I saw this article on consumerist.com and it instantly made me think of my TINST207 class. The story is that a dissatisfied patient left a negative review on yelp.com after he had a bad experience with a chiropractor. The article quotes the information left on yelp, and I don't think any of it was slanderous. It was pretty much "I had a bad experience, I had billing problems, the Dr. was hard to deal with, etc."

The chiropractor claims damage to reputation, business, etc AND "mortification and hurt feelings." Regardless of what you think about chiropractic treatments, I think this whole lawsuit, and especially the above quote, make the chiropractor seem rather scummy. I think that this sort of thing is better resolved between the parties involved. Also, way to streisand yourself, dude. You just got your face allllllll over the internets and this just cost you way more than the yelp comment ever could have.

I believe that these review websites are good for everyone. They give consumers valuable information, as well as possibly act as a deterrent for unscrupulous business practices. These sites encourage businesses to resolve complaints. However, a commenter on consumerist.com did bring up a very interesting thing. They said that the same sort of thing had happened in her town. A man who was running for public office in the city had a wife who was a vet. In order to try to keep him from winning the election, some people slandered his wife's vet practice on every site they could find. One woman even accused the vet of killing her cat, even though she had never stepped foot in the office. The vet had a terrible time getting the reviews removed, and it could have ruined her practice.

I think this makes all kinds of interesting problems. Should we even have review sites like this? Should there be a way to see who made the review, or maybe a dispute process? Who should manage the reviews? Should a reviewer have to prove that they did business with the person/business being reviewed? Like I said, I love how the internet gives us so much information with which to make decisions, but the vet ended up in a terrible position. I definitely thing that the person who slandered the vet should be punished.

Interesting things to think about for sure. I'm curious to see what happens with the lawsuit...

This summer, during the crazy high gas prices, I felt like every extra bit of money I made went towards gas. I felt like $55 was waaaay too much to be putting into my tiny hatchback. I was working full time cause I was out of school, and by the time I bought gas I felt like I wasn't making any more than during school.

Yesterday, with my tank on empty, I spent $22 to fill up my 13 gal tank. It was like $1.87/gal. The first time I ever pumped my own gas, when I was learning to drive, it cost $1.88/gal. Amazing. Never thought I'd see that again.

The low, low price of gas does make me a little suspicious, but happy nonetheless.

So, I found out towards the end of the week that things at work were worse than they seemed. My office manager was really upset and told me that in the first of second week of December we were going to run out of work. She said that if no jobs came in the time between, pretty much the entire company would be laid off.

What a blow.... Christmas time. Finals time.

I had already been looking for another job and hadn't had any luck. There aren't a lot of people hiring, even for temporary holiday positions. I would prefer to get another office sort of job that is permanent, cause I don't wanna be in the same situation when everyone gets laid off after the holidays.

It's so disappointing because I love the family I work for, and we had been doing so well. The entire time I've worked there they haven't even needed to lay people off during the winter. We had sort of a bad winter last year, when we didn't get paid for a job. Work was already slow because of the season, and the $20,000 we were owed really messed things up. Since then, we had a couple other liens we had to file, and even with those we had gotten out of the "hole" the winter had gotten us into.

I feel really stressed because the job search hasn't been going well so far. I am excited because I have an interview (next week probably) with some people I'm already kind of connected to, so hopefully that will go well. The job is in Tacoma, which would be fabulous cause I wouldn't have to drive much. Anyways, wish me luck (and let me know if you know someone who's hiring!)!

I feel especially bad for the office manager and her dad (the owner). She has pretty much taken care of the books and financial stuff for the company for the past five years, and since it is a family business she is really entwined with it. She is looking for another job too. The owner of the business has talked about being in charge of supporting his employees (and their families, by extension) and how stressful that is. I'm sure he feels terrible about this whole situation.

I'm just trying to think good thoughts for our economy and be thankful for the love and support of my awesome family.

So, basically I'm blogging to avoid doing my (very tedious) philosophy paper. Anyways, I was thinking about it some more, and I was thinking about how you can be anyone you want to be online. You can choose what parts of yourself to show or not show, and you can downright lie. Take Myspace Angles, for example. Watch this video. I assure you, it is worth your time (NSFW). It's says ten minutes, but you only need to watch part one.
Anyways, I guess the idea is to take anything someone says online with a grain of salt. I know someone who moved here from almost the east coast to be with a guy she met online. They met online, and then in person on xmas eve, and she moved all her stuff over on New Year's Day. Guess how that turned out? Yeah, not good (note to self: don't tell her about your blog). Like with crazy fights and cops and a broken lease bad. Both of these people were sort of odd (I seem to attract the crazies!). Anyways, I'm not saying that online dating is impossible or bad, I'm just saying people should beware (and drop everything to move across the country to be with someone they've only known in person for two days).
Maybe all of this is why I prefer the real world to online? I hate myspace and never check mine (same with facebook). I only made one so I could look at someone's pictures. I think the technology is cool (how else could I look up my best friend from 1st grade who moved away?), but people are WAAAAAAAAY too into it, and I am not. I did Running Start in high school, and I never hung out with people my age (always had older friends) and I think I just kind of missed my myspace crazy when it swept over the high schools. Same with texting... I use it, but not much.

