Stupid Evil Bastard » Stupidity

Lowe’s can kiss my big fat ass.

Les — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:55:54 +0000

I used to be a pretty big fan of Lowe’s despite not being the sort of person who spends a lot of time in hardware stores. A good percentage of my Christmas lights and decorations have been purchased from Lowe’s over the years and on those rare occasions when I did need something hardware related they were often the first thought that popped into my head.

Then they started doing stupid shit that simply pisses me off. It started with their decision to cave into Right Wing Nutcase pressure to pull their ads from the reality TV show All-American Muslim back in December. Not that I don’t think companies have a right to advertise on whatever shows they want, but the reasoning behind the decision. That annoyed the shit out of me and gave me pause to consider whether I wanted to support such a cowardly company.

Then I read over at ArsTechnica.com about how they have a Linking Policy with forms you’re supposed to fill out, sign and send to them prior to linking to their website or using their logos. Apparently because they think they have any control over such things:

If you’re linking to Lowes.com and using our mark(s)/logo(s) on your site, download the general link agreement (in PDF Format).

If you’re linking to Lowes.com, but not using our mark(s)/logo(s) on your site, download the Version A link agreement (in PDF Format).

If you’re linking to Lowes.com and we’re using each other’s mark(s)/logo(s) on our separate sites, download the Version B link agreement (in PDF Format).

Please fax completed link agreement applications to:
(302) 995-6906

You see that Lowe’s logo over there to the right? I haven’t asked permission to use it in this post. Same goes for the link I put in that very first paragraph. That’s OK, though, because both fall under the Fair Use clause in part because I am engaging in criticism of the company in question. Specifically the criticism that the company can go fuck itself.

The folks at Ars were equally confused by this policy and contacted the company in regards to it:

It all seemed so odd that I contacted Lowe’s public relations department and asked if it was the company’s position that people need to obtain such a license in order to link to Lowes.com. And if so, what legal basis stood behind this position?

“Managing link agreements is part of protecting our brand,” is the polite reply I received. “The process we have in place to handle links to lowes.com is a business decision.”

Obviously they have no legal leg to stand on and are just hoping people are stupid enough to think they have to have permission before linking to their site. While technically harmless, this sort of bullshit just gets my dander up in a major way. You can take brand protection to ridiculous extremes and in the process end up alienating otherwise loyal customers. Customers like me that will avoid Lowe’s from now on. Not because either thing they did is wrong per se, just stupid and cowardly. Sometimes that’s enough.

EA expands "Online Pass" punishing used game buyers from multiplayer to…

Les — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:23:27 +0000

EA expands “Online Pass” punishing used game buyers from multiplayer to single player.

Imagine the outcry if Hollywood tried this sort of thing with used DVDs. Key scenes from the movie are missing on used copies unless you pay ten or fifteen bucks extra to see them. Or perhaps none of the extras are available on used discs unless you’re willing to pony up the cash. Yet the games industry seems hell bent to lock more and more content away if you bought the game used.

Again, this doesn’t affect me as much as I don’t tend to buy used games, but I sometimes receive them as gifts and not everyone can afford to shell out the $60 most new games cost these days. #seb #videogames #EA #Stupidity

Embedded Link

Kingdoms of Amalur’s “Online Pass” continues a slippery slope for used games
Review copies of Electronic Arts’s Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning are starting to reach critics, who have made a surprising collective discovery: an insert containing a code to download a “House of Valor” content pack featuring “seven additional single player quests.”

EA has confirmed to Ars Technica that this downloadable content will be included free with all new copies of the game, including digital copies purchased on the PC through Origin, Steam, or other services. Players who would rath…

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Stuff like this will make you despair for our future

Les — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:34:11 +0000

If I were the optimistic sort I'd say that at least they're going to Wikipedia and educating themselves, but these idiots clearly aren't taking in what they're reading. What they're doing is skimming enough to see if it fits their needs and then copy and pasting it into whatever homework assignment they've been given. They don't use Wikipedia to educate themselves, they use it as a shortcut on assignments. #seb #stupidity #Wikipedia #morons

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This whole story shows that the TSA is at least partially run by idiots

Les — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:32:31 +0000

But then we've known all along that the TSA reserves the right for its agents to make arbitrary decisions on a whim when they feel like it so I suppose it shouldn't be a big surprise.

