2:55 p.m. - 2006-08-01
cnn and spinny flowers
I like to get my news info from cnn.com
It's just habit, really. I'm sure there are better, more in-depth news sources to be found, but I get the general idea of what's going on from good old cnn.com
There are two things that really make me mad about it though.
The first is that about half of the top news stories (and this is increasing with time) are available in video format only. See this is a problem. You can fairly legitimately spend a few minutes here and there perusing the headlines and skimming the latest on Lebanon/Israel, Iraq, Casto's health, and the giant boa constrictor that ate a one-legged person's remaining leg. But you can't really watch tv on your PC monitor at work without getting in trouble.
There will be some incredibly intriguing or disturbing headline, like "Pandemic Asian Bird Flu Heading Straight for You" but there's no article. Just a little camera icon that means I have to watch the little clip, viewed on a 2 inch by 2 inch pop-up video box, which often is preceded by a COMMERCIAL!!! Either that or I don't get to know what's going on. That really boils my pot if you know what I mean.
Sometimes, even if there is a real article to read, WITHIN the non-video article, there is a freaking video. But fortunately, it's usually something really dumb; a hyper link that doesn't even make sense, that says something like "See just how late Lindsay Lohan was to her rehearsal." or "Watch how Mel Gibson's comments could affect his career." How might they show these things on video in a way that comes off as not a ridiculous joke? I wouldn't know, because I am simply against watchign TV at work. And my boss would probably fire me.
The other thing that makes me mad about cnn.com is when they change their front-page format. I was SO used to the "LATEST NEWS" articles being listed down the left side and the big disturbing war picture on the right. But they changed it. And the logo, too! It's been months and it still doesn't feel right.
Kind of like Web Mail by hotmail. Or Beta or whatever it's called. I've had it for about 5 or 6 months and I really hate it. What I really hate about it is that it is very slow. And not only is it slow, but there is this little spinning flower thing that rotates while you're waiting. I guess this is an effort to make the waiting less annoying, almost like a recording acknowledging that you're waiting on hold for a customer service rep. "We thank you for your patience. Your call is important to us..." But that recording...that voice, just gives me something more tangible to direct my anger and impatience and frustration toward.
Similarly, that spinny flower thing enhances my already inappropriate mental personification of the computer I'm using, which makes me feel even more strongly that I'd like to punish it, to hurt it for being so slow. "Hurry up you stupid thing!!!!!I hate you!!!! You're trying to ruin my life!!!!!!"
