Fox Broadcasting

I am starting to think that Fox Broadcasting hates viewers like me who like intelligent, well written and acted dramatic television shows. Every time Fox airs a new show, and it doesn't get ratings numbers in the same range as "24" or "American Idol", they cancel it before they even finish the first season. Whatever happened to the days where a series was allowed to develop an audience over time, and not expect it to be there right from the beginning?

This week, it was announced by Fox that it was canceling the new series, "Drive", after only 4 episodes were aired. It was critically acclaimed by both critics and viewers, but it apparently didn't have enough viewers for Fox to keep showing it.

I have now vowed to never again watch a new series broadcast by Fox Broadcasting until after it is at least a year old, because I am getting tired of getting involved in a well written and acted show, just to have Fox pull the plug again and again. I loved the show "Firefly", which Fox canceled after 12 episodes. I was really getting into the show "Justice", until Fox canceled that after only 12 episodes. And now, "Drive" has been canceled too. They also canceled the show "Wonderfalls" as well, which I didn't see, but I heard good things about it. That show lasted a whole 4 episodes.

The message that Fox is sending to viewers is that it is not worth watching new shows, because unless it is a "reality" based show, it will be canceled in short order, if it is any good. So, from now on, I will watch shows on Fox that I am currently involved in that are longer running shows, like "24", "House", "Bones", Prison Break", etc., but I refuse to watch anything new they may show.

After all, if it is complete crap, it will stick around, but if it is of good quality, it will be canceled by the suits at Fox. And I have better things to do with my time than watch shows that won't last a season. And since I don't watch "reality" based shows, I soon won't be watching anything on Fox once the current shows I watch on that network get canceled.

My advice to production companies that are capable of creating quality programming: Don't go anywhere near Fox Broadcasting. It is not worth the headaches and heartaches.

Media Censorship

As an adult, censorship in the media offends me greatly. As an adult I am perfectly capable of deciding for myself what I do or do not find offensive, and I am perfectly capable of changing the channel if I see or hear something on the television that I find to be offensive to me. I do not need any corporate overlords deciding for me what they think I will be offended by.

As a parent, I am perfectly capable of deciding what my child should or should not watch, based on his age. Yes, I know this is a form of censorship, but I only do it to keep him from being exposed to things he shouldn't be exposed to when an adult is not there to explain things to him in a way he'll understand. I believe in restricting him from things that are not age appropriate, such as shows with violent content, abusive language, etc. This is only because he is not old enough to fully understand what he is seeing. Even though he knows it is not real, I wonder if he really gets it sometimes. I'm sure he does, but I choose to err on the side of caution.

All that having been said, though, I do not plan to censor his viewing options forever. At some point in the not too distant future, I expect that the multitude of information and entertainment available on the television will be completely available to him. And I hope that by that time, he will understand the difference between reality and entertainment, and not think what he is seeing on most television shows is not real, including what is often portrayed by the news broadcasts.

Censorship in society is harmful to the citizenry of the world. We learn and grow as a society by being exposed to many different ideas, even those that are offensive. If we are prevented from being exposed to those ideas, usually by a small minority of narrow-minded people, then we as a society suffer.

Online Censorship

Recently, on a blogging site, a friend's account was configured in such a way such that any comment I made to postings on her blog, or comments to other comments, were automatically screened. Screening is when a comment is not visible to the general public until the owner of the blog gives the comment his or her blessing, and only then can the comment be seen by those viewing the blog.

I guess she didn't like the comments I left as a reply to the blog entry.

I have a problem with censorship, be it online chat rooms, blogs, television shows, books, magazines, or whatever form of media I am currently engaged with. As an adult, I feel that I have the right to be able to say whatever I am feeling, without being censored by anyone. In fact, a lot of people have died in more than one war, to guarantee me that freedom. When I get censored, I feel like my rights are being suppressed, and that those brave men and women fought in vain.

