Feel-Good Media

This issue has been troubling me for a long time, and not just the Internet, but television and radio as well. For instance, The Daily Show. Sure, it's funny, but in the long run does it really help The Cause, or does it only make its viewers feel good? I can only wonder how many Daily Show viewers secretly preferred Bush win just because Bush is better fodder for the next four years' worth of program content.

Take DailyKos. Or the Freepers. Or the Instapundit crowd. Or Air America Radio. Or Limbaugh. Or The WELL. All of these things are more than just echo chambers. They're media outlets/communities where you can tune in and know they'll deliver what you want -- you'll get a nice buzz. They're addictive. But in the long run do they really help society, or do they just provide some sort of poor man's opioid?

Meetups also trouble me in a way, in that many of them seem to tend to divide up local populations rather than unite. Are Meetups simply events where you can go and meet other people with the same interest? Is that all they can ever be? Would it ever make sense to have a Meetup where the point is to meet other people who don't share your interest?

How about a Group Meetups for All Dog Owner Meetup Groups? Where the Chihuahua Owners can meet English Bull Terrier Owners and the Chihuahuas can meet the English Bull Terriers and hopefully we can all get along? Wouldn't the world be a better place if there was some more cross-fertilization of different groups who might not normally ever meet?

Moanage

1. Went to OFFICE DEPOT and bought a Linksys Wireless-G router w/ 2 built-in VOIP phone ports. It came co-branded with Vonage service, which was supposed to be a snap to set up.

2. Installed router, got it up and running. Everything's fine.

3. Followed the instructions sheet included in the box that says go to www.vonage.com/activate to sign up. Did that. It asks for my Linksys' MAC address, then asks what store I bought this from, then asks me to select a calling plan.

4. Problem: only two calling plans listed, both Residential. But my purchase is for a business. And their Terms of Service says businesses are verboten from using the residential calling plans.

5. Been calling Vonage support all frickin' day long. Most of the time I get a recorded "please hold" then DEAD AIR for 5+ minutes -- I mean, not even background music. The only number I can call on is my cellphone, since, like, I am planning on using Vonage for office phone use, and it's not set up yet! I've prolly racked up over 60 minutes of cell time today trying to get a solution from these people.

6. Finally reached a human, who couldn't answer my question, and told me to try the "Retail Support Line". I call that, and get some guy who wants to know what my store number is. Huh? Wait a sec --- this is the support line for retailers, not customers. Anyway, I had another human so I told him the story and he joked that I may be the first person to buy this Linksys unit anywhere and that Vonage is clearly messed up and he has to file a trouble ticket etc etc and now I am supposed to wait for a call back, which may or may not come today.

So much for VOIP being a great new solution. Vonage, congratulations: you're now known as Moanage in my book.

The Seven Stages of Grief