Why Do You Think They Call it a Crackberry?

I became addicted to the internet at age 14. My parents used to punish me from the computer, not from going out with friends or watching television. Hah! Now I'm 23 and work from home ON THE INTERNET (for this very blog)! In my spare time I do freelance web & graphic design and take care of my own website,. I make a living from my "addiction" and not from what I have a degree in (painting). I'd say addiction to the internet is totally good for you, but maybe you have to start young.

(Just a few years ago, katie here, would not have this "job." Strange, as we lose jobs, we get jobs. And let's be honest here, katie works from home... Not too shabby.)

(Although it is freaky to see some much personal info put out there for all to see. Clearly privacy is something lost on these kids...)

Go katie!!

My name is hrhppg and I'm addicted to the internet. As I post this, my cell phone is logged into yahoo IM. If it wasn't for text message I'd assume my boyfriend was missing and not traveling for work. As soon as I get home and have downtime I will turning on my laptop to open all my IM applications and log into my virtual world.

Maybe it's my generation, but I never thought of anything I've written here or on my website as too much personal info.

My name is Laura Loonie and I am addicted to 1.) merlot and 2.) the internet. Combined this concocsion makes me a danger to society. When my husband is traveling I seem to consume more merlot and internet causing me to become the one thing my mother said I would become and can't repeat it here.

Isn't this a f*ckn pathetic story!

I am an IP slut! There ya go, I said it!

I do loves me my crackberry and my texty EnV phone too.
My little silver crackberry friend with its international SIM card goodness helps me keep up on what's going on as my masseuse works out my knots from working too much.

My EnV helps me to avoid actually talking to my friends until we go out. I gave up talking on the phone long ago.

I turn off the computer when I am not working though. Sadly, I am usually working.

I'm older than most of you and I lived 1/2 of my life without all of this Info highway electronic 'puter lifestyle, so I can take it - or leave it. When I leave it - I do not miss it. I guess you could say I rule it, rather than it rules me.
Don't get me wrong, it's enjoyable, especially during the winter months, when there is less to do outdoors. But,
I love to drive and I live for May to October. I'd Rather be driving than computering (is there such a word?). So many scenic beautiful places in New Jersey.

katie, you make the point. On your site, I see you, your friends, I could easily work to find out so much more.

This is a level of exposure I just would not be comfortable with.

But yes. Generational (until it bites you as so many of your generation are learning).

lmao @ Laura..good one.

Well, there is a line I do not cross on my website, family business, personal relationships, etc. I really just write about things I did that day, but not everything I did that day...

So far I'm doing pretty well with it: I haven't lost any friendships/lovers over it, haven't had my personal information stolen (that I know of), haven't been fired from a job because of it - I just found a blog where a girl was fired for writing about her job on her blog. Now she supports herself, her husband and her daughter through ads she sells on her blog. What a life!

I hate email. I get too much of it at work and at home. I spend far too much time feeding the email monster rather than doing something productive. I will never get a Crackberry! The last thing I want is for my email to follow me around 24/7/365.

Back in the old days we had to walk six miles in the snow to deliver an instant message. And e-mail! Let me tell you how slow e-mail was in the old days. You used to have to do it in hard copy, and then someone would physically take it from you and deliver it and then maybe a week or two later you would get the response delivered and you wouldn't even remember what it was you said in the first place. And downloading files was virtually impossible without electricity. You had to go these hard drive boxes called cabinets and sort through the files to get the ones you wanted, and then take them with you. And if you put them back wrong, you would never see them again. And God forbid you dropped your deck of punched cards with your program on them. Doomed. Doomed I say. Thank God that Bill Gates came and saved us from all that. But at least back then, Merlot was acceptable, if you knew where to find it. EOR.

Katie: You must be referring to Dooce. I admit that I do enjoy her blog MOST of the time but she writes about her kid wayyyy too much. I mean, nothing for nothing, her kid really doesn't do anything extraordinary (like the 19-month-old toddler who can read) so like, WTF? She is a decent writer, though.