If I say something that is factually wrong, or emotionally inconsiderate, or I am merely being an ass, then others also have the right to tell me I am wrong, preferably with some proof, or to tell me I'm being an inconsiderate ass, or whatever the other readers think of what I am saying. And I am fine with that. That is what living in a free and democratic country is all about.

What does offend me is when my comments are censored, and no one is given the chance to publicly tell me I'm being an ass, or I'm wrong because I didn't know about some piece of information that proves me wrong. Or even more offensive, having my comments simply deleted, because the owner of the blog, or the moderator of the chat room, or whomever is in control of the site I am posting to, decides arbitrarily that my comment offends them in some way.

Freedom of speech means freedom to be offensive. It also mean the freedom to be wrong. In either case, censorship takes away my rights, and the rights of others, and I will always be strongly against adults of any society being censored.

Update:

It seems that there was a problem with my friend's blog, and somehow those who were supposed to have unfettered access didn't, and those who were supposed to be blocked / censored weren't. The problem got corrected and everything is well again. The sentiments above are still valid, even though this particular incident was accidental and not actually a case of censorship.

McCain Fruit Smooth-eez

I have recently seen the commercial for the McCain Fruit Smooth-eez product. This may be a good product (I haven't tried it yet) , but I have to say that the commercial itself is quite offensive.

The commercials are usually divided into 2 segments, where one person does something upsetting to the other. For example, a man stepping on a model airplane being built by a young boy, presumably his son. The father is shown rushing to the kitchen, plopping the ingredients for a Fruit Smooth-eez into a blender, mixing it up, pouring it into a glass, and giving it to his son, before he had a time to react negatively. This is apparently done to appease the child, to keep him from getting upset.

Way to go, McCain. You've set back the fight against childhood obesity by 20 years. In case you haven't noticed, the idea is not to perpetuate the myth that giving treats everytime someone is upset is a good thing. This is how obese kids are created. Nothing like encouraging people to shove your products into their kids mouths whenever they are upset.

This is what they are referring to when they talk about a corporation acting irresponsibly. As a Canadian, I am ashamed of what this Canadian company is implying in their ad campaign.

Added on June 13th:

I had an idea last night, on how to show the McCain's marketing people who came up with this ad campaign why it is stupid. I could beat the crap out of them with a baseball bat, and then afterwards, give them a Fruit Smooth-eez drink and let them decide for themselves if it makes them feel better or not.

Subway Guilty of False Advertising

I was in a Subway Restaurant recently, and they had a sign on the glass where they show the different bread choices, advertising a NEW garlic bread. I thought this sounded tasty, so I asked if I could have my sandwich on garlic bread. I was then told that there was no garlic bread, only a garlic spread they can put on whatever bread you want. The sign clearly said "Garlic Bread", not "Garlic Spread". To me, this is false advertising.

Just a few minutes ago, I was watching a comercial for Subway, and interestingly enough, it was advertising several new sadwiches, and they mentioned the garlic bread. The very same garlic bread that does not actually exist. Do they think we are stupid, and won't figure out they are lying to us when we ask for a sandwich on garlic bread, and then get told that there is just a spread, not an actual garlic bread?

This is just another example of corporations treating their customers like complete morons, and showing a complete disregard for their loyal customers. Not exactly a sound business practice, is it?

Here is a picture of the sign in my local Subway store.


Have I misunderstood something? Does "New Freshly Made GARLIC BREAD" mean something different than I think it does?

More gouging at the "service" station

Yesterday, I went to a "service" station, to put some air into the tires of my vehicle. When I got there, lo and behold, there was a new pump, with a slot in it, and a sticker proclaiming that, for the privilege of using some air, it would cost 50 cents. I don't know how long the 50 cents would have given me to put air into my tires. I didn't stick around to find out. I am sure there must be some station somewhere that doesn't want to gouge me further for some air. What's next? Charging me for using a squeegie to clean my windows? A surcharge for the use of the water in the squeegie holder? Where does it end?

