Me vs. SOPA

Oh my gosh I haven't blogged in 5 days. lol.

Sorry, I am getting to be so slack on the blog front. In my defense, I have been impressively busy.

And by busy I mean losing countless hours to Pinterest.

And when not on Pinterest...I am reading political propoganda.

And seriously considering relocating. To another country. Or maybe another planet.

People are impressively close-minded and I am repeatedly impressed by how many times someone can believe a flat out lie that the read off Facebook. I mean really. It's Facebook. Not CNN. Or NBC. Or even, God help us, Fox news. Heck, ESPN is a more respectable news source than Facebook. If that is the only place you go for your news then you might as well just be reading the funny pages and burning the rest of newspaper.

And I guess if this SOPA crap passes I'll be looking at some jail time for blogs like this. But really people. You complain about taxes, you don't vote but you complain about the president, and you get your news from the closet homo-phobe that lives in his mom's basement's Facebook status and you are SURPRISED that someone is trying to take away our First Amendment Rights?

Ugh.

But in all seriousness, I think my great grandparents and their parents would be ashamed by what our country has become. I'm ashamed. A lot of people have worked hard for this country. A lot have fought and died for this country and I feel like our political system these days is like spitting in their faces. The economy is bust and instead of everyone wanting to work harder and make sacrifices and fix it, everyone is standing around with their hands out waiting for the government to give them a check. Welfare, food stamps, unemployment...everyone is just working the system. There are some who legitimately need help and are doing the best they can. But there are so many people who just know how to work the system so they can sit on their ass and play video games while the rest of us break our backs supporting them. And then the politicians, who get elected not because they want to better their community or their state or their country, but because of the fat paycheck that comes with a lifetime membership to the moneybags club. Taxes are paying for far more than they ever should have. And the people who make our laws and manage our country are too busy lining their own pockets to give a damn about our empty stomachs or the future of our children.

It's a damn shame.

We're better than this. We were supposed to be better than this. And while everyone is happy to write a pissed off status message, or pound out a hateful blog, none of us individually really have the power to do anything and it doesn't feel like there will ever be enough people to care for us to change it.

And of course, if the SOPA bill makes it, that's the beginning of the end for all of us ever changing it. The First Amendment will be well on its way out the door and Big Brother will be live and in the flesh. And then I think I really will pack up my family and move to a foreign country. How much worse could Canada really be?

So, that it for my soap box for the day.

I take nearly a week break and I come back and blog this nonsense. Right? I know.

Amazon is taking over the world...

And I'm okay with it.

Some people are a little...let's say unsettled, by the release of Amazon's new tablet. It's called the Amazon Fire and personally, I'm impressed. For just $200 you basically get an iPad, minus the logo and the camera. As much as I love my iPad and cannot leave home without it, I could see myself being as happy and $300 richer with a Fire. No joke.

I'm sure all the die-hard Apple believers out there are just shocked and appalled. But it's not brand loyalty that has so many less than thrilled with Amazon's release.

The product itself is a bit of a hot button for the privacy-paranoid among us.

Maybe it doesn't bother me so much because I have grown up submerged in media. I was in Facebook when it first started. My mom was a reporter and media was part of my life. Being in the know wasn't just fun, it was a job requirement. And whereas I despise the idea of identity theft as much as the next person. And I take what I think are necessary steps to prevent it. But I am in no way offended by the idea of media tracking.

If you didn't know, if you don't log out of Amazon, the site can track your internet activity and will use that information to try and market to your preferences. Ever noticed how eerily you were searching for ideas for an Autumn centerpiece on Better Homes and Gardens, then the next day you log into Amazon and they recommend you check out their awesome autumn centerpieces? Surely, you didn't think that was coincidence. Facebook does the same thing. I don't really see it as an invasion of privacy. To me, it's smart business.

If you owned a business and you could offer every customer that walked through the door EXACTLY what they wanted, wouldn't you want to do that? Yeah. Of course you would. Because pretty much guarantees you a sell every single time the door opens. Again, it's smart business.

So now Amazon has a tablet. The tablet is Amazon's. It uses their browser which pulls off Amazon Cloud to speed up searches. You can fairly well bet that Amazon is going to track the browsing and shopping of every person who buys a Fire. And why wouldn't they?

The biggest question though? WHO CARES?

Do you realize how much simpler Amazon has made my life? There aren't words.

An example: While I didn't do all of my Christmas shopping from them, I narrowed all of my ideas down via the Amazon lists. People post lists of "Favorite toys for Christmas" or "My 1 yo's favorite things" or "Best Toys for a toddler"...you get the idea. I had SOOO many ideas for the girls' presents and Amazon's lists and reviews really helped me narrow it down. Browsing through Amazon's favorite things, I even found my husband's Christmas present. I feel like I really got the perfect presents for my family with Amazon's assistance. And with their low prices, I could compare other sites and stores and got really good deals on everything as well.

Plus, you can get books and movies shipped to your house the day they come out. You can buy digital books, digital music, digital movies, etc and store them on the Amazon Cloud. It's phenomenal! I just wish that Amazon would get over their anti-Apple feelings and be just a little more simpatico with my iPad 2. Basically, I want access to the Amazon AppStore. haha. I love their free app-a-day!

The Amazon Fire is awesome. Gorgeous color touch screen that is supposed to be practically indestructible (Unlike the iPad's!). Everything is easy to access and totally synced. The system is smooth and sleek and has Wi-Fi.

So, yeah, I'm all for my activities being tracked. It makes my life easier! The simplicity and convenience is totally worth that minuscule loss of privacy.