A list of what I spent last night reading about. Thats a Jetpack, which is a web 3.0 method of storing links and images and other random crap. They (Jeteye, the people who off the service) claim they’ve been around for ages, but I think the Firefox extension and the web interface are both lacking in features, but for this kinda stuff it’s still cool. Anyway, thats a page of links, started off by the Comic Relief page (which I wiki’d from TheDailyWTF), quickly went to Dr Who, and from there to steampunk, League of Extraodinary Gentlemen, Batman and psychotropic drugs and… you get the idea. An awesome Firefox extension would be to have something track your wiki links and then compile them into a sort of map, which could be presented ala a Jetpack.
Birthday Goodnez
I don’t like advertising that it’s my birthday – it’s nothing to do with my age, I just don’t feel comfortable saying “O hay guyz, its ma bday in a week”. I think most of my uni mates found out through MySpace, so I ended up getting a few belated “Happy Birthdays you old fart” on Sunday. I think it sorta goes back to what I never said about consumerism (half a post is saved here but I can’t quite articulate what I want to say), if I tell people, they feel compelled to do things for me, or buy me things or whatever, and frankly I don’t need it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m human and I enjoy the odd bit of attention. And I’m not being rude when I say I don’t need it. I mean it in the sense of Want vs. Need. Personally, I feel that I am less of a consumer whore than a lot of people around me. Maybe I’m more aware of it, maybe I’m just a boring person, but right now I would say I need for nothing, and the things I want I could count on one hand:
- New computer – it’s not my fault they double in jigawatts every year.
- A new HDD – The above is a want, this is a bit more towards the need end of the scale, I only have a few GB left and thats only because I’m not dl’ing any pron
- Digital Camera – Much closer to need, this would help a bit with uni stuff.
- 4GB memory stick for my phone – cheaper than buying an iShit.
- Books – Plenty to buy, but whether I have the time I’m not sure. Ditto magazine subscriptions.
That’s honestly it. Sure you could show me cool gadgets, flying toys and lego sets, cars or consoles and sure I’d drool over them, and probably consider buying them, but then I think of whether I truly need it and most of the time the answer is no. I don’t blame people for just giving me money for my birthday this year. Now that I think about it, it’s probably the first year it’s happened, and in a way its sad, but not many people would have picked or been able to afford the items on that list above. I also remember the first time I opened up a present and thought “Aw, it’s cool, but I’m never going to use it”. And its happened a lot since. I dunno, maybe I don’t have the time, or I’m losing my sense of fun, or a million other depressing thoughts, but I honestly can’t see how these objects are enriching my life. Sure its the thought that counts, and some of these pointless gadgets are funny and cool, but in the end they wind up in a drawer or box collecting dust and it makes me feel sad. On the bright side, I look forward to giving as much of this stuff to my kids.
Frankly, if I didn’t recieve anything at all except a phone call saying Happy Birthday I’d still be a happy guy. The money is nice (I think I’ll put it towards a digital camera), but its just money – I live at home and earn enough to be comfortable in the day-to-day, and I enjoy just going out at random, enjoying a beer or movie with mates. Sure birthdays are a good excuse to get the family together, but that’s only because there’s enough birthdays in a year to make it a regular event – getting together to enjoy company shouldn’t require a motive, or the need to spend money on each other.
And I guess that really explains why I’m not a consumer. I just don’t see the point. I feel no strong desire to buy things, to surround myself with the new, the shiny, the luxurious. I by no means live a spartan lifestyle, I’m no buddha, but one thing I do is respect things, both mine and others. When I buy something I buy with an eye for quality and longetivity. Fashion is something that changes, but style lasts. Buying something cheap and then buying another one when the first breaks is anathema, even if it works out cheaper in the long run. There are plenty of exceptions, but the thing that got me a while back was when we had to value our personal contents for insurance. In other words, what would you miss if your house burnt down? Computer, wallet, phone, watch, personal documents. Most of the other “valuable” stuff can be easily replaced – sound system, CD collection, clothes, furniture, tools and art supplies.
The thing that gets me is that people are so willing to throw things away. With a little bit of know-how I fixed a pair of headphones and a pair of earbuds. The drivers – the most complex bits – were totally fine, but in both cases the cable wiring had fractured. It wasn’t exactly easy repairing either, but it was definitely rewarding and I think they’re now as good, if not better than before, and we’ll get another few years of life out of them.
One thing that really shits me is that people don’t respect objects, especially when they’re not theirs. This is pretty apparant in the uni workshop, when people carelessly and ruthlessly operate machines that have been carefully tuned and are very expensive to repair and maintain. A little bit of understanding may instill some respect but it’s sad that it needs to be done at all. A lot of people also don’t respect models which always amazes me. If they stopped to consider how long they spent on their own models (ok sure, some people may only spend 10 minuts on a model) they would probably have a bit more respect and care, but they don’t. Despite their best intentions they leave fingerprints on paintjobs and knock the models over as they walk past. It is absolutely heartbreaking to see it happen, but how could you possibly feel angry when they turn around and say “sorry?” >_>
But even just respecting cheap ordinary items would go a long way to stem the tide of consumerism. Sure something is cheap, its cheerful, it does its job. Until you throw it around and fuck it up. By treating stuff with more care, or just being more aware of how we use things, most objects will provide a good long service life.
I don’t know. I’m an angry man and I don’t really know how to end this rant so I guess this is as good a place as any. TAKE CARE OF SHIT.