Yes it was Dooce, I heard about her last week and looked up the website. Couldn't believe that she can support her family through her blog. She also had an extremely long story about her kid that I got a little bit through and thought "This isn't funnier than Looky Daddy". If I want kid stories, I'll go there. But still, I wish I could just write on my website for a living. What a life that would be! You don't have to do anything but live and then write about it.

I'm somewhat amazed that the Baristas can apparently afford to pay Katie enough to live on, in Baristaville yet, based on her first post above. Obviously those advertising revenues must be pretty good, better than what I naively thought they were.

That leads me to wonder if, sort of as per the Hollywood screenwriters, frequent posters shouldn't also have a cut of what suddenly seem to be nice-sized "residuals." Thank you for that, Katie. (Even if it was an inadvertent blurt.) Since we all seem to play as big a part in this site's success as anyone else now, and it surely wouldn't be near as lively or well-trafficked as it is via the presence of many of us "trained seals" and addicts.

(And don't ask us to actually pay for copies of your new book, Deb, we who likely provided quite a bit of inspiration, not now....)

Now in my day- back in the 80's- old concepts like modesty and privacy were sacred and taught.

Now your life is everyone's business, write about your life-- because YOU are special.

The praise generation: Everyone gets a trophy. Everyone has a blog. We play soccer.... No competition. Everyone's happy. Everyone's a winner!

(Immediately, I think of my student's faces when I say an assignment is the best in the class. The losers all seem like they want to cry... Yes. I said losers. Because out here there are "winners and losers and don't get caught on the wrong side of that line...")

Cathar - if you reread my post you'll see in my free time I work as a freelance web & graphic designer. Do you think I'm making more money per month making ads for Baristanet or freelancing?

cathar, ad revenues for sites will begin to be paid not on "page views" but on action. Because unlike tv commercials you can easily avoid internet ads placed on a site.

Unless of course they pull the-- your page will load right after a word from our sponsor.... stuff.

Until then, go on folks make your living.

Conan - I had to laugh at your description - my first "real" job was keypunching those cards at IT&T. And we had a monster of a computer (VAX/VMS) with the huge tape decks that we had to back up....ah those were the days.

But I am here to confess that I am a crackberry/email/blog addict. It annoys me to no end when people have email but refuse to use it. Maybe it's because I work for an Int'l VOIP/Video company and live on IM so it's like second nature to me.

Just don't take my computer tools away from me!!!

I rarely receive personal email. As far as emails I receive at work go, most are people trying to get me to do things which are unpleasant (i.e. 'work'). I'm not 'important' enough to be expected to be on call, and I'm not about to volunteer, so I simply don't check business email or messages outside business hours.

If my friends actually used instant messages or text messages or email I'd be more interested, but the few times I've tried to use these I've gotten angry messages back from people who don't have data features as part of their cell service plans.

However, I can sometimes be a slashdot addict.

Katie-

Reading comprehension is not Cathar's strong suit.

He's best at making obscure references to literature most times nobody else cares for.

He's also good at saber rattling, cups of hemlock, backing out of 4 o'clock cups of Starbucks "coffee" with adversaries and calling everyone 'lad'.

Evilmonkey (and surely your posting name belies your real, uh, ferocity), the lass claimed to be making money doing this, and in her "spare time" to be doing something else. The very use of the term "spare time" implies that during the heart of the day she's gainfully employed...elsewhere So don't talk to me about "reading comprehension."

I still like my suggestion that regular posters should be paid residuals, however. And that leaves you out, evilmonkey. Much to your consternation, I'm sure. Nor is it my fault you seem to revel in your half-literacy (at best).

Annie,

I worked for DEC for a while, although not on the VAX systems. One of the first machines I programmed in the 4th basement at The Chase Manhattan Bank (just saw where 1 Chase Plaza is now a landmark building -- yipe, I'm getting old) is actually in the Smithsonian. It was an RCA 501, and it had a console of lights on the front that displayed (in octal) what address was in the process register. Needless to say, we manipulated those lights to display a few short words -- like all of our error conditions ended up with "T I L T" being displayed. Mr. Rockefeller was not amused.

Sigh....we are both getting old. I use to program code on the DEC as well as NCR - when I see pictures of them they took up the entire room!!!

