Monthly Archives: August 2003

In the Public Eye – Love and Marriage on TV

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The standard formula for money-making television is fast becoming reality shows spotlighting love and marriage. Ever since The Newlywed Game, a popular genre of entertainment has been spotlighting couples. However, as any professional in the television industry will tell you (at least in private), reality TV is not real. It’s heavily influenced by producers, writers, and so forth and is not designed to be objective.

I’m especially concerned when reality TV involves love because in this case, the way to sell ads is to create tension between a couple. Hence, you get shows like The Newlywed Game, with a lot of questions related to the new couple’s intimacy. Other shows (past and present) include:

  • Temptation Island – Engaged couples live apart to see if they can remain committed to their future spouse.
  • Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? – Self-explanatory, except that according to E!, “Darva Conger, the emergency room nurse…is seeking an annulment from her hubby of one week, Rick Rockwell.”
  • The Bachelor/The Bachelorette – One guy/girl gets to pick from 25 girls/guys to marry.
  • Race to the Altar – Couples endure physical and emotional challenges to win the wedding of their dreams.
  • Married by America – Viewers across the nation call in to choose the couple.
  • For Love or Money – One guy/girl gets to pick from 15 girls/guys. If s/he says yes, they live happily ever after. If s/he says no, s/he gets $1 million.

I could go on, but you get the idea. My point? While some may argue that a committed relationship should be able to withstand the pressure, I liken joining one of these shows to bungee-jumping off a bridge. Sure, the cable will probably hold, but why take the chance?

Although I’m not married, I can promise that you won’t see my significant other or I on national TV. Love is too important to put to a foolish test.

Best Firmware for Linksys Routers

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Linksys Wireless RouterIf you’re like me, you think the Linksys Wireless AP Router with 4-Port Switch is a pretty nifty tool, and at less than $100, it’s a steal.

The problem is that the router can be flaky at times. I’ve had to reset it twice since I bought it, which is too much for a firmware device in my opinion. Even though there have been many problems reported with the latest 1.44 firmware, I still use it due to the nifty “backup/restore” feature. It makes it easy to save the settings so when the router does flake out, it’s a simple matter to reset, then reload.

Of course, if you need UPnP functionality, you might want to use an earlier firmware version, since that’s where the bulk of the complaints seem to lie.

All said, though, I’m a fairly satisfied customer. The equipment works well enough to let me blog this from my sofa.

(Photo courtesy Linksys.)

Trouble at TheBus

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TheBusTheBus is the island of O’ahu’s public transportation system, and one of the best in the nation. (It was designated “America’s Best Transit System” in 1994-95 and again in 2000-01.) According to the company’s web site, each day 218,000 trips are made on one of 525 buses that serve 4,200 stops. (That translates to 30 seconds between stops on most routes.)

Unfortunately, despite the popularity of the bus among locals and tourists alike, TheBus is facing financial struggles. In June, fares were raised from $1.50 to $1.75 for individual fares and $27 to $30 for monthly passes. Other fares increased too.

To cope with the budget shortfall, this past June TheBus reduced service on 23 routes by at least one bus, increasing waiting time and crowding passengers. Even more reductions are planned in August (PDF).

Coincidentally, the contract between O’ahu Transit Services (the company that runs TheBus under contract by the City & County of Honolulu) and the local Teamsters expired recently. Negotiations are at a deadlock, and if OTS doesn’t agree to a costly benefits package*, the Teamsters have declared that they will strike on August 26th. If they do, the 525 buses people are used to seeing on Hawai’i’s roadways will suddenly disappear.

Now, if all that news isn’t exciting enough for a regular rider, there’s always the most recent story – Mayor Harris has suggested increasing fares again for the second time in two months. This time, the increase would only affect people riding on bus passes (like me), and it would only go toward funding the routes slated to be cut, not the contract stipulations the Teamsters are demanding.

Whoever said riding TheBus wasn’t an adventure?

(Photo courtesy City & County of Honolulu.)

* LINK TENDING 1/11 – Removed dead link.

Google is not God…

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…but sometimes we treat it (and the Internet that it searches) as a god. That’s the point I was trying to get across yesterday. (Thanks for the link, Dean.)

It’s easy to get addicted to the amazing breadth of knowledge that has been digitized, transmitted, and archived via the Internet. Every minute we spend on the ‘net, however, is one less minute we could spend with the master of the universe and of us. And as I’m sure many of you realize, we only get a limited supply of minutes, and there’s no refill.

I guess what I’m doing is echoing the wisdom of others, like Darren – make sure that every minute of your life, regardless of what you’re doing during that minute, is dedicated to Him.

Blog for God.