Daily Dose of Common Sense

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]

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.

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Here are some of our favorite brief Web stories from this week.

Some people had common sense.

• The city of Boston dismissed thousands of tickets and tow fines for people who were issued violations while preparing for a storm that never came. The city had declared a snow emergency in expectation of the big storm cutting up the eastern seaboard. Stay classy, Boston.
• A 5-year old girl in Indiana called 911 when her dad experienced chest pains. She remained calm and stayed on the line for nearly ten minutes. She is now credited with saving her dad’s life.

And, some did not.

• Southwest Airlines kicked Kevin Smith off a flight for being too fat. Smith claims he fits between the two arm rests, which is the test of whether a person is too large for their seat. Huge PR nightmare for Southwest Airlines because Smith is a celebrity. I ask why the airlines even let him board in the first place, instead of kicking him off once on the plane?
• New toy: Fisher Price’s Bigfoot the Monster. It’s cute in a Muppet-gone-bad kind of way, but do we really want to encourage children to believe in this nonsense?

Sometimes we make it easier on the bad guys.

Many computer users prove themselves easy targets for hackers and identity thieves. First, we learn that “123456″ is the most common password in use today.

Imperva found that nearly 1 percent of the 32 million people it studied had used “123456″ as a password. The second-most-popular password was “12345.” Others in the top 20 included “qwerty,” “abc123″ and “princess.”

Not exactly hacker-proof. Instead, pick a password of a letter and number combination that is at least six characters long.

Second, we learn that many adults put their full addresses in their social media profiles.

In one example, the study commissioned by a unit of credit reporting services firm Experian found that 14 percent of adults – and 20 percent of those age 60 and over – listed their full home addresses in their social media profiles.

Now, I’m not suggesting that putting your address online guarantees a robbery. (See our recent post “Do Thieves Read Twitter, Too?”) But, do you really want anyone, and we mean anyone, knowing where you live? Identity theft, junk mail, stalkers, past girlfriends, Jehovah’s Witnesses… you open yourself up to a variety of ways to have your personal domain invaded.

Don’t make it easy on them. Make the bad guys work harder and perhaps save yourself some aggravation down the road.

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Twitter: you either love it or you hate it. The service appeals to many because it’s a way to carry on short conversations with large groups of people. But, like any conversation, users should be careful not to offend, bore, or just plain suck. The Oatmeal has a comic that is pretty funny and to the point: Ten Things You Need to Stop Tweeting About.

These include: what you’re eating, the conference or event you’re attending, your workout, and your emotional breakthroughs. The main reason is that no one cares about these things. (Well, very few people anyway.) Most of the ten are fairly obvious, especially like tweeting about Twitter. (Does anyone really do this?) But, we still appreciate the efforts made to liven up some of the social media banality.

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LG is doing a PSA campaign with James Lipton (of Inside the Actor’s Studio fame) warning teens to think before texting. I’m not sure it’ll work but kudos to LG for tackling the issue.

There are 4 ads, and Lipton’s beard plays an important role in each. This one is my favorite. Yes, Lipton says “tweets about his beets.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8H4CB6ok4E

[Via AdFreak.com]

It was recently announced that “unfriend” was Oxford Dictionary’s 2009 “Word of the Year.” (Don’t those Facebook holdouts feel stupid right about now?) If you’ve used Facebook to any large degree, you know why this word is so popular. It’s occasionally necessary to separate the “friends” from the “unfriends” on your list.

Some are bolder about weeding out than others. In fact, we heard of this status update on Thanksgiving Day:

“Time to slim down the facebook friend herd. Check back in an hour to see if you made the cut.”

Ouch. You can be thankful you weren’t that guy’s friend.

If you need to whittle down your friend list, we put together a quick guide to help you determine who should go. Here are eight reasons to unfriend someone:

#8: Anyone who announces they’re cutting their friend list and then asks you to check back to see if you’re still a friend. No thanks, ass-clown. UNFRIEND.

#7: Someone who habitually leaves inappropriate comments on your updates/links/photos. Usually someone you don’t know very well, he or she assumes they are witty. They’re not. UNFRIEND.

#6: Along the same lines, someone who habitually tags you in inappropriate photos. Yes, the “untag” button is helpful. But there’s a good chance mutual connections could still see it. UNFRIEND.

#5: Anyone who posts marketing messages (or SPAM) on your wall. This is becoming more and more prevalent as people use social media for business. Leave the business to LinkedIn or Twitter. Facebook should be about friends, not the weekend marketing seminar you’re trying to book. UNFRIEND.

