Sir Spam-A-Lot

Spam. A constant problem. I have closed out several email accounts due to the high volume of spam. Sometimes spam comes from registering products (some companies will sell your email address). Also, not-so-trustworthy sites lure in unsuspecting people and then sell your email to other companies so you are spammed that way too.

Often overlooked as a route to spam and email viruses are forwards and group emails. If you have ever received a forward, you notice a huge laundry list of email addressed who were sent similar items. Thus, people have access to a huge resource of email addresses of which to spam or hit with viruses (not that your friends are untrustworthy, but in the grand scheme of forwards and group mailings, you don't know most of the people who get the message passed on to them).

So what to do? Email programs do offer the BCC field. This field hides all email addresses sent to so people cannot get at your entire address book of contacts. Also, when you receive forwards that you plan to forward on, delete everything except what you thought was so cool. I get sick of forwards where you scroll through huge amounts of email addresses and personal messages until you actually get to the forwarded content. (This works only if your email program is set to forward in body versus as an attachment.)

I would like to think that if people knew what the BCC field was, they would actually take care to use it. I think it is a friendly turn to make sure your family's and friends' email addresses stay protected from spammers and viruses. This is one step to do it. So please do. Every little bit helps. Now some email programs (like Yahoo!) won't let you send an email unless you have one in the "To" field. I use an email account that I check every now and then that is already overloaded with spam. Gmail is excellent because of the huge inbox you get. Thus, no real email is being sent on.

Another way to stop spam is to invest in internet security. I am an avid Firefox user and have WOT installed. It pops up with potentially dangerous sites that can spam you, send you viruses and trojans, so it's a good feature to have. I have a phishing detector and Norton 360 - all of which help. Be wary of using your email on sites, try to read the fine print. When registering or setting up accounts on other websites, check to see if their privacy policy prohibits them from selling your information to other companies.

Tis better to be safe than sorry.

Empty Promises

In today’s world, new books abound: some of them great, some not so great, and others downright unreadable. Of course, what books fall under these categories is highly subjective to the individual reader. I would, however, like to point out that even though books can be deemed “readable” it does not necessarily mean that they are written well or are even feasible. This is not in reference to science fiction or fantasy, but even regular fiction.

The major problem with today’s literature seems to be the amount of no-substance “fluff” getting published. Even though I am in my early twenties, I will still sometimes read young adult books. Now, just because these books are for young adults, does it mean that it is okay to create these implausibly badly written novels? Do youth of today have no standards? No, but some of the works that are out there for them are quite atrocious.

Flashy titles, pretty covers, and well-written blurbs may make these books seem appealing, but underneath all the glitz is, well, nothing. It is always a great letdown to read the blurbs, or back covers and then to sit down with a book that had such promising features to find out it is a dud. It is like the movie business where they put the best of the movie in the trailer, with books they put the best of it on the back cover. It is sad.

The great shame being that these books are produced by the major publishing houses. It seems rather ridiculous that some of the worst books published are sponsored by major presses. Yes, not every book believed to be good will make it, but to have so many being produced at such low quality, it is downright scary. What happened to the good days of good books for children, teenagers and adults? Harry Potter was at least a well-written series, unlike Eragon. No offense to Christopher Paolini, but that book was good in theory, but in reality not the best. I say kudos to young authors who are getting published, but should they be? Amelia Atwater Rhodes had some great books out before the age of 20 (she was first published at sixteen). Those books of hers didn’t make you cringe from their horribleness.

Being a voracious reader and a big fan of Anne McCaffrey’s Pern stories, I had high expectations for Eragon. I was let down. I finally understood what it meant when people said “authorial convenience.” Yes, there were times when the happenings of Eragon were just too convenient. What is the likelihood that in reality someone who knew everything about dragons would just so happen to live in the same town with the boy who managed to find the “last” dragon egg? I tried hard to like it, but in the end I could not. I didn’t even finish the book – which is actually quite rare for me. It is becoming increasingly difficult, however, for me to find a book that will keep me turning the pages.

I abhor skimming, I believe things should be read in entirety, but more and more lately I cannot find the patience to sit through reading a book cover to cover. What is happening to literature today?

Twilight - Good and horribly bad

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer was better than expected. I have now read books 2 and 3 in the series and am currently working on finishing Breaking Dawn. In general, I find I like the series, however, I must admit to some OMFG moments and times where I wanted to scream in frustration. Which, I suppose, could be what the author was going for. And if that is the case, how irritating.

Nothing is worse than deliberate misunderstanding – which Bella does through the entire series. She doesn’t think Edward can love her because she’s too plain. No matter what he does, no matter how many times he’s proved his general overwhelming affection for her, she is completely clueless. It was extremely annoying to see those thoughts going through her head. The girl needs to be slapped and slapped frequently. Although Bella is never described as a raving beauty, it is interesting how every male in her high school seems to fantasize and want her for themselves. How does she go from invisible in Phoenix to highly desirable in Forks? The conversion seems a little . . . much. It could be that the same thing happened in Phoenix and she was oblivious like she still could be in Forks, but that doesn't seem to be the case - which makes a person wonder why she is so desirable to the male population there in general. At least Edward makes sense since her blood has a highly intoxicating smell, but her desirability with all other males is never lighted upon and it seems unbelievable.

