Save Money By Switching!

It is hard to watch television, surf the net or listen to the radio without seeing or hearing about car insurance rates. "If you switch to BLAH BLAH insurance you could save up to $400 a year!" Well after thinking about this I realized that EVERY car insurance ad claims this to be true. Allstate, Geico, Progressive, Etc. Etc. What company is the one that has the highest rates that everyone else is saving by switching to a different company? I am sure that if you are needing SR22 (DUI) insurance and switch to a company that specializes in helping those who choose to get caught drinking and driving have insurance you could save some money. "If you fall into a certain niche of driving coverage and need insurance call me, you could save money!" This should be the slogan, it's more accurate. I guess the alternative would be "Hey, we could save you money but it's probably a waste of time. Oh yeah, you will need to give us a down payment as well." I wouldn't call them, maybe they should stick to the saving money stuff.

Big Brother Is Watching

I recently read the the FBI has started one of the world largest biometric databases for United States citizens. In the early reports of this story they listed the project at having at least one billion (or $1,000,000,000) dollars for this initiative. The effects are already starting to trickle down the system at the local level. As with any country wide policy and security change it has drawn some criticism.

To demonstrate how these things start I only need to point to one company, Disney. I am not saying that the Disney Corporation is part of some conspiracy but they were one of the first amusement park companies to incorporate a finger print scanning system into the regular park entry turn style. Now other parks and amusement type places have placed similar systems into use such as Busch Gardens. When my girlfriend and I decided to spend the day at Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay I was asked to put my finger (voluntarily) into a scanner. I refused. They still let me in but I felt like there was something majorly wrong with this situation. What were these companies doing with all of this information that they were collecting? Every year over 119 million visitors cross through the gates of North American amusement parks. The official stance of companies like Disney Corp. in regards to the data that is being collected is that it is purged from the system after 48 hours and nothing comes from it. Knowing the habits of most medium to large size companies I have a hard time believing this as well. Companies like this have an extremely hard time deleting customer information and data that can be used for advertising purposes.

Today I read in John Dvorak's blog that Green Bay Wisconsin police are now taking finger prints when they pull people over. The persons fingerprint will be on the actual citation that is given. The reason that the local Wisconsin police give for the sudden change is for mistaken identity cases. They are protecting you from a citation that you may be charged with when your buddy (that looks exactly like you) is driving YOUR car and is caught speeding. So, with all of this in mind I go back to my original point of the trickle down effect. I am not a conspiracy theorist but this seems like a bit more than a coincidence. The point of doing this the way that they have chosen to do it is so that you are conditioned to be comfortable with the thought of walking into the mall and putting your finger into a scanner for your "protection." Don't be surprised to see your local government is adopting the same policies.

Christmas Reading For Kids!

Here is something that you just don't see enough of, pop up books with splatter! I found this picture on the BOING BOING blog and thought that I would share. If you are shopping for your nieces and nephews this Christmas season and don't know what to get them, grab a book and some safety glasses! Too bad that this is not real, I would send everyone in my family something that they would remember Uncle Sean by. Of course I would include a card that had a warning label "May cause one to poop themselves, change of clothes not included."