Daily Dose of Common Sense

Proving that just because you can make a sign doesn’t mean you can spell, someone has started a Flickr account called, “Teabonics.” These are photos of actual signs seen at Tea Party events around the country. It’s genius.

No matter where you stand on the issue, folks, make sure you spell check your protest signs. Misspellings just make you look like an idiot.

[Via the fine folks at BoingBoing]

We shouldn’t speed, drive drunk, or be aggressive/reckless behind the road. We know it, but sometimes it helps to be reminded–especially in a clever way. Australia has decided to use some off-beat humor in a viral campaign to get a safe driving message across to younger drivers. The tag line: “Don’t be a dickhead.” I must admit that some of these are amusing. You would almost think they’re Saturday Night Live skits.

The ads discuss the possible–yet completely crazy–consequences of unsafe driving. These include: red-headed angels will get their wings, you will live the rest of your life with a giant pole coming out of your stomach, Twitter and Facebook will be turned off, and more.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcIy8-EKW00

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCsPaW3Ghz0

And…wait for it…my favorite:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7CBJr0GReI

It’s great to see a company (in this case, the Victoria, Australia government) doing something out of the ordinary to reach a new audience. Think of how great it would be if someone would roll out the “Don’t litter or you’re a douche bag” campaign. It would make you think twice about littering, wouldn’t it?

All of the ads can be seen here.

[Via AdFreak]

A man was caught streaking through a grocery store and gave one of the all-time best answers as to why he was running naked: boredom.

He did, however, wear a face mask. Boredom doesn’t diminish your modesty, apparently.

Most of us watch TV or eat to fight boredom (sometimes both at the same time). Dude, next time turn on Lost and eat a Hostess Twinkie instead of showing your own Twinkie to the neighborhood.

Twitter is great for up-to-the-minute updates and news flashes. But, some tweeters just don’t know when to keep their thumbs in their pants.

Ryan Seacrest caught flack this week for giving away the results of “American Idol” on Twitter before West Coast viewers had seen the show. Seacrest tweeted the name of the contestant who was booted off, spoiling the broadcast for many fans in other time zones.

Now, revealing an “Idol” castoff isn’t the end of the world. But, what if you make an off-handed joke about bombing an airport? In the old days, this wouldn’t be a big deal, either. Now, the terrorism police (that’s the technical term, I believe) take that shizzle seriously. In the UK, a man was just arrested for a tweet he sent after his flight was cancelled due to a snowfall:

“You’ve got a week and a bit to get your s**t together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!”

That tweet came back to haunt him when the police showed up on his doorstep. Now, his cell phone, laptop, and desktop computer have all been confiscated, plus he is banned from the intended airport FOR LIFE. Ridiculous, we know. All for a tweet made in jest.

Whether it’s tweeting too often, as in the case of John Mayer and his overzealous tweeting, or tweeting the inappropriate, sometimes it’s better to think before you tweet.

Photo

I think Tina Fey is the DDOCS poster girl. She’s smart, funny, and interesting–exactly the kind of person who makes your “famous people I’d like to have over to dinner” list. Plus, of all the public figures out there, no one speaks more common sense than Fey, who is the creator, writer and producer of the genius 30 Rock.

Here are some of her recent gems:

On being the ‘thinking man’’s sex symbol:
“What I’ve come to realize is that when people say, ‘The thinking man’s whatever’ — there’s no such thing. The thinking man also wants to fuck Megan Fox.”

Normal Girls:
“I feel like I represent normalcy in some way. What are your choices today in entertainment? People either represent youth, power, or sexuality. And then there’s me, carrying normalcy.” Pause. “Me and Rachel Ray.”

The Skinny:
“People will say, ‘Oh, fashion magazines are so bad, they’re giving girls a negative message’–but we’re also the fattest country in the world, so it’s not like we’re all looking at fashion magazines and not eating. Maybe it just starts a shame cycle: I’m never going to look like that model, so… Chicken McNuggets it is! And conversely, I don’t look at models who are crazy skinny and think I want to look like that, because a lot of them are gigantic, with giant hands and giant feet.”

On fame:
“I think my level of fame will drop back down. I think it’ll recede. In fact, I know it will. That’s life on planet earth. And I’m okay with that. Besides getting tables at restaurants and special treatment at the airport, what else is there?”

Here she talks on Letterman about being a 24-year old virgin:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV0NA3UfpvA&feature=player_embedded

[Source: Huffington Post]

A 604 lb. woman living in New Jersey says it would be a “fantasy” to be the world’s fattest woman, which would mean weighing 1,000 lbs. She’s only 42 and has a 3-year old daughter. To supplement her $750-a-week grocery bill, she has a web site where men can watch her eat fast food.

“When you have a 3-year-old daughter and you’re trying to run a household, things like this tend to be a fantasy,” Simpson told The Post today.

Yes, quite the fantasy. CRAZY fantasy. Does this woman have no one in her life that can teach her the serious health consequences of being so overweight? Does she not want to be around to watch her daughter grow up, and possibly have grandchildren? Also, what quality of life can she give her daughter when, admittedly, she can only move 20 ft. on her own without a break.

