Sunday, April 4, 2010

HIPSTER RUNOFF

HIPSTER RUNOFF

I went 2 buy a new iPad and got back in touch with society & humanity [via technology]

Posted: 04 Apr 2010 03:43 PM PDT


Went 2 buy an iPad at my local Apple Store. At first I thought ‘that is stupid, I already have an iPhone and a Macbook Pro’, but then I realized I could be part of something special if I purchased an iPad.

Waited in line over night. Had 2 make sure I got 1. Brought my Macbook so I could watch youtube videos all nite. really bonded with these techbros, like I finally met people who lived in the same world that I live in.

Apple Store employees were super helpful. Kinda were ‘ass holes’ since Apple products are so intuitive + easy to use, so they were kinda condescending when I asked how stuff worked.

There was so much buzz in the store.

So easy, even a granny can use it. ‘There’s an app 4 menopause.’

So easy, even a tween can use it.

Wish I could go back in time and be the ‘ass hole kid’ who tried to tell my teacher that using an iPad was better than using a piece of paper. Then I would distract every1 since I would watch youtube videos all day, and my iPad would be banned from the class room.

(feel sad that schools are telling kids they can’t use laptops + computers in class any more)

Such a long line. Glad I waited overnight. I even brought my son, and he rode his tricycle into the store.

Apple Store employees are the best. They don’t just ‘know’ the product–they truly love it. (A lot of people work there since they can’t get jobs with their worthless degrees, and their parents think it is a real job, not just the same as ‘working retail.’)

Feel relieved that I went to a real Apple Store to really experience the excitement of the iPad launch, instead of going to the Apple station in a Best Buy. Those ‘ass hole Geek Squadders’ don’t know shit about how to preserve the Apple brand. They don’t know how 2 make me feel special about what I am buying.

Me feeling special. Miss the days when my white wayfarers matched my white iBook.

Driving home in my BMW, browsing the internet, checking iPad friendly websites

I know u think this picture makes it seem like I have too many Apple products because I only browse the internet, but u don’t understand how these integrate into my on-the-go lifestyle. We live in a world where we must stay connected.

Wonder if it is still alt / functional to have a Macbook Air. Wonder the iPad makes it ‘the most irrelevant Apple Laptop in the history of Steve Jobs.’

This bro is me. This bro with an iPad.

One day, I will show my kids my wedding photos. I will show them my college + high school graduation photos. I will show them photos on the day that they shot out of their mother’s womb. I will show them photographs of the first day I got my Apple products–the day the iPad came out of the womb of a factory in an AZN country.

Is the iPad the second coming of God / Jesus Christ?
Are iPads for ass holes?
Are iPads ‘a huge ripoff’?
If u were stuck on a desert island, would u rather have a Macbook Pro, an iPhone, or an iPad?
Should I put my Macbook Air on eBay?
Are Apple Store employees ‘ass holes’, ‘helpful’ or ’self-righteous, disgruntled liberal arts grads’?
If u work at an Apple Store, r u an important part of society, or are they the modern Best Buy / Circuit City employee?
Will the iPad change ur life?
will the iPad save humanity by helping us 2 connect?
Has Apple ‘jumped the shark’ or have they made a beautiful product?
Do u wish u had an iPad when u were a tween?

Are unpaid internships a new form of modern slavery?

Posted: 04 Apr 2010 11:01 AM PDT

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/business/03intern.html?hpw=&pagewanted=all


The New York Times did a story about how unpaid internships might be illegal. They basically say unpaid internships are ways for companies to scam young people looking for opportunities into working for free. Even though most companies exist 2 make money, they often try to ‘cut costs’ and exploit the efforts of young people who don’t know any better/don’t have better career opportunities.

"If you're a for-profit employer or you want to pursue an internship with a for-profit employer, there aren't going to be many circumstances where you can have an internship and not be paid and still be in compliance with the law," said Nancy J. Leppink, the acting director of the department's wage and hour division.

Wonder if employers feel sad that they can’t hire optimistic college students who are funded by federal loans or their rich parents to do some free labor. Did u have an unpaid internship during college where you learned a lot / were treated like shit?

