Oh, I thought that was Jerry Lee Lewis.

That's so crazy... I was just reminiscing about that old gag before logging into /. myself! Must be, like, the nerd hivemind or something.

LOL, I believe the actual lyric is "confidante".

Han Solo for President 2012
...He Shoots First

No points right now, but I'd mod this up insightful rather than funny... and it's not a knock to OP.

Interesting... I actually worked for them back in 98/99. Where did you interview?

The office I worked at was formerly Microcom, and had been acquired by Compaq shortly before I started. Early on, it was still very much a Microcom atmosphere, and I loved working with such creative and brilliant people in such a (relatively) small environment. Everybody knew mostly everybody else, there didn't seem to be much friction (that I could tell), and opportunities for learning and growth abounded for a young guy like me (college co-op). My time there during that period shaped what my ideal working environment was.

After about, say, six months the corporate hooks began to take a firm hold. The opposite of a college campus. Lots and lots of red tape, waste (projects that people had spent years working on suddenly just scrapped and equipment junked), and commands from afar. Most of the real talent left to begin new companies. Around the same time is when Compaq started buying up other companies, including DEC. Talk about an unhappy marriage. Our manager left, and was replaced by a guy from DEC who told us, flat out, that he didn't want anything to do with our team, we are an inconvenience to him, and the less he hears from us the better. It became a very sad, monotonous place to work. During this period (now as a part-time, hourly employee as I finished school), my wide-eyed optimism was tainted by a heaping dose of reality and cynicism. I ended up leaving for a consulting job briefly before following my former Compaq manager (not the DEC guy) to a software company that during my time there followed a very similar arc without the benefit of being bought out by a larger entity.

I have spent much of my career trying to find the happy medium between the two two extremes. Not sure one exists, but at least I'm pretty happy where I am now.

Sometimes I wish post moderations went up to 10. This is one of those times.

I'm a curmudgeonly 36 year old who was dragged kicking and screaming into the world of texting just over a year ago. Between my kids and my friends, I easily blow through a hundred a day... don't forget, that's both directions. So, if somebody texts you..

"Hey U R lame."

"haha jk"

"Want 2 see Batman tonite?"

"It's playing at King's at 8:30"

"We'll get drinks after."

That's 5 texts before you even respond. People with unlimited plans aren't likely to be cognizant or necessarily respectful of those who have limited texting. A simple two-way conversation can run up to 20 or 30 texts pretty quick and, let's face it, most people are texting more than they're calling. Especially during the work day. The unlimited shared texting plan was cheaper for me than pretty much any of the other limited options once you started adding lines.

You're fortunate in that all of the members of your plan are paying their own way. I'm paying for myself, two kids, and a spouse... so I'm paying almost $200/mo for my plan, and I'm the only one with data! However, let's say I drop any one of those other lines... my bill is only going to go down by about $15. It's the core of the plan that costs all that money.

And AT&T's coverage is now terrible (it was better when it was Cingular), and I am constantly dropping calls. I will say, though, their customer support is generally very helpful.

I prefer to grunt and point.

Now, with sports, you'd expect a much easier crossover, but I can see the submitter's points, for sure. But in the case of most other shows that get imported to the States, most notably (IMHO) British comedy, they just don't translate well due to cultural differences. IT Crowd was a fantastic show in the UK... did the US version ever make it past the pilot (almost a scene for scene reproduction which, for whatever reason, was just weak and didn't work?)

The Office is another example people use, although I must admit I've never spent any considerable time watching either. How is the US version of Shameless compared to the UK version?

I'm going way off topic here, but I feel like ranting, so mod me as you will. It seems like ever since the Sonic the Hedgehog commercials of the mid-90s hit the airwaves, America has this obsession with being loud, irreverent, and in-your-face. TV shows and movies largely eschew complicated or subtle humor in favor of lets-see-how-much-we-can-get-away-with. That's what turned me off to Family Guy after the first few seasons. Alright, McFarlane, we get it... you're really pushing the envelope there with your three identical shows. Sadly, most "average citizens" seem to eat this garbage up. I often think of the scene in Idiocracy with the TV show "Ow My Balls".

Honestly, I have Comcast at my apartment solely for the Internet (it costs you more if you don't get TV through them also)... I have about a dozen channels, 8 of which son en Espanol... but I have an XBox360 and Netflix, and far more quality programming to watch than I'll ever get to, thanks to those.

Allow me to digress one more time, though... and slightly back on topic. One Japanese obstacle course show that was aired by Spike was altered to the point of parody, and THAT worked... in the US it was called "MXC" or "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge", and the ridiculous voice overs were done, IIRC, by comedians, and were genuinely funny. I miss that show.

I really need you to explain this.

First, let me begin by saying wow, that's a low UID you've got there!

Secondly, perhaps my point was lost a little by virtue of putting it in the subject line (which I personally am often guilty of overlooking). My complaint was mostly about professionally published news articles on "legitimate" news channel websites, not even including editorials. Not only do I see many examples of what I'd been taught to be "incorrect" style for professional writing, but I'm also seeing an increasing number of typos, misspellings, formatting errors, and what looks like generally lazy editing.

I know this was yesterday's article, so the thread is surely dead by now, but if I happen to run across such an article today, I will come back and like to it.

As of late I've been noticing and commenting to friends about a growing disregard for spelling, grammar, and proper English as a whole. In school I was taught to never use contractions when writing a "professional" piece; I see that constantly now. I was also taught to avoid "familiar" language and colloquialisms, to spell out any number ten or lower, and things like this. It seems to me that "Tweetspeak" and shorthand common to texting and Facebook messaging are now considered acceptable to journalism editors, particularly online.

Has this caught anybody else's attention?

Man, do I wish I had some mod points. I give you a theoretical +1 to use for any adjective you choose.