And those HUGE green/white legal size printouts that we had to proof - it's amazing how advanced we are now.

I really don't think internet addiction is funny. At least one person i know is addicted and he really no longer goes out. He just emails his friends, rather than sees them- and, except for errands that must be done in person (dry cleaner, etc.) he doesn't leave the house much. If he looks back on the last couple of years- he's wasted a lot of time that he could have spent creating memories.

"...student's faces when I say an assignment is the best in the...

Prof. Williams, Your student has many faces, I'm sure. It is students' faces (plural possessive).

Internet addicted? Sure, I am; somewhat. However, I don't have a Blackberry or other device, so, perhaps I am not.

surprise, I wish this was new to me, but alas, it was a slip, which as I've pointed out is quite forgivable. (Compare this with those who chose not to capitalize... or use proper punctuation-- that's my point.)

But as one who does critique, your point is taken.

And I hope I can count on you to voice your concern over the others here who insist on writing in "text speech."

(I assume you weren't just playing "gotcha" with the prof, eh?)

Enjoy the rain today!

I have to go back to building my Obama statue.... you know the one of him throwing his grandmother under the bus?....

Don't hate. I'm "talking about race" all day here!!!

surprise, life will become much easier for you when you accept some of the givens here re: our good friend "the prof":
1. He has a lot of trouble with plurals.
2. When he makes a mistake in this area, or any other for that matter, it is a "little thing" or a "typo".
3. The frequency with which he makes these types of goofs in no way diminishes his expertise with regard to English grammar. At least in HIS mind.
4. You can count on a "witty" riposte any time the prof's slips are brought to light.
As well as a mini-treatise as to how it is YOU who is nitpicking.

I hope this has helped. I am soooo looking forward to the prof's wisdom regarding race.

touche cathair touche

Please tell me where to sign up for those SAT courses you still frequent.

Post.

Post.

Post.

Post.

Debbie,

Please send me my dollar now. It will help defray the cost of my morning Latte.

:-)

Cro, rather tha entertain you with a rehash of highlights past, I'll let you feel good about youself and your continued lack of understanding here.

Or perhaps like you I should claim this to be "personal" exchange...

Now I have to get plaster of Paris.

I am willing to accept, in lieu of cash payments for my posts, gift certificates from the Emperor's VIP club, and an Amtrak pass.
Please leave the door ajar and I'll come in and pick these items up.

What did I tell you? A witty riposte!
I feel good about myself, prof. I hope that you feel good about "youself" as well.

Conan, very funny. I'll pay you $1 for that comment.

cathar, I'd love to pay you for insulting me five times a day, but I'm afraid that if I did you'd feel compromised, and might lose your essential sourness.

cro,

As one who posts frequently from a blackberry, I'll warn you now: the prof is bound to make a few mistakes as I've told you before...

But is it still hard to understand my point of typos versus a disregard for grammar?

I guess so since you seem so pleased with yourself. And youself.

And I guess this is where I write that you will write something wonderful in response, so I can then write: see I told you.

Sad that I can almost write your responses for you.

(And nothing like a week old Spitzer joke to make me smile.)

As for race, here goes.....

Some of my best friends are black.
Some are African-American.
I had some who were Negro.
Others who were Afro-American
And even a few who were Colored.
But now, I guess they are all just Black.

I feel so much better now having "talked" about race.

Ah prof, you are nothing if not predictable.
(Note to self -- when mistakes are made, it is the fault of the instrument used to do the task.) My ol' gramps used to say "the poor workman blames his tools". You nailed it, old man!
No prof, please don't write my responses for me. You've all you can do to write your own.
As for your insights on race well, if they're anywhere near as incisive as the rest of your "stuff", I'll pass.

And my 'ol grammy used to say, "you will read posts from a fool named croiagusanam, he will not understand most things. Engage if you like, but it'll be like banging your head against a wall. He will be a humorless bore."

The old girl could really see the future.

p.s. I hope your "passing" means you're not reading this. I hope. I hope.

Awfully thin-skinned, prof. Most fools are.
Don't be like Obama and throw your ol' grammy under the bus, my friend. You're supposed to be better than that, aren't you?