#4: People who can’t be bothered with a real status update. “Jodi is” is not a status update. If you have nothing to say, don’t bother updating your status. Also in this category are the jokers who say, “Jodi is XYDFDKALJC” as a status update. Mashing your keyboard is NOT a status update. UNFRIEND.

#3: Those people who relentlessly send you invites to FB games. One word: Farmville. UNFRIEND.

#2: Anyone over thirty who continually brags about how drunk they were the night before or how hard they party. Maybe we’re just bitter because we have lives and responsibilities, but we DON’T want to hear about it. Besides, your mom is probably on FB, too. She definitely doesn’t want to hear about it. (Unless you were partying WITH her, in which case…ewwww.) UNFRIEND.

#1 reason to unfriend someone on Facebook: you can’t remember who the hell they are.

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Here are some of our favorite brief Web stories from this week.

Some people had common sense.

• Science-Based Medicine has a great article on the dangers of homebirth with a midwife. It is the most dangerous form of planned birth in the U.S. As a friend on Twitter said, “Get to the hospital, hippy!”
• In an effort to encourage Californians not to drive so much, pay-as-you-drive insurance plans will now be offered there. If you’ve ever experienced their traffic, any reasonable measure to get fewer cars on the road gets a thumbs up.
• A Wisconsin woman called 911 to report herself as a drunk driver. She said she didn’t want to hurt anyone. We realize she never should have gotten behind the wheel in the first place, but at least she wised up. Most drunk drivers don’t have the cajones to report themselves; instead, they take their chances on the road.
• The two greatest SNL hosts ever–Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin–take over hosting duties for the 2010 Oscars. Smart choice by the producers, who must know that the show format is stale, stale, stale. Here’s hoping for a “Pete’s Schweatty Balls” sketch on awards night.

And, some did not.

• A company has released a $100 mobile device that connects only to Twitter. It doesn’t make phone calls or let you retrieve emails. Only Twitter. In case you didn’t know, you can get an iPhone at these prices, which will give you a whole lot more functionality.
• 53% of Maine voters denied gays the same rights as heterosexuals. Hey, Maine, you think gay marriage is immoral? Blag Hag said it best: Know what else is an abomination, Maine? Lobster.
• Because the airline industry is doing so well, United says “no” to track suits in first class. Shouldn’t they just be grateful that anyone can afford to buy a first class ticket these days?
• A man repeatedly saw Jesus’ image on his truck window. While many look to this as a sign, we think he just needs to wash his truck more often.

Here’s a clue, you tax deadbeats: First, pay your taxes. We do. What makes you think you’re above the law? Second, if you’re going to be a deadbeat, please go ahead and post pictures of your big new sailboat or share information about your new high-paying job on Facebook or MySpace. Why? Because the taxman has gotten smarter. Many state revenue agents have started to use social media to track down tax deadbeats.

State revenue agents have begun nabbing scofflaws by mining information posted on social-networking Web sites, from relocation announcements to professional profiles to financial boasts.

In Minnesota, authorities were able to levy back taxes on the wages of a long-sought tax evader after he announced on MySpace that he would be returning to his home town to work as a real-estate broker and gave his employer’s name. The state collected several thousand dollars, the full amount due.

I love it when authorities make arrests by using the criminals’ stupidity against them. Every one of these deadbeats deserve what they get. You can argue that we shouldn’t have to pay taxes, or that our tax rates are too high. But, one or two people shouldn’t be allowed to dodge. Pay up like the rest of us!

Photo courtesy of Flickr: Paul Keleher

Twitter allows users to send up-to-the minute messages about what they are doing. But if you’re traveling, is it wise to tell a large group of strangers that you aren’t home?

@joeschmo The wife and I are in Hawaii and loving it!

USAToday spoke to a man whose home was recently burglarized while he was away on vacation. He has over 2,000 followers on Twitter and sent frequent updates to the site while on his trip. The robbery could be random coincidence, but he suspects not.

One of the great benefits of Twitter is that you can follow anyone and vice versa. However, unless you keep your updates private and only allow friends to see your timeline, you don’t know who could be listening. Putting too much personal information in your social media, especially something that could put you or your home at risk, might not be wise.

Chances are, your followers on Twitter aren’t criminals who are plotting against you. But, it doesn’t hurt to be a little guarded with your personal information, either. Remember the old advice of never leaving an outgoing answering machine message that states you are out-of-town? Maybe it’s time to update the idea to include for new technology.