Stupid Is As Stupid Does

I’m probably just grumpy because it’s so freakin’ cold out (we can’t even get above freezing!) but more things than normal today seemed to have flipped my “d*mn, that’s stupid” switch. But here are the biggest ones to light my fuse.

George Clooney sightings
For some reason, St. Louis news stations seem to think that spotting George Clooney downtown is breaking news. And it’s so important that they’ll post really fuzzy phone photos of him online. Why? This is strictly blog material, if that.

The Almost Invisible iPod
Granted, I was definitely among those who needed conversion to appreciate an iPod. I have a Nano, and last year, I bought the mother a Shuffle. Today, Apple announced the next generation of the Shuffle.

It’s even smaller than its ultra-tiny predecessor – as if it needed to be. C’mon. What do you want? A Shuffle the size of a salt grain? But it’s not the size that I find its most stupid feature. It’s most stupid feature is that IT HAS NO FEATURES!!!

Nope. You can’t forward, reverse, or adjust the volume. It has no controls on it. Instead, controls have migrated to branded headphones. My first question was “how could I use it in the car?” Here’s the answer.

If I didn’t know that the Shuffle sans controls was real, I’d think it was just a really amusing Apple parody like this one from The Onion (which is hilarious).

Safe Use of Power Tools
I saved the stupidest for last. It would seem that someone has completely misinterpreted the meaning of DIY.

Now you might think that because I am a big fan of power tools and that I stalwartly advocate multipurpose products, that this one might appeal to me. Let me say clearly and unequivocally: NO! This is one recreational sport that DIY does not mix with.

It’s almost too stupid to be believed. Kids, please don’t try this at home! And I have to say that if you really have to work that hard at it, you’re doing something wrong.