Reporting from the Internet

The NY Times has a column asking whether or not Madoff got more than he deserved. I didn't get through it, but f*** no. Yes, he is a symbol, but he also did a ton of damage and showed a complete lack of ethics on a plethoric scale. One could get into the ethics of jail itself here, but that's irrelevant to the case at hand

Today my parents visited, which was mostly fun.

I also visited a park.

I don't really feel like writing down thoughts today. I'm in a good mood, just not in the mood to write.

I kind of agree with this article.
"To me, it seems social networking takes too much time with too little reward. Time to learn how to use. Time to sit and read. Time to think and interact.

All of this adds up to less time in “real” life."

"The trick is finding an equilibrium between social networking and living. Spending hours text-gossiping about someone’s page seems a little over-the-top. But using social networking sites to connect or reconnect with people to set up real face-to-face get-togethers seems really useful."

Except that I still mock my parents for taking so long to use the internet(Sorry parents, I still love you!). There are ways to use the internet to enhance life, and there are ways to let it take it over.


The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on "Ten Ways Banks Take Your Money".

"Late fees, loan-origination fees, over-the-limit and overdraft charges helped generate 53% of banking-industry income in 2008, according to R.K. Hammer... The average bounced-check fee is $28.95, up about $1 from last year, says Greg McBride, senior analyst at Bankrate.com. And it's a charge that rises every year.

At $19 billion, credit-card penalties for late payments and over-limit charges were up 80% between 2003 and 2008."

The new credit card reforms make me happy. In the mean time, there is apparently a study by Bankrate.com which states that the best card currently available is from USAA Federal Savings. I've never heard of this site before. If you feel like picking through the study/site, let me know what you find.

Also, if you have or will have student loans you must read this article.

Summer reading list for children that adults may wish to check out.

Like Steampunk? Click to be tortured. Who wants to petition an awesome out-of-work artist to do something like this? Via Boing Boing.

More Cracked articles you should read:
9 Devastating Insults from Around the World
7 Innocent Gestures that Can Get You Killed Overseas
7(Stupid) People Who Sued the Scientific Method
6 Great US Presidents and Their Crimes Against Humanity.