Don't question the decision making process, citizen! This is for your own protection! If we decide something is bad you should just accept that we know what we're doing and hand it over! You do want to fly today, don't you?? What is it you're trying to hide in those nail clippers anyway?? #seb #security #TSA #stupidity

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The TSA Cupcake Lady Speaks: I'm Truly Sick Of Talking About Cupcakes
While the "TSA Cupcake Lady" is sick of talking about cupcakes, she's also determined that the dessert in question not be woefully misrepresented by descriptions of it being "packed in icing." To that end, she was kind of enough to write in and explain her side of the story, in response to the TSA's recent blog reaction to the cake kerfuffle.

For those unfamiliar with the bakery brouhaha, here's a quick recap: Rebecca carried two cupcakes on jars with her on her way to Las Vegas, she tried b…

This won’t make me buy more Warner Bros. movies. This will just mean I’ll see fewer Warner Bros. movies.

Les — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:29:49 +0000

There are very few movies I'll buy without having seen them first so if I don't catch it in theaters then the next opportunity would be a rental from Red Box. If WB holds back rentals by 56 days all they'll end up doing is delaying any potential purchase I might make by an additional 56 days. They're not hurting anyone but themselves with this policy. There hasn't been a movie made that I couldn't wait for the rental before deciding whether it was something I wanted to add to my collection. #google+ #movies #stupidity #Warner_Bros.

Report: Warner Bros. Will Stretch New Release Rental Window From 28 To 56 Days

Apparently no longer content with the 28-day window in which it sells DVDs but doesn't allow companies to rent them out, Warner Bros. is reportedly on the verge of doubling that time frame in an effort to starve viewers into starting to buy movies again.

According to AllThingsD, Warner Bros. is gearing up to announce the new window at next week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The 56-day rental ban will apply to Netflix, Redbox and Blockbuster.

Along with the revelation that HBO wi…

What the fuck, PayPal?

Les — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:00:31 +0000

Does this make any sense to anyone who isn’t A) a PayPal employee or B) brain damaged? I think the seller has decent grounds for a lawsuit.

PayPal: if you don’t like the violin you bought, smash it and we’ll give you your money back

Just when you thought PayPal couldn’t get any stupider, well, they get stupider. Erica sold an antique violin to someone who paid $2500 for it over PayPal. The buyer disputed the authenticity of the violin — which had been authenticated by a top luthier — and PayPal instructed him that he could have his money back if he destroyed the violin. He did, and sent the photo of the destroyed, one-of-a-kind, precious instrument to the seller and PayPal. PayPal took the $2500 back from Erica, gave i…

Part 2 of Literally Unbelievable’s Top Ten Facebook Reactions to The Onion in 2011.

Les — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:24:20 +0000

Part 2 of Literally Unbelievable’s Top Ten Facebook Reactions to The Onion in 2011.

In case the first half of the list wasn’t soul crushing enough.

Top Ten Facebook Reactions to the Onion of 2011, Part II

5. “Would the Queen of Paris act like this??”

4. Gained a sun, lost a mind

3. “Of course it’s real, there’s a number!”

2. Paid for by the Commitee to Re-Elect Stupied Obama and his Dump Ideas

This year’s honorable mentions go to the United States Capitol Police and Oklahoma State Representative Sally Kern for protecting the American people from The Onion.
Thanks for reading everyone, and if you like Literally Unbelievable, be sure to take a look at the new sister site, leasthelpful…

“Literally Unbelievable” is one of those soul crushing websites that document the gullibility of the average person.

