Where did this phrase come from? It's as if it came out of nowhere over the last few years and completely decimated any and all sense of ownership. Suddenly, along comes a phrase that allows one to tack it on to any statement and be absolved of any ill will, harm, or malice. I liken it to "No offense, but..." and place it not far from "Don't take this the wrong way".
If you're going to take the time to make a statement and say something then it should mean something. If you don't want to be held responsible for the repercussions, then perhaps you shouldn't say anything in the first place. The use of this phrase as a means to absolve one's self of all responsibility for that which was just spoken is no different than making the statement for the sheer pleasure of making a statement then shortly following it up with "I didn't mean it", and then there are those people who will never be able to admit when they are wrong, then there are those people who have trouble knowing when to NOT admit when they are wrong. You know the kind I'm talking about. They have come to the realization that they can get away with anything in life, so long as they say they're sorry. Living their life by the old saying: It's easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. I see the phrase "just sayin'" as no different.
If you are going to say something, then mean it. Don't half ass mean it, and don't try and hide behind a veil of uncertainty about what you want to talk about. Grow a pair, stand up, and speak your mind. In any case:
Say what you mean and mean what you say - don't just say it.
I take issue with Apple. I take issue with Apple for a number of reasons. If you've been on this site enough, or even around me enough, you will know that I generally tend to shy away from the trendy things in life. The trendy clothing, the trendy hair cuts and hair coloring, the must have shoes, or car, or even the most popular TV watching habits including TV shows and sports. Naturally, Apple tends to fall into this category. I gave it a go. I really did. I purchased a MacBook at one point. I fell it into the hype, the marketing, and the beauty of it all. I kept that MacBook for about 9 months.
Short of an HP laptop, that MacBook was the most troublesome piece of computer equipment I've ever owned. It would shut down on me randomly about twice a week. The commercials always indicated that their products were more stable, so I just thought it was something I had installed. I wiped the install and started fresh. Same thing. How could this be? I did a bit of digging and found the following: http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/apple-notebooks/37401-macbook-randomly-shuts-down.html
Amazing, they're susceptible to the exact same issues that any other computer is susceptible to. They aren't some magical piece of computer hardware like their commercials lead you to believe. The software? It was a pain in the ass to get it to connect to the network at school. Sure, I could connect if all I wanted to do was surf the Internet. Anything beyond that proved to be difficult. Mind you, I hear that things have changed and I'm sure they have, otherwise, Apple wouldn't have made it this long. That didn't help me back then, and it went against everything their ads indicated: Apple = easy
Today? Things haven't changed. Dare I say they've gotten worse on the advertising front.
Really? I'm pretty sure I can get the same apps on the Android market, the BlackBerry market, and the Windows Mobile Market. True, I can't get them on those phones through the Apple Market. The ad is extremely misleading in that it leads users to believe that they can only get those applications or features if they have an iPhone. While I've had some people tell me that there's no way people would think this, I'm here to say I've experienced it first hand. Sitting at a local bar one night with my husband, we listened to a group of people talking to someone with a BlackBerry, trying to explain to him why he needed to get an iPhone. They kept trying to tell him that he needed to get an iPhone because then he could get him personal email, surf the web, and have access to xyz applications. It made me sick. Apparently, I wasn't the only one. The guy with the BlackBerry was getting quite frustrated as well.
This is really the ad that set me off recently and lead me to this whole rant. If I don't have an iPhone, I can't have my favorite books in my pocket? Are you kidding me!?!?! It would have been one thing if Apple had stated "If you don't have an iPhone, you can't have your favorite iBooks in your pocket". I would have actually been ok with that because it would have been factual. This?! What about the Kindle app, Nook app, Google Books, Aldiko, etc.?
