Technology and it’s strangle hold

I’m sure you all own a computer, or at the very least, have access to it (otherwise, how in the hell are you reading this?). I’m sure you own various other “technological” things, like some sort of MP3 player, a DVD player, some video game console, whatever floats your boat, you got it. I normally don’t have issues with things like DVD players and whatnot, mainly just my god-forsaken computer.

Computers run our lives, if you think about. We put so much into them, we, basically, need them to function. Hell, we need any form of advanced technology to function. Our lives are connected to computers, our lives depend on them. If you disagree, let me ask you this: Do you have a credit card? Do you have a bank account? Are you a student? Do you work? Me, I keep everything of value on my computer: pictures, files, music and whatever else I feel like I need to survive in this life. My life is in some bank’s database, my life is in my school’s database. Unless you live in a cave in the woods of Maine and hunt for your food, make your own clothes and basically self sustaining, you’re in someone’s computer.

Late last week, my laptop’s hard drive died on me, wouldn’t boot up. Being the genius that I am, I haven’t backed anything up for about 4 months, and I lost everything I had accumulated in the past 4 months. Pictures of friends, family and just randomness. Files for my internship, my resume I just updated, my coverletters. My songs. If I didn’t still have my old desktop computer, I would have been internet-less for about a week. I would have lost my mind. I’m still losing my mind over the files and pictures and songs. Luckily, I still had my backup DVDs from 4 months ago to fall back on.

So, files from 4 months ago were no problem to get back, and even my songs up until about a week ago were no problem to recover. I mean, I have an iPod that’s basically a portable hard drive, and that thing has been reliable. Sadly, that thing decided to have a brain cramp (and due to copyright issues, very difficult to get my songs from the iPod onto my new hard drive), and I only got about 1,000 of my 1,800+ songs back onto my computer. So, I’m out 800 songs, and I’m fuming because things like a computer and am iPod are supposed to make my life much easier. Less stress and all that, apparently, crap.

Moral of the story? I’m lost without a computer. I DEPEND on my computer, I depend on my iPod, I depend on everything else in my life that can just breakdown at a moment’s notice. Like I said, I keep everything on my computer, every bit of information I need. Some people go beyond that. They keep every bit of info they need abou them. That’s when a whole other problem starts up.

Identity theft. People hacking our computers can get any bit of info they want that we have on there. They can even turn our loveable machines against us, using them to pass on more evil or to just give us the, what I like to call, “blue screen of death” (anyone who has ever used or owned a computer with a Microsoft operating system knows what I speak of) or much, MUCH worse. Another problem is that not only do we use computers to store our most important information, but so do the services we use. Banks do. Credit card companies do. Online stores do. Colleges and universities do.

All it takes is some hacker to get into some companie’s, etc. database, and we’re exposed. They can ruin our credit. They can make purchases in our name, and we get the bill. All sorts of fun things can be done in other people’s names, thanks to our loveable computers.

I’m beginning to think that maybe I’d be better off without all this crap around me, hogging up all my free time, stressin me out. Anybody else?

Being human

It’s all about us these days. And by is I mean “me, myself and I.” This day and age, too many people have that thought running through their mind. Too many people think about themselves and only about themselves when it comes to anything, especially when money is involved. And if it’s not about money, it’s about furthering yourself, whether it be politically or something else. Now, there’s nothing wrong with living comfortably, but when you do it on the backs of others, or you just plain neglect others to further your own goals and gains, well, you fit right in with today’s society.

People are just plain selfish these days. Like I said, it’s all about “me” and no one else. Too many times I’ve gotten into a heated discussion with people about this sort of thing. Namely, about taxes and people living off other people’s money through those taxes. Whether or not you believe in the whole welfare system, the fact remains that not everyone has what they need. Some people have what they need, plus interest (as in, enough “need” to feed a family). What pisses me off is when someone claims that the people living off their tax money are just “lazy” and don’t deserve any help whatsoever. Granted, people do use and abuse the system set up to help out those who just can’t help themselves, despite their best efforts. But, that’s the price, literally and figuratively, we pay to live in a human society, if you ask me. If you don’t like it, my vote is that you go and live in a third world country with no organized government, and that way, you can keep all your money for yourself! Freaks.

Some people just think of themselves when it comes to just, well, think of themselves. Some people don’t think of others. Some people hurt others just for the fuck of it. Too many times I see someone using someone, telling them what they want to hear, for whatever reason: to get laid, to get favors, etc. Too many times I see people taking advantage of others, and it’s just sickening. You have your con artists, people who take advantage of others stupidity, naivety, whatever you want to call it. Hell, even I’ve almost fallen for things, and I consider myself at least average with my street smarts (I don’t have an ego or anything). But, like I was saying, the level of douchebaggery and assholishness is astounding in this world.

Take me, for example, and what I’ve been doing lately to people. Well, not so much now as I had been doing for the past few months. I had gotten really selfish, I started to think about number one and I let it get of hand. Kind of ironic how I can be railing against people who hurt others, yet I’ve been hurting people lately. What does that say about me? I don’t know, honestly. I leave those kinds of judgements up to others and the ones I have hurt. But, what sets me apart from those who get off from hurting others is that I deeply regret it. And that’s a whole other problem, people not feeling about, not feeling regret and people just not being sorry. I feel regret, I feel sorry, I feel ashamed. That doesn’t excuse me, but that’s more than most of us would ever be willing to admit.

Now we have this whole situation in New Orleans. You have people looting, killing, raping, doing whatever they feel like just because they feel they can get away with it. It’s sickening, like I had said before, that these people are taking advantage of such a horrible situation. Granted, some of the looting is a necessity, people need food and water. But, people don’t need to be lighting houses on fire, stealing DVD players, TV’s, car stereos, hijacking food shipments, shooting at rescue helicopters and other people. What does that accomplish? Anything? This is the time when those people need to be coming together to help each other out, not bludgeon one another like we’re still living in caves.

Katrina

I hate to jump on this topic, but there’s something that’s starting to piss me off about the post-hurricane situation that’s going on. You’d like to think that we, as members of a somewhat advanced society, we’d be able to pull ourselves up and become better people, banding together in the face of a disaster. That people would be helping other people, “picking them up” and helping them out, helping to rescue, helping to deliver food and water, donating money to organizations that are helping these people who have been affected.

Unfortunately, people suck. Plain and simple. I’ve been reading about the looters that have been hitting up stores, residences, parking garages and anything else that they run across. I’m watching the news right now, hearing about all these things that people are doing, it makes me sick. How can these people get in the way of rescue efforts, relief efforts? I’m reading and hearing about these people shooting at helicopters, cops, etc. It’s just wrong. These people are just making things worse for everyone else. Lighting houses on fire. All these things do nothing to help, only cause more pain and suffering for the victims.

I’m sorry, I have nothing more I can say right now, I’m just too pissed off. I just heard Mr. Wolf Blitzer saying paramedics (or hospital personnel, something like that) have been shot at while trying to help people by snipers! I mean, c’mon, this is just plain ridiculous!