Les — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:23:19 +0000

Which is why I both love and hate it. Most of the time it’s highly amusing, but then I stop and realize these people can vote. In fairness, The Onion can sound convincingly real and, at times, oddly prescient, but a lot of these news items are so ridiculous that you’d have to have the brains of gravel to take them seriously. Yet many, many, too many people do.

Top Ten Facebook Reactions to the Onion of 2011, Part I

10. Hey, science jerks: just get over it already and pray!

9. It’s not true

8. “Yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.”

7. WHO ARE YOU WHERE AM I

6. “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”

Republicans have mastered the art of looking like they’re doing something when they’re not really doing anything.

Les — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:50:33 +0000

Republicans have mastered the art of looking like they’re doing something when they’re not really doing anything.

Because we wouldn’t want there to be any chance something might pass that both sides actually agreed on.

Boehner schedules fake vote on bipartisan payroll tax holiday extension

Pretty slimey, even for Boehner. He scheduled a “vote” on the bipartisan Senate bill to extend the payroll tax holiday, unemployment benefits, and a scheduled pay cut to Medicare doctors – but he’s using an arcane House procedure by which no one can actually vote to pass the bill. The vote can kill the bill, but the vote can’t pass the bill. It’s weird. A friend emails me a better explanation: Just to review what is going on with the floor procedure in the House: the bottom line is that after…

Fox News viewers are less informed than people who don’t watch news at all.

Les — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:44:53 +0000

We’ve mentioned here on SEB before that studies have shown that watching FOX News will make you stupid. So it probably shouldn’t be a big surprise that there is yet another study that pretty much says the same thing.

OK, to be fair, what it says is that not watching any news at all will leave you better informed than if you watch FOX News. The poll asked folks questions on major news stories such as “were Egyptian protesters successful in their bid to overthrow longtime president Hosni Mubarak earlier this year?” Stuff that, if you’re paying any attention at all, you should know the answer to. The results were that people who weren’t paying attention scored better than people who watched FOX News:

Fairleigh Dickinson PublicMind Poll Shows Fox News Viewers Less Informed on Major News Stories

After controlling for factors like partisanship, education, and other demographic factors, the pollsters found that Fox New viewers were 18 points less likely to know that the revolt was successful than their non-active news consuming counterparts. Fox News viewers were also 6 points less likely to know that the Syrian uprising has yet to succeed.

“Because of the controls for partisanship, we know these results are not just driven by Republicans or other groups being more likely to watch Fox News,” said Dan Cassino, a Fairleigh Dickinson political science professor who took part in the analysis of the PublicMind data. “Rather, the results show us that there is something about watching Fox News that leads people to do worse on these questions than those who don’t watch any news at all.”

You don’t think it could be that FOX News is little more than a propaganda loudspeaker for the Republican party that writes its “news” stories to fulfill Conservative talking points regardless of what the reality actually is, do you? How could that be? They’re Fair and Balanced! You know this because they tell you that all the time! Surely they couldn’t say it if it wasn’t true!

In comparison, watching almost anything else resulted in people being better informed:

[P]eople who report reading a national newspaper like The New York Times or USA Today are 12-points more likely to know that Egyptians have overthrown their government than those who have not looked at any news source. And those who listen to the non-profit NPR radio network are 11-points more likely to know the outcome of the revolt against Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. However, the best informed respondents are those that watched Sunday morning news programs: leading to a 16- point increase in the likelihood of knowing what happened in Egypt and an 8-point increase in the likelihood of knowing what happened in Syria.

No wonder the Republicans want to kill off NPR. It’s actually informative and a threat to their political agendas as a result.

However, the main point here is simply stunning: If you get your information from FOX News then you are actually increasing your ignorance of the issues and events shaping the world around you. You’re willfully making yourself stupider with every passing minute. You may as well be hitting yourself in the head with a ball-peen hammer as the impact on your IQ would be about the same and it’d probably be less painful to boot.

You’d, quite literally, be better informed by not paying attention at all.