It is one thing to state the facts in such a manner that they favor your point. For instance, car companies tell you all about the awards that they've won in a specific category, how they have more vehicles with x mpg or better than any other in a specific category, etc, etc. Or take TV companies, they always market the strong feature of their particular product: how thin a tv is, how vivid the image is, a specific new technology that's unique to them. Or take other phone companies: they talk about their processors, 4G/LTE, screen type & size, camera specs, etc. While Apple did this to an extent, they never left it to this. They told blatant lies: saying you don't have your favorite books in your pocket? Saying you're not susceptible to viruses? It's one thing to take the facts and talk about them in such a way that they favor your points and your product. For instance: If you don't have an iPhone, you don't have the largest App store. I could understand that. Never mind that there are a ton of completely useless apps, never mind that you have to pay for the vast majority of those apps compared to the Android market. That's NOT a blatant lie. It's a statement of the facts in such a manner that it favors their product and NOT falsifying and twisting the truth to such an extent that it's no longer recognizable.
To brain wash people into seriously thinking that this is the case is bad business. It's no different than then saying that you can't get a virus on a Mac. You CAN get a virus on a Mac. The same vulnerabilities exist. The difference is that not as many people own them. If you're going to write a virus, you're going to write it for the masses. It's a low, low way of playing the game and frankly, it's why I can't stand Apple. Truth in advertising is important. As Americans we should expect this in our companies, and in our history, we have expected just this and thus have passed legislation to prevent just this kind of thing. Now, suddenly, it's deemed an ok business practice? Why?
Truth in advertising and truth in marketing. At what point did we as Americans throw out our morals and roll over to accept that falsehoods and twisted truths are ok? I guess it was the point at which we decided that stepping all over each other to make a buck was the American way. I'll have none of it. My morals won't allow it.
Great, a man that we've been hunting for 10 years is dead. A man who is likely not even the leader of 'Al Qaeda' even more. A man who supposedly has to rely on kidney dialysis in order to live in the first place. This same man has been hiding in plan sight for the past 5-6 years, with little to no protection, just yards from Pakistan's premier military academy.
We as a nation spent how much and lost how many lives to hunt down this man? Do I think that he was an evil man? Sure. Do I think that he didn't share the same ideals as our nation? Sure. Do I think that that means that we need to expend billions of dollars and thousands of additional human lives in order to exact revenge? I'm not so sure there.
My number one fear after this, above all else, is that we have provoked the Hydra. We have cut the head off and that two more will grow in its place. We didn't follow a proper burial per Shia law. This alone is enough to incite riots. Sure, what he did to us is atrocious. However, as has been played out time and time again in history, always having to have the last word proves nothing.
When will it end? When is enough enough? Once the whole world is of one common religion? Once everyone believes in your God? Once everyone follows a common religious scripture and carries the same beliefs?
I sure hope to be long gone by the time that scenario unfolds.
Some of you more interwebs savy individuals out there may already be aware that this website is based off of Joomla CMS - the open source content management system. If you're not already aware of that, now you are. If you're not already aware of what Joomla is, take a look by clicking on the link above.
If you happen to know me, you also know that I'm a rather avid proponent of the open source Android platform for cell phones. I am currently posting this article from my Android phone (HTC Hero on the Sprint network, rooted and flashed with a custom 2.1 Rom from geekfor.me) using the free app: Joooid.
I'm using the beta 1.1, and thus far, I'm super impressed. The improvements over 1.0 are real. I was using 1.0 when I posted the article: The Day Before Barber.
I hope to be able to utilize this more and more in the future!
As an avid Android user and proponent, I've found quite a few awesome apps for use to help me log my exercise.
Namely I've been using GPS based tracking applications while I either inline skate or cycle in my neighborhood. These applications do a number of things which I find useful for my purposes.
GPS Tracking allows for the following:
Distance Traveled
Time
Speed
Average Speed
Maximum Speed
Minimum Speed
Pace
Average Pace
Maximum Pace
Minimum Pace
Pace over Time
Total Climb
Minimum Altitude
Maximum Altitude
Most of these applications include the option to upload your logging to a web site as an option to either share your tracks or as an option to back up the data. If you chose to share the data, you can usually share it with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. Some of these sites even have community forums where you can share your experiences, help motivate each other, and participate in challenges.
