Herculodge

Do You Suffer from Personal Website Addiction?

Do you compulsively go to your personal website to check for “activity,” that is, hits on your website? If so, you may suffer from a modern addiction that afflicts many isolated people in our huge impersonal society. Such an addiction can be characterized by the following symptoms:

1.    You suffer from anxieties when you’re away from your website for more than a few hours because in part you can’t check for “activity,” that is, hits on your website.
2.    You look for a sense of connection through Internet “friends” and e-mail buddies rather than real-life encounters.
3.    You measure your worth and self-esteem through the amount of hits and “friends” you’ve amassed.
4.    When your website isn’t getting activity for extended periods, you suffer from anguish, despair, self-pity, and resentment.
5.    You’re elated when you experience a “flurry of activity”; however, no amount of activity is never enough as you find yourself with an insatiable appetite for attention and validation through your site.
6.    You wake up at 3 A.M. to check your website for “activity.”
7.    You use computer terminals on vacations to check for “activity” and these checks on your computer interest you more than the actual vacation.
8.    When you’re not on your website, you fear you are “missing something” and may have squandered a huge opportunity, a connection with someone special.
9.    You know you have a problem but you feel helpless and ashamed.
10.    You sense deep down that your website obsession is a distraction from a squandered life but feel helpless to do anything.

Final Thoughts

Can one do anything to solve this addiction? I can’t say for now. I do know that the narrator of Jim Harrison's novella The Beast God Forgot to Invent writes that the majority of mankind "pisses away its life on nonsense." To be continued . . .

Boston Acoustics Recepter Vs. The Tivoli Songbook

Because of the similar price (both go for about 150 dollars even though the Recepter can be found on sale for a lot less, sometimes around 100 dollars), radio buyers are inclined to compare the Boston Acoustics Recepter  to the Tivoli Songbook. In many ways, these are different radios so that they don't make an apt comparison. The main difference is that the Songbook is marketed and designed flat to fit snug in a suitcase as a travel radio. However, a lot of buyers looking for an upscale radio want a good mini sound system for their bedroom or den or kitchen. Since both of these radios produce better sound and receive better reception than most radios and since both have an upscale feel and appearance, they are often compared. So let's look at how they compare point by point:

One. Stability: The winner is the BAR. Its low stance makes it resist falling over. The Songbook on the other hand is like balancing a plate. One careless toggle and you can make it crash backwards.

Two. Headphone jack: The winner is the Songbook because it has a headphone jack whereas the BAR does not. Now because the Songbook flips over way too easily and because the BAR has no headphone jack, NEITHER RADIO IS ADEQUATE FOR A BEDSIDE CLOCK RADIO. If you sleep alone and don't need to use headphones, then this is a mute point of course. In that case, you'd be happy with the BAR. But if you need a strong bedside clock radio and don't mind confusing alarm controls, your best bet would be a Sangean WR-2. For a more thorough discussion of the WR-2 in which I compare it to two other premium radios, CLICK HERE.

Three. FM Reception: A tie. This is curious because even though the Songbook has a preferred telescopic FM antenna, its FM reception is no better than the BAR, which is equipped with a piggy tail wire antenna in the back. FM on both radios is excellent.

Four. AM Reception: The BAR is the clear winner. Its rich sound makes AM talk radio sound intimate, like the people talking are in the room. It hides unwelcome AM sounds better than the Songbook. I don't think the Songbook is a good choice for heavy AM listeners.

Five. Price: The BAR, which can be found for 100-130 dollars rather easily, is the clear winner over the Songbook, which is never on sale.

Six. Sound: While this is subjective, I prefer the BAR. But both the BAR and the Songbook produce more than adequate sound, especially since they have only a monoaural speaker.

Seven. Style: While the BAR is an attractive radio, it does not look as cool as the Songbook. The black version is stunning and if you're looking for a hip style for your home radio and don't mind spending 150 dollars, you'll probably be very happy with the Songbook, especially if you're not a big AM listener.

Eight: Compatible with your computer office. Both are losers here because neither has a remote control and I guarantee if your radio is not at least four feet away from your computer, you're going to experience ugly sound interference. For your office, you'll want to toggle your presets with an upscale radio that comes with a telescopic FM antenna and a remote control. For that, there's only one radio, the Eton Sound 100.

Conclusion: For home use, I recommend the BAR. For a travel radio, I think the Songbook is too pricey. I'd go for the Sangean PR-D5, which selling for 75-100 dollars depending on the vendor, offers better reception, dual stereo speakers, and a bigger internal AM antenna at a considerably lower price. In fact, the PR-D5 would make an excellent home radio for buyers comparing the Songbook against the BAR. For a more thorough discussion of the PR-D5 in which I compare it to the Recepter, CLICK HERE.

For hipsters who want style and who don't listen to a lot of AM, the Songbook is a great choice. I gave my red Songbook as a present to my friend who only listens to FM and he loves his Songbook. In conclusion, there is no perfect radio for everyone. You have to identify your wants and preferences first, then decide.

Mother's Hoax Kills Thirteen-Year-Old Girl

It's Thanksgiving and as I sit at my oatmeal and read the front page of the Los Angeles Times, I am drawn to an article about a thirteen-year-old girl Megan Meier who commits suicide after being psychologically abused and manipulated by a mother Lori Drew posing as a sixteen-year-old boy "Josh Evans." Already afflicted with depression,  Megan kills herself after "Josh" abruptly halts the relationship he has established with Megan on MySpace. What was Lori Drew's motive? Her daughter had had a spat with Megan so Lori Drew concocted a revenge plot in which she would impersonate a sixteen-year-old boy, communicate with Megan on MySpace, play with her head, and devastate her.  The result? Megan killed herself. Megan's parents Tina and Ron Meier, traumatized by the ordeal, have since divorced. The community has discovered Lori Drew's malicious scheme and has scorned her and her family, even resorting to vigilantism.

Who will write the novel or screenplay of this tragedy? I promote Jim Schutze who dealt with suburban evil in his masterpiece of crime nonfiction titled Bully: A True Story of High School Revenge.

Whether the evil perpetrated by Lori Drew is made into a book or film, she must, like some Old Testament murderer, spend the rest of her days walking the earth in eternal scorn and ostracism.