble Weekly Sale features music by Jim Guthrie, who has done soundtracks included in past Humble Bundles. I suggest getting it because the music actually is enjoyable and it is a good idea to support Humble Bundle's non-game media offerings. Growing into other media lets the company grow, so show your support, so we can see growth continue in the future!

Our Little Machinations

It is somewhat amazing how our sentiments about something can change when one of our little machinations fails us. I recently built and moved into a new computer, and a result of that is the software I had been using for posting here no longer functions. All this does is add steps to the process of posting, as I must now log in and use the web client, but it still left me wondering how valuable it is to continue posting here. Well, obviously it is still valuable enough for me to keep doing so, for now at least. If it were not, than I'd hardly be posting this!
By the way, the new computer is awesome. I look forward to investing more time and money into it, as those resources become available to me.

The Vice of 24 Hour News

When this past week began, the 24 hour news channels were already covering a particular Florida trial like flees cover a stray dog. I and many others now know more about that case and the opinions of unassociated people than we know about our elected officials. At the end of the week, a plane crash-landing managed to displace the trial as the top news story, so we went from one insignificant local news story to another insignificant local (more or less) news story. From one item that needs less than a paragraph for the average person to understand to another. Meanwhile a rather important nation in the Middle East goes though an event that will quite possibly affect the entire world for years to come. But, when a new witness takes the stand or another press conference with no new information is announced, guess what is forgotten?

This is the vice of 24 hour news channels; entertainment over information. You see at some point the people in power were told that entertainment sells more ads than information does, even if it is information people tune in to get. The result of this is an unhealthy obsession with news unworthy of most people's time inundating the cycle. Of course it would be almost impossible to transition a news channel back to reporting information pertinent to everyone, as that would require hosts intelligent and competent enough to discuss the news, instead of making jokes that demonstrate their ignorance and yelling at people.