It all reminds me of The Simpsons episode where Homer wants to gain weight. He wants to be fat enough to be considered disabled, which would allow him to work from home. As Dr. Nick Rivera advises him, use Pop-Tarts instead of bread….

Via PatsPapers

At a Wisconsin zoo on Friday, a woman wanted to feed the bears by hand. (I mean, who doesn’t? They’re all like Winnie the Pooh, right?) She ignored several barriers and warning signs in order to get up close and personal with the bears. Result? She lost several fingers after she was bitten. The woman’s boyfriend was also bitten as he tried to help her.

But this is not even the most disturbing part of the news report:

The woman’s boyfriend was bitten as he tried to pry the bear’s mouth off her hand, but he didn’t lose any fingers. Her 3-year-old granddaughter wasn’t injured.

Yes, that’s right. The woman, through her own stupidity, gets expectedly injured by a bear IN FRONT OF her granddaughter. Way to scar the little one for life, Grandma.

We’ve written about zoo stupidity before, but it really never ceases to amaze us how people purposely cross barriers and restricted areas to get to the wildlife. If you’re this reckless and dumb, you deserve whatever the animals dish out.

The fastest growing group on Facebook is the 35-54 set, which can lead to sticky situations with real consequences for many people. Therefore, who you friend is as important as who you don’t. As an example, a survey out this week found that 56% of people believe it’s irresponsible to friend your boss on Facebook. Seems there are more categories to be considered as well. So, here’s our common sense list of “To Friend, or Not to Friend.”

Should you friend…

…your boss? As the survey lends us to believe, it’s probably a bad idea. Not only are you possibly exposing awkward photos, status updates, and Wall posts, but your boss can actually SEE if you’re on Facebook at any given time. (The “Friends Online” feature reveals who is logged into the site.) Unless you plan to do all your Facebooking after hours (ha!), then let the boss actually think you’re working. Also, it’s hard to claim a “sick” day when you post photos of your impromptu trip to Six Flags the next day.

…your parents? This is tricky. It really depends on your parents. Are they the judgmental type? Do they disapprove of your lifestyle, job, or friends? If they’re the easy-going, we-love-you-just-the-way-you-are parents, then you’re probably safe. However, you don’t want to become the black sheep over your online revelations. Plus, if you connect to your folks, you might learn more than YOU want to know. (Be prepared for a barrage of Farmville.)

…your kids? As we just talked about, you might learn more than you want to know. Are you invading your child’s internet privacy? Or, are you just trying to stay more connected? If it’s the later, that is certainly a noble reason. Just don’t expect them to appreciate it. More than likely, you’ll just embarrass them.

…your ex? Before you try to maintain a friendship (albeit an online one) with an ex, ask yourself if you’re ready to hear about his or her new relationships. If you can handle seeing vacation pictures of he and his new girlfriend in Bermuda, then it’s probably OK to be Facebook friends. But, if hearing about how happy he or she is without you sends you over the edge, it’s not worth it. Also, if you friend an ex just to keep tabs on him or her “just in case” (or worse, for some revenge plot), then that’s just wrong.

…randoms? If you can’t remember the person from high school, then why stay connected to them on Facebook? Ditto for a friend of a friend, or someone who was blindly suggested by Facebook. Yes, you can hide friends from your News Feed. But, if you friend someone knowing that you’re just going to hide them, why friend them in the first place?

Facebook isn’t just about collecting as many friends as you can. It should be about interacting with a network of people you’re interested in. Don’t let the friend requests bog you down. When in doubt, IGNORE!

This week, a killer whale–which had already been involved in two deaths–killed a trainer at Sea World in Orlando in front of a crowd.

Now, I’m not going to go all PETA on your ass and start ranting about animals in captivity. My kids like to see the bears, elephants, and cows at the zoo as much as the next person. What doesn’t make sense is this is an animal who was involved in other deadly incidents. First a trainer was killed in 1991 and then a gatecrasher was found lying on top of the animal in 1999. In each case, it appeared the whale thought humans were toys.

How “dangerous” does an animal need to be before we decide it’s not worth the human life to keep it in captivity? I’m sure the orca show at Sea World is a big draw. And, the trainers are experienced and careful. But, when animals are prone to attack, is it really a good idea to keep them around? Here’s how a witness described the event:

Another audience member, Victoria Biniak, told WKMG-TV the whale “took off really fast in the tank, and then he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing around, and one of her shoes flew off.”

Yikes.

Ok, not really. But, two clever guys did illustrate the ink usage of different typefaces and Garamond proved to use the least amount of ink.

In this quirky demonstration they drew enlarged versions of eight fonts with eight ball point pens and used the remaining ink in each pen to create a telling bar chart. The results are here:

http://flowingdata.com/2010/01/29/save-pens-use-garamond-font

Frankly, it never occurred to me that fonts had an ink footprint, but I know I’m not only one who thinks the price of ink cartridges is ridiculous.

And, who doesn’t want a way to stick it to the printer cartridge industry? I see a whole lot more Garamond in my future.