Prof Williams,
The real Barack is finally being exposed as a dangerous bigot. He supports the Reverend Wrong and throws his grandma under the bus. Dems better watch out what you wish for...he's a dangerous man.

Iceberg,

President Obama. Has a nice ring. And, Obama rhymes with 'yo mamma'.

Oh yeah..

I wondered why Obama would choose such a "hellfire and brimstone" church myself. Doesn't really go with the image he is trying to convey. Something tells me that the clip we saw of Rev. Wright is not his first and only one of its kind.

Barack. He's dangerous.
He's like a stepping razor.

.. don't you watch my size ..

Jimmy Cliff

Iceman, I think you're losing touch with reality.

My, my. The swift boat season is starting early this year.

Iceman,
McCain's spiritual guide, Pastor Rod Parsley, is so much better right? I guess calling Islam a "false religion", saying if you commit adultery you should be prosecuted, and calling Planned Parenthood "Nazis" is OK. Or maybe McCain's friend John Hagee calling the Catholic Church "the great whore" is no big deal?

GiGi33,
your reaching here...barack supports his bigoted White-America hating preacher. How does that support an agenda that is supposed to offer hope and change. Appears to me like it's inflammatory rhetoric designed to drive a wedge instead of creating cohesion.

Your conservative Iceburger

If Barack becomes president all white people will be forced to move out of the country. Those who refuse to do so will be executed.
Don't say I didn't warn you. If I were you, I'd start packing the day after the convention.

Iceman already told me that, cro. Tell me something new for a change.

Ice -

You are the one who is reaching here. The whole point of Barak's speech was to let people know he does NOT share and does NOT support the all the views and statements of that preacher. Reverend Wright is not the one running for office. Conversely, McCain's pastor is also not running for office. Whatever you may think of the man, he is at least the first person running for public office that has come out and addressed racism and bigotry in a way that does attempt to create cohesion. Unfortantely, some people will never see it that way.

walleroo, you may be able to survive. "Marsupial" sounds somewhat like "Masai", and so Barack's confused death squads may pass you by.
And let's not forget that you may remain undetected in your lair under the porch.
But the rest of you? Get out now, while you can!

How can supporting that preacher for 20 plus years and having him baptize his kids show that Obama is for positive change or promoting positive dialogue about race relations? You guys are more hopeful (or naive) than me when I hear such hatred spewed. I understand that is the way the Preacher feels and lots of men his age went through horrors that I can't even imagine. But promulgating this kind of hate speech from the pastor of the man who would be President and also having this man as an advisor to your campaign; doesn't send out any messages of compassion.

I stated my piece and I'm done. I'm simply tossing out the idea that there may be a 'dark' side (no pun intended) of Obama that we're finally getting a glimpse into.

"Reverend Wright is not the one running for office."

true. But this still doesn't answer the question of why he (Obama) has chosen this as the church of his choice? Is this the only Christian church in Chicago?

If I went to a church or a synagogue and the pastor or rabbi made such inflammatory remarks as these, I would not return there. Obama has been a congregant for 20 years. This speaks volumes.

So now we not only need to vet the candidates, and their family members, and the people with whom they may or may not have had affairs, and their friends and associates? Take it out of the political arena for an example, Dick Cavett was a good friend and admirer of William Buckley's -- he never agreed with a single opinion voiced byt the man. It is possible to reject someone's political views yet embrace the better qualities of that person.

Were pay involved, you might garner praise, Debbie. I have always been somewhat "touchable" in that respect. Anyway, they're hardly insults, merely genuine questions. Everyone's work received much harsher critiques back when I was in J school.

As for Obama, weak, windy, long speech. Guy even rakes his white granny across the coals. His granny! Who's still alive. And never deals with the real issues raised by his exceptionally nasty, and certainly not at all Christian in spirit, pastor. This is not a uniter, this is a guy who will avoid ever having to say anything truly probative if it'll get him elected.