Since the economy has been bad, the new buzzword sort of thing is to have a staycation. It reminded me of the whole talk we had it TINST207 about online community. I think a staycation can be a vacation. You can get away, relax, and have a good time while staying at home or close to home. However, I don't like the idea of an online vacation.
I've never played a MMOG, but my boyfriend David has, and my 14 year old brother is way into gaming as well. I've seen how obsessive they get about games. At one point David was staying up like all night playing Star Wars Galaxies. He totally had friends, and they would all get online at the same time and do missions and stuff. Right now, as I type, he's playing like his 3rd hour of Fable2 (this is the second time he's played it through). For him, it goes in waves. Anyways, I understand that for him, these games are a way to relax. For me, video games are frustrating, and I think vacations are for relaxing.
David and I have both a Wii and an XBOX360, and when I get into video games, I am guilty of getting a little obsessive. It goes in waves for me to- I will play for a couple hours each day, and then not. I don't think I've played Wii for a month.
While online worlds are real, and they exist, they're just no substitute for for real life friends and family. That's why I'm gonna go visit my sister and her husband tonight :D

So, every Saturday David and I go to the Renaissance Cafe on Pacific Ave for breakfast. It is always awesome- will have to do a review on it sometime. Anyways, we decided to wander around Tacoma, and we happened upon the Mad Hat Tea Co.
Ever since David and I discovered Osaka Sushi and Teriyaki in University Place, I have been really into green tea. I hated it at first (normally I drink sweetened black iced tea), but after going a couple times, I got to really liking it with my dinner. We had been at SouthCenter Mall at the teavana store, and I was really disappointed that the only teas they sampled were really herbal gross sweetened ones. I was also disappointed because they have a 2oz minimum. This doesn't seem like much, but it it gets really expensive to try lots of things (2oz/$10 or so). Also, they won't make up samples for you. The store has lots of neat teapots and stuff, but a lot of their stuff is way expensive.
Anyways, so Mad Hat Tea was awesome. It is right downtown. There is all kinds of art on the walls, stuff to read about teas, and there are couches, chairs, etc. It's a very cozy space, but the shop is deceptively large. The owner, Tobin, was very cool. He was super enthusiastic, and really seemed to know all about tea. I told him that I was new to liking green tea, and he made a pot of some really good mixed oolong/green tea. He did the whole tea ceremony sort of thing with a Yixing teapot and everything. I was impressed because I have a clay/art background, and he had all kinds of hand-thrown dishes. We talked a bunch- we were probably in there almost an hour, and he let us try a bunch of stuff. We ended up leaving with quite a bit of stuff :)
The best part was his prices (you can see them on the website). He has some expensive teas, but a lot of them are like $4/2oz. Also, he was willing to sell smaller or larger quantities, so you could bring home all sorts of things to try. The place has sort of a eclectic/hippy vibe, but its way cool/calming. He even has a no cell phone rule! It's cool to support Tacoma Businesses, and this one is very unique. While you can buy loose leaf tea, flowering tea, etc you can also buy pots of tea and just hang out. Definitely a place to try out!

Was looking through my blog counting TINST207 posts and realized I was missing some that I had written. Looked around some more and saw that they were saved in my drafts, missing parts. I think that since I posted them at work (we have crappy satellite internet) and they auto-saved but the internet crapped out and they didn't fully post.

I'm working on fixing it.

Doing the scavenger hunt for TINST207- we're about 1/2 way done!!!
Monica, Becca, and Kaitlin FTW!

In my group, I am reading The Art Of Deception by Kevin Mitnick, and talking about the human aspect of security. I will also probably be putting the powerpoint notes together.

Sad article here. The Consumerist is one of my favorite websites. They're the ones who posted my locksmith story. Anyways, it is a useful source for consumer information, and, unlike Perez Hilton, it actually makes you smarter.
Gawker just laid off some of it's Consumerist writers, and the quality of the site seemed to suffer. I still think it is a good resource, and read it daily. It's sad that they're looking to sell it (it isn't one of their profitable blogs), and hopefully whomever buys it will keep the editors and spirit of the Consumerist alive.
Everyone go over there and click some ads!

Just saw this article and this article and thought they were amazing. Here is the gist of the story:
A man with both AIDS and leukemia was given a bone marrow transplant. The doctors decided to use marrow from a donor that had a rare genetic mutation that makes one pretty much immune to AIDS. Before the transplant, they did the typical radiation and chemotherapy treatments to lower his immune system. Anyways, it seems that the transplant has cured his AIDS. Two years after the transplant his body was still free of the virus. Doctors need to study it more to find out if it was a fluke or there were other factors working. The only con to this procedure is that only 30% of cancer patients survive it. I'd imagine that the chemo/radiation was an important factor in the treatment, but the article doesn't talk about whether people without cancer would have an easier time surviving the transplant.
Either way, it's fascinating and exciting.