I remember a time, not that long ago, where air was free, and these places actually tried to make you feel like they cared about your business. They would pump your gas, check your oil level, top up the windshield washer fluid, check your air pressure in your tires if they looked a little low, and even put more air in, if you asked nicely and it wasn't too busy at the pumps at that time. Today, all you get is a person behind the cash register at the self-pump station, and 50 cent shots of air for your tires.

It seems to me that every day, the oil companies are looking for more and more ways to take the "service" out of service station. I guess that is why they are now being referred to as gas bars. Any day now, they will implement a cover charge, like some regular bars do. Then, you will be forced to pay just to get to the pump. Maybe charge a fuel pump rental fee too. Where will their greed and need to gouge the customer end?

Each day, as I look around me, I see the term "customer service" mean less and less. Soon it will be a completely meaningless phrase. That will be a sad day indeed.

Another Pet Peeve

This is another of my pet peeves. Every week day, I drive 70 - 100 km to and from work, most of that being on highway 417. When it is raining heavily, and cars are throwing up lots of mist into the air from their tires, it can be a bit difficult to see the cars ahead of you. Especially since most of them are not intelligent enough to turn on their lights. They seem to think that their daytime lights are sufficient. And they would be, if I could somehow, magically, see the front of their vehicles from a position several hundred feet behind them. It is even worse when these same idiots are driving a car that is about the same colour as the mist, or a wet road. That makes the contrast easy to see. Can you feel the sarcasm dripping?

In the future, please turn on your lights. Everyone around you will appreciate it. And it will make it easier to make an insurance claim when you get run into. If the insurance adjuster finds out you didn't have your lights on, then you will be found to be partially at fault, and therefore won't get fully reimbursed for everything you feel you should be entitled to.

Plus, it is the logical and courteous thing to do.

More RIAA Fallout

Yesterday, my sister bought a music file from one of the "legal" music download sites, Puretracks.com. Once she downloaded it, she tried to play it in her MP3 player, which is why she bought it in the first place. She then discovered that it was in WMA (Microsoft's proprietary format) and her MP3 player did not support that format. So, she asked me for help in converting it to MP3, so she could play it in her MP3 player. I couldn't even play this file, as it was encumbered with DRM (Digital Rights Management), so that only she could play it.

I then suggested she burn it to a CD, using Microsoft Windows Media Player, which could play the tune just fine, and then just rip it back to MP3 from there. So, she burned it on a CD, and she could play the CD just fine. She was using RealPlayer to play the CD. She then tried to use the same player to rip the CD track back to an MP3, and it wouldn't let her. It was as though the DRM had followed the track onto the CD. Several hours later, she still couldn't play the track she legally paid for on her MP3 player.

The fallout from this has been a very bad user experience, with someone willing to actually PAY for music being denied the ability to use the legally purchased song on her music player of choice. This means that she will never use this service again, and probably never use a legal download site again. All because the RIAA has it's head up its ass so far that it has lost sight of the customers it is supposed to be attracting to its offerings. All the RIAA can see these days is its collective upper colons.

Here is a radical idea for the RIAA, which I already know will fall on deaf ears. How about thinking about the customers for a change, instead of merely thinking of ways to preserve an outdated business model and trying to find new ways to gouge the customers and the musicians too. The RIAA is becoming an anachronism, and desperately needs to be put out of its misery.

Bad Drivers, Part One

Why is it that people have this complulsive need to drive in the middle of a road if the road does not have a line down the middle of it. As soon as the yellow line is removed, people somehow manage to forget the rules of the road, and think that the road must be for their personal use only, and that no other vehicles could possibly come in the opposite direction.

People, listen up! If a road is wide enough for two vehicles side by side, and there are no "One Way" types of signs on the roadway, STAY ON YOUR OWN SIDE OF THE ROAD!