You know, cell phone users don’t annoy me much. I guess it’s because I use my cell phone so much myself. I know others frequently rail at those who use their cell phones in public places and bemoan the encroachment of these people “disconnected with society” on their sacred public space (if such encroachment is even possible). To me, chatting on the phone is not such a big deal… as long as you don’t scream, interrupt meetings, or do it at the dinner table.

What does irritate me is when people text, when they’re supposed to be paying attention to something else. Don’t get me wrong: I send over a thousand SMS messages every month. But I do have limits. Texting while driving? Hmm, with no hands on the wheel and no eyes on the road, I’d peg that a hell of a lot more dangerous than a voice call. Texting while walking? it makes you look pretty clumsy bumping into everyone.

Texting in front of a moving train? Stupid, and deadly:

CINCINNATI — A man sending a text message avoided being hit by a train going in one direction only to be struck by another train.

Witnesses told police the man was looking down at his cell phone as he crossed some railroad tracks around 9 a.m. at Township Road and Elmwood Avenue in Elmwood Place.

Luckily for the idiot but unluckily for the rest of us, the guy didn’t die it seems. he was taken to the local hopsital with “undisclosed injuries.”

I hope he was texting on an iPhone or something equally expensive, and I hope it was destroyed. Just to teach him a lesson. 🙂

Why is it that people readily get all riled up over terrorist camps in the Middle East teaching little kids how to execute jihad, but when something similar happens in their own back yard, well, it’s just good ol’ Christian fun?

Take Texas for instance, and Corpus Christi-based “Love Demonstrated Ministries.” Their stated purpose? “…To prepare young men and women to positively impact their world with the principles of Christ as their foundation.” Oh, and to teach kids to speak in tongues and act as little Christian anti-abortion holy-warriors.

To that end, the place runs like a military style camp, complete with a “Commandant,” military exercises, and hog-tying teens and dragging them by the back bumper of a van:

According to a copy of the arrest affidavit obtained by Reuters, the girl was participating in a running exercise at the military style “Love Demonstrated Ministries” camp near Corpus Christi when she tired and refused to continue.

It says [camp counselor Stephanie] Bassitt pinned the girl down while [“Commandant” Charles] Flowers tied a rope around her, tied the other end to the bumper of a van, and dragged her on her stomach “several times.”

Lovely! So, why is it okay for Jesus Camps to operate like this, without anything thinking that the brainwashed teens that come out of this place aren’t goign to turn into little Jesus-freak terrorists?

Now, I admit, I’m a big guy. And strangely, the more frustrating thing about being a big guy is, I have big hands, with big fingers and big thumbs. In my geekyness, this can sometimes pose a minor annoyance when dealing with the tiny little keyboards on today’s smartphones – the Treos, Blackberries, and even iPhones of today’s connected world. Even so, I do manage to get by, somehow, and I manage to not let my clumsy thumbs get the best of me.

Never thouhg, have I been motiviated to consider what someone else with a similar problem did to resolve the matter – surgical “whittling” of his thumbs, according to the North Denver News:

“From my old Treo, to my Blackberry, to this new iPhone, I had a hard time hitting the right buttons, and I always lost those little styluses,” explains Martel. “Sure, the procedure was expensive, but when I think of all the time I save by being able to use modern handhelds so much faster, I really think the surgery will pay for itself in ten to fifteen years. And what it’s saving me in frustration – that’s priceless.”

Uhm, this guy DOES realize that the iPhone has corrective text algorithms built-in, right? It’s saved me from having to correct some nasty typos on my phone… and saved me a lot of money and (I imagine) surgical pain.

Maybe we should stop considering modifying our bodies to adapt to technology, and make the technology adapt to us. I mean, we could always complaint to gadget makers that the keys need to be made just a little bit bigger…

If you have never seen authentic Mexican Food-place commercials on local spanish TV channels… this comes damn close to the real thing… hilariously so!