At first, I wasn't sure about feedtacoma. I thought it was going to be some sort of fundraising, food driving thing.
I loved the presentation Kevin Freitas gave us about his website, feedtacoma.com. It was such an awesome idea, and while it probably isn't the choice I'd make, I admire that he does it for fun, not money. I also liked the design of the site- he keeps it very minimal, clean, and easy to navigate.
I like going there and seeing what everyone is up to and to look at new blogs. It's a great resource for someone who is new to Tacoma. If one learns to use exit133 and feedtacoma, they have access to all kinds of awesome information. You can find reviews on all things Tacoma, see what others are up to, etc. It's amazing. I also really loved his idea of a Tacoma wiki. I think it would be especially terrific if he made each wiki entry have a place for comments. That way, it could also be an aggregate of reviews/experiences.
I don't know about everyone else out there, but David and I use the internet to look up all sorts of things. I especially like reviews I can read before I try something. Also, when David and I look for something (let's say italian food) we are most likely to go to the restaurant with a website and/or reviews.
I'm thinking of contacting Kevin about the Tacoma wiki thing, and also contacting downtown merchants about feedtacoma/their businesses. It would be neat to have information about all kinds of retailers downtown, and it would be even neater to have pictures.
For me, the more details the better! Even if it leads to indecision, I like to have lots of options.

I know I've been slacking with the TINST207 blog posts. I just got writer's block about the online banking/finances one, and felt weird about putting them out of order.
So, I think I figured out that the reason I don't really have that much to say about online banking is that I've always used it. Ever since I got my first checking account at like 15, I've used online banking. When I moved out of the parent's house and had to pay bills, I used the computer. It's weird, but it's almost to the point that using a pen and paper and stamp feels foreign.... I have a sheet of stamps at my desk at work, and I haven't used one in ages. Good thing they are "forevor stamps."
I think that I didn't realize the danger of it until I had become more set in my ways, and I've learned even more from the class. I've never had any problem with banking or shopping online, so I haven't been scared out of it. I am also happy to note that my bank, BECU, will pay for any online bills or fees if their system messes up. My friend had an issue with WAMU's bill-pay where one of the bills she paid literally disappeared. She had that it had been withdrawn from her account, but it never got to the cell company or whatever. It took her like two months and a couple visits to the bank before WAMU refunded her the money. She no longer uses bill-pay, and I can understand why- she had been using it for her mortgage payments, and could have been in some deep trouble.
The last aspect of why banking and shopping online don't scare me is that the benefits definitely outweigh the risks. I can buy ANYTHING online... from rocket caffeine syrup and solar powered lamps on thinkgeek.com, to funny t-shirts on shirt.woot.com. A certain nerd I know who will remain unnamed even bought supplies to make his own fireworks online. All of this stuff is exciting, and honestly it makes me forget about the risks I am taking.

I believe blogs are like hair.... you should have fun and change them up frequently.

(I know the new template is sort of messed up- I'm workin on it)

Was reading exit133 and saw this article. Things are so bad real-estate wise that this company (as I understand it) has ditched their condo plan. The Marcato Condos were going to be great. They had planned on a "master community" with:

John McCain's health care plan really scared me (read jezebel article here). I read this article (and the discussion in the comments!) a few weeks ago and have been thinking about it ever since. I don't know that I think being female should automatically make your insurance higher. I can't help that I am female, or that my gender is the only one capable of carrying babies, therefore increasing insurance risks.

I'm not exactly sure what we should do about it (I think Obama's plan is a start), but I am worried about getting insurance in the future. As someone who is currently on 3-4 daily prescription medications (if you ask I will tell), I'm worried that this medical history will prevent me from getting affordable insurance. I'm just hoping whatever job I end up in has awesome insurance. If I didn't have insurance there would be no way I could pay for my prescriptions, and my health would probably suffer. Fortunately I am covered by my father's health insurance (Microsoft insurance is incredibly generous), but I know a lot of people don't have insurance that covers their prescriptions or any other treatments they need.

What about Isaac Zamora's killing spree a couple months ago? His mother and others said he was psychotic and tried to get him help, but were unable to. Maybe if he had had good (state or federally funded maybe) insurance, it would have been easier to help him? Is it fair to deny someone insurance coverage (or make it so expensive it is impossible to pay for) because have had counseling or a history of mental illness and sought help?

Lots of interesting things to consider.....

Watching McCain's concession speech on msnbc right now. I feel so...relieved. Don't even know what to say...

EDIT: My sister (16 year old) just called me and rubbed it in my face that she is taking a Washington D.C. trip for school. She will be in the crowd at the inauguration! Sooooo jealous.