Jerseygurl, if you honestly saw in that speech an attempt to create "cohesion," I'd be happy to lend you my copies of old Iceberg Slim novels and Greenlee's "The Spook Who Sat By The Door." Just to, ah, buttresss your current, very much confusedly blustery way of thinking.

Give just about any black man in Baristaville some sodium pentathol and ask him what he thinks of white people. What you'd hear wouldn't be much different from the stuff Wright has said.

And, jerseygurl, one's personal parish dominie is a darn sight different than one's friends. I would never rely on some of the lugs I know to interpret the Bible for me. (Beer and whiskey, yes.) Yet Obama sat there for 20 years or thereabouts of the harshest, most twisted and racialist "get whitey" rhetoric.

Would you honestly have displayed such "patience?" I kind of doubt even you're quite that unheeding even at your worst.

You guys are just sore that Obama can talk like McCain can't. (Iran, Al Qaeda -- what's the difference! They're all foreigners!)

JG,
Cavett wasn't an advisor on his presidential campaign either. I'm not suggesting that we vette a Presidential candidates friends...it's an observation that there may be sides to Obama should be examined more closely.

By "examined more closely" Iceman means "publicized."

And you know this how, walleroo?

Anyone else, I'd ask if they'd first heard it at a weekly meeting of the "National Socialist White People's Party." You I simply think are demonstrating a penchant for occasionally making silly remarks that fall way short of the standards for wit found daily even in the "Family Circus" strip.

Still, it is a mighty blasted assumption on your part, and begs the corollary question of what you think Baristaville's "white folks" might similarly say under that drug's influence....

All these candidates, I get so confused. Which is the one that's half black, half white? Which side of himself does he choose to hate?

I guess it depends on in whose company he happens to be on any given day.

"Reverend Wright is not the one running for office."

true. But this still doesn't answer the question of why he (Obama) has chosen this as the church of his choice? Is this the only Christian church in Chicago?

"" If I went to a church or a synagogue and the pastor or rabbi made such inflammatory remarks as these, I would not return there. Obama has been a congregant for 20 years. This speaks volumes.

Posted by Miss Martta | March 19, 2008 2:15 PM ""

I agree 100% !! We belonged to Temple Ner Tamid in Blmfd, and without going into details, after a year, I was very unhappy with decessions made by the powers that were. We quit, and joined Temple Israel of South Orange, and have been overjoyed there, and have lasted thru 2 Rabbi, when the first one retired.

If you do not agree and are UNhappy with sentiments, most folks will look for a different house of worship. To stay indicates you endorse. Intelligent people do NOT financialy support or
emotionally/mentally support that to which they find "upsetting" comments !

That preacher is a showman!
A showman of hate.

So, we should really find out about the religious leaders of the churches our candidates attend, and vote accordingly? How many Catholics don't agree with Rome regarding sexual conduct (only for procreation) the role of women in the church (none), abortion, yet still attend mass? There are many reasons people go to a particular church -- convenience, habit, being part of that community, feeling the need to do so even if you don't believe all of the views of the pastor? I am a total non-believer but attended church for the sake of my parents and often had Sunday dinner with the priests. I didn't really think it was necessary to tell them I abhor their beliefs. There is just too much being made of Barak Obama's race, possible ties to Islam and at the same time ties to a christian church which has a spritual leader that has a rather unpopular view of the mess that white people have made of things.

Religion, race, gender are all so polarizing. Maybe we should just keep electing angry white christian guys. Things are going so well so far with that bunch.

So Cathar-

After rereading your original reply to Katie, you certainly missed her point... so yes your reading comprehension is still lacking.

She stated she supplements her income with freelance work in addition to her job here at Baristanet.

Then you concluded somehow...
"I'm somewhat amazed that the Baristas can apparently afford to pay Katie enough to live on, in Baristaville yet, based on her first post above. Obviously those advertising revenues must be pretty good, better than what I naively thought they were."

As Katie then asked (which you never answered)...So do you believe the barista gig pays more than the freelance work?

Silly bitter old man.

You're the one who's being naive, cathar. You're underestimating the anger and perhaps even hatred that blacks in this country feel toward whites. I know this because I've felt it personally many times, mostly growing up, but even today in swish Montclair. I know it because I've read it in poems and stories. If you hypnotized whites and got them talking, they may not have quite so much anger but there'd sure be an outpouring of if not racial bigotry at least stereotyping and a good dollop of resentment.