Along with Bella’s obvious obtuseness comes another beef with some very cheesy and trite phrasing. Clichés are all well in good, but in order for something to be cliché it is usually highly overused, such as a lot of Jacob’s thoughts in Breaking Dawn when Meyer’s gave Jacob Black his own little section. One begins to understand the horrible overuse of certain expressions when he seems to use them all. Plus, some better blonde jokes would have been nice. I could definitely join in with Rosalie’s frustrations at these horribly overused jokes. Ah, yes Rosalie.

Meyer actually had a great moment with Rosalie. We don’t see too much of her in the Twilight books. Mostly Edward, Bella, Jacob and Alice. Emmett, Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Japser tend to have less screen time. However, what we do see of Miss Rosalie leaves much to be desired, even when you can understand her animosity towards Bella. Then, in Eclipse (I think) we finally get Rosalie’s story, why she is the way she is – it’s a great moment, ruined by her entire attitude in Breaking Dawn. Sure, one of the things she wanted most was coming to pass, but at what cost. Sure Bella lives, to be expected (generally speaking main characters aren’t killed off too much), but Rosalie is not concerned at all about Bella, just the creature inside her. When I was finally starting to like the blonde, Meyer had to spoil it.

Also rampant in these four books is some of the biggest persecution complexes known to man. Edward beats himself up over everything, followed by Bella doing the exact same thing. Not to mention both of them believe almost everyone is against them at one point or another during the entire four book series. I guess that’s what makes them perfect for each other – all the overwhelming angst. Seriously, it all is a tad over the top. Okay, not a tad, but a lot. As much as I like the storyline, I dislike how much they berate and punish themselves over the stupidest of comments and trifling mistakes. Vampires are seen as brooding creatures, but Edward broods entirely too much and, like I said before, Bella is right there behind him. Here blatant overlooking of the truth with wallowing in misery and angst is downright annoying.

Besides an overabundance of angst is the ever maudlin love between Edward and Bella. They are soul mates, that’s great. The intensity and the lovey-dovey-ness of their relationship gets really hard to stomach the farther the books continue on and is even worse in the last book. Sure it’s due to the changes, right. It seems a bit off that Bella can really only ever concentrate on Edward. Single minded to the point of recklessness and sheer absurdity. Edward is the most beautiful person she’s ever met. Wow, so that must equal obsession and swooning every time. I don’t think so. Ridiculous with a capital ‘R.’

With all these complaints, how can I possibly like the books? I don’t know, but I do. Edward and the Cullens are likeable characters, Bella is too when she is not being overly dense. It says something that I can sit down with one of these books and not want to come up for air until they are finished. I keep pushing through, another page, one more chapter. Meyer’s does well in keeping the pace going enough where you can’t wait to see what happens next. What will Bella do this time? How will these new events play out? They can be quite the page turners.

Snow, Snow . . . Did I mention SNOW?

So. Winter. I wish I could say it's almost over, but (especially in Michigan) there are no guarantees. I don't start breathing a sigh of relief until May. Seriously. Poor Michiganders (and I am sure many other states) suffer through ice and snow storms until late April. It is rare for winter weather to continue until May, but not impossible.

This is a bit late considering how much snow has been dumped across the country at the end of 2008, but it is still something rather annoying. Snow removal. Bay County is pretty decent. They are doing well to keep the roads (the main ones at least) salted and plowed. Woohoo. The sucky part in all this is that the residential streets within the city always seem to be covered in snow and ice. Last year, there was damn near a foot of packed ice and snow to drive on. Not fun at all. And of course living out in the country you have all those secondary side roads (gravel, dirt) that rarely see a salt truck let alone a plow. I am happy that I live on more of a "main" road.

Now for the annoying part (aside for the huge amount of pileup - but there really is nothing to be done about that unless your run your plows 24/7). My sister lives in Lenawee County. Or rather the city of Deerfield, but due to fiscal issues, Lenawee is not salting their roads. Seriously. There was the salt shortage the year before and this past year, salt prices sky rocketed so Lenawee's big idea is to not salt. And I have no idea if they are plowing at all.

Now, there are enough accidents with regular salting and plowing . . . can you imagine how much it would increase if there was none at all? Sure, pickups have four wheel drive, which works well in snow generally, but ice . . . NOTHING works well with ice. It's just a wing and a prayer and a hope to make it through without spinning out. Not fun at all. You would think the county would try to find another option instead of salt if the price is really that far out of their range. It is rather ridiculous they are doing nothing to the roads. Especially when you have idiots who drive like bats out of hell regardless of conditions. Sigh.

To top off troublesome winter roads, we have huge-ass potholes. Which so happens, winter just makes worse. Ice and snow and below freezing temperatures takes the cracks and holes and turns them into a nightmare for vehicles. It would be nice to go down a road without the annoying uh-uh-uh from all the pisspoor patch jobs and increasing cracks and holes. This one section of 23 between Deerfield and Ann Arbor is particularly harrowing.

Is it too much to ask for better roads? And snow removal (at least in counties where they decided that it was too costly to do a damn thing)? I think not. But hey, why expect bang from your tax paying buck?