Many regulators say that violations are widespread, but that it is unusually hard to mount a major enforcement effort because interns are often afraid to file complaints. Many fear they will become known as troublemakers in their chosen field, endangering their chances with a potential future employer.

Do u feel like u have to get an internship in order to get ‘real experience’? Has an employer ever treated u like shit as an intern?

The story also featured a picture of a girl who did an unpaid internship for a company that booked musical acts. I think she is supposed to appear as a ‘victim’ because she goes to NYU, but still has to do ‘unpaid bitch work.’

There were tons of unsourced examples of ‘unfair employers’ who treated their interns ‘like janitors’, minorities, and miscellaneous unskilled laborers. If u had an intern, would u make them do ‘bitchwork’ or try to make them more employable?

Many students said they had held internships that involved noneducational menial work. To be sure, many internships involve some unskilled work, but when the jobs are mostly drudgery, regulators say, it is clearly illegal not to pay interns.

One Ivy League student said she spent an unpaid three-month internship at a magazine packaging and shipping 20 or 40 apparel samples a day back to fashion houses that had provided them for photo shoots.

At Little Airplane, a Manhattan children's film company, an N.Y.U. student who hoped to work in animation during her unpaid internship said she was instead assigned to the facilities department and ordered to wipe the door handles each day to minimize the spread of swine flu.

Do u have an internship horror story?
Have u interned at an alt company?
Are employers ‘ass holes’?
Will u get screwed over more if you intern with a Fortune 500 company or if you try to get alt cred by working at a boutique company?
Do u have any work experience, or do u just think u’ll live at home with ur parents for the rest of ur life?
Are unpaid interns ‘victims’ or should they ’shut up’ and get to work / clean the bathroom / run to get the office some coffee?
Are young adults too entitled these days/think they can achieve their dream job?
Are internships the same thing as ’slavery’?
Should the Alt Report hire 5-10 unpaid interns?

Zooey Deschanel has stage fright + crazy coke eyes on Letterman

Posted: 04 Apr 2010 10:02 AM PDT


She & Him performed on Letterman, and it was a fascinating performance. I am not sure if they were meant to be a live band, or if they were just made to generate money. Zooey Deschanel seemed ‘tense’, like she was performing the song for the first time ‘live.’ It looks like she is ‘nervous’ but also ‘trying to act natural’, like she is ‘having fun’, but it was kinda awkward. I guess being a rock star is different from ‘acting’ because u have to be urself when ur in a band, rite? She keeps looking off into the distance. Wonder if she is visualizing something or some1.

It didn’t seem as natural, or free spirited as her cotton commercial.

Did Zooey Deschanel have stagefright or crazy coke eyes?

Honestly feel more attracted to her than ever. I think maybe because this performance was theoretically a ‘weird trainwreck’, and I feel like most Hollywood starlets are most compelling when we watch them ’self-destruct.’ Also thought that her dress was cute because it featured her rib cage / cute alt figure. I feel like I ‘finally’ feel attracted to her for authentic male reasons, instead of being a generic indie bro who finds her ‘attractive’ because she is a ‘genuine talent’/'Renaissance Woman.’

Felt sad when they did a 20 second zoom in on her wedding ring, representing the omniscient presence of Ben Gibbard in all mainstream indie music.

Do u think She & Him is ready for the ‘enormous pressure’ of charting at #6?
Should Zooey Deschanel accept that she is beautiful & not be afraid?
Should she take ‘private lessons’ from Ben Gibbard abt how 2 be a rock star?
Should She & Him kick out the bro, and then market Zooey Deschanel as ‘the new Feist’?

does n e 1 know if Zooey Deschanel is a natural blonde who coloured her hair brunette + got cute bangs to appeal to alternative audiences? Worried she is a mainstreamer who turned alt just to manipulate alt-leaning audiences. Watched her first interview on Letterman and got concerned.

What is Zooey Deschanel’s real hair color?

Did She & Him ‘tank’ on Letterman?
Should they have debuted on Jimmy Fallon to ‘warm up’?
Should Zooey Deschanel marry a Vampire Weekend bro next?
R u afraid of girls with crazy coke eyes, or r u turned on?