This is not to say that blacks and whites can't be friends, lovers, spouses etc. Of course they can. I've seen many a white bigot with black friends. But the differences between blacks and whites in this country are fundamentally irreconcilable, at least in our lifetimes.

What's refreshing about Obama's speech is that he was able to acknowledge this fact. The thing is to acknowledge it and move on. I'll speak for myself: I'm sick and tired of the chip that blacks carry on their shoulders. There's something pathetic about their helplessness, perpetuated by their own culture, which glorifies rebellion and violence. It looks great on a music video, but it doesn't work as an ethos. Move on.

Walleroo, well said.

"irreconcilable in our lifetimes"

maybe, but I think that electing Obama president would do a world of good for young African Americans. They can see that, in this country, they can achieve their dreams if they stay in school, out of gangs and off of drugs.

I guess he's the one. Powell wasn't. Thomas wasn't. Rice wasn't. (They were Oreos).

So Mellon what happens when we discover that young black men are still dropping out, in jail and uneducated in record numbers after an Obama Presidency?

(My fear is that many white folks will be like: Damn, you got a Black Pres and you're still messin' up?)

But at what point will we realize that until the Black family stays together, all of this is talk.

Prof,

I don't know what will happen. I just hope that some of these young kids are affected in a positive way. I was personally affected by the black/white divide, being a white kid in mostly AA East Orange. I witnessed 'white flight' from my neighborhood and didn't understand WTF was going on. Why was everybody leaving? I guess I was too young and naive. My mother was completely color blind, a teacher and school administrator in the EO public school system for 25 years.

I agree about stable nuclear families. Young boys need a father. I didn't have one and can tell you that it's not a good thing to not have a dad around - it leads to all kinds of problems.

Anyway, I'm voting for Obama. I think he's a class act and has shown a lot of 'backbone' recently. I don't think he's soft. I think he's just what this country needs.

:-)

So the 20 years of "class" and "backbone" of listening to Wright does not matter?

Just how do you find backbone in damage control? Remember, he gave the speech because of those videos, not because he thought America needed this "conversation."

He gave the speech because of the proliferation of those video "clips" and the amount of media attention they were getting. That speech was indeed intended as an answer to the questions surrounding the Reverend and Barak's connection to him. That he spoke openly and honestly about racial issues that needed to be addressed and did it in a way that was niether polarizing nor patronizing makes him a "class act - with backbone". It's time to have someone in charge who is smart, ariculate and can actual inspire people.

"It's time to have someone in charge who is smart, ariculate and can actual inspire people?...do you mean inspire hateful speech from the likes of the Wrong Rev Wright?
The fact that Obama is a viable candidate for President of the US speaks volumes about current condition of the race relations in our Country. Do we really need him up there lecturing to us?

I am forced against my will to agree with jerseygurl, God save my soul.

jerseygurl, I find that insulting to the current administration. The following Presidential quotes should clear up any doubts:

"You know, when you give a man more money in his pocket -- in this case, a woman more money in her pocket to expand a business, it -- they build new buildings. And when somebody builds a new building somebody has got to come and build the building. And when the building expanded it prevented additional opportunities for people to work." --George W. Bush, Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 3, 2007
"I heard somebody say, 'Where's (Nelson) Mandela?' Well, Mandela's dead. Because Saddam killed all the Mandelas." --George W. Bush, on the former South African president, who is still very much alive, Washington, D.C., Sept. 20, 2007

that's ok, walle...we agree to disagree...but let's treat all mammals with respect

Well Duck, I'm sure we have quite a collection of Bushisms. Why just last week he lamented having to be here rather than experience that romantic adventure we call the war in Afghanistan. And I completely disagree with Ice, Obama's speech was meant to counter the hateful words of the Reverend.

"As yesterday's positive report card shows, childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured." --George W. Bush, on the No Child Left Behind Act, Washington, D.C., Sept. 26, 2007

An orator he is not, amen.